Principal for a Day

Chapters

Chapter 1 - The Offer
Chapter 2 - Morning Duties
Chapter 3 - Prying Shimmering Eyes
Chapter 4 - A Diamond’s Heart and A Twist of the Mind

Chapter 1 - The Offer

“I can explain, Principal!”, exclaimed Gilda with her arms crossed, clearly annoyed by the situation she was stuck in. She was sitting on a chair in front of Principal Celestia’s desk, with the lady herself sitting on the other side while giving the petulant student a calm unreadable glare. Standing to Celestia’s right was her sister and partner Vice-Principal Luna, who gave Gilda a similar glare that had an additional layer of coldness to it that was unique to her. The girl they stared daggers at was not one to be shaken by such a reception, however. With increased indignation and a slightly more restrained tone, she elaborated on her point;

“Look, it’s true that the VP here caught Rainbow and me shouting at each other in the hall.”

“Your shouting quickly turned into a fist fight by the time I had gotten close enough to intervene.”, Luna added with a professionally delivered deadpan voice that hid any emotions she was feeling over the topic of discussion. Gilda shouted out of pure frustration, her restraint nearly tossed aside;

“Yeah, but Dash started it!”

“You threw the first punch.”, Celestia noted calmly. Hearing this did nothing to sooth the girl’s anger;

“She threw the first insult! I ain’t taking that sitting down!”, the outraged student yelled in response. Neither official was moved by that claim, however, as Luna gave her retort while furrowing her brow ever so slightly;

“And yet, you chose to resort to physical violence instead of thinking of a more appropriate response. Your choices matter, Ms. Gilda.”

Gilda looked away with a grunt while a most grumpy expression fell upon her face, her arms still tightly crossed. With a sigh, she asked;

“What are you gonna do about Dash?”

Celestia spoke up with soft dignity, her eyes refusing to move away from the student she sought to discipline;

“She’s being treated in the Nurse’s Office as we speak. We’ll talk with her once she’s ready.”

Luna chimed in with similar propriety;

“Make no mistake, she’ll be held to fair account for her side of the altercation, just as you will be for yours.”

After grumbling a little more for good measure, Gilda begrudgingly accepted her punishment (one month in detention and a talk with her parents to be done at a later date) and was politely sent away. Once it was clear to the two sisters that the room was empty, Celestia looked over at the door on her right that led to Luna’s office and said aloud with a small smile;

“You can come out now, Starfire!”

With a twist of the knob, the door was opened, revealing its occupant to be Starfire himself: a twenty-seven year-old man with tan skin who rocked short red hair that was neatly combed backwards, a dress shirt that looked very much like Celestia’s, brown pants, and black tennis shoes. Appearing to be quite confused, he asked the two officials while looking at each of them;

“So… why did you have me hide in Vice-Principal Luna’s office?”

Celestia and Luna chuckled politely for a bit before the former answered his question;

“For two reasons: to give you an idea of what our line of work can look like and to make sure no curious eyes and ears catch what we’re about to offer you.”

He saw anticipation sparkle in the eyes of both women when he asked out of curiosity;

“What offer is that?”

Celestia’s smile, perhaps unconsciously, morphed to match the sideways smirk traditionally used by a certain bacon-haired student, her excitement over what was to come growing from within her mind…

Principal for a Day

Starfire was, at his core, a humble helper. He enjoyed being of assistance to others whenever possible, which helped to make him endearing to those he worked under. After graduating from Canterlot University, Starfire grinded his way up the educational system ladder, albeit at a snail's pace. Usually, his jobs involved him assisting teachers, sometimes subbing in for them. His goal was to become the Principal of one of the schools in the Canterlot School District, so that he could help everyone there, from the students to the staff. There was a reason, a driving force behind his work ethic and adherence to that goal: Celestia. Starfire was a CHS graduate and a Wondercolt through and through. He had joined CHS as a student during Celestia’s early years as Principal and he quickly came to respect her for her well-mannered nature, reasonable adherence to the code of conduct, and drive to help her students and fellow staff whenever she could. He came to look up to her as high school dragged on, sometimes wishing that he was in her position. Not out of jealousy, to be sure, but out of a healthy desire to become a leader as great as her. That is not to say that Starfire had no respect for Luna, far from it! In fact, he came to appreciate her stricter but fair style of handling students as well as the good cop/bad cop dynamic that the sisters had together. It was during his short stint as an assistant librarian to Ms. Cheerilee that he had gotten the attention of Celestia, who was impressed by his work ethic and sound mindset. He would become her assistant soon after that.

Now, that assistant was looking right at Celestia in her office, listening intently as she asked him politely;

“From what I recall in our previous talks, you strive to be a Principal one day, yes?”

He eagerly nodded his head while answering professionally;

“Yes, ma’am!”

With a quick nod back, she explained;

“Well then, you should find it interesting that, quite recently, Luna and I have acquired an opportunity for you to get a better sense of what it’s like to have that position.”

That really got his attention! With wide eyes and raised nerves, he asked hesitantly while his mind went through several possibilities at a time;

“Could you… elaborate, please?”

Luna, with a serious glare on point, declared to him with calm sternness;

“What is said here does not leave this room. Understand?”

Gulping a little, Starfire nodded his head in agreement to this term, which prompted Celestia to speak again;

“As you know, magic is a thing these days. Whether it be in the form of stray magical wisps affecting solid objects, sentient creatures from another world taking on Human forms, or magical artifacts finding themselves in Human hands.”

As she spoke that last part, she pulled open one of her desk drawers, reached in, and pulled something out from it. Starfire could not see it clearly, as it was covered by Celestia’s right hand. She added while placing the item on the desk;

“This is one such artifact.”

She then released the item from her grip, revealing it to be a large round disc with decorative carvings on the side that faced the ceiling. Carved in the center of the disc was artwork depicting an Earth Pony standing proudly on all four hooves. Starfire was, in a word, stunned. His mouth was agape for a moment or two before he felt the urge to rant come on. Try as he might, he could not hold himself back. With a loud inhale, he began to nerd out at a rapid pace;

“A magical artifact, here?! In your possession?! This is huge, since every time an artifact from beyond the statue portal is found, it is usually by some misguided young person who goes on to use it irresponsibly! But, since you have one in your hands, you are sure to handle it with absolute care without causing any lasting harm! When Sunset Shimmer and the Rainbooms find out about this, they’ll-!”

The two sisters smiled as they watched the young man pace left and right during his rant. As charming as they found this little quirk of his, however, they had to move the discussion forward. So, with a breath, Celestia told him with a carefully raised voice that was bolstered by a sufficient amount of authority;

“Calm yourself, Starfire!”

Hearing the voice of his admirable boss was enough to bring him back to the present moment, allowing him to take a deep breath and refocus on the Principal and Vice-Principal. With nervousness all over his face, he told them in a soft voice;

“I’m sorry. Please, continue.”

Their smiles did not wane, which eased his worries considerably. Once Luna began to speak, however, her face switched to a serious expression as she explained with a calm and clear voice;

“We found that artifact in a pawn shop during our shopping trip yesterday. We had initially believed it to be a simple hand-crafted decoration of some kind. Wanting to liven up our home, we managed to acquire it at a fair price. Shortly after we returned home and began examining it, Celestia here activated it by complete accident.”

Luna shook her head out of quiet bemusement as Celestia continued the tale for her;

“Through this error of mine, we had discovered that the artifact allows one to transform into another person.”

Starfire’s eyes went wide with shock as a single thought crossed his bewildered mind;

“To be able to become someone else…?”

An idea popped into his head, but he quickly tossed it aside on account of its ridiculousness as the Principal went on while holding back a chuckle;

“Thankfully, it can also be used to undo such a transformation. Through careful testing, we have found that it only allows you to turn into sentient creatures, so you can’t turn into a tree or cat.”

“You can, however, transform into any person you want, so long as you remember their name, face, and voice.”, noted Luna, her seriousness cracking ever so slightly as a particularly humorous test played out in her mind, causing a tiny smile to appear on her face. Celestia, having caught this, grinned back at her sister before returning her gaze over to Starfire and getting to the point;

“Putting it simply, we would like to give you the chance to spend one day in my shoes, and yes, I mean that in a magical literal sense.”

Now, her assistant was floored! His jaw dropped as far down as it reasonably could, his eyes wide with shock. It took him about five or more seconds to reposition his jaw and speak in a stunned voice;

“You… you want me… to use that artifact…”

He pointed at Celestia with a shaking right index finger as he finished;

“To become you?!”

After giving Starfire a moment to recover from the shock, Luna spoke again;

“To elaborate on the offer given, we would like for you to use the artifact’s magic to act as Principal Celestia in this school for an entire school day, while Celestia acts as you in return. For us staff, as you know, such a day typically lasts from before the opening bell to soon after our after-school duties are finished.”

At that moment, the assistant had realized a considerably important detail that he felt had to be addressed. As if sensing this with her mind, Celestia noted with an understanding tone;

“If you decide to go through with this, you’ll have to deal with the resulting physical changes for the duration, as will I.”

While said changes were quite worrisome to Starfire, the very concept of spending an entire work day as the head of the school he has both learned and worked in was uniquely enticing to him. Feeling torn, he asked his superiors;

“Will I get in trouble if I decline?”

Their headshakes were a good enough answer for him, but Celestia went further by explaining with a grin;

“If you don’t want to undertake this transformation, there will be no disgrace or trouble. We’ll simply give the artifact to Sunset and be done with the whole affair.”

Luna added with a playful smirk;

“As for why we haven’t given it to her yet… Well, we decided we’d try to have a little bit of harmless fun with it first.”

Starfire’s nerves were rising by the second as he thought to himself;

“Yeah… harmless…”

Adding a layer of sweetness to her grin, Celestia clarified to him;

“You have my word as Principal of CHS and an educator that we’ll do what we can to help you and prevent undo harm from befalling you during your short stint as yours truly. With that said, the choice is yours: will you take the chance before you or step away from it?”

The poor young man had to take several deep breaths to steady himself enough to think all of this over. To be the Principal of the school for a day? To be Celestia for a day? The very notion nearly overwhelmed Starfire for a bit there! But, once his mind settled down enough, he started to take note of the numerous variables involved;

“How would we even make this work? Obviously, we would start the transformation early in the morning, so that I could get situated with the students and staff being none the wiser. But then, once I’m in the office working, how would I fool the others? Luna would probably help me keep up the charade and I know a great deal about Celestia’s mannerisms, so putting on a good act wouldn’t be too much of an issue. I’m her assistant, so I’m acutely aware of her day-to-day work schedule, so honoring that would be easy…”

One would think he would lay out such variables in his head, silently at that. But, this was not how Starfire worked, for he noted his thoughts aloud in a rant that was barely above a whisper. Celestia and Luna were patient people, but they felt it best to not let him rant for too long this time. The Principal called out to him with calm authority;

“Starfire, compose yourself!”

Once again, her voice was enough to pull him out of his rant. After giving both her and Luna an apologetic nod, he listened as Luna told him;

“We want a simple answer from you before we proceed further. Do you want to become Principal Celestia for a day, yes or no?”

After taking a moment to think about the pros and cons of each answer, the assistant made up his mind. It was a huge risk, doubly so because of the magical variable, all of this he knew. He also knew that opportunities like this were once in a lifetime. If he didn’t do this, he would spend the rest of his life wondering about what could have been. Starfire learned from Celestia herself the importance of taking a risk from time to time.

After all, a life without risk would be a life without growth.

“Yes.”, was his answer, both calm and earnest in equal measure. Celestia and Luna showed him smiles filled with appreciation as they explained their plan to him in great detail. The next day was going to be the most unique day in Starfire’s life.

Author's Note

A big thank you to FizzBerry for commissioning this tale! The OC and basic premise were largely their idea.

Chapter 2 - Morning Duties

Early next morning…

Starfire was sitting on a sofa in the living room of the house owned by Celestia and Luna, nervously twiddling his thumbs while thinking to himself;

“Me and my big mouth… there are some risks I don’t have to take!”

Despite his reservations, of which he had many, he was not one to bail out of an agreement. Of course, this was specifically with agreements that he could actually honor. Whether or not this one had fit the bill, he had not decided yet. He also didn’t know which part of the upcoming scenario was more outlandish: him becoming Celestia or Celestia becoming him! Before he could mull on the details any longer, he heard two sets of steps echoing from the nearby hall that was to his right. He looked in that direction to find the Principal and Vice-Principal walking over to him together, with the artifact that inspired this whole situation in Celestia’s right hand. With a resigned sigh, Starfire stood up to greet them. His boss and idol was the first to speak while giving him an understanding glare;

“You are nervous, I see.”

Hearing her recognition of his mental state helped him calm down enough to nod at her, to which she replied with a smirk;

“So am I, honestly.”

Finding out that, in some way, she was in a similar boat to him eased Starfire’s nerves even more, enough for him to give the Principal a genuine smile. He then noticed that little twinkle in her eyes that usually appeared when a student or colleague showed that they would be okay. Celestia was always the caring type, a fact that he had noticed early on in his tenure as her assistant. With a polite cough, Luna had gotten the two adult’s attention. She then asked them;

“Are you two ready to proceed?”

Starfire still had his reservations, but he also knew that he wasn’t going to do this alone. That fact proved to be a great motivator as he joined Celestia in giving her sister an affirmative nod. The trio stepped away from the sofa to find a spot in the living room that was some distance away from furniture, gave each other some space, and waited quietly. After a few moments, Celestia raised the artifact up to her face and explained its function in greater detail;

“Utilizing this artifact is simple: start by saying aloud who you want to change to who, then give its center carving a good spin, and let it do its thing.”

Before Starfire could overthink the instructions, she demonstrated them without hesitation. She began by declaring her intention clearly;

“Change Starfire to Celestia!”

Once that was done, she placed her left index finger on the center carving and used just enough force to make it spin like the wheel from a certain word puzzle game show, only without the loud spinning noise and fabulous prizes. It took about five seconds for the spinning to end, letting the carving sit sideways in front of Celestia’s eyes. One second later, the artifact was covered in red magical energy that glowed and sparkled for a moment before it spread out from the top of the item with the speed of a bullet. It careened through the sky and directly onto Starfire before he could even blink. It slowly spread throughout his body, which produced a warm sensation that he would have found easy to relax into if it weren’t for what he knew was going to happen.

No turning back now.

He kept his breathing steady, trusting that the Principal and Vice-Principal would honor the promise they had made the day before. Soon enough, the magic was covering his entire body. For a few seconds, nothing else happened. The young man had a quick thought that this artifact was not working, only for it to be proven incorrect in a most intense fashion. His vision was instantly covered by a blinding light for what felt to him like an eternity, even though it was only for a second or two. To Luna and Celestia, that light had exploded from within his body, obscuring it from sight as the magic did its work. Once finished, the light vanished along with the energy, revealing a sight that, to the average person, would have been absolutely outlandish. Starfire took a moment to let his vision settle itself along with his mind. For some reason, he felt a tad taller than usual. Once he looked over at Celestia and the artifact, however, he remembered why he was here. With a gasp that revealed a voice that was not his, he darted over to the bathroom. Once there, he gazed at the mirror, only to see… Celestia! The artifact had done exactly as the Principal and Vice-Principal had claimed: Starfire had become Celestia! The first thing he really took in was the size difference. His boss was always taller than him, after all, so this took some getting used to. Along with everything else about this transformation, to be sure! The second thing he took in was his, or rather, her face. It was one thing to see it everyday, it was another to have it! So, he had gotten a fresh perspective on Celestia’s facial appearance. He already knew this before, but now, it was clearer than ever that she looked beautiful. Her, or rather, his eyes were wide with shock as his mind tried to process the sight before him. Her hands were now his, along with the rest of her limbs. Goodness, that artifact had even gotten the hair right! As he looked over his new appearance, another fact became clear: he was still wearing his actual clothes, which felt understandably tight-fitting. Thankfully, the size change was not so extreme as to destroy his shoes, but he could still feel how strained and stretched they were. As he tried, and failed, to get accustomed to their tightness, not to mention his new body, the real Celestia had walked up behind him and told him with patience in her voice and smile;

“Take your time, my faithful assistant.”

She winked at him playfully while adding with a hint of excitement;

“When you’re ready, you get to watch me go through this too.”

Once Starfire had gotten a good sense of how his new body looked, he returned to the living room where Celestia and Luna stood. After dealing with Luna’s barely contained laughter at the sight of him wearing clothing that could barely fit him at best, they helped him get one of Celestia’s spare set of work clothes. He ran back to the bathroom, switched outfits, and returned to find that Luna, to his relief, had calmed down. With that done, the Vice-Principal was given the artifact by her older sister, who looked quite excited over what was about to happen. Luna was too, mainly because she was going to be one to start the process. After taking a few steps back, she raised the item up to her face with her right hand and declared aloud;

“Turn Celestia into Starfire!”

She gave the artifact’s carving a good spin and watched as the magic inside of it fired out again, this time at Celestia, and did its work. It took a few seconds for the process to finish, allowing Luna and Starfire to gaze at the Principal’s new appearance. Now, the assistant towered over his boss, who now bore his original size and body, her clothing now clearly too loose-fitting for her. It looked, to Starfire, as if a tall teenager was trying to masquerade as an older, taller adult. He had to stifle his urge to chuckle to remain polite. Celestia slowly walked over to the bathroom mirror to check herself out. While he himself was stunned by his own transformation, hers had driven her to giggle at the humorousness of it all;

“Oh, it is a good thing that we can keep our minds!”, she exclaimed with mirth while feeling her new hair, which was noticeably shorter and less prominent in color than her original style. Starfire could hear Luna almost letting herself guffaw outloud of the hilarity that was her sister as he made sure to double-check that he did, indeed, still have his own mind. He did this by thinking of something that only he would know to think;

“Hinkle-thinkle-dinkle-doo. I’ve got a lovely bunch of scientific theories for you.”

Relief poured into his being when he became certain that his mind was his own. He also suspected that a certain lavender student with the biggest brain he had ever seen would appreciate that thought of his.

Once Celestia had become adjusted to her new face, she had switched over to a more comfortable men’s outfit that, apparently, she had acquired beforehand. The trio then came together in the living room once more, this time to plan out the day ahead. Luna took the lead on this with a voice of well-versed authority;

“Given how frequently the two of you have worked together, it is reasonable to assume that you can at least pretend to be each other?”

Celestia and Starfire nodded intently before she explained further;

“That will make keeping up appearances easier on us. However, let us not forget that Starfire here works in his office during school hours and only shows up in our offices when we need his services. This is typically when students are not in the halls.”

The assistant, with Celestia’s feminine voice, added to Luna’s point;

“Which means that most of the student body does not know about me.”

A realization had struck him, one that could pose a problem for him and Celestia;

“So, if students suddenly start seeing me in the halls…”, he began to note with concern in his voice. Celestia, with his masculine voice, finished for him;

“That would rouse curiosity in them at best.”

“Suspicion at worst.”, noted Luna before she took a breath to prepare herself to address the elephant in the room, or rather, the pony. She glared at the recently transformed Celestia when she spoke again;

“Going back to the ‘pretending’ aspect of this plan of ours, a certain former queen bee will no doubt catch any deviances in my sister’s behavior.”

Both Starfire and Celestia knew precisely who she was referring to. It was the latter who name dropped this person with a sigh;

“Sunset.”

Starfire’s memories of that girl came flooding back like a river of foolish mistakes and magical triumphs. Sunset Shimmer: a senior in Canterlot High. Rhythm guitarist of the Sonic Rainbooms band. Once the wrathful terror of CHS, now a veritable treasure of the school who was beloved by her peers. She was smart, empathetic, known for having anger issues…

And, much to the young man’s dismay, notably perceptive.

Luna elaborated on her point with calm seriousness;

“Sunset is quite familiar with the mannerisms Celestia exhibits on a typical school day. Any perceivable change in them is liable to rouse suspicion in her.”

She glared at Starfire before telling him;

“It is of great importance that you emulate such mannerisms well enough to satisfy her discerning eyes during your time as my sister.”

Tempting as it was to ask Celestia and Luna why they hadn’t brought this up before anyone transformed, Starfire felt it best to not poke and prod on that potentially temperamental bear for now. He told Luna honestly;

“I understand, ma’am.”

With that settled, Celestia began explaining with an excited grin;

“Okay then, let’s plan out how we’ll handle the day-to-day work. There are no meetings or surprise visits from higher-level staff today, so we won’t have to worry about, let’s say, a visit from Superintendent Neighsay…”

The three adults went on to discuss and agree upon their plan before it was time to get to the school.

Before he knew it, Starfire, as Celestia, was sitting at her desk in her office with Luna standing to his right. Celestia, and Starfire, was already preparing for work in his own office. The morning bell was not set to ring for another five minutes. By this point, the new Principal was nearly ready to get started, with Luna explaining a few more details before the bell could ring;

“The morning announcements are written on the paper you’ll find in the drawer under the desk’s left side. Celestia made sure to prepare them ahead of time, which is-.”

“One of the things she always does before the morning bell.”, Starfire habitually finished. Upon realizing that he had interrupted Luna, he covered his mouth with worried eyes. She responded to this with a soothing grin and encouraging words;

“It’s okay, you understand how Celestia handles things. That will serve you well during the day’s events.”

Hearing this calmed his nerves, allowing him to smile right back. With that, she went right back to explaining things while pointing at the small speaker and mic on the table;

“The microphone has two buttons on its stand. Push and hold the red button to speak through every speaker in the school that’s connected to the PA system. Push and hold the black button only when someone speaks to you from their end, so that only they can hear you respond.”

Starfire remembered seeing how Celestia used the mic and its buttons, but this was a good refresher for him regardless. He nodded in silence as his partner went on;

“As a reminder, do be careful when dealing with Diamond Tiara. I know, she has not bullied anyone for quite some time, but the last thing we want is to face the wrath of her mother.”

“Who just so happens to be a Canterlot School District board member and one of the school’s investors.”, the new Principal added solemnly while thanking his lucky stars that Diamond was far less antagonistic than she was during her Freshman Year. That should make it easy for him to avoid inciting Spoiled Rich’s financially-backed fury. Before he and Luna could speak further, the morning bell rang, which meant that it was time for Starfire to make his first morning rounds through the school. He stood up, moved around the desk, and was about to take his leave when Luna called out to him;

“One more thing!”

He turned around to face her. She was giving him a neutral expression at first, only for it to melt into a smile as she declared with confidence;

“Have a pleasant day… Principal.”

He showed her a confident grin in return while responding as professionally as he could to hide his growing glee;

“I say the same to you… Vice-Principal.”

He then turned to face the door and walked through it, ready to take whatever CHS could throw at him.

Chapter 3 - Prying Shimmering Eyes

One of the duties of CHS’s Principal was one that was shared with a few other staff members: the early morning patrol. This patrol had two objectives to fulfill. The first was to look for troublemakers and interrupt their poor behavior. The second and more enjoyable goal was to greet and check in with the students who show up early. The idea was to both catch delinquents who think they were being sneaky and maintain the healthy rapport between the students and staff that helped to keep the school running smoothly. There was, after all, no sense in letting students and teachers get at each other’s throats. Starfire knew perfectly well what could happen if the students started giving each other Tartarus.

“It was a VERY good thing I had called in sick before the Musical Showcase got hijacked!”, Starfire thought to himself with a shudder whilst he walked down the halls. He kept his eyes and ears open for any sign of trouble or someone to greet. Occasionally, he would see another teacher making their rounds as well. He would wave at them politely while keeping his pace steady in the hopes of keeping up appearances and avoiding a potentially awkward conversation.

He knew that Celestia would always wave at her fellow staff when passing them by, usually with a smile.

During his walk, he couldn’t help but think back to how the Battle of the Bands had been resolved;

“Sunset really pulled through for her friends that night. For all of us. I almost wish I was there to see the Rainbooms’ victory live…”

One short chuckle later and he clarified to himself;

“Well, almost.”

He was just lost in thought enough to almost miss the young lady walking in front of him. Thankfully, he managed to stop himself in time for her to stop as well. The two looked at each other in surprise for a moment before the lady spoke with a demeanor that was genuinely friendly from head to toe;

“Good morning, Principal Celestia!”

Starfire could recognize this specific student in a heartbeat: Twilight Sparkle. Specifically, the former Crystal Prep student who was now a beloved Wondercolt. He was well aware of her vast intellect and nigh-insatiable curiosity, traits he found to be quite respectable. After all, he too had plenty of smarts. Just then, he remembered something that inflamed his nerves considerably: he was warned about Twilight by Luna earlier that morning!

While Twilight Sparkle may sometimes be too preoccupied with intellectual matters for her own good, her analytical mind is quite capable of recognizing clear deviances from known patterns. Be careful when around her.

If that girl wasn’t a total bookworm, she would be just as much of a problem for Starfire as Sunset, who was, thankfully, not with her at the time! Using his best take at Celestia’s own friendly expression that he had committed to memory, he hid his nervousness and answered with polite positivity;

“Good morning to you too, Twilight Sparkle!”

Before he could return to his walk, Twilight declared with growing excitement all over her face;

“How can it not be good? We’re only a couple of short months away from graduation!”

With quick gleeful hops in place, she added while her smile grew larger by the second;

“Oh, I’m so glad to be so close to graduating with top marks! I’ve learned so much in CHS and I’m happy to have made sure the school never wasted its time on me!”

He would have to be some kind of a fool to not notice her concern when it was so transparent, in spite of her genuine happiness. After hearing about what Crystal Prep’s former Principal had done to the budding scientist, he always wanted to help her in some small way. With one of Celestia’s warm glares aimed right at the student, he placed his right hand on her left shoulder gently, which stopped her bouncing. She looked back up in confusion for a moment, but seeing the warmth on the Principal’s face brought out from her a smile of her own. Starfire, sensing the moment, told her truthfully;

“I have not met anyone who was a waste of the school’s time or mine, my faithful student.”

‘My faithful student’... Starfire remembered that this was what Celestia would call a student. It was mainly to compliment them for their fine work and behavior. She rarely did this, not over some ridiculously high standards, but simply to make sure that the phrase never lost the positive effect it had on the students. He watched as that same effect took hold of Twilight Sparkle. A sign of this was her smile becoming an ear-to-ear beaming grin combined with sparkling eyes. After quickly shaking her head to get her thoughts in order, she responded with a sweetness in her voice that Starfire had to resist gushing over;

“Thank you, ma’am… thank you.”

Whatever concerns Twilight had carried into the conversation were cast to the winds, that much Starfire could tell from her voice alone. Before he could gracefully part ways to settle his nerves and continue his duties, another feminine voice gave off a respectful chuckle from behind him before noting;

“Thanks for helping Twi out, Principal. She was really nervous on the phone earlier today, so she needed a good pep talk!”

It was all Starfire could do to hide his growing terror behind Celestia’s smile. Of all of the students to show up early, why did it have to be her? She was a late sleeper, for crying out loud! With calm professionalism that was surprisingly well-acted, given the situation, he turned around to face the owner of the voice. Twilight moved past him to greet her friend as he did this. After seeing that faux-leather jacket, there was no doubt in his mind that it was her.

Sunset Shimmer had arrived!

The transformed assistant to the real Principal felt his nerves shoot up to the sky upon seeing Sunset, who looked to be in high spirits as she gazed at the pair with her hands placed on her hips. The only things keeping him from sweating were his acting ability and the fact that she showed no signs of suspicion.

“Get a grip on yourself, Stafire!”, he thought to himself in an attempt to maintain his composure, only for Sunset to unintentionally make things worse for him by walking towards him and Twilight, her decorative black boots echoing throughout the hall with each step. In spite of his predicament, he would not let himself drop the act so easily.

“Be like Celestia!”, he declared in his mind, which helped him focus on the task at hand. He gave Celestia’s traditional warm glare a little more power as he greeted Sunset with polite friendliness;

“Ah, Sunset Shimmer! I did not expect to see you so early.”

She gave him that sideways smirk that used to be a prelude to disaster, once upon a time. Now, it was a sign that the former bad girl was in the mood for a friendly conversation. She replied to Starfire, or rather, Celestia, in an upbeat fashion;

“I don’t blame you, since I normally sleep in a bit before going to school.”

“More like you show up mere minutes before being late.”, he dryly corrected in his head while listening to Sunset speak further;

“But, I decided to give getting up early a fair shot before face-planting my pillow again.”

For a brief moment, Sunset had raised her right eyebrow while gazing at Starfire, as if she had noticed something odd about him. When he caught this, he suddenly became intensely aware of the drop of sweat that was running down the right side of his face. But, before either of them could do anything about this, they were stopped by a proud Twilight. She looked right at Sunset with a joyful expression and exclaimed happily;

“Oh, Sunset. Soon, you too will see the benefits referenced by that age-old saying…”

She raised her right index finger to the ceiling and recited with perfect accuracy;

“Early to bed and early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

Starfire could not resist chuckling over the sheer adorkableness that was Twilight Sparkle, so he used polite restraint to hide most of his mirth and keep up his performance. Internally, he was thanking her for the timely, if unintended, assistance. Sunset gave her pal a supportive smirk while countering with a hint of sass;

“Let’s see how well that saying holds up when my brain rebels against me.”

Right then and there, Twilight started suggesting to her multiple healthy methods of combat said mental rebellion, which gave Starfire the chance to turn around and quietly leave. Thankfully, he managed to do so on the first try, long enough to use a left-hand turn in the hallway to get out of sight before Sunset could remember what she had discovered. He kept on walking for a bit longer to make sure he was out earshot. If Twilight wasn’t there, he would have been caught, of that he was certain! He really needed to recover from facing Sunset, of all people, so early on in the day. Performing his patrol seemed like a good way to do just that. But, before he could even reach the library, he heard three sets of steps coming towards him at a breakneck pace from behind. He was about to look behind him to see who it was when he heard a distinctly young southern drawl that he recognized within seconds;

“Howdy, Principal!”

“Just keep on walking, Star. You can talk with them as you walk.”, he suggested to himself while keeping his nerves from getting out of line. He knew that voice well and, combined with the steps, could only mean one thing: the Canterlot Movie Club had also come to school early! Apple Bloom, the source of the drawl, fast-walked up to Starfire’s right side, with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle going up to his left. Remembering that these were kids, he greeted them while keeping his eyes on the hallway path before him;

“It’s good to see you three this morning. How are your families doing?”

He figured that the topic of family was a good way to make conversation with the CMCs without raising any alarm bells. This worked out well, for Apple Bloom exclaimed with pride;

“My family’s doin’ just fine, though we’re pretty busy right now! The Spring Harvest is comin’ up and oh Nelly, we’re movin’ left, right, and center just to get everythin’ ready!”

Sweetie Belle chimed in excitedly with that little squeak in her voice that Starfire always found to be too cute to exist, even though it did;
“Rarity and I are gonna have our own karaoke night tonight at home. It’s gonna be so much fun!”

Whilst he held back the urge to gush uncontrollably, Scootaloo explained with gusto and joy;

“Rainbow Dash is gonna teach me how to practice Yoga! That girl can make anything awesome just by doing it! It’s like her awesomeness spreads around, you know?”

Starfire couldn’t help but respect Scootaloo’s heartfelt admiration of Rainbow Dash, as it reminded him of his own feelings concerning Celestia. She was his idol, after all. Before long, the CMCs took a turn away from him after waving goodbye, allowing him to finish his morning patrol without any more surprise encounters.

After that, there were more matters for the Principal to attend to before lunch: the morning announcements via the PA system, budget talks, conversations with visiting students, check-ins with Luna and some of the staff, and so forth. Thanks to Celestia’s new duties as the assistant, she was there to help Starfire whenever possible. Her help may not have come frequently, but it was certainly beneficial to him. As if by luck or fate, however, it was during those times when he was alone that he either ran into Sunset or felt like he was being watched from afar. Whenever he tried to investigate that feeling, all he got was either no evidence at all or, in one case, several strands of red and yellow hair resting at the end of a hall opposite him. It was during lunch that Celestia was reciting to him his schedule, which she was reading on a carefully ripped notebook page that was in her hands;

“After lunch hour, you’ll have to work with Ms. Cheerilee to go through this month's list of recommended books. Most of the students will be in class around this time, so you won’t be disturbed too much. After that, you and Luna will deal with any troublemakers that you haven’t talked to yet. That would be Rainbow Dash in this case. Also-.”

Starfire raised his right hand up to Celestia, who stood to his right, and said;

“Before we proceed further, let’s address the bacon-haired elephant in the room.”

Celestia, with a smirk, pointed out;

“Don’t you mean ‘pony in the room’?”

This wasn’t the best time for a joke and he knew that. Still, Starfire couldn’t help but chuckle a tiny bit before responding with a serious tone;

“You know what I mean. Every time I meet Sunset, she always catches something on me that gets her curious. A drop of sweat, a short stutter, quickness of breath, that sort of thing.”

His assistant dropped the smirk and added calmly;

“Yes, and it was a good thing she was prevented from satisfying her curiosity by one thing or another each time. Still…”

“Luck can run out, I know.”, noted Starfire. With a sigh, he explained further;

“It wouldn’t surprise me if she has been keeping an eye on me whenever she reasonably can.”

He looked over at Celestia and commented with a well-meaning smile;

“I’d say she truly cares about you.”

His counterpart could not help but smile back with a warmth that seemed to come directly from the sun. Before either of them could talk some more, a knock on the door got their attention. A second later, a young lady spoke from outside of the office. Much to Starfire’s surprise, this voice was that of a kid that carried with it a hint of snobbery that was clearly being restrained with impunity;

“Principal Celestia, may I come in please?”

Celestia quietly hid in Luna’s office, but not before giving Starfire a thumbs up. Once she was hidden, he called for the lady to enter;

“Yes, you may come in.”

The door to the Principal’s Office opened, revealing a nervous Diamond Tiara as she slowly walked up to Starfire’s desk.

Chapter 4 - A Diamond’s Heart and A Twist of the Mind

Starfire, frankly, had hoped to not have to deal with Diamond Tiara. Sure, she was seemingly on the path of redemption and he respected her for that. Even so, he really didn’t want to risk bringing the wrath of her mother down on the school’s head if he could help it. Right now, however, he had to deal with the rich kid, who was twiddling her thumbs while sitting on the chair that he had placed in front of his desk earlier. Just then, he had a thought that stopped his nerves from rising too high;

“Obscenely rich and cold-hearted mother aside, Diamond Tiara is still a student in CHS and she clearly needs my help!”

With a slow breath to keep himself focused on the task at hand, he asked the nervous girl with a voice filled with honest concern;

“What’s the matter, Diamond? Something is clearly bothering you.”

She looked up at him with regretful eyes and told him with a soft voice;

“Principal Celestia… I need your advice on something important.”

Advice… yes, that was doable for Starfire! Nerve-wracking, but doable! With a caring smile, he responded sweetly;

“I’m happy to give some words of wisdom. Now…”
He asked with a more serious tone;

“What’s on your mind?”

Relief filled Diamond’s eyes and face as she explained herself;

“As you’ve noticed by now… I’ve been trying to not be that…”

She expressed a soft growl that was barely above a whisper in terms of volume while looking quite agitated before speaking again;

“Loathsome girl who bullied kids lower than her on the social ladder.”

Her vocal tone further emphasized how frustrated she was with her old self. Starfire felt for that young lady and listened intently as she went on, regret returning to her face with a vengeance;

“While I have done good things for a lot of the students I once bullied, there are three that I haven’t made things right with yet…”

She closed her eyes before admitting;

“Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.”

The young man knew exactly who she was talking about before she uttered their names. Thanks to his job as an assistant to the Principal, he was well aware of Diamond's checkered middle-school history with the CMCs. Out of all of the kids she had wronged both back then and in Freshman Year, it was those three she had hurt the most. Starfire really felt for her at that moment. With a breath, Diamond spoke further while giving him a saddened yet determined glare;

“I want to be good to them. I want to let them know that I want to be their friend, not their enemy. It’s just… hard to bring myself to talk with them, you know? After everything I did to those three in middle-school, I’m worried I might make them sad or angry with me all over again. That I might…”

She sniffed back her tears before they could leave her eyes;

“That I might hurt them again…”

Starfire could not let this sadness slide. Yes, it was true that Principals, and school staff in general, had to avoid playing favorites. But, he knew that there were times when a student, any student, would need comfort. Especially when they were emotionally vulnerable.

This was one such time.

He carefully walked over to a crying Diamond Tiara from his desk, got down on his right knee, and hugged her gently. Perhaps out of instinct, she wrapped her arms around him as she sobbed. It took her a whole two minutes to recover. After the hug was released and she quietly thanked him, he returned to his desk and waited patiently for her to resettle herself. He took this moment to think of the best advice he could give her;

“What would Celestia say to this little one?” he thought to himself. The answer came to him within moments. Once Diamond recovered, he told her with an encouraging grin;

“Based on what I know, you have already taken those first tentative steps on the road to self-improvement: recognizing your problem and working towards bettering yourself. That is far more than what I can say about the average bully, regardless of their social status.”

The rich girl allowed a smile to form on her face as he added two simple yet important questions to his response;

“How can you say that you’ll go back to being a bully when you have worked hard on being somebody else? When we both know that you’ll keep trying no matter how difficult things get?”

He could see the gears turning in her head through her facial expression, which went from being wide-eyed to filled with realization before her smile started to beam with renewed confidence. She giggled a little before telling Starfire;

“Thank you. I guess I needed to hear that.”

He chuckled politely before asking Diamond;

“Will that be all?”

She nodded her head and gave him a polite goodbye;

“Thank you again. I’ll be on my way.”

The repentant young lady turned to walk away while adjusting her namesake, which was a tad crooked on her head. Before she could leave, however, the ‘Principal’ called out to her after getting a nice idea;

“One more thing, Diamond Tiara.”

She turned around to face Starfire, who requested to her with a big smile filled with goodwill;

“Give my regards to Silver Spoon. I’m sure she’ll get well soon.”

After giving him a grateful nod, Diamond walked out of the office and closed the door behind her. After a few minutes of peaceful paperwork tackling, He heard another knock on the door. Soon enough, Sunset Shimmer, much to his internalized dismay, had entered the office. She expressed a most serious look as she walked up to his desk with purpose in every step. To Starfire, an old Wondecolt, this was either a sign of good things to come or a portent of magical disaster. Now more than ever, he thought it best to handle whatever was going to happen cautiously.

One mistake and suddenly, she would start demanding him to tell her where the real Celestia was!

With a calm breath, he asked her politely;

“What brings you to my office, Sunset Shimmer?”

After sitting down on the chair before the desk, she answered with an exasperated sigh;

“A magical problem, Principal.”

Just as he feared. Starfire’s appreciation for having a whole band’s worth of magic-powered students in the school grew three sizes that day. He held in his growing panic well enough to maintain the calm demeanor that he was putting up. Sunset elaborated further;

“I got word from Trixie Lulamoon that, apparently, her ‘great and powerful mind’ was moved into someone else’s head without her knowledge or consent.”

Okay, Starfire knew that was multiple levels of wrong! Containing his growing disgust, he inquired with concern in my voice;

“Whose head did Trixie’s mind get moved into?”

“Bulk Biceps’,” was Sunset’s simple and direct answer, which was delivered with a slightly unnerving deadpan tone. Just then, the door was violently shoved open by Bulk Biceps, or rather, Trixie! Her newly acquired massive mass of muscle had nearly bonked Sunset on her back by accident, but she was able to get out of the way in time. Trixie gave Starfire a look of horror and frustration as she yelled out in Bulk’s masculine voice;

“The Great and Powerful Trrrrixie demands that her gloriously powerful mind be returned to her proper magnificent body this instant!”

Just then, the door flew open once more, thanks to Trixie, or rather, Bulk Biceps. He ran up to Trixie’s left side and, with Trixie’s feminine voice, yelled at Starfire out of confusion and panic;

“When I said I wanted to get to know Trixie this is NOT what I had in mind!”

“The Understanding and Friendly Trrrrixie does not blame you, Bulk Biceps!” Trixie told him in an attempt to calm him down. She then gave Sunset a death glare that the acting Principal would never have expected to see from Bulk Bicep’s face and demanded while pointing her thick index finger at the taken aback former bad girl;

“Explain this madness, Sunset Shimmer!”

After taking a quick breath, Sunset replied with an annoyed tone;

“I would if I could. Did any of you see anything magical when your brains got switched? A glowing light? A floating wisp?”

The two shook their heads. Starfire was about ready to get a magic-induced headache when Trixie gasped before noting;

“Trixie did see something glow!”

All eyes were on the stage magician as she explained;

“Bulk was holding onto one of his rulers during Math class when he offered it to Trixie. Seeing the tool as useful for my homework assignment, Trixie took it into her hand. It glowed a white light that covered my eyes and…”

Everyone in the room connected the dots from there, which prompted Sunset to ask with restrained nervousness;

“Is Math class still underway?”

Bulk answered in a much calmer voice;

“No, it had just ended, but I think we dropped the ruler when we panicked.”

This was all the encouragement the group needed to make a run for that Math class. Trixie and Bulk led them to their destination, which was a classroom that seemed quiet enough to be empty. At least, it was, until they heard the soft whimpers of a young lady. Sunset, ever the good sort, slowly opened the classroom door and walked inside before anyone else could react. Starfire followed behind her. It didn’t take long for them to find the ruler, which rested on the floor of the room a few steps away from the door. Soon enough, an audible sniff diverted their attention to two girls who were sitting together at a desk. One of them, seemingly Wallflower Blush, was clearly comforting who appeared to be Apple Bloom, the little one’s tears staining the desk as she laid the right side of her head on it. Her pink bow was as droopy as her mood. Wallflower looked up at Starfire and Sunset as the rest of the group filed in. Her large eyes filled with genuine worry, she declared to them with her best take on a certain southern drawl;

“Howdy, ya’ll.”

It took the group all of two seconds to figure out who was who. After helping Wallflower recover from her sadness enough to speak, the others heard her address Sunset directly while looking her square in the eyes with a most regretful glare and sorrow in her voice;

“If the universe wanted to make me pay for the Memory Stone, then it succeeded.”

The poor girl got a group hug within seconds after that. After talking with both affected students, it became clear to everyone as to what had happened. After Bulk Biceps and Trixie had gotten their minds switched, they ran out of the classroom in a panic. Apple Bloom had caught sight of Bulk dropping the magic-powered ruler and went to grab it. Her intent was to get it to Sunset before it could be used for ill deeds. But, as fate would have it, Wallflower had just returned from the bathroom and had accidentally touched the ruler with her arm as she walked past Apple Bloom while it was still held in the kid’s hands. The resulting mind-swap had rendered the gardener shocked, mortified, and tear-stricken, but that didn’t stop the young Apple from trying to help her.

“It was all Ah could do to keep her from spiralin’ too far down, ya’ll," Apple Bloom, in Wallflower’s body, said while holding what was once her own left hand with her friend’s right. She looked down at her with worry in her eyes, only to see Wallflower look up at her with a grateful expression and a tiny grin. She told her young friend truthfully and with a slight bounce in the Apple’s pink bow;

“Thank you for being there for me. You helped more than you realize.”

Hearing that caused Apple Bloom to let out a big and bright smile that was rarely shown by Wallflower's face under normal circumstances. Starfire looked over at each of the other students. Sunset was giving the little Apple a look of pride. Bulk Biceps and Trixie were doing the same, while the latter had also given the gardener a quick supportive glance that she took notice of rather quickly. That, in Starfire’s mind, would explain her grin growing just a little bit more. He couldn’t help but feel proud of Apple Bloom for helping Wallflower as well. She, like her two best friends, had grown tremendously during their time in CHS. Then again, every Wondercolt had grown over the years, and he was proud to have seen much of that growth himself.

With the emotional distress resolved, the group went to work on figuring out how to undo the magical mind-swap. Sunset made it a point to stash the ruler in a nearby desk drawer and hold vigil over it to keep it from causing more havoc. With the threat temporarily contained, Trixie asked while standing in the classroom;

“Okay, so how are we going to get Trixie’s and Bulk’s minds back into their proper bodies?”

The students and Starfire pondered the question for a few seconds before Wallflower suggested in a soft voice riddled with nervousness;

“Well, if two people touching the ruler at the same time was what caused you to switch minds… maybe touching it again will switch them back?”

All eyes were on the plant-lover, who had to fight back the urge to roll herself up into a ball out of fear. Sunset’s response would ease that fear;

“Magic can be straightforward from time to time, maybe it will be in this case?”

Stafire could count on Sunset Shimmer to be the voice of reason in a crisis. Very much like Celestia, now that he thought about it. After getting affirmative nods from the others, she pulled the ruler out from the desk drawer and carefully placed it on a student’s desk in the room. Trixie and Bulk Biceps walked up to the desk from both sides. The stage magician was the first one to slowly grab the ruler, with the muscleman doing the same after a moment’s hesitation. One flash of glowing white light later and the deed was done. It was just a matter of checking if it worked as the group hoped. Trixie held her face with both hands, which her, thankfully, truly hers. Bulk celebrated by flexing his newly reclaimed jacked arms while yelling out;

“YEAH!”

Trixie was just as thrilled. With a well-practiced twirl and a pose dramatic enough to fit her ego, she declared with more pride than Rainbow Dash could brag about having;

“Behold, friends! The Great and Powerful Trrrrixie is back in her beautiful and glorious body!”

After that, Apple Bloom and Wallflower returned their minds to their proper bodies as quickly as they could. It was hard to tell who was more overjoyed over having their body back, given that the young farmer was square dancing in celebration while the gardener was hugging Sunset with all of her heart. With the crisis resolved , Sunset grabbed the ruler after it was placed on the desk again as soon as she was released from Wallflower’s vice grip, walked over to a relieved Starfire, and said;

“I’m going to stuff this ruler in my backpack until school is out. After that, I’ll take it to Twilight’s house, so that she can carefully study it.”

Starfire thought about her suggestion for a solid few seconds. Sure, as Celestia, he had the authority to have it confiscated without triggering the mindswap. But, Sunset Shimmer and her friends were more experienced with magic than he was, so he felt it wise to adhere to her good judgment. With a grin, he replied;

“Very well. I will leave this item in you and your friends’ hands. I hope Twilight finds useful information in her research.”

As if there was any doubt in his mind that she would. The former Shadowbolt was remarkably smart and a thorough researcher to boot, after all. Soon enough, Starfire was back in his office, sitting at his desk for a moment before using the mic and PA system to make a school-wide announcement;

“Attention students and staff: an unexplainable incident occurred after one of our Math classes earlier today. It has been investigated and resolved thanks to everyone involved. However, if any of you have seen or experienced such an incident at any point today, do not hesitate to send word to Vice-Principal Luna, myself, and any other trusted Wondercolt who can help you. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your day.”

The announcement was as carefully worded as any other announcement made by Celestia or Luna that concerned magical mishaps. The students and staff knew that hearing of an ‘unexplainable incident’ meant that magic was afoot and the use of the phrase ‘any other trusted Wondercolt’ referred to those who have history with magic, such as the Rainbooms. New students and most visitors would not know to read between the lines, thus magic being a thing was made easier to keep a secret. Starfire never could figure out how the rest of the world hadn’t found out about it yet, especially when he considered the large, loud, and powerfully visible Rainbow Lasers that were used at least three times by the school’s beloved band.

Thankfully for his nerves, the rest of the day went by without further incident. Rainbow Dash, compared to Gilda, handled her conversation with Starfire quite well. She was honest about her earlier altercation with her former friend, held no regrets for defending herself, and was willing to take any punishment Luna and Starfire could throw at her. After taking a moment to convene amongst themselves, it was agreed upon by the pair that Rainbow would not be punished too harshly. She had used self-defense and with restraint, when going by Gilda’s lack of injuries. So, she would not be punished for that. She would, however, be punished for goading her former friend into a fight via insult. A few days to a week in detention, depending on her behavior, would suffice. Before Starfire knew it was coming, the final bell had rung while he, Luna, and Celestia had just finished the final bit of paperwork together. They gave each other knowing grins as they paused their work for a moment before getting back to it. They knew that they still had after-school duties to do as well. As if Starfire was blessed by the universe to have a peaceful rest of his day, performing those duties was relatively painless for him. Checking on the clubs’ activities, doing one last sweep of the halls for any troublemakers (none this time), talking about the day’s events with other staff in the Teacher’s Lounge, taking part in phone call meetings with staff from other schools, that sort of thing. Starfire had Luna and Celestia there with him while performing many of these tasks. Checking the clubs he had to do without Celestia to keep up appearances, but even that was a breeze. Doing these duties gave him time to think on the day and what it had brought him;

“Man, this was a wild and challenging experience at times and this was just one day…”

Soon enough, he found himself back in Celestia’s house, with its owner and her sister standing in her living room together. Luna was holding onto the artifact that started this strange day in her right hand. Celestia, with a smile aimed right at her assistant, asked him calmly;

“So, how did it feel to be the Principal of our school?”

Starfire thought about this for a moment before he began to laugh in Celestia’s voice. The laughter was jovial and not at all mean-spirited, a fact that both sisters approved of. After calming down, he declared to them both with calm surety;

“I know I’ll be ready to become a Principal full-time one day. This whole experience has proven that much.”

The two looked on at him with pride in their smiles as he went on with sheepish chuckle;

“But, I don’t think I’m ready for it today. It’s a stressful enough job as it is, but if you throw magic into the mix, you get a profession that is uniquely stressful!”

With a chuckle of her own, Celestia responded sweetly;

“It is true that my job provides me with challenges both common and unique. While I understand that you may not feel ready to be some school’s Principal yet, you have proven to be capable of handling such challenges with professionalism, consideration, and grace.”

To have been praised by his boss and idol was a great honor to Starfire. He could barely contain his bashfulness as she nodded with a wide grin. He then gave the sisters a simple request;

“Could you change us back now, please? I kinda miss my real body.”

With that, the process with the artifact was performed and the transformations reversed. Even though Starfire had gotten his own body back, his short stint as Principal Celestia, and the situations he helped resolve, would stay with him for a long time. After all, one does not easily forget about literally taking a walk in someone else’s shoes.

Author's Note

This story took WAY longer to get done than it should have, but I got it done!

FizzBerry asked for four chapters, so I had to keep the story condensed and briskly paced to compensate. This, combined with my insistence on not writing long chapters, had the unfortunate effect of putting the "Sunset's got her eyes on Starfire/Celestia" plot point off to the side when the magical problem came up. I'd say Starfire lucked out in that regard.

Writing a story that focuses on body transformations (with a side of mind swapping) was a new experience for me. I'm glad I chose to keep it E-rated, because OH BOY, does the topic in question get wild when the rating is higher! Too wild for what I wanted to do in this case.

This was also the first time I wrote for an OC in general. Starfire was very much FizzBerry's creation, I simply worked with what they gave me and expanded on it as needed.

Overall, this was a fun story to write! Again, a big thanks to FizzBerry for the commission!