If there was one place, above all, that a student was likely to fear, it was the Principal's Office. To be there meant one thing; that you were in trouble. Granted, this fear was less prevalent at CHS, since Principal Celestia had gained such a reputation as being friendly and accommodating to her students. But even so, to be here now, without being told why, was cause for concern for any youngster at that school. Such was the case now, with Sunset and Flash sitting beside one another, quietly awaiting the older woman. In the silence, they looked to one another, hoping that the other might have some inkling as to why they'd have been asked here. But it was for naught, as neither seemed to be any less clueless than the other. But, that waiting came to an end when the door behind them finally opened.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice."

The two turned to see the warm face of Principal Celestia, who promptly closed the door behind her before taking her usual place, at her seat on the opposite side of the desk. For a time, there was yet another awkward silence between them all, during which, Celestia seemed to be studying the two youths before her. Briefly, Sunset could have sworn that her Principal seemed to be struggling with something, as if thinking of the right words to say. But about what, she had no idea.

"Principal Celestia? If I may ask...what is this about?"

Celestia let out a deep sigh after having been asked that, and she clasped her hands together upon the desk, staring at it for a time before looking up and gazing at Sunset straight in the eye.

"Sunset...Flash...I want to say right now that neither of you are in any kind of trouble."

Naturally, words like that caught them off-guard, and they gave one another a quick glance before looking back to their elder, who began to continue.

"However...it has recently come to my attention that there is...something of great importance regarding the two of you that we should perhaps discuss."

And here, at last, realisation began to dawn upon both of their faces. Slowly, they once more cast each other a look, but kept their mouths shut as they did so. Celestia looked from one to the other, analysing them carefully, but nevertheless giving them time to get their thoughts in order. In time, Sunset turned to her again, clearing her throat a little before speaking u in a nervous manner.

"I'm...not sure as to what you're referring to, Principal Celestia."

Celestia raised her eyebrow slightly, responding with a more stern voice than before.

"Oh, I think you do, Sunset. You are probably unaware of this, but...certain rumours have reached my ears recently and...well...I wanted to hear it from you."

That settled it, and Sunset gave her boyfriend a guilty glance, one he returned soon afterwards, before sighing and giving a brief nod of her head.

"If it's what I think you mean, then...yes. The two of us, we...yes, it's true."

Celestia took a moment to take that in, letting out a deep sigh of her own. Almost a full minute of quiet followed this, ending when Celestia reverted to her previous softer tone.

"Look...I understand that this is a delicate topic for all concerned. I understand too that...at the end of the day...you're both young. You have a history and you're comfortable around each other. And that, coupled with your recent rekindling of your relationship, well...it's not hard to see something like this happening."

Slowly, she looked to each of them, never looking on with judgement or disapproval, like they'd feared.

"However...as your Principal, I feel it is my responsibility to make sure that things are okay with you. The fact that this has apparently reached school-level rumours is going to be difficult enough for you. But there are also...other matters to discuss."

At first, Sunset genuinely didn't know what she meant by that. But her confusion was short-lived when Celestia spoke up once more.

"I don't need to remind you of what happened with Miss Derpy, do I?"

Sunsets eyes widened, and she and Flash started weaving their hands in an almost defensive way, with the boy finally speaking up himself in all of this.

"Oh! You don't need to worry about that, Principal Celestia! We were careful about that. Protection and everything."

Celestia looked to him and gave a brief nod.

"I'm glad to hear it. But..."

She glanced over at Sunset again.

"I would hope that, even with all of that...the two of you know to keep such things more...private in future."

A blush formed on Sunset's face, and she nervously scratched the back of her head.

"I...I suppose we might have been a bit too obvious in public."

A smirk crept onto Celestia's face.

"I was young myself once, Miss Shimmer. So believe me, I understand what young love feels like."

But, her smirk then faded, replaced instead by a more serious expression.

"But I trust you understand that, even in a school as accepting as ours, there are certain levels of...restraint we expect our students to adhere to."

Sunset nodded, understanding all over her face.

"We do, Principal Celestia. And I apologise that Flash and I weren't exactly discreet about it. But I promise you, we'll try and hold back a bit while we're here."

Celestia smiled, giving a brief nod.

"That is good to hear. I do not tell you all this to discourage you, Sunset. I know you and Flash are responsible people, and I know what it is to feel that strongly about someone. If the two of you are happy together, then I'm happy for you."

She leaned forward, gently placing her hand upon Sunset's.

"Just...try not to be too obvious about it in future, okay?"

Chuckling slightly, Sunset nodded, as did Flash. The older woman gave them each a nod, followed shortly by her gesturing to the nearby door. The two youths got the message immediately, and gave her a brief nod, getting up and making their way over. They opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, closing the thing behind them. And here, having finally left the office, they let out a simultaneous sigh of relief over the whole matter. Gradually, they looked to one another, sharing a sense of embarrassment over all of this. But, before they had the chance to say anything, they were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. They turned in time to see Rainbow, Applejack and their friends walking up to them, guilt plastered all over their faces.

"Guys?" Sunset asked.

When the girls finally reached them, they looked to one another, as if silently asking each other to be the first to speak. When that silence ended, it was Applejack who did the honours, holding her trademark hat in both hands before speaking in an apologetic tone.

"We're...we're sorry...about letting this stuff slip."

Sunset knew what they meant by that, as did Flash, but neither of them looked to them with anger. Instead, and after giving each other a quick look, they simply smiled, with Sunset responding to her friend's words.

"It's okay, Applejack. Everything's fine."

The farm girl, as well as everyone else for that matter, didn't seem to believe that Sunset or Flash could be so understanding about all of this. But, that was indeed the case, and when they saw nothing but honesty in her expression, they breathed a collective sigh of relief, not dissimilar from the one the two young lovers had given not so long ago. But, when that was done, Sunset suddenly found herself face-to-face with Rarity, who was practically giddy over all of this.

"Well, if that's settled, then let's get down to the business of details!"

Here, Flash slapped his forehead.

"Oh, please don't!"

But Rainbow walked up to him, slapping a hand down on his shoulder, and gave one of her customary cackles.

"Sorry, bud. But ya should have seen this coming."