//------------------------------// // Chapter XIV. The Unexpected Hex. // Story: Quest for Earth Pony Magic: the Disciple // by IMN //------------------------------// The roof was quiet. No, the roof was too quiet for Prince Blueblood to bear. Sun Light managed to put an astonishing amount of resistance regarding his presence in the tower but caved in after Twilight Sparkle started to cry. Needless to say, everyone agreed on having a quiet picnic on the roof of the tower. However, no one expected the exact level of quiet Sun Light can generate by sitting there, sipping tea, and occasionally glaring Blueblood to death. It felt like the sky was about to fall and swallow him up where he stood. Blueblood felt the need to say something, anything, else he might go insane. “Lovely day, isn’t it?” He finally managed. A breeze passed among the picnickers when Cadence finally replied, “It sure is.” A tumbleweed blew next to the Sun Light, which he promptly ignored. Finally, the silence became too much for Blueblood to bear. "Say something!" He yelled at Sun Light. Sun Light glanced at Blueblood while lifting an eyebrow.He then turned to Twilight,"Hey Twilight, did I ever tell you the secrets of this roof?" "Does it have stink mites like the other roof?" Twilight responded indignantly. Sun Light gaped at Twilight. "Hahaha. No," Sun Light responded forcefully, "Come with me, it's better to show you." Twilight seemed unsure. She turned to Cadence for some guidance. Cadence simply nodded. "Okay," Twilight said. Sun Light grabbed Twilight and went toward one of the ledges. "This tower has the perfect view of Canterlot, come I'll show you." Blueblood waited until the foals were out of earshot. He turned toward Cadence hysterical. "He's not budging at all! What do I do? What do I do?" He fidgeted. He couldn't believe how much stress apologizing for causes and how much havoc on his person it was causing. Cadence stood up, then slapped Blueblood across the face. "Stop panicking, Sunny will cave in, just be patient and don't show him any weaknesses.I'll throw him a treat soon and we'll see how much he resists then." "Okay, okay, I'll calm down, I'm calm now," Blueblood repeated to himself, then something dawned on him, "Where are the foals?" Cadence quickly turned her head around and saw no sign of either Twilight or Sun Light, "Twily! Sunny!" She yelled but there was no reply. "Did they fell over?" Blueblood asked. "Impossib..." Cadence was about to say when a loud squishing noise echoed from down bellow. Blueblood screamed, "They Fell Over The Roof!" He bellowed. Cadence gave an incredulous gaze. She then tried to listen in. But Blueblood's crying was drowning every sound she could possibly hear. "Shush!" She ordered, but Blueblood kept at it. Cadence jumped at Blueblood's muzzle. "Listen!" She ordered. "What a waste of a perfectly good watermelon," Twilight's voice came out of nowhere. Cadence and Blueblood walked toward the source of the voice but found no one there. "You have no sense for pranking, don't you," Sun Light deadpanned. Cadence and Blueblood looked down. Beneath the ledge of the roof was a hidden staircase that led to a small balcony that overlooked all of Canterlot. Twilight and Sun Light were sitting idly with a crate of fruit next to them. Cadence light her horn and levitated both foals to her eye level. "Care to explain?" She asked Sun Light. "An angry Cadence," Sun Light noted, "That's something you don't see every day." "I thought you fell to your doom!" Blueblood cried, "What is wrong with you?" Sun Light thought for a moment. "Throwing pranks doesn't seem to be my strong suit." He threw a sheepish smile at the prince. With a loud stomp she sat up, “This has gone far enough!” She yelled. With a commanding hoof, she pointed at Blueblood, “You! Apologies for whatever it is you threatened him with!” He voice carried an unusual authority that made even Sun Light raise an eyebrow. Blueblood immediately went on all four, groveled toward Sun Light with his head between his front hooves, and then yelled, “I’m sorry I threatened to put hot pepper in your toilet paper!” With a satisfied nod, Cadence pointed the same authoritative hoof at Sun Light, “And you! Accept his apology!” Sun Light raised his eyebrow. “Just Do It!” Cadence yelled. Sun Light calmly sipped some of his tea, then looked at Blueblood callously. “If that will take to make you leave then fine, I accept your apology.” Blueblood was overjoyed, he rushed Sun Light with a hug and kisses while saying, “Thank you,” continuously in his ear. Tears flowed from Twilight upon seeing the happy reunion. Cadence huffed with satisfaction and said, “Does everything with your family have to be so intense?” Sun Light, who up until that point looked bored out of his mind, turned to Cadence and with a serious expression and said, “We’re not that intense…” Shining Armor was in the cafeteria, the last cheese bruschetta was standing tentatively on the plate. He reached out toward it with his aura when suddenly he felt his face getting punched. Quickly, he erected a shield. However, it did not stop him from getting punched to the other end of the cafeteria. “The last bruschetta is mine,” growled Moon Chaser. Shining shook his head in disapproval, “What did I do to deserve that?” He muttered silently at the snickering of his classmates. Evening Star looked at the paper tower next to him, he sighed as he started filling them between done work and undone work when all of a sudden, Kibitz waltz in the room with a new stack of papers. “Minister Star, these are the budgets for the new weapons, please read them all and sign them individually,” The secretary said, only to stop his advancement when he felt the same old bloodlust sensation he got used to. Evening glared at Kibitz first and snarled, “Place it here and you will suffer unimaginable pain.” “… We are reasonably passionate.” He said with his hooves crossed. “Yeah, right!” Cadence jeered. Giggles erupted from the group, as tension seemed to melt away. “By the way,” Sun Light swiveled his tea as if he’s drinking a martini, “where have you been all this time Candy butt?” “Yeah,” Protested Twilight, “I’ve been in the castle for three weeks and you haven’t visited me once!” A tear rolled down her eye, “Do you not like me anymore?” “No! No,” Cadence rushed toward Twilight with a hug, “Of course I love you little one. It’s just that I have been a bit busy as of late.” “Busy with what?” Twilight asked, falling deeper into Cadence’s hug, before levitating the golden coin in Sun Light’s hoof into her saddle bag. Cadence hesitated for a bit, but looking at Twilight’s hopeful eyes, she caved in, “I am having colt problem!” “What kind?” Sun Light placed a sympathetic hoof on Cadence, causing her suspicion sense to skyrocket. Taking the hint, Sun Light defended himself, "It's a new thing I'm trying where I show compassion to others to get them to open up." Cadence opened her mouth wanting to say something but ultimately decided against it. "Fair enough." She then took a deep breath and started, “My coltfriend hasn't been contacting me ever since he went to the military academy, okay?” Her crowd of three gasped, even though one was faking it. “The nerve!” Exclaimed Blueblood. Twilight shook her head. Sun Light drank some more tea. “I have been racking my head over it for the past few weeks,” Cadence then popped between Sun Light and Twilight, then wrapped them in a tight clasp, “Which is why I didn’t have a lot of time for you two. Will you ever forgive me?” “Of course!” Twilight exclaimed returning the hug. “I doubt I have a choice in the matter, so eh,” Sun Light shrugged, but shared in the hug just the same. “I have to say,” Blueblood interjected, “For you to go to such length for the colt, you must really like him.” “I do,” Cadence wailed, pulling both foals into a tighter hug. Unable to breathe, Twilight charged her horn and teleported to the ground next to Cadence where she took a deep breath. Sun Light on the other hoof was unable to get his hind hoof on anything solid to do the same, so he got stuck tapping on Cadence’s hoof to let him go. Cadence took Sun Light his cheeks and yelled, “Why do you colts have to be so cruel?!” “I dun’ no,” Sun Light said through his squished mouth, “But let me go.” Blueblood walked toward Cadence, then placed a sympathetic hoof on her, causing her to release Sun Light and latch on to him. “There, there,” He said all sagely, “There is always a hook when dealing with the middle class, especially in the affairs of love.” Twilight ignored Blueblood’s snippet, but Sun Light picked up on something in the young prince's tone. "Is that a fact now?" He said, "And what have you been doing all this time? Cadence, I can understand. But you haven't been around as much as you used to as well." Blueblood looked nervous. "I-I don't know what you mean," He stuttered, wiping out some sweat from his forehead. Cadence let go of the foals. "Spit it out!" She yelled bulging her eyes at him with the full fury that even Blueblood couldn't help but cower. Unable to meet Cadence at her gaze Blueblood cracked, "Alright, alright, I sent a spy to sabotage his ability to enter the royal guards. Please stop with the glare! It burns!" Cadence sighed. “So let me get this straight,” She turned toward Blueblood, “Shining hasn't been in contact with me because you were bullying him?” “Of course not you silly goose,” Blueblood tried to jab Cadence, without even putting a dent in her freezing glare, “Half of the court was in on it, there was a hedge fund for it and everyone was investing.” There was a moment of utter silence amid the group. Finally, Sun Light spoke, “Who is the saboteur?” The resentment in Sun Light’s voice, however, felt like acid dripping on every pony's coats. Blueblood felt a threat materializing in front of him, “Come now Sunny, you can’t be…” “No!” Came the interruption like a lightning on a tree. "If I am to follow the trend you established; Moon Chaser Artemis of Phoenicia, My Sister, hasn't so much as sent me a letter since she left. So I'm going to ask again. Who is the saboteur?" Blueblood gulped, unable to utter even a single word. Cadence's glare looked like a puppy pleading for a treat in comparison. "Is that your answer?" Sun Light asked, but when he didn't get a response, he pointed to the door. "Out!" Blueblood poofed out of existence. Cadence looked wide eyed, then stood up and went to the door. “I should leave as well,” She said while standing, “It’s been nice talking to you Sun Light, we should do that again.” And then she left. Twilight watched everything in silence. The moment Cadence closed the door of the roof, she turned toward Sun Light, “You are not the only one whose sibling is ignoring him you know.” "It's different," Sun Light said solemnly. "How so?" Twilight asked. Sun Light turned his head toward her, and Twilight was overwhelmed by what she saw. "Because she means everything to me," For the first time since they met, Twilight saw a genuine sadness in his eyes, "She was there when I was sick, when I cried, she came to comfort me, when I'm happy she shared my joys, my sorrows, my guilt." Sun Light looked at Twilight on the verge of tears, “Ever since she left, I have lost my pride, my time, my honor... my fur, and now, my sister. I have nothing left.” Twilight felt shocked, she had never seen Sun Light play the victim before. “Do you want to talk about it?” She placed a hoof on his shoulder. Sun Light shook his head. “No, I need some time alone,” He said while rubbing his head, “I feel lightheaded, I’m going to lie down.”