"Hey, we're back... and I guess things didn't go so well?"
Considering the scene before him, Bobby had a feeling that what he had said would be called an understatement. Celestia looked very glum as she saw on the couch and Jackie was sulking on the chair she was sitting on. Now he didn't catch on to situations fast but he was willing to bet that the conversation they'd had with Sunset Shimmer had been less than stellar. Luckily he was sure what they had brought would lighten things up!
"Well, we went to that pizza place down the block. You know, the one you like Jackie cause it's got the gooey, greasy cheese?"
"Shut up, Bobby."
Or not. It seemed that Jackie's mood had dipped so low that she was just going to be very sour (or as Poppy called it, bitchy) to him and others around her. Still, he set the two boxes of pizza on the coffee table and went to get plates while Discord opened the bottle of soda he had bought.
"Certainly different from Canterlot pizza! I was very intrigued Celestia, you simply must try the half I ordered. Anchovy, goat cheese, zucchini and a ranch sauce!"
"Um, no thank you, Discord."
The woman scooted to the far end of the couch as Discord sat on the other, already having the box open and taking out a slice to devour. Instead she opened the other box and looked between the two pizzas to see what her choices were. Outside of Discord's odd choice on one half of the pizza, there was also a choice of pepperoni and mushroom, a vegetarian supreme, and what looked to be some sort of chicken meat with black olives and garlic. Once Bobby had handed her a plate, she took a slice of the pepperoni and mushroom to be safe, noting as she took a bite that the cheese was indeed gooey and greasy, but not overly so much that it would make her sick to her stomach, more in a delicious, guilty pleasure this is not good for you sort of way.
Silence fell upon the room once more as they all ate their pizza until Bobby decided to speak up.
"So I guess Sunset is locked in the room again?"
"I am afraid so. When I broke the news to her that I had resigned from being the principal at Canterlot High School following the Anon-A-Miss incident, she did not take it very well."
"Well, why did you resign? I mean, you didn't do anything wrong, right?"
"It was not so much as what I did, but more what I did not do, Bobby."
"Still. I mean, why resign when it was the students who were being jerks?"
Not immediately responding, Celestia instead finished her pizza and left the crust on her plate before finding a random, unused napkin under one of the pizza boxes to wipe off her fingers.
"I suppose it is because I still believe in the school and it's students."
"Why?"
"Because I know there is still good in them, despite the mistakes they have made. And that the school can be a place where friendships can thrive."
"Yeah, but what they did was still pretty bad, Miss Celestia. At least from what I've heard."
"I know."
"So why?"
With a long, silent sigh, Celestia closed her eyes and leaned back against the couch. Just when Bobby was starting to squirm and worry that he had ticked her off, she spoke up.
"Many friendships have started at that school, friendships that could be torn apart if the school were shut down and the students sent away to different schools. I know what you are thinking. There are so many ways to stay connected these days, but distance and separation can still cause people to drift and great friendships to fade away. I should know."
Sitting up straight again, Celestia opened her eyes and looked directly at Bobby.
"Many years ago I went away to Manehattan University. It was the chance of a life time to earn my degree at a prestigious college and I studied very hard to keep up my grades and graduate. I was gone for so long that I didn't realize that someone I cared for very much had fallen in with the wrong sort of people, fueling bad feelings and bad habits within her. When I came back she hurt me, very badly, and I could have cut her out of my life completely after that. But I saw that there was still good in her and I worked hard to help her and get our relationship back on track. It would have been easy to condemn her for the mistakes she made, but I couldn't forget all of the good times we'd had. All of the good I knew was still in her. I believe that it is rare that a person is beyond forgiveness, Bobby, and I did not want my students to suffer such harsh consequences."
Afterwards everyone was quiet. Well, except for Discord who had seen fit to applaud what he called a 'beautiful speech', which had him effectively kill the mood with his levity. It would only be a moment later that Jackie stood up from her seat and put a couple slices of vegetarian supreme and pepperoni and mushroom on her plate and grabbed the bottle of soda before marching to the door of her bedroom. She gave a good, loud knock after she shifted the bottle of soda so that it was being held under her other arm.
"Sunset! Let me in! We need to talk!"
"Go away!"
"No! I know we kinda of, silently agreed not to push each other about stuff but this is serious! And I want to be able to get back in my damn room again!"
It was only after she kept knocking periodically that the door was finally unlocked and opened a crack, allowing Jackie entrance to her room once more. After she shut and locked the door behind her, she saw that Sunset was lying on the bed and facing the wall with the window, clearly trying to give Jackie a sort of cold shoulder.
"Thanks for letting me in."
"...."
"Right."
With a soft sigh, Jackie approached the bed and sat down on the other side, setting the plate of pizza down between them as she opened the bottle to take a swig.
"Got you some of that veggie pizza you like. I'm pretty sure you haven't really eaten anything yet today. Or at least by now you'd be hungry again."
"......"
"Come on Sunshine. Look, the thing with Miss Celestia sucks, but what can you even do about that? It was her choice and if she thinks that school should keep going because she thinks they're still good, then fine. I mean, you can't stay angry at them forever. Not to say that you should just forget what they did but getting so hung up on them-"
"I can't stand it..."
"Ugh, I know Sunshine, the situation sucks but-"
"I can't stand how this Celestia is just so... forgiving."
"Wait, what?"
The guitarist flinched when Sunset Shimmer suddenly sat up, the red head trying to pin her down with a hard stare but was undermined by the tears falling from her eyes.
"How could she just give up her job? For them? Maybe they didn't turn into a raging demon but she still forgave them! HOW COULD SHE DO THAT???"
"Um... because... she thinks they deserve another chance?"
"She doesn't do that. That's not what she does!"
"Um, but she did?"
"No, she can't! Otherwise everything is all my fault!"
At this point Jackie was beyond confused and it didn't help that Sunset Shimmer had a complete break down. Despite her discomfort, the blue haired guitarist tried pulling the other in for a hug to comfort her but was met with resistance as the high schooler pulled away. Since it seemed the other wouldn't be keen on a hug this time, Jackie went to a back up that she remembered had been a comfort to her when she was younger and started rubbing the others back. It seemed to help and before long Sunset Shimmer had calmed down.
"... back in Equestria, I used to be the personal protege of Princess Celestia."
"Princess?"
"Yeah. She was an alicorn, a combination of all three pony races, the strongest being in all the land."
"Right. You know if there's a copy of everyone between this world and pony world, you're going to have to make it clear what you're talking about."
"... sorry. Anyway, back when I was her student, I wasn't... nice. I was rude to other ponies and blew them off, all I cared about was being the best and getting power. I think Celestia saw this in me, especially when I found the mirror that lead to this world. I was so obsessed with learning about it, but I got so angry when she wouldn't tell me. I let my anger and obsession get so out of hand I thought she was actively keeping secrets from me. Then one day we got into a fight about it, she took away my position as her personal student after I became downright vicious towards her and said a lot of things I still regret. Then I ran through the mirror, came to this world and the rest you know..."
"Okay... so what does that have to do with this world's Celestia?"
"... I am angry at them. That she resigned to protect them. And I am angry that she forgave them so easily but... to forgive them? To still see good in them? It just has me think that if this world's Celestia is like that then... then it was just me making me stay here. That it was me being too proud and angry to see that I was wrong, that I had made her in my mind to be this cold, unforgiving pony that would hold me back. I didn't want to be wrong, otherwise staying here, through the fallout of the Fall Formal, through Anon-A-Miss, being here in the first place... I did it all to myself."
It was hard to know what to say at this point. Jackie could grasp that Sunset was obviously dealing with some heavy and complex emotions, no doubt made all the more hard to deal with since it was two different universes. The guitarist would be the first to admit that she was no philosopher, but there was one little gem she had learned through life that was especially true in this matter.
"Sunshine... throughout your life, it's often shit."
The bluntness of that statement was enough to get Sunset Shimmer to stare at Jackie, the blue haired woman in turn smiled back to her.
"Look, I don't know what to tell you. This is some complicated as fuck shit. Would your life have been different if you had apologized? I dunno and neither do you. Maybe she would of forgiven you but you don't know for sure if you would've been Princess Celestia's student again. And yeah some shitty stuff has happened here in this world for you but there's been some good stuff too. I guess if I'm gonna bottom line it, I'd have to say you just have to do the best that you can with what you got and you can't let your past rule you. I mean, if I let my past keep messing me up I'd probably be over dosed, dead in the San Palamino desert somewhere. And yeah, I wish I could've done things in the past better, but I wake up every day, do what I gotta' do, and try to enjoy life. I know it seems hard now but I want you to trust me when I say it's gonna get better. Okay?"
Although it was a little hard for her to take Jackie's words seriously, the red head still gave a soft nod and seemed less likely to start crying again.
"That a girl. Now how about some pizza and soda? I know greasy cheese and sugar makes me feel better!"
Despite the heavy weight on her heart, the growling that came from her stomach made Sunset begrudgingly reach for a slice of vegetarian supreme pizza and take a bite. The speed of her chewing picked up as the flavors gave her appetite a good kick and she was eating with a bit more gusto. But still, there was something gnawing at the back of her mind now.
"... you really would've been dead out in the desert somewhere?"
"... yeah. I mean, I wasn't no power hungry, dimension hopping unicorn, but I kind of had my mind all messed up as a teen."
"And I'm guessing you had your own version of being blasted in the face by rainbow pony magic?"
"Ehhhh, I sort of had to get my head on straight on my own. But that's something for another day."
With a nod and not pressing for any more information, Sunset Shimmer finished her slice of pizza before taking a drink of soda. There was still a lot on her mind and a lot to think about, along with worrying if there was any backwash in the bottle now.
A couple hours later and it was time for Celestia and Discord to leave, Bobby disappointed that Celestia was leaving but a little glad that Discord was going since the guy liked teasing and confusing him so much! Even Sunset Shimmer had come out of the room to see them off, quiet up until the end.
"You know... it would mean the world to your friends if you called them."
"Ex-friends. And I'm still not ready for that."
Shifting for a moment, Sunset seemed to finally make a decision and pulled a piece of paper out of her jeans pocket.
"... but I'll keep in contact with you. If you want."
"... and if I tell your, ex-friends, how you are doing?"
"Whatever."
With a small smile and a nod, Celestia took the piece of paper and immediately stored the number on her cell phone.
"Well, I wish you luck, Sunset Shimmer. And to the both of you, Jackie and Bobby. Let's go Discord."
"Toodle-ooo! I'm sure we'll be seeing each other soon enough!"
Once the two were down the hallway, Jackie closed the door and let out a relieved sigh.
"Finally. Maybe now things can settle down around here. And you'll stop locking me out of the room, Sunshine."
"... no promises."
Sunset shot a playful grin to Jackie and quickly headed off to their room, the guitarist hot on her heels.
"No way! I'M SLEEPING IN MY OWN BED TONIGHT DAMMIT!"