Chapter 6 - I Couldn’t Get Away
The kitchen was a riot of activity, which was odd because all three full-time occupants of the house were sitting at the kitchen breakfast nook watching said activity with tired (if confused) expressions.
As three plates clattered noisily in front of them, Principal Celestia blinked muzzily at the piece of table-ware and asked the room, “Sunset, did you invite your friend over for breakfast?”
A mechanical, “No,” was issued as a reply.
As a trio of drinks was placed before them, one for each place setting, Celestia asked her sister, “Did you let Pinkie in this morning?”
Luna didn’t look away from the truly magnificently sized Bucking Star branded cup of coffee, wiggling her fingers as she unconsciously treated it like a particularly slippery small animal that she was hunting, “Do you think I’d wake myself up to let a student in without telling you to get up for me the night before?” She dove her hands at the cup, snatching it up and bringing it to her face, inhaling deeply through her nose before slurping greedily at the blackish-brown liquid.
Sunset cracking open a can of Kick Flank, an energy drink that Celestia had once tried but decided the horrid taste wasn’t worth the caffeine crash eight hours later, provided odd accompaniment to the sight of honest to goodness waffles slapping down on their plates. Not frozen and reheated, but freshly made from the waffle iron that was sitting on the counter next to a bowl of freshly made batter. Shortly after, a can of whipped topping made an appearance, followed by a butter dish and syrup. The sizzling of eggs could be heard, and the ‘ding’ of a timer preceded the oven opening to reveal a cast iron skillet with a steak in it. The steak was shuttled to Luna’s plate, followed by two sunny-side-up eggs.
All this happened before Celestia could rally the mental capacity for the next question, “...do we even own a waffle iron?”
“Mnope,” mumbled Luna around a bite of steak. Sunset was digging into a vegetarian omelet that came out so perfectly Celestia would have sworn it was a prop if she hadn’t watched it being made.
Celestia turned her attention to the girl who had taken over her kitchen, raising a finger to give her words emphasis, “Pinkie, don’t you think that you should head home in order to get ready for school? Your own breakfast should be more important than...” she was interrupted by a predatory growl to her right, and she turned to see Luna gripping her steak in her teeth, glaring at Celestia with a knife in one hand and a fork in the other, and on the other side of Luna, their student was doing a passable imitation of Celestia’s own Stern Glare. Celestia slumped down in her stool, tucking her finger, then her hand away, “...never mind.”
“Don’t worry about that, silly Celly!” chirped the bouncing pink girl, “I had my breakfast hours ago. Exactly two hours ago as soon as…” a clock on the wall chimed, “...that happens. And besides, I keep snacks stashed all over, just in case of snack emergencies!” So saying, the girl reached into the cupboard where they kept their canned goods and pulled out a cupcake. A fresh cupcake from the looks of it, or at least as much of a look as they could manage before Pinkie shoved the whole thing in her mouth and then grinned at them.
“I...see…” Even with students turning into demons and speedsters, with magical journals that could communicate with alternate versions of herself, and even the casual way the princess kept dropping the words, “...my little ponies,” reminding her that Sunset’s people were anthropomorphic equines, didn’t cause her mind to segfault quite like Pinkie was managing.
It was more a sense of self-preservation that prompted the principal to simply tuck into her surprisingly delicious eggs benedict and enjoy the orange juice that the logical part of her brain was screaming at her that they didn’t have in the fridge when she went to bed last night.
Life at Canterlot High was changing, and fast.
Even if the State Department hadn’t been eager to release details of a new, friendly nation that’s as close as a quick jump through a doorway away, the Canterlot Movie Crew’s first major Haytube hit to reach the billions of views in less than 24 hours would have spilled the beans on Equestria being in contact with the federal government. Thus it was no real surprise to see the new guards standing on either side of the Wondercolt statue, though it was too soon for anyone to be used to people walking out of a statue base. Every time a diplomate, soldier, scientist, or mage moved through on whatever business, a whole crew of scientists with enough tech to make even the most hardened sci-fi geek apoplectic with techno-happiness was there to scan, collate, discuss, hypothesize, and debate the nature of the portal.
Princess Twilight Sparkle, of course, was incredibly well received by the student body. Once she had (quite nearly physically) ejected the Secret Service detail that the State Department had assigned to her, she took to mixing and mingling with the students she’d grown to love, including a rather amusing, if awkward, reunion with Flash Sentry.
Since the portal opening and the CMC’s video happened shortly before winter break ended for the school, it had given the Princess the chance to closely examine both Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash. Thus it was that she was practically sitting in Flash Sentry’s lap as she presented her report to Sunset Shimmer and their friends. “Rainbow Dash was pretty straight forward. Other than the completely understandable late appearance in her life, she’s experiencing the usual spurts of magical growth that any Equestrian filly or colt goes through when they’re still in diapers.” She allowed a moment for Applejack and Rarity to tease the athlete before continuing, “Of course, the exposure to the Elements during the Fall Formal had to have been the trigger. I’m willing to bet that none of you have ever been in a magical matrix, like suffuses Equestria and beyond.” She paused for a bite, giving the others a little bit of time to process. The veggie-burgers on this side of the portal weren’t quite the same as the hayburgers she was used to, but they were just as good with lots of ketchup and mustard. Thank goodness Flash thought to recommend them and...explained...what I’d been eating the last time I was here! she thought to herself, I see Sunset’s eating the same thing; speaking of which… she swallowed the bite in her mouth and continued, “As for Sunset, that one’s...harder. Without delving into some highly illegal and extremely dangerous mind magic, it’ll be practically impossible to find out exactly what is happening. What I have been able to determine is that she’s got a five-part magical lattice around her core that’s practically built like a puzzle box and combination lock designed by Discord himself.”
The two Equestrians at the table shivered and took another bite. Sunset had never met the “reformed” Chaos Spirit, and Twilight just was not interested in any more exposure to Discord than she had to have. Sure, he and Fluttershy had an understanding, but it was one that clearly had not extended to anypony else.
Applejack crunched a bite out of the apple she pulled out of her lunch box and leaned forward, “So how does that make it so she can’t talk?”
Rarity elbowed AJ and reached around the other girl’s waist to show she wasn’t too upset, “Don’t talk with your mouth full, darling.” Turning to the visiting princess, she said, “She does have a point, how is it that any sort of magic lock on a…’core,’ I believe you called it, make it so Sunset can’t communicate? We’ve even tried setting pens in her hand and paper in front of her, and her hand just...drops the pen.” she nodded her head at the girl in question, who was staring at her veggie burger as though it held the secrets of the universe and she didn’t like what she was seeing as she chewed, “It’s quite clear her hands operate fine, as does her voice if her...nightmares are any indication.” She reached her other arm, the one not occupied by Applejack, around their newest friend to comfort Sunset. Fluttershy, who had sat down on the other side of their afflicted friend, also did her best to hug the magically mute girl.
Twilight smiled sympathetically at her fellow Equestrian. At first, the princess hadn’t been sure how to act around the girl who’d stolen her crown, but it had become quickly apparent that the Sunset she was now dealing with was about as far from the angry, bitter pony that had invaded the Crystal Castle a few months prior as was possible to get. She reached out a hand and gently gripped the other Equestrian girl’s wrist for a moment, “We...don’t know for sure. I suspect it has to do with how a pony’s magical core integrates with the rest of their system.” She waved Rainbow Dash over, who (while a little confused) quickly rounded the table. Twilight set her food down and stood next to Rainbow, “Dash has typical Pegasi mana channels, which isn’t surprising as her counterpart in Equestria is a pegasus.” Twilight gently turned Dash around so they could see her back, “Rainbow’s core is here,” she pointed at a spot just between Dash’s shoulder blades, “And her mana channels are spreading out through her body like blood vessels,” as if to indicate the individual lines, Twilight drew with her fingers out from their starting point, causing Dash to squirm, “But since this is mana the channels can sometimes be completely ethereal. Dash has, in fact, some mana channels that extend out where her wings are when she’s...ah, ‘ponied up,’ I guess you guys are calling it.” So saying, she pulled a tablet computer out of the backpack she’d been carrying and started poking at it with her fingers. “...danged thing, why can’t we just use scrolls…?” she growled in frustration. The other girls giggled as Flash patiently took the tablet from Twilight and unlocked the screen for her. She smiled brightly at him and waved Rainbow away with a quick, ‘thanks,’ “So we took some scans of Rainbow,” she turned the tablet to show the table as the girl in question sat back down, “And you can see the mana channels that exist even when Rainbow doesn’t physically have wings.”
The video played without sound (not that it could have been heard over the sounds of the cafeteria anyway) and they were presented with an over-saturated version of Rainbow Dash, they could see her mouth move as she spoke to someone off-camera, then she began moving in various ways, clearly under instruction. “The Academy of Mages brought over an EMRI machine...”
“Emry? Who’s that?” interjected Pinkie Pie.
“Ether/Mana Resonance Imaging,” replied Twilight automatically, “It uses a crystalline array to simulate the horn matrices of a unicorn to cast a single spell used for scanning magical signatures. Since special talents can vary wildly within the medical field, even among unicorns, about forty years ago we developed this machine for being able to make magic channels visible even without the ability to cast the diagnostic spell.” As they watched, the Rainbow Dash on the screen raised her arms and flexed her biceps in a classic “muscle-girl” pose. She was wearing a very basic and almost not there sports top and shorts for the video. As Rainbow flexed, a ghostly web of vibrantly glowing lines spread from her back, looking very much like the framework to a pair of wings. “Rainbow shows all the classic signs of a pegasus foal’s ability to manipulate their wings using this method. They’re there, and she has instinctive control, but it will probably be a few years before she has the same fine motor-coordination that a full-grown pegasus does in Equestria...that is, of course, if she can get the actual wings to appear on a regular basis and not just when we’re using the Elements.”
Twilight stopped the video and looked up at her friends in the human world. Rainbow was slightly embarrassed by being compared to a foal but seemed to be more concerned about trying to get her wings to sprout as she kept scrunching her face in concentration then looking over her shoulders. Sunset had put down her burger and appeared thoughtful, but then growled in frustration and picked up her food again and bit into it angrily. Probably has some ideas on what’s happening but can’t say anything...oh, I’m so sorry Sunset! Twilight thought before continuing, “We tried scanning Sunset but...well…” she sighed in frustration, “Whatever the Elements did to Sunset’s core...blew out the sensor’s crystals.” Rarity gasped and Applejack leaned in. All the girls paused in what they were doing, even Pinkie seemed to focus a bit more than usual and Dash stopped trying to make her wings pop out.
She was about to continue when a voice interrupted, “I understand I can find one of the princesses from...Equestria? Really?!” The group looked up to see a man in his early twenties, blue hair peeking out from behind an open binder whose information he was obviously perusing and clearly capturing his entire attention. “A land of magical talking horses and they name it Equestria? Anyway, I’m here to take over the security operations of the new embassy and I need to debrief whoever’s in charge of getting it set up on the Equestrian side.” The binder fell enough to reveal an icy-white skinned face that, were it not so clearly that of a soldier, wouldn’t look out of place on a magazine model. Just then, Twilight turned in her seat to see who interrupted their group. Both the man and Twilight gasped in shock.
“Shiny?!” gasped the princess.
“Twily?!” gasped the agent at the same time.
“What are you doing here?!” they gasped in unison.
Eyebrows pinching together in concern, he scanned her face, “...and where are your glasses?” further examination of the scene meant that Flash Sentry and his remarkable closeness to the princess was noticed as well, “...and who are you and what are your intentions toward my sister?” he growled at the teenager.
A brief pause preceded Rainbow and Pinkie exploding in laughter, Sunset giggling under her breath at the confusion, and Applejack slapping her palm to her face, clearly trying to contain her own amusement.
“What!?” squawked Twilight, “Oh, I get it...no, I’m not your Twilight. You must be this world’s Shining Armor,” as she spoke she less than gracefully disentangled herself from the table and, by extension, Flash. “Wow, this is a coincidence. I’m just going to…” she was saved from falling on her face as she tried to lever her legs out from the benches by both the men, Flash catching her right side as Shining caught her left, “Oh, thanks! But no, so this will take some explaining. Just come with me to the portable building they have set up for the Equestrian consulate and we’ll try to clear this up…”
The group just chuckled as a confused but protective Shining Armor followed the princess. Seeing Flash’s somewhat wistful look as the pair walked away, Sunset patted Flash’s wrist comfortingly.
He turned to her, slight surprise showing on his face, until he caught the sympathetic look on hers, “Oh, yeah, thanks.” he sighed, “That’s going to be a thing with dating a princess, isn’t it?”
Sunset mutely nodded as Rarity inched over to lean into the conversation, “Wait, you two are dating? As in, officially?”
It was now Flash’s turn to start stumbling, this time over his own words. “Ah, well...I mean, we haven’t said anything, but…”
He was interrupted by Sunset’s giggle and her phone spouting a mechanical, “Yes”
Rarity nodded as though Sunset had something more than a single syllable, “Indeed, darling! It’s quite clear that you two are quite attracted to each other. It might behoove you...oh, is that an offensive word for you, dear?” she glanced at Sunset.
The phone’s “No” was accompanied by an amused eye roll.
“Indeed,” Rarity turned back to Flash, “As I was saying, it would behoove you to find out just what must be done to, ah…’court’ her. One wouldn’t want to ‘get off on the wrong hoof,’ if you will.”
Sunset snorted in amusement around a bite of burger and fries.
“Yeah, but how?” moaned Flash, his shoulders slumping. “The guards she brought with her this time are...not helpful.” The group smiled and nodded ruefully at that, all seven of them had tried varying tactics for engaging with friendly overtures, but the Equestrian Royal Guard were displaying their nearly Buckingham Palace Guard levels of stoic devotion to duty and simply didn’t respond.
The group started debating possible means to get Flash in touch with someone from the other side of the portal to inquire about Equestrian dating protocols. As the conversation about her homeland swirled around her, Sunset slowed her eating, eventually putting down her food entirely and simply staring down at her tray.
Quietly, but no less surprising for being completely unanticipated, Sunset felt a hand on her elbow. Blinking to clear the tears from her eyes, she turned to see Fluttershy simply...smiling. It was clearly of an almost motherly concern and not mirth or malice. “Please,” said the shy girl, “I know it’s hard. You have all these things you want to say and do and it’s all locked inside you and it hurts knowing you’re the only one who may ever know. But please, Sunset, don’t let yourself sink that far again.” Fluttershy didn’t even have to say what she was referring to, they both understood, “You deserve to...to live. Don’t let the darkness convince you otherwise.”
Instead of reducing the tears in her eyes, the liquid pooling at the corners grew heavier and a tear streaked down Sunset’s cheek. Nodding at Fluttershy, she picked up her veggieburger and took a bite. Fluttershy’s hand moved from Sunset’s elbow to her back, gently stroking. The remainder of the meal passed in silence as their friends remained oblivious to the quiet, tender interaction.
Principal Celestia had experienced many struggles that morning, the first back from winter break. That first day back always felt a little depressing to the educator, a feeling she knew was a holdover from her childhood when it always seemed a little unfair to come back from the holidays only to find a mountain of homework waiting for her from her teachers.
Of course, being one of the teachers showed that students only had a fraction of the paperwork that the educators had to suffer through, only more firmly cementing the seeming karmic injustice of the start of the new term.
In addition to all the paperwork that came from running a school was also the addition of the paperwork that came from being Sunset Shimmer’s adoptive mother. Educational records that needed to be collated, immunizations that needed updating, and citizenship records to provide.
And that was one of the few bright points of her morning, as the Equestrian princesses had kindly delivered the paperwork for Sunset’s dual-citizenship, which also mercifully meant that they finally had a billing…“address” and a source of money for paying for said bills. Not to mention 26 years of medical records.
Which added another stack of paperwork, some of it crafted that very morning by none other than Princess Twilight herself, using some rather impressive- (and honestly a little fake-) sounding language to explain just why it was a 26-year old post-graduate student needed to be registered as a 17-year old girl depending on which side of the portal she happened to be on. Apparently, there was some data collected during the senior princesses’ trips through the portal that somehow provided a proof that both the mind and body experienced a rapid age alteration that needed to be accounted for insofar as record-keeping went, as well as some theories that were still pending enough data for proof that time flowed slightly asynchronously between universes.
While it all went right over Celestia’s head, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Princess Luna (who had been there during the entire time Twilight had been dictating the reports/laws to create a governing quorum for the legalities) was secretly amused by the entire thing.
Please...please...PLEASE tell me the princesses aren’t conspiring to make sure my somewhat rushed ‘adoption’ of Sunset happens in spite of my foolishness as some sort of inter-dimensional prank! She couldn’t imagine that any government official of their stature and rank would for all intents and purposes play a massive joke on another national government for the sake of arranging a family for an orphaned girl...but then, how was she to know how millennia-old demi-goddesses thought?
Well, I suppose about the same as when I convinced another vampire lord I was immune to sunlight...NO, stop that! While not disruptive, she had been experiencing some carryover from the other versions of herself that she had...participated in (for lack of a better term) during her bizarre Hearth’s Warming Eve. Random thoughts about student use of virtual reality devices that her world wouldn’t have the tech for at least 20 more years, emotions that ran deep regarding people that she only had a passing acquaintance with but her Vampire Lord self had centuries of animus or goodwill for, and a barrage of ingrained habits that she had never had before the holiday kept surfacing at inconvenient times. It wasn’t until her alarm went off in the midst of a rather intense yoga-like martial arts kata that she realized that she had woken up nearly two hours earlier than usual and had started a workout routine that Queen Celestia had been practicing since her days as a squire. Sure, in the two weeks since Hearth’s Warming she’d gotten into the best shape of her life, but it was disconcerting nonetheless.
And then, of course, there was the sword.
It didn’t matter if she kept it in her closet, her car, or even in the belt she got from Desert Mirage, partway through the day the sword would materialize itself within easy reach of what she supposed her sword hand would be.
Thus it was Principal Celestia was found by Counselman Neighsay holding a broadsword on school grounds.
Had he not already entered in a fury, he might have been talked down on that issue. She wasn’t brandishing at her students, she wasn’t holding it in any manner that might be threatening, it simply was in her hands when he burst through her door.
“...and when I am able to convene a meeting of the district board I will have you removed from this office, by force if necessary!” His voice wasn’t quite at screaming levels.
A subtle pressure had been building behind her eyes all morning, and this had pushed it into a full-bore headache, “Counselman, I assure you, the sword is merely an artifact of the oddness that’s happening around the existence of the gate on school grounds. I already have an appointment with some of Equestria’s mages to see if there’s a way of...taming it’s magic…”
Celestia had the barest fraction of an instant to realize she said the wrong thing when Neighsay’s assistant grew a panicked, pinched look on her face and started frantically shaking her head ‘no’ behind his back before the councilman’s face turned red. This time he did shout, “Do not feed me that poppycock that you’ve somehow managed to get the press to publish! I’ll hear none of this ‘magic’ nonsense! You were unable to explain how the front of the school collapsed before you concocted this insane balderdash, and this campaign that you’ve somehow managed to make into a federal issue has destroyed all professional credibility you once had!” He had built up a full head of steam at this point, “I will begin an official inquiry into the Fall Formal incident, we will find evidence of neglect and student endangerment, and I will ensure you never work as even so much as a janitor for any school system ever again!”
There was a pause as Neighsay drew a breath and collected himself, “Now,” he began in his normal tone of voice, which was nearly as thunderous in the silence following his shouting, “If you do not remove every individual from this school who is not either a student, staff, or teacher, I will call the sheriff’s office and have the lot of them arrested. That includes the illegal alien you’ve been sheltering, by your own admission, for nearly three years now!”
Were it possible for the sun to grow cold, the glare Celestia now leveled at Neighsay would have frozen the solar system. “Counselman…” she began.
A clearing throat from her office door interrupted her. Standing in the door was Luna...Princess Luna. The tiara and gown were the give-a-way that this was the Equestrian version of her sister, even had the Vice Principal not been standing directly behind her. Both were glaring at Neighsay, the princess with cold calculation and her sister with a simmering fury. “Are we interrupting?” said the princess with an arctic calm.
“Not at all,” said Celestia. “Your timing is very nearly,” she turned and glared at the councilman, “...magical.”
The two Lunas entered, the princess gliding in regally, belying the fact that she had been an equine probably not even a few hours earlier. The vice-principal didn’t even try to emulate her counterpart, marching around the desk to stand behind Celestia, eyes never leaving Neighsay. As they entered, two Raven’s entered, one wearing the skirt-suit her secretary had worn into work, the other wearing a simple dress that was similar enough to her counterpart’s suit that broadcast her role as similar to the secretary to anyone who saw her. Both moved to stand next to their respective employer.
“I do apologize,” said Raven (the secretary), “But it is nearly time for the meeting between you and the DHS agents who want to set up their Immigration office on school grounds. I do so know how much you dislike being less than punctual.”
Her mirror opposite spoke next, practically as though they’d planned it, “Indeed, Princess Luna may not be as well known for her timeliness as Princess Twilight Sparkle, but royalty should never keep well-meaning members of any government waiting.”
Neighsay was clearly stymied. With direct evidence of Celestia’s version of events staring him in the face, it took him a few moments to collect himself. When he did, he cleared his throat, “Yes, well. As impressive as it is that you managed to find some body doubles…”
“Counselman,” interrupted Celestia. Just a word, but delivered with so much force that he immediately stopped speaking, “It’s clear that you are going to need some convincing. Your assistant,” she pointed to the woman that the counselor brought with him, “Is she someone you trust?”
He scowled, “Of course. She is professional, unlike some.”
Celestia chose to ignore the attempted dig, “And has she been with you all morning, no chance that I might be able to arrange anything with her, professional or not?”
Now a look of confusion graced his expression, “What are you getting at, Cel…”
“Yes or no?” snapped the principal.
“Yes,” he snapped back, “Of course.”
“Good,” she replied. She picked up the sword by the blade, mindful of the edge, and presented the grip to Neighsay’s assistant. “Take this with you and stand outside my office window.”
Waiting just long enough to receive a nod of confirmation from the councilman, the woman carefully took the sword and held it out in front of her, leaving the office with it.
“Now, Counselman Neighsay, I’d like to remind you of a few things you either forgot or overlooked in your haste to, I’m sure, do what you thought was the right thing for the students in our charge.” She leaned forward, taking advantage of her height to lean across her desk intimidatingly, “First off, my daughter has been a homeless orphan for the last three years and is currently disabled. You are going to have her arrested over my dead body. Second, her adoption by me is airtight, the paperwork and approvals coming directly from DHS and the Equestrian governments. This makes her a legal citizen of our country, regardless of how she arrived.”
“Third, you seem to be under the impression that somehow a single councilman of the school board that requires a committee to make any decision is capable of taking unilateral action against a visiting ambassador and their staff and protective detail. You will find that the Equestrian government, let alone our own, would be less than cooperative with your attempts to arrest them. They are quite real, very experienced, and more than capable.”
Behind Celestia, those that were facing the window could see Neighsay’s assistant walk out onto the grass in the courtyard, shading her eyes with one hand while holding the sword with the other. One of those watching included Raven the secretary, surreptitiously watching on Celestia’s behalf. Upon seeing the woman enter the field of view and hearing the obvious opening from her boss, she prompted under her breath, “Ready…”
“Finally,” snapped Celestia at Neighsay, “Magic is as real as any other natural force in the multiverse…” she held out her hand slightly above shoulder height, her hand in an open grasping shape. Abruptly, light began swirling in a cylinder with her hand at the top. Those who were positioned to see through the window could also see the same swirling cylinder envelop Celestia’s sword. To the assistant’s shock, the sword disappeared from her hands and reappeared just before Celestia closed her grip and slammed the sword tip first into the desk, coincidentally spearing some paperwork from Nieghsay’s own office that Celestia had been working on. “I experienced it, first hand, and am one of the only beings on this planet that owns magical artifacts.” Pausing to breathe in, she leaned further forward, highlighting just how very tall Celestia was that even arched across the desk she had to look down to look Neighsay in the eye, “Don’t call me a liar, councilman, especially when it comes to the welfare of my students. Now unless you have actual business to attend to, I have to take some time out of my already full schedule to make some introductions.”
To Neighsay’s credit, he didn’t gawk, or gawp, or even stammer. He calmly, rationally took in the very evidence that contradicted his earlier world-view and simply...adapted. “Very well, Principal Celestia. Clearly, I was operating on limited information and the actual situation is quite a bit different than I had previously supposed. I shall take my leave and discuss this with the district board of education post-haste.” He adjusted his tie, turned slightly to nod at Luna, who returned his nod, “Vice-principal,” then the other direction to the other Luna, “Your...majesty, is it?”
Princess Luna nodded, never changing her cryptic smile, “Indeed, though Princess Twilight would be ‘highness,’ should you choose to include her in any of your reports or letters.”
“Quite,” returned Neighsay, before turning and leaving the office, not quite stiffly.
Celestia stayed relatively still, only moving to brace herself against the table with both hands instead of just the one she’d been using before. After a bit, she asked Raven without turning her head, “Are they gone?”
Both women named Raven were watching out the window as Neighsay gathered his assistant and headed toward the parking lot. “They are now.” said Celestia’s secretary.
The principal collapsed back into her office chair, “Oh, thank heavens! If that hadn’t gone right that could have cost me my job!”
Luna snickered and rested her hand on her sister’s shoulder, “I always did enjoy watching you take others down a peg when they pushed you too far. It’s just too bad it takes so much pushing to get you to that point.”
Princess Luna snorted, “Quite, mine own sister has the same inclination. Though, admittedly, I haven’t seen her behave quite that aggressively since before my banishment. T’was quite the treat!”
Celestia sighed and stared at the sword stuck in her desk for a moment before summoning it into her hand again. “Raven, I’m sorry to put another thing on your plate, but could you see to it the desk is repaired? I have some government officials to...meet.” The sour expression on her face didn’t fade as she glanced at the sword still in her hand, shrugged, stood, and started walking out the door, clearly done caring if anyone saw her carrying it or not.
Fluttershy was skipping class. She couldn’t not skip, though, when there was someone who needed some kindness, and she knew Sunset needed it more than anyone else.
The ‘ninja’ outfit would require some explanation.
Sure, it wasn’t actually a ninja outfit, or rather it was about as stealthy an outfit as that one protagonist of the Maelstrom manga she read when she was 12. (And she would never admit to anyone that she had read it and thought it was cool...what kind of ninja wears orange?)
Fluttershy was a weeb. She acknowledged that. She wasn’t really proud of it, but she didn’t find it embarrassing. Well, no more embarrassing than she felt about just about anything she ever did. One doesn’t become known as the shyest person in school if one were the type to not be easily embarrassed. Or at least that’s how she explained it to herself, because she really had nobody else to explain it to. Even Dash, before the time that Sunset drove the group of them apart, hadn’t been able to really understand Fluttershy’s difficulty in dealing with the way people perceived her.
A week ago Fluttershy had gone to Rarity to ask for help. She wanted an outfit that would make it so she could sneak around, something somewhat stealthy that would make it easier to blend even more into the background when she needed to. They shy girl’s own knowledge of fashion let her know and understand exactly the right buttons to push to get Rarity to focus more on the clothes than the reason Fluttershy wanted to have them.
And of course Rarity would get carried away. That was just the way Rarity was, and Fluttershy loved her friend and wouldn’t say anything negative about, nor would she modify, the outfit her friend made her.
Even if the cyan bunny ears and belt kinda defeated the purpose.
But it seemed that the outfit was working in spite of the ears, as she was able to lurk in the halls with nobody being the wiser. None of the teachers, the janitor, or the hall monitors stopped and asked her what she was doing. The students, if any noticed her, simply ignored her hanging around the door to the classroom that she didn’t belong in.
The bell rang. The only reason Fluttershy didn’t jump in fright was she had been expecting it to ring soon. Within moments, students began filing out of the room, joining their other schoolmates as the halls filled very quickly. The usual very loud chatter and babble of high-school conversation was normally just too much for her, but this time she had A Mission. She waited and watched as the flow of students passed her by without seeming to notice her. Sure enough, her target wasn’t in the flow of bodies, so she poked her head in the classroom. Among the empty desks sat Sunset, glaring at her backpack. The only thing on her desk was the phone she’d been using to provide the few computer-generated answers she had access to that let her have any interaction with anyone outside her own head.
Fluttershy knew how that felt, and even thought she had an idea why Sunset was glaring at her backpack. Why open your bag and take anything out of it, she thought, If you know you won’t be able to use anything in the bag? The thought was haunting in its familiarity, and it was that familiarity that was what prompted Fluttershy to her current course of action.
She gingerly inched her way into the room, knowing she only had about a minute or two before the halfway mark for the between class passing period arrived, and gently put her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. The girl was slightly startled, but as this was about the fourth time this had happened today, she was clearly getting used to it. She nodded at Fluttershy and picked up her backpack with a sigh. Fluttershy tailed the other girl quietly, being sure to not let herself fall too far behind Sunset until they got to the next class. Sunset’s next class, rather. The girl entered the room and Fluttershy stood just to the side of the door, careful to not be in anyone’s way as the last students rushed or ambled into the rooms as matched their individual personalities. Within moments, the hall was quiet again.
Two weeks after the Fall Formal…
Fluttershy’s hand was steady even as her lip was not as she carefully put the flattened paper, formerly folded tightly into a bundle small enough to fit through a locker, on one of the many stacks on the conference table in front of her.
You evil whore! I hope you choke on your own vomit and die!
She picked up her pen and added a line to the list she’d spent the last hour compiling, Anonymously written slur implying Sunset is a prostitute and includes death wishes. Handwriting is unfamiliar.
She smoothed out the next paper, this one barely folded, almost more of a crumple. It read simply, Alien bitch! Sighing as another tear rolled down her cheek, she placed it on the largest pile on the table.
Anonymously written xenophobic slur, was written on the next line.
Fluttershy could understand the anger, the repressed fear and bottled pain that was producing these notes. It crossed her mind that there was a way such emotion could be directed to another person in such a way as to attempt to cause them pain. She’d done it herself, after all.
Glad you finaly showd yor trew colors, bich!
Shaking her head in disappointment even as a shuddering sigh escaped her throat, she wrote, Anonymously written, poorly spelled note. Possibly written by someone who needs a typing assistant like a word processor to make correct spelling and grammar in their writing. She put the note in with a stack of others that were similar, absently swiping away a tear.
She picked up the next one and read it...only to gasp in shock and leap up. She stumbled back a pace and tripped over the chair, but she barely noticed as she scrambled back to the wall and curled up in the corner, mewling gasps squeezing past the lump in her throat as she stared at the conference table in horror.
A few minutes later, Vice-principal Luna found Fluttershy still in that same position, hands over her mouth as she tried and failed to stifle her wrenching sobs. “Fluttershy…?” gasped the educator as she rushed fully into the room, letting the door close behind her. Luna’s swift glance at the table told the story of what had happened, “Oh, Fluttershy...you didn’t have to...when I said to document the notes, I just meant to count them and file...oh, dear…” she said as she gathered the girl up in her arms, gently lifting her to her feet and carefully guiding her to her abandoned seat. Making sure the girl was properly seated, she looked back at the workspace on the table and saw the note that Fluttershy had dropped. She picked it up and read,
I nearly killed myself because of your bullying. I’m glad I didn’t, because I got to see you fall. I got to see justice served. I won, bitch!
There was no signature, but there were a handful of students the note could have been written by. Her heart broke just a little more to realize that the student body had been through several forms of hell and would likely have to get this sort of thing out of their system before they could move on to forgiving Sunset. She looked to Fluttershy, who was looking up at her with wide, tear-brimmed eyes, gasping heaves as she held her arms tight to her chest, one hand holding the other wrist, twisting and rubbing as Luna caught a glimpse of…
“Oh...Fluttershy…” she sat down in the next chair and gathered the other girl into her arms as best she could, the quiet sobbing morphing into heart rending bawling. Luna didn’t have to mention that what she just learned explained the mysterious two week absence the previous year that marred an otherwise pristine attendance record. The doctor’s note that Luna had been forced to file only explained that the absence was medically justified, but unlike every other note Luna had filed for medical reasons, no details had been provided by the doctor.
Luna no longer begrudged the doctor the lack of detail.
Present...
A glimpse of a frightened face was all Fluttershy saw of Sunset after her last class as the girl bolted away. The rest of the students had already left the building in the usual post-class haste that all schools are seized with after the final bell for the day. Sunset had taken so long to leave class, in fact, that even the teacher had left her in the room. Fluttershy had been just moments away from going into the classroom to check on her friend when the door burst open and Sunset caught sight of her before running off in the direction of the principal’s office.
Fluttershy stood confused, then looked into the classroom to see Sunset’s backpack still on her desk...next to her phone. Oh no! she thought. Quickly, she darted into the classroom, retrieved the items, then ran after Sunset, hoping she was right about where the other girl was going.
Moments later, she pushed open the door to Principal Celestia’s office to find it dark, the lights off and the shades closed. It appeared at first glance to be empty, but then Fluttershy saw the desk chair turning very slowly, as though it had been disturbed just enough. She stood quietly in the door, filtering out the sounds of the last couple of office workers and ignoring the little hints of movement that came through the small spaces in the blinds. On a hunch, she let the door close itself, and within a breath of the latch clicking she heard a barely stifled sob.
Smiling sadly, she padded around the desk to see Sunset’s shoes just barely visible under Principal Celestia’s desk. Making sure she telegraphed her presence audibly, she set down Sunset’s backpack and closed the remaining few feet to kneel down where the principal’s chair normally sat.
“Sunset,” she began into the dark space under the desk, “I know you’re hurting right now, I know what you’re going through.” She was briefly interrupted by an indignant sniff, but she continued in the same calm, comforting voice, “I may not have been silenced by a magic spell, but I was kept quiet by something even worse.” She paused for a moment, trying to collect her own thoughts, and gently stretched her hand out. She knew that Sunset wouldn’t take the hand, not yet, anyway. “I...was too afraid. I was afraid people wouldn’t take me seriously, that they’d say I was making it all up and that I shouldn’t make waves. Or worse, that they’d make me confront my...bully. My abuser. She looked up from her own hand to peer into the darkness. Her eyes had adjusted well enough that she could just see the shimmering pools of tears that were Sunset’s eyes reflecting her image. “Yes, Sunset, that was you.”
A hissing moan came from under the desk, Fluttershy could see the other girl wiping away the tears in her eyes, “It had been a year, and I kept quiet. Rainbow didn’t need anyone, Rarity didn’t need my help or anyone else’s, and the words you said, the way you destroyed the things I tried to do...it was just a reflection of what I told myself, really. That’s why it hurt so much. That’s why I couldn’t be mad at you because it was like you were the only person in the school that didn’t try to treat me like I’d break at any second. I knew you were just telling the truth about me. Or...at least that’s what I told myself to make myself feel better about not getting any help.” She could tell her words were starting to cut through Sunset’s emotional miasma, as her breathing was evening out.
“But when you think so poorly of yourself when you tell yourself that the things the bullies say are true and don’t stand up to that darkness inside you...it lets the darkness grow.” gingerly, as though afraid to see what she knew was going to be there, she reached forward with the hand that wasn’t already outstretched to grasp the sleeve of her hoodie. “And that darkness...can lead you…” she was blinking back her own tears by this point, “...it can lead you to do some horrible things.”
Slowly, she tugged the sleeve up her arm, revealing the inside of her wrist. In the darkness of the unlit room, it was hard to see what Fluttershy was trying to show, and she could see Sunset was starting to lean out of the shadow to get a closer look. She slowly turned her wrist ever so slightly so the light could highlight the line, about three inches long, that was permanently marked in a lighter shade of yellow than the rest of Fluttershy’s skin, from the start of the wrist to about a quarter the way up her forearm. The mark was slightly jagged at first, but became firm and straight, as though the hand that created the mark was unsure at first but then became more firm in their stroke. Without a word, she switched hands, showing a matching line, though not quite as long, on the other wrist.
Sunset gasped and recoiled back into the shadow with a muffled thump of her jacketed back on the footwell blocking panel. Fluttershy raised her eyes, now also filling with tears, to gaze into Sunset’s horrified stare. “I know why you ran from me today, I know what’s happening in your head even though you can’t speak it. I know that you think you deserve what’s happening to you, that you wish your suicide attempt had succeeded, how you wish that we had been just a few minutes, or even seconds later than we were so you wouldn’t still be here. I know it’s not because you’re afraid of facing the people you hurt, but…” Fluttershy had to pause for a moment to swallow back a lump that was forming in her throat, “...but you’re wondering how someone like you, someone that had caused so much pain and suffering to the people around her, especially the people who had rescued her from her own folly, could ever possibly make up for what you did to hurt them.” She felt a drop of water on her exposed wrists and looked down to see a tear trickle down the line of her scar. That’s funny, she thought, I didn’t even realize I was crying… “And the truth is you can’t. You can never earn someone’s forgiveness. The karmic balance is too heavy against you, there is nothing you can ever do to earn forgiveness…”
She looked back up to Sunset’s distressed eyes. The pupils were dilating, and Fluttershy knew the soul-tearing anguish that was roiling inside Sunset’s soul because she had experienced it herself. For her, it had been her mother, her wonderful, sweet, kind mother who found her in the bathtub, blood flowing from her wrists. Her mother, who had stopped the bleeding, called emergency services and stayed with her through the entire hospital stay. Her mother, who had been there when she had woken up when she never expected or wanted to again, had held her and loved her and told her that she was so special and that there was no better daughter in the world. Her mother that very sternly told her in no uncertain terms that what she had done was not very smart and that there were better ways to handle her issues. Her mother, who forgave Fluttershy of all the pain and hurt and mess that she’d caused with her attempt. “When I say I know what you’re going through Sunset…” she held her hands out, inviting the other girl out from the shadows, “...it’s because I know.”
There was a quiet moment where neither moved. Fluttershy didn’t need to even wonder if Sunset was going to take her hands, because she knew that Sunset now knew that Fluttershy understood exactly what was going on in her heart. First one hand came out of the darkness to gently grasp Fluttershy’s. Then, shaking, the other emerged from the shadows, the mottling of the skin on Sunset’s hand and wrist standing in a stark reminder that there was still an injury that nobody could account for and the girl couldn’t explain. As both hands clasped Fluttershy’s, first tentatively and then with the firmness of a drowning man grasping a lifeline, Fluttershy gently guided Sunset out from under the desk. Sunset practically collapsed into Fluttershy’s lap, who simply wrapped her arms around her one-time bully.
Holding the other girl gently but firmly, she began speaking, “Sunset, you can’t earn forgiveness...but I can give it to you freely.” Sunset tensed, as though trying to escape a trap, but Fluttershy held fast, “I can give it to you not because I have to, but because I want to. I can give it because it’s mine to give if I choose. And I know you don’t think you deserve it,” the girl was shuddering with sobs by this point, “But you do, Sunset. You deserve it because I say you deserve it.” Fluttershy could hear the door opening and closing as she spoke, but didn’t divert her focus from the girl in her arms, “Sunset Shimmer,” she didn’t notice her form starting to glow with yellow light, nor the wings appearing behind her. She didn’t think anything of feeling like she was hugging Sunset with another pair of arms, nor did she even register that her new limbs were covered with soft feathers that wrapped Sunset nearly shoulder-to-knee, “I forgive you.”
A wailing sob tore itself from Sunset’s throat. Hands grasped needily at Fluttershy’s shirt and unclasped just as quickly as the girl tried to push away, then grasped even more firmly to her former victim. Sunset tried to curl up into a ball but the wings, stronger than Fluttershy would have expected, kept her friend from curling into a ball and shutting out any consolation being given.
Almost distantly, she recognized Principal Celestia kneeling down next to them and wrapping her arms around the pair of them.
After a quarter-hour of Sunset’s inner turmoil finally spilling out and Fluttershy and Celestia gently pouring love back in its place, Sunset slipped off to sleep.
Stats
Page generated in 0.025 seconds
Total duration
1,013 users online
1,825,819 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Interesting chapter.
Simply magnificent.
Powerful stuff
Simply powerful
Bruh it's the morning and I'm already in my feels, damn.
I can certainly see how writing that could get into one's head. I think you did a great job with it.
Beautiful.
Almost distantly, she recognized Principal Celestia kneeling down next to them and wrapping her arms around the pair of them.
Distantly should be instantly.
The feels i need a medic bag
This was an excellent story that I am glad is still going on as this is a delightfully dark take on this time period.
10436209
Nope, I chose "distantly" on purpose; the idea is to convey that the understanding that Celestia was there was a distant second to the task of caring for Sunset.
No greater authority exists. Element of kindness indeed.
10436659
Gotcha.
Why is it that you can write nearly every type of scene near perfect? Seriously, you’re one of the most gifted writers that I’ve ever had the pleasure to read the works of, and I am always enthralled when reading your stories. I honestly think the world is... blessed, in some way, by your existence. This is simply incredible.
i for one know how it feels and don't usually like to talk about it but have seen some counseling but have tried and failed (odiously) multiple times and in one of those times i still to this day can't stand the smell or even bare to look at pine-sole the same way without feeling sick . . . the point is that it's not worth it to those who think that way
The United States Secret Service works for the Treasury Department. The State Department has the Diplomatic Security Service.
Is this completed or not there is a sequel? If not please continue i love the story its pretty relatable for me
10594183
Music Box Blues is a canonical side-story to this one and I do have two sequels planned. Writing is on hold for the moment, but I do intend to finish the whole thing.
Really hit home with This chapter. I can really relate to it. I agree wholeheartedly with what you said in the Author's Note: Putting yourself into a headspace while you are recovering from being suicidal is hard. I relapse when things get bad, but I take a deep breath, think of all the people who helped me through it, and I stop before I can do something irrational.
Keep up the good work.
Hope all is better. Just wanted to let you know that I like this story.
Well, now I'm all caught up and I regret that there wasn't more to go through.
10704675
I'm actually going to be taking some time off work soon and I've just scaled my responsibility load down quite a bit, which means I'll have more energy to put into writing. For a while, I was going for a promotion and since that didn't pan out (this is a good thing for me, I promise) I don't have to burn the candle at both ends anymore.
When I start getting back into writing, it takes me a little bit to get up to speed, but I should have more for you soon.
10706762
I don’t mind a wait. Therefore no point in rushing.
I just thought of something. If Sunset can't even write, how is she supposed to do homework or take tests?
10865979
That's one of those, "super minor detail so it hasn't made it's way into the story other than a tangential mention" things, but in this scene in Chapter 6 - I couldn't Get Away, I hint at it:
Basically she doesn't. As part of her "special needs accommodation, the teachers can't give her homework or tests because she simply can't write them. She can read, thus the backpack full of books, but it's just "input" with no "output."
The second half of this chapter is exactly what I love and want from this story. Great relationships, great dialogue, heart and emotion. The first half is.. alright. I'm not really big on the whole Equestria and (whatever the human world is called) subplot. I'm sure it's there to set something up later, probably something having to do with breaking Sunset's curse, but I just find it sort of annoying and out of place with the earlier chapters. I enjoyed the setting up of some of the unique magic in the universe, but I don't know, I guess it just detracts from the emotional side of the story from me, it feels like the story is now less focused on Sunset and Celestia, and their relationship, which is what pulled me in in the first place.
It's not bad by any means, it's just not my taste, and I hope to see a greater focus on the emotional/relationship side rather than more plot-driven stuff, if I'm honest.
Still, pretty good work, and I'll definitely keep reading.
Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!
what the fuck is this...?
why a beutiful anguish slice of life story turned into half-baked first contact?
just
NO
why?
11156512
i.postimg.cc/jd4rSXWb/Screenshot-2022-02-18-4-40-09-AM.png
I know, I know.