Sunstruck
Principal Cinch had always scoffed at the superstitious. People trying to find causation and purpose where there is none. Seeing spiritual and metaphysical connections all around them.
Today she was able to relate to such people. Cinch was about to meet with the principal of Canterlot High, Celestia, and on this day, after months of overcast weather, the clouds had decided to part. Given Celestia’s horse counterpart’s connection to the sun, the coincidence was begging to be explained supernaturally.
Fortunately, her car was blessed with tinted glass, allowing her to enjoy only a fraction of what irritation the colorful buildings, glossy store windows and shiny cars reflected excitedly back at her.
Cinch would soon arrive at the cafe she’d become too familiar with.
From her window seat, Cinch saw Celestia coming. Of course Celestia had chosen to walk, and without sunglasses. She could probably stare straight into the sun and enjoy it. Cinch wondered if her eyes were actually solar panels.
Cinch put down her newspaper. Her thin slice of cake lay untouched. She had only bought it so she could bring in her tea-filled thermos—the cafe didn’t serve her favorite lemon and cinnamon.
“I appreciate you meeting with me, Principal Cinch,” Celestia said with a smile after sitting across the table. “I must admit, I wasn’t expecting you to be willing.”
“And rightly so,” replied Cinch, “but I do have a matter I wish to discuss with you, so there is at least some point to it.”
Cinch’s bluntness didn’t make Celestia’s smile falter — she was used to it. Cinch knew full well that the worst Celestia’d ever do was furrow her brow (and what was that against the master of the art?), so Cinch wouldn’t pull any punches around the younger woman.
“Oh? Let’s get that out of the way then, since my goals for our meeting are probably… less defined than yours,” Celestia replied with a twirl of her hand.
“That would be preferable,” said Cinch. “I have a proposition to make.”
“I’d be glad to hear it.”
Cinch touched her mouth with a napkin. “Crystal Prep is hosting a talent fair of sorts in the upcoming month. Naturally, if other top schools decide to participate, the event may attract recruiters, providing an actual benefit for the students.” Cinch sipped her tea. “As you might imagine, other schools have jumped on the opportunity, but Canterlot High, with your recent… successes, would be the main attraction—after Crystal Prep.”
Celestia tilted her head and tapped her chin in thought. “May I ask what brought this on, Principal Cinch?”
“You must realize already that the purpose of this event has mainly to do with our schools’ relationship,” Cinch said. Celestia nodded. “Needless to say, bottom-up change has been occurring… and I have to match it with top-down change for everything to remain stable.”
“Does it have to do with mister Trenderhoof’s publications?”
“Indeed it does.” Another sip. “That was the first step, really. I managed to redirect his desire to learn about your school into something productive. Of course, our students have been interacting quite heavily in this past month.”
Celestia smiled. “Yes they have, and a welcome change it is, wouldn’t you agree, Principal Cinch?”
“Time will tell.” Cinch locked her hands on the table. ”No matter what, the competitive spirit remains, but there is no outlet for it other than the games—games that only happen once every four years.”
Celestia slowly nodded. “And without such an outlet, it may weaken and go away.”
“Precisely. This talent fair would not be an official competition like the games are, but if handled correctly, it can be perceived as one by the students... with all the dedication it entails.” Cinch leaned back into the chair. “If this goes through, I plan to make it a regular event. Perhaps yearly. Spring is a rather good time for it, as well.”
Celestia hummed and mirrored the other woman’s pose. As she was thinking, Cinch started on her cake slice.
“It seems our schools’ rivalry is important to you, Principal Cinch,” Celestia said after a while. “I always thought it was merely a side effect.”
“It is crucial,” Cinch replied. “Competition is what drives improvement.”
“Our schools should have a better relationship.” Celestia smiled. “Isn’t this just unneeded animosity?”
“Don’t bother trying to convince me that competition is better friendly, Principal Celestia.” Cinch sighed and shook her head. ”I was unconvinced the first dozen times you suggested it, and I remain unconvinced now.”
Celestia shrugged. “It was worth a shot.” She took a bite out of her dessert. “As for participating in your fair, I don’t see any reasons not to agree. The benefits are obvious. I’ll discuss it with my sister before giving you a concrete answer. In fact, I’ll do it this evening.” Celestia’s lips formed another smile. “Many of my students will be eager to show off their talents. I hear they’ve been putting on shows already.”
Cinch refilled her cup from her thermos for the third time and took a sip. “Then we should discuss the details.”
As the two principals wrapped up their discussion, Cinch spotted some familiar faces approaching outside and inwardly grinned. The sirens seemed to have infiltrated Sunset Shimmer’s friend circle already. They walked towards the cafe in the company of Shimmer herself, the stetson-wearing girl and one that Cinch could only guess was called Rainbow Dash.
As the group drew closer, Cinch stole a quick glance of all their faces. Surprisingly, Adagio had a content smile, Aria’s frown wasn’t as pronounced as usual, and Sonata looked downright ecstatic.
The stetson girl and Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, didn’t show any enthusiasm, and Shimmer’s own excitement looked forced. Cinch figured that Shimmer had taken the bait as eagerly as was expected from the one spreading the ‘magic of friendship’ and was trying to break the ice between her old and new friends.
Something about the scene felt distinctly off to Cinch, but she didn’t have the time to figure it out.
As the new arrivals approached the counter, she watched Celestia’s eyes widen. Cinch suppressed a smirk, not wanting to reveal that Celestia’s reaction was predicted. She could not stop herself from speaking up though, stoic face and all.
“Principal Celestia? You were saying?”
Celestia shook her head and stared at Cinch for a moment, then glanced several times between her and the unexpected group behind her. She didn’t say anything so Cinch spoke up again.
“I thought our students interacting wasn’t a surprising sight anymore.”
That finally prompted Celestia to respond.
“Principal Cinch, do you know who these three girls are?” At Cinch’s raised eyebrow, Celestia clarified, ”Not my students, the other three?”
“I only know that their background check is in order and their academics are quite remarkable,” said Cinch. “The only reason I even accepted them at such a time.”
Celestia narrowed her eyes an almost unperceivable amount, stared at Cinch for a few more seconds then sighed. “Nevermind.” She glanced back behind Cinch once more. “They seem to be getting along.”
“Indeed. So, Principal Celestia, back to the actual matter at hand…”
“Oh, right. Well, we pretty much have it all settled, I believe,” Celestia said before sighing again. “I think we should address the elephant in the room, Principal Cinch.”
Cinch raised her eyebrow. “And that would be?”
Celestia cast her eyes downward for a moment.
“I won’t dance around the issue. Considering the incident during the Friendship Games,”—Cinch rolled her eyes—“I am concerned that there might be unnecessary tension between us as principals. Or even as people. I realize you’re set on keeping it that way between the schools, but—”
“We both made mistakes.” Cinch put her locked hands under her chin.
“Both?”
Ah. Of course Celestia didn’t see anything she’d done as wrong. Cinch should’ve expected that. The woman was probably trying to get Cinch to apologize. Well, she wasn’t going to have her way.
“Obviously. I made a bad judgement with convincing Twilight Sparkle to release the magic she had collected.” Cinch lowered her hands to the table. ”And you allowed that magic to gather at your school in the first place.”
“Um…”
“As someone who was present for all the previous… incidents I’m told had taken place at your school,” Cinch fixed Celestia an accusing stare, “it was your responsibility to remove... unnatural influences on your students. Your mistake was exactly like mine in nature—misjudging the magical energy and its effects—but considering you’d been making it over an entire school year, and with more information available to you, I’m inclined to say you have much less of an excuse.”
“...Principal Cinch, when did you learn all this about our… situation, if I may ask?”
Cinch shrugged.
“A certain other dimensional traveler—one I’m sure you’re familiar with—was very eager to divulge information I hadn’t asked for when she met me.” Cinch opted to make it seem as though the source of her knowledge had been Sparkle and not the sirens. In reality, Sparkle had completely left out all of her CHS escapades during her list of accomplishments back on the train ride.
“Alright, though I had no idea you’d met her, I won’t ask any further,” Celestia said. “Clearly it isn’t my business. However, the way I run my school is my business, Principal Cinch. Twilight Sparkle—the pony one—and Sunset Shimmer, after her about face, have both brought so much good to my students. You’ve seen the results on the school as a whole. Hardly a mistake on my part, letting that happen.”
Cinch raised an eyebrow. “Principal Celestia, even before the games you had enough evidence that magic is dangerous. When your entire student body began to change, did it really not cross your mind that something was amiss? That magic was at fault?”
“That’s just friendship, Principal Cinch. Friendship isn’t magic.”
“I’ve been led to believe otherwise,” Cinch said, “by an alleged expert in both topics. The same one you seem to trust so much.”
Celestia looked at Cinch questioningly. “You mean Twilight?”
“Indeed. She and a few others were very adamant about it. In fact, I can safely say I know more about the topic than you do, Principal Celestia.” Cinch closed her eyes. “Even if I never sought such information in the first place.”
“I grow more and more curious as to what occurred between the two of you…”
Cinch shook her head. “You’ll have to ask her yourself, but back to my point.” She leaned forward from her seat. “Have you never really considered what harm your… artificially softened environment does to your students? What sort of attitudes are bred when they get used to it? Think back to the first event of the games, Principal Celestia.” Cinch’s face adopted a disdainful scowl. ”Your team lost, but what were they saying? ‘At least you tried.’ ‘It doesn’t matter that we achieved nothing.’ ‘We don’t want to hurt your feelings, so we’ll compliment you just for participating.’ Did any of them feel any repercussions for their failures? No, because everyone at your school is best friends with each other and criticism is prohibited!” Cinch caught herself before her rising voice became too loud in the ambient chatter around them. “My students are individualistic, competitive even among themselves, yet capable of cooperation when needed. Your students are so used to their ‘friends’ catching them, they will happily keep tripping and falling even when most of them won’t have anyone to catch them.”
To her credit, Celestia looked thoughtful, not dumbfounded like Sparkle would’ve been after one of Cinch’s more passionate arguments.
“I may not know as much about magic, and I may not have tried hard enough to encourage Sunset to get it under control…” Celestia looked up in recollection. “Luna tried to do that before the games, but it was obviously too short of a notice.” She returned her gaze to the older woman. “Anyway, I may have made my share of mistakes concerning magic, Principal Cinch, but it has since saved our school from disasters, counting three times by now.” Celestia glanced behind Cinch again, probably at the sirens. “And I don’t think a friendly atmosphere in school is as bad as you make it out to be. Life always has situations when one can use a friend’s help. I trust my students not to rely on it too much, but making friends will only help them in the future.”
Cinch just furrowed her brow. Each time the two women had a discussion like this (which wasn’t very often), Cinch tended to forget that Celestia was beyond reason. Her persistence did a good job reminding Cinch of that—each and every time.
Perhaps it was due to Celestia’s prolonged exposure to small doses of magic? She was unnatural.
If so, all the more motivation to close the portal forever, or at least to remove the book connection. According to her calculations based on the ‘thirty moons’ period and the date of the CHS Fall Formal, accomplishing the latter would give Cinch more than a year to find a way to do the former.
Heck, she could go to the pedestal every other night and whack it with a hammer, if she so desired—it would crumble long before its next scheduled opening.
Either way, it was time to wrap up this dialogue.
“I suppose we’ll just have to see how your students do after graduation, then,” Cinch said. “How gracious of you to risk their futures for such an experiment.”
It was Celestia’s turn to furrow her brow, but Cinch interrupted whatever thought she was about to express.
“As for your original concern, Principal Celestia, you can rest assured I’m not any more interested in holding grudges than I am in becoming friends. Run your school however you wish, and I will do the same.”
Celestia left after exchanging polite good-byes with Cinch. The latter stayed to finish her tea and the cake she’d barely touched during the meeting, figuring that she might as well try to listen in on the sirens and the CHS girls.
She could barely make out some words over the other people in the cafe, and before anything of interest could be gathered the girls were done with their food. Shimmer and the sirens stood up and made to walk away, but Rainbow Dash and the country girl stayed, with the former offering a half-hearted excuse, of which Cinch could only understand the words “me and AJ”, making her inwardly scowl at the grammar.
Representatives of Canterlot High indeed. Suddenly Cinch became mildly concerned that Canterlot wouldn’t send its most talented to the fair, just as it hadn’t picked its most qualified during the games. If Crystal Prep was the only school at the fair worth anything, the event would be an utter flop. Hopefully Celestia would have the sense to encourage her better students’ participation.
After a few minutes a particularly loud group of teenagers left the cafe and Cinch was able to hear the hushed conversation between Rainbow Dash and ‘AJ’.
“I dunno Rainbow, it don’t seem like they’re lying anymore.” Cinch was basing it solely on a hunch, but that voice might’ve belonged to the country girl. “Maybe Sunset’s really worked her magic on them?”
“I still can’t get over that it’s Sunset who befriends everyone now.” Now this voice Cinch recognized. “Wait, no, I don’t mean that I believe it. I mean, Sunset’s nice and friendly and all, but those are the sirens! Maybe they just learned to act?”
“Nah, sugarcube, I’m pretty sure you can’t just do that in a week like that.”
“So you really think they’re… good, now?”
“No idea. They definitely did warm up to Sunset mighty quick. Could be a trick, could be the truth.”
“And what do we do about it?”
“Meh. I say we do nothing. No harm in waiting and giving them a chance.”
“Not so sure about that. Remember what Fluttershy said?”
There was a pause in their exchange. Cinch sipped her tea.
“Well, we COULD just ask her right now, AJ.”
“I don’t like this idea…”
Cinch could hear a chair being moved, then two sets of footsteps approaching her. She didn’t acknowledge any of it, looking into her cup, but then a pair of light blue arms descended into her field of view. She raised her eyes to look at what was unmistakably the real version of Rainbow Dash the flying horse.
“We need answers,” said the girl. The other one, ‘AJ’, then came into view too, standing behind Rainbow Dash and looking outside.
“Ah, I see that you’re as impolite and tactless as your counterpart,” Cinch said with a light smirk.
That smirk only grew as Rainbow Dash’s eyes opened wide.
“Wait, what? Counterpart? Do you mean—” Cinch could practically see the gears turning in the girl’s head.
The other one’s attention was now on the principal as well.
“Do you mean… the pony counterpart?” she asked, tilting her hat-clad head. “But how… I mean, when, even?”
Cinch looked between the two dumbfounded girls and finally understood, smirking even wider.
“Why, do you mean they haven’t told you? Your princess friend decided to keep her meeting with me from you, then?” Cinch took a deliberate sip while the girls were standing there, gaping. “And Sunset Shimmer never thought to mention it either, I gather?”
Rainbow Dash looked down. “No, Sunset never…”
“Forgive me for my misunderstanding, miss Rainbow, but I was under the assumption that you were... friends.” Cinch locked her hands and wiped the smirk off her face, trying to look less mocking than she wanted to, deep down.
The country girl’s expression darkened. Rainbow didn’t seem as affected, though. “Nevermind that! The point is, are you making the Dazzlings spy on us or something?”
“The… Dazzlings?” Cinch quickly realized that it was another name for the sirens, but her initial moment of confusion worked in her favor. ‘AJ’ had been staring at Cinch intently, and the woman was sure she’d be caught pretending not to know them had Rainbow Dash used the word “sirens”. The moment was all she needed to prepare, though.
“Those three girls that left with Sunset! The sirens!” Rainbow Dash almost shouted, waving her arm in the direction of the exit.
“They are our newest students at Crystal Prep, accepted quite recently in fact. I’ve had no interactions with them so far, their interview was handled by Dean Cadance.”
The country girl scrutinized Cinch some more, then seemed to give up. Rainbow Dash glanced between the two and slumped her shoulders.
“Fine. Maybe they are for real.” She shrugged. “Let’s go, Applejack.”
With that, the two girls left the cafe. Principal Cinch refilled her cup. The thermos was nearly empty.
The rest of her time in the cafe was spent mulling over the best approach to the Cadenza issue. Cinch would most certainly need the dean’s assistance in setting up the talent fair, but Cadenza remained hung up on her grudge.
Just as Cinch prepared to leave, the cosmos decided to make up for the sun shenanigans.
Cadenza waltzed into the cafe, accompanied by Shining Armor.
Cinch’s understanding of an impartial universe barely held.
Both of them noticed her, but only Cadenza offered a “good afternoon”. They chose a table on the opposite end of the room and Shining Armor went to order.
Cinch pretended to read the newspaper and continued sipping her tea. The cake slice was long finished. It wasn’t long before the tea would run out as well, and then Cinch would lose her last excuse to remain in the building.
She needed to approach Cadenza and Shining Armor and apologize for her actions that had started it all. Cinch hadn’t had to do anything of the sort in quite a while—she was completely out of her element.
Then again, the same could’ve been said about having casual conversations with her students, and that went relatively well.
Cadenza and Armor spoke in hushed tones and very brief sentences. Cinch was probably ruining their little date with her very presence.
She figured they’d appreciate her leaving before them, so she decided not to stall and steeled herself. As soon as there was a lull in the couple’s conversation, Cinch stood up.
“Cadance. Shining Armor,” she said, approaching their table. “A moment of your time.”
“What do you want?” said Armor, a bit louder than he probably intended.
Cadenza, for her part, merely looked at Cinch inquisitively.
“I need to... apologize... to both of you.” Cinch wondered if her attempts to recall how one acts while apologizing would seem like uncharacteristic timidness. “Cadance, you probably realized right away that I had been bluffing, but it was... unprofessional of me.” Before she could judge Cadenza’s reaction, Cinch turned to face Shining Armor. “I could say that I wanted to nip your own threats in the bud, but I... understand that I had no reason to do so, let alone do so by pressuring you.”
Shining Armor tapped his finger on the table, his eyebrow raised. “You’re gonna need Cadance’s help with something, aren’t you?”
She really should have had the foresight to do this earlier.
“Cadance’s assistance is always appreciated,” she said dryly.
Cadenza cleared her throat. “I hear you’ve had no problems keeping in touch with the students, Principal Cinch.” Despite the outward politeness, her gaze was piercing. ”I’m not sure you need my help as much as you’ve thought.”
“On the contrary.” Judging by how easily the young woman’s glare turned to confusion, trying to appear angry was as alien for Cadenza as apologizing was for Cinch. “During my... trip after the Friendship Games, your counterpart had given me some pointers. Originally I dismissed them, but they’ve turned out well-suited for my situation.” Cinch attempted to smile. It didn’t come out very genuine. “You may have been helping me without knowing, Cadance.”
Cadenza quickly regained her composure. “So this is what it took for you to appreciate my efforts.”
“I’ve been... taking them for granted, yes,” said Cinch.
Armor grunted and crossed his arms. ”Maybe you shouldn’t threaten to fire someone who’s willing to do extra work to compensate for your own inadequacies.”
“Shining...” Cadenza said quietly.
The man looked away. “Hrm.”
“Just what were these... pointers, Principal Cinch?” The dean’s demeanor was noticeably less confrontational.
“Very simple, Cadance. She and her husband”—Cinch glanced at Armor and Cadenza’s eyes widened—”do just what I have been doing. I’ve tried to make the students more comfortable around me, I’ve asked them what they want... and I’m even organizing a talent fair.”
The word “husband” had a profound effect on Cadenza. The young woman’s cheeks lit up and her eyes began darting around the table.
Armor stared impassively—apparently, both his sweetheart and his sister had left him in the dark about the whole horse counterpart business. Or he simply didn’t catch on.
Eventually Cadenza gathered her wits. “Wait, a talent fair? This is the first time I’m hearing about this.”
“I have only settled the matter with Principal Celestia not twenty minutes ago,” Cinch said. “I shan’t require your assistance for a while.” She wondered if this delay would make the timing of her apology seem less suspicious.
“Okay... Well, since you actually came to apologize, Principal Cinch, I will... I will accept your apology if Shining does.” Cinch raised her eyebrow. “As you said, I knew you weren’t being serious. Shining is the one you wronged in this situation.” Cadenza turned to her date. “Dear?”
“If I’m deciding here—” Armor turned to Cinch “—you should apologize to Twilight.”
Cadenza cocked her head. “Do you really think Twilight needs that?”
“It’s the principle of the thing!” Armor protested. “Out of all of us, Twily’s been wronged the most. If anyone deserves an apology, it’s her!”
Cinch made another attempt at a smile. “Shining Armor, I think you underestimate your sister.”
“Huh?” Armor was equally confused by her words and her expression. “How, exactly?”
“Do you remember what you said last time?” Cinch said. “The impression I got was that Twilight had gotten over it by then. If I recall, she had asked you not to do anything rash, correct?”
Armor hesitated. “More or less, I guess.”
“It appears Twilight is an intelligent enough person to realize her own fault in what transpired at the Games.” Cinch smirked but quickly caught herself and tried to morph it into something more genuine-looking. “Perhaps you should listen to your sister.”
Judging by the looks on Armor and Cadenza’s faces, Cinch’s words were somewhat miscalculated.
I refuse to even attempt to write AJ's accent the way most people can. I would just embarass myself.
Also, I think this chapter contains my one most favorite line from the whole story. You might be able to guess it! And it came so naturally, too, I hadn't even planned for it. It just sorta happened, as they say.
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I... have no idea what that 'favorite line' would be. Help?
On mobile, so short comment. Good chapter!
pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/rsz/mlfw1225_small.jpg
What if Cinch is right, and the magic of friendship is infecting the human world and spreading through the portal? Even the Dazzlings seems to have been influenced by it without her own siren magic protecting them.
All according to keikaku
..right?
It was going swimmingly, but the last line uttered by Cinch kinda ruins the situation.. ah nevermind, Cinch still had some time to learn about playing nice herself
“That’s just friendship, Principal Cinch. Friendship isn’t magic.”
I'm guessing this line.
7561640 "Friendship isn't magic", as said by Principal Celestia of all people
7561720 I imagine they probably have some fake person listed as one guardian between the three of them. Don't ask me how CPA didn't find that out, I didn't find it necessary to think this far
As for intervening, well, Sonata definitely would try to, but I'm not sure Adagio or Aria care too much about going back to Equestria now that they have no magic. They have nothing there for them at this point. Though we'll see in the future, maybe after this story 
7561767 Funnily enough, the fact that they are susceptible to magic now that they aren't protected by their own is something briefly mentioned in an upcoming chapter, so good job calling that one
As for them actually being affected, well, it's true that they don't have their magic, but they do have something else... (That was hinted at already.)
7561979 Well, insinuating that Twilight was at fault for what happened at the games, no matter how partially true... while also insinuating that Shining was a bit dumb ("your sister is smart enough to realize that which you don't, just listen to her bro"). That's probably quite revealing of her sincerity.
7561991 Yep!
I've said this before but I'll say it again: Cinch's big disadvantage here is that she's applying her own view of relationships and human motivations as a universal constant, which it isn't. She's therefore having limited successes because she's ultimately assuming all relationships are conditional and can be undermined or dropped when convenient to do so. You have to wonder how she got that idea.
As for the Dazzlings? I'm pretty sure that they don't know what side of the fence they're sitting on themselves.
7562508
This actually fits in with my headcanon about the red light that Sunset emitted at the end of Rainbow Rocks. Because magic isn't naturally a part of the human world, friendship isn't magic but is a distinct seventh Element of Harmony. Sci-Twi is their world's Bearer of the Element of Magic but Sunset Shimmer is the Bearer of the Element of Friendship.
7563695
For my "calculations" I'm following the assumption that 30 moons is around two and a half years (it's a popular idea). I'm also assuming that EqG1 happened in fall, and EqG3 happened sometime in the next year's spring (EqG2 would be late autumn or early winter of the same year as EqG1, then there's the winter comic-only anon-a-miss thing). This is why Cinch says somewhere that if she disables the portal now, she'd have more than a year until it opened again.
But of course everyone is free to interpret all these values however they want. My story doesn't hinge on those specific times.
Yes I blackmailed your sister, but it's still her fault. What, why are you looking at me like that?
7565075 Well if she was well-prepared for the games, and dropped her silly magic research, she would've had nothing to worry about!