Insufferable. How did teenagers become this disrespectful? Spreading... admittedly true rumors about my relationship with Mr. Antares. I wasn't like that when I was their age. Although now that I thought on the matter, the whole tone of Canterlot High had shifted ever since those Canadians had enrolled. Whispers of conflicts with Sunset Shimmer, a model student by all accounts from her teachers, floated through the halls. Stories that their parents were oil barons, and they had millions of dollars to throw around. I did not put any stake in those particular rumors. Still, they worried me. Rapids' disrespect marked only the most egregious example of their odd behavior. Though the blonde one, TD, I think they said, seemed to be the ringleader. From what I'd heard from some teachers and students, the other two seemed to be bodyguards of sorts. Why he needed bodyguards at all, I didn't know.
I capped my pen, having finished the last of my paperwork for the day. The Fall Formal would be soon, and I wasn't quite sure what they'd be up to. Hopefully nothing, especially since River Rapids was barred from attending. Still, I could not deny that TD was a charismatic individual. He seemed to be making friends quickly in my school. Normally I'd be pleased, but all three of them were clearly hiding something rather important. What baffled me is that the first thing that TD asked me for was the crown for the Fall Formal. Like it had some big meaning for him. I couldn't possibly imagine what--
I gasped and widened my eyes as a thought struck me. A rather terrible thought. I had left River Rapids in here alone. With the crown. I threw open the drawer where the crown was supposed to be, hoping that I was simply imagining things and that the crown would be there.
Instead, I simply saw an empty case where it previously rested.
I slammed my desk shut and shot to my feet.
Those troublemakers were in for it now.
* * * *
"Okay, so the plan is that Lieutenant Rapids is going to take the element back to Equestria, since the most heat will be on her for taking it." Rapids nodded to accept my order. "Captain Blaze and I will stay here and wait for Sunset. When you've given the element back to Twilight or Cadance or whomever, come back so we can arrest Sunset together. I'd like to have all three of us here for that."
"Understood, Princess Antares," Captain Blaze said as we approached the portal. Given the time, most of the students had left for the day, but a few still milled around talking to each other or something. We'd have to figure out a way to distract them if we wanted to get Rapids back through the portal without them seeing. I didn't want the students to know about it, after all. I guess we could just block the entrance from view, or something.
Ugh. I wanted this to be so much easier.
"Alright," I said when we were about fifteen feet from the portal, "Blaze and I are going to block the entrance from view while you slip back in, River. Get back as quickly as you can so we can get Sunset and--"
"EXCUSE ME!"
I flinched back in surprise before turning around to see the absolute last person I wanted to see stomping towards us with an angry glare on her face: Principal Celestia. The three of us began backing away towards the portal. I rued the fact that her outburst had drawn the attention of the other kids in the courtyard.
"I believe you have something that belongs to the school," Celestia said, pointing to my backpack. "If you could return the Fall Formal crown and then leave my school, I would appreciate that."
"I would, but I don't have the Fall Formal crown that belongs to the school," I said evenly. "Why? Don't you know where it is?"
"I know that it is in your backpack," Celestia said, stopping right in front of us. "If you could return it, I would appreciate that."
"And what proof do you have that it's in there?" I shot back. "I'm assuming it's gone because you've come out here to find it, but if that’s true, what proof do you have that we have it?"
That got her quiet for a moment. Unless she had hard evidence, she couldn't make us do anything. Still, I didn't like that the crowd around us seemed to be growing, especially given who was in it. People such as the Mane Five, Mr. Antares, and...
Sunset.
Wait, no, actually that one was fine. I needed her here. I guess she stuck around to keep an eye on us, or something. Try to get some dirt on us maybe? In any case, we had her right where we wanted her. I needed to deal with Celestia before moving on to Sunset. If we could get her and the element back at the same time, that would really make things easier for us.
"If you have no evidence then all of your accusations are baseless," I said, turning back to Celestia. "You have no right to search my backpack either. Not without some official order, and certainly not on a suspicion. That violates my rights and privacy. Come back with hard evidence. Of which you have none."
A vein bulged in Celestia's neck, but we both knew that I had her. The element could be in my backpack wrapped around a big drawing of me flipping her off, but she'd have no right to get to it. So that left...
"You can't take the crown!" Sunset snarled. "It's mine! You've been insolent ever since you've got here, but this is too far and you know it!"
"Sunset..." I turned to her and motioned for my two soldiers to move towards her. "You need to come with me, and I think you know why."
Sunset gulped backed away as my guards moved closer. She shakily raised her hand and pointed at me.
"You did take the crown. I remember. I saw you with it!" She turned to Celestia, still pointing at me. "I saw them with the crown earlier today. They did steal it!"
"Sunset, the game is up," I said gently. "It's time to come home. She sent me, Sunset." Sunset's glare faded away, and she went pale. "She's waiting for you. She misses you a lot. She'd welcome you back in a moment, I know it. But you have to come with me."
At the mention of our Celestia, Sunset quietly gasped and collapsed onto her knees. "No," she whimpered. "I can't."
"I'm sorry, Sunset, but you know why it has to be this way."
"Hey buddy, knock it off!" Mr. Antares growled, pushing me back. "You three need to get off of school property before I call the cops on you!"
"Mr. Antares, I know that you're just doing your job and all, but the events happening here are so far over your head and outside of your understanding that you're better off just going home." I turned to the rest of the crowd, my eyes lingering on the Mane Five for a moment. "That honestly goes for the rest of you, too." I didn't want things to get ugly, but at this point, despite her shock, Sunset was a wounded, cornered animal. They tended to be the most dangerous.
"Now you listen," Celestia said, standing tall over the three of us with Antares. "You three are to leave the school grounds immediately. You have five seconds to comply before we call the police and have you arrested for attempted kidnapping. You cannot take Sunset anywhere with you, TD!"
I groaned and made another step towards Sunset. "My name isn't TD, Celestia."
"Yeah, who would be dumb enough to name a kid that?" Blaze chimed in.
I glared at him, but otherwise ignored the comment. "It's not TD. It's something else. Something that I think Sunset knows, or has at least figured out by now." I made the final step towards Sunset and knelt down in front of her so that we were at eye level. "She misses you. She doesn't want things to be this way. It can all be fine again if you just come back." Sunset whimpered and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "But if I came from there, then you know who I am, right?" Sunset slowly nodded. "Then say my name. If you truly know who I am, say my name."
Sunset paused for a moment before looking up at me, her eyes wide and brimming with tears. She covered her eyes with her hands and lowered her head.
"Sunset. Say my name."
"Antares," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
I nodded. "Yes. So you understand why I'm here and why I have to take you back with me."
"Wait, hang on," Mr. Antares said, moving towards us and nudging me away from Sunset. "Did she say 'Antares'? Like as in my name?"
"Exactly your name," I confirmed. "In fact, I think that if you dig a little deeper you'll find that we're really the same person."
"I..." He frowned and turned back to Celestia who gave him a confused shrug. "What do you mean 'same person'? We don't look too much alike. I mean, you don't even have my hair color."
"Actually, he does," a voice from the crowd said. We all turned to the source and saw, of all people, Nurse Redheart stepping forward. "He came into my office for a bump on his head. When I checked his scalp for any damage, I saw that his hair is dyed. His original hair color matches yours exactly, Mr. Antares."
"And I'm going to bet that you like scorpions. Specifically ones that look like..." I unzipped the backpack a little bit, just enough that I could pull out the shirt that I had arrived in. I unfolded it and showed it to him, smirking as his face went pale. "This?"
Mr. Antares stepped back and leaned against Principal Celestia, neither of whom really seemed to have any idea of what to say to me. I chuckled and put the shirt back in the backpack before picking it up on one hand.
"Who... who are you?" Mr. Antares whispered.
I sighed and shrugged. "Someone like you, yet not at all. Someone who traveled from far away but very near. Someone very powerful. If you knew just how powerful, you'd run." I shrugged and leaned back a little. "Now, you may not believe me. You may think I'm just trying to intimidate you; that I'm lying to you. Well, that could be the case, but after all..."
I leaned back further with the hand holding the backpack containing the element. Slowly but surely, I slid the backpack and my arm up to the elbow through the portal, releasing the backpack once it was out of sight. The onlookers gasped, and one or two even ran away. I saw the Mane Five all staring at me with wide eyes, though Fluttershy was holding on to Rarity and whimpering. I smiled at her, winked, then slowly straightened back up, pulling my hand out of what seemed like solid rock. Once completely free of the portal, I made a show of moving my hand around and flexing my fingers, just to show that I remained unharmed. I looked back to Celestia and Antares, then gave a small bow of my head.
"What is reality?"
Freak out everybody and get the element back to Equestria all in one move? I'd call that a success.
"I am a god among men. I can command whole armies to sow destruction upon entire countries if I please. I can pull the very sun from the sky. I can destroy the very foundations of your school." I walked closer to Mr. Antares and Celestia to look them in the eye. "But I do not want that. I am a merciful god."
"Goddess," Rapids muttered under her breath, unheard by all but me. Oh she was so getting latrine duty when we got back.
"All I want is Sunset Shimmer; somebody who belongs with me anyway. She has committed serious offenses against me and my people, and she must answer for them."
"Against Canada?" one of the students in the crowd asked.
"Yes." I nodded solemnly. "As I said: Sunset Shimmer is herself Canadian." I turned back to Sunset. "And it's time to go back."
"I can't," Sunset whispered. "I can't face her again. Not after everything I said to her."
"Sunset..." I knelt down in front of her. "I'm not actually giving you an option to stay here. You can come willingly, or I can have my guards arrest you and you'll come back anyway. You know what you stole, and you know what you were going to do with that. Not only there, but here as well. You have to answer for that. There are consequences for your actions." I gave her a comforting smile and stood back up. "But I don't think that yours will be that severe. She'll be more happy to see you than anything else. You'll be okay."
"Yes, hello? Police? I'm at Canterlot High and we--"
I dove right at Celestia and snatched her cell phone right away from her. I really couldn't afford to have the cops show up. Not now. Sure, the element was back in Equestria, but if I got arrested, that would suck.
"Celestia, please don't do this!" I pleaded. "You don't know what you're dealing with!"
"Get away from her!" Mr. Antares snarled, charging towards me. Not good.
It was at that moment that time seemed to slow down. Playing tug-of-war with Celestia for her phone so she wouldn't get the cops over here, Mr. Antares charging at me to get me away from her, and Sunset shivering on the ground while my soldiers began moving towards me to join the fray. An idea popped into my mind about just what I could do to diffuse this situation. I didn't quite like it. I'm more than just one thing, right? I'm a princess of Equestria. A goddess in pony form, some say. I have developed a lot since that first day in Equestria. I mean, I just...
I...
Oh...
Oh fuck it.
Celestia flew backwards as I punched her in the face. Given that this Celestia wasn't an immortal alicorn, my punch did a lot more damage. She collapsed on the ground, not knocked out but clearly stunned. Many of the students around us began running away from the rampaging Canadian, leaving the Mane Five staring at me in horror along with a few other students.
"You are so going down!" Mr. Antares screeched. "You aren't ever getting out of jail if I can help it you--"
Aaaaannnddd just like Celestia, I punched him right in the face.
I punched me in the face. I...
Oy.
I didn't miss the gigantic grins on the faces of my guards, and I gave them my best glare.
"You are not to tell anyone about what just happened, do you understand?!" I snarled. "This does not leave this dimension, and that's a direct order!"
"Yes, Antares," Captain Blaze said, bowing to me. "However, I cannot promise that it will not get out somehow. I mean, Sunset saw it. Let's say that she spills the beans?" He gave me a grin I really didn't care for. "Things happen like that. Information gets out."
"I will end you," I growled. I pointed down to Sunset, then jerked my thumb back to the portal. "Get her out of here."
My guards saluted and picked up the comatose Sunset. She gasped when she realized that she was being forced back to Equestria but, well we had to get her back. My guards were far stronger than a 5'2, scrawny female, and despite her best efforts, they disappeared through the portal with Sunset in tow. I noticed that I was alone with the Mane Five; the only people left after I punched myself. I gave them a weak grin and shrugged.
"Yeah, this isn't really what I wanted to happen. I wanted to get the crown and head back home pretty quickly."
"Who... who are you?" Rarity whispered.
"I'm Antares from another dimension," I said, pointing to Mr. Antares. "Though in that dimension... well, we're all ponies. Everybody has an equivalent in my world. Even you. Especially you. You five are five of the most important ponies in my world; a world that I rule as a goddess princess."
"Wait..." Applejack frowned. "Princess?"
I sighed and rubbed my temples. "Yeah, princess. It's a long story. I was born a human male, but some magical artifacts turned me into a pony princess. That's the short version."
"So your real name would be Princess Antares?" Pinkie Pie asked.
I nodded. "Sure is. And speaking of..." I inclined my head in a slight bow and motioned to the portal. "My subjects need me. I have been gone long enough. I bid you five adieu. I suspect that even in this world, you five are important."
"Will we ever see you again?" Fluttershy said.
I shrugged. "Who knows? Life is mysterious. You never know what fate will throw at you."
With that, I turned around and walked towards the portal. I was ready to go home; to get back into my body, and return to my subjects. Just before I entered the portal, a thought struck me, and I turned around.
"Oh, uh..." I pointed to Celestia and Mr. Antares, both of whom were still on the ground. "Sorry about that. You might want to get them some medical attention. I didn't mean to hit them that hard. I'm used to punching things... well, much more resilient."
Okay, after that I went through the portal.
I endured the LSD trip again. Oh yeah. I'd forgotten about that. It was worth it, though. I was going home.
After a few seconds, I felt myself on the cold floor of the Crystal Palace. I grinned and fluttered my wings behind me. I did so miss having wings. I sat up and made sure my horn was back in its proper place. Good there, too. I stood up, intending to find my fellow monarchs, but I discovered that they were all waiting for me.
With gigantic grins on their faces.
Me dammit.
"It seems old habits die hard with you, Antares," Luna said, her grin widening somehow. "But punching yourself? You are a naughty pony."
I groaned and covered my face with my wings as the other three princesses had a laugh at my expense.