"You wanted to see me, Principal Celestia?"

Celestia looked up from her desk to find a mildly anxious Sunset Shimmer. "Yes. Please, sit down." She gestured.

The words jumping out of her, "It isn't about anything... different, is it?" She put that special emphasis on their code-word for all things magical--[i]different[/i].

"Not in that way. I called you in because, of all my students at Canterlot High, you are the only one who has not applied for the pre-collegiate examination. Might I ask why?"

Sunset blinked, surprised by the question. She canted her head and shrugged. "Different?"

Celestia didn't hesitate for a moment. "I'm sure that matter can be handled. You'd be surprised the number of, ah, unexplained people in the world." She caught her eyes from narrowing defensively at the thought of some of those individuals.

"That's..." Sunset took a bracing breath. "That's a little surprising, I admit, but that's not all I meant." After a moment with Celestia waiting patiently, she continued, hands fidgeting with her skirt. "I mean, for the four years I've been here, my entire life has been centered on controlling others in petty power displays, learning the basics of friendship, motorcycle repair, and music. I guess I've just been thinking, what am I going to do with the rest of my life?"

Celestia chuckled. "Have you considered pursuing friendship, motor repair, or music?"

A matching chuckle came from deep within Sunset, shaking free some of her nervous tension. Half-joking, "That's a thing I can do?"

"Automotive repair is a major industry, with high demand. Entire technical schools are centered on its instruction. Wages are rarely great, but can support a family."

"Yeah, I don't know..."

"And I shouldn't have to tell you about superstar musicians."

Sunset's face flattened. "The odds of my being a rock star are infinitesimal. I'm mature enough to know better than to aim for that."

Celestia merely shrugged. "You lose all the battles you never fight."

Yielding to temptation, Sunset countered. "Know your enemy and know yourself, and never in a thousand battles will you be defeated."

Celestia laughed, bright and glittering. "Very well done, Sunset. That was most unexpected."

Sunset couldn't tell if Celestia's reaction was honest mirth, surprise, derision, or some combination of the three, but found herself grinning along.

Quickly settling, Celestia continued, "I suggest you re-read his chapter on spies Sunset, and leave it at that. Back to the matter at hand... Is there no way I can convince you to take the placement exam?"

Sunset shrugged, uneasy once again. "You're sure it won't be a problem?"

"I'm certain."

Sunset looked away, chewing on the thought. "I hadn't really thought about... I didn't even ask... talk with..." Abruptly, she looked up at Principal Celestia. "Can I stay with you?"

"What?" For an instant, there was a flash of genuine surprise.

"I'm sorry, that was..." She braced herself. "Yes, I would like to move in with you for a while. You may or may not know, but my living arrangement hasn't been... has been different." She looked down again. "At least, I think."

Said with expertly guised horror, "And you want to move in with me?" 

"If, ah, if it's okay with you. All my friends can't exactly take me in, and I thought... It's a thing from where I'm from. But I want to see what normal is like, here."

Celestia vividly recalled the mountain of dishes in the sink, fermenting in the drain. The bath, plaque-yellow from years of neglect. Papers and magazine strewn tempestuously from bookshelf to floor, with thin rivers of carpet visible beneath. The menagerie of liquor bottles holding their own soiree on any available kitchen surface. Her laundry draped everywhere her paperwork was not. The box of unmentionables from when that strapping young Apple man, the other night...

Celestia smiled, and looked straight into Sunset's expectant gaze. "I'll think about it."