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1 - The Monster in the Basement1,224 words
2 - Secrets of the Alicorns1,339 words
3 - First Day of Parole, Third Day of Exile1,934 words
4 - The Duty3,040 words

3 - First Day of Parole, Third Day of Exile

"Parole conditions? Are you kidding me, Celestia?"

By all appearances, Celestia was not kidding. She was, however, eating a slice of ham and pineapple pizza.

"There is a certain expectation set upon me that I behave like a sane person, sister." She took an especially large and juicy bite of her pizza. "And with the way the public is sure to regard this incident, it is imperative that this be seen as conditional parole and not an unconditional pardon of all past crimes."

"But it is an unconditional pardon of all pa--"

"You attempted a coup d'etat with Sombra's old car, Luna." Celestia shot her a surprisingly scathing look, the sort of death glare that Luna would have expected out of Abacus Cinch. "This is not something that I can just sweep under the rug, as hard as I am trying to. We are a constitutional monarchy, and unless I want to watch all of democracy crumble around me, I cannot go around using my titles to get whatever I want." She flicked a finger at the clipboard in Luna's hands. "Thus, the terms of your parole."

Luna looked down at the offending document, which only grew worse as she kept looking at it.

"No consumption of alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, or any other judgment-impairing substance for a period of no less than six months, after which time I can submit myself for review to see if I'm stable?" Her disbelief grew more palatable with every word.

"And regular therapy sessions. The public needs to see proof that you aren't going to try that stunt again."

Luna gasped, and it was only slightly exaggerated. "Is the word of a princess worth so little these days?"

"Measured against the word of a clinically trained psychologist? Yes." Celestia was nearly finished with her slice of pizza now, and Luna contemplated throwing the rest of the box out of a window. The fact that none of the windows in the house were open at the moment only barely factored in to that decision.

"Honestly, you're going overboard with all this." Luna's eyes were starting to glaze over as they wandered down the page. "Half of these rules are lines it would never even occur to me to cross. I think you're actually increasing my odds of breaking parole by telling me all the conditions I'm under."

Celestia's chuckle was punctuated by an ungodly crunch as she began to devour the crust. "Perhaps. But these are the rules that we have to operate under, lest we become tyrants."

Luna scoffed, but kept reading. Finally, she reached an item that gave her genuine pause. "Vice-principal?"

Celestia nodded, and reached for the cola. "I've been texting several prominent figures of the community the past day or so, and they all agreed that the biggest asset to your image rehabilitation is to be seen contributing to the community. I was able to convince them that working directly for me would be the best way to demonstrate your... improved attitude."

"But I'm not qualified!" Luna sat up taller, and gestured with her ring. "You're the one who's always been good at managing people. I slink in the shadows, I deal with the problems, hell, half the time I never even showed my face to our subjects. You're the manager, I'm the cloak and dagger! That was the deal!"

"And look where it got us." Celestia set down her drink with far more of a dramatic thud than should have been possible from a flimsy plastic bottle. "Our duties have been too divorced from each other. You pushed yourself too hard, for too long. When I finally managed to talk you into stress leave, you were so overwhelmed by what the people saw in me that you couldn't take it. And that wouldn't have happened if you had been closer. If I had left the front door unlocked for you at night, if you would have had to walk through our house instead of climbing through the window to your room. If you had been given something, anything to do while the sun was up, anything that people could see you doing and thank you for, then maybe we could have..."

She fell silent. Luna felt no urge to fill the silence.

"Did that happen to her, too?"

At first, the only response was a nod. Then, Celestia seemed to collect herself. Luna chose not to notice whether or not she was crying. "Bruises still show up in a mirror, even if they look different. You were fighting a one-woman secret war against crime and cults, she was stretching herself across an entire civilization's mental health. No matter how many feet you have on the ground, you still can't delegate to save your life."

An attempt at a joke. A poor one, and would probably have been decided by any collection of judges as in very poor taste. All the same, Luna laughed.

"Still, vice-principal? You're hardly starting me off with something simple. Children are pure chaos, and high school is the point where they finally start learning how to channel it. It would make more sense to hire me as assistant to the janitor."

"Yes, but if Sunset Shimmer stands up and says 'I have to go talk to the janitor', her teachers aren't just going to let her leave the classroom. No matter how hard she's crying."

Luna tried, and failed, to keep a grip on the clipboard. As it clattered almost silently to the carpet, she found herself trying to hear what was happening in the other room. It didn't sound like Sunset was crying to herself.

But then again, the walls of this house were thick enough to stop machine guns.

"Has that happened?" she whispered.

"Not yet. But it will. That girl is primed for a traumatic flashback, and I can't afford for her safe haven to be another trigger." Celestia took a hard swig of her cola, and made a face that said she had really hoped it had magically turned into hard liquor when she wasn't looking. "Luna, I don't care if you do nothing but sit in your office with the blinds drawn and read Dumas over and over while you wait for Sunset to need you. You need something to do that doesn't involve staying up all night waiting for something to buzz."

Luna's eyes flickered to the journal, lying on the coffee table, just waiting to be written in. She thought about the police scanner, tucked away under the guest room's floorboards. And then she thought about the little girl who had run screaming through a mirror into her world, and how nobody had been told to be standing there to take her out before she got the hang of walking.

"What did she do?" she finally asked.

Celestia shook her head. "She has to be the one to tell you that. She has to look at you, and trust you enough to tell you what's hurting her. If she comes to you and you don't need to ask any questions to know how to help, you'll be just another Sol Major. Sunset Shimmer has to be the one to make that call."

Luna got up. After a moment of reflection, she took off the jacket and left it on the couch. "Well, I'll have to start somewhere. May as well start now."

"What a good idea, Luna." Celestia reached down and started on another slice of pizza. "I'm sure you have plenty of fascinating stories to share with her."

Luna nodded, and started to walk towards the guest room. Then she glanced at the clock, and a question occurred to her. "Shouldn't she be at school right now?"

Celestia chuckled in that conspiratorial tone that she was so fond of. "It's the funniest thing. All of her classes are having pop quizzes today. All of her teachers agreed with me that it would be better if Sunset just sat this one out."

Luna sighed, though with a tad more admonishment than she actually felt. "I think you've been spending too much time in that journal, sister. Thank goodness neither of us have the lifespans to reach the full potential of our schemes."

With that, she made her way to the guest room.

Sunset Shimmer was curled up in Luna's old chair, reading through her poetry textbook with a fondness that made Luna wonder what a trip to the art gallery would be like for the pony. Sunset didn't seem to be paying any mind to the great writing desk she was sitting at, or the horse bust that was only a few inches from her hand.

"Sunset?"

A start of surprise, but nothing more. Sunset turned to face her with a cautious smile fit for greeting strangers, and if Luna had to guess, she hadn't been crying for at least forty minutes now.

"Hello, princess. Can I help you with anything?"

Luna shrugged. "That should be my question, really. According to my sister, I am now your keeper. Any issue you have, whether it's with this world or..." she searched for the right words, "with the other, you feel free to come to me with that."

Sunset looked like she was cycling through as many emotions as possible from that statement. "What about at school?"

Luna smiled. "I'm apparently going to be installed as vice-principal. As far as I can tell, it's exclusively for the purpose of being here to help you."

Ah. Now it was starting to look like the tears might start again. "Why is she doing this? She doesn't have anything to do with this. This Celestia doesn't have anything to apologize for." A shaky breath in. Oh dear. "You don't have to do this."

"I know." Luna stepped into the room, over to the desk, had to break her stride before muscle memory took over completely. "But my sister and I, we have something very much in common. When we see someone that we can help, nothing is going to stop us from doing everything we can."

"And how, exactly, do you plan to help me?" There was a spike of anger in those words, and Sunset glared at her as though she expected her to melt. "You don't even know what I've done!"

Luna thought about the time that she finally caught up with Sombra, finally found his nest. She remembered the bodies. She remembered seeing him, and seeing the gun, and seeing the child. She took a deep breath, and decided to say now what she said then.

"I don't need to know what happened here. I'm here to help those who can be helped, and right now, that's you." And then she leaned in, and grinned like a manic skateboarder. "Do you want to see something really cool?"

Sunset nodded, nervously and not at all sure what she was about to see. Luna let her grin widen, and reached for the bust.

That last time, she had taken the mask off and pulled the ring out of her pocket. This time, she pulled back the bust's head, and pressed a button.

The walls clicked, and spun, and Sunset gasped.

The cape, the hat, the mask, the boots, the whole uniform was here, as pristine as the day they'd been made.

"You aren't the first lost kid I've helped." Luna straightened up, and wandered over to the weapons rack. With a practiced flick of her wrist, she drove her boomerang into the wall, an inch from Sunset's nose.

"You're a superhero."

Luna laughed. "Better. I'm the Ne'er-do-Well."

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FanOfMostEverything

FanOfMostEverything #1 · Nov 7th, 2019 · 9 · ·

By all appearances, Celestia was not kidding. She was, however, eating a slice of ham and pineapple pizza.

And to think, they called Luna a monster.

Oh. Oh! Well, that last bit certainly puts Celestia's earlier admonishments in a new context. And she has a point. Even Batman occassionally puts on a funny suit, calls himself Bruce Wayne, and unwinds over a business lunch. I think Sunset and Luna will each be good for the other.

PhycoKrusk