Cadence's House

It day had dipped into the evening, the sun had set and the moon had risen, full in cloudless Fall sky as the wind whipped at the trees and rustled the leaves from their branches. The day had begun with a simple move into the neighborhood, Twilight Sparkle; the newest member of the little community of Ponyville commons had never thought that today would end up going the way it did but lo and behold she was wrong and much to her surprise she'd never been happier to be so wrong about something and if there was one thing Twilight didn't like...it was being wrong. She hated being wrong almost as much as she didn't like being tardy or quesadillas...something her big brother teased her about often but she couldn't help it...they were just so...cheesy! It didn't sit well with her at all. She also didn't like things that didn't make sense or had no real scientific explanation, she was a logical being, a critical thinker and as she was told by many; a genius. She was only five years old however was incredibly if not inhumanly smart for her age, having already blown through kindergarten and entered third grade with much older kids. Twilight loved to learn, it was who she was; she loved reading books, studying, increasing her knowledge, testing her brain power by quizzing herself or playing brainteaser games on the tablet daddy got her.

However even with all that; Twilight Sparkle...had no friends. Even when she was in kindergarten the other kids often left her to her own devices or she willingly ignored them and kept to herself for a multitude of reasons. Even with as smart as she was, she was socially awkward, she was shy, she often times overthought or over complicated things that were simple, she had a habit of rambling, she was easily frazzled and so many other little things. Those things often got her made fun of and the center of mockery from the other children; they'd always call her mean and nasty names like dork, geek, nerd, loser, egghead and other such hurtful things that made her even more standoffish towards them and made her believe that her books were her only true friends alongside her big brother best friend forever and her babysitter. After all why would she ever need anyone or anything else with them around right? Shiny was big, strong, reliable, almost as much of a geek as she was, kind, caring and everything a good big brother should be to their little sister and then some; a true knight in shinning armor and worthy of his namesake.

Then there was Mi Amore Cadenzea aka Cadence; her babysitter, the neighborhood 'princess' and to Twilight Sparkle? Her first true friend; Cadence was kind, sweet, smart, funny and above all else she was unconditionally loving. One wouldn't think a 16 year old girl to be capable of such love and affection; most of the teenagers Twilight knew of or had seen were big, mean, rude and loud. Cadence was calm, sweet, caring and while she loved to have fun, be loud and make the kids she looked after smile and laugh she always made sure to keep everyone safe and secure. She carried an aura about her that blanketed any she came across with love and affection, a warm smile that could turn any frown upside down, a gentle touch that could smooth the roughest of edges and a level of elegance that was befitting of a princess. She loved Twilight like a little sister and while Twilight may not have completely understood the concept of being 'in love' she knew she at the very least had a VERY big crush on her brother and vise versa which little Twilight would take every chance to tease them about it but she was never malicious about it of course.

She also had her favorite stuffed dolly Mr.Smarty Pants which was given to her at birth by her mommy and she loved him dearly. He always kept her company when she was alone reading books, kept her safe at night in the darkness of her old big room, listened to her problems about school or life in general and was always there for her to hug and snuggle when she was feeling down.

So with all that Twilight had knowledge which was power, a big strong knight in shining armor to protect her, a princess to love and nurture her, a dolly to play with and share her deepest secrets and imagination with. Why would she need anything else? However now things were different. Twilight for a time thought herself above making friends since other kids seemed so insistent on being mean when she was just being the girl she was at heart, it wasn't her fault after all...mommy and daddy said on the very first day of school...just be yourself and that's what she always did.

However as she sat around the big round living room with a plate of pizza in one hand and a soda in the other hand, Twilight continued to look a little nervous; she'd had slumber parties with Cadence before and they had a usual routine they stuck too but things were different now; there were all these other girls here and while she knew Rainbow and Fluttershy a little bit she knew nothing about all the other girls.

'What should I do? Should I talk to them? Ask them questions? What if they make fun of me for asking too many questions? What if they laugh at me? What if-' Twilight began to overthink and panic and of course Cadence read her better than any book and caught onto her facial cues.

"Twily? You alright there ladybug?" Cadence asked patting Twilight on the shoulder

"W-Whuh?" Twilight asked snapping out of her stupor.

"You spaced out a little bit ladybug; we were all about to play a game after we eat and wanted to know if you had any suggestions."

"Yeah Twily! I suggested hide and go seek!" Pinkie said bouncing in place on the floor while nomming on her pizza

"Oh, oh, oh Cady! I brought my N64; can we play Smash?" Rainbow asked remembering that she brought her game system from home and a couple of controllers; daddy always bought extras just in case Rainbow ever got any friends to come over and play with her. She only had 4 controllers but hoped everyone wouldn't mind taking turns.

"I suggested truth or dare" Rarity chimed taking small nibbles of her pizza.

"Ah suggested a scavenger hunt; Granny plays that with me and big mac all the time!" Applejack replied

"Those all sounds like great suggestions girls; Shy, Twi, Sunny; how about all of you? You haven't made any suggestions yet." Cadence asked looking to the three girls.

"Oh um....I'm okay with whatever you all like I guess..." Fluttershy said not entirely sure what she wanted to play or do because so many of the girls made good suggestions.

"Does it have to be a game?" Sunset asked curiously trying to think of just what to play drawing a blank.

"No I suppose not; as long as its something everyone can have fun doing." Cadence replied "Though let's try and keep it simple but fun okay? We all technically have school tomorrow."

Mulling that over Sunset would wonder what she should suggest. Sunset on the one hand found many of the girls choices...strange. But then again this was her very first slumber party...heck...it was her first party ever. Sunset wasn't very popular with kids at school having blown through kindergarten and landed in third grade at the tender age of seven; she would have gone ahead sooner but her parents wanted to keep her around kids her age for some unforeseen reason that Sunset didn't know or care to understand, none of those kids liked her anyway. Sunset came from a very well off family, she was naturally very smart and had a passion for learning new things, but the other kids in school seemed to automatically think she thought she was better than everyone; she for a time attended Canterlot prep where all the kids even in the lowest grades were simply put...elite jerks. They all came from super wealthy families or people who were well known in high society as well as being very smart however Sunset never felt an attraction to any of them in terms of wanting to be friends or have 'fun' with them.

Her version of fun was reading, studying, learning and thinking up new creative things; her mind was that of a super computer, always calculating, always thinking, imagining, never stopping and craved knowledge. Her parents were often busy working, her mother was the C.E.O, of a fancy jewelry company and her father was an accomplished and well known scientist in the field of bio-engineering and other such complex fields to help benefit humanity. At her core that's what Sunset wanted to do also...to help, to make the world a better place, to share her vast knowledge with others and have them acknowledge her for her ideas even if some of them may have seemed foolish. However in school the other kids often either ignored her or picked on her...or at least they did until they learned Sunset didn't like being picked on or called names and they quickly realized the girls temper was as fiery as her head of hair. That little punk Blueblood had no right to call her a 'Bacon-Haired Super Geek' Her hair did NOT LOOK LIKE BACON. She hated people comparing her hair to meat or anything of the sort, it was so demeaning; her hair was wavy and wild like fields of fire!

Sunset was by no means a 'bad' or 'misbehaved' child; she would say misunderstood really. Her mother and father rarely spent time with her, she didn't have any friends(till now) the babysitters her parents hired to watch her merely watched and tolerated her rather than spent any actual time with her leaving her alone to her books, kids at school weren't her type; so when now thrust into this new environment with all these different girls whom none of which seemed stuck up or mean...not even Rarity who seemed a lot like those girls in Canterlot Height's but she carried herself much different which was a breath of fresh air to Sunset. Sunset racked her brain wondering what to suggest to play but the cards were coming up blank...and then it hit her...Duh you big dummy, you never leave home without them.

"Can we play cards?" Sunset asked. "i have a couple of decks with me; and its a card game we can kinda all play." Sunset explained

"Oh? What kind of card game?" Cadence asked

"It's called Pon-E-Oh; it's-"

"THE BEST MOST FUNNEST CARD GAME EVER!!! EEEEEEE I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU PLAY!" Twilight cheered with glee, her smile threatening to split her face in two.

"Oh maker above help me" Cadence chuckled and rolled her eyes. 'How are these two not sisters?' Cadence thought.

"You play too?!" Sunset asked surprised, Sunset had only met a few people who played this game and she played them...they never played again and gave them all her cards after losing so fiercely.

Twilight nodded vigorously and smiled "Uh-huh! Shiny and me play all the time! He loves using his Equestrian Knight deck; I have a Princess deck myself..." Twilight said with a smile remembering all the games she played against shining armor; he was better at the game since he'd been playing longer but Twilight was a quick learner and easily kept up with him after she got the hang of it, plus a bunch of puppy dog pouty begging to her parents to get her the cards she wanted didn't hurt either.

"That's so cool! I have a phoenixian deck myself, I mean...I have a lot of cards I don't use if you all wanna build a deck to play with." Sunset suggested.

"I think that sounds lovely; it could be a perfect little bonding experience for you all! What do you think girls? Sound fun?" Cadence asked the other girls.

"I reckon that sounds like a good time; I always see Pa and Uncle Appleseed playin' cards and pa always wins so ah figure it runs in the family." Applejack said with a smile tipping her stetson.

"It sounds super duper fun!" Pinkie giggled

"Totally! I used to have a deck too but I lost it when we moved; got any Spectral Beasts?" Rainbow asked

"Do I? I have the entire set!" Sunset said with a grin having begun pulling out her card binder and tin cans that were full to the brim with cards.

"I believe this could be fun" Rarity replied. "How is the game played?" Rarity asked

"Don't worry I brought the rule book and can explain once we start making the decks." Sunset affirmed.

"um...is it a hard game?" Fluttershy asked; she didn't want to be bad at the game and ruin anyone's fun

"Oh no, no, no Flutters; it's really easy and fun, Shiny taught me how to play a few months ago and I love it! We play whenever we can but lately he's been super busy with his ROTC stuff" Twilight affirmed

"Oh yes that's right! Shiny is trying to go into the military after he graduates; he's been doing so well, I hear he might even be in line for scholarship to Crystal Prep." Cadence chirped and smiled; she and Shining Armor were on similar paths in a matter of speaking; Cadence as well as being a babysitter was an educator, a tutor and teachers assistant at the moment but she knew with enough hard work and once she went to Crystal University and teach classes at Crystal Prep; she adored educating young minds, enriching them and preparing them for the future, that's one of the things she loved about babysitting as well; it allowed her to mold young minds outside of classrooms and enabled her to prepare these little ones for the new world, giving them template to follow in a way of sorts, helping each child she looked after come into their own, find themselves in a way and then go out and be the best they could be and so far she'd been very successful though she had all that to thank her mentor for. Cadence smiled warmly as the image of an alabaster skinned woman with long flowing rainbow color hair who shined as radiant as the sun passed through her mind.

Focusing her attention back on the children in front of her she could already see they'd paired up and were looking through cards, exchanging them and talking among themselves. Pinkie was paired with Rainbow; Rarity was paired with Fluttershy and Applejack was paired with Sunset and Twilight. They were all grouped together and Sunset and Twilight did their best to work between them all and explain the rules of the game, the types of cards, their functions and much more. Each girl took a shine in a particular type of card archetype and each type told a lot about each girl in truth.

Rarity was partial to the cards known as Royal Crystal's; creatures of all shapes and sizes of an elegant nature, all of them were dressed like kings, queens, knights, jesters, executioners and even a couple of dragons. They were cards that focused on defense and adding power to the other cards for more chances to win.

Rainbow Dash as she had said was a fan of the Spectral Beast cards; beasts of all shapes and sizes who were different colors of the rainbow, some one color, some two, some three; the more colors a monster had in them the more powerful they were. Rainbow's favorite monster card was The Pegasus Paladin Aurora; a white anthropomorphic Pegasus with rainbow color hair surging with lightning with two swords clad in knight armor soaring through the sky with a sonic boom and rainbow trail shooting behind her. This deck and cards were made for quick plays and getting in as many attacks with the boss monster as possible.

Fluttershy was pretty partial to the Breezy's; little fairy like creatures each a different color and design. It too was a defensive deck but it had a good offense when spells were used in good measure, the monsters themselves weren't that strong save for the big boss monster of the deck however they were stronger together which made it well balanced.

Applejack was taking a special liking to the Lone stars; a western themed deck based around the old west. Monsters included cowboys, cowgirls, stallions and sheriffs. It was a deck that was reliable as it was strong and each monster had a special ability that played off the other. The big boss monster of the deck was a cowgirl riding a orange steed with a blonde mane and even bore a mark similar to her special three apples.

Pinkie took a quick liking to the party animals; silly and creative monsters each party themed in some way; it was a deck full of tricks and traps to lure foes in and then surprise them, right up Pinkie's alley. She liked all the super colorful creatures and names of the cards and it seemed like a really really fun game that she just couldn't wait to play.

Twilight had a deck of her own and had even brought a couple of her own cards having left them in the backpack that Cadence had gotten from her house. She'd sit and trade cards with Sunset, she'd keep her princess deck the same but Sunset had a multitude of new cards called The Midknights, monsters that specialized in magic and could draw special magic cards from the deck or even from the grave. There was even one that looked like her a little bit; Sparkling Midknight; The Queen of Magic.

Finally Sunset would keep outfit her Phoenixian deck with a couple of the knew Midknight and princess cards that Twilight had. Her deck was a well balanced one, powerful offense, strong defense, a well balanced amount of traps and spells and it specialized in burn damage. Sunset managed to make it even stronger by crossing the midknight cards of a certain type with her own. Sunset then noticed something between a few of the cards on the floor between her and Twilight, each one going to a different deck but could be used with most any other deck. A series of spell cards each baring a different letter and each was a different color and it spell out HARMONY and it came with a few different cards that had varying effects: Harmony is Magic, Harmonic Rainbow, and Aurora of Friendship.

'Huh; I don't remember ever seeing these cards before...'

"Oh you found those huh?" Twilight asked looking to see Sunset looking over the cards. "Those were the first cards I ever got, I could never make them work though, they go with so many different types of cards you know? But I think...hm...hey girls; c'mere" Twilight said calling the other girls over to take a look.

"What is it Twily?" Pinkie asked curiously scooting over to Twilight.

"Take a look at each of these cards...H. Honest Soul..."

"Ah think that one goes with me" Applejack said taking it and looking it over, reading its effect she affirmed she was right with a nod. "Eeyup this here goes with these Lone Star cards."

"Next is A. Almighty Laughter..." Twilight said

"Oh, oh oh! That's for me!" Pinkie said taking the card and matching it to her deck.

"Then there is R. Righteous Loyalty..." Twilight held up the next card

"I got that one." Rainbow took the card and added it to her deck.

"After that is M. Magical Friendship; Guess I'll take that one." Twilight said adding it to her deck. "Then we've got O. Omnipotent Generosity."

"I think that ones for me" Rarity chimed taking the card.

"Then we have N. Neverending Kindness..." Twilight said

"That's me" Fluttershy affirmed taking the card.

"And then lastly we have Y. Unyielding Forgiveness." Twilight finished showing the last card.

"I've got that one." Sunset said taking the card.

"And I think that about does it; anyone else want to trade?"

Looking to all the girls for an answer it seemed a collective no which meant they were ready to play. Taking out a couple of mats that were zone marked for beginners Twilight would hand each girl a mat save for Sunset who had her own personal mat. Before they could go any further Twilight turned to Cadence and regarded her curiously.

"Do you wanna play too Cady?" Twilight asked. "I'm sure you've gotten better since the last time you played Shiny"

"Oh I dunno Twily; I mean I didn't even manage to get passed his first monster and he beat me in 2 turns..." Cadence pouted.

"Aw c'mon; shiny isn't here; you can play us, it'll be fun!" Twilight said

"Well I mean; I dunno-" Cadence said not entirely certain she wanted to play, she didn't hate the game at all she just felt awkward playing it especially when her opponents were children.

Twilight would scrunch her nose and purse her lips and then looked to the other girls and seemingly as if they were all speaking to each other without using words; Twilight and the rest of the girls broke into a fit of grins and then collectively put on each of their best puppy dog pouts with sad and pleading eyes. Cadence being a babysitter had become immune to this tactic to a degree however this was a 7 vs 1 situation and Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie alone were adorable to an unbelievable degree, the rest of the them added was just overkill! How could she say no to all those sweet pouting faces?! Her heart melted as if it were tossed into that mountain from that movie about the short men with hairy feet with the haunted ring and as if their pouting faces weren't enough they all rang out in perfect adorable harmony with the most heart melting chorus of...

"Please Cady?" They all asked, the levels of sweetness almost unbearable. 'I might have to check for cavities and diabetes now' she thought

Cadence tried her best to resist...for all about 2 seconds and then caved. Squealing in delight and blushing she'd dash upstairs and grab the deck of cards that Shining had built for her to use and let her keep as a special little present and sign of affection; it was a deck called Amore's; ironic given her name and of course they were all love themed.

"The princess of love is here to play!" Cadence said with a proud smile as she got into the spirit of the game with the little ones.

"So how should we do this? Teams?" Sunset asked. "There are eight of us now after all."

"Yeah I think that sounds like a good idea." Twilight affirmed.

"I'll team with Pinkie, 'Shy & AJ" Rainbow said

"The I guess that leaves Rarity, me Sunset and Cady" Twilight nodded

"You're all goin' down" Sunset said with a cocky catlike grin full of confidence.

"We'll see about that..." Applejack grinned back tipping her hat as she got ready to play.

"Well then ladies I do have to ask before we begin...what time is it?" Twilight asked, looking to Sunset with a knowing grin, able to tell the fiery haired girl was thinking the same thing.

"Uh it's about 8:3-" Rarity began to answer looking at the clock but was cut off by Sunset and Twilight

"IT'S TIME TO DUEL!" They both shouted and Cadence could swear she almost died from how sweet it sounded.

Author's Note

Vegeta what does the scouter say about the sweetness levels?!

IT'S OVER 9000!!!!