“I’m sorry, what? Can you repeat that, I think I might’ve misheard you.”
Sunset’s brows furrowed slightly as she looked up from her pancakes, topped with a whipped cream and raspberry smiley-face, to stare at the older woman at the head of the breakfast table. Celestia forked a mouthful of sweet, maple syruped batter past her lips, and chewed, before taking a sip of her morning coffee.
“I said: I’m taking on another personal student. She’ll be staying in the west wing of the castle, and from now on our one on one classes will follow a curriculum.” The princess gathered more pancake onto the end of her fork with her knife, and lathered it in cream before glancing up from her plate to meet Sunset’s gaze, the red-heads own mouth slightly agape.
Turquoise eyes blinked and narrowed, “But-”
“Relax, Sunset,” Celestia gave a gentle smirk and quirked a brow before setting her knife down to ruffle the younger girls curled bangs, “I know how you feel about meeting new people, but, you’ll be fine.”
Sunset pulled away from the older woman’s hand and set down her own cutlery, to smooth her hair back into place with a harrumph. She pushed a ringlet of red hair from her face, only for it to fall back into place over her forehead anyway, and pursed her lips into a straight line. “That isn’t-... Why do you need to take on another student, anyway?” She furrowed her brows once more.
There was a slight pause, and a hum, as Celestia chewed another mouthful of her breakfast. “I’ve been watching this girl for quite some time, actually. She shows promise and appears to have talents far beyond that of her fellow classmates. Something I feel that you of all people would be able to relate to, no?”
The red-head grumbled and averted her eyes as she sunk into her seat. Resting her cheek in the palm of her hand as it was propped up by her elbow, she pushed a raspberry around her plate. “Then why not just move her up a year? I don’t see why she has to come stay here.”
“Because, Sunset. There’s only so much an academic administrator can do to lead and inspire the aptitude of young minds to reach their full potential. There are those who simply aren’t willing to or merely aren’t able to go beyond that of an academic institute. This young girl shows enthusiasm in expanding her magical knowledge.” Celestia smiled and looked down at the blueberries at the edge of her plate, and allowed her shoulders to drop slightly. “Plus… She reminds me of you, just a little bit. Seeing her unable to reach her full potential seems… like a waste of talent.”
Sunset’s lips fell into a lopsided frown, a pang of guilt turning into a knot at the pit of her stomach, as she watched the light of the sun glisten in the older woman’s eyes. “Right… I-... ugh,” she huffed, and stabbed at her pancakes. “When will she be here?”
“Her invitation should be arriving sometime this week, and I’m giving two weeks in order for her to mull it over. If all goes well, she should be moved in by the end of the month.” Lifting her mug to her lips, Celestia took another long drink of her coffee before gathering up her plate and cutlery. The wooden legs of her chair squeaked as it scraped across the tiled kitchen floor, and Celestia paused to give Sunset another smile. “Cheer up, Little Star. It won’t be as bad as you think it’ll be. Just give her a chance.”
White feathered wings traced along the bottom of Sunset’s chin in order to tip her head upwards to allow Celestia to press a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be off. I have a public appearance today at ‘Canterlot Middle’, and then I’ll be in my office for most of the day doing paperwork. Don’t overwork yourself today.”
The younger girl rolled her eyes and groaned out “Yes, mom,” as she heard the princess’ dishes clatter in the washing basin. She then paused and lifted her head from its place in the palm of her hand, “Wait…”
“Hm?” Celestia quirked a brow and stopped in the doorway to glance back at her daughter.
“What’s her name? The new student, I mean. You never said.”
“Oh!” She smiled once more, “The new student’s name is Twilight Sparkle.”
The clock at the front of the classroom ticked the fifteenth minute away as Sunset continued to glare at the back of her newest classmate’s head. She hoped there was a spell for “shooting lasers from your eyes,” because she was sure she would make good use of it.
“So- if we make reference to Star Swirl’s law of magic, the answer should be…”
The red-head rolled her eyes as Twilight’s hand enthusiastically shot up, and with a voice full of confidence responded, “Trick question. Star Swirl’s law of magic never covered the topic of the arcane. Star Swirl believed that magic and the path to enlightenment were independent, not codependent. He also believed that individuals who sought out more power to answer the questions of the world were, in fact, weak and cowardly.”
Celestia’s lips stretched upward in a bright grin, the ruffling of her wings betraying any sense of exuberance she was trying her best to hide. “Correct! I liked your additional information at the end. I can see you’ve read ahead.”
“Oh,” Twilight’s cheeks warmed in a light blush as she rubbed the back of her head, her shoulders raising slightly as she shrunk into herself, “I’m just a big fan of Star Swirl’s teachings. He’s one of my favorite philosophers and I have most of his documented readings in an anthology back home.”
“Well, it definitely shows. Star Swirl was an amazing instructor, after all; I’m glad to see that his classics haven’t gone to waste on the newer generation.” Celestia turned her back to the two girls as she dragged her stick of chalk across the board, excess falling and coating the dusters below in fine, white powder.
Sunset’s eyes flickered from her page, to the board, and back as she scribbled down her notes in tandem with Celestia, but the girl practically vibrating in the chair in front of her forced her teeth to clench and the grip on she had on her quill to tighten, the plastic creaking under her firm fingers. “Do you mind?” She muttered through gritted teeth and furrowed brows, “correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re supposed to be a sorceress, not a frog. I’d appreciate being able to concentrate in class without your inane bouncing distracting me.”
Twilight’s broad smile relaxed and fell into a flat line as she glimpsed over her shoulder to catch a peek at the girl behind her.
She’d heard the rumors about her classmate. An ill-tempered, egotistical know-it-all who thought herself better than everyone else, merely because she was the daughter of Princess Celestia. She’d heard about the fights-- how the Princess had to be called in to talk about her daughter’s behavior. Her antisocial-ness and unwilling to participate in class discussions, or any kind of work, due to a deep seated hubris that ultimately caused her to be expelled from not only one but two elementary schools.
Sunset had already found her seat by the time Twilight had arrived for class, but had her head down scribbling notes in a thick pile of scroll parchment, with her white feathered quill. Twilight’s first impression was that perhaps she was just incredibly studious and cared more about her education than others gave her credit for. One thing was for sure, though; Sunset radiated an aura. It was incredibly intimidating, even just being in her presence. Sitting behind her probably would’ve been the safest bet. Twilight could’ve gotten a feel for her-- come up with her own opinion-- from a distance. However once she’d set foot into the classroom, Princess Celestia ushered in behind her, and urged her to sit near the front.
The purple haired teen opened her mouth to mumble out an apology, but all words died on her tongue as she was met with a brilliant pair of electric, turquoise-hued eyes, that sent tingles across her skin. The scowl that Sunset was throwing her way caused her stomach to flip, and Twilight immediately turned her attention back to the front of the class; shoulders hunched, posture erect.
The red head rolled her eyes and let out a huff as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and continued copying down Celestia’s notes from the board; which, upon returning to her senses, Twilight scrambled to jot down, too.
“Now,” Celestia’s wings stretched slightly as she turned to face her two students, “moving on from the topic of enlightenment, we will now be covering the subject of Harmony, and most importantly: it’s role in our current civilized world.” Her eyes lingered on the purple haired girl who was desperately trying to finish off her note taking, before shifting her gaze to the other teen a couple of rows behind her. “Sunset? What are the six core aspects of harmony?”
Sunset wet her lips and shifted backward in her chair before letting out a shallow breath, “Honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, loyalty and empathy.” She tapped the end of her pen against her scroll and chewed at the inside of her cheek, “Each core element is represented by one of the Elements of Harmony.”
The elder woman nodded with a gentle smile, “And do you know how these Elements came to be?”
“Star Swirl and the other pillars infused crystal seeds with their magic and planted them in the ground in hopes that it would grow into something that would protect our realm in their absence-- should anything happen to them.” Sunset’s brows became knitted as a frown pulled at the corners of her mouth, “We covered this years ago. Why are we going back over it?”
The silence that flooded the room was strained and almost chokingly tense, and Twilight Sparkle audibly gulped as she stared, wide-eyed, down at her own ink-scribbled parchment. Waiting for the Princess to respond was like waiting for the last thread of a rope to snap, and for the appropriate gag object-- a piano or anvil-- to come crashing down and destroy whatever was beneath it. Twilight wasn’t sure who that would be, in this case; herself, or Sunset.
Her mind was racing. She still had notes to copy; but the idea of moving-- nay, breathing-- absolutely terrified her. On top of that, this was all too much to take in. She’d read about the Elements before, but nothing too in-detail-- and certainly not anything even alluding to the existence of any ‘pillars’.
Twilight’s tense frame and overlapping thoughts were given a sense of relief, however, in the form of a short hum from the front of the room. The purple-haired teen raised her head-- slowly-- to take in the Princess, her mouth in a firmly pressed line, with a single hand resting on her hip. Celestia’s eyes were absent of their usual gentle warmness, Twilight noted, and instead had been replaced by a narrowed sense of authority, aimed somewhere at the space behind where she sat.
“We may have covered it in our private lessons, but I’m not sure just how much Miss Sparkle knows, due to her having read and studied on her own personal time.” The tension began melting away; however there was a deep feeling of dread and regret billowing from the girl at the back end of the classroom, and Twilight didn’t need to turn around to know that Sunset had sunken into her seat. Celestia rose her chin slightly before her feathered wings stretched outward, and folded once more against her back. She turned around to face the board, “I’m impressed by your ability to remember such an abundance of information about Star Swirl and his comrades, yet completely forget basic manners when it comes to working with peers,” The Princess let out a sigh.
Twilight gathered the hair from her side-tied ponytail in her hand before twirling it around her finger and playing with her bottom lip between her teeth. “I, uhm,” she spoke out, “I know about the Element’s and the core attributes, but I haven’t ever learned how they were formed.”
It was an attempt at diffusing the situation, but she could already feel the eyes staring into the back of her head, and her throat tightened.
If Sunset wished she could shoot lasers from her eyes before, right now was like a prayer. Her cheeks heated in a warm blush; wringing her hand beneath her desk; unsteady puffs of breath escaping from her nose, her eyes bore into the other girl. With gritted teeth she gripped her quill, the shaft creaking once more under her grip. Her stomach was churning; so much so she might just ask to be excused to the bathroom, but she knew if she left now that would mean that Twilight had won. She wouldn’t allow that.
She was supposed to be the star student-- Celestia’s own golden child; but now she just felt like rusted amber; like the sun was beginning to rise, and her own light now would turn to twilight come dusk.
