The walk to the Principal's office was, understandably, a difficult one. Not only were Sunset and her friends full of worry over the newly-realised scope of their problem, but everywhere they turned, they could see signs of it. Girls passing them by giving Flash a few winks and a smile, far more so than usual, and beyond that, a great deal of amorous behaviour with other boys in the hallway. In all the time the girls had been here, not once had they ever remembered Canterlot High being this full of hormonal behaviour. So great was their concern that they upped their pace every few minutes, until they were only a short distance away from their destination. In the midst of it all, Pinkie broke the silence.

"Well...at least everybody's being friendly to each other...right?"

Looking over her shoulder, Sunset gave her friend a disapproving frown, causing the party girl to quietly twiddle her thumbs and look away. Looking ahead again, Sunset let out a sigh.

"We have to get this problem under wraps, and soon."

Turning, Applejack regarded her carefully as she walked alongside her.

"Say, Sunset? Is this problem ever this big over in Equestria?"

To that, Sunset shook her head.

"No. We learned long ago how to deal with it. Magic, potions, you name it. Heat has been under control for centuries back home."

Hearing that, Applejack nodded.

"Well...here's hopin we can get the same over here. Ah don't think any of us here at CHS wanna end up bein mothers right now."

There was a general murmur of agreement amongst the group, even amongst the Siren, who had been quietly accompanying them. All, that is, except for Adagio, who looked away briefly as she spoke under her breath.

"Indeed. Once was enough."

Sunset slowed down for a moment, looking over her shoulder and swearing that she could have heard Adagio say something. But, while the look on her face made it clear that she'd at least heard her, she soon shook herself out of it, convinced that she must have been imagining it. In any case, she hadn't the time to really say anything, for it was now Rainbow's turn to speak up, looking to Flash as she did so.

"If nothing else, at least we can take solace that you aren't going through this. You and the rest of the guys that is."

Looking to her, Flash offered Rainbow a smile and a nod, very much agreeing with that sentiment. However, as they continued to walk together, he regained that same thoughtful look he'd bore some time ago, and slowly, he turned to Sunset. The latter knew just from looking at him what was on his mind, and her suspicions were soon confirmed when he finally spoke up to her.

"Erm...Sunset? I'm...I'm not going to be going through this, am I?"

Sunset looked away, seeming somewhat concerned about something, and that look was all the explanation Flash needed, as he looked ahead and slapped a hand on his forehead in frustration.

"Ugh! I should have known!"

Turning back to him, Sunset spoke in as calm and reassuring a manner as possible.

"It's called rut. Sort of like a stallion's version of heat. But, if memory serves, you won't be going through it until later on in the year."

To that, Flash turned back to her with a look of confusion.

"Wait...so mares and stallions both get this intense annual need to mate...but not at the same time?"

Letting out a sigh, Sunset shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, I know. It never made much sense to me either."

Flash looked ahead of her, his face one of exasperation.

"Well...that's something to look forward to, I guess."

Sunset knew that there was little she could say to really comfort him, or indeed any of her friends at this point, and so, she remained silent, instead looking ahead down the hallway. The only positive thing for any of them came when they made the next corner, and found, there ahead of them, was the door of the Principal's office. They braced themselves, knowing that this was probably going to be an uncomfortable meeting. Sunset went first, taking a long and calming breath before reaching out for the knob of the door. Turning it, she opened it and entered, with her friends close behind her. Principal Celestia was there, as expected, looking over a few documents at her desk. Needless to say, she was somewhat surprised to find such a large group of students entering her office all at once, but, to her credit, she waited until they were all inside, with the door closed behind them, before finally addressing them.

"Miss Shimmer. To what do I owe this visit?"

Sunset looked to her friends, all of whom gave her encouraging looks, before letting out a sigh and turning to the Principal.

"Principal Celestia...I'm afraid...we may have a bit of a school-wide problem on our hands."

Hearing that, Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? This problem wouldn't happen to be of a magical nature, would it?"

Sunset nodded, looking somewhat embarrassed as she continued speaking.

"It is. I have strong reason to believe that, as a result of frequent exposure to Equestrian magic, the student population of this school..."

She paused for a moment, looking Celestia in the eye before she carried on.

"...and perhaps even some of the faculty...may now be going through the mating cycle of Equestrian ponies. Commonly known as heat.

To say that Celestia looked taken aback by this would have been a great understatement. But, after the initial shock of the statement had sunk in, the Principal leaned back into her chair, putting her hand to her chin and appearing deep in thought for a few moments, Sunset and the other youths waited patiently for the older woman to finally say something, and when she did, she did so without any mockery or sense of disbelief in her words.

"Very well...how do we deal with it?"

To that, Sunset took on a look of shock herself.

"You...you believe me? Just like that?"

A sly smile crept onto Celestia's face as she answered.

"Sunset...if there's one thing I've learned during the last couple of years here, it's that you are unquestionably our authority on strange occurrences like this. If you say that this is what is happening, then I believe you."

It took a while, but eventually, Sunset let out a deep exhale, clearly relieved by having heard that. However, mere moments later, Celestia looked away, scratching the side of her cheek in a slightly nervous manner.

"Of course...this would explain why Superintendent Sombra struck me as more...handsome than he usually does during his inspection earlier today."

As one would expect, such a remark prompted a slew of blushes or stifled giggles amongst the gathered students. Turning back to them, the Principal cleared her throat before addressing Sunset once more.

"So then. What is your recommendation?"

With the fear of not being believed now far from her, Sunset leaned forward before speaking up in a more confident manner.

"I've already sent word to Princess Twilight, and with luck, she'll be able to send over something that will help. But, before it gets here, the best course of action would be to separate the male and female students before things get out of hand."

Celestia nodded to that.

"Understood."

Turning, she reached over and grabbed hold of a microphone, which Sunset knew to be the means by which messages could be sent around the whole school.

"Now then...how best to word this so as to not create panic?" Celestia asked herself.

Sunset opened her mouth to speak, ready to offer some suggestion, only to stop at the sound of a door opening behind her. Turning, she saw that it was none other than Vice-Principal Luna. Like Celestia, she too was surprised to see so many of her students gathered here, but, after laying eyes on Sunset, she focused her attention on her. And it was here that Sunset noted that the blue-haired woman was carrying what appeared to be a large wooden box in her hand, with a note stapled to the side of it, bearing the words "to Sunset Shimmer". Raising an eyebrow, Sunset looked back up to Luna, who chose now to speak to the girl.

"I was walking past the remains of our old statue outside, when suddenly, this thing came spiralling out of it. I looked it over, saw your name on it, so I figured I'd bring it over."

Breaking out into a wide smile, Sunset leapt out of her chair, reaching forward and graciously accepting the box from Luna.

"This is it! It has to be!"

Carefully, she placed the box on the Principal's desk, and many of her friends began to gather around it. Before opening it, however, Sunset plucked off the note on the side, opening it up and starting to read. Her friends watched as her eyes strayed from left to right, before, at last, she broke into yet another smile.

"Finally! Twilight got my message! She gathered as much of the herbs and plants as she could and sent them over!"

Placing a hand upon her hip, Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

"Wait...she didn't come herself?"

Looking to her, Sunset shook her head.

"Afraid not. She had some important business in Equestria to take care of right now. Some visiting dignitaries or something."

Looking back to the box, Sunset took on a look of determination, reaching forward and giving the lid an almighty yank, revealing the contents. Sure enough, the box was filled to the brim with all manner of bizarre and exotic-looking plant leaves and herbs, all of which caused Sunset to continue to smile. In the end, she let out a sigh of relief.

"I was worried we wouldn't have enough. But now, it looks like we do!"

Looking to her, Celestia spoke up again.

"Will this be enough for all of the students being affected?"

Sunset offered her a brief nod before giving her answer.

"I think so."

A thought came to her, and soon, she looked to Celestia in earnest.

"Send the message. The girls of the school all need to gather in the cafeteria as soon as possible."

Turning, Sunset then looked to the rest of her friends, her face brimming with confidence.

"This is it, guys. We're gonna beat this thing!"