The trip to Los Pegasus had been... interesting... to say the least. When Celestia had proposed that she go in the girls' stead, they had at first protested until she made the point that she was an impartial party that possibly had a better shot at speaking to Sunset Shimmer. Especially after it seemed clear by way of phone that Sunset still did not want to speak to them. Plus it would also be a matter of money, how they would navigate a city they had never been to, if their parents would even let them go and if they would be back in time for the new school year. Begrudgingly they all came around, which left Celestia and Discord to plan so that they could leave early the next morning. The girls had seen them off and even Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had been there, handing her an envelope and telling her it was for Sunset Shimmer.
While the beginning had started smoothly the next two days had been more hectic. Spending long hours in a small space with Discord had been both hilarious at times yet also annoying. The man could bring up interesting topics of conversation and engage in complex topics concerning theory, philosophy and even home economics but in the next second he could be begging to detour to see the world's largest waffle or to try some diner that had paid for billboard advertisement. However, Celestia had accepted there would be good with the bad and had managed to masterfully deal with the eccentric janitor. Plus truth be told this was much more preferential than staying at home, job hunting and feeling sorry for herself.
After a night at a motel they had finished the last leg of their journey and made it to Los Pegasus just as the last rays of the evening sun slipped away. While Discord had wanted to go out on his own to explore this new city, Celestia had stayed behind in their hotel room, looking up directions to the address given to her by Fluttershy who had received it from her friend Treehugger. It had been hard for Celestia to gain a proper sleep, feeling quite nervous about what would happen tomorrow when she went to see Sunset Shimmer and nervous even until the next day when she and Discord had driven to the address and were climbing the stairs of the apartment building.
"You know you worry too much? I say this neighborhood has character! All over the place! There's even some against that wall in the corner over there!"
"I'm not rather interested in seeing it, Discord."
Wrinkling her nose and refusing to look in the direction he was pointing in, they were soon heading down a hallway as she looked over the numbers on the doors. She thought she could hear voices coming from one of the apartments up ahead but ignored it for now.
"But really Celestia, you shouldn't be so tense! I'm sure things will work out just fine! And I know by saying that I've most likely caused something hilarious to happen right aboouuut... now!"
He had finished his sentence just as Celestia knocked on the door, the voices now apparently coming from inside and as the door opened they were greeted with a cloud of smoke above their heads.
"Dammit Bobby, you fucking over loaded the toaster with some stupid fat bread slices!"
"It was all they had on sale! And it's supposed to be good for you! It says it has oats and grains! Hello, may I help.... yerp?"
The man who had opened the door seemed to lose the power of speech as he stared at Celestia, eyes widening slightly as he took in what was, in his opinion, a vision of a very lovely woman. So speechless was he rendered that instead of saying 'you', he had instead formed some other word that would be apart of a growing vocabulary if he was unable to remember how to make actual language instead of just noises. Fortunately a young woman had come to the door, muscling him aside so that she could see who was there.
"Bobby who the hell are you talking to-... uhhhh, hi? Look we've already been saved so uh-"
"Um, no. Are you Jackie Vibrato? My name is Celestia and this is Discord. We are here to speak with Sunset Shimmer."
"Oooookay. How do you know her and what are you here to speak to her about?"
"I am... I was, the principal at Canterlot High School, where your friend Treehugger goes to school. I am here on behalf of Sunset's friends to speak with her."
"Ugh, seriously? Wait, why didn't you call?"
"Uh, Jackie, you turned your phone off and hid it in the couch after all of Sunset's ex-friends called you to talk to her."
Having regained the power of speech yet still with the inability to stare at Celestia like a love sick puppy, Bobby had reminded his roommate of the fate of her phone. The blue haired guitarist thought back to the event before disappearing into the apartment, returning a few moments later with the phone in hand and a scowl on her face.
"Ugh, way to many messages. Look, Miss Celestia, Sunset Shimmer's been in a real bad mood since her friends called me."
"And she's been unhappy because Sunset's been keeping Jackie out of the room."
"Shut up Bobby. The point is, I dunno if she'll want to talk to you."
"Can you at least tell her that I'm here? Please?"
The longer she stared at Celestia, the more this compelling urge to comply rose up until finally with a long, drawn out sigh, Jackie turned and headed back into the apartment. Now left alone, Bobby's ability to speak had gone as he tried sneaking glances over to Celestia. In a way it was flattering but the woman could not say she was interested, especially when Discord kept smirking to her. If they were alone he probably would have made a quip about Bobby's infatuation. Then came a bit of shouting from the apartment. While she could understand Jackie, the other voice was muffled and most likely belonged to Sunset Shimmer. When the verbal argument came to an end, a grumpy looking Jackie returned and it was clear what the end result was before she had even spoken.
"Yeah, ain't happening right now. And I think I am deeper in the shit with her, thank you very much."
Seeing that this was getting her nowhere, Celestia thought about her next move. It was then that Discord decided to interject with an idea.
"I'm starving for something to eat! How about since we so rudely intruded upon the both of you while making breakfast, I'll go get us something? Me and the lad here can go while Celestia stays here with you to wait out Sunset Shimmer?"
"Huh? Wait, why do I have to go with you?"
"Because while you seem nice enough, you are not at all an interesting companion while you are struck dumb by a beautiful woman's presence."
This made Bobby blush some as he was called out but also allowed for Discord to drag him out of the apartment now that the college student's guard was low.
"Oh don't worry my boy! You can show me a good place to pick up breakfast! We'll be back just as you wrap things up I'm sure!"
Both Celestia and Jackie stared until both men had disappeared down the stairs.
"He always like that?"
"Usually. You don't seem so shocked by his actions."
"Trust me, you see a lot weirder shit around here in general. Sooooo how about you come on in and have a seat I guess?"
Now that she got to see the apartment proper, it made Celestia flash back a bit to when she had gotten her first apartment. The freedom had been exhilarating but reality had come crashing down when she could no longer stand to keep the place a mess. It seemed reality had yet to set in here. Celestia moved aside a text book and a pair of pants to clear a space for her to sit while Jackie simply flopped down onto a chair.
"So you want anything? Water or something?"
"No, thank you."
And then came an awkward silence. If Celestia was a more betting woman, she wouldn't count on it being the last. As she tried to think of something to talk about, her gaze shifted over to Jackie and began to study her in earnest now. While she had seen plenty of teens dressed in t-shirts and jeans, there was just something different about it on Jackie. Perhaps it was the fact that Celestia had never really seen any of her students who wore a Red Hot Chili Peppers shirt or ones that wore jeans that had been worn and torn over time instead of bought that way. If she had to put a word to it, this Jackie just seemed more... authentic.
"... I'm very grateful to you."
The blue haired guitarist's attention snapped back to Celestia, giving her a confused look that made the woman elaborate further.
"For what you've done for Sunset Shimmer. I... haven't been told much of the situation. But when her friends told me about that video and I saw it, she looked happy."
"Yeah well... I try my best, you know?"
"May I ask why?"
"Why what?"
"Why you have been helping her?"
"Yeah that's complicated. I mean, I have my own reasons for why I help people but I help people, you know? She got really messed up with everything that happened in Canterlot and since I could do something, I did something. Though now it seems like I'm back a couple steps thanks to her ex-friends calling before she was ready to talk to them. I mean yeah, I'll admit, I got lucky with how much she's been trusting me with so quickly but I'm getting hella frustrated with this. I don't want her to be sad, okay?"
It was clear the guitarist was vexed if she was to the point of unloading on a stranger. But Celestia was quiet as she listened and patiently waited for the younger woman to finish her small rant. There was actually a small smile on Celestia's face by the end of it.
"Well, I am happy that you cared enough to help. I can't thank you enough for your compassion. I just wish that if I had even half of your diligence during the Anon-A-Miss situation then maybe Sunset would not of had to run away."
"Why? What'd you do?"
"... I... had thought I could trust my students. That they would act in the right way and do the right thing. I miscalculated how they would act during the incident."
Already she could feel her mood start to lower at the thought of her greatest failure at CHS. Jackie could easily see that the woman was becoming sad and was quick to try and think of something comforting to say.
"Well, yeah, you fucked up. But I mean like, only kinda? Come on, if a principal could control all the students at school then me and my friends would've been in the shit with our monster principal. But that's not the point. I guess the point is, I dunno what you could of done to curb this."
"I could have tried to take the account down."
"Another one probably would have popped up."
"I could have banned phones and use of the computers until this was cleared up."
"Uh, kids have the internet and phones outside of school you know."
"I could have tried harder to investigate this matter!"
"Oh come on, like you got some detectives and CSI shit at your disposal! Listen lady, maybe you could of tried harder but it sounds to me that your students were just a bunch of assholes! You can't control what they do and if they do bad things it's their choice! The point is-"
"It's not your fault..."
Both Celestia and Jackie's heads snapped to look at Sunset Shimmer, the girl having apparently snuck up on them during their back and forth. Like Jackie, she was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, although the black t-shirt had Nirvana on it instead of RHCP.
"I need to put a bell on you or something..."
"Sunset Shimmer..."
Celestia rose up from her seat and faced the other while the red head continued to stare at the woman. Admittedly it was hard to remember that this Celestia and the one she had grown up with were different. Before she had felt anger and rage towards her mentor, now there was just a bitter, dull feeling of shame in the pit of her stomach. The same shame that made her stay here instead of going back home to Equestria or try to even contact her former mentor. This Celestia had nothing to do with that but it was hard to fight down all those negative feelings that rose up when she stared into those pink eyes, familiar and yet foreign at the same time.
"... I'm not going back."
"At this point I can see why you wouldn't. But what about your friends back in Canterlot?"
"Ex-friends. And if they think they can guilt trip me into coming back, then they can forget about it."
"Sunset, that's not what they're trying to do. Yes, they made a terrible mistake but they want to do everything they can to make it up to you. They care about you."
"Bullshit! If they cared about me they would have stuck by me! If they had cared then they wouldn't of left me to fend for myself! If they had cared then they would of known I was right about Anon-A-Miss and not blew me off!"
"You know-?"
"Jackie told me. She had said how Rarity told her that they knew it was their sisters. It was the only other logical option but they wouldn't even consider it! Because they couldn't let go of what I did!"
By now Sunset's eyes were starting to glisten, tears threatening to spill over and Celestia felt an urge to just give the poor teen a hug. Jackie, however, was already on her feet and by Sunset's side to try and provide comfort and support.
"Sunshine..."
"Look, Pr-, Principal Celestia, I don't know why you're even here. Just... go back to CHS and get everything set up for classes or something."
Right on the money there was another awkward pause, Celestia's lips forming into a tight line while Jackie glanced nervously to her. Of course, Sunset Shimmer was quick to catch on and looked quizzically between the both of them.
"... what?"
"Uh, what?"
"Jackie..."
"Sunset... I... I'm not the principal of Canterlot High School anymore. After an incident at the school, I resigned to avert the blame to myself since I did not want to risk the school being shut down."
Eyes widening, Sunset Shimmer's gaze turned to Celestia and she just stared at the glum looking woman. Even if this wasn't her mentor, to see Celestia cast down from her position. While the old Sunset Shimmer would have found glee in seeing even an alternate Celestia brought down and disgraced, all she felt now was sick.
"You're kidding..."
"Sunset-"
"No! You have to be fucking kidding me! You didn't do anything wrong! You didn't spill secrets! You didn't start the account! You didn't tell the students to bully or attack me! Why would you fucking do that for them?!"
Not waiting for an answer, Sunset Shimmer turned and stormed back to the bedroom, slamming the door and locking it, much to Jackie's chagrin.
"Why god? Why have you banished me from my own room?"
Grimacing, Celestia moved over and gave Jackie a sympathetic pat on the back.