//------------------------------// // Principal Horse // Story: Banjo Shaped Scrapbook // by Banjo64 //------------------------------// The first sign that it was going to be a long day was that Celestia woke up with far more energy in her than usual. Despite her emblem being a sun, Celestia was hardly a morning person. The only reason she was always up before the sunrise was because her job demanded it, and decades of that demand had wound her inner clock so tightly she couldn’t sleep in even if she wanted to. As Celestia left her dreams behind, she found herself able sit up and stretch without having to slam her snooze button for a second time. She had not been able to do that since her middle school days. Huh. That’s weird, she thought to herself. She immediately suspected that something unusual had happened to her last night. Honestly, after all the crazy magic mishaps that had happened in her school the past few years, she was surprised that it had taken so long for her to get caught up in something herself. Well, there was that time her garden started talking and singing, but she didn’t really count that one as her students had taken care of it before she’d even gotten a chance to see it for herself. Still, with a resigned sigh, Celestia opened her eyes and looked down. Yep, something had definitely happened to her last night. She gingerly raised what had become of one of her hands, holding it up close to her eyes. It was somewhat difficult to do as her joints seemed to have changed. She quickly realized what she was looking at. “A hoof. I have hooves,” she said. She looked at the rest of her body. The shape under her covers was far too large and round. Her hair, while not necessarily longer, was now more thick and plentiful. And when she focused her eyes on the white blur at the bottom of her vision, she saw what could only be a muzzle. There was no doubt about it: Celestia had turned into some sort of horse. No, not some kind. She knew exactly what kind of horse. The kind that usually turned into humans when they visited. She had turned into one of the ponies from across the portal. Now confident on what exactly had happened to her, Celestia was finally ready to stop being professional about it and start panicking. “AHHH! I’ve been turned into a pony!” she shrieked. After several minutes of flailing about and screaming, Celestia managed to calm herself down. “OK… OK. Get it together, Celestia. You know perfectly well that this sort of thing is possible these days. In fact, you have several students who go through something similar on a regular basis. Students who will undoubtedly be able to help you get back to normal. And even if they can’t right away, this is hardly the worst thing that could have happened to you,” she said to herself. She looked back down at her body, now visible after she’d flung the covers off in her panic. Her pajamas seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving her naked, fuzzy, equine body exposed to the morning air. Celestia didn’t know much about ponies, let alone magical alien ones, and she had no idea what to make of what she was seeing. “Right, first thing first: get up, look in the mirror, and find out what I look like,” she said. She turned her attention to getting off her bed, and gulped. “Alright, you have four legs now, so… just slowly crawl off, and then stand up,” she told herself. She bent around, pushing her new front legs off the side of the bed. She then awkwardly wiggled her way forward until she found herself falling. Her front legs gently caught her as they hit the carpet, and she found she could hold up her weight in this previously awkward position with ease. “Huh. This isn’t too bad,” she said. Getting her back legs off the bed, however, proved more difficult. Wiggling forward ended up sending her backside to the floor. Bam! Celestia winced at the dull pain from the impact. Pushing herself up with her forelegs, however, was surprisingly comfy. She was effectively sitting down doggy style with her front legs straight, and her back legs underneath her. “Alright, that’s step one. Now to stand up,” she said. She quickly noticed how off her legs felt now. The joints she was familiar with were still there, but it felt like they’d been stretched up. Her knees were next to her hips, while her ankles were now in the middle of her leg. This made her legs seem to bend backwards, though it sure didn’t feel that way. Still, by making slow and careful movements, Celestia managed to straighten out her legs and stand up. The sensation her hooves sent to her brain felt like she was standing on tiptoes, though her hooves also felt far more stable than they had any right to. However, she felt… hunched. And her vision seemed much lower than... “Oh, right. Need to raise my head,” she said. Feeling a little nervous, Celestia lifted her neck up. And up. And up! It shocked her how far she could lift her head now. When it was fully raised, Celestia found her vision was more or less where it had been as a human. She also found this new position to be unnaturally comfortable. Now aware of how flexible her neck was, Celestia turned her head and looked at her own body. Looking back at her undeniably equine form, it brought back memories of her short-lived horseback riding lessons. She hadn’t even lasted long enough to learn how to get off a horse properly. Hm… she seemed to be unusually nostalgic today. She turned her attention back towards the distant mirror. “Alright, walking next,” she said. “I look like a little girl’s imaginary friend,” mumbled Celestia as she looked over her reflection. She’d quickly noticed that she wasn’t just an alien pony. She was an alien pony unicorn. The large white horn pushed out of her forehead like it belong there, though Celestia supposed it kind of did. Come to think of it, hadn’t Sunset mentioned something about being a unicorn herself? “Note to self, once this is over, ask Sunset for more details about the world across the mirror,” mumbled Celestia. The mental note was placed next to the other dozen or so notes with the exact same thing. She looked away from the horn. She had to admit, her current form seemed rather… regal. She was thin and graceful, yet strangely powerful looking despite being no taller than an adult human. She had no trouble imagining some medieval queen using her as a noble steed. Celestia gave out an (un)surprisingly horse-like snort. “Luna would probably have tried to make that a reality if she hadn’t had to drive out to that board meeting last night,” she said with a shake of her head. The thought of Luna reminded Celestia that she was still the principal of Canterlot High and, transformed or not, she still had a job to do. If nothing else, she needed to speak with Sunset Shimmer and the others. She needed help, and they were the closest things to magic experts she knew. So with a deep sigh, Celestia turned away from the mirror. There was no way any of her clothes would fit her like this, so she had to hope that her new coat was adequate. She clumsily made her way to the door. She quickly realized that she had no idea how to open said door with hooves. “Hm… didn’t Twilight Sparkle mention something about telekinesis?” she asked herself. As it turned out, yes, unicorns had telekinesis. And it was far easier than it had any right to be. So easy, in fact, that it was kind of worrying. “I really hope this isn’t a sign that my mind has been changed as well. Next thing you know I’ll be munching on grass or treating the world as my bathroom,” mumbled Celestia as she levitated her breakfast onto the kitchen table: a nice and healthy bowl of cereal. Celestia rarely had time to cook even on her best days, and this was obviously not one of them. As she munched on the magically floating cornflakes, she considered her options. She could just call in a sick day. Goodness knew she had plenty saved up. She could just wait until the school day was over, then call Sunset Shimmer and her friends and ask them to pay her a visit. But then she’d be stuck in her house all day, and Celestia hated being inactive. Then it occurred to her that she rarely set foot outside her office during school hours. And it wasn’t like she couldn’t talk or fill out paperwork as a unicorn. If she could get to her office, she might just be able to just do her job, and avoid being spotted until she could speak with her magic inclined students. … Yeah, this was probably going to go horribly wrong. Still, a bad plan was better than locking herself up in her room for the day. And it occurred to her that it had been years since her last sick day. Someone was bound to check up on her if she wasn’t in her office when classes started. Well, if she ultimately couldn't do anything about being found out, she could at least make sure she didn’t end up with a mountain of unfinished paperwork to do as well. Her mind made up, and her breakfast finished, Celestia levitated her purse over her neck, and headed to the garage. She picked out her car keys only to pause and look at her car’s front seat, clearly not intended for an equine. … “Well, guess I’m walking to work today. As a unicorn. Please let this not end in someone calling animal control on me,” Celestia mumbled as she headed for the door. She was already regretting her decision to go to work. Not for the first time, Celestia found herself grateful that she lived and worked in a town like Canterlot. It was large enough that there were plenty of students in her school, but small enough that she didn’t have to deal with all the chaotic energy that came with a big city. Case in point: even though she was trotting through the middle of town, not a single soul seemed to be out and about to notice the large white unicorn as she made her way to the high school. This suited Celestia just fine. Aside from the whole unicorn thing, she couldn’t get over the fact that she was technically streaking in public. If her transformation suddenly wore off… well, it would be interesting explaining things to the police. “Sorry officer. I just thought my horse coat would last a little longer.” Celestia shook her head to clear it of such thoughts and continued on her way. She had to admit though, despite the worry that flowed through her at being spotted, she was enjoying her trot through town. The pleasant sensation as she worked her legs was a delight she had not experienced in years. It reminded her of her college days on the track team. “I’d forgotten how nice this feels. Maybe I should take my sister’s advice and start getting some exercise again,” she mumbled to herself. Though the way her hooves grinded on the concrete was kind of irritating. If this transformation lasted past today she might have look into purchasing some horseshoes or something. What an experience that would be. At last Celestia arrived at Canterlot High. Not for the first time, Celestia paused to look at the statue base that was also a portal to another world. She still had no idea what to make of it, or even what she should do about it. Honestly, waking up like this was making her once again consider asking the Princess from the other side to just close the darn thing. Or at least help her find a way to convince the government to take notice. That darn mayor never listened to her. Always dismissing what she said as “teenage shenanigans” or “elaborate pranks.” Well, maybe if she dragged him down here and shoved him through the portal… Celestia shook her head. She reminded herself about the rule of no thinking about politics this early in the morning. It always killed off her enthusiasm to be a teacher for the rest of the day. Celestia stepped… no, trotted into her office. As the principal of the school, she was always the first one into the building, and the last one to leave. Her sister always teased her about it, pointing out that it was more of her personal agenda rather than a code of conduct to her position, but Celestia had always felt that as the head of the school, she had hold up a higher standard than the rest of the faculty. Apparently “go to work even in the event of being turned into a unicorn” was part of that standard. She levitated off her purse and made her way behind her desk, only to pause and look at her chair. How on earth was she supposed to climb onto it? Then again, her head was more than high enough to see her desk with ease. And with her magic, she didn’t need her front legs to be free. “Well… I suppose I don’t really need it right now,” she decided as she pushed the chair aside. She levitated up the first bit of paperwork for the day and a pen, and got to work. For the next hour or so, she was able to ignore her current predicament. True, the sensations her body were sending her were kind of distracting, as was the soft light that moved her pen instead of her hand, but paperwork didn’t care if the one slaving over it was human or not. It never judged anyone. It just hated everyone equally. But, inevitably, it was only a matter of time before something came up. Celestia jumped as she heard her cell phone go off. It wasn’t just from surprise. The volume of her ringtone seemed to have somehow gone above it’s max setting. She then remembered that she was a unicorn at the moment, and those big fuzzy ears on her head were probably not just for show. She carefully levitated her phone out of her purse, noting that the caller was Cheerilee. Then she realized her magic couldn’t swipe the screen to answer. Celestia let out a sigh as the 80’s pop song she’d set as her ringtone ended. “Better figure out a solution to this. That call might be important,” said Celestia. She stared at her phone for a moment before, feeling rather silly, she touched her nose to the screen and slid it across. As her fingerprint was currently unavailable, she now had to enter her password. “I wonder if this is why the ponies don’t have cell phones across the mirror,” she grumped as she awkwardly tapped the screen with her muzzle like a hen picking seeds. A moment later, she was in. Just in time for a voicemail from Cheerilee to pop up. Celestia quickly opened it. “Hey, Celestia. I’m afraid I’m going to have to call in a sick day today. I had trouble just getting out of bed this morning, and I haven’t gotten any better yet. Sorry about dropping this on you at the last moment. Anyway, talk to you later,” said the voicemail. Celestia sighed. “Not again…” she mumbled as she awkwardly tapped out the number for one of her substitute teachers. Celestia paused as she stood in front of the classroom. Luck was certainly against her today. All the school’s subs had called in sick as well, leaving only her to try and fill the position. While she’d normally be delighted at such an opportunity, Celestia had a suspicion that this was going to turn out just like every other time she’d tried to sub a class. No doubt about it, this was going to be awkward. Maybe she should just cancel the class? It was unlikely the students would be interested in learning about history when their teacher was a unicorn. There was probably going to be a lot of yelling and confusion the moment she trotted inside. “Well, might as well give it a shot. Worst case scenario, I still give the students an explanation of why the lesson will be postponed. Besides, Rarity is in this class. If nothing else, it’ll let those girls know what’s happened to me,” mumbled Celestia. With a deep sigh of resignation, Celestia opened the door. The room instantly went silent and just stared at Celestia. Celestia stared back. … Well, this was unexpected. And the silence only made things even more awkward than Celestia had feared. With a sigh of resignation, Celestia realized that the class was a lost cause. “Forget it. Class is cancelled. Would everyone please make your way to the gymnasium? I suspect I have an announcement to make,” said Celestia. Celestia took a deep breath and shuffled her hooves. All the students and teachers that were still in the school were gathered in the gymnasium. There were far more than Celestia had been expecting, to be honest. Clearly, this particular mess was a bit larger than a few singing plants. At least there didn’t seem to be a mass panic. I don’t know if I should be proud of my students for gathering here all the same, or concerned that this sort of thing has become fairly commonplace. At this rate, unusual activity is going to have to be addressed in the curriculum, thought Celestia. Seeing little point in delaying, she stepped forward and levitated the microphone up to her muzzle. “Good morning, everyone. I apologize for not organizing this as soon as the day began, but I was not aware of how… severe the situation was,” said Celestia. There were a few chuckles, but there were far more eyerolls. “At any rate, I believe I don’t have a great deal to say, as I have no better understanding of the situation than most of you. Classes will be suspended until this matter is resolved, which hopefully won’t take too long,” said Celestia as she looked at Sunset Shimmer. Sunset gave an awkward cough. “I… uh… already contacted Princess Twilight. I suspect this one will probably call for her help. But rest assured, We’re going to do everything we can to fix this,” said Sunset. “I am glad to hear that. In the meantime, I was hoping a few volunteers would be willing to help me determine how far this has spread. Or at the very least, help me inform those who didn’t come here today how serious this is,” said Celestia. Several ponies in the crowd raised their hooves.