Interlude: Principal Interest
As Principal Celestia sent out an e-mail to the teachers of the six absent girls, her mind wandered back to a memorable afternoon, not long after the Fall Formal...
Classes had ended for the day, and Principal Celestia was finishing up some paperwork in her office. She was hoping to, for once, leave campus early and find time to unwind at home. Recent days at CHS had been remarkably stressful, what with rebuilding the school entrance, whitewashing the Fall Formal incident, and trying to wrap her mind around exactly what had happened.
After the dust had settled—literally and figuratively—and the mysterious Twilight Sparkle had disappeared, Luna had quietly hired a private investigator, who had turned up some interesting information.
A girl by the name of Twilight Sparkle lived in another part of Canterlot, and had at one time attended Crystal Prep—when she was twelve.
A girl by the name of Sunset Shimmer had died at the age of three.
Given the bizarre nature of the Fall Formal incident, during which three of her students had transformed into actual demons and six more—one of whom she now realized was never a student at CHS to begin with—transformed into some sort of weird pony-eared magical girls, Celestia was not surprised at the results the investigation had turned up, and she had paid the private investigator off to forget he had ever taken their case. Still, there were many questions left unanswered about the whole thing, and after spending an entire week buried in paperwork and avoiding the media, Celestia had reluctantly begun to accept that she would never have all the answers...and perhaps that was for the best.
A knock on her door roused her from her thoughts. "Yes?" she called, straightening up in her seat and shuffling the papers on her desk into a neat, orderly pile.
The door opened, and Sunset Shimmer poked her head in. She wore a pensive frown. "Principal Celestia? Can...can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Of course," Celestia said, gesturing to the chair in front of her desk. "What's on your mind?"
Sunset sat down, shifting restlessly. "I..." she began, then broke off. After a long, awkward moment, she said, "I...I just wanted to apologize...for everything I've done since I came here."
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "You've already apologized to most of the student body, and to myself as well. And you're still serving out your detentions..." She glanced at the clock. "Which, incidentally—"
"I know," Sunset said. "But I asked for permission to talk to you before going to detention."
Celestia nodded. "Alright." She absently wrote out a slip for the detention monitor as she waited for Sunset to continue. "So...I take it you have more to say?"
Sunset shifted. "Yeah," she said. "It's just..." She folded her hands on the desk and looked down at them miserably. "When...when I came here, I had...I had this huge chip on my shoulder." She looked up at Celestia. "My old teacher...I thought she was holding me back, keeping me from being what I thought I deserved to be. I lashed out at her, I...I did things behind her back I wasn't supposed to do. When I didn't get what I wanted when I wanted it, I decided it was her fault..." Sunset's eyes turned cloudy and sad. "I was so stupid. I...I don't know if I could ever face her again, tell her she was right...apologize for everything I put her through..." Sunset swallowed, then looked up. "But...you remind me so much of her, and...and I caused even more trouble for you than I ever did for her, and...and everything I did here, I think maybe I was trying to hurt her by disrupting your school. I justified it all to myself as wanting to be in control here, wanting to take what was rightfully mine..." She laughed bitterly. "After Twilight Sparkle and her friends—my friends—put an end to my plans, I spent a lot of time thinking about why I was really doing it all." Sunset ran a hand through her hair. "I..."
Celestia held up a hand. "Sunset Shimmer. I'll accept your apology on two conditions." She raised one finger. "One: I want your word that I can count on you for anything I ask of you. If I ask you to volunteer for something—anything—I want to know you'll do it without complaint."
Sunset nodded. "Of course. It's the least I can do."
Celestia nodded, then raised another finger. "The second condition: I want to know who you really are." She laid her hand down on the desk and joined it with the other, steepling her fingers. "Luna and I did some checking after the Fall Formal. Sunset Shimmer died thirteen years ago. We also found out there's a Twilight Sparkle living in the city who's already graduated college and earned a Ph.D. But the girl that spent part of the week here...the girl that stopped you at the Fall Formal...that isn't her, is it?"
Sunset sighed and shook her head. "No, it isn't. I mean, it is, but at the same time it isn't." She blinked. "Wait...you actually found this world's Twilight Sparkle? Huh."
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "This world's Twilight Sparkle?"
Sunset grimaced. "Alright...I'll explain everything."
And she did. All of it.
Sunset spoke at length, about Equestria, about Princess Celestia, about her studies as the ruler of Equestria's personal student. About how she let her ambition run unchecked. How she betrayed Celestia. How she was banished from the castle, and subsequently fled through the mirror into the human world.
She told Celestia about the Sunset Shimmer of this world, who died as a small child. She told her about Princess Twilight Sparkle, the bright young unicorn who had succeeded her as Princess Celestia's student—had gone on to achieve everything Sunset had wanted for herself.
When at last she fell silent, Principal Celestia sat in contemplative silence for a long moment. "If...if I hadn't seen the whole demon and magical girls and rainbow thing for myself, I wouldn't believe a word of what you just told me," she said. "But...I did see it, and...I do believe you." She sighed heavily, massaging her temples. "Whoo...that's a lot to take in."
"I know, right?" Sunset said with a soft laugh. She glanced at the clock. "Oh, crap! Detention—"
Celestia held up a hand and shook her head. "Don't worry about it." She pulled out her phone and tapped the screen a couple of times. After a moment, she spoke into it, "Sunset Shimmer is serving her detention in my office this afternoon. Yes. I just wanted to let you know not to expect her." She hung up and put her phone away, then crumpled up the pass she'd filled out earlier and tossed it in the wastepaper basket.
For the next half hour, Sunset Shimmer filled Celestia's mind with fanciful tales of unicorns and pegasi and castles and cloud cities and magic and monsters, all in a land populated entirely by talking ponies that sounded like something right out of a storybook. The earnest wistfulness in Sunset's voice as she told her tale resonated deep within Celestia's heart; she could tell the girl was desperately homesick for that wonderous world, and part of her jealously wished she could see this mysterious magical land for herself.
When Sunset once again fell silent, Celestia tilted her head. "It sounds to me as if you desperately wish to return home," she said. "If...if there is another Celestia, I...I do believe she'd be eager to see you again. If...if you wanted to, you could go back—"
Sunset shook her head. "Even if...even if I had the courage to face Princess Celestia again...and I'm not sure I could..." She sighed. "The portal only opens once every thirty moons. By the time..." She swallowed. "By the time it opens again, I'll have graduated from here. I'll have my hands full just making ends meet in this world, and..." She smiled. "Well, there's no telling what'll happen in the next couple of years, right? I could be a completely different person by then, with a life here I won't want to give up..." She shrugged. "Anyway, it's just better if...if I give up on ever going back to Equestria. I have to accept that this is my reality now, and hope that Princess Twilight reassured Mo—Princess Celestia that I'm doing fine."
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Are you?" she asked. "Are you doing fine?"
Sunset's brow furrowed in thought. She shrugged. "You know? I think I'm getting there." She smiled. "Yeah...I think I will be."
Celestia smiled in return. "Well...I certainly hope so. You have so much potential. You could go far in this world...especially now that you've learned to accept friendship and put aside your darker ambitions." She scooted her chair back. "Well, I believe you can go ahead and go home now. Unless you had something else you wanted to talk about?"
Sunset stood up. "That was pretty much it." She straightened her jacket and popped her back. "Thank you for..." She trailed off. "Thank you."
Celestia nodded. "My door is always open. Any time you need to talk, I'm here."
Once Sunset left, Celestia grabbed her purse, headed out into the hall, and looked for her sister. "Luna?"
"Yes, Tia?"
"We're going out for tapas and drinks tonight," Celestia said. "You know the place. I want to get completely wasted."
The haze of alcohol had almost erased the entire conversation with Sunset Shimmer from her mind, but the reappearance of Twilight Sparkle, the wild magical display at the Battle of the Bands, and the appearance of the other Celestia served as a constant reminder that all of it was real. Only the portal that wasn't supposed to be open again for a very long time WAS open, and that other, magical world was there waiting to be explored...
Celestia shook her head. "Nope." Draining her second cup of coffee since arriving at the school, she dove into the day's workload, putting thoughts of prancing pony princesses and magical castles firmly out of her mind.
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omg an update <3
Called it!
YYYeeeaaaa!! Finally a update. Good chapter.
didn't think this was getting updated
lol Cute way to end it.
Oh, Celestia...you're missing out on so much...
The conversation between Principal Celeatia and Sunset Shimmer is now part of my head canon. Why? Because I want everyone at Canterlot High to know about Equestria and that Sunset is actually a magic talking pony. Again, why? Because the show is so much more interesting that way.
I kinda forgot what was going on in this fic. Was Sunset about to call Princess Celestia "mom"?
6238365 No. You're not allowed to have ponies in Equestria Girls. It would make too much sense.
6238383 There's buttons that let you read previous chapters, y'know.
But yes.
6238340 Because god forbid writers have other stories to work on, other hobbies, actual lives, and maybe just don't get around to a story for a while. Obviously if a story isn't updating every single week, it's abandoned.
6238399
Yeah I know, and I'll probably go back and reread it at some point. But I had to know now!
well honestly Sunset should go home. There's a little thing called a Social Security Number. She doesn't have one. So her life would be better in Equestria.
6238412 She seems to be doing just fine without one, and also who even says that world HAS SSNs to begin with?
(Oh, and you can GET a Social Security Number, so...there's that.)
6238441 she's still in school so it isn't an issue now. After school is something else and i bet it's pretty hard to get an SSN number. Again her world is Equestria. she belongs there.
Good to see something for this. Yet another touchy-feely Sunset and Celestia moment.
I hate alcohol in general, and I'd want to drink to forget what Sunset told me if I were in Tia's shoes.
YESSSSSSSSS! FINALLY!!!! THANK YOU!
More to come after reading
6238450 Not really. You take your birth certificate down to the Social Security office and fill out the appropriate forms. Unlike 99.99% of otherworldly aliens Sunset actually has a birth certificate.
wow...
I'd mention how much Sunset wants to go home, but that's a flashback and in resent time she already has reunited with Princess Celestia again in Equestria.
Principal Celestia may want tu bury under paperwork now but I think Equestria may be too much of a temptation to not go for a weekend or next summer vacation. Or when she finally retires from working many years from now. I think the promises of magic and flying can be very persuasive... then again, I suppose this is outside the scope (time) of this fic.
6238509 no she doesn't. her human counterpart would have done but she's confirmed dead.
6238545 You're making a LOT of assumptions to justify your assertion that Sunset should go back to Equestria...and in so doing, you are missing pretty much every point being made ever.
Advice: Let it go.
6238594 I just stated my opinion. that's all.
IT'S ALIVE!!!
garbolaughs.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/itsalive1.gif?w=640&h=480
For real though, great chapter. I always like seeing little "interludes" like this; it really gives the story a sense of depth, showing that life goes on outside of the main plot.
6238545 Because of course the same world that let Twilight and the Sirens wander around the school without being properly enrolled clearly never fails to cross index birth and death records. Never mind that Sunset apparently is properly enrolled, so must already have the requisite personal records.
6238886 Sirens had the necklaces, and Twilight was between both movies there a week tops.
6238965 But still there, still highly visible, and in the first movie, it never appeared to occur to anyone to check and see if she was actually enrolled at CHS. You'd think the principal of the freaking school would at least stop and think "Hey wait...have I ever even SEEN this girl?"
It's fine to have an opinion, but you need to acknowledge the points others make instead of blindly bulling on.
6239180 EG was badly written
6239212 Yet somehow it gained a sequel and tonnes of fan art, remixes and fan fictions like this. How does hasbro do it? Unless it's only us Bronies who end up making it that way.
6239319 they made Fluttershy, and toned out jerk, a hulk, and a bat and she was still adorable as them. THey must have magic. THough the Sequel was better.
6239319 Mainly because Rainbow Rocks carried the EG-verse so much better than EG did
6239341 It's actually quite surprising that while I enjoy the show, I still can't being myself to watch EG. Maybe I just don't need to as I've probably read everything I need to know through fan fictions. But yes, Hasbro does have magic, the magic of friendship! Copyrighted of course.
6239379
There is that, but the other thing is that it' the same formula at some level as the TV show and the characters are essentially humanized ponies. The flawedness of the show didn't seriously put most people off, why would the movies?
This chapter feels a tad half-assed. It doesn't really take the story anywhere. Also, Celestia apparently doen't take surprises and oddities too well.
While short, it was a nice update none the less. And that ending! Strong willed individual she is :twilightlaugh:
It's been seven months since this last updated. I wasn't prepared for this.
Alcohol! There's a temporary solution! The portal is still there, Celly, and something tells me that, when the real (in subjective terms) Twilight Sparkle appears in your school, any pretence at ignoring what is happening will quickly be lost in the chaos of the Friendship Games!
6240033
You don't get to be where either Celestia is without a healthy dose of common sense. (Well, inasmuch as missing an unenrolled girl counts as such.) Still, very wise of the principal. Not. Her. Problem.
You have no idea how happy you made me by updating this story!
I think it could be funny if principal Celestia or Vp-Luna went to Equestria.
Celestia vs Leglistia!
Fight!
6240651 You're being a spoiled, entitled ass. You shouldn't complain like this about something you get to read for free. Ever.
And FYI, I have followed stories in the past (and present!) that update about every three to five years.
Sorry about that comment, everyone. My mouth and fingers just have a habit of inadvertently offending EVERYONE. I am very ashamed to know this even happened and I'm hoping we can put that unintended offense behind us.
6240770 Everyone makes mistakes. Apology accepted. Just be careful in the future, yeah? Fanfic writers don't like it when you bring up the whole "this story hasn't updated in forever" thing in a certain light. You explained to me that you were trying to point out to everyone else what has kept this story from updating. From now on, let the author of a story do that, okay?
6240682 Longlegstia.
6238399
I know that, I wasn't trying to offend, I simply didn't think it was getting updated. How did that offend u?
6240992 It sounded like you were complaining about it taking forever to update, and that's kind of a very sore point for me. If that's not what you were going for and I misconsrued it, I'm sorry, but at the same time, you might want to not leave comments that could be misconstrued like that.
6241142 kk
6238399
Authors aren't slaves to their work writing all the time? I... I need to rethink how the universe works.
Anyway, nice update, I like how Principle C and Princess C are similar but still different. The Princess is fun and playful while the Principle is just gonna hope on the alcohol train to forget all the weird shit.
6240796
TWENTY DAYS DETENTION!
6246921 Unacceptable!