Sunset slowly opened her eyes, half expecting the…experience with Principal Celestia…her mom…to have been a dream. She was, in fact, back in the guest room at Sweet Apple Acres, and for a brief moment thought that the past many months between stepping in front of a train and stopping Applejack’s magic surge was just a fancy dream. She rolled over, finding the second set of pillows that Celestia had been using, and saw the two sets of overnight bags by the door and breathed a sigh of relief.
She tossed off the covers, standing in the quiet room, just experiencing the world around her. She no longer felt the pressure from the pseudo-Elements. Whatever Celestia had done had worked..but she almost didn’t believe it. She stepped over to the window and parted the curtain enough to see the rising sun on the eastern horizon. She held a hand up and squinted at the bright light in the blue sky. One corner of her mouth turned up in bemusement, “Good morning, princess…” she rasped.
She dropped her hand and lowered her gaze so she was looking at her reflection in the glass, her eyes wide with shock. She lifted a hand to her throat and turned, spinning abruptly to look around the room for a mirror. She spotted one over the dresser on the wall opposite the bed next to the closet door. She saw a girl in her pajamas, rubbing her throat right over her larynx and jaw slightly slack. She slowly approached her reflection, then put both hands on the top of the dresser as though to brace herself and stared her reflection in the eyes, looking for some glimmer of the magic that had kept her locked inside her own skull for so long. She cleared her throat, almost shocked at the noise coming from it. It was the first time in a long time she consciously was able to produce sound.
“My name is Sunset Shimmer,” she told the mirror, “And I choose to speak anything I want!”
Her voice was her own again! She laughed brightly then clapped a hand over her mouth. She was suddenly dizzy. She stumbled back to the bed and landed on her backside with the squeaking of springs.
After a few moments, she realized the room was still quiet, and indeed, so was the house. Where is everyone? she thought to herself. Her emotions surged again, realizing that this time she chose to keep her thoughts to herself rather than having no other option. Filled with the sudden need to find someone else to share her joy, she hastily scrambled into a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, socks, and shoes and left the room.
The whole building was quiet, curiously so. But when she made it to the bottom of the stairs, she caught a glimpse of pastel rainbow hair through the front window. She thought at first it was waving of its own accord, but then saw the weathervane on top of the barn was swaying in the wind as well, and the realization that this wasn’t the princess was somehow more comforting than she would have expected. Slightly subdued still, she made her way to the door. She opened it and saw a surprisingly large gathering of people, including Granny Smith, Zecora, Applebloom, Aunty Luna, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle (accompanied by Flash Sentry), and Fluttershy. There were others, more distant by the small fleet of cars in the drive, but she only really saw one person.
The entire assembly turned at her sudden exit and, almost to the last, shared a smile of pure joy. Pinkie’s nose started twitching (“ooooh, this is gonna be a doozie!” she exclaimed sotto-voce), Flash put his hand on Twilight’s shoulder and squeezed, the princess putting her own hand over his and squeezing back, all without looking away from Sunset.
But when her mom turned and smiled at her, that wonderful smile that she’d come to connect with simple, honest parental love, one with no strings attached, no agenda, and nothing hidden, she couldn’t restrain herself any longer. She leaped across the porch and wrapped her arms around Celestia’s torso and immediately began babbling, “I love you! I love you! I wanted to tell you so bad and then there was that dream and I didn’t know if it was real and this has to be real and I love you…” and she kept on speaking right up until the sobbing choked off her words as tears of joy trailed down her face. She felt Celestia’s arms wrap around her and looked up to see Celestia beaming down at her, tears streaking the older woman’s face as well.
“I love you too, my sweet little ray of sunshine!” she said with a sniffle.
All at once they were surrounded by a massive group hug underscored with Pinkie’s shout of, “SUNSET’S GOT HER VOICE BACK PARTY!” Luna was closest, but surprisingly Twilight came in next, followed by Fluttershy and Rainbow. Pinkie was too busy bouncing around them to fully engage in the hug, and Flash opted to just stand back and smile at the huddle of bodies. Granny Smith gave Celestia’s shoulder a squeeze, winked at the taller woman with a smile, then shuffled over to the nearby rocking chair (somehow spared from the crushing the other two chairs on the patio had undergone) and settled in to watch the celebration.
The affectionate huddle fell apart slowly, the participants still caught up in the euphoria of the moment. Pinkie was, of course, the one to start with the questions to Sunset now that the girl could speak on her own, and Luna knew that she and Celestia would have ample opportunity to talk as long as they wanted when they got home, so she stepped back to allow the others the chance to enjoy themselves. Sunset, of course, was practically glued to Celestia’s side, two arms wrapped around the older woman even as Celestia draped an arm over her daughter’s shoulders, and they looked…happy, content.
The sight filled Luna with a warmth she hadn’t expected, and she felt tears start to fill her eyes. Not wanting to take away from Sunset’s moment, she quietly stepped away from the group, down the porch steps, and out into the yard. She hadn’t even given thought to the pain that she’d carried for decades, knowing how badly she’d hurt her sister. She’d been through therapy, of course, and the antidepressants helped quite a bit, but the weight she’d been carrying at the thought that she’d been the one to snatch away her sister’s hopes for a family before they’d even been fully formed had driven her to nightmares and even a few tequila benders over the years.
Seeing her sister with a daughter, no matter how she came into their lives…seemed to have healed her up a bit. She continued walking away from the scene, listening to the joyful burbling of laughter and conversation and found that the sound made her so happy that she couldn’t contain it. And instead of laughter and merriment, the tears she’d been holding back finally burst from her eyes and down her cheeks. Stifling a sob so she didn’t attract well-meaning attention, she hurried her pace a bit, hoping to keep her movements casual enough that they wouldn’t draw anyone’s attention.
Looking up through the haze of tears, she spotted the barn and realized it would be the perfect place to simply process her emotions in peace. She altered her trajectory and made her way to the smaller access door next to the large vehicle gate and slipped inside.
Stumbling, she made her way over to a hay bale that was set next to a support pillar and sank down onto it, leaning against the wooden strut and crying quietly.
Her mind's eye flashed back to the moment Sunset leapt into Celestia’s embrace and began babbling, and a pained sob burst from her mouth, one mixed with a bemused laugh. The ridiculousness of the seemingly opposite physiological reactions struck her as particularly funny, and even more laughter pushed itself out, bringing with it more sobbing and tears. Is this what the Equestrian magic was supposed to do? she wondered as her heart felt like a fallow field being drenched in the first rain of the season after a particularly dry winter. She felt like she was becoming whole, somehow, just from being on the fringes of the craziness that had landed on their school’s front steps.
The joy outlasted the painful emotions, and she soon was drying her eyes and sniffing quietly. Just as she was about to stand, she happened to glance up at a window on the back door of the barn and saw a brief glimpse of pastel-rainbow hair. Curious, she stood and walked over to the door, and before she could put her hand on the knob she looked out the window and saw Princess Celestia.
She wasn’t surprised to see the princess on the farm, of course. The government entourage had been part of the caravan that came to the farm with Princess Twilight after picking up Granny Smith from the hospital. Luna had opted to drive her own PC JetBlack sedan, and the Secret Service had called to let her know she was going to be the lead car in the caravan to the Apple homestead as she approached the city limits. It was actually more of a surprise to see Flash Sentry stepping out of the government’s car that had transported Princess Twilight than it was to see her sister’s counterpart, who once basic greetings were exchanged opted to remain back with the cars as Sunset’s friends and family went to the farmhouse with Granny Smith.
What was surprising was to see her standing in the shadow of the building, nearly statue still, facing away from the barn a couple dozen feet away from the barn. She seemed to be looking off to the horizon…or perhaps at nothing at all. As Luna watched, the princess’ shoulders began to shiver. Moments later, she wrapped her arms around her torso in a surprisingly human gesture and started slouching in on herself. She turned slightly as she did, and when Luna could see Princess Celestia’s face, her eyes were squeezed shut, tears drenching her cheeks. Unlike Luna’s tears earlier, these were very clearly coming from a source of incredible pain. The pony-turned-woman tilted her head back, her mouth stretched into a silent cry of incredible pain, not the pain of injury, but like her soul was being torn. The princess sank down, remaining on her feet but hunched down into a ball as she sobbed. Through it all, Luna couldn’t hear a single sound from the woman, even accounting for the barn wall being between them.
Luna was startled from her observation when the door she had originally come through opened on the other end of the barn. “VP Luna?” came Rainbow Dash’s voice, “Granny Smith said she saw you come in here…oh, there you are!” the girl trotted around the tractor parked in the middle of the space, “We’re all thinkin’ of gettin’ pizza. Celestia was worried about makin’ a driver come all the way out here, but then I reminded her,” Dash paused for a moment, then she was suddenly gone so fast that all that was left was an afterimage. Then she was suddenly back, grinning like the proverbial cat who caught the canary and holding a notepad in one hand and a pencil in the other, “I got super-speed.” She winked cheekily and put the pencil to the notepad, “So what’d’you want on your pie?”
Luna laughed at the girl’s cocky grin and shook her head, “Anything but mushrooms or anchovies is fine. Tell my sister I’ll be there in a minute, please?”
A few scribbles on the notepad preceded Dash’s, “Roger-dodger!” With a salute, the girl zipped out of the barn.
Luna turned back to the window and put a hand on the doorknob to open it, but realized with a start that the princess was gone.
After politely but firmly ordering the guards assigned by the Equestrian embassy to remain at a post with enough distance to grant them some measure of privacy, Celestia and Sunset approached the factory door. It still hung open, just wide enough to grant egress to a single teenaged girl, and if one looked carefully, they could see the stain of a bloody handprint on the leading edge of the side-rolling door.
Sunset’s steps halted, and Celestia paused as well, reaching a hand back to take her daughter’s. “It’s OK, sweetie. I’m right here with you. You never have to go into this place alone again.”
After a shuddering breath, Sunset resumed walking. The normally challenging door wasn’t nearly as difficult to move as the girl remembered, But then, she thought with a rueful smile, I guess that’s what a mom is for, to make your work easier, even if they can’t do it for you. They both carefully avoided the now long dried blood on the door, then put it out of their minds as they entered the loading bay of the factory.
While it was mid-day, the dirt-caked windows let in only enough light to cast the room in shadow. Standing in a solitary shaft of light that streamed through a hole in the ceiling stood Sunset’s motorcycle, the exploded coolant pipe thrusting up aggressively, the fluids long since dried around the bike on the floor. They approached the motorcycle, almost warily. While the memories of the vehicle catastrophically malfunctioning were second-hand in Celestia’s mind, in Sunset’s they were practically burned in.
I have to do this, she thought to herself, I have to…heh…get back in the saddle, as they say on this side of the portal.
They paused for a moment, just examining the damaged bike. Sunset closed the distance the rest of the way on her own, but still felt her mother’s presence behind her. Tentatively at first, but with sure motions, she reached out and put her hand on the handlebar grip over the throttle. She pondered her feelings as she slid her hand down the grip to the crosspiece, then down the fuel tank until her hand was resting on the seat. Fear…still some fear, but that’s okay. Quietly, as though it were a skittish horse from this side of the portal, she said to the motorcycle, “I was hurt in the past because I used and abused you, and didn’t give any thought to the consequences, but tomorrow can be different because I can choose to leave who I was in the past…and my past is not today.” As she spoke, she knew she was speaking of more than the motorcycle, even if she hadn’t intended to when she walked in.
She heard Celestia step up behind her, the older woman also placing a hand on the bike seat next to Sunset’s. “That was beautiful, Little Sun.” They pondered the bike for a moment before she spoke again, “So does that mean you’ll be fixing it up again?”
Sunset’s tired expression was split by a wan smile, “Yeah…yeah I will. I don’t know if I’ll keep it after I fix it, but I got it this far, pulled it out of where it’d been tossed, barely able to function,” she turned to her mother with a hint of mischief in her grin now, “It’d be a shame if I gave up on it now when it needs more TLC than ever.”
Celestia tussled Sunset’s hair with a smirk, “Okay, okay, I get it.” her daughter giggled and batted away her hands, “It’ll give me grey hairs thinking of you riding that death trap around, but when you put it like that, I can’t exactly say ‘no’ and have you telling me I’m not letting you follow in my footsteps.”
They settled into a companionable silence for a few moments before Sunset turned to the safety shower off to the side of the factory warehouse floor. Sunset once again went ahead of Celestia over to it and squatted down to pick the phone up, but hesitated. After thinking about it for a few breaths, she scooped it up and straightened, handing it to her mother in one smooth motion. “I already have a new one, one I like better anyway…” she said with a slight blush.
Celestia smiled knowingly, then took the phone and stuck it in an empty jacket pocket.
In short order, they made their way up the stairs to the office Sunset had converted into a bedroom. Sunset went in and began collecting the few things that she actually still had an emotional investment in, tossing a handful of dollar store kitchen utensils in the garbage and carefully picking up the camp stove she used to warm her food so as not to spill any of the liquid fuel it still had in it.
As her daughter cleaned, Celestia examined the room, seeing the ‘ghosts’ of different versions of Sunset, different ways the girl would have grown and become her own woman without the malfunctioning of the Elements. Idly, she thought about the Sunset that now lived in the magicless version of their world with Celeste as her adoptive mother. While the poor girl had to pass through the Anonymous incident (as the group called themselves in that universe), there would be no strange magical powers manifesting in the other students, no meddling princesses making their influence felt across time, space, and dimension, just the everyday normal challenges of a girl facing incipient adulthood and her mother, not sure what she’s doing but just doing her best anyway.
She was pulled out of her introspection when Sunset said, “I…I think that’s it.” She blushed, this time in embarrassment, “Can’t…can’t really have a lot of stuff when you’re homeless, y’know…?”
Celestia hugged her daughter’s shoulders in comfort, careful not to jostle anything she was holding, as she scanned the room. “Ah, one thing you missed.” She crossed the room over to the cot that Sunset had been using as a bed, nudging it aside slightly with her knee before reaching down into the gap between the bed and the wall to pull up a power strip. It was connected to an extension cord that led along the wall and up to the only window in the office, which had been shut on the cord to pin it in place. Celestia tugged the power strip out of the outlet, yanked the window open, and they watched the length of cord slip out the window and disappear. Celestia closed the window again and turned to her daughter, “We’ll have the guards collect the cord and unplug it from the restaurant, it might be a fire hazard otherwise.”
Sunset smiled with a nod as they walked out through the office door for the final time.
Time marches on, as it inevitably does when not being fiddled with by multi-dimensional, nigh-omnipotent beings, and the following Monday arrived just as it always had. Celestia and Luna had stayed up with Sunset far too late in the night after the factory trip just talking about everything that Sunset had wanted to say for months but had been unable to do so.
By the time Monday morning rolled around, they were all tired, both in the physical fatigue sense and just simply tired of Equestrian magic. If it wasn’t a story from Sunset about her youth, neither of the sisters wanted to hear anything about it. With Luna driving her own car to work, Celestia had tried having the radio playing during her and Sunset’s commute, but when every radio station seemed to be stuck on news of the political situation with Equestria, she switched it over to AUX so Sunset could plug in her phone and play her music…which now had a smattering selection of ABBA.
They were rather pleased to see waiting for them at the door all five of the girls that the first two Equestrians through the gate had befriended. Rarity was on crutches and wearing a cast, and Applejack was carrying her bags. The Apple siblings had been released Saturday after only a couple of hours, and while Mac had gone home soon after, Applejack had remained by her girlfriend and even gone home with her to help her carry her things. The farm girl apparently had to pretty much be ordered to go home by the fashionista and get some rest in her own bed, only to have Applejack show up again the next morning, bright and early with some apple pastries and an omelet, kept warm by one of Granny’s old quilts wrapped around the plastic food box.
After a warm greeting, they were met by Flash, who told them that after the group saw Sunset, Celestia, and Luna off, Twilight had to leave with Princess Celestia to handle some affairs of state that she didn’t elaborate on. Flash and Sunset hugged briefly, the girl thanking him profusely for being one of the bright spots in the last few years, and he was sent off to class with a bashful blush on his face. Sunset entered the school, and as the doors opened they were nearly blown off their feet by a very loud, very unexpected, “WELCOME BACK, SUNSET!” that Pinkie had apparently arranged sometime between Sunday morning and that moment. Celestia saw what Sunset probably missed, that several students were much less enthusiastic than others in their welcome and seemed to be there just to see if Sunset really was able to talk and if she’d be immediately back to her old ways. Much to Celestia’s relief, as she watched her daughter with the other students, the majority of them seemed to smile in relief that the “old” Sunset wasn’t going to be making a return appearance.
She “suffered” a few accolades from the faculty on her way to her office, some of whom included their new “alphabet” agents from both sides of the portal. For every teacher, assistant, or agent that congratulated her for her recent success over the weekend, she brushed it off, reminded everyone she was just a principal and it was all due to everyone’s help, and none of it would have been possible without Sunset, Twilight, their friends, and the other Equestrians.
It was a complete surprise to her that Counselman Neighsay was waiting for her in her office, holding a stack of hard drives in one hand and a folio full of files in the other.
“Counselman,” she began without preamble, “What brings you to my office today?”
He gave her a wry smile and put the stack of drives on her desk and the folio of files in the visitor’s chair. She noticed that he didn’t sit down. “Well, Celestia, I must say you have managed to enroll exactly the support you needed to never worry about the school district board again. I’d offer you a, ‘well played,’ but I suspect that, given you were otherwise occupied while the final machinations were put in place, you had little to do with it.”
Celestia was now very confused, “What are you talking about, Neighsay? You obviously know I was very busy this weekend, so you probably can guess I’m not in the mood for political games.”
This statement caused Neighsay’s smile to become a smirk. “You might have wanted to let your Equestrian associates know that about a month ago.” She cocked her head slightly, unable to mask her confusion, “Oh, yes, when one reviews what treaties were being signed, what arrangements were being made for funding, and the contracts that were being drafted, it becomes obvious only in hindsight. Quite brilliant, really.” He checked his watch and pulled out his phone from his jacket pocket.
“Counselman, what…?” He interrupted her with a raised index finger as he tapped his access code and then opened an app. The sound met Celestia’s ears before Neighsay could get his phone flipped around to see the familiar press room that anyone watching C-SPAN to keep up with announcements from the Executive branch of the Federal government (and not a few Applewood movies) would find familiar.
“...happy to announce that we’ve concluded the first formal negotiations with Equestria and have made arrangements for the land the portal resides on, as well as the school that enabled the alliance of our two governments by presenting such a positive foot, er…hoof forward,” the president winked at the woman standing at a neighboring podium that had been set up next to her usual podium and was met with a burst of gentle laughter from the other speaker as well as the members of the press core, “When our first truly alien visitors to this world came seeking nothing but a lost national treasure but received the same elements of Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, and Joy that they hold so dear in their own culture. By granting Canterlot High School the status of ‘micronation,’ and shifting the funding duties to both our respective governments, we’re ensuring that both our peoples will experience an equal exchange of culture, knowledge, and friendship.”
So saying, she turned to her dark skinned companion and extended her hand. Princess Luna took the proffered hand, shook it, then offered the knuckles of her enclosed fist. The president grinned broadly and “hoof bumped” the princess, who bowed slightly and turned to the microphone.
“‘tis indeed a grand time for both our nations. The last time mine sister and I ventured through a similar portal in hopes of establishing a positive relationship, the very forces of fate seemed to conspire against us to produce a tragic result. While a seemingly small personal tragedy caused the first contact between our worlds through one of our own wayward ponies, that very pony and her friends were what secured the future for all of us. It is with great pleasure that I am here to jointly announce with your president the confirmation that we accept our cross-dimensional sisters of Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna the fiat rulers of the micronation at the border portal. These able administrators, who faced their first true challenge of powerful magic wielded by students without experience, support, or even the knowledge of their superiors, nonetheless administered wisely, attending to the needs of their charges and teaching with the love of their students in their hearts.”
Celestia by this point had sunk into her chair, gobsmacked. She hadn’t even realized she was holding Neighsay’s phone until the stream paused to buffer. She blinked, looking up at the Counselman, and extended his device back to him.
“I see that you were as unaware of the full facts of the situation as I was when I was informed I needed to bring you all district files on your students and the entire batch of personnel records for all the staff employed here, down to the last janitor.” He indicated the hard drives, “It was a bit of a rush job, but that should be everything if my normally efficient staff met their usual standards with this work. Contained in the folio,” he lifted the mentioned case off the chair and set it on the desk next to Celestia’s computer, “Are the blueprints, invoices, warranties, and all other material regarding the school grounds, including all contracts with utility companies, suppliers, and vendors the district used for CHS.”
He straightened his tie, re-buttoned his suit jacket, and nodded his head at Celestia, “I would extend a ‘good day’ to you, but I suspect you haven’t yet decided if you want to be addressed as ‘Principal,’” he paused for effect, “Or, ‘your highness.’” With his smirk still firmly on his face, he left the office.
Celestia realized she couldn’t feel her fingertips, a sure sign of stress-induced shock. It was a good 30 seconds after the Counselman (whom she now realized she outranked by a significant measure) left the office before she could formulate any words.
“...what have they done?!” she gasped.
The news ripped through the school like wildfire. Recognizing a lost cause when they saw it (and wanting answers themselves), the teachers either let the students just mingle and, eventually, wander the halls looking for friends to swap rumors and news as it came in. Approximately half the staff were in the administration office, trying to break down the door. “Trying,” being the operative word, as Raven held them at bay with a stern glare and repeated admonishments that Celestia would be calling an assembly when there was solid information to pass along to the rest of the school.
In Celestia’s office, the principal was seated behind her desk, nervously sipping a cup of tea. “I just wanted some help with Sunset’s magical situation…” she kept repeating to herself.
Luna was seated to Celestia’s right, her cell phone shut off and lying on the desk in front of her. Completely off, as she had begun receiving some very insistent calls from parents who had her phone number, all clamoring for more information than the TV and Internet news was providing. She was hunched forward, elbows on her knees, temples pressed between her fingertips as she massaged her sinuses, trying to stave off the headache she felt forming.
The only person in the room not in the middle of a stress response stood at the window, smirking slightly. He made sure to do so while looking away from the two women; he was brave, not stupid. Prince Shining Armor had been the focus of a Changeling invasion; a bunch of educators and parents panicking over news that would be old in 24 hours’ time was nothing in comparison.
“To answer your question,” he began, “It’s largely due to the relative explosion of magical abilities among your students. To be frank, they need instruction that you simply don’t have on this side of the portal. And of course, Equestria couldn’t commit any sort of funding and staff without ensuring the proper disposition of that money and personnel, so the guards had to come with it. Enough guards that it would have been a political nightmare without equal representation from your…former government.” He turned to face them, giving a nod as they each met his eyes. “Of course, an independent nation, no matter how small, needs a central governing authority, and, well, you two are already here. Plus, it helped that all four princesses from Equestria and her protectorates endorsed you.”
Luna straightened a little, letting her hands fall, “Four?”
“Ah, you haven’t met my wife yet…”
“...Cadence…Princess Cadence.” Interrupted Celestia. She finally settled her tea on the cup’s saucer. “I only know her from Sunset’s memories of Hearth’s Warming,” and a little trip I think I’ll keep from certain other national leaders, she thought to herself, they don’t seem to know about it yet, “If she’s anything like Dean Cadence I’m sure she’s lovely.” Celestia took a deep breath to center herself and turned back to Prince Armor. “So we’re…what, queens now?”
He chuckled, “Well, that’s kinda up to you two, I think. The articles of diarchy are more written in pencil than hard rules at the moment. I suggest you think it over for the time being…but you might want to avoid ‘queen,’ Equestria doesn’t have a good history with rulers that carry that title.” he suppressed a shiver before continuing. “In the meantime, the princesses have proposed a study group to investigate the nature of this world’s magical field. We don’t want another issue like what happened with Sunset Shimmer, after all. Twily…er, that is, Princess Twilight pretty much jumped at the chance; not only does continuing positive relations with this world fall under her purview of Princess of Friendship, she’s practically vibrating with excitement at the idea of studying a whole new magical field. The other princesses suggested that each ruling body select at least one person to represent that government on this research team. Agent Armor is on his way with their representative, that just leaves your representative to be nominated.”
Celestia and Luna glanced at each other and nodded. The previous night’s conversation held many topics, one of which was Sunset trying to…’simplify’ the magical theory that she had understood like the back of her hand, or hoof, for years. Celestia finally suggested that they see if they could arrange a chance for Sunset to meet with the ponies that had been studying her condition to propose that very thing, though not in quite so developed a form as what Shining Armor had just proposed.
Without hesitation, Celestia pulled the old mic over to the center of her desk and pushed the page button, “Sunset Shimmer, please report to the principal’s office.”
Shining raised an eyebrow as Celestia released the button. She smiled up at him and picked her teacup up again and leaned back, far more relaxed now than she had been minutes earlier, “Sunset is capable of metaphorically running intellectual rings around everyone who actually lives on this side of the portal when it comes to magic, so it only makes sense. Plus it also makes sense for her to run this project since she has the most experience in both magic fields compared to the others on the team.”
The former captain smiled at her, a gleam of friendly challenge in his eye, “Oh, I don’t know, I think my sister is pretty much a shoo-in for project leader. She’s already a princess, after all…”
Further conjecture was interrupted as they heard a raised voice cutting through the conversation from the office outside Celestia’s door. “What are you all doing standing around here harassing Raven?! Your students are running around the halls without supervision, get back to work! I was the bullying terror of two worlds before, don’t make me use those skills for good!” Celestia snickered at the cantankerous voice and Luna just grinned, shark-like, at the Equestrian in the room. “That’s more like it,” continued the tirade, “You’re grown adults and teachers, for Celestia’s sake, start acting like it!”
“That,” said Luna, “Is the force of nature that your sister would be contending for the leadership position with. Were we to place a friendly wager, I’d bet on Sunset.” Shining merely chuckled in response with a shake of his head.
The door was opened by Raven who was holding it ajar while smiling at Sunset Shimmer, “Honestly,” said the girl, “If they come back, you have my mom page me again, Raven. You’re too important to the school for them to distract you like that.”
“Oh, I think you managed to put the fear of Faust in them, my dear,” said Raven with a wink, “I should be able to manage it from here…princess.”
Sunset froze in place, jaw suddenly slack as Raven snickered and closed the door. “...I’m…I’m a…” she blinked a few times, as though to banish the surprise by batting it with her eyelids. She managed to focus on Celestia, “Because you’re…that means I’m…”
Celestia watched the emotions play out on her daughter’s face with mild amusement. The prophecy of being a princess had turned into daily torture for the girl, but at the same time, it had been her highest life’s goal since long before Princess Celestia had shown her the mirror. Poor Sunset, though Celestia as she watched the former pony gather her wits about her, Finally gave up on what she thought was an impossible dream only to have it handed to her by the whims of fate…or was it planned…? Honestly, given how inscrutable her pony princess counterpart was most of the time, it was entirely possible the mare had discovered the adoption and started making plans from that moment. And if she’s anything like me, thought the principal, She’ll never, ever show her hoof in the matter even if…especially if it’s true.
Sunset closed her eyes, took a calming breath, and reopened her eyes to briefly look Shining Armor up and down. “Armor,” she said curtly, “‘Captain’ now, is it?”
“Not captain anymore, Miss Shimmer,” he replied with a grin, “Not since marrying Cadence.” He tapped at the captain’s pips on his dress uniform’s neckline granted by the portal. They were similar enough to the Equestrian pips that anyone familiar with the rank insignia would have recognized it instantly, as Sunset had. “It’s Captain Emeritus if I’m ever performing in a military capacity, but as a head of state it’s just Prince.”
Sunset gave that some thought then nodded with a smile, “Well then, congratulations, Prince Armor, when was the wedding?”
Luna decided to stand, with two people in the office not using the chairs she was beginning to feel awkward…and short, something she got enough of at home with her sister. “I take it you two know each other from before Sunset came through the mirror?”
Shining was nodding and Sunset was about to open her mouth to reply when a knock sounded at the door. Celestia finished her sip of tea and spoke, “Yes, Raven?”
The door opened a crack and the secretary poked her head in, “Agent Armor and a…guest are here to see you.” Celestia knew her secretary well enough that she could easily see the other woman was holding back a case of the giggles.
She pushed aside the mild irritation that always accompanied the amusement at her secretary's pixyish sense of humor and said, “Send them in, please.”
Raven opened the door the rest of the way and Agent Shining Armor stepped through. The sisters were at first confused, but then realized that there was a pair of legs behind Agent Armor’s; that and the amused grin on his face let the pair know that someone significantly smaller than the agent was hiding behind him. “Principals, Prince,” he greeted them with a nod, “And Sunset, good to meet you in such a way that you can finally respond,” so saying he extended a hand to shake. Sunset grasped his hand and glanced around him, smirking at the brief glimpse of a pair of glasses that ducked behind him as she tried to take in more details. He chuckled, “You’ll…have to forgive her, she’s a bit shy around new people.”
Celestia was grinning widely. She had recognized the two-toned hair and horn-rim glasses and what little she could see of the shoes, leggings, and skirt of the girl hiding behind Agent Armor. “I presume this is your nomination for the study group?”
Grinning proudly, the agent nodded, “Not only is she the smartest person I personally know, she’s recently been published as an expert on the magical field.”
“Shiny!” came a stern whine, “I’m not an expert, I just reported my findings and pointed out how they coincided with the openings of the portal, that doesn’t mean…”
Sunset’s eyebrows rocketed up her forehead in surprise at the sound of the girl’s voice and Luna chuckled. Agent Armor stepped aside, “Sis, you’ve been nominated for a Good Character prize, you know, the single highest honor in all fields of science, I think you kinda get the title of ‘expert’ with the nomination alone.”
Twilight Sparkle stood exposed and blushing, “Yes, well, I’m sure they’ll realize they made a mistake. I mean, I’m only 17, that can’t possibly be old enough for a Good Character prize…” The teen trailed off as she saw the man standing next to the desk wearing a military uniform…and her brother’s face. “Oh…oh my goodness, it’s true!” she turned to her brother and started babbling, “I thought you were just playing a prank on me! Do you know how small the chances are even when taking into account parallel realities? What this suggests for quantum mirroring is pretty big, but testing could be catastrophic if two different versions of the same person canceled each other out…”
Sunset snorted in amusement, “Mom had a fistfight with her counterpart within five minutes of meeting each other, I think we’re safe on that count, Sparky.”
Just then the door burst open again, “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry I’m late!” exclaimed Princess Twilight, stumbling in as she tugged her skirt and shirt straight, “Cadence thought it’d be a good idea to use our simultaneous visits to Canterlot to spend some sisterly time together and then Discord decided to crash the party and we wound up doing this horrible, unplanned deep dive into the caverns beneath the Canterhorn where we met this race of ponies I’d never heard of before and Discord insulted them by calling them ‘mole-ponies’ and for a little bit they kept trying to make me their queen and it was the strangest thing that’s ever happened to me…” finally, the purple princess looked up to see her doppelganger staring at her slack-jawed. Her arms fell to her side as her own mouth hinged open slightly. She mustered enough wherewithal to falter out with a weak chuckle, “...make that the second strangest…”