//------------------------------//
// 12 - Class 
// Story: First Hoof Account 
// by TCC56 
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Perhaps the thing Sunset Shimmer disliked most was waiting. 

In many ways, she understood it was a necessary evil - but that didn't make it less evil. There were too many things to do in life for time to be wasted on hoping somepony would get on with it. 

In this case it was waiting on Princess Celestia and that just made the experience even more uncomfortable. Every time she forced Sunset to wait, it was a 50/50 shot for the reasons. Half the time, it was because she was too busy and would get around to remembering Sunset eventually; the other half, it was a purposeful flex to remind Sunset who was in charge. 

So waiting for the Princess always put Sunset on edge with frustration. And it was worse this time, because it was part of Sunset's punishment. Her 'valuable lesson' of foalsitting because she dared to put Blueblood in his place. And now, instead of doing something important? Sunset Shimmer was waiting in the hallway outside of Celestia's office, wasting her time until the Princess allowed Sunset to enter... and then waste more time escorting a foal around. 

At least the bench was comfortable: thick, once-plush cushions that had been worn down by decades of students sitting outside the office. Most either squirming as they waited for the Princess' blessing on their work or curled up anticipating doom for their transgressions. Few - if any - had sat with the level of irritation Sunset had. And that, in her heart, told her how much better she was. She had none of that pathetic fear or devotion to tie her down.

Minutes passed, ticking by on the pendulum of the overly loud clock. It was old enough for Sunset's great-grandparents to have used it to tell time and the teak masterwork was easily worth as much as a pony's house - yet it sat here in a side hall, almost as an afterthought. Hung by Celestia not because of its value, but simply because she needed a clock outside her office. 

Before Sunset could think further on that (or her own grumbling), the wait came to an end as the office door opened. Princess Celestia was the first out, her size dominating the doorway as she spoke back over her shoulder. "--and I'm certain your daughter will have plenty of opportunity to flourish here!" She turned her head with a smile. "Excellent, and here's just the pony I was expecting." 

The Princess stepped aside, letting the parents and their filly past her. Neither parent struck Sunset as particularly noteworthy - the parents of students rarely were. The filly was worth paying attention to, though. 

She was a little thing - a tad pudgy, but who wasn't at that age? And she was absurdly young: she didn't even have her cutie mark yet. What she did have, however, were glasses like train windows that obscured half her face. The rest of her was almost mundane - a creamy coat the same shade as old paper; a red and purple mane that looked like it was cut with a t-square; the look of being completely overwhelmed that was so common for new students. 

"Sunset," Princess Celestia said with a placid smile, "This is the new student I told you about. Her name is Moondancer."

In response, Sunset put on her fakest smile for the filly. "Hi there. I'm Sunset Shimmer, Princess Celestia's personal student."

"Moondancer will be attending the school next year," Celestia outlined. "Her parents and I are going to be arranging the specifics, and I would like you to take her on a tour while we do that."

A tiny inconsistency scratched at Sunset's mind like a burr under a saddle. "Wait, doesn't she have to pass the entrance exam first?" 

Princess Celestia smiled - that same smile she used when she knew something Sunset didn't. "Actually, Moondancer already passed her exam this past summer. Her parents simply decided it was best for her to stay at home for a year first. She did pass the exam at an exceptionally early age."

Sunset's eyes went from the young filly - flush with embarrassment - to Celestia and then back again. "I see." 

And the Princess took it entirely at face value. "Please bring Moondancer to meet us in the conference room by the Puddinghead Lecture Hall in an hour, Sunset." She gave her student a little nod - then a second to the tiny filly - before walking away with the parents. 

Silence hung between the remaining two until after the Princess and parents had rounded the hallway's corner. Then, finally alone, Sunset turned a critical eye to her young charge. "So they didn't think you could handle it and they held you back, huh." 

It was less question than statement, but the young Moondancer seemed smart enough to understand. She nodded and in a surprisingly frustrated voice, replied with a simple "Yeah."

Sunset gave the filly a pat on the shoulder. "Trust me. I understand that all too well." She smiled down at her kindred spirit - and got a cautious one in return. Then Sunset motioned with her head. "Come on. Let me show you the school and I can give you some pointers on how to overcome ponies underestimating you."

Moondancer's face lit up with almost certainly misplaced eagerness.





Over the next three quarters of an hour, Sunset got a pretty good feel for what kind of filly Moondancer was. She showed zero interest in places like the hoofball field and the music room, but the way her eyes lit up the moment they entered the library brought pleasant memories back to Sunset of her own first days at the school. It helped as well that Moondancer limited her questions to intelligent things - there were no queries about recess or clubs, just strict academics. (Well, plus more than a few questions about what it was like to be the Princess' personal student, but Sunset considered those just common sense curiosity.) 

Sunset had also dropped a few pop quizzes on her - which had actually excited the filly! They were bare-bones, but for Moondancer's age? Sunset considered them to be challenging. And the filly had actually done fairly well: she was certainly well-read, and she was above Cadance's current level of magic theory. Moondancer even knew Meadowbrook's Equation - though she didn't yet understand the theory behind it. 

But that was okay. She was six.

Really, despite that Moondancer was barely old enough to be called a filly rather than a foal, she obviously had greater maturity and intelligence than ponies three or four years her senior. Plus she had managed to pass the entrance exam a year before her peers would attempt it. She showed more interest in knowledge and academics than most of Sunset's classmates, too.

Already in her mind, Sunset was setting up plans for the filly. After all, once she became a princess, she would need a personal student of her own. 

But that was getting ahead of things. Moondancer wouldn't be arriving as a student for another ten months, and Sunset wasn't quite a princess yet. 

Then again, it didn't hurt to lay the groundwork.

Sunset played her card as they left the cafeteria - a place that neither of them particularly cared for. (Sunset took almost all her meals from the far superior Palace chefs, and Moondancer expressed little preference for how she fueled her mind.) As they walked off from it, Sunset asked one simple question. "So where do you want to go next?"

The hesitation from Moondancer told Sunset all she needed to know. "Never been asked that before, have you?" She waited for the filly to nod. "You've always had somepony deciding for you. Somepony deciding that no matter how smart you are, they know better than you." She got another slow nod as Moondancer tried to understand just where this was going. "Well, I think you're smart enough to know what you want," Sunset continued. "So you can decide where you want to go next."

Moondancer's eyes were wide behind her glasses as she grasped the choice before her. It was another moment that Sunset understood well: that first taste of control over her own life, when an adult (well, 'adult') let her make a choice. It was the heady whiff of power and something difficult to understand for one so young. But Moondancer got it quickly - almost as quick as her answer. "The library," she excitedly said. "I want to go back to the library."

"Then we'll go to the library." Sunset confirmed with a sharp nod and turned their path back towards the grand building.

To say Moondancer was giddy was an understatement - she practically skipped her way over, little hooves clack-clacking on the paving stones with each excited high step. Sunset wasn't sure if the cause was the joy of making her own choice or the fact that they were going back to the library, but she approved in either case so it didn't matter much.

Halfway there, Sunset spoke up again. "Next year, you'll be able to come back to the library a lot."

"Any time I want to?" Moondancer's cheer spiked up to a new level.

"Not any time." Sunset pushed it back down again with evenly measured words. "Just because I see you're smart enough to choose what to do doesn't mean every pony does."

Moondancer - being six - wore her emotions on her sleeve and drooped to solemn disappointment. "Did they make you listen to them, too?"

She had her - and Sunset yanked the proverbial hook. "Not that much, because I'm the Princess' personal student. So that meant nopony got to tell me what to do." Except Princess Celestia - but Sunset didn't mention that part. 

Moondancer simply pouted. "Lucky." 

"I was," Sunset admitted. And then she let the pause hang just long enough to seem thoughtful. "Well, maybe I can help you?" And she couldn't help but sharkishly grin at Moondancer's look of unadulterated hope. "You can't be the Princess' student because I am. But maybe if I make you my student..."

"I'll be the Princess' student's student!" The little filly caught on quickly and literally jumped with joy. "And then you'll be the only one who can tell me what to do!"

"Right!" Sunset nodded at about half the rate that Moondancer was bouncing at. "And then you can show just how smart you are without dumb ponies holding you back."

They reached the main doors of the library, and Moondancer looked up at her older companion. "You'd really do that for me?"

Sunset gave a solemn, firm nod. "I would. Because I can recognize another smart pony that's being held back." She pushed the library's door open. "Ponies like us have to watch out for each other."

Much to Sunset's surprise, Moondancer didn't scramble into the library at the first opportunity. No - instead, she grabbed Sunset and hugged her. "Thank you!" Then she ran full tilt into the library.

And Sunset just stood there, caught completely off-guard. Unknowingly, Moondancer had just entered into rare company only otherwise occupied by alicorns: ponies who had hugged Sunset Shimmer. And Sunset was entirely unsure how to react to it. 

But her reaction was meaningless, as Moondancer was already picking up a thick tome of Clover the Clever's writings in her wobbly light pink magic. So Sunset - after a good minute - shook her confusion off and came inside.





Sunset knew they were late, but she didn't realize how late until Princess Celestia came through the library doors. Her eyes shot to the clock - they were supposed to have arrived at the meeting thirty-two minutes before. 

The Princess' eyes were to Sunset first, and then to Moondancer. The filly was still muzzle-deep in a book (True Sight's Unabridged Atlas of Arcane Observations in Astronomy) and managed to completely fail at noticing the massive white alicorn. 

Before Celestia could say anything, however, Sunset moved between her and Moondancer. "Princess Celestia! I'm so sorry." That was enough to grab the filly's attention - the book thumped down to the table as Moondancer finally looked up and realized just what had happened. Fear blossomed onto the filly's face. 

But only for a moment. "This is my fault," Sunset quickly interjected. Not that she needed to: there was no chance that Celestia would have blamed Moondancer for anything. But Moondancer didn't know that - all she saw was her older ally coming to her defense. As well, the idea of Sunset Shimmer readily admitting fault was enough to throw Celestia off her stride - and Sunset took advantage of that. "I know I should have brought Moondancer to the meeting after we finished the tour, but she found a book she liked and I just couldn't bring myself to have her stop learning." 

The shot went right where Sunset wanted it to - Princess Celestia frowned. She obviously knew something was up, but criticizing Sunset for helping another student learn wasn't something she could do. Particularly not in front of a prospective new student she valued. So after a moment's sourness, the Princess put on her best smile and nodded. "Of course, Sunset. I suppose that just shows how good of a fit young Moondancer will be at my school. But," she gently chided, "It's time for her to go. Her parents are getting uneasy about their little filly." 

Sunset bowed her head. "Of course, Princess Celestia."

With a curt nod, Celestia stepped around Sunset. "Moondancer? Come along, please."

Hopping down from the reading table, Moondancer went to Sunset's side first and hugged her again. "Thank you." 

This time, Sunset managed to not stiffen up at the unexpected feeling. "I'll see you when you arrive on your first day next year," she whispered. 

"Promise?"

Sunset nodded to the filly. "Promise." 

Then Moondancer broke away and followed Princess Celestia out of the library. 

And Sunset smiled. "I promise, my student."