“Hey, wake up.”
Sunset snapped awake, bolting upright into a sitting position. She looked in front of her, before shielding her eyes at the glare of the morning sun that was only just beginning to rise from behind the hills.
“Excuse me, what are you doing sleeping on school grounds?”
That voice... Sunset would recognize that voice from anywhere! She squinted her eyes through the suns rays and saw the familiar flowing hair of her mentor, those commanding purple eyes looking down at her, that pinkish white coat.
“P-Princess Celestia!” Sunset chimed up, so happy to see her mentor again. She wanted to jump up and into her embrace and just forget the nightmare that she had traveled through the mirror and been stranded in a world with no magic and no way to get home.
“Princess? You must still be asleep. It's Principal Celestia.”
Sunset's short lived happiness shattered into a thousand tiny pieces as the light lifted a little higher and the outline of the creature before her became more clear. The figure was Celestia in color only, instead she was yet another monkey-thing, with a similar long and flowing multicolored hair, deep purple eyes, and a tan button up jacket with long purple pants. A fake Celestia had appeared before her.
“And I'm going to ask you again, why are you sleeping on school grounds?” The tall monkey asked, eyebrow raised looking at the teen girl curiously.
Sunset's hands gripped the grass tightly as she looked down at the ground, realizing that last night wasn't a terrible nightmare. She really had gone through the portal, and she really had been trapped on this side of it. Princess Celestia had really abandoned her. And now some wanna-be look alike was standing in front of her.
The thought was pissing Sunset off more and more as the dawning realizations filled her mind again.
“...Are you going to answer my question or not? I don't want to have to call security and have you removed by force ma'am.” Principal Celestia said, sternness growing in her voice.
Security? Dammit, Sunset couldn't afford to have guards called on her already. She had to do something, anything.
“Ah, sorry about that.” Sunset chimed, lifting her head and putting on her best fake smile to try and smooth the situation over. “I uh... I got lost last night and I just sort of ended up falling asleep here! So sorry about that.” She placed her hand against the wall and struggled to her feet, dusting off her clothes as she stood up, before slipping her arms back through the leather jacket.
“Got lost? The only thing around here are this school and the neighborhood. Where exactly were you going?” Celestia asked, clearly not buying Sunset's story.
“Oh... Uh...” Sunset struggled for a moment, trying to come up with a believable story. This was one of the reasons why she wanted to get back home last night, to give her a chance to think this through. She always thought of herself as pretty good at thinking on her hooves, but she knew Equestria like the front of her hoof. This wasn't Equestria though.
“I... was... looking... too...” Sunset scanned around her surroundings, looking at the statue, to the school, to the fake Celestia before her, to the ground, and then to her backpack. “Oh!” She cried out, an idea finally sparking in her head as she clapped her hands together and got a bright grin on her face. “I was looking for the school so that I could sign up for classes! Yes, that's it! I guess I found it, but it was so late and I was so tired I just sort of conked out here!” She let out a bit of a forced laugh, to try and make her sound as casual as possible.
It was the best possible lie she could think of for the moment, after all it had a hint of truth to it. She really was looking to learn about this world, and what better place to do it than a school? If it was anything like an Equestrian school she could get herself in fairly easily.
“You came looking to... sign up for classes.” It was a question, but Celestia said it more as a statement, pursing her lips as she looked at Sunset strangely. Sunset hesitated, seeing the look on her face and started to sweat a little. She may have been a fake Celestia, but she had a lot of the same mannerisms and cold stares when she needed them.
“Y-Yes... I-Is that a problem?” Sunset stuttered, trying to keep her calm. She hated sounding so weak, but her resolve was being thoroughly tested at the moment.
“Do you live in the district then? Or are you looking to join one of our magnet programs?” Celestia asked, reaching into her purse and pulling out a few pieces of paper that had been stored inside.
“Uuuuhh...” Sunset stumbled, not quite understanding the question. However, she figured it was probably a bad idea to mention that she lived nearby with no way to back that up for the moment. If she feigned that she lived away from here, then she might be able to work with that. “For the... Magnet program?” She nervously smiled her reply, uncertain of what that actually meant.
“I see... Well, you do look like a freshman, though I must admit this is highly unorthodox.” Celestia muttered, looking up from her papers to the nervous Sunset. “You really should have just come here with your parents or guardian. And it would've been far easier if you had come to sign up at one of our Magnet fairs. The school year is almost over so you can always register early for next year.” Celestia said, handing Sunset one of the papers in her hand.
Sunset hesitantly took it, looking the paper over. This was not at all what she was expecting. In an Equestrian school you only needed to register as a student, and in higher education prove you were qualified to study there. Reading over this registration paperwork, they needed so much documentation that Sunset couldn't provide it was making her head spin.
“Go home and give your parents or guardian that paperwork and let them finish it. Then come back to turn it in. And try not to make it a habit of sleeping outside.” Principal Celestia shook her head disapprovingly before turning towards the school and heading inside.
“W-Wait!” Sunset called out, causing Celestia to stop and to turn towards the girl again. “What if...” Sunset clenched her fingers around the paper, uncertain of this approach. “What if I can't have anyone sign this?”
“...What do you mean?” Celestia asked, turning to Sunset and crossing her arms with an eye brow raised.
Sunset gulped. This was all or nothing now. Her usual confidence was gone, replaced with a sense of dread that if she screwed this up, she was going to screw up her entire life here in this new world.
“I mean... What if I don't HAVE any parents or guardians that can sign this? I still want to register for your school though!” Sunset held her breath as she explained that. There was no way she could tell this school Principal about Equestria or having ran away from it or having been banished, she'd never believe her. She had no one in this world, she was completely alone.
And as much as she wanted to be confident right now, she couldn't muster the right emotions. If this failed she was just going to have re-do in a different location, but she couldn't go too far away from the portal. She needed this to be the school so she could study both this world and the portal.
“...What's your name? You clearly know mine.” Principal Celestia asked, her stern tone dropping for a moment into a more familiar and comforting tone to Sunset.
“Sunset Shimmer.” Sunset said, still holding her breath. She stared at Celestia, who stared back at her. Her look was no longer the piercing glare, though Sunset wished it still was, she had gotten used to Celestia's glares. She had just never been good at dealing with Celestia when she went into any kind of 'nurturing' mood.
“Sunset, I think it's best if we discuss this further in my office. Follow me.” Celestia half commanded, half asked. Sunset wasn't sure of what to make of that tone, but she let out a bit of a sigh of relief. The tension of the situation had been getting to her, but Celestia seemed to have bought her story. She squeezed the paper in her fingers tighter and smirked. She finally had a bit of her confidence back from having succeeded this far, she just needed to take it all the way.
Principal Celestia quickly unlocked the front doors to the school and Sunset followed behind her footsteps. As she walked down the corridors of the school, she oddly got the feeling it was similar but different to Canterlot Castle. It was clearly a school, but the sense of atmosphere and set up of the building felt very familiar. It was a strange feeling for the girl.
Walking behind the Principal of this school also brought back memories of walking with Princess Celestia through the castle. A scowl formed on Sunset's face as she remembered the Princess. Ugly memories of the last few weeks popped in her mind, followed by those words she had spoken.
“If we cannot get past this, your studies end here. You are no longer welcome in the castle.”
There was no doubt in her mind that Celestia truly had desired to get rid of her that day. She may be trapped in this strange new world, but thinking about how Celestia had treated her, perhaps it was better this way. She would show her how wrong she was for throwing her out one day, she just needed time. She needed time to study, time to prepare, time to figure out this world. Even if this fake Celestia was trying to be nice to her now, she'd just use that kindness to manipulate her into giving her what she wanted. And then she could focus on her revenge.
“In here.” Principal Celestia stopped, turning to a door and unlocking it. The door was clearly labeled as Celestia's office and Sunset followed her in. Celestia placed her purse down behind her desk as Sunset closed the door to the room. “Take a seat over there.” She said before taking her own seat behind the desk.
Sunset planted herself firmly into the seat and looked over at the older female. Celestia folded her hands on top of her desk and looked concerned at Sunset. Sunset couldn't help but feel like she was suddenly under a spot light in the room, as if she was about to be scrutinized for every detail.
“Tell me Sunset... How old are you?” Principal Celestia asked first.
“Oh... my age?” Sunset asked, rubbing the back of her neck as she thought. Would Equestrian years translate to the same years here? They would right? She didn't know at what ages these creatures matured, so she could only go with the truth for the moment. “I'm 14.” Half-truth. She was 13, though she would be turning 14 next month so it might as well have been true.
“...I want you to be completely honest with me here Sunset. I can't help you if you lie to me.” Celestia's tone had turned very serious, causing Sunset to blink. Had she seen through her already? “Sunset... Are you running away from home?”
Sunset paused at that question. Technically that was half true, though she hadn't intended to stay away from home, she just came to amass a wealth of power and then return to show Celestia what a better ruler for Equestria she would be.
“...Would it matter if I was?” Sunset asked, trying to gauge the situation before her.
“It would matter greatly, yes. If you are having problems at home then I can help you. But I can only help if you tell me there's a problem.” Sunset couldn't help but get the feeling Celestia was talking about one thing while she was going through another. Still, this was better footing for her than she had when she first saw the Principal. She could possibly work with this, rather than be panicking over uncertainty.
“Here's the thing though.” Sunset spoke choosing her words carefully, “It doesn't really matter if I'm running away from home or not. I don't have a home to return to.”
“Don't have... Did your parents kick you out?” Celestia asked, concern apparent in her voice.
“No... Well, yes technically?” Crap, she was faltering. Princess Celestia had kicked her out, but that was really only half the problem. “I was kicked out, but I also can't go back home because there's no home to go back to.” Sunset tried to emphasize her sentence so that the Principal would understand that there was no physical home for her to go back to.
“I don't fully understand.” Celestia furrowed her brow, linking her fingers as she tried to understand the situation, “It seems that you can't go home to your parents though. Do you have family nearby that you can stay with?”
“Nope.” Sunset shrugged at that one. That much was easily true, there wasn't anyone here that was family to her. Nor was there anyone in Equestria. Unless she chose to consider Princess Celestia as her mother figure, and right now that was the last thing she wanted to consider.
“Sunset, if you have no place to go, no family to speak of, and no way of returning to your parents, then I'm afraid I'm going to have no choice but to contact Child Protective Services and have them figure out what's going on.” Celestia shook her head disappointed.
“Child... Protective Services?” Sunset queried with her own brow furrowed. That didn't sound good. “What are they going to do?”
“They will make sure that you have a safe place to live, get you registered for school, and if there's no family to take care of you, then they'll most likely try to find foster parents for you.” Celestia explained the details.
“Well none of that sounds like a good idea.” Sunset growled, closing her eyes and pushing a hand through her hair. She didn't know when, but she had somehow grown more comfortable with the situation. Was it because she was talking with Celestia again? That was the only thing she could figure out, but she was at least starting to feel like herself again. “If they take me away they could move me away from here, and I need to be here.” Sunset explained, leaning against the desk and tapping her fist against it for emphasis. “If I get taken away, it'll ruin everything.”
“It would be in your best interest to have a proper place to live that you can call a home though.” Celestia explained, “They'll make sure you have loving parents, a roof over your head, warm meals, and you'll be able to get an education. They can provide so much for you.”
“Ugh. Do I really look like I'm struggling for an education?” Sunset rolled her eyes, resting her elbow against the desk. “Ask me any math question and I'll answer it correctly. I've studied up to Calculus so far and before this all happened I was going to start looking into Number Theory.” She wanted to study history and magic here, not numbers or chemicals. She had done plenty of that back in Equestria.
Celestia blinked at that, having been thrown off her game a little at that. “I don't understand Sunset Shimmer. If you're running from home, but also have no home to return to, no family to speak of, and don't want any help from CPS, then what exactly is it that you're after? Why are you so determined to register at CHS?”
Sunset paused at that. She wanted to study this world, she wanted to study the portal, she wanted a base of operations for when she showed Celestia how well she could do without her. This school would be the perfect place to do that with it being so close to the portal.
“There are things I can only learn from here Principal.” Sunset said bitterly, closing her eyes in thought. “This is the only place in the entire world that can give me the education I actually need. I'm not even talking figuratively, I do mean literally. Your school is the only place I belong right now, and if I can't go here... I don't know what I'll do but I haven't thought that far ahead.” Sunset opened her eyes and turned to Celestia, looking her in the eye. “So are you going to help me or not?”
The two of them stared into each others eyes for what felt like hours, Sunset wanting to try and intimidate the educator into submitting, but somehow it just wasn't working as well as she had hoped it was going to.
“Tell you what Sunset Shimmer, I will make you a deal.” Principal Celestia said closing her eyes and intertwining her fingers.
“A deal?” Sunset asked, raising an eyebrow.
“If you tell me the full story of what's going on with you, then I will help you register for classes. I will even provide you with a place to live for the time being.” Celestia opened her eyes and looked Sunset in the eyes, the intensity of her gaze could pierce ice, “However, if you do not I will contact CPS and I will have them take care of this situation. I cannot guarantee what they will do with you, but I only want what's best for you. And to know what is best for you, I need the truth and the whole truth.”
“Feh.” Sunset sat back in her chair, crossing her arms and lightly growling, “You probably couldn't handle the truth.” She huffed a piece of hair out of her face.
“This is no time to be quoting famous movie lines Sunset.” Celestia said very sternly.
“...That's a famous movie quote?” Sunset asked confused.
“Will you tell me or not.” Celestia demanded on last time. Sunset figured she was quickly not being given a choice in the matter. She wished she had more time to think this over, someway to delay the situation and just give her more time.
The conversation between them was interrupted by a loud growl from Sunset's stomach, and the young girl suddenly realized that she hadn't eaten in at least half a day now. She hadn't had dinner at the castle before this all started and she hadn't had breakfast now either.
“Wow... I didn't realize how hungry I was.” Sunset spoke out loud, happy to have the distraction. Her head was actually starting to feel a little dizzy now. “Look, I'll... I'll tell you everything just, can we get something to eat first?”
Celestia let out a sigh of frustration, Sunset was just happy for the break from the serious conversation at this point.
“Very well.” Celestia spoke, standing up from her desk and grabbing her purse. She pulled out a small, thin rectangle from the bag and tapped away at it. Sunset had no idea what she was doing with it. “I've texted my Vice-Principal that a situation has come up and I need her to take over my morning duties. I will get you breakfast.”
...Texted? Sunset had no idea what that meant, but apparently Principal Celestia had just used some form of communication? Was it some kind of ESP, or was it like the journal she had brought with her? That meant that there had to be magic here, it just looked and acted different from how Equestrian magic was.
A lot of questions were popping up in her mind suddenly, she didn't even noticed that Celestia had reached the office door and was holding it open impatiently.
“Sunset, are you coming or not?”
“Oh!” Sunset snapped out of her thoughts, “Yes coming!” She quickly got up from her chair and followed the Principal back down the hallway. “So what are we getting for breakfast?”
“I've already eaten, so there's no point in me getting breakfast. However, we can stop wherever you'd like to eat.” Celestia explained sincerely. Sunset thought about her options then. She didn't know what these creatures ate, but it couldn't hurt to ask. If for whatever reason they didn't have Equestrian food, she would just feign that it was foreign food.
“Got anywhere nearby that has roasted carrots and hash hay?” Sunset asked curiously.
Celestia stopped with her hand on the front door to the school before turning to look at Sunset questioning.
“Do not tell me you've been seriously eating hay all this time.” Sunset grimaced at her reaction.
“Is that bad?” She asked hoping the answer wasn't that harsh.
“You're not a horse Sunset.” Celestia sighed rubbing her eyes, “I can't believe a parent would abuse their child by making them eat hay. Now come on, we're getting you real food.”
As Celestia exited the school, Sunset could only stare with a neutral expression on her face. The irony of this situation had not been lost on her.