Trying Love

Chapters

New Beginnings
First Sight
That New Girl
Foal Sitting
The First Night

New Beginnings

I don’t consider myself to be a vain pony. In fact, I rarely put much effort into my appearance, unless it’s a special occasion. People tell me that I’m beautiful and sophisticated, but I really only owe that to my mother. She raised me to be the perfect princess, not a hair out of place, always respected and revered by the subjects.

I don’t consider myself to be vain, but if I had to pick a favorite part of myself, it would be my eyes. They’re big and a lovely shade of purple, framed by naturally long eyelashes. I used to wonder if those came from my father, since I knew my mother’s eyelashes weren’t particularly impressive, but she refused to ever comment on my father. The only thing she would tell me was, “The best thing he ever gave you was his absence.” My mother never lies, and so I accepted that as the whole truth. I still do.

On the day I made The Decision that changed my life, I was looking myself in my violet eyes. My mother had just given me an enormous mirror that spanned nearly an entire wall of my room, something that was probably more expensive than I could even fathom. The gold frame was crafted beautifully with authentic unicorn magic, she told me as I tore through the wrapping paper with my hooves. I absolutely loved it. This was the only mirror in the castle that allowed me to see all of my body at once, which didn’t really matter, but was interesting for the first time.

“The color matches your cutie mark perfectly,” My mother commented in her soft, gentle voice. I turned to look at my rump in the mirror, the gold arches around the crystal heart identical to the gold around the glass of the mirror. I beamed.

“Thank you so much,” I’d said for the umpteenth time. “It’s wonderful.”

“Only the best to celebrate your seventeenth birthday,” She had replied, gently nuzzling my face. “I’ll leave you to enjoy it. I have a few matters to attend to.”

That had been in February. It was May now, and Spring was coming to an end. I’d just finished my eleventh year studies with my private tutor, Harmony Song. I loved her name, because she was one of the few ponies whose special talent didn’t match up with her name- she was terrible at any kind of music making. Instead, she was a compassionate teacher, and I was lucky to have her. Lucky as I could be, anyway.

I thought about her as I gazed at my reflection, searching my own expression for some kind of answer to what I was feeling. By turning sideways just a bit, I could see my full cutie mark: a crystal heart above a golden border. It signified my special talent of spreading love to other ponies, something that was “incredibly important”, or so my mother always told me. I’d never been able to get a second opinion, though. The only ponies I ever really talked to were her, Harmony, and a few servants or guards around the castle, and of course they would agree with her.

It struck me as almost ironic that my special talent was to spread love, when I had never experienced love for myself. Sure, I loved my mother, but that wasn’t the only kind of love there was. She spoke all the time of the magic of friendship, and of course there was love between a mare and a stallion…

More than ever lately, I’d felt more and more unsettled about this. I was nearly a full grown mare, and while I was extremely knowledgeable in subjects that can be taught from a book, I could count my friends on one hoof. And that’s because I didn’t have any. My twelfth year of education was coming up in only a few months, and this might very well be my last possible chance to get to know ponies my age. I wanted to understand what my talent created. I wanted to love, on all levels.

I decided that I had to ask my mother to enroll me in the public schooling system. As soon as that decision was made, my eyes softened, as if a great stress had been lifted from my shoulders. And in a way, it had. As soon as my case was made, the matter was out of my hooves. Now all that was left was mustering the courage to speak with my mother. Even though she was gentle and soft spoken, she carried a powerful air of authority. I’d never seen a pony disrespect her.

I smoothed my pink, yellow, and purple mane with my magic before I walked out of my bedroom and down to the sitting area of the castle. My mother was seated in an armchair near an impressive fireplace, where she usually was at this time of the evening. She was poring over letters that I’d never been allowed to read, her eyes down in concentration.

“Mother?” I said, stepping forward. Her eyes rose, and she greeted me with a smile.

“Cadence, sweetheart. What brings you out so late?”

“I was thinking, and I hoped to speak with you. A few days ago, I finished my eleventh year studies.”

“I know, I’m very proud of you. Harmony told me you got a perfect score on your final examination. That’s excellent.” She tilted her head as she looked at me, and her ever-flowing mane of pastel colors shone beautifully in the firelight. Sometimes, when we were talking about things that weren’t very important, I found myself distracted as I watched it move and swirl like it was alive.

“Thank you. I was actually thinking about my twelfth year, though.”

“That doesn’t start for a few months. What’s bothering you, my child?”

I did my best to maintain eye contact as she had taught me, carefully keeping myself from looking at the floor. “Ever since I was a filly, I’ve been taught within the castle. I don’t know many ponies my age, I don’t have any friends. I’m certainly not complaining, I know I’ve led a very privileged life. I simply wanted to ask if it would be possible…” I paused, and took a deep breath. “I wanted to spend my twelfth year in public school.”

She was quiet for a long moment, considering this. “You know why that hasn’t been possible up to this point.”

“Yes. I would be sure not to reveal our secret to anyone. I have enough self control, I promise.”

She nodded. “Yes, I don’t doubt that.”

Hope swelled in my chest. “Would there be any other reason to stay tutored by Harmony?” I asked, prepared to make an argument for anything she might say.

“No, I don’t suppose there would be.” She responded. “I expected this to come from you. I’m actually surprised it took this long.”

I couldn’t help it, my mouth dropped open in surprise. “Is that a yes?”

“It is a yes. You must keep your origins hidden, though, my child. If anyone asks, you’ve recently moved to Equestria from a bordering land and are staying as a guest in the castle. Is that understood?”

I lowered my head in a slight bow. “Yes, mother. You have my word.”

She stood from her seat, moving aside her work with magic from her glistening white horn. She walked over to me and touched her snout to mine, prompting a smile from me. “I trust you. I’ll make the arrangements for your enrollment in the morning. I should warn you, though, Cadence. Some ponies may act in ways you wouldn’t expect.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean that there are many ponies, especially your age, that are cruel and hurtful. You mustn’t forget how you were raised, or who you are. You’re incredibly special, Cadence. I would hate to see your magic of love lost for any reason.”

My cheeks warmed in pride. “Thank you, mother. I’ll stay true to myself. My magic isn’t nearly as important as yours, though.”

She glanced at her flank, where the symbol of a sun was emblazed on her sheer white coat. “Sometimes, love is more important even than sunlight. Now off to bed, child. I have work to attend to.”

***

“Oh, Shining, baby, I’m so happy that it’s finally summer!”

The beautiful voice flew through my ear lovingly as I walked to my wrestling locker. It was the last day of junior year, and the final bell had just rung. The voice came from my girlfriend, Fleur de Lis. She was quite the sight. She had a light pink mane that soared across her neck and bounced happily as she trotted towards me. The braces along her top teeth were absolutely adorable. Her beautiful flank bounced up and down as she happily giggled, her rump being so large and luscious. . . She was the most amazing pony I had ever seen. I'd been going out with her for about six months, as of the previous Monday.

“I’m happy, too! Just think about it- our first summer together. We can do so many fun things! I’ll take you around Canterlot, I’ll bring you to that fair that opens up, and eve-“ I told Fleur as we were walking to my locker.

“Shining, there you are! How grand to see you! How are you?” A familiar voice called out to me. It was grandiose, even for the natural speak of Canterlot ponies.

“Fancypants! Vance! Hey there!” I grinned as I brohoofed Fancypants.

Fancypants was quite the, well, fancy type. He had a perfectly combed blue mane that was cut in a fashion that made everypony jealous of its perfection, and was the smartest pony on the wrestling team. He always loved the kinds of things that rich ponies liked. He liked going to art galleries, buying new suits, attending formal events, and of course, spending his money. It was a wonder how he even chose to be part of the wrestling team. But I was finally better than him, and I’d surely best him for the captain spot next year.

Oh yeah, I was also on the wrestling team. Varsity since freshman year. I didn’t intend to become a wrestler, though. My goals were MUCH higher. I intended to become part of the Canterlot Royal Guard. After high school, I’d ship myself off to Royal Guard Academy and be directly with the princess, protecting her from any kind of danger. Fleur got mad at me about it, but it’s what I wanted to do, and if she couldn't accept that. . .

Vance was also a very nice pony. Vance Van Vendington, his name was. He had a blonde mane and a brown body, and was always carrying catalogs and information about auctions around town. He wanted more than anything to become an auctioneer, or at least something to do with selling stuff. Like me and Fancypants, he was also on the wrestling team. Granted, not as good as either of us, but he was somewhere in the top five.

“How have you been, man? Ready for the break?” I asked Fancypants, amazingly happy to see him even though I just saw him two periods ago.

“Oh, I am quite prepared for this break! I heard that there was a local art gallery that I’d just love to check out. I know that you aren’t much into art, Shining, but you really should think about going. Vance is going with me, too!” Fancypants replied.

“Oh, it’s mostly because there’s an auction there, too. I just HAVE to see them in action if I ever want to be as good as a real auctioneer.” Vance said, his eyes glowing with excitement. “You should really go, Shining!”

“Me? You should invite Blueblood! He’s always really into that kind of stuff!” I replied, trying to find some way out of going to some lame art festival.

“Heh, he’s probably too busy fu-. . . playing with his girlfriend!” Vance replied, subtly brohoofing Fancy Pants after stating his words.

Blueblood, Blueblood, Blueblood. He had been one of Fancypants’s best friends since they were both little foals (The other two being me and Vance, but he met us in his freshman year in high school with wrestling). Blueblood and I got along just fine, but he was the exact opposite of me. He had the same regal white body that Fancypants had, and a long blonde mane, which I’d joke around with him about having. Much like Fancypants, he loved doing things that the rich did. However, he was a bit of a baby. He would complain during class about how the classroom was too hot or too cold, or how his seat creaked when he moved it. He even asked our teacher to postpone a test because he didn’t have his favorite quill that day. But he still had an insanely hot girlfriend, Trixie. Sure, she was just a freshman, but man. . . she was second only to my Fleur.

Anyways, Blueblood hated any sort of physical activity. I tried to get him in wrestling, but he complained that it would be too hard and he’d get too tired and they’d be too mean to him and he’d be sweaty and. . . yeah, he wasn't the best choice. But he still came to support us, which was nice of him until he complained that the seat was too hard. He was still an okay person, though. . . sometimes.

“Ah, Blueblood! A fine suggestion indeed. I’ll go ahead and ask him. We better leave now, Blueblood always goes home very early. I’ll talk to you later, and please think about attending the festival with us!” Fancypants agreed, turning around towards the door.

“Don’t worry, man, I will! I’ll see you guys later!” I lied. The art festival was not happening. I opened my locker and took out all of my books, finding a place to shove all of the loose homework that I had into the bottom of my bag. I carefully placed the pictures of Fleur into a special compartment, and filled the rest of my bag with all of my textbooks. “Man, these classes were lame. English III. . . Magic III. . . “ I counted off the books as I cleared them out.

Suddenly, I heard the frantic clopping of hooves as a familiar scent of country filled the air.

“HOWDY, SHINING!” A friendly voice pierced my ears.

“Oh. . . Hey, Braeburn!” I greeted him, being as friendly as possible. Braeburn was one of those ponies that always seemed to be so unusually happy, when he shouldn't have been happy at all. He was unlike the other ponies here. He came from the small town of Hayville, but moved all the way to Canterlot to learn about business, since Hayville schools pretty much just existed for the sake of teaching those ponies how to read. Braeburn didn’t have many friends, though. He was nearly the only Earth pony at the school (even the custodians were Unicorns, with one Pegasus), and ponies would often make fun of him by picking up his bag from him and throwing it on ceilings, where he couldn’t get it back without the help of custodians. The only other Earth pony that attended the school was my good friend Octavia, but because she was a filly and was so kind and sophisticated, nobody bothered her about it.

Braeburn wasn’t depressed or put down, though. He always had a smile on his face, and eventually learned how to climb to the ceiling of every school building, easy for him with Earth ponies being so physically adept. Speaking of physical, why wasn’t he in any sports? Hm.

“Ah, thank goodness yer here, Shining! Ooh, I’m SO happy that this year is over! Ya wanna know why? 'Cause I get ta have mah BUSINESS class next year, and mah ARCHITECTURE class next year! Ya know what that means, RIGHT?!” Braeburn exclaimed, excitedly.

Why was Braeburn even here? He wasn’t in a sport! But anyways, Braeburn came to this school with a goal in mind. He wanted to start a new town called Appleoosa. I met his cousin, Big Macintosh, at a wrestling tournament against Ponyville High (He’s a very fine wrestler, by the way. Can’t say he’s the brightest of ponies, sadly). He’d always complain about how much Braeburn would talk about this city of his. It was a city dedicated to growing Apples, just like at Big Mac’s home, Apple Acres. And boy, was Braeburn was headstrong about this idea. All he needed was a business, government, and architecture class, and he could easily run his entire town. All of which he was getting next year.

“Appleo-?” I replied, emotionless.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPLEOOOOOOOOOOSA!” Braeburn loudly announced into the open. The locker room was pretty quiet, but two of my wrestling friends, Jet Set and Perry Pierce, gave him nasty glares.

“Oh, cool!” I said in an annoyed tone, not caring anything about this Applepashita idea he had.

“Ah know, pardner, ain't it great! Ooh, ah’m just SO excited! Ah could just get started studyin’ and plannin’ right now!” Braeburn exclaimed, bouncing slightly

“Please do!” I said, louder than I wanted to.

“Alrighty then! Thanks Shining, yer the best!” Braeburn laughed and sprinted towards the door.

Damn, he was annoying, but he’d be great on the wrestling team. Earth ponies are really strong. If he’s anything like his cousin, he’d be killer out there. . . not captain, though. Please no. Now finally t-

“Hey, Shining!” a very sophisticated female voice called out.

Who the fuck let girls into the- I looked at Fleur, busy talking with with Upper Crust. As I said, was anybody even checking for girls in the guys locker room?

“Oh, hey there, Octavia!” I said happily. Octavia was almost as sophisticated as Fancypants. She always walked slowly and didn’t talk to many ponies. She spent so much of her time playing cello and piano that she barely had time for them, but she still knew how to be classy and nice to anypony she met.

“Hey there, Shining! I was just curious, so, you know Jazz, our music director? Well, he wants to get a jazz band started. We have most of the people that we need, but we’re missing one person. The bass guitar player. I remember you telling me once in English that you wanted to play an instrument. Would you be interested in learning it?” Octavia asked, obviously nervous, not wanting to bug her few friends too often.

“That’d be great!” I replied. I wasn’t lying. I think it’d be nice to play a musical instrument. Who knew, maybe it’d impress Fleur. . . or at least some mare who’d be wooed over me.

“Oh, thank you! I’ll be at your house tomorrow to get you started! I’m new to jazz music as well. It doesn’t help that I’m on piano instead of cello. But we’ll talk more tomorrow, I must leave!” Octavia said, obviously realizing that she was in a guys locker room, against the rules, even though there were possibly more mares than stallions at this point.

“Oh, bye!” I said happily and shortly as she rushed out, still keeping her class.

The locker room slowly emptied out as everypony rushed out to go home and enjoy their summer break. Eventually, it was just me and Fleur. When Octavia ran off, Fleur had just finished talking to her friend, making us the only ones in the locker room. My assumptions were right that no teacher was checking on us; they'd all gone home.

“So, Shining. . . “ Fleur moved in closer. “Remember that promise you made me?” She giggled softly.

“Oh, yeah! I’ll take you to see my parents today!” I remembered suddenly. We had hit our six month mark the previous Monday. She was so happy, seeing how long the relationship had gone. She was more of a flighty pony, being able to fit in about 10 boyfriends within a year, but she'd stuck with me for such a long time. She really thought I was the one. I thought she was pretty okay, too. We fought a lot, but I still cared about her, and dude, was she hot! It’d make her happy to see that this was a long relationship, and seeing my parents would only confirm it even more.

“Oh, I’m so happy that we’re getting so serious! I mean, meeting your parents and all!” She giggled. “But you know. . . there’s one thing we haven’t done!”

Shit, not again.

“What is it, honey?” I ask. I know what she’s going to say. I’m not doing it.

“Honey, before I ask, I think I saw an ID card on top of the lockers. Can you get it? We can turn it in!” She said. I wasn’t good enough at magic to aim at things I couldn’t see, so I got up on my hind legs, balancing my front hooves on the locker, trying to find this ID card.

“I don’t see anything! Are you su- FLEEEUURRR!!” I yelped as I felt some sort of tickling between my legs. I jumped down and saw that Fleur was under me, trying to get frisky with her hooves.

“Fleur, how many times do I have to tell you? I don’t want to have sex yet! Even if I did, I wouldn’t do it here!” I scolded her as she playfully smiled.

“Aww, Shining, you’re no fun! You know, with all of my other boyfriends, we'd done all kinds of things by now!” She replied, staring critically at my obvious lack of physical response.

I could have said so much. But I didn’t. I was still her boyfriend, after all.

“Please. Just respect me. If you want to say with me, then you’re just going to have to accept that. I’m waiting until I find that person that I want to share my life with!” I exclaimed, still flustered by her actions.

Wrong thing to say.

“How could you say that to me? We’ve been together for six months and you have the audacity to say “OH, YOU’RE NOT THE ONE FOR ME.” Well you know what? FUCK YOU. I'll see you later, Shining.” Fleur exclaimed, stomping out of the locker room furiously.

Damn. She was so hot, but hot girls always came with a price. Trixie was a bitch, and Fleur. . . damn. If only there was somepony that could be beautiful AND nice. . . but you know, life is full of compromises. Gotta live with them.

I grabbed my bags and walked home, tired and alone, waiting for the feeling of summer to kick in.

First Sight

I had never realized how peaceful the castle was in the morning. Whenever I was roaming the halls or the grounds, ponies were always rushing about on official business. The only room with reliable peace and quiet was the throne room, where my mother spent most of her day. Every once in a while. somepony would request to speak with her, and would be sent in to discuss whatever pressing Equestrian matter they had. I would simetimes be allowed in the throne room on particularly slow days, and my mother and I would play chess to pass the time, but it was very rare that her attention wasn't constantly occupied.

In the early morning, the halls were empty, and echoed with the sound of my hooves striking the stone floor was I walked from my room (which was located on one of the highest castle levels, something I had requested when I was young and just learning to fly) to the kitchen, a fairly decent trek. It was both serene and eerie, having only ever seen the main wings of the castle buzzing with the activity of ponies hurrying from place to place as they planned events or searched the archives for scrolls or records. It would seem that no records were important enough to search for at four in the morning.

The only ponies that were up at this hour with me were the stoic night guards who neared the end of their shifts, still standing absolutely motionless at their posts. As a filly, I had tried just about everything to get the guards to crack their composure, but I was never successful.

I stepped into the kitchen and looked around. This was a place I didn't normally venture into, since during the day there were always cooks preparing something, or on stand by in case anyone who worked here wanted a meal. If I remembered correctly, they arrived at six to make breakfast. On a normal day, I wasn't awake until seven or eight.

"Couldn't sleep?" I jumped at the sound of my mother's voice in the doorway behind me.

I turned around sheepishly. "No. I barely slept at all."

She walked over and raised a hoof to brush a few stray hairs from my face. "Are you nervous about your first day of school?"

I bowed my head and nodded. She thought for a moment, then turned my chin up to face her. "When I was a little filly and couldn't sleep, my mother would make me a warm cup of cocoa. It always helped. Why don't we do the same?"

I smiled broadly at the idea. "I would like that."

She stepped around me and got to work, lifting a pot from the pot rack with her magic and pulling a bag of cocoa from storage cabinets. I watched as she hummed very quietly to herself, rolling what she'd said over in my mind. She didn't mention her parents much; I knew they had died long, long ago, but whenever I asked, a shadow of saddness crossed her face. They must have done a good job, though. She was the best mother I could ever ask for.

Soon enough, we were sitting at the elegant dining table, both with steaming mugs of hot cocoa. It was delicious, and the warmth soothed my raw nerves at the idea of the day ahead.

"You'll go to the office to retrieve your schedule," My mother was explaining as I listened carefully. "Go to each class when the bells ring. I trust that you'll be very polite to your teachers and peers. I'm sure you'll make lots of friends." She gave me a smile with warmth that matched the creamy drink I sipped.

"Do you really think they'll like me?" I asked doubtfully.

"Cadence," She cooed. "They'll love you."

A few hours later, with slender saddlebags filled with parchment, quills, and ink, I was about to find out. I'd been surprised at how short the fly was from the castle to the campus of the school, but it might have only seemed short because I was relishing the feel of freedom rushing through my wings. Of course I was allowed out of the castle before, but always under careful observation. Now, I was fending for myself, with nopony to watch over me until the late afternoon. It was invigorating.

When the high school appeared in my sights, I angled my wings downwards to come in for a soft landing. A few Pegasuses were doing the same thing, and dozens of Unicorns trotted past me towards the magnificent school.

It was exactly what I would expect the only high school in Canterlot to look like. The main entrance was impressively tall and beautifully designed, with crisp clean colors and the name of the institution in large, copper letters: Canterlot Learning Organization Prep School, which most ponies referred to as CLOPS, since the full name was such a mouthful. Some of the classes were indoors, and some were outdoors, and through the wrought iron fencing I could see that the campus was immaculate. The grass was perfectly green, shade trees and benches dotted the grounds, and paved paths wound from class building to building. As I stepped carefully through the heavy glass doors held open by the magic of a polite Unicorn with a green mane, I took it all in with absolute awe. This is where I would be spending the next ten months of my life.

Finding the office to get my schedule wasn't hard, as the entrance to the school was the office that then opened up to the grounds, and different buildings for different class departments. The office was bustling with activity, between secretaries trying to tend to everyone's needs and students greeting friends they hadn't seen over the summer. The counseling offices were to the left, and I kept a careful distance from anyone who looked like they might strike up a conversation, trying to ease myself into things one step at a time. One of the counselors was unoccupied, and I pushed the door open with a meek smile.

"Good morning, dear." The mare behind the desk gave me a warm welcome. "What can I help you with?"

"My name is Cadence," I said, gathering up my courage and optimism. "I'm new here, and I need to get my schedule."

She immediately began digging through the file cabinet that stood behind her, nodding as she listened. "Oh, certainly. Cadence, you said? Cadence...Cadence...aha! Here we are. One schedule, coming right-" She stopped short as she looked it over. "Well, it seems we have a mistake."

"What is it?" I asked, my eyes widening. My mother had enrolled me, hadn't she? I didn't remember her writing any letter while I was around...

"You're enrolled in both magic and flying, which is absolutely silly, you'd have to be an..." She raised her eyes from the paper, then coughed to cover up the surprised expression on her face. "Oh, my, you'll have to excuse me. It's just, we've never had an Alicorn attend here before."

I blushed. "Oh, that's alright. I'm...I'm not from Equestria, I'm visiting here to experience the culture. I'm staying in the castle." I carefully recited.

"The castle! How impressive, dear. Well, I do hope you enjoy your stay, you'll find that our school is the best in the country. If you have any problems with your schedule, please let me know, I'm Mrs. Nuts."

I thanked her as I retreated from the office, holding the schedule in front of me to read as I managed my way through the crowd now bottle necking the office and stepped onto the beautifully landscaped grounds. According the the small scroll, my first class was English, and it started in...

The bell sounded, crisp and loud in the morning air. Well, I guess it started now.

The classrooms weren't difficult to navigate, since every building was clearly numbered by the hundreds according to what department it was. The English building was 800's, the Magic was 900's, and so on and so forth. My schedule informed me in plain black ink that I would be having English with a teacher named Mr. Ment, which only sparked curiosity as to what his special talent might be. I walked into the classroom just as the late bell sounded, and quickly scrambled to find a vacant seat. The only one available was behind a white colt with a blue mane, who turned to smile at me and gestured for me to sit. Everyone was looking now; not only was I late, but I was new, a face they'd never seen before. All around me I could hear the whispers.

"Is she an Alicorn?"

"Have you heard anything about royalty visiting?"

"I bet the horn's fake! I read an article-"

After I was seated, an older stallion that I assumed to be the teacher rose from behind a desk and cleared his throat. If he noticed me any more than anypony else, he didn't show it.

"Good morning, class, and welcome to your final year of studies here at Canterlot Learning Organization Prep School." He said, his voice low and filled with authority. I felt myself straighten in my seat.

"CLOPS," Somepony snickered from the seat next to the blue maned unicorn, diagonally from me to the right. It earned him a dirty look from the teacher, who huffed and continued.

"Just because this is your last year doesn't mean it will be any easier. I expect full effort and attention from you until the very last day. My class is difficult, but there is no reason every single one of you shouldn't pass with flying colors."

Already, whispered conversations were breaking out around the classroom, but Mr. Ment didn't seem to notice. As he paced the front of the room, I noticed that his cutie mark was a simple, empty scroll. Appropriate for an English teacher. The colt in front of me with the white coat twisted around and flashed a line of perfectly white teeth in a smile.

"You're new here, right?" He asked quietly. My eyes darted to the teacher, still going on about preparing for his class and paying no attention to the fact that his students were...paying no attention.

"Yes, I am." I whispered back, ducking my head a little.

"My name's Fancypants," He informed me with another smile. "And you are?"

"Cadence," I said, automatically using my nickname from the castle. Before he asked, I added, "I'm visiting from outside of Equestria, and I'm staying in the castle."

"A foreign exchange student!" He grinned. "How marvelous. I do say, you look absolutely stunning, dear. I look forward to getting to know you better."

I felt heat creeping onto my cheeks in a blush, and I smiled shyly. "Thank you. You, too."

He turned back around in his seat to face forward just as Mr. Ment instructed everyone to take out a pen and scroll for notes on the year's syllabus. I used my magic to lift my quill from my saddlebags beside my desk, which prompted a new series of whispers from many ponies about the authenticity of my being an Alicorn. I sighed. The joy I'd felt at first following my freedom was quickly diminishing. It was going to be a long day.

My next class was flying, which was entirely uneventful beside the constant comments about my wings and horn. I'd already explained my foreign exchange student story eight times by the end of second period, and my wings ached from the exercises Ms. Bolt had put us through to "ascertain where our abilities stood". I'd had to dodge a few prying questions about where I was originally from, and by the time I dropped my bags to the tiled floor of my government classroom, I was ready for a long nap in the sitting room of the castle. I reminded myself that I had wanted this, and that it was only the first day- surely, things would get better.

The government teacher was an older mare with glasses perched on the end of her snout, and she gave us all a warm smile and introduced herself as Mrs. Ment. My ears lifted at this, and I couldn't stop myself before I spoke up. "Are you related to Mr. Ment?"

The class snickered, and I sank down into my seat, embarrassed. The teacher only smiled at me, though, her eyes filled with kindness. "Yes, he's my husband. He's Parch Ment, I'm Parla Ment. I see you're a new face here at school. What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Oh, my name is Cadence." I returned her smile.

"What a lovely name. Alright, class, I'm sorry to leave you so soon, but I really have to use the rest room. Each of you take a book and open them up to chapter one." She nodded towards a stack of books on her desk before walking out of the classroom, using her magic to shut the door behind her with a soft click.

As soon as she was gone, the class erupted into discussions and laughter. Everypony got up and crowded around her desk to get a book, and to avoid the pushing and shoving, a few other ponies and I hung back for a few minutes. I noticed that one of the others, with a yellow coat and orange mane, was struggling to get something out of his book bag. For a moment I assumed he was a Pegasus, since he didn't use magic, but then I saw that he didn't have wings, either. He was the first Earth pony I had seen all day, and because I hated watching him struggle, I used my magic from across the room to loosen the tie on the bag. He looked up, and his eyes met mine, and we exchanged a friendly smile.

"Who else doesn't have a book?" A Pegasus asked from the front. "Only two left." Two books remained in the pile, and the inquiring pony had one clenched in one hoof. The Earth pony and I both stood up to retrieve a book. I used magic to take my book, pulling it through the air towards my desk, the the Pegasus chortled at the Earth pony.

"Hey, Braeburn," he said, grabbing the last book. "You won't mind if I help you with this, right?"

"Uh, well, I s'pose not." The Earth pony replied in a high southern drawl. "Thanks, Buck!"

"No problem!" He laughed as he beat his wings and flew up, placing the book on the highest cabinet despite Braeburn's pleas as soon as he realized what was happening. "There you go, buddy, have at it!"

Almost everypony in the class was laughing at the spectacle, laughing only harder when Braeburn tried to stretch on his hind legs and didn't even reach halfway to top of the cupboard. Everypony but me. Angered from what I'd seen, I aimed my magic and easily pulled the book down and into Braeburn's waiting hooves.

The laughter of the class immediately died down, and the Pegasus, Buck, reeled on me. "The hay was that for?"

"You were being cruel." I said, anger bubbling in the pit of my stomach.

"It was all in good fun! Ain't that right, Braeburn?" Buck mocked the Earth pony's accent.

"Shut your mouth." I said, my eyes narrowing.

"Ha! Look at that, everypony, Braeburn has to have a filly fight his battles!" Another Pegasus spoke up from the back. More laughter broke out, but before I could get even angrier, Mrs. Ment returned with a smile on her face.

"Oh good, you all have your books! I'm sorry about that, let's begin. Chapter one, everypony, turn to chapter one." She waved her hoof at us. I gave Braeburn another smile, which he gratefully returned, before turning my attention to my school work.

When that class was over, I checked my schedule to see what I had next. It looked to be Magic, one of my favorite subjects. My mood instantly lightened as I walked towards the class, only a few hundred feet from my previous class. I was getting good at walking in and going as unnoticed as possible, especially since there were fewer and fewer ponies I hadn't yet seen in my classes now, so my appearance wasn't as new to them. When I walked into Magic class, though, I was surprised to find that almost nobody turned to look at me, and everyone's attention was on another pony. She was tiny, and looked to be shockingly young to be in a class full of ponies in their twelfth year. She was a light purple Unicorn with a dark purple and pink mane, and kept her face hidden by her hooves. Maybe I was wrong, but was she even missing a cutie mark? What was a foal doing here?

I walked in, my curiosity building by the minute. Nopony was in a desk but the little filly; everypony else was just standing around, talking and whispering, occasionally shooting glances at the small Unicorn. I approached the nearest mare, with a white coat and pink mane, and quietly asked what was going on.

"Oh, you're the Alicorn I've been hearing so much about!" She gasped, taking me in. For a moment I thought she wouldn't answer my question, but she shook her head. "Oh, sorry, silly me. Apparently she's some sort of very advanced talent. Princess Celestia herself requested that she be placed here, and apparently if she does well, the princess will take her on as a protege! Isn't that just the juiciest thing you've ever heard?"

My stomach did flip flops at the mention of my mother's name, but I did my best not to show it. Instead, I smiled at the white Unicorn. "That is. She's very lucky. I hope she holds up alright, she's shaking like a leaf."

The mare laughed as though this pleased her very much, but the bell rang before we could say much more. Everyone scrambled for a seat, and despite my sore wings, I flew over a few desks and sat myself firmly in the desk beside the filly. I knew how it felt to be stared at all day, the least I could do was extend my hoof.

The teacher walked in just as the last few ponies settled down. The teacher was a fairly young stallion of a light brown color, and introduced himself as Mr. Star. He didn't mess around with further fluff about the semester or what he expected of us, which I appreciated. Instead, he told us to find a partner and practice our best spells to show him.

"Prove to me that you deserve to be in Advanced Magic." He said. "If you shouldn't be, I won't hesitate to remove you."

The tension in the room was suddenly palpable. I wasn't nervous, though, I was excited. This was my first real assignment, and it was definitely something I would be able to do. Magic was my best skill.

"Want to be partners?" I asked the filly. She looked at me with wide eyes, and nodded. I smiled. "What's your name?"

"Twilight," She said breathlessly. "Thank you. What's yours?"

"Cadence." I replied. The room filled with the sounds of desks scraping along the floor as everyone turned to face their partners, and we did the same. "Now, what magic do you want to do?"

She balked. "Oh, um..I'm not sure. This is my first day in school."

"Mine, too." I confided. "I've been homeschooled all my life until today." I knew that this was probably too much to reveal, but for an inexplicable reason, I trusted the little Twilight.

"Me too!" She squeaked, smiling.

"Well, why don't you show me your best trick?"

"Hmm..." She thought about it. "Well, okay! Close your eyes."

I did as she asked and I waited for a few seconds. "Is anything going to- oh!" I jumped when I felt something sprout from my face. I lifted my hooves, panicking for a moment, then dissolved into giggles when I realized that the Unicorn had given me an impressive handlebar mustache. She laughed, too, and soon we were laughing so loudly that Mr. Star walked over to see what the fuss was about.

"Interesting," He side, suppressing his own grin when he caught sight of me. "You did this, Twilight?"

She nodded, blushing.

"Great job. Can you remove it, too?"

She squeezed her eyes shut in concentration, and her horn illuminated with a pink aura. As fast as it had appeared, the mustache disappeared with a quiet pop.

"You're very talented, Twilight." Mr. Star praised her. He turned to me. "Cadence, isn't it? Why don't you show me what you're capable of?"

I smiled, thrilled with the opportunity. "Oh, sure! Um...pick somepony, anypony."

He raised his eyebrows at me, clearly curious, and played along. "Alright, how about Fleur." He nodded towards the mare I'd spoken to earlier. She was chatting with her partner while she used her magic to weave a pattern out of strips of paper. I bit my lip and focused on her, then allowed magic to swell into my horn. The image of Fleur filled my mind, and I charged it with emotion before pushing my magic across the room and into her chest almost imperceptibly.

While the magic may have been undetectable, its effect was not. She immediately broke out into a smile, forgetting her weaving project and leaning over the desks to inform her partner that he was one of the best friends she had ever had. Mr. Star looked at me, even more curious.

"A false desire spell?" He asked. "Those are strictly against the rules."

"There's no false desire. My special talent is to spread love. I take the love that a pony has in them, and with my magic, I intensify it and make them more aware of it. Any problem they might be having with the other pony loses its importance."

"Hmm..." He stared at me thoughtfully. "That's very impressive, definitely a special talent suited for an Alicorn. I look forward to having you in my class, Cadence."

With that, he moved on to the next set of partners, and Twilight and I beamed at each other.

"You were amazing!" She said, awed.

"So were you!"

After a few minutes of talking, the filly and I were fast friends. I learned that she was incredibly smart, probably smarter than most of the ponies in the class, and that she wasn't very good at making friends. She told me about her interest in astrology and studying, and how she wanted nothing more than to work personally with my mother (although, of course, using the title of Princess Celestia).

"My parents got invited to go to a conference with the princess tonight, actually." Twilight said, her voice moving from animated to disappointed. "But my brother has a date with his girlfriend, and there's nobody to foal sit me. Hopefully there will be another time for all of them to talk, though." She sighed, clearly not believing this would happen.

"You need a foal sitter, huh?" I said, the gears already turning in my head. "I don't think I have any plans for tonight, I would be happy to come and watch you."

Her face immediately lit up. "Really? That would be amazing! My parents would just love you. Here, let me give you my information. Can you come at six?" She asked as she lifted a quill and parchment from her overflowing bag. She scrawled down an address and pushed it towards me.

"Six? Sure thing." I smiled, happy to have pleased the filly so much.

The bell rang, and desks scraped again as everyone straightened them out in a hurry to get to lunch. Twilight gave me a tight hug before taking her things and trotting out of the room, calling thanks over her shoulder again just before she disappeared out the door. I laughed to myself under my breath, hoping that my mother wouldn't be too upset that I'd already made plans after only a single day at school on my own.

I walked out onto the grounds again, searching for a place that I might be able to sit on my own and enjoy the two fresh apple's I'd packed in my saddlebags. I spotted a nice shady place beneath a tree that was open, and I started walking over, scanning the campus for any clue as to how ponies usually spent their lunch hour.

"Howdy there, miss!" I heard a familiar voice call out from behind me, and Braeburn trotted up beside me. "You're the pony from mah government class, right?" His southern accent seemed even more pronounced than it had been this morning, but I didn't mind it.

"Yeah, that was me." I said with a nod. "I'm sorry they were so awful to you."

"Oh, don't you worry your pretty little hooves 'bout it. I'm the only Earth pony here, y'see, so they like to have their fun sometimes." He shrugged it off. "Yer new here though, ain't ya? I was thinkin' ya might want some company while yer eatin', if ya don't mind."

"That would be lovely." I said with a smile. The day was only half over, and already I'd made two friends! "I was thinking I might sit underneath that shade tree, unless there's something else you'd like to do?"

"Nope, that sounds just fine, miss." He said, falling into step with me.

We got there, and I sat on the grass, nudging my bag open with my snout and pulling out a red apple. Braeburn's eyes widened. "You like apples?"

"Doesn't everypony?" I asked before I bit into the crisp fruit.

"Well sure, I s'pose so. But if you like 'em a lot, I'm sure you'd like to hear 'bout what ah'm doing with mahself after graduation!" He said, practically wiggling with delight.

"Oh, um, sure." I said, biting into the apple again.

"It's a little thing called Aaaaaappleooosa!" He cried, rearing up onto his back legs and launching into a description of a town he wanted to start as soon as he was out of school. I nodded, listening intently, but allowing my eyes to wander over the campus, pony watching.

A pony about fifty yards away caught my attention as he emerged from a classroom, shaking out his multi-toned blue mane over his white coat. My eyes widened, watching him carefully as he walked towards the fountain in the middle of campus, his saddle bags slung at a haphazard angle over his flanks. His cutie mark was a shield with three stars across the top, an obvious indication of strength and nobility. My heart skipped a beat as the sun caught his mane, the blues shimmering in the light. He had a casual smile on his mouth, so easy going, obviously unaware of how completely beautiful he was. My heart hammered in my chest. I had never felt this way about another pony before, I simply had to know him. Was this what my magic was all about? Was it possible to love a pony and never to have spoken to him?

I stood up, more than ready to walk over and say something, anything, but I stopped myself. Braeburn continued talking, completely unaware of my distraction. I stared as the gorgeous stallion's casual smile stretched into a happy grin, and the pony called Fleur from my magic class trotted up to him and launched herself into his arms, their mouths meeting in a passionate kiss.

I fell back to the grassy ground as though I'd been punched in the stomach.

If this was love, why did ponies like it so much?

That New Girl

Shining Armor

"Oh, Fleur, you're so wonderful!" I giggled softly as we separated from our kiss.

It was about the middle of lunchtime. The first day of senior year had certainly been interesting so far. I started off my day in Magic class. Magic class always sucked, at least in my opinion. Some weirdo ponies were all into it, but personally, I was just in the class because the school required all unicorns to take it. What else do I need to be part of the Canterlot Royal Guard other than a spell to pick up spears and maybe like, a lighting spell or something, both of which I learned when I was a little foal in grade school.

I sat in the back of class, next to Vance, where we both did nothing but talk about how great our senior year was going to be. We had to try out some spell to "prove" that were meant to be in the class, so I did a spell where I lit Vance's hair on fire without actually burning it, while Vance set my eyes on fire, without actually burning them. As boring as magic class was, there were a few cool things that could be learned. . . granted, we learned them on our own, but still. I looked around the room and saw Octavia with a dreary look on her eyes as Vinyl bounced around, probably on some sort of drug again, like she always was. I never understood how the two of them were best friends.

The bell rang, and Vance and I sprinted out of the classroom. Having a reputation as top wrestlers, nobody stood in our path.

English was a bore. I was one of the last to get there, after having run into Fancypants in the halls. The worst part about all of English? There was one open seat, next to who else, but...

Braeburn.

He gave his silly little western greeting and poked me as I sat down and immediately fell asleep. I thought there could be nothing more pointless than Magic, but this class proved me wrong. I couldn't see the front of the room well, since I was, once again, in the back. But I did notice Octavia, possibly in a worse mood than I was, lying her head on the desk while Vinyl still seemed to be experiencing some lasting effects of her recreational activities.

Braeburn had to push me awake. Not one of those pushes that Vance and sometimes Fancypants would give me, but one of those pushes that your mom would give you when you woke up. I almost beat the living shit out of him before going to third period. No man touches me like a delicate flower.

Third period, Jazz band, was actually surprisingly fun. The only ponies that I knew were, once again, Octavia and Vinyl. The help Octavia gave me over the summer was helpful. Jazz, our jazz band director, actually complimented me on my technique. Granted, I still was a newbie and had a lot to learn. Maybe if I didn't go through with this whole Royal Guard thing, I could be some sort of bass player.

Fourth period, math. Sadly, trends didn't follow the way I thought they would, and Octavia had a different class than I did. However, my friendly neighbor Vinyl jumped through the door right before the late bell rang, and she was the only pony I really knew.

Like, seriously, who made this schedule?

Anyways, she invited me to some party of hers. As much of a druggie as Vinyl was, she always threw great parties, so I was eager to agree. Granted, I was always set as the designated driver for those parties, along with Fancypants, who refused to drink the poor man's beer. Granted, I wouldn't want him to drink, he was the only one who kept me sane when Vance was busy humping every mare on the dance floor, chugging bottle after bottle of beer.

I told Vinyl I'd think about it, and reminded her to not invite my sister. Definitely do not invite my sister. This was her first year in high school, and she was crazy young, having jumped four grades because of her ridiculous study habits, and the LAST thing I'd want for her to do was get hurt at some drunken rave.

Math sucks. I darted out of there as soon as possible, and immediately walked around the lunch area until I found Fleur.

Ah, Fleur. . .

She was possibly the greatest mare I had ever met. We had the same Drama class last year, and we both had lead roles. We had to kiss on stage. We were told to fake kiss, like all actors do. However, on our performance date, she kissed me, like, for real, on the mouth. I almost forgot all of my lines, I kid you not. We went backstage after the play was over, and she just confessed everything, that she loved me and wanted to be with me forever, and then she started making out with me. I felt like the luckiest stallion in the world, just about every guy I'd talked to had confessed being a little hot for her. Especially with her reputation. Still, we've been together for so long, and she (hopefully) hasn't been cheating on me despite my hesitance. She's great! I just wish she weren't so pushy at times, especially about sex.

"Oh, baby, you're more wonderful!" Fleur exclaimed as she smiled at me.

"Give her the D!" Vance screamed from our table, putting Blueblood and Fancypants into a fit of giggling.

Fleur moved closer to me, putting her mouth by my ear. "You can give to me right here, you sexy, sexy, stallion," She whispered softly.

Remember when I said pushy about sex? Yeah.

I nervously shuffled to the table, scurrying to hide my stallionhood. Fleur had such a way with me sometimes...

Blueblood's girlfriend, Trixie, joined us, and our table was set.

I was never an ass about Vance or Fancypants not having girlfriends. I knew that Vance was too busy wanting to become an auctioneer to find a girlfriend. Besides, no mare really found his talent to be attractive. Like, who'd want to marry an auctioneer? Fancypants was just too much of a classy Charles to really be delving into high school romance. "A gentleman always waits for the right mare to approach him. He does not move from one pony to another, but sees the mare that he truly loves, and stays with her," he once told me two years ago, when I had broken up with my second girlfriend, Upper Crust.

"Baby, school is so boring without you!" Fleur whined, laying her head onto my body. "Like, Math is okay, since I have Blueblood, and AP French is easy, I guess, but have you SEEN that new filly?!"

"Oh! I heard about her, but I don't think I've seen her." An Alicorn really going to school with us? I heard she was awkward and had never even gone to public high school before. Someone even told me in Math that she had a crush on Braeburn. Heh, that sure would be nice! It sure would get off the rumors that Braeburn had a crush on me. Those were just ridiculous, neither of us were even gay.

"Ooh, she's right over there, sweetie. Just look at her mane, darling! Atrocious!" She growled, pointing to a small table next to the English buildings. Firstly, I noticed Braeburn, but then I saw her. The Alicorn! She was quite the sight, personally. She seemed like a sweet girl too, hanging out with Braeburn. Or it might just be because she's new. Maybe she'll get some real friends and dump him, putting him back to stalking me. She had three different colors on her mane, and she had a cute little body as well, like I could just hug her if she ever wanted a hu-

What was I thinking? This was the new girl! I have the most popular girl in school on my side! Nobody liked the new girl, but everyone absolutely adored Fleur and her beauty, as well as her. . . openness (which I could live without, personally).

The bell rang, loud and clear.

"Damn, lunch always feels like it's getting shorter!" Vance sighed, hitting his head on the table.

"So, what classes are you all attending next?" Fancypants asked politely.

"Math," Trixie grumbled.

"Speech and Debate!" Blueblood happily announced. Good for him, finally a place where he can complain and debate about everything and not look like a spoiled brat.

"Business!" Vance exclaimed. Of course.

"Government!" Fluer announced. I grinned. "What do you have next, baby?" She asked.

"I have Government, too!" I replied happily, giving a soft peck to Fleur's forehead.

"Fantastic! I have math at the moment, but I should have been placed in Advanced Formulas of Magic, so I shall be heading to the counselor's office! Have a wonderful day, you all!" Fancypants remarked, a slight tone of annoyance closing in as he mentioned his schedule issue.

We all went out separate ways, except me and Fleur. We walked into Government together, snuggling closely as we sat in the back, smiling as we sat together.

"BOOW WUB WUB WUB WUB WEEE-"

I swear to Celestia I will murder the counselor who made my schedule.

Luckily, the seats by us had been taken by other ponies, so Vinyl made her way to the other side of the room, but still. How was I supposed to learn when Weed McPotpants was being. . . well, herself, in every class.

"Hello, class, my name is Mrs. Parla Ment!" Our teacher announced.

That was about all I heard that day. Some nice mare gave Fleur and I our books, and I dazed out in my mind, thinking about a variety of things. First of all, finally! A class with Fleur! We can be lover buddies together! I could do romantic things with her, like help her with homework, or just chat with her when we're bored. Before I could do any of that, though, sleep threatened my attention again, and before I knew it my face was on the desk.

The bell ringing woke me up. Everyone dragged themselves slowly out of the classroom, tired from the hard labor of sitting through five classes. "So, baby, what's your next class?" Fleur asked me as she put away some quill and parchment.

"Oh, Sex Ed," I replied.

She gasped, a smile forming. "Me too, baby!" She giggled.

Why was she even in the class, she's already an expert in that stu-

"Oh, yay!" I giggled, nuzzling her mane as we made our way out of the class. When I walked in, I could not believe what I saw.

"Oh, Shining, you're here too?! This is fantastic!" Fancypants giggled. "It seems that all of our friends are here!"

He was right. Blueblood, Fancypants, Trixie, Vance, Octavia, Vinyl. . . Everyone was there. We all sat down, finding seats together; Fleur sat behind me while Vance sat to the right of me. Fancypants, for some reason, chose to sit behind Fleur. Not that I'm jealous or anything that he gets to stare at her sweet flank during class. I made small talk with Vance before I became completely speechless.

First of all, fucking Braeburn was in the class too. He trotted in, bags under his eyes, probably from trying to ward off all of his enemies.

"Yeah, he's in my Business class. . . let's just say that his book just seemed to grow legs and ran around the entire school!" Vance leaned over and whispered, chuckling. Some ponies were really mean with magic.

Braeburn chose to sit to the empty desk to my left. Please don't talk to me, pl-

"Howdy there, pal! How ya doin'?" He happily inquired, smiling as he wiped the sweat out of his mane.

I didn't hear him, though, because something even more amazing followed him through the door.

She looked like a bus had hit her, hairs on her mane escaping from their loose ponytail and sweat beading her forehead. Obviously, Braeburn didn't get his book back all by himself. She met my eyes and blushed slightly, immediately looking away. She was probably really shy. She looked around the class and noticed that the only desk open was the one in the front row, right in front of me. She stretched her wings and sat down. I could say I was a little jealous. After all, who WOULDN'T want to be able to fly?

She sat down at her desk, and I couldn't help but notice her flank. It was kind of cute, having little hearts on both sides and being round and full without seeming slutty, like a number of mares at the school. I moved my eyes upward, and noticed there was no teacher. The bell rang, and my life pretty much ended as the door opened once again.

My mother walked in, wearing a small pair of glasses and carrying some books entitled "The Female Anatomy: 1st Ed" and "The Male Anatomy: 2nd Ed."

My.

Mother.

Vance couldn't help but laugh, slamming his hoof on the desk. Why didn't mom tell me about this?! She told me she'd gotten a new teaching job, the first since she'd had Twilight, but she never mentioned this!

"Hi kids, my name is Mrs. Velvet!" My mom, whom I shall refer to as Mrs. Velvet for my sanity, announced. She smiled brightly at Fleur and I. Fleur waved happily as I stared at her, stone faced. I took another look at my schedule.

Sex Ed.

Mom, no.

"As you all know, I'm here to teach about Sex Ed. Let me explain what I expect. First of all, this is no place to learn about the best strategies to have sex with your significant other! If you want to do that, the internet is definitely a helpful resource!" Mrs. Velvet exclaimed. The entire class burst out into laughter. I think even Fancypants got his head out of his ass to laugh harder than his usual composed self. Everyone except for the Alicorn and I laughed. She blushed out of nervousness, possibly giving a small giggle, and I just wanted to murder myself. I'm going to spend my senior year sitting in a classroom with all of my friends while having my mom explain how my penis works.

"Now, this class is for learning about your body, how it works, safety if you choose to get involved with sex, and also how to take care of foals after you get married and have them!" Mrs. Velvet calmly stated after the class calmed down. As awkward as this was, mom was very good at not embarrassing me. I knew she wouldn't be like "I have two kids of my own that I made, and one is sitting right here! Say hi, Shining! He's going to be making some grandkids very soon with his lovely girlfriend!" My mom was pretty great. I loved her, generally. This was not one of those times.

"Now, take out your pencils, we're going to start off with basic review." She announced as she turned on the overhead projector to show a diagram. A penis. Just great. Fleur moaned a bit behind me as she saw it. My mother proceeded to explain every single part of this pretty great organ, my nether regions growing incredibly uncomfortable the entire time. I wasn't gay or anything, I just. . . words. . .

She took the slide off and put up another diagram. This time, it was a diagram of the female reproductive system. I could feel every stallion growing uncomfortable as they shifted their nether regions.

"Maybe you could show us what that looks like in person, Mrs. Velvet!" A voice screamed from the back. Someone just asked my mother to show him her vagina. My life is over.

"Maybe I should, since that's the only time you'll ever get to see one!" Mrs. Velvet retorted back, a smug smile on her face. The class boomed with laughter. Even I gave a little chuckle.

The class ended, thank goodness, about ten minutes after that, once she'd finished explaining each of the sexual organs, and what exactly sex was (which I purposely choose not to mention, because I probably would have shoved my head into a box of glass having to remember that experience ever again), the bell rang, and everypony left with enormous blushes on their face.

Vance stared at me, still red faced as he tried to find the composure to say anything. "Dude, that was your mom!" he finally managed.

"Ah, I must say, I might need to actually start wearing pants if I'm subject to this class every day." Fancypants stammered. Now why would he need to wear pa- Oh.

The Alicorn stared at me for a few seconds as I was standing by my mother's desk, waiting for others to leave so that I could speak to her privately about this nice little surprise she'd just sprung.

"See something you like?" Fleur whispered to her. She immediately sprung back to reality and flew out of the room, almost dropping her bags. "Bitch."

"Fleur, that's not nice! She probably hasn't even that many stallions before, after being home schooled!" I snapped.

"Besides, Shining Armor is the best looking stallion in this place!" Mrs. Velvet piped up from her desk. Dammit mom, why were you so cool and so embarrassing.

"Oh! Mom! Yeah, I gotta go sign up for wrestling! I'll be back later!" I exclaimed, grabbing Fancypants and Vance as I sprinted out of the room, the rest of the crew leaving as we left.

Vance, Fancypants, and I all walked to the gym, where the list was located.

"Hmm, Jet's trying out? That loser. He's not gonna make it." I sighed out, looking at the list. I didn't recognize any other pony on the list, probably because they were either freshmen or part of the JV team. I signed the three of us up on the list, knowing that we were going to make it.

"You guys can head off, I gotta go talk to coach!" I told my two friends. They nodded their heads and turned away.

"We shall see you tomorrow, Shining!" Fancypants exclaimed as he walked off with Vance.

Before I had a second to think, I heard urgent clopping. Was the track team already practicing? I looked up and saw who it was.

"Hey there, Shining! Ya tryin' out fer the wrestlin' team!?" Braeburn practically shouted.

"Oh yeah, um, I'm kind of captain." I sighed, faking a smile.

"Shucks! If yer in it, then ah should be in it, too! Momma said ah should join a sport, and this'll be perfect!" Braeburn exclaimed. He pulled out a quill and tried his best to write his name with the quill in his mouth.

"Um, let me get that for you," I said nervously as I took his quill with my magic and wrote his name.

"Ah! Thanks, pal! Ah'll see ya tomorrow!" He said, frantically picking up his books and sprinting off.

Senior year was going to be a long year.

Foal Sitting

I was overwhelmed with the comfort of familiarity when my hooves touched down on the balcony of my room in the castle and my wings folded to rest at my sides. I used my magic to unlock the glass doors and walked into my room, my reflection in the grand mirror showing me just how exhausted I looked while my saddlebags slid to the floor. After a moment of settling back into my room, my door opened with a soft click and my mother walked in, a hesitant smile on her face.

"How was your first day?" She asked as she walked in and took a seat at the small vanity against my wall.

"It was good," I said truthfully. All in all, I'd made a new friend in the country pony, my first real "peer" that I had really interacted with the way ponies normally do. I'll admit, I was a little flustered when I saw that I would be sharing my Sexual Education class with the blue-maned stallion I'd seen at lunch, along with his beautiful fillyfriend, who struck me as one of the ponies my mother had warned me about. Braeburn was also there, though, which was a source of comfort.

"Tell me about it." She urged gently, leaning forward to listen.

I recounted the events of my day, describing my encounter with Braeburn and his tormentors, and blushing a bit when I explained my talk with Twilight. "I'm sorry, I should have asked before I made the commitment," I said hurriedly after mentioning that I'd agreed to foal sit. "I just felt it was a great opportunity to-"

My mother's laughter interrupted my thought. "Don't worry, Cadence, I think it's a lovely idea. Twilight Sparkle is the filly? Yes, I've been looking into her for awhile now, meeting with her parents tonight should tie up a few loose ends."

Now, it was my turn to be interested in the topic of conversation. "What do you think will become of her?"

"I'm not sure yet," She said thoughtfully. "She shows more potential than any young filly I've seen in quite some time. I hope to take her on as my personal student, if she's able to pass the test."

"The dragon egg test?" I gaped.

"The very same."

"I could never manage that," I said, scoffing a bit. "That egg has gone unhatched since before I was born. Do you really think she'll be able to do it?"

My mother stood to leave, but gave me a lingering smile. "We shall see. I expect you should be leaving in an hour or so, so I'll leave you be. I have some work to tend to."

I nodded. "Thank you." Part of me was relieved that I hadn't been able to explain up to seeing the stallion that had caused my heart to flutter and my knees to go weak. I wasn't sure if I could lie, and I had no idea how my mother would feel about my having feelings for someone with nothing to base them on. Foolish, she would say.

After she left I ran a brush through my mane, now tangled from the activities of the day. If I brushed it right, the colors all mixed together beautifully, purples and pinks and yellows. It was unusual for a pony to have more than two colors, but like in everything else, I was special. Sometimes, it felt incredibly selfish to have the desire to be ordinary; so many ponies would die to have my regal lifestyle, with the Princess of Equestria as my mother. But honestly, this was all I had known. Everything else in the world had been hidden away from me like a precious gem. And now, finally, I got to unearth the truth beyond the castle's walls.

I emptied my school supplies from my saddlebags and filled it instead with different games I had enjoyed when I was a filly Twilight's age- cards, a puzzle cube, different word games. I also, on a whim, packed a small stuffed animal that I'd had since I was a foal. Something told me Twilight might appreciate it.

In what felt like no time at all, I took to the skies for the third time that day, Twilight's written directions held in front of my face in a firm magical hold as I navigated my way. Her instructions were clear and concise, something that impressed me, considering her youth, and I arrived five minutes before she'd asked me to.

Twilight lived in one of the older areas of Canterlot, where all the houses were custom built and the trees towered overhead. Her house was cozy and warm, with a neatly trimmed yard and a clean coat of white paint, nothing extravagent, and homey all the same. I scuffed my hooves on the pavement in front of her home, undecided on whether I should wait out the extra few minutes or knock on the door.

My decision was made for me when the door in question was thrown open, and a mare and stallion bustled out, still pulling on coats and arranging their saddlebags. The mare nearly plowed into me before she noticed me, and gave a breathless apology.

"Oh my, dear, I'm so sorry. You must be the foal sitter! Yes, Twilight told us about you, thank you so much for coming on such short noti- say, aren't you one of my students? Yes! Honey, this is the alicorn I mentioned to you. Cadence, isn't it?" Her words spilled out in a rush.

"Yes," I said, blushing. "And it's no trouble at all, really-"

"All of the emergency addresses are on the fridge, you know how to send mail with magic, don't you? Oh, what am I saying, of course you do. Shining is still here, he should be leaving to go on his date any minute now, though. Do you have any questions? You know, we're already late to see the princess, we should be going." The couple started trotting away, and she called over her shoulder, "My son, Shining Armor, can answer any questions you have!"

I gave a weak wave as I watched them leave, then tightened my bags, pushed my loose mane from my face, and walked up the path and through the door that was still ajar. I looked around, and noted that the interior of the home was just as cozy as the exterior. The floors were hard wood, and the color scheme was made up of beiges and browns. A fire crackled warmly in the fireplace against the far wall, and on the wooden floor I could hear hoofbeats coming near.

"Hello?" I called out nervously.

"Oh, hey, you must be the new foal-" The voice stopped short when the speaker came into view and our eyes met. My heart nearly stopped when I saw that it was the white stallion from school that I'd seen at lunch. My mouth went dry, and my tail began swishing from side to side, a nervous habit I'd tried to get rid of since I was a filly.

"The new foal sitter," I finished for him in a small voice, barely able to meet his gaze. "Yes."

"You're the new pony," He said, tilting his head curiously. "You're in my Sex Ed class, right?"

"Right." I gave a shy smile. "So, you're Shining Armor? Twilight's brother?"

"The one and only!" He gave me a grin, then stepped a little closer so that he wasn't shouting across the room. "Fluer will be here any minute. Sorry about today, by the way, she was so rude to you."

"Oh, that? It was nothing." I gave my best attempt at a nonchalant shrug. "Is, um...is Twilight here?"

"Oh, yeah. TWILIGHT!" He bellowed over his shoulder.

I heard lighter hoofbeats, and within moments Twilight was skidding into the room, now out of breath. She beamed when she saw me, running towards us.

"Cadence!" She squealed, eliciting a smile from me. She was a sweet filly, and why she had developed such an attachment to me so quickly was beyond me. I leaned down to nuzzle her.

"Hi, Twilight! I'm glad I could come, I brought lots of games for us to play." As I spoke, I was distinctly aware of Shining Armor watching the entire exchange.

"That sounds fun," She said. "But I was hoping we could practice some magic, if you don't mind. I was doing some research on Alicorns, and in Magical Maladies of the Malformed, it said-"

Shining Armor chuckled and put his hoof over his sister's mouth. "Whoa there, kiddo. Maybe games would be a good idea, take a break from studying for once."

"Shining Armor!" She pouted. "I'm in advanced magic now. Advanced! Do you know how much time that's going to take? If I want the princess to notice me, I have to at least pass advanced magic!"

"Oh, don't worry, the princess has noticed you." I assured her. "I'm staying in the castle, and she mentioned you just earlier today."

Twilight's mouth dropped open in a comical O. She breathed in a huge gulp of air, then shouted, "Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!" She proceeded to leap around in circles, spouting her excitement at her brother and me. "The princess noticed me! She talked about me! Can you believe it, Shining? Do you think that's a good sign? Oh my gosh the princess knows who I am!"

Shining and I exchanged a smile over the filly's shenanigans, but the moment was interrupted with a distinct knock on the door.

Shining went to answer it, and the mare I recognized to be his girlfriend by the name of Fleur walked in, flicking her mane to the side and scanning the room. When her eyes rested on me, she scowled in distaste.

"What is she doing here?" She asked, looking at Shining.

"Oh, she's Twilight's new foal sitter," He explained hurriedly. "She's in our Sex Ed class, remember?"

"I remember." She stared at me for a measure, then turned back to Shining, dismissing me entirely. I bowed my head, feeling thoroughly embarrassed, and I noticed Twilight standing sheepishly at my side. She didn't like Fleur either?

"Are you ready for our date, baby?" She purred, kissing him on the mouth. He pulled back a little, smiling.

"You know it." He glanced back at me. "You'll be okay watching her?"

"That's what I'm here for," I offered with a smile.

He nodded, then the two of them walked out of the room, slamming the door shut with a light pink flourish of magic. I sighed, a wealth of tension now gone from the room.

"She's not a very nice person," Twilight commented dejectedly.

"I don't know her well enough to really say," I said, trying to set a good example. "I'm sure she's not all bad, though. Shining Armor must like her, right?"

"I guess. I don't know why, though." She scrunched her snout, and I laughed at the adorableness of the gesture.

"Why don't we practice a little magic," I suggested, and her eyes lit up, "and then we can try some of my games. Sound fair enough?"

"Fine, but next time you come, we have to practice magic again, too. Okay?" She said as she started trotting out of the room, waving for me to follow. My heart swelled at the mention that she wanted me to come back. Having friends felt absolutely wonderful.

***

"Twilight, please...can we stop now?" My legs wobbled from the extensive magical exertion she'd insisted we both go through. She was ceaselessly amazed at the potency of my magic, oohing enviously as I changed the color of three of her family's dinner placemats. We'd been at it for nearly an hour and a half, and my head pounded from the effort.

"Alright, just let me try it one more time." She stepped in front of the white sewn placemat and squeezed her eyes in concentration, using her purple aura to give the material a tinge of pink for a few seconds before she gave up, panting.

"How do you make the spell so that the color change stays?" She asked, rubbing her forehead with her hoof.

"I'll tell you next time I come over if you agree to take a break," I bargained.

She considered, and conceded. "Fine. You said you had some games?"

"I do!" I said, grinning. I led her back into the living room from the filly's room, where we'd been working, and rummaged through my saddlebags with my hooves, giving my magic a break.

"Let's see...I've got puzzles, cards, a stuffed animal..."

"I like puzzles!" She practically sang. Of course she did.

"You know, Twilight, I have a little bit of a headache. Why don't we just play a nice game of hide and seek?" I offered with a tempting smile. "Have you ever played that before?"

She shook her head.

"Well, I'll teach you how to play." I leaned down to her level and explained the game. She nodded, listening carefully, and if I wasn't mistaken, her hoof twitched as though she wanted to be taking notes. This pony was something.

"I'll be it first," I concluded after my explanation. "I'll count to twenty. Ready?"

She nodded, and I covered my eyes and began my counting. "One, two, three..." Once I reached twenty, I uncovered my eyes and cried, "Ready or not, here I come!"

After three or four minutes of careful searching, I came to find that Twilight's cleverness also translated into her hide and seek strategies. No matter where I looked, I simply couldn't find the mischievous filly. Under beds, in dresser drawers, behind bags of grain in the pantry; everywhere I looked was unfruitful. She was better at this than I was, and she'd never even played! I couldn't help but smile.

A few more minutes in, I began to panic that I wouldn't be able to find her at all, and her family would return to find me empty hooved and looking for their youngest filly. I decided to surrender.

"Okay, Twilight, you win!" I called out, walking from room to room. "Come on out now, I couldn't find you!"

I waited for a few moments of tense silence before finally, her small voice floated towards me from her bedroom. "How do I know this isn't a trick!?"

I laughed, trotting towards the sound. "It's not. I just don't want to spend the rest of our time looking for you when my job is to be watching you!"

"I don't know..." She said skeptically, and I finally found her. She was perched delicately on TOP of her tall dresser, wedged between it and the ceiling. I hadn't even thought to look up, considering that she couldn't fly. It was definitely a good spot. "I think we should establish a secret code, just between us. In case you're ever an imposter." She grinned, the smile splitting her face. I laughed with her, the idea evidence that even this booksmart little filly had a wild imagination.

"Where'd you get that idea?" I teased.

"I read about it in the book I checked out about foal sitting this afternoon," She replied. "I wanted to know just what to expect, and it has all kinds of ideas on how to be better friends!"

I let out a good natured sigh. Of course she'd read it in a book. "Alright, what should our secret code be?"

She nimbly hopped down from her place atop the dresser and looked at me with her wide, violet eyes. "I didn't really have any ideas. What do you think?"

I searched my mind, and a rhyme that my mother had taught me when I was even younger than Twilight filled my memory. It was during a lesson about her sunlight, and how it affected all of the seasons, but most importantly, Spring. Of course, it was mostly just to add a bit of fun to the learning process, but wasn't that just the perfect type of rhyme for Twilight? I gave her a triumphant smile. "I know just the thing. Here's how it goes- Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" As I recited the words, I danced along with them, and she applauded with glee.

"I love it! Will you teach me?"

After only a few times going over it, Twilight and I were bouncing around her house, shouting about sunshine and ladybugs and waving our rumps around in the air willy nilly.

"CLAP YOUR HOOVES AND DO A LITTLE SHAKE!" We nearly screamed for the tenth time, enthusiastically shaking our flanks until we collapsed onto the floor, dissolving into laughter.

We both jumped in surprise when someone cleared their voice from the doorway. I twisted to see that Shining Armor was standing there, and judging by the expression on his face, he'd seen all of our antics. I groaned inwardly, now very much embarrassed. I'd just swung my bottom around right in front of his face. I would never forgive myself.

He smiled when our gazes met, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I see that you two are having fun."

"You're home early," I blurted, glancing at the clock. "You said you'd be back an hour from now."

He nodded. "Fleur and I had a little disagreement and decided to come home early. It's okay, though, it happens a lot. I had quite a bit of fun while we were there."

"Oh, I'm sorry." I said, still blushing too hard to really retain much of what the white stallion was saying.

"It's entirely fine." His tone suggested otherwise as he stepped in further, closing the door behind him with his back hoof. Twilight walked over and nuzzled his chest in greeting and comfort, and I stepped towards my things.

"I guess you won't be needing me any longer today?" I asked, desperate to get out of the house, lest he decide to comment on what he'd seen as he walked in.

"You don't have to stay, but you don't have to go. I was planning on making dinner for Twilight and I. You're welcome to stay, I know you're new around here and you could probably use some company."

"Yes, please stay, Cadence!" Twilight urged.

"She's really taken a liking to you." Shining smiled again, and this time, it looked genuine.

Shining Armor was inviting me to have dinner with him and his sister? Well, who was I to deny him that? Euphoria and lingering embarrassment fought over what I should do, and euphoria quickly won out.

"Sure, I'd love to stay for dinner." I left my things on the ground where they were and walked back over, towards my new friends.

The First Night

“Mom. Seriously. What the hell,” I groaned as I planted myself on the couch.

“What, honey? I thought it was fun teaching your class! Didn’t you even mention that you wanted me to be a teacher?” My mother asked me.

“Yeah. A teacher for a NORMAL subject, like, you know, Magic or English or something like that. I didn’t mean to go off and teach my friends about sex!” I moaned.

“Your friends all seem to like me, though! Especially Miss Fleur!” She teased, rubbing me on the head.

“Mooom," I grumbled and rolled about on the couch.

It had just been the first day of school, and after signing up for wrestling, I walked home alone. This year was definitely interesting thus far. I wasn’t really tense about it; being senior year, my classes were all fairly easy. However, I had to spend the entire year getting sexy-talked by Fleur during Government and annoyed by Braeburn. . . This year definitely had its upcoming challenges. I sighed contentedly as I finally got a second of rest on the couch.

A knock on the door interrupted my nap just as it was beginning.

“Shining, your friends are here!” Mother called out.

“A delight and honor to enter your home once again, Mrs. Velvet!” A familiar formal voice rang out.

“Oh Fancypants, you’re such a sweetheart! Shining is right over on the couch," my mother offered, directing them towards me.

“Thanks, Mrs. Velvet!” Another voice stated. I could hear two sets of hooves coming towards me. I could already tell who it was by the sound.

“Dude, Shining, so did you SEE the wrestling sign ups?” Vance blurted as he jumped in front of my face.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” I chuckled slightly, a bit annoyed that my nap time was so swiftly taken away from me.

“Dude. I can’t believe it! I guess it’s fine though, everypony would wanna take a swing at that annoying little bastard!” Vance snickered.

“Ah, that Braeburn fellow. Excuse me for being so rude, Shining, I was just admiring your home,” Fancypants absentmindedly stated. He seemed distant.

“Dude, low-key, though, Braeburn might actually be good for our team. You remember Big Mac? That big red dude from Ponyville High? Braeburn’s his cousin, and Big Mac said that he was actually pretty good.” I explained to Vance.

“Wait. Hold up. He’s BIG MAC’s cousin? Dude. Back it up, dude, I can’t believe it! I got creamed SO HARD by him last year! What if Braeburn like, trains with him! That’d be amazing!” Vance wailed as he jumped up and down in excitement. “If we go against Ponyville High again, we can just shove Braeburn against him! After all, he knows all of his secrets!”

I chuckled softly. “Nah, I think I’ll take him on. I’ll give him Caramel or something. We can’t even say this, though, we don’t know how good he is! What if he doesn’t make the team?"

“Well, I believe that Braeburn shall be a fine addition! The chap has a large amount of pent up energy that he can apply to defeating any foe! Besides, he’s an earth pony. Earth ponies are known for being physically stronger than unicorns or pegasi. Hence, why we only take our top contenders to go against Ponyville High and the such.” Fancypants explained, still staring into space.

“Yeah, I guess. So how was your first day, Fancypants?” I asked the white unicorn, searching his expression for a clue to his unusual behavior.

“Ah, it was grand! In fact,” Fancypants heavily blushed, nervously itching his hooves. “Um, my second period was fun! Vance and I drew pictures of our favorite presidents, and they were. . . ah. . .” Fancypants was sure as hell being weird. After all, he would've probably explained his Government story more along the lines of, ‘Vance and I engaged in a superb art festival of major historical figures that lead nations, and the entire experience was quite enthralling!’, but this was unlike him, and I think I could pinpoint why.

“Cool. How about first period?” I asked him casually, trying to break him down. I knew he'd skipped it for a reason.

“Um, good.” Fancypants mumbled.

“Yeah, I heard from Blueblood that it was cool. There’s this total bitch in there, though!” I mentioned. I knew just how to break this superfluous little guy.

“Oh, come ON! If you’re talking about that new Alicorn Cadence, she isn't one at all! She’s so nice and pretty and charming and a-. . . heh.” Fancypants just about died out of embarrassment as I brohoofed Vance, exchanging a knowing look with him. “What?! Y-Y-You at least think she’s kind of cute, right?!” Fancypants completely abandoned his usual regal tone.

“Oh, pshaw, hell yeah!” Vance blurted out. “Although, there’s kind a filly that I kinda like this year too. . .” I chuckled to myself. Everypony was getting flustered all of a sudden about love!

“Well, spit it out, man!” Fancypants shouted, louder than he probably wanted to, likely to get the attention away from him and onto Vance.

“Well, she was in my Magic class. . . you know Octavia?” he asked me.

“Of course! Dude, go for it! Granted, if you want to hang with her, you gotta stop saying dude all the time, she’s really freaking formal.” I explained.

“Really?! But her roommate-“

“Yeah, Vinyl. She told me all the time last year about how sometimes she’d get super pissed at her because she always came to school high and stuff“

"Dude, you gotta help me, though!” Vance cried out.

“AND ME TOO!” Fancypants practically screamed.

Apparently, I was the love guru of our little group of friends. “Fine, I’ll put in a good word. But I’m not mentioning anything about you guys liking them, you have to do that yourself!” I sighed.

It didn’t bother me that my two best friends decided to want to go out with that cute Alicorn chick and one of my best female friends. Honestly, Vance and Octavia would get along nicely, and it’d be so cool having two of my best friends going out. As for Fancypants, she’ll definitely be treated right with him. Sure, she’s pretty and all, and she’s got a sweet ass, but I already have Fleur, who makes me perfectly happy.

Oh wait. Fleur.

“Dude, guys, I just remembered! I have a date with Fleur!” I yelped out, almost falling off of the couch.

“Ah, the sweet art of dating, the dreams I shall have of touring the local town with the most beautiful mare I’ve seen in my life, while we bond as one and make the night sky blossom with our happiness!” Fancypants happily exclaimed, reverting back to his regal self.

“Yeah, go get some, Shining.” Vance stated apathetically. “Fancypants, dude, we gotta plan this! My parents don’t get home until later, so we can hang there until they get back.”

Vance led Fancypants out of the house, Fancypants having reverted back to deep thought about his new love interest.

“Phew. Luckily for me, my plans don’t start for another. . .” I stared at the clock. “Shit.”

I got up and noted that I had five minutes to get ready before Fleur was supposed to come by. Luckily, this was a pretty casual date. We were going to see “Seabiscuit.” It wasn’t a very romantic movie, but it had one of her favorite actors, Pony McGuire, and she loved movies about race ponies.

“SHINING! We have to go, we’re late!” Mom called out. They were still grabbing their coats as they bolted out the door. I forgot where my parents were even going, honestly, but they needed a foalsitter. Which reminded me, when was she coming again? She had to be coming around the same time Fleur was, or else we might be late for our movie.

As if on cue, I heard a familiar voice, a nervous and shy voice that floated through the air so softly. . . I immediately sprinted into the other room. I’m not sure why, though. After all, I had just learned that Fancypants had a thing for her, and I already had a fillyfriend!

I heard her hooves as she walked in. This was my time to impress the new filly. I walked from out of the room I had just hidden in and stared directly at her.

"Oh, hey, you must be the new foal-"

"The new foal sitter, yes,” She interrupted me, obviously nervous.

"You're the new pony," I said, tilting my head curiously as if I didn't know exactly who she was. "You're in my Sex Ed class, right?"

"Right." She gave a shy smile. "So, you're Shining Armor? Twilight's brother?"

"The one and only!" I grinned slightly. I realized that I was standing on complete opposite end of the room, almost yelling at her. I stepped a bit closer to her. "Fleur will be here any minute. Sorry about today, by the way, she was so rude to you." I went on.

"Oh, that? It was nothing." She shrugged slightly. "Is, um...is Twilight here?"

"Oh, yeah. TWILIGHT!" I bellowed over my shoulder. I waited as her quick little hooves ran down the stairs and immediately to where I was. I could tell from her expression that she knew exactly why I called her.

"Cadence!" She squealed. Damn, my sister was adorable.

"Hi, Twilight! I'm glad I could come, I brought lots of games for us to play." Cadence expressed, smiling.

"That sounds fun," Twilight said. "But I was hoping we could practice some magic, if you don't mind. I was doing some research on Alicorns, and in Magical Maladies of the Malformed, it said-"

"Whoa there, kiddo.” I covered Twilight’s mouth with my hoof as she still tried to fight for words. “Maybe games would be a good idea. Take a break from studying for once."

"Shining Armor!" She pouted. "I'm in advanced magic now. Advanced! Do you know how much time that's going to take? If I want the princess to notice me, I have to at least pass advanced magic!"

"Oh, don't worry, the princess has noticed you." Cadence assured her. "I'm staying in the castle, and she mentioned you just earlier today."

There was a moment of silence, and I prepared my ears for the unconstrained excitement I was about to endure. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!" She proceeded to leap around in circles, spouting her excitement at us. "The princess noticed me! She talked about me! Can you believe it, Shining? Do you think that's a good sign? Oh my gosh the princess knows who I am!"

I laughed softly. Before I could mention anything else, I heard a knock. I walked past the two fillies and opened the door. To my delight, Fleur was standing on the porch. She was such a beautiful mare, with her hair falling almost to the beginning of her legs, its pink color brighter than ever. She prepared so much to see me, and I felt bad that all I did was not ruin my hair today.

“Hey there, love!” She exclaimed as she kissed me. She wasn’t much for patience when it came to romantic things. However, at least for kissing, I was fine with it. She looked around the house and saw Cadence staring at her. "What is she doing here?" Fleur demanded, her town changing immediately as she looked at me for an explanation.

"Oh, she's Twilight's new foal sitter," I explained. "She's in our Sex Ed class, remember?"

"I remember." She stared at her for a while, before staring at me. Damn, I hope this isn’t what I think it is.

"Are you ready for our date, baby?" She purred, kissing me on the mouth again. I was completely unprepared, deep in thought, and naturally pulled back a little.

"You know it." I glanced back at Cadence. "You'll be okay watching her?"

"That's what I'm here for," She offered with a smile.

I nodded as I lead Fleur out of the room. I knew that at this point, conversations about Cadence were uncanny valley, a realm I shouldn’t delve in. . . at least for now. Damn shame, though, I would have liked Fleur and Cadence to get alon-

“Baby! Shining! Oh, it’s so wonderful to see you! I rented out a taxi pony for us to go to the movie. Don’t worry about paying, either, I’ll be paying for it,” She giggled, nuzzling my side. As much as I gave her crap for being too into “love”, she was incredibly dedicated to me, and I blushed from the flattery and affection.

“Damn, Fleur, you’re so good!” I exclaimed, kissing her on the cheek. I lead her to the rickshaw-like structure, where a well built pony around 30 years old walked slowly from my house to the drive-in theatre where we were having our date. The town itself was dazzling, to use a term from Fancypants’ book. Lights were just turning on, flashing and dancing around the entire town as Fleur nuzzled my side. Honestly, she was pretty great.

We arrived at the drive-in theatre after 20 minutes nestled in the taxi. I tipped the rickshaw pony, giving him bits to go get food while we were watching the movie together. We arrived just as the movie was beginning.

“Eep! I just love that Pony McGuire, don’t you?” she exclaimed.

“Well, I’m not into stallions, so not really,” I chuckled. It was easy to talk to her and make jokes when we were alone and being ourselves. She laughed heartily, somehow managing to keep her feminine charm even through the guffaws.

“Ooh, baby, this movie is amazing,” She sighed. We watched the movie for a good twenty minutes, as the characters were introduced and the plot started to develop. We watched in happiness and silence, appreciating each others' company. After a little while, though, I tried to make hushed conversation since we hadn't really been able to talk that day.

“So. . . baby,” I struggled with the nickname thing. “How was your first day at school?”

“So this fucking Cadence bitch,” She immediately replied, her voice already wound up.

Oh. Oh no. Oh no no no no.

“Alright, so she’s all just like, during first period, she’s trying to show off and stuff! Like, I looked SO PRETTY today, and you know who noticed?! Nopony! That’s who! They were all like ‘Ooh, look at the pretty Alicorn!’ ‘She’s so nice’ ‘Oh she’s so special!’ Then during fourth period, I had her again! You know what? She did a spell on me! She made me go all ga ga for Jet Set! UGH! He’s such a loser, I swear!” Fleur went on, her voice raising every second. If anything, at least I found out that she hated that douche Jet Set as much as I did.

“Fleur.” I stated calmly. “Calm down. Soon, everypony will forget about her. After all, she’s so shy, she’ll want to hide from everypony. Besides. . . “ I leaned in closer to her, “I still love you, right? Even if ponies start focusing on the little pretty Alicorn pony, you’ll still always be the center of my attention.” I whispered into her ear. It was a bittersweet feeling, saying that. After all, this Alicorn. . . she was something. Not more than Fleur, but still, I’d be watching her.

“Oh, come ON! You had her at your house today! Do you know how long it took for me to even see your parents?” She groaned, obviously jealous.

“She’s a foalsitter. She’s playing with Twilight, and she seems to really like her.” I replied.

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, Twilight! How many times do I have to say this? I don't want to hear about Twilight. She’s a stupid little show off, just like that Alicorn! Like 'Oh, I really want to study magic!' 'Oh, I’m so smart!' 'Oh, I’m in the same grade as my insanely hot brother!'”

“Fleur.”

“I bet Cadence is just saying all sorts of things to your little bitch of a sister. Like ‘Oh! Your brother is so cute!’”

“Fleur.”

“I'm so much better than that slut of a fillyfriend Fleur!”

“FLEUR.”

“Just seeing him makes my marehood ache so much! I want him to do me so hard! Unlike Fleur, I think he’ll actually WANT to do me!”

“You shut your mouth!”

I don’t know what came over me. All I could remember seeing was blurred images. All I could hear was a scream. When my senses came back, Fleur was lying on the grass next to the rickshaw. Ponies were standing all around, staring at both of us. A kindhearted pony went over and checked on Fleur to make sure she was okay.

“S. . . S-Sh. . . “ She mumbled. Luckily, she wasn’t hurt. Damn, I wouldn’t hear the end of it if she got her cute little face cut up. I looked around and saw couples glaring at me, and a group of teenage ponies admiring my strength. “Shining. . . “

I didn’t know what to do or what to say. I'd just pelted my fillyfriend out of a taxi and onto the ground of a drive-in movie.

“Baby, I. . . I didn’t know what came over me. I’m sorry.” I calmly whispered to her as she looked at me, her eyes winced in pain.

“I-It’s fine. I shouldn’t have said those mean things, I was jealous. . .”

Damn, she really overdid pain. Granted, that wasn’t running through my mind at the time. All I could think of was, firstly, how much trouble I was going to get in by not only her parents, but my parents, her friends, my friends, and maybe even the police. Secondly, would this affect our relationship? She'd said so many mean things about Twily and Cadence, but still, I loved her anyway.

I couldn’t think straight. A hoof suddenly tapped me. I looked back to see my rickshaw pony walking towards me, a pretty mare around his age following closely behind him. “You alright, chap? Both of ya’ll still going home together?” he asked me.

“Yeah. In fact, Fleur, we should go home and rest.” I sighed, staring at Fleur. Tears started to grow in my eyes as I saw her in her (mostly overdone) weak state. What kind of coltfriend was I?! I was thinking about other mares, I just pretty much murdered my fillyfriend, and now, what’s our future?! There has to be someway I could repay her. For right now, this was all I could do. The rickshaw pony helped me pick her up, as she looked straight into my eyes, tears already in full bloom and spilling down her cheeks.

“I still love you,” Fleur whispered to me as the rickshaw pony took us home.

“You shouldn’t.” I sighed out. Honestly, though, I had no reason to be loved right now. Sure, she was used to deeper pain, as her previous coltfriend, Hoity Toity, was incredibly abusive with her, both physically and sexually. I remember seeing Fleur come to school wearing heavy jackets (granted, very pretty jackets) to hide the bruises that he gave her. I did my best to threaten him and straighten him out, letting him know that as long as I was around, no mare was to be treated that way. That’s how she got into me in the first place. I was like her knight in Shining Armor. Still, though, I promised to treat her right, and then I pull off something like this?

We reached her house, and I held her hoof as we walked to her front door. No answer.

“Remember, baby, my parents were out today. Mom’s working and Dad’s out with his friends,” she whispered to me. She opened the door with her magic, and I placed her in her bed.

“Rest, Fleur. You have every reason to hate me. I did something I shouldn’t have. I got so mad that I did bad things. Fleur, I want you to think about us. I did unforgivable things to you. . . things that I promised to take away from your life. I''m so very sorry,” I told her as I tucked her into her bed, the sheets a luscious pink to match her hair.

“I’ll always love you. . .” she whispered to me, reaching in for one more kiss. I took this chance to redeem myself. Our mouths touched with a passion unlike any other, as I took the lead, trying to metaphorically pull out every ounce of pain from her with my lips, rubbing her mane with my hooves as I did so, comforting her as much as possible. As we parted, I teared up once again. “Now, go. You have a sister waiting for you,” she smiled softly.

I couldn’t think of what to say, and ran out of the room and out of her house as fast as I could. I laid on the rickshaw, but before it began to move, I was filled with uncontrollable crying.

“Dude, you alright?” The rickshaw pony asked me.

“Yeah, just, what did I do?!” I cried out, slamming the floor with my hoof.

“You got mad. You’re a big guy and she’s a little filly. I could kind of hear you guys as I was walking back from getting snacks for the Mrs and I. She was saying some brutal stuff! Damn, I would have probably lifted a finger too if I was you.” He sympathized, staring at me.

“I know, but. . . it’s a long story.” I mumbled as the tears grew heavier and heavier.

“Man, I ain’t the emotional type, but I’d be willing to sit here with ya until you’re all better.” The rickshaw pony offered. He jumped on the device and sat next to me, giving me a compassionate hug as I cried into his shoulder. It took what seemed like forever to get a hold of myself as other rickshaws moved past us, staring.

“Hah! Gaaay!” A pony screamed from one rickshaw as it passed by us.

“Shut the hell up, Chang!” A mare sitting next to him scolded loudly.

“At least you ain’t that guy. He’s got a pretty good reason for his mare being mad at him. You’re understandable, though.” The rickshaw pony offered for comfort as I wound down.

“Yeah, thanks,” I mumbled. “I think I’m ready to go home.” I wiped the tears from my eyes, and the rickshaw pony gave me a pat on the back and took me to my house. I took a few moments to compose myself before leaving the device. I turned to the driver and gave him a bag of bits. “Get her something nice. Your wife, I mean. You’re the greatest.”

“I’ll try. You know, we been married a few years now. Today is the day I’m gonna ask to make a little foal with her,” he confided shyly as he happily took the bits.

“That sounds wonderful! I know that you’ll make a great father.” I encouraged truthfully. I hugged the stallion for one last time, and waved him away as he thanked me and walked back to the theatre. Good ponies still existed in the world, even if they weren’t me.

I sighed as I tried to recompose myself for the coming meeting with Cadence and Twilight. After all, I had to be eternally strong and never cry. I opened the door, and my eyes were drawn to a huge surprise.

"CLAP YOUR HOOVES AND DO A LITTLE SHAKE!"

Sweet Celestia why does this happen to me?

I saw Cadence’s sweet flank move from side to side as she giggled, her tail swishing in the air. . . it was so perfect. It wasn’t as perfect as Fleur’s, of course, but still. I wanted to just grab that flank and make it shake even more. At least, until I looked to her right and saw my sister doing the exact same thing.

Never again, Shining. Bad thoughts. However, I should really ask Cadence to teach Fleur that dance. Maybe it would make them lighten up or something. Besides, it’d be nice to see Fleur sha-

I shook my head to get all of tainted thoughts off my mind.

Cadence looked back and our eyes met, her face blushing deeply, the redness sparking out from her pink body. I couldn’t help but smile, personally. After all, she was playing silly games with my little sister. Even if she IS a foalsitter, it’s still embarrassing to have your peers see you doing little ridiculous things with kids. There’s a reason they only work when everypony’s away from home.

"You're home early," She blurted, glancing at the clock. "You said you'd be back an hour from now."

I nodded slightly. "Fleur and I had a little disagreement and decided to come home early. It's okay, though, it happens a lot. I had quite a bit of fun while we were there." It actually didn’t happen all that much. Most of our dates went with us cuddling and snuggling, having fun with each other, and then her trying to push me to be more sexually active. This was the first date I’ve ever really had where things had gone wrong. Most ponies would consider a “bad date” to be spilling a drink on their date or getting lost. I just so happened to be the guy who punched his fillyfriend out of a rickshaw in the middle of a drive-in theatre. For some reason, though, I didn't want to give Cadence the impression that everything was always wonderful between me and Fleur.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She stuttered, obviously caring about my pain.

"It's entirely fine.” I lied. I decided to take the attention off of me and to my adorable little sister, who had a goofy smile on her face. She thought it was funny how we walked in on her dance, but she didn’t realize the real reason Cadence was embarrassed out of her life.

"I guess you won't be needing me any longer today?" She asked me, probably nervous out of her mind that I barged in on her work.

"You don't have to stay, but you don't have to go. I was planning on making dinner for me and Twilight. You're welcome to stay, I know you're new around here and you could probably use some company." I replied. I’m not entirely sure why I offered for her to stay. After all, I had just finished crying with some rickshaw pony about how Fleur was mad at me regarding Cadence. But. . . she was new! That’s a good excuse, right?! She was new and it would be mean to just kick her out early!

"Yes, please stay, Cadence!" Twilight urged.

"She's really taken a liking to you." I noticed aloud. There's another perfectly good reason. Twilight would have been so sad if Cadence left early, and I had to make my sister happy!

"Sure, I'd love to stay for dinner." She replied, still seeming embarrassed.

“Cool. I’ll get started then. You guys can get back to your little dance session.” I chuckled, probably making Cadence more embarrassed than a normal pony should ever be. I actually didn’t know what I was going to make, nor did I plan to ever make dinner. All I could find was a box of Cherrios, some pancakes, and microwaveable Hot Pockets. Granted, I made a promise, a promise that I wasn’t just about to break. I grabbed the hot pockets and my cooking adventure began.

Hopefully I didn’t embarrass myself in front of Ca-

Wait! Why do I care what Cadence thinks?! She’s just that weird loser filly from Sex Ed class! Her opinion doesn’t matter, right?

Right?