Great. Juuuussst great. Lieutenant Rapids had to go and do all of that when she knew that it would be a stupid idea. Now I'm down one bodyguard with time ticking down on me getting Sunset and the Element back. On top of that, I don't even have a plan to get the it out of Principal Celestia's office. I had no idea how long Lieutenant Rapids would be out of commission. Given that it was the end of the school day, and that she had also made a joke at Celestia's expense, she could be staying after school for a few hours. Not that terrible in the grand scheme of things since we did have an extra day if the worst came to worst, but I really didn't want to waste any more time than we needed to.
Jeez.
I walked down the crowded hallway with Captain Blaze by my side, pushing through the wave of students eager to get out of here and go home. I heard a few whispers about me and what Mr. Antares and Principal Celestia were up to, but I didn't bother to focus on any of that. What I needed to focus my attention on was finding Lieutenant Rapids again and then getting the Element before my meeting with Sunset later that night. She had been sent to Principal Celestia's office, and from there who knows where? I mean, sure, it was detention. It's not like she was arrested or anything. Still, especially with the day ending, I needed her to figure out our next move.
That's when a bit of luck finally went my way for once.
Blaze and I passed by the library, poking our heads in to check for Rapids, and that's where we saw five girls sitting at a table. Five rather familiar girls. I smiled and the two of us walked up to the table where the Mane Five sat, smiling and laughing with each other like the best friends that I knew they were. As I approached, Fluttershy noticed me drawing closer and flashed me a beaming smile before pointing me out to the group. The others turned their head to greet me.
"So, you're the Canadians I've heard so much about," said this world's Rainbow Dash. "You've got a lot of guts to stand up to Sunset on your first day like that." She smirked at me and gave me an approving nod. "I like that."
"You should be careful, though," said this world's Rarity. "I've heard that she can be nasty when provoked. She could be planning some form of revenge against you."
I snorted and took the seat that Applejack pulled out for me. "Oh, she is. I don't doubt that in the slightest. But, uh, she's going to get a little more than she bargained for with me. I appreciate that she feels the need to take control here based on her past, but, yeah, it's not gonna work."
The five friends all exchanged confused glances, something that made me grin a little. I do so enjoy being enigmatic. It makes life far more interesting. I can see why Celestia does it.
Yes, I'm dead serious. She speaks in riddles and vague clues sometimes completely on purpose for fun. When you present yourself as an immortal, all-knowing, all-wise alicorn, you can totally get away with that kind of stuff.
"So, uh..." Applejack tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "Is Sunset... Canadian, then?"
"Yes," I said with complete honesty.
From a certain point of view. Obi Wan Kenobi would be so proud of me.
"Fascinating," Rarity whispered. "I wonder why she never brought it up. Though, I don't recall if I've ever heard her mention where she's from."
"Well, I probably know more about her past than anyone here." I shrugged. "But honestly, it's not that important right now, I think. What's important is what she's up to at the moment." I looked in the general direction of the school's exit. "And if I know Sunset, that won't be anything good."
"So, uh, how well do you know Sunset?" Rainbow Dash asked. “If you're both Canadian and Canada is a really tiny town in the north, then you grew up with each other, right? I mean, you're about the same age, so you had to have interacted at some point."
"Eh..." I shrugged and spun my hand. "Let's just say that she's a friend of a friend. It's complicated. Right now I need to figure out what she's up to."
Applejack frowned at me and leaned back in her chair. "Wait, ya think she's up ta somethin' beyond her normal Sunset nastiness?"
I grin and vigorously nod. "Oh yes. There's absolutely no doubt about that. And it's going to be absolutely awful for everyone if she pulls it off." I chuckled and nudged Rarity, who flinched back slightly. "Sounds like fun, eh?"
"Perhaps," Rarity said dryly. "However, I fail to see how a simple teenage girl could cause so much mayhem, even if she has Sunset's nasty temperament."
"You're forgetting that she's a Canadian teenage girl with Sunset's temperament." I nodded as if that settled the matter entirely. "Very different."
Rarity rolled her eyes at me. "Yes. Quite."
"So then what do you think she's up to?" Pinkie asked. "And how could it be super duper bad?"
"I'm guessing that it has something to do with the Fall Formal coming up," I said, tapping my chin thoughtfully. "There's an election for princess where she gets this crown, right? Well, my guess is that if she pulls anything off, she's going to do it there, and I think the election is key to her plans." Mainly because it involves her getting her hands on the Element. I don't know exactly what will happen once she gets ahold of it, but it can't be good. That much I know for sure.
"So what do you plan on doing about it?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, is she gonna flood the school once she wins the crown or something?"
"I really doubt it," I said. "Sunset's past is a little more complex than she's lead you to believe. We Canadians have a real knack for getting ourselves in the worst situations, and when two Canadians fight each other on foreign soil..." I grimaced. "Well, it tends to get pretty ugly."
The Mane Five all exchanged uneasy looks with each other. Truth be told, I was being pretty vague and ominous. Half of that was me not being able to help myself, but the other half was the fact that I genuinely didn't know exactly what Sunset planned to do with the Element. Would she be able to use it as a WMD? I hope not.
"Well, look at all of you getting along. It's so nice to see," said a familiar voice behind me. I grimaced and turned around to see Lieutenant Rapids walking towards us, her smile much too chipper for my liking. I huffed and stood up, giving her a completely ineffectual glare.
"Why hello there, River Rapids. How was detention?"
Rapids shrugged. "Dunno. Didn't go. I've just been hiding out while I waited for you two to get out of class."
I rolled my eyes and turned to the Mane Five. "Uh, sorry, but I have to go now. Rapids and I have a few things to talk about. I'll see you later, okay?"
The five of them all said half-hearted goodbyes while giving each other confused and uneasy looks. I wave back at them, maintaining a friendly smile that drops as soon as the five of them are out of our sight, leaving Blaze, Rapids, and I alone.
"Discreet, Rapids!" I hissed. "I told you that we had to be discreet!"
Rapids shrugged and took the backpack off so that she could hand it to me. "So sorry, Princess Antares. I couldn't help myself."
"Yes you could have, you just didn't want to," I grumbled.
"Well if you think about it, you were the one who, in your infinite princessly wisdom, bestowed upon me these wonderful snarcastic powers," Rapids said with a smug grin. "You really have nopony to blame but yourself."
"If you recall my lessons, I stated that there are certain times to use your snarcasm. It's all about timing." I groan and put the backpack on. "Now we've gotta figure out..."
I freeze in place when I feel the contents of the backpack against my back. Something's not right. There's something in there that wasn't there when Rapids took the backpack. Something solid that wasn't there before.
No...
I looked up at Lieutenant Rapids, mild shock on my face, while her smug smile only grows wider. I slowly take the backpack off, set it on the floor, unzip it, and look inside.
The Element. The Element of Magic is resting securely in my backpack.
I slowly raise my head, my eyes and mouth wide open from shock, while Rapids' grin couldn't possibly get any wider. I paused for a moment, zipped the backpack up, then slowly got to my feet, not breaking eye contact with Rapids for a moment.
"How?"
Rapids chuckled and leaned against the wall.
* * * *
I admit, getting sent to detention was a new one for me. I mean, I'd never gotten in trouble during flight school, or anything like that. Sure, I had some snarky tendencies, but they were unrefined until I started working for you, and I never really got in trouble because of them.
So having to make that walk of shame to the principal's office felt odd.
Or at least, I'm sure that it would have, if I'd felt any shame at all. I mean come on, Princess. You have to admit that the look on his face was spectacular. I never thought I'd get a chance to use that line again! The only possible way it could have been any better is if I had managed to trigger a a spit-take.
I giggled to myself as I trotted down the hall, looking for any suitable targets to use as accomplices for the genius plan I had thought up while bored out of my mind during Ms. Harshwhinny's class. Ideally I'd find someone. I mean, if I remembered flight school right, there were always those students who skipped class, but didn't want to risk getting caught around town. I just needed to find them before some teacher saw me and asked where I was going.
I grinned when I finally found my targets. Two boys leaning against the lockers, probably about fifty hooves from Celestia's office. I ran a... what is it, a hand? That's what it's called, right? Yeah, a hand through my mane and straightened my clothes before walking up to the two of them with a friendly smile.
"Hello, there."
The two of them just about hit the ceiling. I could see from the expressions on their faces that an attractive girl coming up to talk to them out of the blue wasn't an everyday occurrence. The two of them kept staring at me for a few moments before the one on the right finally stuttered out a half-greeting that I didn't hear that well before blushing and looking at the floor.
"So, uh, can I ask the two of you for a huge favor?"
The two of them exchanged an uneasy glance. "What kind of favor?" the one on the left asked.
"Oh nothing too difficult," I said with a wave of my hand. "I just need you to cause some distraction that will get Principal Celestia out of her office while I'm in there. Maybe start fighting each other so she has to come break it up. No biggie, right?"
The two exchanged another look.
"Uh... I'm not so sure about that," said the one on the right. "She'll kinda get mad at us if we do that. Fighting is one of those things that gets you an automatic suspension."
"You'd get in the good graces of The Canadian," I said. "It's for a good cause."
"Good graces with The Canadian means being in bad graces with Sunset Shimmer," the one on the right said, crossing his arms and frowning. "I'm not getting suspended and being put on Sunset's blacklist."
I started to think that I might not have picked the right duo. If they wouldn't cause a distraction, then I couldn't enact my plan. But I doubted that I could find another pair of students to do what I asked.
That's when I remembered what you said about my new body, Princess Antares. You said that these new chest thingies were "male mind control devices", if I recall correctly. I looked down at them and figured, 'eh, worth a shot'. So with that, I lifted up my shirt and gave them the full brunt of their mind control powers.
The moment my shirt went up, their eyes widened, and their pupils shrank to pinpricks. I grinned, knowing full well that it was working.
"You will do as I ask and distract Prince-- uh, Principal Celestia. Do you understand?" The two boys nodded dumbly. "I'll leave the particulars of the distraction up to you, but wait two minutes once I go into her office."
I put my shirt back down, but I noticed the boys still staring at my chest. Dang. Their powers were even more potent than I realized. I waved my hand in front of their faces to snap them out of their trance.
"Remember what I told you. Two minutes. Distraction."
"Okay," the one on the right said thickly.
Content that I'd have my distraction, I turned around and made the trip into Principal Celestia's office. She was sitting at her desk working on paperwork, or something, when I opened up the door. She raised her head when she heard the door open, and she frowned a bit when she saw me.
"Oh. Hello. You're one of the Canadians, right?"
I nodded and sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk, setting the backpack beside me. "I am. Mr. Antares sent me to see you."
"Oh?" Celestia capped her pen and set it down so she could give me her full attention. "And why would that be?"
I shrugged. "Dunno. Apparently he got upset when I informed him that perhaps the two of you should be a bit more discreet when you're together. And quiet, for that matter."
I didn’t know that someone with her skin complexion could go so pale. Her jaw just about hit the ground, and, like the boys before, her pupils shrank to pinpricks. I gave her my best innocent look and tilted my head.
"What's wrong?"
"I... you..." She blinked once, but judging by the vein in her neck, anger had started boiling up behind the shock. "How dare you... you say such things. I..."
I frowned. "What do you mean? We were talking about it in class, and I just voiced my opinion. He said that he didn't know why everyone knew about your relationship, and I told him that you and him were too loud. That's all, I swear."
Celestia made a noise that sounded like something between a gargle and a choke. She picked up her pen and uncapped it to begin writing something down. The way she gripped it, though, she was gonna shatter it if she wasn't more careful.
That's when the fight started.
Or whatever the two decided to do for the distraction. Like I said: I left the particulars up to them. Just so long as Celestia left me alone in her office for a few minutes.
To my delight, the whole thing went down without a hitch.
My snarking had gotten Celestia mad. A lot. And when you're mad you don't make the right decisions all the time, which is exactly what I was counting on. The moment she heard the fight going on, she leaped up and bolted out of the office to break it up, leaving sweet, innocent me all alone in her office. Now, normally I would need a few minutes to search for the Element, but since she had already shown it to us earlier, I knew exactly where she kept it. I hopped off of my chair, went behind the desk, and pulled out one of the drawers.
Bingo.
The Element sat in a felt from inside of a small glass case, just waiting for someone like me to return it to its rightful owner. Without a moment's hesitation, I opened the case and took the Element out. I gotta admit, maybe I have some lingering pegasus magic even in this world, but I could feel its power the moment I touched it. It made me feel... safe, I guess. Like everything was going to be okay. It made me wonder what would happen if I put it on as a pegasus, or a human, for that matter. I shook my head and quickly shut the drawer before moving back to my chair and depositing the Element safely inside the backpack.
* * * *
Rapids shrugged and crossed her arms. "Celestia came back in with the two boys. She told me to go to the library for detention, where she'd talk to me about further punishment. But now that we have the Element, I didn't really see a need to humor her there."
For my part, I hadn't stopped facepalming since she got to the part about lifting up her shirt.
I stayed completely still for a solid minute, not saying anything, just trying to register where to go from there. I mean, we had the Element back. We would have to screw up royally for Sunset to get her hands on it at this point. I could not wait to get back to Equestria. I could go back to dealing with political drama instead of high school drama, which is admittedly the same thing, just with more money and armies involved.
Finally, I sighed and removed my hand from my face to look at my faithful guards, both of whom stared at me curiously. I took a deep breath and slowly nodded.
"Okay, we can work with this. We just need to get Sunset close to the portal before our planned meeting tonight. Once we arrest her, we can all go home and not have to worry about this silly world again."
"And I won't have to serve my million detentions I'm gonna get for skipping out on the one I'm supposed to be at right now," Lieutenant Rapids chirped.
I rolled my eyes and began walking in the direction of the portal.
"Whatever. First, let's get the Element back to Equestria, then we'll focus on Sunset."