What in tarnation?
Applejack yawned, blinked, reached for her cell phone and, pressing a button on the side, glanced at the screen. 6 a.m. Of course. What else could she expect if at home, she’d get up at such a time as well, sometimes even earlier? After all, these few days at the camp couldn’t possibly change her long-term habits.
But really, why would she need to get up right away? She still had an hour and a half to the wake-up time… or maybe more, seeing that everyone was probably exhausted after last night’s ball. She might as well follow the example of Rainbow, sprawled on the other bed, and get some more sleep. Yup. That actually was a good idea.
If only going back to sleep was so simple. The sun rays shone in her face. She tried to hide from them under the blanket, but it immediately became too hot and stuffy. And there were also birds chirping and Rainbow snoring. No. That was definitely not the right setting to fall asleep. The girl gave a soft sigh and checked the hour again. 6:02 a.m.
‘Oh, forget that,’ she thought, sitting on the bed and stretching a little. ‘It’s not like I’m that sleepy anymore.’
Not wanting to wake her friend, she dressed quietly and left the tent. If she couldn’t sleep anymore, she might as well take a walk around the camp – or maybe forage for food in the forest. Of course, that would be something none of the adults could ever find out about. True, Gloriosa and Timber wouldn’t do anything to her, and Principal Celestia probably would just give her a talking-to, but if Vice Principal Luna heard about it… Applejack winced. The vice principal was known for her iron hand. It was better not to mess with her.
That left just a stroll around the camp, as it had been the previous days. Whatever. Her only actual goal was not being bored for the next hour and a half.
The tent area was so quiet she could have heard a pin drop, so the girl marched briskly toward the main part of the camp. In fact… this silence, although different from a night at the farm, was quite pleasant. Maybe she could come here someday with her grandmother and siblings? She couldn’t remember when had been the last time they all had gone somewhere together.
Then, she stopped in her tracks.
“What in tarnation?” she muttered, rubbing her eyes.
She could have sworn she’d seen somebody’s hair in the window of the mess hall she’d just passed. How could it be if the others had still been asleep a few minutes ago, when she’d left her tent?
Or maybe she was just seeing things? Maybe she was less awake than she thought? She decided to check it out. Kneeling down, she slowly crawled up to the window and carefully glanced inside over the windowsill.
“Well, ah’ll be…” she murmured.
Principal Celestia was in the kitchen, working on something. Despite the early hours, she didn’t look sleepy; on the contrary, she moved deftly and nimbly, almost as if she were dancing. Given the simple white apron she had around her waist, and the fact that she wore her long, multi-colored hair in a bun, just above her neck, she apparently was about to make some breakfast.
As soon as she thought about it, Applejack felt her stomach growl. Ever since Pinkie had accidentally spread the cookie dough around almost the entire dining area, all the students were banned from the kitchen unless supervised. But since the principal was in there anyway… it was worth a try.
The girl stood up, brushed the dirt and grass off her knees, and entered the kitchen through a simple brown door.
“Mornin’, ma’am,” she greeted.
The principal, who was just taking something out of one of the upper cupboards, turned around and looked at her, frowning slightly and opening her mouth. Before she could say anything, though, Applejack remembered that while she wasn’t at school, she still was talking to a teacher.
“Ah mean… good morning, Principal.”
“Oh...!” Principal Celestia looked a little embarrassed. “Good morning, Applejack. Frankly, I was hoping that I wouldn’t wake up anyone…”
“Doncha worry. Everyone else is asleep.”
“Then how come you are here?”
Applejack shrugged.
“Force-a habit. No one in mah family sleeps in. Gotta take care-a the farm ‘n the animals before goin’ to school. Why’re ya up, though?”
Celestia smiled.
“I like mornings. The sun shines gentler than around midday, and instead of cars and human noise, you can hear birds singing, especially here. Also,” she added somewhat uneasily, “at one point, my sister began talking in her sleep, and it wasn’t exactly a murmur.”
Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Sounds almost like Rainbow durin’ our first pajama party at Pinkie’s place. Only she was snorin’; ‘n only ‘cause she had a cold then. But Rarity still ended up goin’ to the livin’ room t’sleep on the couch.”
“Yes, such things can be annoying,” the principal agreed, nodding. “But if you can’t sleep, you can at least make good use of the excess time,” she added, taking flour and a large bowl from two of the cupboards.
“Ya kinda sound like mah Granny…”
“Your grandmother has been working at our school for as long as I remember; she might have taught me a few things.” Celestia smiled again and winked at her student.
Applejack grinned.
“And what exactly are ya makin’?”
“Pancakes, child. If I’m lucky, I may be able to prepare enough of them for all of us.”
Feeling her stomach rumble once again, Applejack swallowed the saliva gathering in her mouth. The principal gave her a sidelong glance, took something out of the fridge, and a few moments later handed her a plate with a ham, cheese and lettuce sandwich.
“Go ahead. Eat. Pancakes won’t be ready for a while, after all.”
“Uh… ah thought only Sunset could read minds.”
Celestia laughed.
“It’s not mind reading, it’s a still good hearing,” she said merrily, putting a couple of eggs in the bowl, and starting whisking them.
While chewing on and swallowing her sandwich morsel by morsel, Applejack watched the teacher’s quick, practiced movements. She didn’t think of herself as an outstanding cook (she still wasn’t even near her Granny’s level), but in her opinion, there wasn’t even close to enough batter in the bowl to make pancakes for almost thirty people. Chances that the principal would manage to do all this on time, all by herself, were… slim.
The decision was made. The girl swallowed the last bite and putting down the plate on the nearest countertop, asked:
“Got ‘nother apron here?”
Celestia looked at her in surprise.
“Probably, but why the question?”
“Easy. Ah’m gonna help ya.”
“That’s nice of you, but you don’t have to…”
Applejack raised her hand.
“‘Scuse me, but one, there’re ‘bout thirty people at the camp. Ah ain’t gotta be good with fancy mathematics like Twilight or Sunset to know we’re gonna need a whole bunch-a pancakes, and there’s no way y’can do it all by yerself. Two, ah’ve been helpin’ mah Granny ‘round the kitchen since ah was small, so ah shouldn’t mess anythin’ up. Three, ah ain’t got nuthin’ else to do now. Four… ah just like helpin’ people,” with that, the girl gave a slight shrug and wrapped an apron, that she’d spotted hanging on a nearby peg, around herself. “Whaddaya want me to start with?”
A strange, almost mocking, grin showed up on Celestia’s lips.
“How about washing your hands?”
Feeling a faint blush of embarrassment on her face, the student said nothing as she turned on the water, washed her hands and wiped them in the apron before turning back to the teacher.
“So, what now? Should ah get started with bakin’ or with makin’ more batter?”
The woman gave it some thought.
“I think it’s better to prepare the batter first and then focus on baking,” she decided at last.
“Ah’m on it!” Applejack saluted, took a second bowl from the cupboard, bigger than the one used by Celestia, and began to beat the eggs, like the teacher had done before.
“If you get tired…” the principal began.
“Doncha worry.” The student lightly waved her free hand. “This place does wonders fer mah strength,” at this, she smiled almost haughtily, “‘n ah’ve always been tough. Granny says ah got it from… from mah Dad,” she finished softly, turning her head to hide her tears.
If she hadn’t done so, she would have seen the flash of compassion and understanding in Celestia’s eyes. The woman carefully put her hand on the girl’s shoulder.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Applejack shook her head and wiped her eyes with a hem of her apron.
“Ah’m better now,” she said with determination. “Besides, pancakes ain’t gonna bake themselves.”
“Concealing the pain doesn’t really do any good,” Celestia remarked, withdrawing her hand nonetheless, and then reaching for the fruit bowl.
“Really, ma’am. Ah’m okay now. Ah hardly remember them, anyway. Ah’ll get used to it eventually…”
“You’re wrong.” The teacher cut open the peach she’d peeled in the meantime, removed the pit and began slicing the fruit. “This isn’t something you can just get used to. It isn’t easy to even come to terms with it…” she added almost in a whisper, lowering her head.
Applejack stole a glance at her. Ever since she’d come to Canterlot High, she hadn’t yet seen her principal like this. Sure, Celestia would sometimes be annoyed, downhearted or apathetic – especially back when Sunset had still been bullying pretty much the entire school – but she was usually seen smiling cheerfully. This time, her face was full of that particular mix of longing and pain that the girl had only seen in her brother’s eyes when her grandmother would tell them about their parents.
“Ya’ve been there, too, ain’t ya?”
The principal nodded wordlessly, closing her eyes.
“When?” Applejack didn’t manage to hold her tongue.
Celestia took a deep breath and looked into her student’s eyes.
“Luna was fourteen.”
If Applejack’s calculations were even approximately correct, it was about two decades ago.
“So… it’s gonna hurt ferever?”
“I’m afraid so.” The principal smiled sadly. “Not all the time, mind you, but we can’t predict which memories will cause us pain and when will it happen.”
There was a moment of silence. Applejack cautiously added sugar and flour to the whisked eggs, stirred several times, then turned to the teacher, who was now rinsing some strawberries under the tap.
“Ah ain’t got nuthin’ against fruits, but whaddaya need’em fer?”
Celestia beamed.
“I’ll use them to decorate my sister’s pancakes and plate. It’s a tradition of ours.”
Her student also smiled.
“Ah like traditions. When’d it start?”
“A long time ago; Luna was only two or three years old back then.” The principal’s face showed fondness. “She was so cute: she had a chubby face, short, dark locks and trusting, laughing, blue eyes… I still see that child in her…”
The serious, strict Vice Principal Luna as a carefree little girl? Though she tried hard, Applejack just couldn’t imagine it. On the other hand… for quite a long time, she herself had trouble accepting that Apple Bloom was no longer a baby. Maybe it was just a part of being an older sister?
“Uh, the tradition?” she asked upon noticing that Celestia still hadn’t come back from her trip down the memory lane.
The woman blinked.
“Oh! Right. As I said, Luna was a little cutie, but unfortunately, quite spoiled… and frankly, I also had a part in it… Anyway: when she was two or three, she refused to eat pancakes. Our parents and babysitter tried many various ways, but unsuccessfully; until my birthday. That day, for breakfast, I got pancakes with a smiling fruit face. The colors attracted Luna’s attention, and she immediately began loudly demanding the same thing I had… and then she didn’t even notice when she ate all she got on the plate.” The principal chuckled. “Since then, Mom and Dad always served her pancakes like this. And after… after it went down to the two of us, I decided to continue the tradition.”
“Speakin’ of continuin’… Y’think it’s time t’bake now?”
Celestia glanced at the clock hanging on a wall.
“Definitely. It soon will be wake-up time.”
Applejack nodded. After a moment of rummaging through the cupboards, she pulled out a large frying pan, put it on the stove, and poured some oil on it.
“And now,” the teacher turned on the burner and gently put the student aside, “be a dear and take out the plates and the cutlery.”
“Hey!” The girl was outraged. “Ah’ve already made pancakes lots-a times! No way ah’m gonna burn’em!”
“I’m not saying that you would burn anything. I watched you and noticed that you’re more skilled in cooking than I was at your age.”
“Well, then why…”
“It will be much faster if we put the pancakes straight on the plates, don’t you think?”
“Well… ah guess that makes sense.”
“In that case, my most helpful student, let’s get to work.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Applejack saluted.
For a while, there was only the sizzling of the pancakes in the pan and the clatter of plates that the girl laid on the countertops, after wiping them with a clean cloth just in case.
“Hiya there!” a squeaky voice called suddenly from the doorway.
The kitchen was immediately filled with screaming and a loud crashing sound. After calming down a bit, Applejack realized that several plates that she’d been about to lay on the counter now lay broken on the floor right next to her. Looking up, she saw Principal Celestia, paler than usual, leaning against one of the cupboards and gasping for air.
“Ya okay there?”
Celestia nodded, raised a hand, and finally managed to take a few deep breaths. Relieved, Applejack turned in the direction from which the voice came.
A girl with moderately pink skin, intensely pink curls and big blue eyes stood in the doorway, grinning from ear to ear.
“PINKIE PIIIIIIIEEEEEE!” Applejack bellowed furiously.
“What?” Pinkie looked genuinely surprised. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Care to guess?!” her friend snapped angrily, and started picking up the plates’ remains from the floor. “What the heck were ya thinkin’?!”
“What do you mean?” Pinkie slightly tilted her head. “I saw you were here, so I decided to surprise you, because surprises are fun!”
Finding no words to comment, Applejack just sighed in exasperation and buried her face in her hands.
“Not one who sneaks up like a ghost and ends up scaring others.” Celestia, who’d finally managed to calm down, shook her head.
“Ooh… sorry.” Pinkie looked down. “I just wanted to see what was this wonderful…” she paused and sniffed in the air. “Wait… is something burning here?”
Her friend exchanged glances with the teacher, and then both looked at the stove.
“Pancakes!” Applejack screamed, rushing to the smoking pan.
A split second later, pain made her realize that she should have looked which part of the pan she was grabbing. As she cursed in her mind the haste that made her make such a stupid mistake, she began to blow air on the burned spot, but that didn’t help.
“Hand under the water.” Celestia led her to the turned-on tap over the sink and turned off the burner under the pan. “And you, Pinkie Pie, go and ask Gloriosa for a first aid kit.”
“Okie-dokie!”
After a moment, the two heard the sound of rapidly departing steps.
“Does it hurt a lot?” The principal carefully took Applejack’s burned hand and inspected it closely.
“Just a lil’ bit. Y’can go back to makin’ pancakes.”
“In a minute. We need to take care of your hand first.”
“Ah’ll be fine, promise. Ah have accidents in my own home, too.”
“Maybe, but over here, I am the one responsible for you. And I have a feeling that your grandmother wouldn’t be happy to hear that I did nothing when you got hurt while in my care.” The teacher put the student’s hand back under the stream of water again. “Besides, it won’t take long. Any moment now, your friend should be back with…”
“First aid kit?” Pinkie spoke again, standing in the doorway.
This time, Applejack and Celestia only shuddered slightly with fear. This was progress.
“Yes. Thank you, Pinkie Pie.”
“No problem! What else can I do?” The pink-haired girl gave the woman a small bag, and beamed.
“You can clean the broken plates off the floor and look for a new pan.” The teacher turned off the water and led the other of her students closer to the window.
“But…” Applejack began.
“And you, young lady, give me your hand and stand still.” Celestia’s gaze hardened slightly.
Feeling like a chastised young child, Applejack obeyed and held her burned hand out, wordlessly letting the principal to gently apply some soothingly cool ointment to the wounded area, cover it with gauze and wrap it with a bandage. She could even swear that for one brief moment, Celestia had blue eyes, a storm of ginger curls, and freckles on her cheeks; but when she blinked, the vision disappeared.
“Done,” the woman said at last, releasing the girl’s hand. “Does it still hurt?”
“Not anymore.” Applejack smiled. “Thank ya.”
“I finished, too!” Pinkie reported. “Oooooooooooh! Fruit! Can I have some? Can I? Can I? Can I?” she inquired, tugging on Celestia’s hand and smiling sweetly. “Pleeeeeeeease!”
“Ah can’t even…” Her friend facepalmed.
“I’m sorry, Pinkie Pie,” the principal gently detached the student from herself, “but I’m going to need these fruit for my sister’s pancakes.”
“Awwwwwwwwww… but I like pancakes with fruit, too… I think everyone does…” Pinkie looked at her with big, sad eyes.
‘Uh-oh,’ Applejack thought.
She realized that her friend had just used one of her most disarming faces. She could only hope that Principal Celestia wouldn’t fall for the guilt trip…
“If so…” the woman slightly narrowed her eyes and tilted her head, “can you wash and peel some more fruit while Applejack and I are busy with other things?”
“Sure!” Pinkie grinned and rushed to wash her hands.
“Excellent.” Celestia smiled, nodded and looked at the clock again. “We’d better hurry up. Gloriosa and Timber will ring the wake-up bell any moment now.”
“Eh, I don’t think so.” Pinkie sliced a strawberry with a few quick moves, then popped one piece into her mouth. “When I went to ask for a first aid kit, Gloriosa was still mostly asleep, and Timber’s snoring was making the windows rattle.”
Applejack doubted the last part was true. Big Mac would also snore quite loudly sometimes, but nothing had ever shake because of that.
“Nevertheless, we shouldn’t wait too long. We still have a lot of work,” the principal pointed out, putting a bit of batter on the new pan.
The mix sizzled upon touching the hot oil, so the woman nodded and, softly humming a tune, focused on frying more pancakes, which she then put on the plates given to her by her blond-haired student.
When the bell hanging at the gazebo began ringing the wake-up call, Applejack quickly checked the time. A quarter to eight. For a morning after a few-hour party, it was pretty good.
“Well, I guess we’ll make it,” Celestia sighed with relief, then took the last pancake off the frying pan and turned off the burner. “Pinkie Pie, how’s it going with the fruit?”
“Ta-daaaaa!” The pink-haired girl proudly presented three bowls, two larger and one smaller, full of fruit – namely peaches, strawberries and blueberries.
“B-but… how… when?” The principal’s eyes widened.
“That’s Pinkie Pie.” Applejack gave a shrug. “An expert on the impossible.”
“Alright, never mind…” Celestia slightly shook her head and put some fruit on two servings of pancakes, which she then moved across the counter towards her students. “You must be hungry, so… enjoy.”
The girls exchanged glances and then looked at the teacher.
“Y’gotta be kiddin’ me,” Applejack said at last. “When ah help someone, ah never leave it unfinished.”
“Me, too!” Pinkie agreed. “Say, you want these pancakes to have some special patterns or we can make them up ourselves?”
“Honestly? You’ll help me far more, if you take care of distributing them.” The principal returned to decorating the rest of the plates with fruit.
As soon as she said it, the double blue door opened, and a moment later, the first campers entered the mess hall, yawning and rubbing their eyes.
“Hiya there!” Smiling broadly, Pinkie pushed one of the servings into the hands of a boy with long, green dreadlocks.
Yawning again, he looked at the plate – and instantly came to.
“Woah! Pancakes! Cool!”
“Enjoy.” Applejack grinned.
“Yo! People!” A boy with a half-length, ginger hair falling into his eyes, leaned out. “There’s pancakes for breakfast!”
The hall was almost immediately flooded with campers.
“Hey, stop pushing me!”
“No, you quit blocking the way!”
“Ow! You stepped on my foot!”
“Watch it with the elbows!”
“Can I go first? I’m so hungry!”
“You think I’m not?”
“Hey, where are those pancakes?!”
“Can I have a big portion?”
Moment after moment, more and more students were advancing at the counter. Applejack instinctively took a step back.
“Now, that’s some mess…” Pinkie commented, moving closer to her. She had wide eyes and an uneasy look on her face.
“Yup…”
When it seemed that they would soon be snatched by a crowd of hungry campers, Principal Celestia stood between them and the other students.
“Alright, everyone, enough of these fights,” she said firmly. “This isn’t what we teach you in Canterlot High. Please, make a queue like educated people, right away. And I warn you: whoever starts a new brawl, will go to the very end of the line.”
The students quickly lined up one behind the other.
“She’s good,” Pinkie whispered in admiration.
Applejack nodded wordlessly. So the principal, if she wished so, could be scary, even without raising her voice. That was worth remembering.
The further distribution of the breakfast went on peacefully. When the only ones left in the queue were the vice principal and the camp owners, Celestia handed a plate of pancakes to each of her two helpers.
“I really can handle it now,” she said gently, taking the apron off Applejack. “Enjoy your meal.”
“Thanks!” Pinkie gave the principal a tight hug, making her groan. But where did the plate go…? “Come on, AJ! The girls are waiting!” she added, grabbing her friend’s shoulders and pushing her towards the table around which sat the rest of their group.
“Well, that explains why we couldn’t find you two anywhere,” Rainbow greeted them.
“Howdy,” Applejack retorted, as she started eating.
“Oh, good heavens!” Rarity exclaimed, noticing her bandaged hand. “Whatever happened to you, darling?”
“What? Y’mean this? No big deal. Ah just got a slight burn. This bandage here was Principal Celestia’s idea.”
“Celestia? What does she have to do with it?” Sunset raised her eyebrows.
“Ah was helpin’ her make breakfast when someone,” at this point, Applejack cast a glare at Pinkie, “scared us and ah ended up burnin’ mahself with the pan.”
“Yeah!” Pinkie nodded. “And then, Celestia…”
“Principal Celestia,” Rarity corrected.
“That’s what I said! She asked me to bring her a first aid kit, then she put the bandage on Applejack’s hand, and asked if it was still hurting, and Applejack said it wasn’t, and…”
“Alright. We get the point.” Rainbow put her hand on Pinkie’s mouth.
“You were helping Principal Celestia herself?” Twilight’s wide eyes locked on Applejack.
“Uh… yeah…?”
“Ohhh, I’m so jealous… She’s so kind, smart, gentle, warmhearted… A true angel, especially when compared to Principal Cinch…”
Rainbow rolled her eyes.
“Oh, come on. Compared to that Crystal Prep witch, even the sirens would seem nice.”
“I beg to differ,” Rarity cut in. “In my opinion, the sirens weren’t any less horrible than that… woman. Although Principal Celestia still does have quite an uncommon ease of winning people over.”
“As proven by Twilight worshipping her,” Sunset added, glancing at her newest friend, who watched in awe as the principal talked to her sister.
“It’s not worshipping!” Twilight huffed, turning back to her friends. “I… I just admire her. As a teacher. And as a principal. And as a person.”
“So… totally worshipping her.” Rainbow nodded, smirking.
Sunset, Applejack and Pinkie chuckled. Fluttershy smiled timidly, Rarity rolled her eyes, and Twilight blushed.
“Not another word,” she muttered, embarrassed.
“Don’t worry, darling. It will not happen again,” Rarity assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Right, Rainbow Dash?” she added, glaring at her rainbow-haired friend.
“Well, maaaaaaaaaaaaybe…”
“Rainbow Dash…” Rarity growled warningly.
“Fine, fine, have it your way.” Rainbow rolled her eyes a second time. “Can’t I even make a joke?”
“But, um,” said Fluttershy, “out of curiosity… what is Principal Celestia like? I mean, in private?”
Applejack shrugged and opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, an excited Pinkie said:
“She’s world’s best mom! Well, almost, ‘cause I think she doesn’t actually have her own kids, so she’s not really a mom,” she babbled on, “and also, the ‘World’s Best Mom’ title is kinda already taken, ‘cause no one’s better than my Mom, but Celestia is great, too, and if my Mom wasn’t my mom, then I’d have loved to have Celestia as a mom, and then…” Whatever she was about to add, it was muffled by Sunset’s hand.
“Pinkie… we appreciate your opinion, but Fluttershy asked Applejack, actually.”
“That’s right…” Fluttershy nodded and hid behind the curtain of her own hair.
“Whoooops…” Pinkie grinned awkwardly. “Teehee… sorry, girls.”
“Alright, back to the point.” Twilight leaned over the table, her nose almost touching Applejack’s. “What is she really like?”
Applejack moved away slightly. She found thinking difficult whenever someone so brutally invaded her personal space – especially when that someone (for once) wasn’t Pinkie.
At first, she wanted to say that she hadn’t really noticed much of a difference between the principal’s behavior at and outside the school – but then, she reconsidered it. At school, Celestia, though kind and (mostly) understanding, still was strictly professional towards students and the faculty, including Vice Principal Luna.
This morning, however, she was different. Wearing an apron and with her hair in a bun, she looked more like a stereotypical housewife from old movies than a serious, resourceful woman who had to face the consequences of one magical catastrophe in her school after another – and interestingly enough, she seemed not to care in the least.
However, her directness was much more surprising. At school, hardly anyone knew anything about the private life of the principal and her sister – and Applejack was ready to bet that had their talk been witnessed by a third party, Celestia wouldn’t have been so willing to confide in her.
Also, was it actually necessary for anyone in school to know that at some point in her life, Principal Celestia had to take care of her then-underage sister and apparently would still treat Luna like a child every now and then? Although Applejack was all for honesty, she could just feel that neither of the principals would be thrilled if these facts came to light.
Thus, she shrugged and replied:
“Frankly, ah don’t think ah can say anythin’ new ‘bout her. She’s smilin’, carin’, a good cook, but can also get upset ‘n scared… and sometimes quite stubborn.”
“Sounds familiar…” Rarity muttered.
Her blonde friend paid her no mind.
“But y’know what’s the greatest thin’ ‘bout her?”
“Yeeeees?” An excited Twilight almost climbed onto the table.
“She’s completely normal.”