Heavy footsteps thumped up the stairs, their owner grumbling irritably to himself. It had been a long day...made longer by a staff meeting that had lasted almost three hours and consisted mostly of bickering factions among the school’s educators on how to handle a subject not covered by the school board: magic.

“I just don’t understand why we haven’t contacted the authorities about this! This is a school, and we have a responsibility to report anything that puts the lives and well being of the children here at risk!” Abstract Colors repeated for about the fourth time since the meeting had begun.

Harshwhinny raised one narrow brow, the only change in the stone-faced expression carved on her face. “And just who, Ms. Colors, should we report it to and how? Need I remind you that there is not exactly a Magical Crimes Division of the CCPD.”

“Plus,” Dr. Turner pointed out, “most authorities would laugh us right into a delightfully padded room with some very distasteful white coats if we started telling them about the dangerous magic using monsters threatening a high school.”

One of the math teachers sneered. “They’d believe us if we turned over Sunset Shimmer and the rest of her mutant freak squad.” His tone dripped with disgust. “It's the least that obnoxious little bitch deserves.”

From one moment to the next, the temperature in the room seemed to drop far enough that the snow flurries drifting down outside were like a warm spring rain by comparison, all centered on the pale skinned woman at the head of the room. Her eyes were hard, and menace cloaked her like a shroud, but her voice was quiet and even. “You will do nothing of the sort,” she told him, barely contained rage seething under the surface. “Make one move against any of those girls, and I will spend every last dime I own, every bit of influence I have, tread on every last connection I have ever cultivated, and use every remaining breath of my life to ruin yours.”

Her dark haired sister spoke up pleasantly, “And I will help. That ‘obnoxious little bitch and her mutant freak squad’ are the reason we are standing here, right now, free to argue. They stopped our captors, and in doing so, saved a hell of a lot more people than you ever have, you bigoted old goat, even with that ‘tour in ‘Nam’ you insist on blathering on about to anyone who will listen.”

Tenure almost made him bold, until a third voice added, “These young whippersnappers’ll just ruin yer life, ya know. But threaten mah girls again an’ Ah’ll make use o’ the hog trough on the farm. Pigs’ll eat anything, didja know that, Pythy?” Granny Smith was casually slicing an apple with a small knife, and she smiled him.

“You’re all awfully quick to forget everything Sunset Shimmer has done for years,” Cheerilee pointed out. “She’s terrorized both halves of this school for years—a few months of good behavior doesn’t erase all that.”

Once again, it was Nagatha Harshwhinny who interjected with that same flat tone. “Miss Shimmer was a high school bully. While she manipulated the social ladder, I’d hardly call her activities criminal. Teenagers are often mean spirited and manipulative in the name of popularity. Certainly not worth turning her over to nebulous ‘authorities,’ and most assuredly not worth doing the same to a group of girls who have always been model students.”

Doctor Turner steepled his fingers. “There’s also the small matter that Sunset Shimmer and her friends seem to be the only ones who have any knowledge on how to handle the strange events and the entities that precipitated it. We’d gain more by learning from them.”

Principal Celestia cleared her throat. “I believe we are getting off topic here...”

“Bah! Who am I kidding? It's been a long two weeks!” He dipped into their bedroom, shedding his jacket and the unassuming sweater that he wore. The smell of dinner simmering downstairs made him want to just change into something comfortable and join the love of his life in a relaxing evening, putting the whole mess with magic and monsters out of his mind for good. After decades of magic dragging him around the world by his nose, he had earned his retirement, blast it all! Plus he’d promised his wife that he wouldn't get mixed up in any more of the metaphysical nonsense, not after all the suffering it had caused them both.

He emptied his pockets onto his dresser, stopping and staring at the wallet that he placed there every night for the last six years. It was a ridiculous thing, the last kind of wallet anyone would match to a dour old man: there was leather underneath, sure, but it was dyed purple, and the entire surface was covered in tiny, brightly colored beads in an array of pastel colors, a bright pink shape on top of a rainbow. To him, it had always looked like a dog or a pig, but his wife had been quick to correct him, telling him it was likely a horse—little girls all wanted a pony at some point. Either way, it was the silliest wallet in the world…but it had turned into one of the most important possessions he had, somewhere along the way. All because it had been a gift from a little girl with eyes the color of an afternoon sky and pink hair that looked like cotton candy, for no other reason than she had wanted to make him smile.

Large eyes stared at him intently as he turned the object over in his hands. “Do ya like it?” the girl asked, and he could hear the childish hope in her voice. “I heard it was your birthday soon, but that you didn’t like parties—which is silly, because who wouldn’t like a party—and I thought maybe I’d make you a nice birthday gift while I was at summer camp! My sister Maud helped me with the beads! She liked that part cuz they’re like colorful little rocks, and rocks are Maud’s favorite thing!”

It was probably the strangest, weirdest, most unlike him wallet he’d ever owned…but looking into that hopeful face, the child’s loving and giving heart in her eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to crush that. She was too much like the daughter they would never have, the grandchildren they’d dreamed of that were denied them forever. So he simply took out his old wallet, worn from years of use, and began to place his things in this new, tacky, brightly colored craft project.

The child made a squeaky sound of utter joy, and his wife gave him a knowing look. He grunted, still unable to drop the gruff attitude that put so many people off, but that the pair with him never even seemed to notice. “…Look. I just happened to need a new wallet, and Pinkie, you’ve saved me the trouble of having to go buy one. So…thanks, kid.” He knew she could see the tiniest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Stars shined in bright blue eyes, and he found himself hugged so hard one of his ribs creaked.

Shaking himself from the memory, he traced a finger over the beading, a frown twisting his features. The wallet—and to an extent, the child who had given it to him—had become a sort of guiding light over the last few years, a reminder of his moral compass when a lifetime of pain and disappointment threatened to make him bitter and apathetic to the things around him. And here he was, about to do just that…turn his back when he could help, when that very child who was so bright and hopeful and caring was one of the ones willingly throwing herself in harm's way, not once, but twice now, and clearly with the intent to do so again and again.

Indecision warred in him. He had given his wife his word, his vow, when they’d finally gotten married after all those decades apart, and the both of them just wanted to be away from magic and the trouble it caused….but this was magic that had come to the girl they loved as if she were their own, who always made a point to invite them to her family’s holiday celebrations, who never forgot their birthdays or anniversary, who always had a smile and a kind word and an offer to help if they ever needed anything…a girl whose love was greater than herself, who brightened the world by being in it. It was the lady or the tiger, no matter which way he looked at it…

…but he couldn’t abandon her to the fickle winds of fate, no matter what oath he had given. He had to break that promise to the love of his life…for the only other person to ever get under his armor. Damn him, and his overly sentimental attachments! But someone had to step in…someone had to make sure that six teen girls weren’t going to end up as lambs going to slaughter…and it wasn’t like there were many people qualified to help—certainly not the bulk of his coworkers.

“You want us to do what?”

Coach Will puffed out his muscular chest, slamming a ham sized gray fist on the table for emphasis. “Take the bull by the horns! This is our school, our students—Iron Will will be damned if he lets another magical monster harm his students without a fight!”

Celestia rubbed her temples. “Will...I was hoping to take defensive measures to protect the campus that don’t involve arming my teachers.” Her eyes flicked to the smirking Luna. “Or you, Luna. Your SCA weapons need to stay at home.”

There was a gleam in dark eyes that said Luna was already up to something.

Sure enough. They were up to something alright, and they’d approached him on the way out about it. Luna and Coach Iron Will represented a modest sized faction in and of themselves, mostly made up of younger, assertive types who didn’t handle being put in the proverbial corner very well. They were planning on finding ways to fight, to hide weapons caches all over the school specifically designed with magic in mind, and they wanted to know if he wanted in on it. It didn’t change that they hadn’t the slightest clue on how to fight magic—a baseball bat wouldn’t cut it.

He shoved boxes around, squinting at the labels in the dim overhead lighting. It had been over a decade since he’d packed everything to do with his old life up and shoved it up here to gather dust and be forgotten about. At the time, he had thought to throw it all away, but something had stayed his hand. That was going to prove a blessing in disguise.

At last he found them, a series of footlockers in the back corner of the attic, covered by an old sheet that was gray with grime. Fingers undid the combination lock with far more ease than he wanted to acknowledge, and the hinges creaked open to reveal a lifetime of knowledge.

Rapidly, he began sorting through the bundles of papers, old correspondence, ancient scraps of parchment, and copied notes, until he uncovered the false bottom and pulled it up. Hidden from sight were two carefully sealed books, one thicker than the other. He flipped through the slimmer one, memories flitting through his mind with each name and contact information. There were several he would need to reach out to for information and supplies.

And at least one he needed to touch base with. That was a conversation he wasn’t keen on, since the last time he really talked to that foolish white haired wizard with that stupid grin had been in the late 80s, when he’d gotten caught up in some caper in Greece courtesy of the man, his sister, and his girlfriend, and two of the three had driven him nuts the entire time. He didn’t know if time had mellowed the man, but if his boastful, ego-driven daughter complaining through his third period class was anything to go by, the wizard was probably still a showboating pain in the ass.

Still...better to make sure any potential allies were on the same page—for all so many of his coworkers were talking of “if” magical problems arose again, he knew in his bones it would be “when,” since magic always seemed to call to magic. That was what had brought the “Dazzlings” to the school to begin with: Sunset Shimmer’s crazy stunt involving that damned magical crown and her demonic transformation. He still wasn’t sure how the girl had escaped from that fate, or why her personality had changed so drastically, but he suspected that she was aware of her fortunes, if Celestia’s implications were true and she was educated in the knowledge of the metaphysical...

“Ah, Hell,” he grumbled to himself. “For all I know, something else drew her to the school in the first place. Probably a damned miracle it took so long for shit like this to happen.”

The principal sighed, before standing up to address the faculty under her command. “While I understand some of you have reservations about Sunset Shimmer, Luna and I have been watching her very carefully since the disaster at the formal…a disaster which most of you have surmised had a lot less to do with a ‘leaky gas line’ and more to do with another magical catastrophe. She has done her very best to become a model student, and it was, in fact, her knowledge of the arcane that led her to being able to lead her fellow students in freeing the rest of the school from the enchantments that bound us.”

Her words were halted by the loud response to that, the teachers for a moment acting more like their students than adults as that knowledge caused a reaction. Shock, betrayal, worry, fear, and more raced through them. Celestia cleared her throat, calling them back to order after a minute. “…Yes, Sunset Shimmer, as odd as it may seem, has an education in magical knowledge, and we’ve both spent time in a lengthy discussion with her on the subject. She’s expressed interest in researching the subject at CHS further with her friends.”

More chatter, louder this time, and it took Luna slamming her hands down on the tabletop to silence them. “Enough! Miss Shimmer has done nothing since the formal to make us doubt the sincerity she is offering in this matter. She was more than willing to answer all of our questions as best she could, and has made the offer of assistance of her own volition. The fact is, we don’t have a lot of options—or do any of you happen to have a skilled sorceress in your back pocket? Perhaps one of you has Merlin on speed-dial? A Grimorum Arcanorum in your attic? Relatives that attended Hogwarts?” She pinned each of the dissenters with a hard glare. “If you do, please, by all means, put the resources on the table, because if we can find a solution that doesn’t involve risking the lives of six high school juniors, then my sister and I would love to hear it. Otherwise, perhaps you should stop acting like children and reserve your judgment until you actually get insight into the situation.”

Harshwhinny waited for Luna to catch her breath, before asking, “And what, exactly, would Miss Shimmer’s research involve? This is a public school, and we do not have the funds of someplace like Crystal Prep to fund independent research projects on the school dime.”

“At present,” the vice principal replied levelly, “I’m working to clean out the former A/V room of outdated technological equipment, so that the room can become the base of operations for magical research and data collection. From what I understand, they are trying to document exactly what abilities they’ve come into possession of, and Sunset is contacting her former teachers for texts that will assist in the project.” She looked down at a piece of paper in front of her. “Other than that, the girls requested a desk and a bookcase, and some basic supplies of which we have plenty in the actual supply closet: a computer and printer, pencils, pens, paper…a few pieces of monitoring equipment from the science department, and a storage cabinet. It sounds like she can get the more expensive and unusual things she needs from her previous teachers on the subject.”

The stern-faced woman rubbed her chin. “None of that seems unreasonable—it’s a lot less than I would have expected to research something as nebulous as ‘magic.’ Certainly a lot fewer crystals and ancient tomes,” she mused, the slightest hint of what might have been a smirk quirking at the corners of her mouth.

“I also suggested to her,” Celestia interjected, “that if there were books she needed access to that are in libraries and universities that will not loan them out to a student, we would be willing—within reason—to use our educational connections to acquire them on her behalf. In return, she’s prioritizing finding a way to set up either a defensive system or some form of early warning alarm around the campus for us.” Taking a deep breath, the Principal straightened to her full height, the sense of her presence rolling over the room. “All of us have lived through a terrible shared experience, an experience we cannot explain to those outside this school. None of us have escaped from it unchanged or still ignorant of a much larger world than we knew existed…but we have a choice now on how we act going forward. It would be very easy to give into the fear and stress and worry, to blame everything on someone else, to lash out…but I believe that all of you are better than that, stronger than that. We have the opportunity to get through this stronger, wiser, and more prepared than before, to learn how to protect ourselves and our charges, and to gain a stronger sense of community from it, if you give it a chance. That’s what I’m asking you for here. A chance, and a little trust.”

“Even if she’s aware of magic, I’m not sure how much use low grade cantrips are going to be in this mess.” Sunset Shimmer had been around the school for years, and while he always thought something was off about her, how much knowledge could she have? In all the time she’d lied and twisted and manipulated, he’d never seen her cast a single spell, not before the Fall Formal, and that had been more the artifact she’d worn than any innate ability. How good a sorceress could she possibly be? He doubted that it was enough to handle what could be coming their way.

He huffed, dragging the second, third, and fourth footlockers to the open space in the attic near the stairs, so that he could go through and inventory it over the holiday break, mostly to decide what he could get away with bringing into the school openly, and what he would have to smuggle in after devising a number of caches where they wouldn’t be discovered. Celestia’s little speech had been inspirational, and had the effect of ending a lot of the dissension, but he was still not going to leave as much to chance as some were.

Popping open the first footlocker, he found what he wanted right on top of the pile, and he picked it up, turning it over in his hand, hoping it still worked properly. It would be clunky to add a second pendant to his neck and under his shirt, but the edge that it would provide could one day mean the difference between life and death. The rest could be sorted later, but he draped the chain over his neck so that the polished tigers-eye stared out at the world, its backside carved with ancient runes and sigils, the whole piece permanently warm to the touch as if it had been sitting out in the sun.

“…Unless Haka was mistaken, guess that means it's still good. Best damned money I ever spent,” he groused to no one. “Those stupid shrieking nightmares never even sensed the other one on me. Idiots…all they saw was a sour old man…they certainly needed work in the mind-reading department.” He dropped the lid shut for the moment, his ears picking up his wife calling him for dinner.

He tromped down the stairs, still frowning and holding the books in his arm. Matilda was waiting for him at the bottom, concern on her face morphing to betrayal and hurt as she saw what he carried, what he was wearing around his neck. “…Doodle-bug…” she whispered, “…You promised me…”

Guilt and remorse hit him full force, and his shoulders slumped as he met her eyes. “…Matilda,” Cranky breathed, his voice softer than it had ever been. “…I don’t want to…but I have to help.”

“Why? What’s more important than the promise you made me?” she asked.

“…I wouldn’t even consider it, not in a thousand years…but Pinkamena is right in the thick of it.”

Yup. A character I'm sure none of you expected an Interlude from. There's reasons for it though. I've got this whole history for human world Cranky mapped out, and it will be having a measurable impact going forward.

Among other notes, yes, I managed to reference both Gargoyles and Harry Potter in this chapter, go me. I also snuck in another nod to the Albinocorn's infamous Long Road to Friendship/Spectacular Seven. The man has ruined Trixie Lulamoon's parentage for me forever. I just can't picture anything other than Artemis and Selena as her mother and father--though in the interest of not stealing his work, a casual nod like this is about the extent of what you'll hear, even when I get Trixie involved later on. For...reasons.

Now...as far as things to talk about...Yes, Celestia the human does imply some considerable clout in the chapter. I have an extensive backstory for her and Luna's family as well, bruhahahaha.

...as for the staff of the school, they are divided into a number of reactions. Some want to pretend nothing is wrong, some want to do like Luna and learn to fight, some want to help Sunset and the girls, and some of them blame Sunset and the girls. The real range of human responses here to traumatic events. Only time will tell which factions come out on top, and which ones end up causing trouble...

Can I say I really enjoyed writing Cranky as a grumpy old dude who is just fucking DONE with magical bullshit?