I'd been invited into her office, princess Celestia trailing close behind. The pure, unbridled shock that was on principal Celestia's face when she realized that her Equestrian counterpart present in her office as well was oddly comedic. "Uhm.. Hello principal Celestia, princess Celestia wanted to meet you."
The princess moves behind me and I can assume she's watching the principal, studying her counterpart in front of her. "Good morning er.. principal Celestia."
Principal Celestia blinks and smiles, I'm starting to feel like I'm able to cut the tension in the room with a knife and I've only been in here about a minute. "Good morning your majesty, welcome to Canterlot High. Is there anything I'd be able to help you with?"
"Indeed, I was wondering if we could talk." She pauses and takes several deep breaths, she's using the breathing technique she taught me and Twilight for when we were getting upset or overwhelmed. "About Anon-A-Miss and the fallout."
A wildly uncomfortable silence washes over the room as the principal is, what I assume, contemplating her next words very carefully. "Of.. Of course, I'd figured you'd want to speak about what had happened."
"I'd like to know who was behind everything, first of all. Secondly, I wish to know why you left Sunset to deal with the harassment all alone. Finally-" Her jaw clenched and she continued on, speaking through clenched teeth. "Why did you let it happen for so long, and why did you assume that after dealing with such a traumatic event that she would be completely unharmed mentally?"
"The ones who were behind it were Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. The reason they gave for creating the account was that they were jealous of Sunset because she spent, in their words, 'too much time' with their older sisters." There was a pregnant pause in the seconds leading up to the principal continuing. "I don't have a good excuse or explanation for your final two questions, I failed as an educator and I miserably failed as a human being."
"The CMC." Princess Celestia murmurs to herself, taking a deep breath and pinching the bridge of her nose. "The CMC nearly murdered Sunset because they can't use their words?"
"Unfortunately."
The princess stormed over and slammed her fist onto the top of her desk, causing the principal and me to both nearly jump out of our skin. "How long did this go on?"
Principal Celestia cleared her throat and slunk as far into her seat as she could possibly go, it was obvious that the princess was intimidating her, hell, the princess was intimidating me as well and her wrath wasn't even directed at me. "A month, nearly two."
"And none of you bothered to use your brains to think that Sunset may have been innocent? Are you bucking kidding me?! What the buck happened to innocent until proven guilty?"
It was time to go, I was definitely not going to stick around for this and I swear I felt the temperature in the room rise. I'd heard legends of if Celestia is furious enough the air around her will rise in temperature rapidly but I never could've dreamed the rumors were true, I thought they were simply legends, it didn't help that the Royal Canterlot Voice was freaking me out and I need to get the fuck out of here before I have a panic attack.
I stood up and bolted for the door, I was unable to get out unnoticed but I bumped right into VP Luna, I figure she was going to investigate the screaming. My breathing is ragged and uneven, I'm shaking and so close to panicking.
She looks down at me and frowns, putting her hands on her hips as if she were a disappointed mother. "Sunset? What are you doing out of class?.. Are you alright?"
I force myself to take multiple deep breaths, it takes a little while for me to talk but once I do I may as well explain everything to her. "You hear the screaming, right?"
"Why in Tartarus didn't you investigate the account in the first place?!"
I wince and Luna nods slowly. "I'm sure everyone in CHS has heard it at this point."
"That's princess Celestia. She wanted to meet principal Celestia and as you can hear.. It didn't go too well."
"Wait wait wait, so you're telling me that-"
"Yes. Twilight told the princess everything that happened and she came through the portal this morning. She's angry. Very angry."
All the color in Luna's face drains, we both hear the screaming that princess Celestia is doing in the background. "Would you like to sit in my office and wait for them to finish?"
"Please."
Luna nods and does a swift about face, walking off in the general direction of her office. I waste no time following her, the whole walk to her office we both can hear the screaming match going on in principal Celestia's office.
She immediately sits at her desk and motions for me to take a seat wherever. "So, I'm genuinely curious, is my counterpart a princess like Celestia's is?"
Her casual question causes me to let out a sharp 'ha', I don't know why but the casual question after having a bombshell revelation dropped on her caught me so off guard. "Yeah, princess of dreams, protects ponies from nightmares and the evils of the dark of night, goddess of the moon and night, a good friend of mine actually."
"Really?"
"Yep, came to me in my dreams one night and we got to talking. She saved my life once, when I got into that car accident with Rarity I woke up in a void with a door somewhere in it. I nearly went through when princess Luna stopped me, I wasn't dead, the creator was giving me a chance to pass on if I so wanted to.
If I wanted to return to the living and wake up all I had to do was wait in the void, Luna kept me company the whole time."
"Hmm." She put her elbows on the desk and rested her chin on her knuckles. "Can I lodge a complaint with the universe? I want to be a pretty and badass horse goddess too."
I snort and I feel myself smile. "Technically you are one. In human form."
"Ha ha funny."
"I know."
Luna chortles and her head snaps towards the door, someone was fiddling with the knob and if I was going to take a guess then it'd be the princess. "It seems as if they've stopped screaming at each other and it's my turn to get yelled at, or maybe they've come to an agreement."
I hum and fold my hands on my lap, I genuinely hope they've calmed down and worked things out because I do want the princess to come back to this world to visit. I know it's kind of selfish but she's the only mother figure I've ever had and I missed her tons.
"If it helps a little Sunset, I did try to figure out who Anon-A-Miss was."
"Hm? Really now?"
She nodded to me. "I spoke to some of my old friends and used my connections, we traced the IPs of all students who logged into their MyStable accounts, though we narrowed it down to five suspects when the CMC confessed."
"How did you even manage that? If the district-"
"One name. Nightmare Moon."
"You're Nightmare? The legendary hacker, went to prison for a thousand days Nightmare?"
"Yep. And I'm proud of it too, took down Lime Sorbet when he was running for mayor." She beamed proudly. I knew Luna could be a badass but I never knew she was the Nightmare Moon.
"Holy shit. I remember reading about that one night when I got bored and wanted to see what major events went down in Canterlot's history."
"Language. I'm sorry I couldn't figure out who was behind the account sooner, I want you to know that I did try my best."
I could feel my cheeks light up in embarrassment, I was usually so good at not cursing in front of the staff. "Sorry."
"It's alright, but please try to refrain from swearing in front of me. I don't mind if you do it when we're alone but if we're in the halls then I'll have to punish you for it."
I hum and glance towards the door, recoiling in shock when I see the Celestias standing in the room with us. "Jeez!-"
Luna frowns and turns to look, also jumping when she sees them there. She puts her hand over her heart in mock terror. "God's sake- Learn to knock!"
Princess Celestia chuckles and plays with her hands awkwardly. "I apologize, but I was wondering if I could speak with Sunset again."
I get up and go over to them, unfortunately for me my brain short circuits and I end up standing awkwardly in front of the Celestias trying to remember which one's which, the damn dress didn't give it away that the one wearing the expensive clothing was the princess evidently. Princess Celestia clears her throat and motions for me to follow, it snaps me out of my stupor and I follow her as she begins walking out of the office, she really is a quick learner because she's walking as if she'd been a bipedal being for her whole life. I follow her and wait for her to speak.
"I have to return to Equestria shortly Sunset, but I would like you to know that you have been forgiven and pardoned and that.. I'm so proud of you and the young mar- woman- young woman that you've blossomed into and I'd like you to visit me and Luna in Canterlot one day."
"I-" I stare down at the floor as tears threaten to spill from my eyes for what felt like the fiftieth time today. "Okay, I will- I really missed you princess.."
"I missed you too Sunset Shimmer." She says softly, she takes my hand in hers and gives it a gentle squeeze. "Next time you visit I'd like to hear what's been happening in your life since you first arrived here."
A chuckle escapes my lips and I simply hold her hand, I'd never admit this to anyone but I wish she was my mother since my parents never loved me, or if they did they never showed it. "Mhm, I have a lot to talk about."
Celestia lets go of my hand. "I can't wait to hear about it all."
"I'll have to ask Twilight if I could come visit for the summer after I graduate, if that's okay with you."
"You don't have to ask Sunset, as long as it isn't at an unreasonable hour I'll always make time for you. Unfortunately I'll have to return to Equestria and let you return to your studies, if you require anything from me please don't hesitate to write to Twilight and she'll relay the message to me."
I don't want her to go, I want her to stay, but she is a princess and has her own duties to attend to and work to do but that doesn't stop me from wishing she could stay even a little longer. "Alright, I'll see you later then princess?"
"Hopefully."
I move forward abruptly and wrap my uninjured arm around her, I hadn't ever given her a hug before, she was always the one who'd hug me or hold me in her wings whenever I was upset. I feel her gently embrace me and for a moment I feel like I've returned to my childhood, all the worry and stresses of the world had melted away and I felt truly safe for the first time in ages.
I hold the embrace for a few moments more and I let go, taking a couple steps back so the princess could have her space. She smiles warmly at me and bows her head before turning and walking down the hall. I watched her leave the main office, feeling rather melancholic now that she was leaving for Equestria.
"Sunset would you like a late pass?"
To say I nearly jumped out of my skin would be an understatement, I felt as if I nearly had a heart attack. I somehow didn't expect principal Celestia to still be in the office with vice principal Luna despite not having seen her leave the office, oh lord I'm an idiot. "O-Oh! Uhhh.. Yes please."
"No problem one momen- ah, wait, I have to stop by Ms. Harshwhinny's room either way. I'll just tell her that you were speaking with Luna, if you'll follow me please."
I hum in response and follow her out of the office with a smile, I'm feeling a lot better mentally than I did at the end of break winter break, unfortunately I still have my moments where dark thoughts force it's way into the forefront of my mind but at least I have at least two amazing friends to help me through it and I may start rebuilding trust with my former friends, maybe not so former friends?
I don't know truthfully, but I'm feeling better and that's all I could ask for.