You Shouldn't Have Missed Valentine's Day

The way it happened was about as one would expect. Except with the inevitable theatrics added in by none other than Trixie herself.

You’re already trying to repress it, pretending it didn’t happen as you lie in bed in the middle of the night, but you’ve been thinking about it every minute of the day whether you like it or not.

As you wonder how Trixie Lulamoon herself must be taking in in this very moment, you remember the buildup to the event once again.

~

Lavender Lace and Fuchsia Blush were there with her, as they always were, perpetually prepared to back up Trixie in whatever she had gotten herself into his time. They were the first ones to see you; they watched you mosey on over with one arm behind your back, hand awkwardly cupped onto your other arm as each of your further steps got smaller and smaller. But biding your time in this only dragged it out.

“Check it out.” Fuchsia had said to Trixie with a point of her hand in your direction, officially sealing your fate for your punishment for following through on a stupid idea.

You now had Trixie’s attention, and of course, she already had the love letter out and in her hand; she must have read it a thousand times. Whether to try and identify which boy in school she figured it was through the handwriting, or maybe just to read all of the nice and pretty things about herself again and again… and again. Heck, she probably did both through the entire day.

You gave her an awkward wave, and it barely took a couple of seconds for Trixie’s eyes to light up as she put two and two together the instant she saw you. You had pretty much never talked to her before, and didn’t have a recent reason to randomly walk up to her during the lunch period you don’t even share with her on your schedule.

Her two closest friends were standing right there watching as you opened your mouth, getting ready to speak…

~

…Trixie loudly sobs on her bed, now in her room.

She doesn’t even remember what she did with the love letter she had received, on account that she now knows where it came from: a place of sheer blatant LIES! All her heart had just built up today had come crashing down; crashing down too hard for her illusions Fuchsia Blush and Lavender Lace to stop the falling debris from pummeling her from the falling skies above.

Trixie’s diary resting on her nightstand before her is nothing but an obscured blur through the thick clouds in her eyes. Her tears run down her cheeks like a monsoon as her wails of emotional agony echo across her walls. Her fast turbulent breathing accompanying it.

Those clouds in Trixie’s eyes soon form flashes of lightning, shortly followed by a thunderous growl emitting from her lungs. Her glare turns into a dangerous maelstrom of hatred and thirst for revenge. Revenge for twisting her emotions around only to shatter them so. Trixie balls her hands into fists, glad she left school early after making such a scene over not being the perfect girl of that boy’s dreams as asserted in his love letter that read like a window into Trixie’s own mind.

Trixie had never heard someone else say something like that, in a way where it sounded like she was listening to her own thoughts, her own heart… She didn’t even know who this boy was and she was already in love with him, and then he came forward and told her the truth, and forced her to fall right back out of love with him. Putting her on such a… rollercoaster of feelings!

It inevitably made Trixie sick to her stomach, thinking about how humiliated and devastated she felt as her forehead ripples and her brow furrows; the event had warranted her subsequent moment of pettiness.

How dare he do such a thing to the Great and Powerful Trixie?! Getting him sent to the principal’s office doesn’t feel like it was enough for Trixie. Although, it did help Trixie a little bit to immediately overemphasize her own crying immediately after he made that confession in order to make it seem like he said something punishment-worthy to Trixie and her friends right in front of where Vice Principal Luna was watching from.

Had Trixie not played it up so hard, he might not have gotten into trouble at all. He would have gotten Trixie’s hopes up and then crushed them, and then would have gotten away with it.

And even thought he didn’t get away from humiliating The Great and Powerful Trixie in front of her friends and all the students, Trixie still feels like she… lost. Lying on her side with her tears now trickling sideways to her temple resting on the dampening pillow below, she shuts her eyes and mopes herself to sleep, hoping to dream up a new way to exact her revenge for this humiliation.

~

God damn it, why did you have to let it sound like you had written a stalker letter to Trixie when Principal Celestia had confronted you about it?

You stare at your bedroom ceiling in the middle of the night and grunt to yourself, regretting not having prepared for Trixie’s intentionally exaggerated reaction or for having to explain the context of what you did without looking like you’re the asshole here.

All Vice Principal Luna saw was you walk across the empty middle of the cafeteria where barely anyone was walking around, drawing everyone’s attention, then talking to Trixie and her suddenly crying the blues like you had previously promised a wedding ring to her but then just told her she has seven days to live or something.

It was enough for Luna to call you both to her office to try and figure out what the whole dramatic issue is that disrupted the entire lunch period and made everyone laugh and clamor like the gossip-y teenagers they are. With Trixie inevitably running away in tears and skipping the rest of the school day… taking the love letter with her. And thus leaving you the only one facing the brunt of the mess you technically started.

You may not admire Trixie herself, maybe not a whole lot, probably, but you have to admit you admire her clever spite whenever her high and mighty view of herself is challenged or otherwise slightly invalidated. Maybe this is what you get for being such a fool, and not the kind of fool who falls in love. Maybe Vice Principal Luna was aware of this too somehow, and went along with it while understanding that Trixie’s reaction was deliberately embellished.

Hell, maybe that’s why you yourself just went with it and relayed it like you had written something that really had been intended to make Trixie cry like that. Maybe it was your guilt that allowed you to do that subconsciously.

Maybe that answers your question.

Bit little did you know, that there is another much, much bigger mistake you make on Valentine’s Day that completely blindsided you as it happened.

The day after Trixie lies in her bed full of tears and revenge, while you lie in your bed full of guilt and remorse, that subsequent day being Valentine’s Day, was a holiday you had intentionally missed.

And you were unaware of just how severe this mistake was, having had no way of knowing as you were debating with your moonlight-lit bedroom ceiling regarding whether or not you should play sick tomorrow…

You had resolved to skip Valentine’s Day out of a combination of shame and not wanting to confront anyone about this out of simply wanting it to be over already. You already told Trixie the truth like Sunset told you to… you already did your part.

Or so you thought.

Wrongfully thought.

Your increasingly sleep-stealing decision to skip the next day resulted in repercussions that brought down upon you the wrath of the Goddess of Love herself.

~

The echo of the event shall reverberate on even two days later, and then even longer, but only because of this very conscious second and more severe mistake you make. And as you will soon sit around two days later with even more baggage in your mind, the second mistake that sprouted out from the first now plays again in your head:

~

What a beautiful holiday Valentine’s Day is.

All of the students of Canterlot High gradually come to school like they’re supposed to, feeling the warm gentle flutter of love in the air.

Boys and Girls all over send some sweet nothings to their crushes, a number of said crushes are reciprocated. There’s no feeling like finding out the one you go to school with who makes you feel funny, finally admits to you that you also make them feel funny as well.

A boy will have been crushing on a girl for several months since the school year had started. Had been shy around her, very nervous and hesitant to talk to her, not knowing what his feelings are doing until they get paired up in chemistry class together and are both forced to interact in order to avoid flunking the assignment.

Every single word the girl says to him makes him jitter and twiddle his thumbs; he’s afraid to even look at her because she just has that much of an effect on him. More so than any chemical reaction they watch and record occurring in the glass beakers. His very handwriting has become shaky and noticeably clumsily done.

Thoughts about her won’t leave him alone and he wishes it would all end as soon as the bell rings, but then after it does, and everyone spills back into he halls, the boy switches to wishing it had lasted all day. Because he felt so uncomfortably good on the inside when she was around and talking to him.

And then on Valentine’s Day, all the little moments such as that one suddenly come spilling out all at once through a cheesily decorated slip of paper coated in hearts and corny yet sweet lines from movies such as “stop, you had me at hello”.

As Principal Cadance steps through the doors early in the morning, she can sense this all over the place as she hugs herself in serene delight. It is thick in the air: the power of love is in good company here. And Principal Celestia greets her from her own office.

The two principals shake hands, their mutual plan between their palms, Aphrodite and Eos, Venus and Aurora, ready to teach a mortal man a valuable lesson about love as he should be entering the school any minute this morning before homeroom.

But he’s late… at best.

But Trixie isn’t late, though she must have forgotten a bit of her usual self-confidence at home today.

Lavender and Fuchsia sit beside her on either side, early into homeroom, patting her on the shoulder and cheering her up. Exactly where Celestia and Cadance expect them to be and doing exactly what they expect them to be doing. Trixie swears that she never really cared about you anyway, her eyes still slightly bloodshot with bags under them from a night of not-so-fake crying.

Things may be gloomy right now, but today is going to be a triumphant day for Cadance, as it is going to be a triumphant day for the power of love. Valentine’s Day is going to prove to be a great turning point in your life as soon as you walk through those front doors, a pivotal moment.

But the bell for homeroom soon rings… and then the bell for first period.

But that’s fine, Cadance’s plan can still go into action anyway.

Trixie is called to the principal’s office, which automatically signals to her that she is most likely in trouble for skipping out in tears the day before. But she’s already too bummed out and not feeling that need for self-preservation right now to do anything about this. She figures she might as well just go to Celestia’s office and face the music that she over-exaggerated her reaction to the fake love letter thing on purpose just to make a scene.

But when she enters the office, she is greeted by not only Principal Celestia, but also Principal Cadance from Crystal Prep, quaintly standing there in her formal suit uniform very neatly fitting her with her hair tidy and in perfect order.

Great, now she has to explain herself to TWO principals instead of one.

“What will be the length of Trixie’s suspension?” Trixie immediately begins by asking.

“There won’t be a suspension.” Clarifies Celestia. “But we do need to talk about yesterday.”

Before it can hit trixie like a ton of bricks and open up old wounds she’s currently trying to close, Cadance steps in. “He really does feel something for you, Trixie.”

Trixie knows these two wouldn’t go out of their way to lie to her, which means they must be wrong without thinking this isn’t true. They continue to talk about you without you in the room with them. Trixie’s eyes almost start to tear up again, but it is reduced to her just sniffling as Cadance continues on and on.

“I don’t know if you knew this, but he thinks about you every Valentine’s Day.” She reveals. “And this year, he was about to finally declare his feelings for you through that love letter, but was too shy to do it directly.”

“Why are you saying this? How do you know it’s true?” Trixie says.

It had been established to Trixie that you wouldn’t have gone and told her the opposite of what she believed had your feelings been genuine, and Trixie tells Cadance and Celestia this without a shadow of a doubt. But Cadance rebukes this by simply asserting that it was just you chickening out, and that love makes people do stupid things.

“He doesn’t realize it yet, but his feelings for you are… genuine. He’s just afraid that you wouldn’t return the sentiment. You see, he’s just as afraid of rejection as you are, and the two of you were kinda doomed to have a bit of a rough start on account of unfortunate luck.” Cadance tells Trixie.

“Wh-what?” Trixie’s glancing back and forth between the two principals is full of confusion.

“What she mens is that you have to show him first that you return the sentiment.” Adds Celestia.

Trixie gives her an even more confused look as she sits in the cushioned chair, the backdrop of the wallpaper behind her contrasting with her light sky-blue hair.

“Do you think you can… write him something back?” Asks Principal Cadance. “Celestia and I already talked this over, and we feel that this is the best way we can help. As in, the best way we can help both of you.”

Trixie only just now noticed the blank slip of paper resting flat on the surface of the principal’s desk, one corner slightly jutting off of the edge as if beckoning for her to swipe it up along with the pen resting next to it.

“Th-this must be some kind of a mistake.” Trixie forces a laugh and raises her hands up slightly. “It’s clear he just wanted to perform some ill-willed prank on Trixie. Why should she be nice to him?”

“Because he’s afraid he ruined everything.” Says Principal Cadance. “And once he sees that he hasn’t, and that you’ve shown him that you understand how he really feels, and feel the same way back, it’ll all come bubbling out of him. Trust me.”

“H-how do you know Trixie even REALLY likes that heartless weirdo anyway? He should feel lucky that Trixie was impressed by his fake love letter!”

“Why did you cry so much?” Brings up Cadance with a rather humble but interrogating tone. “We all know your first reaction was an act. But-”

“W-well yeah! Of course it was an act! Because Trixie doesn’t care about him!”

“But you’ve been crying all night, Trixie. While you were in private with no one around. I can see it in your eyes, you’ve been crying all night.”

Trixie blushes hard and crosses her arms with a defensive pout. Principal Cadance continues anyway.

“It’s clear you care about him. And I promise you that he cares about you too, but he’s too afraid to admit it. And today is the perfect day for the both of you to start over on the right foot. You two can start something so beautiful together!” Insists Cadance with a wide grin, flaunting her ‘expertise’ on this topic. “Trust me! I know this stuff when I see it!”

It takes a little bit more convincing, but Trixie (now with the pen and paper in her hands) soon figures that she can now do you you what you’ve done to her. Write a “love” letter to you and then slip it into your locker, then approach you as you’re thinking she actually likes you and wants to apologize for her counter-antics upon you. Then she’ll pill the rug out from under you like you did to her, and then you’ll finally understand how it felt, and on Valentine’s Day too!

Meanwhile, in Cadance’s mind, the true power of love with erupt in both of you as soon as one of you starts believing the other one actually has genuine feeling for the other, which has already happened when Trixie heard you talk about her like it was her talking about herself, as Celestia had put it earlier.

There’s something funny about the way love works. Knowing that someone feels a certain way about you sometimes, just sometimes triggers a contagious flurry of feelings in return back for that person, solely for them feeling that way and showing it.

And once the second letter is given to the other party in this, the first step towards a beautiful and wholesome romance between a young man and a young lady. They’ll both fall for eachother entirely with a little assistance from Principal Cadance.

“He’s apparently late to school today. So you have time to write your heart out before he arrives. I’ll let you skip your morning classes to achieve this if you want. Just because today’s a spacial day, I’ll make an exception for now.” Celestia lets Trixie know. “How would you like to give him the letter during lunch today?”

With a grin fueled by intentions different than those of Principal Cadance, Trixie responds: “Trixie would love to give it to him during lunch today!”

After a couple more minutes, Trixie skips out of the office door without a single tear in her eye.

But not before a slight flashing pink glow shoots over from Principal Cadance’s fingertips to the back of Trixie’s head, unbeknownst to her. Cadance makes sure to do this in a way where only she can watch it happening and no one else notices.

Those other students with the rumors about her still assume whatever they want, since they’re impressionable teenagers, but they can’t actually prove anything, because she never let them actually witness her Poetry In Motion in real time. Cadance is still waiting for that response from the school district’s ethic committee to her emails she sent.

Meanwhile, Trixie begins to happily skip through the hallways during first period, knowing that Principal Celestia has contacted her Calculus teacher to make clear that Trixie is completing an “extra assignment” today. Who doesn’t love to be allowed to skip classes solely because it’s Valentine’s Day and they’re experiencing “love problems”?

She has no idea why this is happening, but Trixie starts to get oldie love songs stuck in her head, those really hauntingly classic and wholesome ones with those echoing wall-of-sound vocals and seemingly innocent narratives in the lyrics superimposed over classic late 50s to early 60s love song chord progressions and motown-esque instruments.

Really is a sort of specific vibe going on as Trixie gets all giddy with herself in the halls, knowing that yes, someone actually does like her for real, but he just doesn’t want to admit it. Principal Cadance, just out of sight, watches from afar as The Great and Powerful Trixie nods her head to “A Teenager In Love” playing in her head.

She silently celebrates to herself as she watches Trixie vibing to the tiny little extra bit of the spirit of love she snuck into her heart. It works every time, and Principal Cadance has always been the optimal matchmaker for her own students at Crystal Prep. The students over here at Canterlot High should be even easier to get through to since they’re even more in need of true love in their lives, because they lack the already existent history with Cadance’s careful, non-invasive reign that only comes from good intentions.

Principal Cadance loves to be matchmaker. Not play matchmaker… be matchmaker. It’s her calling, it’s what she knows best… what she does best.

The room number of the vacant classroom Trixie was given was easy to find, and she soon sits in one of the empty desks and begins jotting down everything she wants to say to you.

“By the way…” Principal Cadance asks Principal Celestia after she returns to her office. “How did you figure he always thought about her every Valentine’s Day?”

“I had gotten word from one of my students.” Responds Celestia.

~

Sunset Shimmer glances out the window from time to time from her desk in fourth period Physics class.

She is thinking back to the scene that was made yesterday, mostly about how Trixie reacted to you. And about how she volunteered to talk to Principal Celestia after school privately about what her own personal interpretation of the whole situation after you were let out of the vacant classroom so you could go home.

Something about this makes Sunset feel like this was all her fault. She is the one who made you tell Trixie when you clearly didn’t want to. If you hadn’t, maybe it could have been kept a secret and Trixie could have accepted that she’ll never know who her finally genuine secret admirer was.

Yes, your original idea was stupid as well, but Sunset is starting to think that her own idea for what you should have done about it didn’t exactly help at all.

Maybe stupid problems call for stupid solutions.

Maybe stupid solutions lead to even stupider problems…

Meanwhile, you yourself are being driven to school like a little kid now, since your plan to stay home didn’t exactly work. On account of your acting abilities being even worse than Trixie’s acting abilities. Your parents didn’t buy the fake coughing and sneezing for a single second, but you’re really just glad they didn’t ask you if you have a girlfriend this Valentine’s Day.

It’s just like that funny chess meme from the internet: Your parents ask if you have a girlfriend. If you say yes, your dad won’t leave you alone. If you refuse to talk about it, your mom won’t leave you alone. If you say no, they’re both going to be on your case about it.

So you’re absolutely pleased that they’re not nagging you about it like some of your peers at school do, but they’re the ones forcing you to be around your peers at school anyway. The minivan drops you off in the chilly February air and drives off.

Instinctively head into the building where it’s warmer, making your way over to the Vice Principal’s office where you’ll undergo being jotted down as late attendance.

There are only a few cringeworthy Valentine’s Day decorations lining the walls, but it’s enough to mildly annoy you. You already know a lot of your classmates are going to be on your ass about yesterday, which is pretty much the reason you didn’t want to be here today. You were absolutely aiming to avoid that screaming bullet for your Valentine’s Day. Part of which being another over-the-top set of theatrics by Trixie Lulamoon.

Because of this, your defenses have gone way up, and you’re on edge about what may happen as you’re being basically thrown into this cage against your will. As soon as your teenage classmates see you, they’re gonna turn into a pack of lions, and guess who gets to be the raw steak that was just thrown into their den? Yeah, your defenses are so up… way up.

Wait a minute, is that Principal Cadance from Crystal Prep? The one who… does magic stuff with her students so they fall in love with eachother? What is she doing here?

She already caught a glance of you, and she rushes over to Vice Principal Luna to wake her up so she can take your late attendance. You reluctantly, solemnly, hesitantly proceed into the school like you’re trotting down the lane at your own funeral procession.

The lion’s den is just past this checkpoint. They’re gonna ask you a million questions at once, they’re gonna gossip, whisper in eachother’s ears, pester you to no end while you sit in your desk, tired as a flight control employee, not wanting to be at school anyway.

Have you seen how weird Valentine’s Day makes high schoolers? Even without something like yesterday happening…

“Hey!” Principal Cadance’s voice is bright and cheerful, almost as sturdy as her posture.

“Aren’t you Crystal Prep’s principal?” You have the stories you’ve heard about her resurfacing in your head.

“Mhm!”

You pause for a second as the metal door with a large cold window loudly shuts behind your back, thankfully without locking. Principal Cadance smiles over at you as Principal Celestia emerges from her office for a brief moment.

“Why are you here?” You can already sense this is about you. “Don’t the prep students… miss you right now?”

“Oh, it’s okay. The staff can take over for a bit while I’m here.”

“…Why are you here?” You express your suspicion as lightheartedly and playfully as you can with a slightly turned face and corny grin.

Cadance looks back at Celestia, while Luna peeks out of her office with bags under her eyes with a lethargic groan before retreating back inside. Cadance and Celestia exchange glances at one another before together looking back over at you, silently telling you all you needed to know.

“…So why are you here?” You ask the now useless question.

“You remember Trixie Lulamoon, yes?” Cadance begins, changing her posture to something less stiff and intimidating the instant she sees you subconsciously start to back away. “Okay, hold on, it’s alright.”

“I did my part already. I didn’t want to, but I told her the truth.” You explain, instantly thinking of ways to now avoid the lion’s den. “A-also… I’m sick today. I don’t have a doctor’s note, I’ll just take the absence.”

Principal Celestia raises an eyebrow at you while Principal Cadance softens her tone. “It’s alright. We’re not here to put you on the defensive.” Cadance immediately says something oddly familiar.

Did they… talk to Sunset? What did Sunset tell them? You have no way of knowing for sure.

You begin anyway. “Alright, look. I just wanna go about my day, okay? Everyone’s already going to bug me about what happened, surely you know this. I just wanna be left alone. I did my part and told Trixie the truth. I’m sorry I did what I did, it was stupid and I wasn’t thinking. But I did everything I can do at this point. I already tried apologizing to her, but she ran away. Can you at least tell her I said I’m sorry and feel bad about what happened?” You drone on and on before trailing off when you realize that what your saying isn’t going to make a difference with Principal Cadance.

There’s something about the face she gives you that tells you “yeah, you’re not getting off the hook that easily”.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? What else do you want me to do?”

“We talked for a bit, and we personally think you could do more to patch things up with Trixie. And today just so happens to be the best day you can do that.”

Oh boy, here we go…

“But again, we don’t want to put you on the defensive.” Continues Cadance. “But it’s still true that Trixie is still kind of heartbroken, but I understand that if it’s out of your hands to do anything further, then I’ll respect that.”

You’re not sure if she realizes how her words really sound when she says them out loud. She absolutely is putting you on the defensive right now, only, she’s giving you the soft-sell about it.

“Just… what is it you want me to do?” You decide to capitulate ahead of time so this doesn’t drag out any further. “I’ll apologize to her in person if you want. Okay? I’m tired, I wanna be left alone today. Sorry if I sound grouchy.”

“That would work, if you feel up to it.” Principal Celestia joins in as Cadance smiles and nods.

“Okay, cool. Can I just get it over with now? I didn’t sleep a lot last night.”

“I see that.” Cadance begins before failing to hold in her next bit of totally not putting you on the defensive. “And I feel like there’s a reason behind that.”

“…Huh?”

“Um, Cadance. I think now is a good time to remind you that he is still my student.” Celestia interjects.

“Right, right, sorry.” Cadance quaintly nods, her hair bobbing back and forth before she turns to you. “I’m very sorry. I don’t want you to feel pressured. It’s just that… I really really care about this kind of stuff.” She turns back to Principal Celestia. “Is it okay if I tell him really quick?”

Celestia sighs and nods after a pause. “Quick. We don’t have all afternoon.”

“Okay, look. Everyone out there in the world has someone else who is perfect for them. And when you wrote Trixie that letter, she felt that you are that person.” Explains Cadance. “Which is why it made her act out so hard when you told her it wasn’t true what you said. And I think that is the reason why you were losing sleep last night.”

“Well… that might be part of it, yes.”

“I’ve seen this countless times before. And if it’s not addressed, you’ll end up regretting not saying what you could have said.”

“So… apologize to Trixie, yes?”

“I um… I think that if there is anything in there you’re feeling for Trixie. No matter how small… I think it would be amazing if you expressed it. It would really make her Valentine’s Day a lot better. And yours too, if you two were to spend the day sort of hanging out and patching things up… just out of spirit is all.”

You tilt your head a little bit, almost offended. “But… there’s no crush on my end.”

“It’s okay if there’s not, just think about this as a possible little Valentine’s Date! Nothing serious, just a cute little holiday activity that would set you and Trixie off on the right foot. And if it doesn’t turn long term, that’s okay! I don’t want to force you either way, all I’m doing is suggesting this based on everything I’ve seen over the years.”

The more you talk to Principal Cadance, the more you believe the stories are true.

“So… you want me to not only apologize to Trixie, but spend the day with her?”

“Not the whole day, just enough to celebrate the spirit of Valentine’s Day with her. I think she’d appreciate that a lot. I know I would.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, this day means a lot to me as well. And I saw you and Trixie had a little bit of a run-in that could be started over on the right foot if you just… tried this out together.”

In her head, unbeknownst to you, Principal Cadance is waiting for you to eventually enter the classroom with Trixie, where she’ll hand her own love letter to you. And after having taken a look at it after Trixie showed her the semi-final version, whew, is that love letter an absolute banger.

What’s better than a love letter? A love letter combined with an apology. It’s one of the sweetest things Cadance could imagine, and she knows Trixie wrote it from her heart. No way it isn’t genuine.

All Cadance really wants to see is you and Trixie get together this Valentine’s Day and make things right between you two again. She’s actually expecting it, while not wanting it to look like it wasn’t you making your own decision to do this.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m just not really into Trixie. She’s a cool girl but I’m not interested in spending the day with her.” You decline.

“Maybe not right now. But she’s interested in spending the day with you. And maybe you two could have a great time together, that’d be a great way for you to spend your Valentine’s Day this year!” Cadance softly insists. “I only want the best for you, and this day means a lot, it really, really does. I think it would be really sweet. I can get Trixie to agree not to annoy you too much, if that helps.”

You insist back, but not so softly. “Alright, well hear me out. I’m not really into doing Valentine’s Day stuff at all. Just in general. And honestly, I didn’t wanna come to school today… because I’m sick.” You reinforce the lie you originally planned to reinforce anyway.

“But… you do celebrate Valentine’s Day, right?” Asks Principal Cadance. “This is the best time and place to do it. It’ll be alright, I promise.”

“I do celebrate V-day, I just…I guess just not this year. Too much drama happened and I think it’s better if I sit this one out and get better.”

“But you don’t have to sit this one out! You and Trixie can patch things up right now, and you can do it in the sweetest way, it doesn’t have to turn into a serious relationship if you don’t want it to. H-how else are you going to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year if you don’t?”

She’s probably expecting you to come up with another way you’ll celebrate this holiday she loves so much instead. But you’re too tired and defensive to think of anything. You just wanna go back to bed.

“Look, I’m not celebrating it this year. Okay? I’m sorry I’m not, but… it’s just too much for me this time. I hope you understand.”

Principal Cadance stares at you. “You mean… you’re skipping Valentine’s Day anyway? Even though you could easily do something really sweet and help Trixie feel better?”

“Yes. I am. I’m sorry. I hope you understand. It’s nothing personal. I’m also really sick and would rather just take an absence on my record for today. I don’t mind it.”

“Are you sure?” Asks Principal Celestia in a tone that implies that she doesn’t believe a word about you being sick. “Are you sure you feel too sick to be at school?”

“I am too sick, but even if I wasn’t, this whole spending time with Trixie thing just isn’t really my speed. I appreciate the offer, but I just wanna apologize to her and move on. And I’ll do it tomorrow if necessary. I’m skipping Valentine’s Day today, I’m really sorry.”

“Well uh… what if we uh…” Celestia begins as Principal Cadance stands there as petrified as a statue.

“What if you what?”

“What if I told you that we… accidentally told Trixie something else already…”

“…You what?”

“Sorry, that was our fault. We don’t want to force you to do anything, right?” Celestia turns to a perplexed Cadance, finally starting to step in more. “We’ll revise what we said and say you’re coming over to apologize really quickly. You can do that and then you can go home if you want. But the absence will permanently remain on your record, and you’ll have to make up your assignments.

“L-luna! Back me up, here!” Principal Cadance turns to her sleeping best friend who isn’t registering anything she’s saying. “Luna?”

Celestia places an apologetic hand on Cadance’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Cadance. We tried. We really did. But I can’t force him to do this thing if he doesn’t want to. It’s not under school policy.”

“B-but… this is the perfect day you can make things right with Trixie…” Repeats Principal Cadance to you. “It’s Valentine’s Day. Are you saying you don’t even want to give love a chance?!”

“I don’t think that’s what this is about.” Celestia continues to step in more, seeing that this has dragged on long enough. “I think he’s just tired.”

“But he’s still obviously not sick!”

“No, but I technically can’t force him to stay in the school if he refuses. The most I can do is write him up and contact his parents unless he’s being actively disruptive, which he’s not. But if I recall correctly, both of his parents work during the week, and I doubt they’re going to come pick him up if they hauled him off to school just now.”

Principal Cadance turns to you, her eyes now filled with desperation as her voice starts to break a little. “You’re… not really going to choose walking all the way home in the cold over spending one innocent Valentine’s Day with Trixie, are you?”

You can’t lie, the way Cadance sounds so hurt right now is wrenching your heart.

“Please…” Cadance continues. “She really cares about you. Even after what happened. Don’t you wanna give this a chance?”

It so obvious she’s actively trying to get you to cave in. But god damn it, it worked.

“Okay, I’ll do it.” You give in, at least in the immediate moment to tell Principal Cadance what she wants to hear.

“Thank you! Thank you so much! You’ll love looking back on today, I promise!” Cadance lurches forward and tightly hugs you. “I hope you and Trixie have so much fun together!”

As Principal Cadance lovingly embraces you as though you just saved her life, mashing her soft chest onto you and getting you feeling a little torqued on the inside, you can sense that she’s relieved that you gave this a chance. As though it means everything to her.

Part of you imagines her sneaking some magic into your heart through your back, after having heard those stories about her. But after seeing how genuinely worried she was that you were about to simply decide not to do this, maybe you’re not so concerned about her capabilities in this moment.

And so, you sign in and continue into the school.

But after you’re out of Principal Cadance’s eyesight and earshot, you begin scouting for the best side door to sneak out of. You’re not going to do it juuuuuuust yet, but the plan’s all coming together as you calculate in your head how to make it across the field outside. As soon as Cadance leaves, you leave. Right after she’s gone and can’t see you leave. If possible.

Celestia’s going to bring the metaphorical hammer down upon you for what you’re about to do, and you’re prepared for that, and preemptively accept that well deserved punishment for when it will happen.

If only you knew that your biggest concern wasn’t what Principal Celestia is going to do if you go through with this… but was what Principal Cadance is going to do if you go through with this.

Stepping up to the slim metal door you’re used to, you remember your locker combination.

Trixie wrote a poem for you and stuck it into your locker, and you have a feeling that Cadance knew about this and was waiting for all this to tug at your heartstrings and maybe convince you to start dating Trixie because this is kind of what that principal is somewhat known for making happen somehow.

You had waited until Cadance stopped looking around the corner for you, blatantly letting her know that you don’t want to be followed. But also waited until right before you know the next bell will ring so the hallways flood with students, aiding your escape. You’ll have to dodge a couple of lion claws in the process, but it’s a sacrifice you’re willing to make.

Start reading the poem before entering the vacant classroom you see Trixie sitting in. She sees you reading the paper, glancing out at you with a giddy smile on her face.

It’s pretty lengthy, but you’re honestly kind of blown away by the fact that Trixie wrote all of this in about a day. You can see that she both said really sweet things about you while also apologizing to you for overreacting on purpose and getting you in trouble.

The part at the end is the part that matters, however. Trixie wrote one of those little things that says to read the first letter of each line of the poem, catching you completely off-guard. And as you do this, the true message of the poem reveals itself to you:

“Sike, you are an asshole, Trixie writes better fake love letters than you.”

Your shock as you glance back into the room to Trixie giving you the middle finger is actually real, and she can see it in your face, with a smug grin on hers.

Yeah, she got you back. Well played, Trixie Lulamoon. Well played.

You could have just waited until after the bell rang, which it does right now, and left without even letting Trixie see you read the poem, but you feel better knowing that Trixie got the last laugh she probably deserved anyway on account of your initial dumb decision.

Whatever, you’ll take the L. You won’t lose sleep over this one, it’s fine.

Pull out a pencil and write a quick response on the paper before slipping it under the door, prompting Trixie to stand up and come over to see your reaction and response.

A couple of your classmates pouring out of the classrooms immediately recognize you and start making a big fuss out of yesterday. With this, you make your escape through the loud crowd.

Trixie watches, perceiving it in her head as you running away in shame as the students heckle you roundly. While she still has her “poem” and your response written on it they all saw you slip back under the door.

Trixie reads what you haphazardly wrote on the back in a rush: “Well played, Trixie. You got me. See ya”

Trixie gleefully pumps her fist in the air in victory, knowing that you HAD to be impressed by that even after she pulled the old bait and switch on you. She looks out the window at you hobbling across the muddy, slippery field outside towards the edge of the school grounds in “defeat”. She cackles to herself.

Whatever, you feel better now, Trixie feels better now, both of you won with Trixie thinking only she won. Perfect solution.

…Except for one small problem…

From another window on the same side of the school facing the same field, Principal Cadance watches you after having seen you clearly not even enter the classroom Trixie was sitting in before students started walking around the hallways and obstructed her view of everything.

You told her you weren’t skipping Valentine’s Day after all, only to display through your actions that you lied right to her face. Having no contentions about betraying the power of love on the very day love must reign supreme. Having no contentions about opting to walk all the way home in the cold just to abandon the very thing Cadance has meticulously set up just for you and Trixie.

She had literally just been smiling to herself about the thought of you and Trixie holding hands in the hallways after you had surely went into the classroom after she couldn’t see anymore… before she looked out the window.

A stake drives itself into Cadance’s heart, followed by a painful lightning bolt sending a wave of emotional despair crashing through her body as if the stake in her breaking heart doubled as a lightning rod. Her pupils dramatically contract, but her shellshocked smile only gets wider, not knowing what else to do.

~

Just like that lost student surely is doing in his own room, Cadance sits at the foot of her bed, two days later. It was actually two days later the whole time, but to Cadance, it’s still been Valentine’s Day.

She continues to play out the events in her head again and again, thinking about what went wrong, how things could have gone differently, how love could have been saved. She’s not used to this outcome; she doesn’t know how to process this.

The only thing that is certain is that your future fate is sealed, and it’s only going to become more inevitable the longer you run away from it. Principal Cadance will not let this stand! The power of love must prevail at all costs!