Sunset Eclipsed

by EldritchNexus

Misunderstandings and Consequences

On the human side of the portal, Sgt. Craw and Cpl. Ghost were still in Sunset Shimmer's apartment. They waited until noon, and then decided she wasn't coming home. Craw activated his portable radio communicator, and sent a call to Supreme Commander Chrysalis' private channel.

"Supreme Commander Chrysalis, this is Sergeant Craw!" he spoke. "We've lost out trail on Sunset Shimmer."

A sultry voice spoke back to him.

"Well, that is certainly unfortunate." said the voice of the Supreme Commander. "Have you managed to acquire any noteworthy intel regarding her status?"

"We have, ma'am." Craw said. "Last night, we saw her outside of Canterlot High. Corporal Ghost was able to subdue Sunset Shimmer for a while, but then he was compromised by the local police, and she disappeared before I could reach them."

"I see." Chrysalis said.

"But Ghost and I are currently staking out her apartment." Sgt. Craw said. "We've found several books and scrolls that appear to be artifacts from her world. We will send them to your archivists, to see if they will fit alongside the ones our Syndicate's already collected."

"Very good, Sergeant." said Chrysalis. "And Captain Umbriel wants to know whether or not that Changeling combat armor has proven itself efficient."

"It certainly has, ma'am." Craw answered. "Speaking of which, I would like to make a request to begin deploying troops into town. I suspect that catching Sunset Shimmer will be much harder than necessary."

"I sympathize with you, sergeant." Chrysalis told him. "But it is Captain Umbriel's word that decides when the Syndicate sends its soldiers into a heavily-populated area."

"But don't you outrank him, commander?" asked the confused sergeant.

"Why, of course I do." she replied, coolly. "But I admit that I am inexperienced with sending out troops in numbers as large as what you suggest. I prefer to consult Umbriel before initiating any Syndicate operation that extends beyond reconnaissance or black ops."

"And why hasn't the captain considered this yet?" Craw asked. "We've already been on this assignment for a month, ma'am. Surely, he'd want to take a more direct approach for a change?"

"His tolerance is thin, but it's still there." said Chrysalis. "He still wants our agents to try convincing Principal Celestia one last time to surrender the pony-girl to us."

"Commander, I seriously doubt that he will be able to just convince her, just like that." Craw argued. "I know that woman. She may have a soft exterior, but she can be hard as nails when it comes to the safety of her students, regardless of who or what they are."

"You have a very good point." Supreme Commander Chrysalis said, softly. "If Umbriel's strategy fails this time, you have my permission to 'convince' Mayor Eve to give our organization a special permit to deploy soldiers at Canterlot High School."

"Why do we need a permit from the city's mayor?" Craw asked, seriously confused. "We don't even answer to the government!"

"Because if Umbriel's men arrive at that school without any permits, the Syndicate may have to fight the local police force, which could draw unwanted attention of the military variety. They may declare martial law and cost us our foothold in that town, which has been over a month in the making. But if Mayor Eve was persuaded to look the other way, then the police can't legally deny us the forces we will need to secure the school. If we secure the school, then Sunset Shimmer won't be able to hide from us any longer."

"But are you still sure that we couldn't just draw her out with a few surgical strikes, here and there?" Craw asked. "I mean, we've staged coups in cities bigger than this one, and won their people over with little effort."

"Those cities were run by corrupt and decadent officials, sergeant." the Supreme Commander replied. "Officials that ran their cities' morale into the ground. They were begging to be cast down in shame. This town, on the other hand, is small, peaceful, and relatively fragile. To bring it down to its knees would trigger a massive outcry across the country, and we would be chased out of here. And remember, dear, that we have only two targets in this town, and we may lose them both if we go overboard with our planning."

"Two, did you say?" asked Craw. "I was aware only of Sunset Shimmer."

"You are not mistaken." Chrysalis told him. "One of the previous calls Umbriel's agents made to Principal Celestia yielded a very interesting subject: a portal of some kind, to another world."

Sgt. Craw's eyes widened with surprise. So that portal did exist, after all. At least he now had an idea of how Sunset Shimmer first came to the human world.

"I understand, ma'am." he said. "Thank you for clarifying this. This is Sergeant Craw, signing out."

Craw deactivated the radio. He turned to Ghost.

"So, are we getting those reinforcements, Sarge?" the corporal asked.

"Only time will tell, Ghost." Sergeant Craw told him.

Later that evening, the streets were quiet. Not even the police were on patrol. In her living room, Principal Celestia was arguing angrily with someone on her mobile phone.

"You are trying my patience, principal." said an eerie voice on the phone. "What happened to Sunset Shimmer?"

"I don't know anymore about her disappearance than anyone else in the entire town." said Principal Celestia. "I...swear."

"You better swear that you aren't lying." said the voice. "I'm giving you one chance, and only one, to prove you aren't all pathetic vermin before I deliver unto your school an unparalleled malice that has not been seen in this part of your world for a very long time."

"My world?" asked Celestia. "What are you talking about?"

Then the caller disconnected.

---

Vice Principal Luna was sleeping in her bedroom, and was having a relatively mundane dream. Until, that is, she saw something she hadn't come to her mind since she was a little girl: A large unicorn with wings. It was a beautiful sight to behold, with a sleek dark coat, bright green eyes, and an aetherial mane that glittered like a starlit sky. What really caught the vice principal's attention was the crown on its head. But none of this could prepare her for when it spoke to her...with her own voice.

"You are Luna, the Vice Principal of Canterlot High School, are you not?" the winged unicorn asked.

"Yes, I am." the human woman answered, confused by her dream. "What do I have to do with..."

"Thou must listen to me." replied the equestrian creature. "I am thine counterpart, Princess Luna of Equestria."

The vice principal remembered how the one-time student at her school, Twilight Sparkle, was revealed to be a pony princess from a world that paralleled the humans'.

"So, I'm a princess, too?" Vice Principal Luna asked Princess Luna, half-smiling.

"In Equestria, we are." the princess answered. "As is Celestia."

"Very interesting." said the vice principal. "What can I do for my...pony self?"

She tried not to break out in laughter at what she said. But she didn't need to, since Princess Luna began asking her human counterpart questions.

"Vice Principal, is it true that Sunset Shimmer was treated poorly at your school since Twilight Sparkle left?" the princess asked.

"Oh, you mean the girl that tried turning my and Principal Celestia's students into a brainwashed dimension-invading army?"

"Yes, We have heard about that." nodded the princess. "She told us about what happened. I would like you to elaborate on the circumstances."

"Well, I don't understand why it's your business..." the vice principal said. "But if you really need to know, the school faculty did everything they could to keep Sunset Shimmer safe from..."

"From what?" asked the princess. "From the other students?"

"Not necessarily." answered the vice principal. "But strange people have been looking for her all month."

"Did they mean her harm?" the princess asked.

"I'm not sure. I overheard Principal Celestia talking to someone a while ago on the phone. And I've been hearing a lot of names...the Gryphons, the Ram King, the Chrysalis Syndicate..."

"I see." the princess nodded. "What about the accusations of your principal sending people to spy on Sunset?"

"After she came back to school, Principal Celestia and I decided to have our police watch Sunset Shimmer, to make sure that the syndicate or these other people didn't come after her again."

"I see." Princess Luna smiled. "I am grateful that you were able to explain this to me. Now I can understand why Sunset Shimmer went back to Equestria."

"So, that's where she is?" Vice Principal Luna said, relieved. "I thought she tried skipping town."

"Farewell, Vice Principal...Me." the alicorn princess said. "Thank you for your time."

"Bye." said the vice principal. "But in the future, if we ever meet again, could we just call each other Luna? I don't see why we should be so formal with each other!"

"Agreed." nodded the princess. "Good-bye, Luna."

The vice principal woke up suddenly, and scratched her long blue hair. She thought about her conversation with her counterpart, and decided that she would tell Principal Celestia about what she learned, first thing in the morning.

Comments

[Pinklestia]

So this explain how they know she is a pony.

[Starlight Nova]

Will the Equestria Girls counterpart of Nightmare Moon appear or be mentioned in this story?

[Starlight Nova]

Will the Equestria Girls counterpart of Nightmare Moon appear or be mentioned in this story?

[Oubliette]

Vice Principal Me. WTH?????????????????????????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Emperor]

Sunset Shimmer smelled like a pony even as a human? Damn, that must have been really awkward to explain if she ever talked to anybody right after showering

I wonder if Princess Luna knows of Queen Chrysalis' actual name, since it was never actually namedropped during Canterlot Wedding. If she does though, it's a reasonable inference to make that Chrysalis' counterpart runs this Syndicate. Just...Veep Luna should make sure their house doesn't have any bugs before talking to her sister.