Night Class

“Here we go”, Sunset Shimmer mumbled under her breath.

As she was standing outside the dark bulk of Canterlot High she felt doubtful again about this. Spending a Friday night at school was not something she was looking forward to. Although she had to grudgingly concede that Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna had made a good point.

***

“No, Miss Shimmer, we won’t force you to participate”, Principal Celestia replied. Her impenetrable friendly yet distanced manner was way too reminiscent of Princess Celestia for Sunset’s taste, even though the principal’s office didn’t compare to the princess’s throne room. “It is merely a suggestion. You seem to be struggling with your place in our school’s community after the occurrences of the Fall Formal, and that is why Vice Principal Luna—“

Just like Princess Celestia the principal’s manner had a way of driving Sunset mad, and she had to fight back the urge to jump up from her chair in front of Principal Celestia’s desk as she interrupted her, “So it’s yet another detention for—,” blowing up half of the school while trying to enslave the student body, she didn’t say ,“—the Fall Formal?”

“It is not a detention,” stated Vice Principal Luna, who was standing behind Principal Celestia. “You have been punished according to the school regulations, and as far as we are concerned, no further punishment is due.” Her eyes narrowed by just a tiny fraction—a tiny expression of displeasure with the power to reduce the bravest troublemaker to shivering goo. “But just so we are in the clear, Miss Shimmer—you still have a lot to make good for. The other teachers view you as a troublemaker, gifted, yes, but unruly. The other students—I think it’s safe to say they detest you.”

“If you’re saying—“

“What Vice Principal Luna is saying”, Celestia interrupted her in a surprisingly soft voice, “is that school isn’t only about good grades. It is also about learning to be part of a community. And about making friends. Being an outcast may look romantic and adventurous in the movies, but it is the most damaging thing you can do to yourself.” She made a deliberate pause to let her words sink in. “We’re not punishing you, Sunset Shimmer. We’re worried about the path you appear to have chosen.”

Even though she had heard words to this effect before, only from the other Celestia, they seemed to have hit a soft spot this time. It was a little bit harder to maintain a hard voice when Sunset Shimmer replied, “So watching planets with some astronomy—,” nerds, she didn’t say, “—fans is going to fix me?”

Again Vice Principal Luna answered. “It will show everybody that you’re trying. That you’re not just a common bully and a troublemaker. Maybe you’ll enjoy it. Maybe you’ll find a friend. Maybe you won’t—but that’s hardly the point. It will anyway earn you points with Principal Celestia, myself, and the other staff. If you are serious about changing your ways like you claimed after the Fall Formal—and I strongly urge you to be very serious—you’ll have to make a start. Your reputation among the students and the staff won’t be fixed by one Friday night spent with the Astronomy Club, but—you’ll have to make a start.”

Sunset Shimmer lowered her gaze and just nodded. She hated preachments like this.

Especially when they made sense.

“I don’t assume you want to be shunned by your peers until you graduate,” Vice Principal Luna added.

“Probably not,” Sunset mumbled.

“In this case,” Vice Principal Luna smiled, “I’m looking forward to you joining our little soiree on Friday.”

***

The most infuriating part of this was that Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna weren’t wrong, Sunset thought as she entered the quiet school building. Being the supreme queen of the school had been glorious, a permanent thrill ride trying to maintain her position of power over the other students. Her subjects, as she had liked to think of them. But as hard as it was to believe that that had only been a week ago, her time at the very top was undeniably over.

A very long week, actually. It was just as Luna had said—the other students detested her, and now that they had all witnessed her utter defeat after the Fall Formal they were not at all shy to let her know how they felt about her. All the things she had inflicted on the other students in years past were now coming back to her two- and threefold.

Her new friends—the Society of Admirers of Princess Twilight Sparkle, as Sunset called them to herself—weren’t that bad, she had to admit. At least they didn’t actively give her a hard time. Fluttershy had even defended her a few times against some mean comments—Fluttershy, of all people. But there was only so much a group of appointed caretakers could do considering that the entire school hated her guts.

They were alright, but a week was not going to turn them into best buddies.

Maybe trying some additional angles wasn’t a bad idea. Even though the Astronomy Club kids weren’t exactly the most powerful potential allies.

The school looked strange that late in the evening, with no lights coming in through the windows. The campy Nightmare Night decorations, put up in two extra shifts by Pinkie Pie’s seemingly untiring decorations committee, actually looked somewhat spooky in this twilight.

Sunset decided that she was in no rush to get this night started, and headed for the second floor restroom. She tried to convince herself that she was not anxious of some power nerds who might hate her. Slowly walking down the hallway Sunset tried to remember the Astronomy Club’s members. And whom of them she had insulted, or bullied, or otherwise attacked. And how bad it was going to get.

There were Micro Chips and Poindexter, the power nerds. It was safe to say that these two had taken a lot of abuse from her over the years. If she was lucky they would limit themselves to unfriendly glares.

Sweetie Drops. Formerly best friends forever with Lyra, until Sunset had found it entertaining to break them up in spring. As far as Sunset knew, Sweetie Drops was unaware of her involvement. She didn’t need to learn.

Sunflowers. Sunset didn’t remember doing anything special to her, apart from the usual scorn she treated her underlings with.

And probably some others that she couldn’t remember. In the intricate power structure of CHS the Astronomy Club hadn’t exactly played a pivotal role in, well, anything, so none of her power plays and intrigues had needed to involve them.

Idly she asked herself whether Celestia’s, or rather Luna’s, idea to have her start her redemption with the Astronomy Club of all places, was a stroke of genius or some elaborate form of cruel and unusual punishment.

She was just about to open the restroom door, still lost in her thoughts, when she heard voices from around the corner where the administrative wing was. Two women were having a heated discussion, but they were far enough so that Sunset couldn’t understand what they were saying. The distance didn’t keep her from recognizing one of the voices instantly.

Miss Harshwhinny! Like I needed that hag tonight!

Miss Harshwhinny had always hated her, from her first day in Canterlot High School. She never believed Sunset’s excuses and was completely immune to being played—unlike even Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna.

Then again, Miss Harshwhinny seemed to hate every student, so maybe it was nothing personal.

Curious what this was about Sunset quietly moved closer and heard the end of what seemed to be a lengthy rant by Miss Harshwhinny.

“I require an environment free of any disturbances whatsoever in order to grade these tests professionally. These are for the Advanced Literature class! Giving these children accurate feedback on their numerous shortcomings is of utmost importance. How else will they ever learn to do better?”

“Miss Harshwhinny, rest assured that nobody is going to disturb you during your work,” said Vice Principal Luna. “My students will be in the clubroom on the fourth floor, and later we shall be on the roof for our actual observation. You won’t hear a thing.”

Miss Harshwhinny snorted. “I sure doubt it. Students are loud and obnoxious, whether or not it fits your plans, Vice Principal. Had I known of these plans to stage a pajama party tonight I would have filed an official protest. Frivolities such as this are only distracting the children from what’s important—diligence and discipline.” She harrumphed, and then a door was being closed as she disappeared into her office.

Even Miss Harshwhinny thinks this is a bad idea.

Sunset quickly retreated into the girls’ restroom as she heard Luna turning her way. The vice principal didn’t need to learn that she had witnessed this conversation. She managed to get into a stall just in time before someone—Luna—stormed into the restroom behind her.

There was a loud bump—Vice Principal Luna must have punched the wall. “What does she think she is,” Sunset heard her hiss. She took an audible breath. “Not important, hah! Well, there’s no use, that woman isn’t going to learn, not in this lifetime. But I won’t let her ruin this!” She started pacing. “The nerve! The tone! Ugh!” She punched the wall again before rushed out of the room again.

Sunset hardly believed her ears. She never would have expected Luna to lose her temper like this—usually, even when she was dishing out punishments, she remained icy cold. She pressed her fist on her mouth to keep herself from giggling. Another five minutes, she thought, just to be sure she didn’t run into Luna while she was still fuming like this.

***

Only Sunflowers and Poindexter were in the club room when Sunset entered. Not only was she making an effort, she thought, she was also on time. Early even. If that didn’t show her enthusiasm…

Sunflowers looked up briefly, but didn’t bother to otherwise acknowledge Sunset’s presence. Poindexter was tapping eagerly at his phone.

“Whatcha reading?” she asked Sunflowers, taking the seat behind her.

“Just some old paper that was lying around,” Sunflowers replied before she remembered who she was talking to. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

Sunset sighed, but nonetheless glanced at the paper. It was a page from an issue of the Canterlot Chronicle, about a week old. The headline read something about a jailbreak not far away. She leaned back and looked to the other side. Poindexter was playing some cryptic game on the giant screen of his phone. To pass the time she tried to remember what she had done to Sunflowers. Was she just being a bitch, or had Sunset given her a reason to hate her guts?

The door opened again, and Micro Chips entered, carefully holding it open for Sweetie Drops who was right behind him. They both looked at her way, exchanged a look that was somewhere between exasperation and bemusement, and sat down. Making an effort was working out just great thus far, Sunset thought.

Luckily it only took a few more minutes before Vice Principal Luna entered the club room. As almost always when she saw her, Sunset Shimmer thought of Princess Luna, the renegade sister Princess Celestia had banished to the moon. She’d always wondered what kind of pony she had been before, and what she was like now, after returning from a thousand years of banishment. And how ponies treated her. As a powerful princess she probably didn’t have to deal with the same levels of daily sneer and contempt.

Or impertinent literature teaches, she thought, remembering the dispute in the hallway. Fortunately Luna seemed to have calmed down since the weird episode in the bathroom.

“Good evening, dear members of the Astronomy Club,” Vice Principal Luna greeted them. “Poindexter, please, you know phones are to be kept inside bags at all times, even for extracurricular activities like this one.” She waited for a few moments while Poindexter and two or three other students deposited their phones in their bags. Then she continued, “As you know, we still have ample time to set up everything for our observation. We will probably be done much sooner than we need to, but we can of course make use of that time to observe some other celestial bodies. But before that we shall…”

The door opened once more, and the one last member of the club entered, a junior whose name Sunset didn’t even remember.

“Ah, welcome, Star Gazer,” Luna greeted him. “Now we are complete.”

Star Gazer sat down, and Luna continued with her announcement. “Before we start,” she said, now smiling, “we will have our traditional observation feast. The pizzas should arrive any minute.” Predictably this resulted in cheers from everyone. Sunset was surprised. They even got pizza?

They did. Just as Luna had said, only a few minutes later four steaming pizzas were delivered to the club room. For a short blissful while everybody was too busy stuffing their faces.

As Sunset grabbed a slice with pineapple and mushrooms, she quickly scanned the faces of the other club members. So far only that chick Sunflowers was actively glaring at her. Poindexter, she noticed, was moving his lips as if he was talking to himself.

An entire pizza and a few slices remained, but, as Vice Principal Luna pointed out, they would be much welcome later that night when they went to work. They were put aside for the time being, and Luna assembled them all in front of her desk, urging Sunset to leave her comfortable and safe spot in the last row to come closer.

“Before we begin tonight’s observation, we need to make sure we know all the necessary facts about our object. So, everybody, what can you tell me about Uranus?”

This is probably the only place in the multiverse where you can say these words without people dying from laughter, Sunset thought, fighting back a giggle.

Everybody but her raised their hands, and Luna took their answers one by one.

“Uranus is the seventh planet of the solar system”, Star Gazer said.

“Uranus is an ice giant, so called because it is suspected that its core consists of ice”, Sweetie Drops added.

“Its orbital period is 84 point zero two zero five years,” Micro Chips explained.

“It was the first planet to be discovered by telescope,” Sunflowers said.

“Its distance from the sun is between eighteen point three three and twenty point one one astronomical units,” Poindexter said.

Sunset Shimmer, whose astronomical education had been very thorough back in her days as Celestia’s prime student, but was based on a night sky created solely for esthetic considerations by an almighty alicorn princess, said nothing. There was no Uranus in Equestria. She knew it was a planet, and possibly also a figure from some ancient legend.

“In astrology, it is associated with ingenuity, unconventional thinking, and great inventions,” Sweetie Drops added.

“Oh please,” Sunflowers sneered. “You don’t believe that hocus-pocus, do you?”

“Astrology has been a significant part of human culture for thousands of years!” Sweetie Drops retorted.

“But none of it has ever been scientifically proven,” Poindexter chimed in.

“Yeah,” Micro Chips assisted his friend. “Horoscopes are just a money-making scheme feeding on the gullible.”

“Students, please,” Luna interrupted them. “Sweetie Drops is correct, astrology is still relevant in many cultures, not only for horoscopes. The stars and planets are attributed with a host of different powers. And even though those powers might not be scientifically proven, the beliefs people place in celestial bodies are sure interesting from a cultural point of view.”

“How so, Miss Luna?” Star Gazer asked.

“For instance, it might be interesting why people would associate a cold and remote planet like Uranus with ingenuity, and unconventional ideas, don’t you think? Would somebody care to investigate this before our next meeting?” Both Micro Chips and Sweetie Drops raised their hands. “Great, why don’t you do it together?” They both nodded, Micro Chips looking way too happy about extra homework.

“If this is gonna turn into astrology asylum…” Sunflowers whispered to herself, so soft that only Sunset, sitting right next to her, could hear it. She suppressed a chuckle.

“So,” Luna said, looking at her watch, “we have about an hour before Uranus will rise above the horizon, and maybe two before it can be seen clearly above any obstacles. We should get started with our preparations. As you know, the school district had granted us the funds for a new more powerful telescope, and today is going to be its maiden observation.” The club members cheered.

“On top of that we of course still have the three smaller telescopes we’ve been using so far, so that we can all take turns in looking. Now, I have the new telescope in my office and would ask Star Gazer to help me bring it here. The rest of you, please go to the basement storage room, pick up the other telescopes and bring them here.”

Poindexter raised his hand. “Miss Luna, if I may… I’ve created a little 3d simulation of Uranus and its orbit and its moons and… and yeah, um… I’d like to show it to everybody?”

A 3d simulation of her… I’m not even gonna go there, Sunset thought, biting her lip.

“That is wonderful, Poindexter,” said Luna. “Do you need any equipment or preparation for your demonstration?”

“I brought my laptop,” Poindexter said, sounding more confident now that Luna had shown appreciation for his work. “I just need to copy the program from the computer lab.”

“Good, then I’d suggest you go copy your program while the others fetch the telescopes. We still have more than enough time.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Poindexter looked very pleased with himself. Micro Chips gave him a high five, and Sunflowers smiled at him appreciatively.

He basically did extra homework for nothing, and everybody cheers him on, Sunset Shimmer thought. What in the world is this place?

Poindexter didn’t hesitate to head to the computer lab on second floor.