//------------------------------// // Class Dismissed // Story: Let Them Wonder // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// The briefcase shut closed with a small snapping sound, the last of Diana's papers stored away within. She sighed with relief that her work was done before she lifted her head to gaze at the empty classroom. But while no students were in it at the moment, Diana could still hear them laughing, playing and panicking whenever she busted out a surprise test on them. She would miss this place. 'But my time here is done. I've taught them all I can,' Diana knew as she picked up her briefcase and walked towards the exit of the room, glancing back one last time with a smile on her face before she flicked the lights off and closed the door behind her. The hallway of Canterlot High was devoid of any students as Diana walked through the halls, but when she reached the front doors she found that there were still those that wished to speak with her. "Principal Luna. Principal Celestia. What can I do for you?" "We just...wanted to give you this, before you headed out," Celestia said with a smile as she handed a small plaque to Diana. Diana received the plaque with a nod before glancing down at it, seeing her picture on the front and the words "Teacher of the year" underneath it. "Are you sure that you wish to give this me?" Diana asked Celestia and Luna with a smirk. "I am part of the reason monsters with unspeakable power showed up at your school and attacked all of you." "Please, I deal with Sunset and her friends on a daily basis. Monster attacks are nothing new to me," Celestia laughed as she waved off Diana's words. "But you've also done a great deal of good while you were here. Helping the students to grow. Being stern yet kind when they needed you to be. Helping Sunset to regain the fire in her eyes that I haven't seen in so long." "Are you sure that we can't convince you stay a little longer?" Luna asked. "I kinda like having the students actually listen to us. Of course, it only works when you're in the room, but still..." "Sorry, but my home still has a lot of cleaning up to do after what happened with Hades," Diana replied with a shake of her head. "Even with the gods restored, Steve brought back to life--as well as those that were lost here--and the Justice League freed from stone...there is too much that needs to be done. And I am sure that there is much that you need to do as well." "I figured you would say that. Guess I'll have to go back to the megaphone to be heard over the students," Luna smirked with a shrug. Celestia then stepped forward and held out her hand to Diana with a smile on her face. "Then I wish you the best in your future endeavors, Diana. It was nice to meet...a goddess as kind as you." Diana smiled before grasping Celestia's hand and shaking it. Luna gave Diana a wave when Diana turned to her and Diana responded with a nod. She then walked past the both of them and exited the school. The wind caught her hair and caused it to wave gently behind her as she gazed up at the sky. "One last stop before I go," Diana muttered before taking to the sky. She flew until she reached a field where she had spent many mornings and evenings, training a particular student. That same student awaited Diana's arrival and raced over to Diana when she landed. "Hello, Sunset. Been waiting long?" "Ten minutes. Not that long," Sunset said with a forced smile, but Diana could see the sorrow and tears in her student's eyes. "Yeah-yeah, I know that I shouldn't cry but...this is going to be hard for me," Sunset admitted as she wiped the tears away from her eyes. "My world needs me, Sunset. I would stay longer, but I can't," Diana informed Sunset with a shake of her head. "I know. You have to go and be a hero or goddess or whatever you feel like being," Sunset said with a wry smirk. "Who knows, maybe someone needs you like I did." "You don't need me anymore, Sunset," Diana replied. "I have nothing left that I can teach you." "Now that's a lie," Sunset replied with an even larger smirk. "The end of days must truly be upon us. The Spirit of Truth lying to her own student? Truly the end times." "Well, my views are different from yours, you little smart aleck," Diana laughed. "But I mean it, Diana. Whenever you want to visit, come on back. I know that I wouldn't mind seeing you again," Sunset softly said. "I know. But with the barrier up, it might be hard for me to come visit," Diana replied before she lifted her briefcase and opened it up. "And since I won't always be here, I figured that I should leave you a parting gift. Something that you might like." Sunset's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates when Diana pulled out two bracelets from her briefcase, bracelets which blazed with red and yellows that reminded Sunset of her hair. Sunset let out a little squeak as Diana offered the bracelets to her, her hands shaking as she took the armor from her mentor. "Hephaestus made these for you, exactly the same way he made mine. It's his way of thanking you," Diana informed Sunset as the girl slipped the bracelets onto her arms. "Zeus even enchanted them so they'd be as indestructible as mine. But there's another secret. Clap your hands together and pull them apart." Sunset did as Diana asked and to her amazement, she pulled a sword that blazed like the sun from within the bracelets. The hilt was fashioned to resemble a phoenix and the guard was the phoenix's wings. But what made Sunset's eyes mist up was the inscription written upon the blade of the weapon. 'A student of war. A student of truth. A student that made her teacher proud.' "In case you ever forget what I've taught you, that blade will be there to remind you," Diana informed Sunset while the girl tested the blade by swinging it a few times. "It can only be wielded by you, so don't worry about anyone using it against you." "How did you manage to get it to do that?" Sunset asked as she read the inscription once more. "Because it belonged to Ares. It's made up of the blade that Hades ruined. He passed that blade onto me. And now I pass it onto you," Diana said with a smile while Sunset's eyes misted up once more. "But I also have something else for you...something to help drive the nightmares away in case they ever return." "Diana...I can't accept this," Sunset said with a shake of her head as she gazed down at the golden lasso that had been repaired. "This is your lasso of truth! This is...a gift from your mother!" "And now it is my gift to you," Diana replied, offering the lasso to Sunset once more. Sunset hesitantly reached out for it and wrapped her fingers around it, gently pulling it close to her while giving Diana an unsure look. "Do not worry, I am sure Hephaestus will forge me another one in time. And if I bother him enough." "Why would you give this to me?" Sunset asked. "For numerous reasons. So that you can be this world's Spirit of Truth. So that you can always expose those who wish to deceive you. And so you always stay true to yourself," Diana replied with a kind smile. An explosion of magic erupted behind the two and both turned to see a yellow portal that was in an odd shape. "That is the symbol of Fate. Doctor Fate has opened the portal that I asked for." "So then...this is goodbye?" Sunset asked. Diana's response was to reach out to the girl and pull her into a hug. Sunset hugged Diana back, though far tighter than Diana did. After a moment they broke apart, and Diana gazed down at her student one last time. "It is not goodbye forever. It's just goodbye for now," Diana reminded her. "And we will meet again. Perhaps next time you can come see my world. I promise that it is a lot nicer when Death isn't taking over it." "I believe you." "And I believe in you. You have made me so proud, Sunset Shimmer. Never forget that." Diana then turned and floated into the portal, waving to Sunset one last time before she vanished into the hands of Fate. Sunset watched until the portal closed upon itself, leaving her standing alone in an empty field. She then gazed down at her bracelets and the lasso of truth, which shone with a light of gold that reflected in Sunset's eyes. And she saw the truth. =wWw= "Are you girls ready?" Sunset asked her friends, each of whom nodded in response. The six girls then joined hands as their elemental power flooded through them, lifting them into the sky while a rainbow light shone amongst the six. They all then let out a scream, as a beam of pure rainbow light ascended into the sky and erupted far above the planet, creating a rainbow barrier that spread all across the planet. "Did that do it?" Dash asked as they all landed on the ground. "Yeah, I think it did," Sunset responded as she looked up to see the barrier slowly fade away, but her connection to the Elements told her that it was still there. "Looks like our world is finally safe from Hades and any other evil force that tries to come to our world." "But it also might keep Diana out," Fluttershy reminded Sunset. "Doubt it. Diana will find a way back if she has to," Applejack said with a smirk. "Ah bet she'd just break the barrier if she's desperate enough." "Probably," Sunset said with a shrug before she sensed something and glanced around behind her. "Can you guys give me a moment. I'll meet you by the front of the school." The girls did as she asked and a moment later Sunset was all alone at the back of the school. That was until a figure stepped out of the shadows to confront her. "Agatha. Care to tell me why your sneaking around back here?" Sunset asked the girl as she approached, not liking the glare in her eyes. "This isn't over, Sunset," Agatha spat. "You and your teacher may have stopped my master, but I still wield some of his power." To prove her point she summoned the black armor onto her. "And I promise you that I will not stop until I make you pay for what you have done to me." "Agatha...I am sorry for whatever I did to you all those years ago," Sunset apologized. "There are a lot of things in my life I wish I could do over again. But while I may not be able to change how I acted to you in the past, I can decide how I do it now." Sunset then stepped forward and held out a hand to Agatha. "And if you're willing to let bygones be bygones, then I will as well. I'd like to start over, if we could." "No," Agatha spat out almost immediately. "Not until I have seen you suffer the way me and my master have. And I will avenge him by doing what he couldn't. I will destroy you." Agatha then vanished into the darkness, leaving Sunset to shake her head at what Agatha had said. "You're hurting, Agatha. I know how you feel. And I promise that I won't stop until I've helped you," Sunset promised before she turned and headed towards the front of the school, where all of her friends were standing in front of the statue. "Sorry about that, had something I needed to deal with real quick." "No problem...um, she responded by the way," Twilight said as she handed Sunset's book back to her. "The other me says that the portal is open...Sunset...are you sure you want to do this?" "Yes...I see the truth now. I've been running from this for a long time," Sunset admitted as she looked into the portal at the base of the statue. "But I can't run. I have to accept my past...and try to make up for what I've done. But I can't let my fears rule me forever...see you guys soon." And with that, Sunset walked forward into the portal. And for the first time in a long time, she wasn't afraid of what she would find on the other side. =wWw= "While I am happy to see that everything is alright, I will say that I believe that you are rushing into this," Dr. Fate advised Diana, who looked as if she was armed for war. "You should be resting, not about to throw yourself to the multiverse to try and find wherever this...Maestro vanished to." "That's because you weren't there, Fate. You didn't see what he would do just to kill a single girl," Wonder Woman reminded Fate. "And that was a single world. He told me that he's been doing this for gods know how long. How many innocents has he killed just to see what would happen? How many worlds and races has he doomed just to prove a theory. He is a monster...and one that I must stop." "But must you go alone?" Fate asked. When Diana didn't answer, he let out a sigh before handing her a device. "This is a dimensional stone, but far more powerful than regular ones. With this one, and what you have told me of the Maestro, it will help you to find him. But I warn you, that this will be unlike any other journey that you have gone on." "Thank you, Doctor," Wonder Woman responded before she used the stone to open a vortex into the multiverse, to where Fate had found a trace amount of the Maestro's power. "I must ask again, Diana. Why must you go alone? He is not your problem." "Because the Maestro made this personal when he attacked my student. He made it personal when he wanted to kill those who had just begun to live to see the results," Diana whispered as she glanced back at Fate with a look that Fate remembered seeing upon the face of Ares years ago. "Maestro made me his problem. And I'm going to make sure he regrets ever having done so. Goodbye, Doctor." And with that, Diana hurled herself into the multiverse, to make sure that the one that threatened Sunset would never harm another again. For any other being it would have been an insurmountable task. But Diana was not just any other being. She was a wonder. And she would find him.