Equestria Girls (Nine Elements version): Book 1: Through the Mirror

Written by Brandon Nell, Rachael Ravens, and Blake Hawkins

Chapter 6: Searching for Celeste

“Really?” Twilight asked.

“This morning,” Fauna explained. “I was passing out flyers for the local animal shelter like I do every Wednesday.”

Wednesday? Twilight pondered internally. This world’s dates must be out of sync with Equestria’s. That would explain why it was the first day of winter there, but, somewhere in early fall or late summer here.*

“I was discouraged when no one would pick up a flier from me,” Fauna said. “I slumped against the statue to cry, when all of a sudden, the crown hit me in the back of the head. I didn’t know how it got there, but, I didn’t want anything to happen to it. So, I decided to pick it up and return it to Principal Celeste. Though, strangely, the crown was a little heavier than I thought it’d be. It didn’t feel like plastic. It felt like real metal.”

“Wait a minute,” Twilight said. “Principal Celeste?”

“Yes,” Fauna confirmed. “Principal Celeste Divine. Though, she insists on being called Principal Celeste instead of Principal Divine.”

“I see,” Twilight said. “So, if I was to talk to Principal Celeste, where can I find her?”

“Most likely in her office,” Fauna said. She then gave Twilight a small piece of paper. “You should find it on this map.”

“Thank you, Fauna,” Twilight said gratefully. “I’ll go and see her now.” She was about to make her way to her office, following the map Fauna gave her, but, Fauna stopped her briefly.**

“Wait, please,” Fauna said. “Regarding Spike. You’re really not supposed to have pets on school grounds. You may want to tuck him into your backpack. That’s what I do.” She unzipped her backpack to reveal small animals inside. “They just get so lonely when I’m at school all day.”

“Okay,” Twilight said. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.” She lowered her backpack and unzipped it to let Spike in. She then took a look at the map and realized she didn’t know where she was on it. “Uh, can you point to our location on the map?”

Fauna pointed at a particular point on the map. “We’re right here.”

“Thanks again,” Twilight said.

So, Twilight followed the directions on the map and she found Principal Celeste’s office. She then politely knocked on her door.

“Come in,” said a mature sounding voice. A voice that Twilight knew very well after over a decade of studying its various nuances.

So, Twilight opened the door to the office. She saw a mature woman sitting at her desk. She had light pink skin, her hair was the same distinct prismatic colors that Twilight recognized as Princess Celestia’s mane (though, it remained static as opposed to the cascading she was familiar with), wearing a classy golden yellow blazer, a purple undershirt, matching purple pants, and white loafers.

“Hello,” she greeted. “Are you a new student?”

“Uh, yeah,” Twilight answered. “My name’s Twilight Sparkle. I’m new here and—”

“Welcome to Canterlot High,” Principal Celeste interrupted. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Twilight cleared her throat nervously. “Earlier, Fauna found a crown this morning and gave it to you.”

“Why, yes,” Principal Celeste said. “I have had my sister put it somewhere for safe keeping. I don’t understand how it ended up in the front lawn, though. I assume you’re interested in becoming Princess of the Fall Formal this year?”

“Well, the truth about the crown is that-” Twilight started before she considered. “Princess of the Fall Formal?”

“It’s the first dance of the Canterlot High school year,” Principal Celeste explained. “And as for the princess, students select one of their peers to represent them. Since I’ve noticed that more students vote for female students rather than male students, the title of Princess of the Fall Formal has stuck.”

This explanation made sense to Twilight. “We did something similar at… my old school.”

“Did this school function also have a royal?” Principal Celeste asked.

“Well…” Twilight answered. “Yes, but, she’s not exactly a student.”

“Fascinating,” Principal Celeste said.

“Anyway,” Twilight said. “You had asked me if I was interested in running for Princess. Can anypony run?”

“Anypony?” Celeste asked. “That’s very strange. During my entire tenure as Principal, I’ve known only one other student to use that term over anybody.”

Twilight covered her mouth, realizing her mistake. “Uh, that was something that was popular in my old neighborhood. I guess I hadn’t let that go.” Could this one other student be the Sunset Shimmer from Equestria?

“I see,” Celeste said. “To answer your question, any student can run for the title. You just need to let the head of the Fall Formal Planning Committee know you’d like to be on the ballot.” Celeste seemed to sense that Twilight had lots of unspoken questions. “Was there anything else?”

“Uh, no, that was it,” Twilight answered, feeling she wouldn’t believe the truth if she told her.

Celeste smiled. “Well, if you need anything else, my door is always open.”

Outside in the hallway, Spike popped his head out of the bag. Neither of them noticed a red bird*** silently observing them. “Mom, what are you doing?” he asked. “Why didn’t you just tell her the crown was yours and ask for it back?”

“Spike,” Twilight said. “Do you honestly think she’ll believe that I’m a pony princess from another world and that the crown is actually an important magical relic?” The bird seemed surprised by this information, but, remained quiet all the same.

“Well,” Spike said. “I guess you have a point. I mean, I can barely believe this situation myself.”

“Looks like, if I want to get my crown back,” Twilight said. “I’ll have to become princess of the Canterlot High Fall Formal. So, that’s what I’m going to do.”

“How are you going to do that?” Spike asked.

“I have no idea!” Twilight admitted without changing her determined attitude. Spike covered his face with a paw while the bird did so with her wing.

Author's Note

Here's the next chapter.

*Personal headcanon.

**Reality ensues.

***She'll be important later.

Comments? Questions? Thoughts? You know where to leave them.