Starlight Glimmer and Moondancer trotted into the castle library. They both regarded the small work area Twilight had set up for the geodes from the other world and made their way toward a separate table on which a few papers sat.
Moondancer sorted through a few of those papers and placed even fewer into her saddlebag. She paused to look at one of them.
“Gosh, seems like forever since Twilight and I were last working on this paper,” Moondancer said.
Starlight laughed. “You can say that again.”
“It will be nice to get back to this soon. I have been itching to finish it.”
“Stuff happens.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m just surprised you’ve been really sticking around through all of this. You’ve been around here a lot lately. Not that I’m complaining.”
Moondancer giggled. “I have, haven’t I? It has been nice getting to work with you… and everypony else that came along.” She stuffed one final paper into her saddlebag and closed it up. “There. That should be everything I need to take. I can leave everything else here.”
“Can’t imagine Twilight would like it if you took everything.”
“Maybe not. But she’s going to be too busy working on putting those things back together,” Moondancer said, motioning to the geode shards. “I’ll probably be back from Canterlot around the time she gets done. Whatever. I have enough to at least be able to touch this stuff while I’m there. What will you be doing?”
Starlight rolled her hoof through the air. “I don’t know. I’ll probably go help out with building the school. Or something. You know, aside from all this that we did with the Memory Stone, I haven’t had much else that I really have needed to do.”
“Oh.”
“Life as a grad student is weird.”
Moondancer’s glasses slipped down her muzzle as she eyed Starlight. “Grad student? I don’t know if I would call you a grad student.”
Starlight frowned and turned to directly face her. “Huh? But I did graduate. And I’m still learning things here and there about friendship.”
“You’re not doing any of that in any official capacity, right?”
“No?”
“Sounds more like you’re a postdoc to me.”
Starlight blinked. “Postdoc…? Don’t you need a doctorate to be a postdoc?”
Moondancer tentatively nodded. “Yes… but—”
“I don’t have one of those.”
“Okay. But let’s be honest: you’re not actively studying anything. You’re not working toward a thesis or anything. You’re just here to do work. Gaining skills and experience to do things later on. You’re a postdoc.”
“You can’t call me a postdoc if I don’t even have a doc. I’m a grad student. But there’s no precedent for what I am since there’s never been a friendship curriculum before.” Starlight nodded. “At least not until we get this school built.”
Moondancer pushed her glasses back up and scratched her chin. “Then you’re interning. Or apprenticing.”
Starlight facehooved. “I mean I guess.”
“Come on. You can at least get your title right.”
“I don’t have a title, okay. I just—I live here. That’s about it. How about I’m Twilight’s roommate?”
“No. More like she’s the landlord and you’re some tenant.”
“Oh!” Starlight stamped the floor. “Buck this conversation. Buck it to Tartarus.”
“Sorry,” Moondancer said as she deflated. “I just like to be particular about some things.”
Starlight sighed. “I know. I know. That’s not really my speed. I do appreciate that about you though, Moondancer.”
Moondancer smiled back.
“You know what? Let’s talk about something else. How about that? You’ve still got a heck of a lot of time before the train leaves, right?” Starlight pointed at the documents. “What exactly is it that you and Twilight have been working on? I’m kinda curious to know what that’s all about.”
Moondancer grinned from ear to ear. “Since you’re asking, sure. I’d be happy to give a rundown on this. The broad purpose is pretty simple…”
* * *
Sunset Shimmer, carrying Wallflower along, stumbled out of the wood and into the parking lot. The two hobbled along in silence, taking their time with every step. The sun had dropped a little lower in the intervening time although it wasn’t quite close to sunset yet.
Sunset looked up. And she paused. Wallflower subsequently looked up.
The two spotted Princess Twilight sitting on the curb just outside the rear entrance to the school. Twilight sat there resting her chin on her hands as she stared at the concrete. Twilight looked up and broke from her stupor to stand.
Sunset suppressed a growl and led Wallflower over. The two approached and then stopped a few feet apart from Twilight. No one said anything at first. Twilight’s eyes briefly fell on Wallflower who shrunk in response.
“What are you doing out here?” Sunset eventually asked.
Twilight pursed her lips and kicked the ground. “It’s complicated. But I’m mostly just out here thinking about things.”
“It’s complicated?” Sunset narrowed her eyes. “You tried to follow me out here? Didn’t you? After I told you not to?”
Twilight held up her hands. “We didn’t! Not… physically, anyway. But… we didn’t want to risk you going alone either.” She pantomimed an object the size of her head. “So we sent this… flying metal thing out so that we could watch from a distance.” She chuckled. “Wouldn’t you know, it got stuck on some bushes, so someone has to go get it eventually.”
Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose. “You spied on us?”
“We did. We wanted to make sure you were okay out here. What if a fight broke out? What if something else happened, and she killed you again somehow? We wouldn’t know!”
“Twilight.”
Twilight retreated. “No! Really! We just wanted to make sure you were safe. I wanted to make sure you were safe. That’s what I’ve wanted all this time.”
Sunset let her head fall into her hands as she shook her head. After several moments of wiping her face, she let out a snorty sigh. “I know… I know. What did you hear?”
Twilight’s expression fell as she straightened up. “Exactly what we needed to hear all along.”
Sunset exchanged glances with Wallflower and then let go a frown.
“I’ve… well, not just me… we’ve been pretty hypocritical through all this. But me especially. I’ve just been so… overwhelmed. It’s gotten the better of my emotions. I don’t know if you really understand this, Sunset, but this… this hurt me bad.”
“Because you’re in love with me.”
Twilight shuddered. Wallflower gasped.
“You were and still are,” Sunset murmured. “And the real kicker is… we both know from reading my diary that I was in love with you back.”
Wallflower broke away from Sunset so she could see the both of them at once.
A grimace spread across Twilight’s face as she hugged herself. She eventually managed a solemn nod. “How long have you known for?”
“I figured it out a while back. Not long after you exploded. I get it, Twilight. Doesn’t make what you did right,” Sunset said.
“Yes. I know. I needed to be reminded of that. I should not have tried to drag…” she paused to glance at Wallflower as if acknowledging her presence for the first time, “you… to Tartarus. I was wrong. I should not have done that.”
Wallflower swallowed and nodded solemnly.
“Make no mistake,” Twilight continued, her tone sharpened, “my feelings about you haven’t changed. I despise you, Wallflower Blush.”
“I know,” Wallflower groaned.
Sunset made fists and glared daggers at Twilight, but Twilight made no indication she even registered Sunset.
Twilight stared at Wallflower for a moment more before her expression loosened up and she sighed through her nose. “But…” Her next words visibly climbed her throat. “Maybe someday, somehow, you’ll change my mind.”
Wallflower folded her hands together and kicked the ground. “I… understand. I think I do. I have a lot to make up for. I did a lot of horrible things, I guess. I took memories. I guess it doesn’t really matter that it was just memories of me; I took things that weren’t mine. And then I let it go to my head. And…”
Twilight stared.
“I have a lot of people to apologize to. Sunset…” She shrugged. “Her friends, the rest of the school. And I guess… you. I’m sorry, Princess Twilight.”
Twilight crossed her arms. “And?”
Wallflower’s eyes widened and she shuddered. “And? A-And…”
“Twilight,” Sunset interjected.
“I do not accept your apology,” Twilight said.
Sunset motioned at Wallflower. “She said she was sorry!”
“It’s going to take more than that!” Twilight snapped. “That’s why I am asking. And?”
Wallflower’s expression quivered and she sucked in a breath. “I… I don’t… I don’t know what I can do. I don’t have anything to offer. All I had was the garden. No one cares about that.” She paused. “The only thing that I do that anyone actually cares about is the yearbook.”
“Okay.” Twilight twirled her hands, motioning for Wallflower to continue.
“I… I can’t bring anyone’s memories back. Not anymore. I’m sorry! I know that’s what you’d like me to do.”
Sunset glanced between the two of them and then put a hand on Wallflower’s shoulder. “Maybe I could say something here. A big part of how I was able to learn a lot about the past was with those yearbooks. Those things were really helpful.”
Wallflower shook her head. “That’s… great. But I didn’t make any of the ones from the past few years. I wasn’t on the committee then. This is my first year making the yearbook. Which… it’s almost done. And it’s come along great!”
“You’re working to preserve the memories we do have, right?” Sunset asked.
Wallflower blinked. “Y… yeah.”
“Okay,” Twilight said. “That’s a start. But that only goes so far. Especially when they’re everyone else’s memories.”
“I know.” Wallflower kicked the ground again. “So I’ve never had anything of my own to share. I’ve never had friends before.”
“You’ve got a friend in me,” Sunset said.
Wallflower frowned. “Sure, but…”
“Maybe if we do some things here and there, we might get you some more friends. New friends.”
Wallflower opened her mouth to speak but then paused. Her eyes flickered as if the words Sunset had spoken were still processing. She blinked and gasped and looked up to see the two of them. “Maybe…”
Twilight raised an eyebrow.
Wallflower straightened up. “Princess Twilight… I know I’m not at all good at these things. I don’t know the first thing about friendship. I won’t know a lot of what to do.” She shook her head. “I can’t bring back old memories. I can’t do anything for the ones we haven’t already saved in the yearbook.
“But maybe… you know, if I get a little help… maybe I can make new memories?”
Sunset gasped under her breath and watched Twilight for a reaction.
Twilight’s expression remained unchanged for a moment. She leaned forward. “That’s what you want to try?”
Wallflower sucked in a breath and nodded. “Yes.”
After a long, uncomfortable pause, Twilight’s features loosened. And she nodded. “Alright. Then you’ll do that. Don’t let me down.”
Wallflower folded her hands together and cracked the smallest of smiles. That prompted an even smaller smile on Twilight’s face in return.
“Well,” Sunset said, motioning to Wallflower, “we’re going to go inside. You should go and… uh… get that metal thingy from the bushes.”
Twilight giggled. “Yes. I should go do that, shouldn’t I? I’ll let you go then.” She started forward.
“And Twilight,” Sunset said, grabbing Twilight’s shoulder as she passed by.
“Hmmm?”
“Uh… why don’t we chat later? About you and me. Okay?”
A bit more color appeared on Twilight’s face. She grinned and nodded. “Yeah.”
After giving Twilight a parting pat, Sunset led Wallflower toward the school. And she found herself walking with greater, taller stride and she likewise felt a smile on her own face.
* * *
Crystal Faire sat in the shadow of the Castle of Friendship, watching the water in the large pond before her. The pond itself had always been there, fed by a waterfall from the nearby hill, but the stone bridge now stretching across it was new as were some strategically placed rocks that created alternate albeit piecewise bridges. The skeletons of structures sat atop a mound across the way. A few ponies worked on moving bricks and wooden planks around toward their eventual homes.
She nodded and took a bite from her veggie sandwich.
“So this is the school,” said a voice, Princess Celestia’s voice, behind her.
Crystal nodded without looking back. “That it is. They broke ground a few days ago, if you would believe it. After all the hurdles, it’s coming together.”
Celestia walked up and sat next to Crystal. “Hurdles indeed.” She chuckled. “I can distinctly remember her trying to bombard me with questions on how to run a school. I just hope she still desires to go through with it.”
“Well, her mind was somewhat off it for a while. Surprisingly so.” Crystal nodded. “But I am sure she still wishes to do this very much.”
“I am glad to hear that. There are many schools out there, but this is the first dedicated to friendship—which I think is a marvelous idea to teach to ponies.”
“Not just ponies. With any luck we will see other kinds of students there; dragons, changelings… perhaps some others of that sort.”
Celestia grinned and nodded sagely. “Of course. Friendship is something that may be shared by all.”
Crystal nodded. She idly glanced at the construction. “Perhaps it would do me some good to take a class there someday.”
Celestia hummed and considered the construction as well. “Perhaps.”
After taking another bite from her sandwich, Crystal sat back. “I must confess… that I might need more than just one class. I do not know for sure, but it might do me well to go full-time… even if just for a while.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I have much to learn. I’ve already been made aware of how… unsupportive I have been for Twilight throughout these events. I have not been such a great friend.”
Celestia pondered it. “If memory serves, you did help our efforts to put the Memory Stone back together.”
“Ah, but that was physical work; that I can handle without issue.” Crystal hummed. “I was inconsiderate of how this affected Twilight on a personal and emotional level. I did not see the degree to which it had consumed her, even after our attempts concluded.”
“I see,” Celestia eventually said at length. “This has been especially hard on her. It was important to me, so I can somewhat imagine how important it was for her.”
“And that was where I failed. In the grand scheme of things, everything that has happened in the past weeks is not important.” Crystal paused and shook her head. “These things are trivial to me. But to the ponies involved, they are important, and I must remember not to treat that as trivial.”
“That is a wise lesson. Recognizing the feelings of those around you and legitimizing them is very important for keeping friendships strong.” Celestia scratched her chin. “I wonder if I ever received a friendship report from Twilight concerning anything similar to that?”
Crystal chuckled and took another bite from her sandwich. After some silence passed, she said, “Well, it is well. Perhaps, in some way, this has led to a change in me. Maybe it is not a trivial change.”
“I suspect many have changed as a result of this.”
“Ah, but I must feel that this is a change for the better. With any luck, we may all come out of this changed better.”
“It sounds as if you are taking your lesson to heart. Good for you.”
Crystal nodded. “I believe that it has been exactly that which has led me to reexamine what outcome there is to be for Wallflower Blush. Tell me, Celestia, what are your thoughts on her?”
At that, Celestia’s expression hardened and she straightened up. Her gaze fell idle on the reflection of the opposite bank and structures thereupon on the water’s surface. “That is hard to say as I have never met her. So the best that I can do is hope that the decision to have her continuing to live as she does is the right one.”
“I stood by that. But now… I am even more certain in it.”
“You are?”
“She was villainous. Not in the same vein as Discord or perhaps Nightmare Moon, even if they have come around. More so like Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer and…” Crystal chuckled. “Well, nonetheless, I am certain that she is redeemable.
“Certainly, there could have been any number of outcomes to all of this. Certainly, Wallflower Blush may have rotted in Tartarus in some timeline. Or she may have acted irrationally and against her punishment, and then would have made her life effectively… ended. Or perhaps she might have tried to achieve exactly that but on her own terms.”
Celestia’s expression twitched, hinting at a flinch.
“But after some thought, I know for certain that the outcome which might heal her the most; might heal us all the most… is if she does get that second chance and find redemption.”
“That won’t be easy.”
“No. This will follow her for a long time.”
After a pause, a grin appeared on Celestia’s face. “But, from the sound of it, Sunset Shimmer faced a similar dilemma and came out of it much better than she was before. There might be hope yet.”
Crystal grinned. “That is true.”
Some bits of wind blew through the area. A few nearby trees rustled in response. Across the way, a few ponies chased some loose papers across the dirt and shortly caught them.
“I too have had something to struggle with from all of this,” Celestia muttered.
“Do tell.”
“I’ve not always been the most communicative on matters that I really should have been. I have kept myself at a distance. I have done that with many ponies, Sunset Shimmer included. I did want to reunite with her, eventually, especially after she had turned around, but I kept my distance. It was only when she came to me to ask for my help that we reunited at all. That was right before she lost her memories.” Celestia shook her head. “I might have very well missed my opportunity altogether in some other life.”
Crystal hummed in acknowledgment.
“Ah, this much I told Twilight as well.” Celestia chuckled and batted the air. “I must say, though, that getting to reconnect with her when we were working on that Memory Stone was a treat.”
Crystal finished the rest of her sandwich and turned to face Celestia. “But it is not enough.”
Celestia similarly turned. “That is the struggle. I feel that I must amend this. I must change here.”
“It sounds like we both have been terrible friends.”
Celestia’s cheeks turned red and she chuckled through a sigh. “It does sound that way, doesn’t it?”
“Well, it is like you said, you waited for her to come to you. And that is the root of the problem. So, if you are ever to overcome this mental obstacle of yours, you must directly challenge that root. Thankfully, the solution is simple:
“You must take the initiative, Celestia. You must make the effort yourself.”
Celestia stared. Her prismatic mane, forever flowing in some ethereal wind, was about the only sign she gave that anything was happening with her at all.
“And let me stop you there before you try to object to my implied suggestion,” Crystal continued. “What I am suggesting that you do is not as dangerous or even unprecedented as you might believe.”
“I don’t know. I have to think about this. I can’t help but feel that what you are suggesting… would cause trouble.”
“Maybe.” Crystal shifted. “But it might be worth it to endure a small amount of trouble just to do what is right, don’t you think?”
Celestia blinked and straightened up. Her expression briefly turned toward the Castle of Friendship which glistened in the sunlight. “Are you certain?”
“You want to reconnect with Sunset Shimmer, right? So go reconnect with her.”
After still and silent thought, one broken only to cast another glance at the castle, Celestia swelled. “I think I will go do that then. Thank you, Crystal Faire.” She flapped her wings and took off.
“And one more thing,” Crystal said, prompting Celestia to pause and look back. She grinned and pointed. “Watch that first step. It’s always a tricky one.”
Grinning back and nodded, Celestia took off for the Castle of Friendship. As she flew, there came to be a moment that, at least from where Crystal sat, Celestia flew in front of the sun and appeared as a silhouette against it.
Crystal herself swelled as she watched for a while and then she eventually stood up. The possibilities of what could happen swam through her head. Some were better than others. But one possibility, one likely possibly, looked bright. That possibility looked right.
Crystal Faire smiled to herself and trotted back toward town. Well, now I have done all that I can. The rest of this is up to all of you, she thought.
* * *
The cafeteria, now that school had concluded for the day, remained empty. The staff had already cleaned all the tables down and locked the doors to the kitchens, so the whole room hung in relative silence save for a couple of separate conversations at two different tables on opposite sides of the room.
Principal Celestia, who sat at one of those tables, folded her hands together and nodded. “I see. That is a development indeed.”
“I suppose if you are willing to give this a chance, we’d be smart to follow your example,” Vice Principal Luna, who sat next to Principal Celestia, nodded. “We’ll be sure to pass this along to the other members of the staff as well.”
Twilight, who sat opposite them, nodded back. “Thank you. I know I don’t have the greatest feelings about Wallflower Blush. But it would be silly to want her to not succeed—hypocritical, probably.”
“That is true. Truly, we all do better when we raise each other up,” Principal Celestia agreed.
After a moment, Vice Principal Luna sighed. “As for those students who tore up Wallflower’s… erm, the garden—I didn’t know we had a garden.”
“We do,” Principal Celestia interjected.
“I would suppose we could give them a day of detention. Justice is one thing. But what they did there is out of line. Not that I’m particularly enthusiastic about having to find out who all was involved.”
“We’ll manage. We always do.”
“Seems like a common thread,” Twilight said with a smile.
She turned in her seat. The other table, some distance away, hosted a gathering of girls. The Rainbooms—Sci-Twi, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy—joined by Trixie sat at the table having a hushed, calm discussion with Wallflower Blush. Sunset stood at the end of the table, overseeing them. A small bout of giggles passed between them all.
“Things seem to always work out in the end,” Twilight concluded.
The glass doors at the front of the room and two new individuals stepped in. The two glanced around and then locked eyes on Twilight.
Twilight stood up. “Starlight Glimmer! Moondancer!”
Starlight waved. “Hey! Glad we found all of you!”
“What are you doing here?”
Starlight pointed over her shoulder into the foyer beyond. “Oh. We had a… friend come by asking if she could see the place. Or something.”
Sunset left the other table long enough to see past Starlight and Moondancer. Her features fell as she presumably caught sight of whoever was in the foyer. She blinked in disbelief. “What…?” she managed to get out before storming toward the doors.
Principal Celestia exchanged glances with Vice Principal Luna and the two similarly stood up. At once, everyone in the cafeteria made their way toward the doors. The foyer itself, with the halls leading from it and the stairways connecting its two levels, lay similarly deserted save for one individual in the center who examined every corner of the room.
Principal Celestia joined the others standing slack-jawed in the doorway joining the cafeteria to the foyer.
The figure stood at Principal Celestia’s height. Her long, flowing hair looked just like her own, containing a mixture of cyan, sapphire blue, aquamarine, and mulberry, and her purple eyes had the same sheen Celestia saw when she looked at her reflection in a mirror. Even the light magenta-ish skin tone matched. But what really caught her eyes was the long, flowing, elaborate gown, completed with gold ornaments, that she wore.
Slowly, majestically, she turned to face them.
“Princess Celestia?” Sunset tried.
Principal Celestia gasped. She even wiped her eyes just to make sure she wasn’t just seeing things. It was her! Or at least, a very good double of her.
And then she glanced between Twilight and Sci-Twi, two counterparts she had already grown accustomed to; somehow, despite how strange it all was. Here now was another counterpart: her counterpart.
“Yes. Hello, Sunset Shimmer,” Princess Celestia replied. “Hello to all of you.”
“Princess!” Twilight exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
“Worry not, Twilight. This is nothing more than a social visit, I hope.” She chuckled as she ran her eyes over all their clothes and then at her gown. “But maybe I am overdressed for this.”
“Not that the portal really gives you much choice there it seems,” Moondancer quipped.
“Incredible…” Principal Celestia wheezed as she stepped forward. The girls parted to let her approach her counterpart. Both carried awestruck, discerning gazes now. “I don’t believe it. You’re my… counterpart.”
“And you are mine. Goodness… Twilight told me about all the counterparts over here. But…” Princess Celestia paused over Vice Principal Luna who gave a nod and a cautious smile before meeting Principal Celestia’s eyes again. “I must say… even that doesn’t completely prepare you for it.”
“You’re not wrong there. We had trouble distinguishing our Twilight from Princess Twilight for a while. We’ve… had practice. It’s still amazing that you are here right now.”
“That it is. And I am glad that I made it. Now, if I may ask, I can readily recognize who most of you are.” Her eyes ran over the Rainbooms. “But I believe a couple of us have not met yet. Who are you?”
Trixie went wide-eyed and bowed. “Your Majesty! I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, the greatest magician who ever lived!” she exclaimed, producing a shower of sparks and smoke from somewhere no one could discern.
Princess Celestia chuckled. “Charmed, O’ Great and Powerful.” She turned. “And you are?”
Wallflower shuddered under Princess Celestia’s gaze.
Applejack clapped her on the shoulder. “This here’s Wallflower Blush,” she said.
Princess Celestia tilted her head. “Oh?” She leaned forward. “So you are the one that stole Sunset Shimmer’s memories.”
Sunset jumped between the two of them. “Uh, yeah, she is. Uh, I should maybe tell you that we’re trying to get cool. Okay?”
Fluttershy also stepped forward, her hands folded together and her head bowed. “We are trying to do that right now. We were just talking about it.”
“Were you now?” Princess Celestia asked.
“Ah, yes,” Rarity said, stepping forward. “I know, it’s a surprise to us as well. But we’ve had a heavy reminder of what we all stood for once upon a time… which we somehow forgot about in this whole mess. So we’re doing something to rectify that.”
“First friendship outing!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
“Yeah. We been comin’ up with some ideas,” Applejack said. “Ya know, things we can do over the weekend. Maybe grow Wallflower like we did Sunset way back when.”
After a thoughtful pause, Princess Celestia smiled and leaned over all of them including Wallflower in particular. “I am glad to hear that. I hope you make some wonderful memories together.”
Wallflower cracked a smile and bowed. “Yes. We will.”
Princess Celestia then turned to Sunset. “It looks like you really are starting your life anew here. I must say that I am thrilled to see that you are moving on just fine.”
“Thanks, Princess. But, uh…” Sunset scratched her head. “Still, what are you doing here? It’s really strange to see you here.”
Princess Celestia straightened up. “Well, that is exactly it, actually.”
Sunset tilted her head. “Huh?”
“Sunset Shimmer, I have been ruminating on the past few years and how our relationship has evolved in that time. I watched you, as your teacher, grow from that filly I first met all that time ago into the... overly confident mare you became. And then you ran away, and that was the end. I still worried for you, of course, and I was thrilled to hear that you had turned yourself around, but I did nothing to try to repair the bridge between us, even when I knew it was something you likely wanted. I have been a teacher to you, Sunset, but I have not been a friend.”
Sunset and the others watched with somber frowns.
“Here you were having started your life anew,” Princess Celestia continued, “and I kept myself distant from it. I regret that. Now you are once again starting your life anew here; in many ways a second chance. So I would like to do things differently this time.
“Sunset Shimmer, I would like to be a part of your life.”
Sunset blinked and straightened up. “You… do?”
“Yes. I would. Even if it is a small part. This world is not mine, after all, and there is Equestria to take care of. But perhaps I can find time here and there to see how you are doing. Go out for tea, or whatever else there is that you do in this world—or Ponyville, for that matter. I want to be a pony that you can readily turn to if you need advice or if you need withers to cry on. All things I know you can find here, but you can get them from me as well.”
“That does sound nice.”
“I am glad that you think so. I’ve come here to see to that… taking the initiative, as it were. I want to see this world for myself, Sunset, so I know what your life is like. I want to see it so that I can understand it and you better.”
Sunset snapped her fingers and then glanced between her friends. “I have an idea. What’s to say we all give Princess Celestia a tour of the school?”
Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “What? Us? Uh, we could do that.”
“First thing we do with our new friend, maybe?” Pinkie Pie added.
“That’s a lovely idea,” Rarity said, jumping in place.
Wallflower cracked a nervous smile and nodded.
Sci-Twi walked up. “We’d be happy to show you around, Your Highness. If that’s okay, of course.”
Princess Celestia nodded and smiled. “That does sound like a wonderful idea. I would be thrilled to accompany you.” She looked up at Principal Celestia. “Would that be alright with you?”
A grin flashed across Principal Celestia’s lips but then she thought about what could happen during the tour. “Fundamentally, yes. I would like you to be able to connect. But it occurs to me that you might cause some confusion for anyone that happens to see you.”
Vice Principal Luna nodded in agreement. “That would be troublesome.”
Princess Celestia chuckled. “I expected that might be the case. But somepony I know told me something fairly wise right before I came. To do what is right might be worth a small amount of trouble in the end.”
At that, Principal Celestia laughed. “That may very well be true.”
“There are two of us already,” Sci-Twi said, motioning to Twilight. “It shouldn’t be that hard to explain.”
“I can always come with,” Twilight added. “I’d like to maybe do this with you all too.”
Principal Celestia shared nods with Vice Principal Luna. “Alright.”
“Then it’s settled!” Applejack exclaimed, shaking an affirmative fist.
Starlight stepped forward. “Moondancer and I are going to head back home, okay? Moondancer has a train to catch.”
Moondancer nodded. “Yeah. Is that alright, Your Highness?”
Princess Celestia looked down at them and smiled. “I do believe I am in good hooves. Thank you for bringing me here.” She turned to the other girls. “Well then, how about you all lead the way?”
With some jubilant cries, they all formed up around Princess Celestia and corralled her into a nearby hallway. They launched into some excited explanations of what the school was and what everything around them, certainly new and unknown to Princess Celestia, was about. And Princess Celestia glided along, enraptured by what they had to say.
Starlight Glimmer turned and slung her arm across Moondancer’s shoulders and the two of them, with one last wave, left through the front doors.
And that left Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna standing alone in the foyer.
After a moment, Principal Celestia chuckled. “Seems like Princess Twilight was right.”
Vice Principal Luna quizzically hummed.
“Things really do tend to work out in the end, don’t they?”
Vice Principal Luna looked down the hall where the girls and the princess had disappeared down and nodded, matching her sister’s smile. “Indeed.”