“So are you ready for your first day of teaching?”
Kerra Prower looked up at her new boss, Principal Celestia. A tall woman, mostly leg, with off white skin and pastel colored hair.
“Yup. Just going over the lesson plans one last time.” Kerra replied with a smile.
“Good. If you have any issues or questions, feel free to email or come talk to me.” Celestia said as she left the classroom.
Once she was gone, Kerra sighed. Ten years ago she had tried to commit suicide via a planet cracking NOVA warhead after the last human in the universe died. She had wound up on this admittedly strange Earth, but she was able to quickly create a new background that was very, very hard to discover that it had been falsified.
Once that had been done, she had gone to college. Despite having had numerous doctorates and PhDs, she had wanted to learn as much as she could about this world she was in. She wound up following an education path, something she had only done professionally in her first century of life, but she did recall enjoying passing on knowledge. Though instead of teaching young witches and wizards how to defend themselves, she was Canterlot High’s new Physics teacher.
She had gotten a doctorate in the discipline three years ago and had just finished her masters in education and had done her teaching assistant duties at the college she attended.
Now she had been dropped into the cesspool of hormones that was public high school.
‘Come on Prower. You’re over ten thousand years old. You have faced down mad wizards, aliens with delusions of grandeur, honest to goddess space vampires and come out fine. How hard can teaching high schoolers be compared to that?’ She thought to herself as the warning bell rang.
Her third period class was when she first saw her.
She was cleaning the whiteboard from her last class when something brushed her magic. Turning slowly, she saw a junior with yellow skin and hair that was red with yellow streaks. Or would it be yellow with red streaks?
She turned and studied her class as she had done so with the previous two, mentally judging where they would fall score wise.
‘Probably a bit unfair to them, but I like to be surprised when someone does better than I expect.’ She thought as the bell rang to start class.
“Good morning, my name is Ms Prower. Welcome to Advanced Physics. I know that all of you met your previous teacher’s requirements, but I do want to test you to ensure that you meet mine. Especially if you are planning for a career that requires a knowledge of physics.” Kerra said.
The girl with red and yellow hair scoffed.
Kerra raised an eyebrow.
“Something to say Miss…” Kerra said.
“Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer. I doubt that your requirements would be high enough to challenge me.” Shimmer said haughtily.
Kerra simply raised an eyebrow. ‘So she is one of those girls. Beautiful and highly intelligent. But also full of herself and by the way the class is looking at her, the Queen Bee of the school. Let’s how she likes this then.’
“Well then. Class, say thank you to Miss Shimmer because she just moved the test from Wednesday to today.” Kerra said as she grabbed a stack of tests from her desk. “Books and calculators away. You only need pencils and scratch paper.” She said as she passed out the tests. “I do expect you to show your work on this.” She added.
There were plenty of groans and only a few dirty looks thrown to Shimmer.
‘Apparently, she has been ruling over this school for a while.’ Kerra thought as she observed the students working on the test.
Kerra stretched her back out after finishing her lunch in the staff lounge.
“So I heard you gave a test on the first day in your advanced class to determine their fitness for your class.”
Kerra turned. “Hey Luna. It was more to determine who needs help and who doesn’t. Just had a student with a smart mouth that pushed the test up a couple of days “ She said to the vice principal.
“What student?” Luna asked her.
“Sunset Shimmer.” Kerra replied before finishing her drink.
“I would be careful with that one. She has been lucky that I haven’t been able to get solid proof of anything.” Luna said. “She is the main reason that this school is so divided.”
Kerra rubbed her chin for a moment. “Don’t worry too much about me. I know her type.” She said. “I know how to keep her in line.
Luna nodded hesitantly. “Just be careful.” She said.
Kerra nodded before heading back to her classroom.
Kerra sat at her dinner table that night grading the test she had sprung on her third period class.
She had just finished grading Sunset’s paper.
“Sweet Chaos, this girl could have given Sam a run for her money.” She said quietly to herself.
Now burning with curiosity, she moved to her computer room.
Inside was what amounted to a mainframe computer that was at least a millenia ahead of anything that currently existed.
“Natasha, can you pull up everything there is on a CHS student named Sunset Shimmer?” She asked to the room.
Crystals on the ceiling warmed and an avatar of a curvy raven haired woman appeared.
“Cyberstalking a student on the first day?” The AI asked. “Not looking to start a forbidden romance are you?”
Kerra spluttered indignantly. “No you cheeky little brat. The girl set my magic off. Apparently she has been the Queen Bee of the school for a few years.” She replied finally.
Natasha smiled. “Searching. Well this is odd.” She said raising an eyebrow.
“What is it?” Kerra asked.
“There are two Sunset Shimmers coming up. One is your student and the other is a girl the same age, but living in Europe.” Came the reply.
Kerra’s eyebrows raised in surprise.
“What have you found on my student?” She asked.
“Surprisingly, not a whole lot. Just her enrollment paperwork and progress reports from the school, minimal social media activity, a P.O. Box in her name with a couple of false names as users of it, and nothing else.” Natasha reported.
Kerra sat down in her chair and leaned back.
“Theories?”
“Dimensional alternate is the most likely reason. You said your magic reacted?”
“Yes. Not a danger or warning response, but more like knowing another magic user is nearby. But her magic didn't feel human though. It was weak, like it was blocked or something.” Kerra replied.
“Hmmm, possibly from a reality that has magic as a universal constant then. This planet has a relatively weak magical field. It could be that she isn’t able to draw on it.” Natasha hypothesised.
Kerra nodded. “Well, for now I will keep an eye on her. She has, potential.” She said before leaving the room.
The next couple of months had given Kerra a chance to solidify her profile of Sunset Shimmer.
The girl was startlingly intelligent when it came to maths and sciences. She was also as stand out in her physical fitness classes and her English classes as well. Her one weak point academically seemed to be history, but she was more than able to overcome the lack of knowledge.
She was also a very skilled manipulator. A few whispered words here, a threat there, a text from a spoofed phone, she was very good for someone so young.
Then came the Fall Formal.
Kerra was chaperoning the dance and apparently a girl who wasn’t even a student at CHS was in the running for the Princess title.
When the crown was awarded to Twilight Sparkle everything went to hell.
Kerra was trying to herd the students away from the front entrance when the doors, windows and wall of the front of the building were ripped away.
She turned and saw her student hovering above the steps, a twisted mockery of herself. Then a wave of magic washed over her and the students.
It battered against her mental shields, but it was repulsed, unlike with the students.
Sunset snarled.
“I knew you had magic. I felt it on the first day of classes.” She said. “No matter though. If I can’t control you, I will destroy you!” She shouted as she fired a blast of energy at Kerra.
Kerra reacted on instinct honed by millenia of combat.
A golden shield sprung to life, covering the entryway.
“Stronger and older have tried Sunset. You won’t win.” Kerra said, holding the shield up.
Sunset sneered before turning towards the six girls in front of the statue. She fired a blast at them and Kerra closed her eyes, unable to put up another barrier while maintaining the one she had up to prevent the mind controlled students from moving forward and the one she had to raise around herself to keep the students from pulling her down.
A pulse of magic, so unlike her own, and so much like what Sunset’s felt like before she had turned into the corrupted form above them washed out.
Kerra opened her eyes and saw a purple dome over the girls, and then watched with astonishment as they changed.
Kerra watched as the six combined their magic and Sunset was hit with a massive rainbow colored beam of pure magic.
The wash of the attack shattered Kerra’s shields and drove her to the ground.
‘Whatever kind of magic that is does NOT like Chaos magic.’ She thought as she stood, shaking her head to clear the cobwebs from the backlash of her shields falling.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know there was another way.” She heard Sunset say through her tears, the first real emotion she had seen the girl express that wasn’t anger or malice.
“Because you never asked.” Kerra said as she made her way to the crater Sunset was being pulled out of.
Kerra looked around and sighed. It was going to take a lot to cover this mess up.
Or maybe not.
Kerra flicked her wrist and her wand, American Oak with a core of her own hair, nearly as old as she was, appeared in her hand.
A few flicks and the crater in the ground was repaired.
She cast a light, wide area Banishing charm at the students in the entryway before casting more repairing charms at the entrance.
Sunset and Twilight looked at her with slack jawed expressions.
“What? Ten thousand years as a witch has taught me a lot of things.” Kerra said with a shrug before repairing the front of the school, bricks, mortar, metal and glass all moving back into place.
Celestia came up and with a look at Kerra promising a very long discussion was going to be coming, she turned to Twilight and presented her with the crown, what was actually an artifact from her home dimension.
The rest of the night ran smoothly for the most part.
Eventually, Twilight Sparkle went back through the portal that was located in the statue in front of the school. Upon seeing this, Kerra set up an alarm ward that would alert her if something came through the portal in the future.
Seeing Sunset looking unsure of herself, Kerra sighed.
“Walk with me Sunset.” She said as she re-entered the building, motioning for the girl to follow her.
Soon the pair reached Kerra's classroom.
Leaning on her desk, Kerra observed the girl in front of her, causing Sunset to shuffle awkwardly.
“So, from another dimension then?” Kerra asked. “That would explain the lack of documentation I found.”
Sunset nodded.
“Don't worry. I won't report you to the government. No need to worry about getting whisked away.” Kerra said with a smirk.
“Thank you.” Sunset said quietly. “I, I was worried what might happen now that my background was revealed.”
Kerra nodded. “Understandable. I do have some ground rules I want to lay out for you though.” She said.
Sunset looked up, a small amount of fear in her expression.
“First, you need to start honestly apologizing for everything that you have done since coming to this world. I know a simple ‘I'm sorry’ isn't going to cut it, but it will be a start. But I would recommend that you try to help the people you put down so that you can show them you have changed.”
Sunset nodded.
“Second, we need to discuss your living situation.” Kerra said, causing Sunset to tense. “I know that you are basically homeless and have been squatting in an old factory. However, I have an offer for you, two really.”
“What is the offer?” Sunset asked.
Kerra pulled out three folders from her subspace pocket.
“This folder contains all the documents to make you a legal resident of this country. This you will get no matter your choice. It has been uploaded with all of the relevant agencies and the digital tracks have been covered to prevent the discovery that they have been falsified.” Kerra explained, handing the file to Sunset.
“These files are your choice. One is the documents that will have you emancipated by the end of the week. The other is me adopting you. The choice is yours.” Kerra said holding the files in each of her hands.
“Why would you want to adopt me?” Sunset asked. “I am an orphan in my home world and I haven't made the best of choices in my life. Both here and there.”
Kerra sighed. “I am an orphan as well. Rather I was abandoned on the steps of an orphanage by my parents. I grew up in the streets and wound up finding a few good friends after I was assaulted by a bunch of adults who figured who would care if something happened to the freak of nature. Shortly after meeting my friends our people were betrayed and my world plunged into a war for survival. Then I found a wondrous piece of ancient technology and was introduced to the wider universe. Eventually, I met and adopted my first daughter, an orphan as well, but a witch too. I learned so much from her, just as much as she learned from me. Her and her wife. But sadly, due to circumstances, both of us became immortal, but in different ways. I was cursed to walk eternity as an avatar of Chaos, doing what I could to maintain the balance of things in the universe. She was cursed to be the Hand of Death within the mortal realms. I haven’t seen her in millenia. But through it all, even having seen the worst that the universe has to offer, both human and not, I have always tried to find good where I can and nurture it.” Kerra said.
“So you really are over ten thousand years old?” Sunset asked.
Kerra nodded. “I am. I just suppress and mask my power to a very low level. I find that if I don’t it tends to have something of an, orgasmic, effect on anyone that is even sensitive to magic. That and it tends to disrupt unshielded tech, so I try to avoid that sided effect after I accidentally caused a reactor to meltdown when I was on a mission a few centuries ago.” She said, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.
“Okay then. Good to know.” Sunset said. “But that doesn’t answer my question. Why do you want to adopt me?”
“Sunset, I can see so much potential in you, it is mind boggling. You can honestly do anything that you can set your mind to. But I can also see that you have the potential to be someone who is kind, caring, and so many other adjectives if you are given half a chance. I can understand that there are probably things in your past that make it seem like what I am saying is a bunch of bull, but trust me, I can see it. You just need someone to care to help bring out that side of you, to be the Sunset Shimmer that you can, and deserve, to be.” Kerra said with a kind smile.
“You wouldn’t cast me aside if I did something to disappoint you?” Sunset asked, her teal eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
Kerra shook her head. “No. While I might be disappointed in you, I would never abandon you for it. There might be times where I need to walk away to keep my temper in check to keep from saying hurtful things, but I will come back and we would discuss the situation, find out why you did what you did and then work to learn from it. I don’t like to give out vague advice all that often when it comes to being a parent. I don’t see the need for it.”
Sunset sniffled. “I wish you had been here years ago, when I got here. After my teacher cast me out, I have been so lost. I just wanted her to be proud of me, but at most, all I got was a ‘Good job Sunset’ and a pat on the head. Then when my ego started to get the better of me, she showed me something that showed me as a princess, she then said that I wasn’t ready for the knowledge and forbid me from asking.” She said, her voice cracking slightly.
“Which, given that you had an ego, lead you to breaking her trust to prove her wrong.” Kerra replied with a sigh. “Well, if I say that you aren’t ready for something, I won’t just leave it at that. I will help give you the foundation to understand the concepts of what you are wanting to learn, be it a bit of knowledge, a skill, or a concept. I prefer to build a person up, help them improve actively when I have the knowledge and skills to do so, and pointing them in the direction of those that have the knowledge to do so if it is an area that I am not well versed in, which given how long I have been around, isn’t many areas.”
“So why do you teach Physics?” Sunset asked.
“It is a field that I have personal experience with all the way through to an intimate knowledge of quantum physics. I could, if I so desired, uplift this world’s technology and science by centuries in just a couple of decades.” Kerra said as she wandered towards the windows of the classroom.
“But you won’t, will you?” Sunset said as she followed Kerra to the windows.
Kerra nodded. “I have seen what happens when a less advanced society is given advanced technology or is guided by a more advanced society. The less advanced usually figures out a way to destroy themselves. I will provide gentle nudges, consult on some projects that have peaceful applications, but I will never out right provide the knowledge. Unchecked rapid advancement can be just as dangerous as stagnation of a society.” She replied, arms clasped behind her back as she looked towards the starry sky.
Sunset nodded silently to herself as she looked at the night sky, weighing her options, before finally speaking.
“What kind of rules would you have if I were to choose to be adopted by you?” Sunset asked.
Kerra glanced to the side to look at the girl. “Well, respect boundaries for one, I have a couple of rooms that you will need to stay out of unless I am there with you, primarily because the contents are either volatile or outright dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing. Letting me know if you are going out and the general area of where you will be, when you will be home, and calling me to let me know if your plans change any. Making sure that you are in by at least ten on a school night. Things like that.” She replied. “I would also want you to come talk to me if you have something on your mind. At the very least I can try to help you find perspective.”
Sunset nodded. “Kind of surprised to not hear something about no boys or keeping my door open if there is one over and we are studying.” She said with a smirk.
Kerra snorted. “Please, after raising one kid and helping to raise grandkids, I know that teenagers are going to go at it like rabbits, whether or not their guardian says that they can’t. As long as it is safe, sane, and consensual, I have no issues with you having someone over. Plus I would have to extend that rule to girls to since Arty was with another woman.” She said, a smile on her lips.
“Arty?” Sunset asked.
“My daughter, Artemis. I tend to give nicknames to everyone I am close to. She, due to her late father being an idiot, was betrothed to another girl that was in her year at her magic school. The only reason that they couldn’t walk away from the contract with nothing more than an awkward laugh, was that her father, and her betrothed’s father, signed the damn thing in blood and made it magically binding, while drunk might I add. Her and Daphne made it work though. Those two were a true power couple. Dragged the wizarding world into the 21st century by the short hairs.” Kerra replied, chuckling at the memory.
Sunset was quiet for a moment. “I think, that I do want you to adopt me. I think that it will help me change and become a better po-person. To reach my potential and become who I want to be.” She said finally.
Kerra smiled. “Good. Now, let’s just sign the paperwork and I will file it on Monday.” She said.
After the papers were signed, Kerra pulled Sunset into a hug.
“Welcome to the family Sunset Shimmer. It is gonna be one heck of a ride.” She said.
“Glad to be along for the ride.” Sunset said, relaxing into the embrace.