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The Issue of Multiple Sunsets

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Chapter 43: Monday frustrations

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On Monday morning, school still opened and went on as normal. The events of the weekend -- even the ones that happened in the very parking lot -- were not considered a sufficient reason to cancel classes for the day. There was damage to the parking lot, the sidewalk, and parts of the grass around it, but none of it was enough to be of any danger.

Not everyone showed up for the day, however. Principal Celestia had decided not to come in. Not that Vice-Principal Luna could really blame her. Her sister had always wanted to be a mother, and even if it had only been a day and a half, she had developed an emotional attachment to the child Sunset Shimmer pretty quickly. Having the girl leave was kind of hard, made all the worse by the fact that it was very sudden and Celestia did not have time to brace herself or even say good-bye.

Luna had actually checked on Celestia that morning, finding her asleep in front of her laptop, with an adoption site pulled up on her web browser.

So she had sent her older sister to bed to get some proper sleep, and would be taking care of school matters all on her own for the day. With the events of the weekend, it would be a few days, if not weeks, until another magical event affected the school somehow or other. There were not a lot in the way of meetings, and the few that were could be re-scheduled. Although, she was the vice-principal, few of the students or faculty members were as willing to come to her as they were with Celestia, so it was less likely they would, only doing so if they felt it could not wait until Celestia's return. As such, she only had to worry about the typical paperwork, and maybe a few matters here and there.

It also meant that she could not institute some of the changes she wished that Celestia often rejected as Principal, although it was tempting. How long would it take until they were noticed?

A knock drew her attention from her paperwork, looking up to find a familiar white skinned woman with dark brown hair standing in the doorway.

"Yes, Ms. Inkwell?" she asked, putting her pen down.

Their secretary, Raven Inkwell, cleared her throat.

"Superintendent Neighsay is here to speak with you."

Vice-Principal Luna's jaw clenched as she bit back the profanities that came to mind. Of all the times for that arrogant, pompous, sanctimonious, snobby, blow-hard to show up, he of course just had to choose a day after an "incident" where Celestia was unavailable to show up! Even on her best days, Celestia struggled to keep her composure while dealing with him. For her part, Luna either stood with her sister in silent support, or out and out avoided the man altogether.

Alas, neither were options for today. With the Principal out, it was up to the vice-principal to deal with shit like this.

"Please send him in," Luna stated, sitting up straight and putting on her most professional face.

Raven gave a nod and stepped aside. She was quickly replaced by a man whose gauntness made him seem taller, and -- with how white his skin was -- very skeletal. The black hair and goatee made it apparent there was at least enough skin for there to be hair. His beady eyes made it hard to say what color they were, especially when narrowed as they always tended to be. Similarly, his lips were pressed so thin, they were non-existent.

Luna quickly reminded herself of two things. The first was to not think about the fact that the superintendent's suit was likely so expensive, the money from it could have done quite a lot for the school district in general, and Canterlot High specifically. The second was to not ask about how his family was doing: reminding him of his wife's dismissal from Crystal Prep would likely raise his ire even further.

"Good morning, Superintendent," Luna stated calmly. "Can I offer you a cup of coffee?"

"I will not be staying longer than necessary," replied Neighsay.

Luna gave a nod, but went ahead and refilled her own mug.

"No Celestia today?" Neighsay asked.

"Celestia was feeling unwell this morning, unfortunately," Luna answered, turning back to her desk and him. "She should be feeling better and back on duty by tomorrow, if you would rather wait." She raised an eyebrow.

Please say yes, and go. Please say yes, and go. Please say yes, and go.

"It hardly matters. I'm certain that you will be informing her about the matter regardless."

Neighsay's gaze narrowed, his mouth tightening more as he gave her a sour look. Luna took a sip of coffee.

"I could not help but notice the damage to the parking lot this morning."

"Yes," Luna replied. "Quite strange. Something must have happened to it over the weekend. Fortunately, it seems that no one was hurt as far as we can tell, and most of the damage is superficial. We should be able to have it all fixed over a long weekend without any trouble."

She took another drink of coffee. As she did, she could feel the superintendent's eyes on her.

"I have decided that the education board should perform and official inquiry into Canterlot High School, as well as into the faculty," Superintendent Neighsay stated, "with a specially in-depth look into you and Celestia."

A very, very small part Luna was grateful that he had waited for her to swallow before telling her that, or else she might have done a spit-take. On the other hand, if she had done a spit-take, it would have given her an excuse to spit hot coffee right into hist stupid, smug face.

She could throw the rest of it in his face. If she timed it right and was very lucky, she might actually be able to get it in his eyes and blind him.

After weighing the temporary pleasure she would get from such an act against the guilt from it, the resulting criminal charges, trial, and jail time from it, and the loss of coffee, Vice-Principal Luna instead simply set her mug down, and returned her attention to the superintendent.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I believe you heard me quite clearly," Superintendent Neighsay replied. "I am having the board look into you, your... sister... and how the two of you have been running this ..." he motioned around him with one hand "... school... to see if it is still up to the proper standards of the school district." He gave a sniff. "A question which I have been wondering about for quite a while."

"You mean since The Friendship Games?" Luna spat out before she could stop herself.

The look she got caused the heater to turn on.

"Are you trying to insinuate something, Miss Luna?"

Well I've already poked the hornets' nest, she thought to herself. May as well go full pinata on it.

"To put it bluntly, it seems as though you have had taken a personal issue with us since Cinch's dismissal from Crystal Prep after said games occurred."

Steepling her fingers, Luna leaned forward with narrowed eyes of her own.

"Although, that wouldn't exactly make sense, now would it? After all, it was interviews with Principal Cadance and Crystal Prep students which led to her dismissal, not something that we at Canterlot High have done."

"Yes," Neighsay replied. "Yet, isn't it interesting that the student who gave the key testimony not only transferred to your school after the games, but has also been shown on videos being at the school and interacting with Canterlot High students beforehand."

Luna held her tongue at that, watching as Superintendent Neighsay smoothed down his tie. After all, the school board did not believe in magic, and it would be very difficult to come up with a logical explanation of how someone who could look so much like one of Crystal Prep's students happened to attend Canterlot High for a short while.

"However," Neighsay continued, "this is only partially related to said games. In the sense that it was when the statue in front of the school was destroyed. When combined with the current state of the parking lot, and the events around your 'Fall Formal,' it means that we now have three cases of this school suffering massive amounts of property damage in less than a year. That does not include any minor damage that may have occurred in the interim -- such as the rumors of what may have occurred at Camp Everfree -- nor whatever public property may have been destroyed during your musical exhibition."

"Oh, come on!" Luna snapped. "The student who damaged the front of the school fixed it with almost no money being used from the school budget for it, we haven't asked for money to replace the statue either as we are currently having it as a student project, and the parking lot happened over the weekend. There is no way you can blame us."

"Perhaps," Superintendent Neighsay conceded, "but I believe we both know who was very well involved with the last."

One of Luna's eyebrows shot up.

"Do we now?"

"Indeed." Neighsay stepped forward, leaning slightly over Luna's desk. "Tell me, when do you think we will get to see Miss Sunset Shimmer's next movie on the internet?"

"Sunset Shimmer?" Luna repeated. Her mind was working through what she heard, and it was starting with the part that made sense. "You think Sunset Shimmer... made the videos?"

Neighsay let out a snort as he straightened up.

"Come now. She is the main focus of each one, even if the story is a bit cliche. Plus, while impressive for a high school student, the special effects are rather obvious if you know what to look for."

Luna felt a throb in the front of her head, and wondered if she could actually fell her brain cells dying. She had been aware that some of the... "events" had been recorded on phones and posted on-line, and that most people had dismissed it as fake, with make-up, practical effects, and digital effects all mixed together. This had even gotten more traction after a certain music video entry. But to actually hear it, right in front of her was too much.

Taking a deep breath, she counted to ten, and reminded herself that the superintendent had not seen it himself.

"Thank you, Superintendent," she said as calmly as she could manage. "I'll be sure to let Principal Celestia know about this, and be assured, The Board of Education will have our full cooperation."

"I certainly hope so," Superintendent Neighsay said as he turned toward the door. "Also, do keep in mind that when you are both dismissed, nepotism will not be able to get you a new position."

And with that, he walked out.

Next Chapter: A Dazzling arrival in Equestria Estimated time remaining: 10 Minutes
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