“Are you sure you understood what I meant, Principal,” Sunset said as they walked out to the oak tree in the front schoolyard, “when I said I would help you with anything?”
Truth be told, Sunset was secretly furious that the first thing Principal Celestia would entrust her with during the new school year was to help her with the upkeep of a tree that had barely gotten enough funding to get planted in the first place. Yet as they strolled out to the front campus, Sunset had no choice but to carry a stepladder for the principal and bear with it. She had hoped the duties she had volunteered herself for would have been of the more managerial kind, though.
“Would you rather I offer you some paperwork, Sunset?” Celestia chuckled. They reached the base of the small tree and Sunset unfolded the small stepladder. “Nothing like budgeting at seven-thirty in the morning, right?”
“I wouldn’t mind that, actually,” Sunset commented as she planted the ladder at the base of the trunk. If I’ve learned anything about this world, the more damning legal info on your enemies, the better. “We shouldn’t do a job meant for a groundskeeper.”
“And who’s to say that you will never be a groundskeeper? If I recall, you have not listed what you plan to do after high school yet,” Celestia stepped on to the ladder and began inspecting the hornet’s nest that was the intended target of their expedition.
“Yeah, me, a groundskeeper,” Sunset snorted. “Watch me trim these hedges with my A Plus in Calculus.” Sunset would have been offended, but she had already reached that point when she arrived at school early. The principal may not be the Princess, but her mannerisms were just similar enough to bring Sunset’s blood to a simmer. It was only the thought of her eventual domination that let her conceal how much she wanted to kick the step ladder from under the woman’s feet. Just a glance to Sunset’s right was the portal that brought her to this world, and it was a good reminder of who she really wanted to torment. Sunset tried to save some of her energy for the real Princess.
Celestia frowned and stepped back down the ladder. “You know better than anyone that your hedge designs would be the most sought-after in the neighborhood. See if you can twist the ladder a few degrees left for me. I don’t want to spray this nest at a poor angle.”
There was no point in continuing the question of Sunset’s future; there would not be one for her on this side of the mirror. It had been about a year and a half since she appeared in Canterlot City, and all of that time had been devoted to plotting her eventual coup: gaining the trust and admiration from the entire student body and staff was the easiest way to keep her secret ambitions away from dangerous eyes, and it would prove the perfect shield once she started to take what was hers by some dirtier methods. One of the current trust-gaining exercises she was testing out was offering any aid to Principal Celestia possible. Somehow that translated to dealing with a godforsaken hornet nest before Sunset’s coffee had fully kicked her body into gear.
Sunset shifted. “Attacking a hornet nest before we’ve even started the school day is not the best idea. Can’t we do this after school?” She had gotten awfully good at phrasing criticism as questions over the years.
“It’s going to get foggy in the afternoon, and stay that way for a while longer. I know we are not fully protected, but if this is not taken care of now, it will be stuck here for the next week or so. Would you like a swarm of hornets to show up next Friday?” Celestia was, of course, referring to the Fall Formal next week.
It was Sunset’s second Fall Formal, and she felt the pressure of each approaching day. Once Sunset inevitably won Princess, she was going to begin pushing her limits on how far she could control the student body. She had made sure to take control of the Planning Committee so the night was decided in her favor from the start. A surprise wasp attack would not be welcome.
Celestia glared at the nest as she stomped up the ladder. “This is also a personal matter. I have put too much time, money, and effort into growing this tree, and I am not about to let a bunch of bugs claim it as their own.” She put on a frown of exaggerated indignation, which still caused Sunset to shy away, “No, if today is not enough to finish them, I will come back tomorrow with another can. I must protect my students from them!” She dropped the act and smiled down at Sunset from the top step. “That is, only if someone will be there to keep the ladder steady.”
Sunset returned the smile, ignoring the bile that rose up her throat when receiving a look so similar to her former mentor. “Of course, Ms. Celestia,” Your shitty tree won’t even make it through the winter. “Shall we?”
“We shall. Be prepared to run away.” Celestia climbed up the ladder, aerosol can of wasp spray primed and ready to fire. The actual wasp nest looked typical for its kind: gray, round, and layered with a small hole sticking out of the bottom for entrance and exit. Sunset saw Celestia wobble slightly on the top step.
“Maybe you should take your heels off first?” Although it would have been enjoyable to see Celestia slip, Sunset didn’t feel like helping with an incident report.
Celestia barely acknowledged Sunset’s question, her gaze focused on the nest. She pulled both heels off before returning to position, shaking the can in preparation. She extended it up to the hive’s entrance and released the spray for a solid ten seconds.
Sunset was practically already running before anything had happened. She had encountered wasps before, and one encounter was too many. Sweat trickled down her brow as Celestia inched back down the ladder.
Nothing came out of the nest. Celestia slowly stepped down the last step before motioning Sunset farther back with a flick of her wrist. They stood still, gazes never faltering in the direction of the ticking time bomb that was almost certainly going to blow.
After a excruciatingly long amount of time, nothing appeared. Celestia wiped her brow, and laughed. “Well, it looks like we made a mountain of a mole hill! Or maybe a wasp nest of a beehive, considering—”
An army of yellow hornets bolted out of the small hole, gunning for Sunset and Celestia. Sunset backed away quickly before turning around into a sprint. She spared a glance behind her to see that the principal had not done the same. Celestia fell backward onto the ground, and threw up her arms in a weak attempt to shield off the bees. “Aw, shit!” Sunset turned around and ran back to Celestia.
“Stay away, Sunset! I’ll be fine!” A hornet zoomed forward and stung Celestia’s forearm, eliciting a small gasp of shock from the teacher. Sunset ignored her warnings and grabbed Celstia by the shoulder in an attempt to drag her away. If this were any other situation I would be leaving her to rot. A flurry of hornets began to fly toward them as Sunset toppled on her back. The hornets were quickly outpacing the two’s backward stumble. Sunset noticed a few students in the corner of her eye who must have just arrived for the day. She shot panicked glances their direction, hoping the message got across. It was not fast enough, however. The swarm caught up, and Sunset shielded her face from the oncoming barrage of stings.
Things finally start turning my way, and now I’ll have made a fool of myself in front of the school. I can’t win Princess with a face full of bee stings. This is why I need to stick to my plans—I have control and I don’t have to deal with shitty principals and trees and random outings on someone else’s whim. I'd already be flying through the sky with my own pair of wings, able to dodge and weave away from any stings from any—where are the stings?
Sunset peeked an eye open. The hornets had stopped in midair and turned away from the two. Suddenly, the swarm flew off to the left of Sunset, completely off the school grounds. Celestia was unharmed as well, albeit shocked by the hornets’ fickle nature. “What . . .”
The two sat up and saw that many students had crowded around to see what had happened. I am so going to spin this into the greatest story ever. Sunset immediately jumped to action, fussing over the principal and making sure her one sting didn’t hurt. She pointed at a random student and told them to grab the school nurse. While they waited for the nurse, Sunset helped Celestia up. The principal brushed off her clothing and sighed. “That wasn’t supposed to happen,” she murmured.
Sunset turned to the crowd. “Alright folks, nothing to see here! I’m just helping Ms. Celestia out. Go on with your day.” She smirked.
The crowd began to disperse as the nurse ran up to the two. Celestia waved her away, too no avail. “It’s nothing, really. I’m fine, " The nurse made Celestia explain what happened and bandaged up the sting on her forearm. The gave a quick warning to Celestia and walked away.
Sunset and Principal Celestia found themselves alone again. The bell to start the day had rang a few minutes prior. The two began walking to the building. “Well, Ms. Celestia? I think we know how much worse that should have gone.”
Celestia winced. “Sunset, it was irresponsible of me to put you in that situation. I should have thought of any potential injury that could have come to you, but I misjudged the severity of what we were dealing with, ” She sighed. “Do you know why I wanted to be the one to fix the tree?”
“Enlighten me.” If this turns into a lesson I’m going to scream.
Celestia reached the front door to the building and inspected herself in the reflection of the glass. “Oh dear. I look like quite the mess already, with my pants covered in dirt and all. I think I must seem more like a burnt-out teacher than a principal."
"Everyone here knows what happened, Principal," Sunset said. "We all know the work you put in, and no one will judge you for not always looking your best." There are a lot of other things to judge, though.
"Yes, but you have spent time with me, and know more about my personality. To a stranger, I am presented as a mess. Wouldn't it be nice if anyone could see our whole selves at first glance? Not just our physical qualities, though; the intangible, abstract features—like motivation, intelligence, emotion—they make us us just as much as the shape of our muscles and the color of our skin. Maybe an acute observer could see some of those things through the eyes or the smile, but most spend their lives never getting a good look at themselves, outside and in.”
God dammit. “Okay, sure. Wrap around to how this relates to a tree.”
“Well, if we cannot see our inner selves in the mirror, perhaps there is another way. By investing those aspects of our lives into something else, to see that grow and change because of our actions, I think we might get a better glimpse at who we really are. It’s why I have been the sole caretaker of the tree. If it withers and dies this winter, it means that I do not have the fortitude to survive hardship, and that my sustainity, my fervor for life, is not as strong as I believe it to be. But if it lives, and continues to grow years and years after I’m gone, then others will be able to look in my mirror and see what truly made me special, without ever seeing my face at all. The wasp nest put that future in jeopardy, so I felt personally obligated to get rid of it.”
Sunset scowled. “Don’t let your ego get to your head, principal. It’s not even your own tree. The school had it installed. Also, your whole job is to teach students. Have you ever even thought about using your occupation as a mirror," Sunset spat, "or maybe using something that couldn’t get destroyed by a thunderstorm?”
Celestia gave one of those smiles that made Sunset’s veins course with electric anger; it was like she knew something that Sunset didn’t, but felt no need to clue her in. “I have.”
Sunset took a deep breath, hoping her face wasn’t as red as she felt it was. The principal always knew how to get on her nerves. She could not tell if her heart was thumping so loud that it could be heard across the school, or if a march was commencing on the school grounds. At a second glance, there was no way her heart was beating that loud, or that steadily. She looked at Celestia, who was peering back at the tree.
“Do you hear that?” Sunset asked. A swarm of hornets was returning to the nest from the direction of the Canterlot High Statue. However, unlike the yellow hornets from before, they were glossy black, with a dark, mystical green sheen on their wings. Every single wasp flew in the same rhythm, their total wingbeats performing a cadence of sound that never seemed to fall out of tempo. They swarmed the tree and filed into the nest one by one, thump, thump, thump.
“And it looks like I could not even get rid of the wasps. Well, that’s what I get for picking a tree from the Everfree. You know, they say there’s bad voodoo in that forest, ” Celestia concluded.
“Yeah, tell the school to keep a wide berth. Those didn’t look like the same hornets.” Then again, a few hornet swarms might do some of these students some good.
Celestia opened the door for Sunset, and they stepped inside. “That is something to worry about for another day. Sunset, you helped me today, despite your own worries which, in hindsight, were completely justified. If you need anything from me in return, anytime, then just ask. I will be more than happy to help you.” She started to move to her office. “Now get on to class. I’ll see you at the Formal Committee meeting tomorrow, Sunset!”
Sunset gave her best attempt at a sincere smile. “Thanks Miss Celestia, that means a lot. And of course, see you there!” Sunset turned around to go to her first class of the day. Her smile molded into a devilish grin when she recalled Celestia’s offer.
Jackpot.
The lunch bell rang, and Sunset took a few extra moments to leave the classroom behind everyone else. The more people that could see her, the better. With a swagger in her step and a smirk on her face she made her way down to the cafeteria. Between each of her classes in the morning, multiple people would stop in the hallway to chat with her, and many asked how the events before school actually went down. Lunchtime proved to be even more fruitful in spreading her version of what happened.
The wonder of a few well-placed rumors allowed Sunset to shift the story from: The principal and I almost got attacked by hornets to: The principal got attacked, but I saved her before things got really bad. Some kids went as far as thanking her or congratulating her. They’re treating me like a saint. If they took a second to actually think about it, I wouldn’t be able to take advantage of them so easily.
It may have seemed to the other students that she was enjoying the extra burst of attention in the morning—and she was, definitely—but it was actually her overactive imagination at play. Her hand slipped into the left pocket of her leather jacket and clasped around her favorite device since entering the human world: a small USB flash drive. It was the perfect blackmail container, and when she figured out how to use it, she began compiling the secrets of every student in the school. It wasn’t too hard for most of them. If the Queen Bee wanted to be your friend, a few small secrets were no big deal. After the Formal, however, those secrets would slowly start to trickle out about people who stood in her way. She almost shivered with anticipation just imagining how the same people who currently admired her would soon be stuck under her thumb.
Sunset entered the cafeteria and walked over to her table full of nobodies who had convinced themselves that they were somebodies. Their vanity makes me sick. She would not let any other type of person get as close to her, though; conceited kids were the easiest to take control of. They won’t even realize that I’ve made them my pawns as long as I convince them that they’re closer to a knight. She sat down at the table and began to engage in pleasantries with the names and faces she would only remember when she needed something from them. Shortly following Sunset was the only member of the table who did not fit the typical label.
“Sunset, you’re not gonna believe this, but the lunch-lady just said she would save me a couple leftover hot dogs so I could eat them tomorrow too!” Flash Sentry sat down and dug in to his two hot dogs. He was, in Sunset’s mind, a moron. However, the moron rivaled her influence in school, especially over the boys. Instead of crushing him, she decided to string the guy along until he was practically melting in her arms. They were not officially dating—Sunset gagged almost every time she had to say that—but Sunset was planning to ask him to the Fall Formal as more than friends sometime this week.
Flash continued to stuff his face with cafeteria hot dogs as Sunset responded. “Wow, Flash, how much did you pay her this time?”
He feigned shock, mouth still full of chewed-up bun. “I’ll have you know it was out of the kindness of her heart. Speaking of acts of kindness . . .” Flash swallowed, “I heard you got into a bit of a situation earlier today.”
Sunset connected the dots. “Oh, this morning? Well, lets just say that we might have needed Luna to take over for the day if I wasn’t there.” She might have needed to even if I was, but he doesn’t need to know that.
Flash laughed. “That’s my girl! Thursday morning and she’s already saving the principal!” Sunset winced as he slapped her on the back, hoping that none of the mustard on his hand found a new home on her coat. “You know, I could tell something had you feeling good today. I’d love to see that more often,” He threw an infatuated gaze at her that would probably have been considered cute between young lovers, but it just made her feel like taking a bath.
Flash suddenly pulled out his phone and snapped a picture, startling Sunset. “What are you doing, Flash?”
He flipped his phone around. “I’m adding a picture of you to my album on MyStable!”
Sunset blinked. “MyStable?” Her one weakness was her lack of understanding of technology. Flash was the closest thing to a confidant in that regard—she played off her lack of knowledge as a cute quirk—so every time some new media platform showed up, he would introduce her to it. Usually she was weeks behind everyone else, much to her displeasure.
“You haven’t heard of MyStable yet? It’s like Facehoof except there’s way more stuff to do on it. You need to make an account. Nearly everybody in school’s got one already.” He began shoveling french fries in his mouth.
“I guess I'll make an account tonight then,” Sunset answered. Another social media platform, huh. Another way to take care of some students, then. She began to drown out Flash’s childish ramblings as she plotted a new pathway of control. Flash offered her an apple slice out of the corner of her eye. She refused.
Sunset was the only person in the school who, as far as any of the students knew, did not eat lunch, ever. The principal actually worried that she had no money to eat with and introduced her to the lunch program the school had, but Sunset still refused. The Princess had always told her that sharing a meal was one of the most humbling and respectful acts somepony could easily perform to forge a friendship. The thought of lowering herself to the level of meager children was unthinkable to Sunset, so she only ate when no one was around. It wasn’t like she needed any energy for the schoolwork, anyway.
Still, Flash tried to offer her food, to console her, to spend time with her, and to be the compassionate boyfriend that every girl desired, but he would never truly understand Sunset. He wore his naivete on his sleeve; he could pretend to be a young adult as much as he wanted, but he was only as mature as his childlike glee when he got an extra hot dog from the lunch-lady. She almost thought there was a part of him that recognized that fact, but he was too hopeless and in love to try and grow up. That was fine by her; if he was too inexperienced to realize she was a red flag, then she might as well take advantage of it.
Sunset stood up. “I’ll send you a friend request after school today, Flash. Talk to you later tonight?”
He flashed a smile. “You bet!”
Sunset strolled out of the cafeteria, not bothering to say any more.
The final school bell rang, and Sunset raced out the school doors onto the front campus. As usual, she found herself in the middle of the crowd, full of students ready to head home for the day.
As she passed the tree that had caused her so much trouble this morning, she noticed that something had changed to the wasp nest. It had stayed about the same size, but the edges had grown rougher, and a few more holes dotted across the surface. The larger bottom hole was starting to form into a point like a tiny stalactite. The muted gray of the nest in the morning had taken on a slightly green complexion, as if it was starting to sicken. Most students were giving the tree a wide berth, she included.
Principal Celestia was standing in front of the Canterlot High Statue—if the portal was open, Sunset could have probably pushed her in—and saying goodbyes to many of the students in front of her. Sunset swerved around and walked out of her vision, hoping not to get caught in a conversation.
Sunset managed to get around her and reach her bus, but not before Celestia offered a wave and a smile in her direction. She returned the sentiment with a weak smile before stepping onto the bus and grabbing a seat in the back. As usual, she made it very clear that no one was allowed to sit next to her, even if the bus was completely full. It had been hard to reach the level of solitude at first when so many people liked her, but she found that casting a certain aura of aloof importance was enough to make no one feel worthy of sitting next to her.
She began to let her mind drift over her day, recounting all the ways she had advanced her goals, and what she needed to plan on doing tomorrow. As long as she stuck to her plan and prepared for any interferences, Equestria was practically hers already.
As she stared out the window, a wasp landed right in front of her on the other side of the glass. It scampered off to the side, almost like it was peeking at Sunset while in a game of hide and seek. While she had convinced herself that the wasps were black at their first arrival , on closer inspection, its wings, abdomen, and thorax were all shaded a dark, mystical green. It was also three times the size of the hornets from before. The bug did not seem to want to engage her , and there was a glass window in between the two, so she decided to ignore it and hope it would fly off when the bus began to move.
Outside, Principal Celestia was still saying goodbye to the students before the buses took off. Suddenly, something slammed into her legs. Fortunately she managed step off to the side before she received any damage, and she spun around to see what had bumped into her.
A high school girl had fallen on the ground in front of the statue, right where she was standing. The only possible way she could have gotten the momentum to hit Celestia was if she had somehow hopped over the rearing horse, but that was near impossible for someone of the girl’s stature.
Celestia leaned down and helped her up on to wobbly legs. “Are you okay?” She got a closer look at the girl and saw that her limbs were almost on the verge of going limp; her muscles were nonexistent. Her lavender skin was abnormally pallid, but most of it was covered up by a purple skirt with long boots up to her knees. Still, the girl seemed full of more energy than she thought was possible in such a frail body. The girl panted faster as she spun around, taking in her surroundings, running her hands across her body like she was patting herself down. She eventually looked up at Celestia and began hyperventilating again.
“P-P-Princess?” The girl asked.
Celestia frowned. “I think you might be confused. Take a minute to calm down. I think you mean, principal?”
The girl’s face contorted as she began mumbling to herself. Celestia could not pick up most of it, but it seemed to be gibberish that she would not have understood anyway. She seemed to reach a conclusion until she scrunched up in confusion once again. After a quarter of a minute the girl snapped out of her reverie and stared up at Celestia.
“Who are you?”
Celestia blinked. “I’m the principal of this school,” she motioned to the building, “and I think you fell on the ground too hard. Come inside and we’ll look at you in the nurse’s office.” Celestia was beginning to actually think a hospital trip was in order.
The girl backed up. “No, no, nonono. I need to go.” She stepped out of the way of Celestia before dropping back onto the ground. Celestia jumped forwards to pick her back up until she saw that the girl was crawling forward on all fours.
“Um, if you can’t stand, I really do need to take you to the nurse’s office.” The girl looked back at Celestia before glancing around the campus wide-eyed at all the bipedal students.
“Everypony’s on . . . two legs?” She stepped up and began her best at imitating the students while Celestia tried to decide if she should laugh or start dialing 911.
The girl continued to flounder around before Celestia walked up to her. “Is there something you need here? Let me help you.” The girl paused, and nearly fell back down before catching herself on Celestia’s arm.
“Sunset Shimmer. I need to see a mare called Sunset Shimmer,” she pleaded, “as fast as possible.”
Celestia straightened the haggard girl out and got her back on her feet. “Well, Sunset just got on the school bus. I’m sorry, but only students are allowed on the bus. You will have to wait until she is off of it.”
The girl glanced at the row of school buses. “Which one?”
Celestia looked over at Sunset’s bus. “I can’t tell you that.”
The girl got back down on all fours. “No, but your eyes can. Sorry! ” She immediately set off in a gallop toward the school bus. Celestia tried to catch up, but it was too late. Just as the girl got back on her feet and stumbled up the steps, the door closed behind her and the buses began to file out of the schoolyard.
Celestia sighed in defeat. “Well, at least a girl who can barely walk won’t cause too much trouble.” She rested her head in her palms. “I’m not going to hear the end of this one.”
The lavender girl had swooped into the bus and gave a nervous nod to the driver. She tried to walk into the aisle, but she found that her leg movements from before were much too long and awkward to successfully navigate the small space. She scanned the bus and saw that only one seat was open in the far back, next to a girl facing the window. Clutching the sides of each booth, she slowly pushed herself through the bus, blushing and turning her head away from the snickers and humored gazes of the students she passed along the way.
Sunset heard a commotion at the front of the bus only to see the girl lumbering down the aisle to her seat. She cast a glare in the girl’s direction, but it only made her move faster. Despite Sunset clearly showing a lack of interest in sharing her spot, the girl reached the seat and slumped down next to Sunset with a groan.
Sunset stared at the girl who had the guts to sit next to her, trying to quell the twitching of her eye. She must be new. Everyone knows to respect my space. The girl turned to Sunset and offered a wan, shaky smile. “Hi there! My name is Twilight Sparkle, ” She threw out her hand in what looked to be an attempt at a handshake, except she had balled her fist up to the point where her knuckles were white.
Sunset humphed and turned back to the window, showing more interest in the wasp on the other side, which had decided to cling on for the bus ride.
Twilight tried again. “Sorry, I was just wondering if you knew a mare on here named Sunset Shimmer? I have some important stuff to talk about with her.” Great. Another poor girl that thinks I’ll magically make her popular. I almost wish I could; it’d make it a lot easier to scheme.
“Don’t know her,” Sunset curtly responded as Twilight frowned and sat back down on the bus. Sunset pulled out her phone and began checking her Facehoof. That reminds me. I need to make a MyStable account. Sunset found the app and began downloading it. She glanced at Twilight Sparkle, who was peering at Sunset’s phone, wide-eyed, like it was a magical artifact. “Is there something you need to say?”
The girl jumped up, and gave a sheepish grin. “Well, if you don’t mind me asking, what . . . Is it?”
Sunset looked down. “Cellphone.”
“Oh . . . Okay.”
The bus ride continued on as Sunset neared her stop. She had set up her MyStable account and began adding friends to her page; her list was filling up rapidly, and some people had already friended her back. Flash sent her the picture he took at lunchtime: she didn’t look half-bad.
He threw a stupidly flirtatious message alongside it: New supermodel: Sunset Shimmer??????
Suddenly, Twilight let out a gasp.
Sunset flipped around and saw that Twilight had been peeking over her shoulder at her MyStable user page. Shit. “You lied to me,” she choked out, “You’re Sunset Shimmer.”
The bus lurched to a halt. Sunset grabbed her bag and jumped up. “Oops, looks like its my stop. See you another time, I suppose.” She stepped over Twilight’s legs before racing up the aisle. Twilight got up to follow her, but her lack of energy and uncoordination had her rapidly falling behind Sunset.
“Hold on a minute! I need your help!” She called.
“Well, you’ll have to ask for it when I’m at school. I’ve got more important things to deal with.” Sunset stepped off the bus and onto sidewalk. She began a brisk walk in the direction of her apartment. The bright day from before had suddenly darkened; clouds filled the sky, and a light fog began to drift into Sunset’s vision.
Twilight got down from the last step of the bus and fell on to the ground. The school bus started up again and drove off to its next stop, leaving the two behind in a cloud of exhaust.
“Sunset, wait!”
She did not bother to respond.
“Sunset, I need your help! Equestria will fall!”
She stopped, and turned around. “What did you just say?”
Twilight Sparkle got up to her knees, unable to look Sunset in the eye. “Equestria, Sunset. It’s been taken over. Princess Celestia has been overthrown . . . she sent me to find you.”
Sunset gaped at the girl. “What . . .”
“We are the only two Equestrians who aren’t stuck in a changeling pod.” Twilight steeled herself and stood up, staring into Sunset’s eyes. “I need your help.”