The next morning, I woke to find my aunt absent from the breakfast table. At first, i presumed I was early or something. However, when I asked Raven where she was, all I got was a shrug.
“It’s fine,” I said with a sigh. Lifting a spoon with my magic to work on my oats.
“Would you like comp0any, my lady?” Raven offered.
“No, i’ll…” I protested. Before looking at the long empty table. “Maybe.”
She gave me a soft smile and sat down next to me.
I would later learn Auntie Celestia was out for an emergency in Chicacolt. However, as i ate alone with Raven, neither of us knowing this fact, it felt like my aunt simply couldn’t stand to acknowledge me for what I said last night.
“I’m sure things will get better, your highness.” Raven assured me. “Things may not look great now, but life has a funny way of working out you know.”
I slurped on some juice. “Sure.”
She let out a laugh and rolled her eyes. “Teenagers. Always thinking the world is going to end.”
I groaned. What did she know anyways? Still, it felt nice to have somepony was talking to me.
We ate the rest of our meal, Raven making some attempts at a conversation, but mostly just allowing me to wallow in my pity till it was time to get going. Of course, instead of my aunt escorting me to school, some guard took her place. Who, unlike Raven, was more focused on his job rather than trying to talk to me. Which was fine. I had too much to think about anyway. Namily, what this day was suppose to have in store for me. Where does one go after a day like the one I had yesterday?
I sighed as I made my way to my locker. Mindlessly, I turned my lock for my school books.
“There you are!” my friend Dollar Sign scared me.
I jumped up as she and several other of my ‘friends’ rushed up besides me.
“What happened?” everypony began to ask all at once. “Are you hurt? Did Billy get expelled? Are you grounded? What about the dance?!”
“Alright, alright, chill!” Blueblood said as he pushed past the crowds. Once everyone had calmed down, he asked, “You are alright, cousin?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I just—”
“Need some cheering up?”
My heart flustered at Buck’s words. “Maybe a little?” I blushed.
“Well,” he grinned, putting a hoof over my shoulder, “We just got (friend) to ask that Shining Loser out to the dance so we can get him good.”
My eye’s widened. “What?” Also, he couldn’t at least have thought of a better mock name?
“We though,” Dollar said, kicking at the ground, “after yesterday, we’d go ahead with your plan ourselves. And... ah! Here she comes down.”
My stomach started to twist as one of the popular girls, white coat, pink mane… Fur Lee, was it? In anycase, my heart skipped a beat when i saw her looking distressed.
“What happened?” Blueblood asked. Reaching out a reassuring hoof.
She batted his hoof away and huffed. “Sadly, it seems the nerd lives up to title. I had his friends nose bleeding, but when I asked him out, he seemed to know I was coming. Acted like I had him in my rope, then, he goes and blows me off! Said he’d ‘have plans with chores’ and such that night!” she fumed.
I let out a relieved sigh amidst all the chatter.
Buck raised an eye. “You don’t seem disappointed your plan just failed.”
“Oh, um...” I blinked. “I’m just saying, we should give the guy a break. After all,” I narrowed my eyes, “he was the only one who tried to help me yesterday.”
Each and everyone of them, even my cousin, looked away.
“Well,” Buck said, the first to look back at me. “Yes. We’re sorry about that, my princess.” I almost found myself blushing. “How about, to take your mind off of that,” he placed one of his hoofs on a locker. “I be your escort to the fall formal dance.”
Everyone gasped in delight. The moment had finally come. Butterflies were making a gale in stomach. Then a tiny detail about that came to mind.
“Oh, um... I’d love to, but...” I sighed. “I’m kind of grounded.”
To my surprise, he started to laugh. “Oh stop kidding around, Cadence.”
I stared at him. Stared, until he and everypony else sank in the truth.
“What?!” Dollar Sign gasped. “You got grounded?! What? Because that retard wanted to kill you?”
To be fair, I had assaulted him with soda even if Billy had started it. “Yeah, it’s totally unfair.” I was about to add what else my grounding entitled, before Buck spoke again.
“Gosh, I’m sorry to hear about that, Cadey.” He backed up away and let slip, “now how am I supposed to become the king for the dance?”
Maybe if it wasn’t for feeling abandoned by my aunt that morning, I wouldn’t have done what I did next.
“Oh?” I snapped. “Am I just suppose to be some arm candy for you now?”
He backed up a little. “What?! Whoa! I didn’t mean... well I just...”
Thankfully the bell range.
With ‘humf,’ I put my noise in the air and walked to my next class. My chest deflecting as soon as I was out of his sight.
*****
How could I have been so stupid? I shouldn’t have been that offended by Buck’s comment. High School was one big popularity contest after all… right? Still, I sat in though, chewing my pencil in most classes. If that was true, what did that make me? Just a tool for others to get popular and ahead in life? Pony feather’s, this was going to be a long day for me.
My wings gave a little twitch. Would I even be as popular as i was without my title? I’m sure i would have. So why wasn’t I able to get my mind off of it? What did Buck wanting to be the fall formal king have to do with it anyways?
It was like that for most of the day. Even lunch felt longer than usually. As all I did was sit their, avoiding conversation as everyone else tried to talk about anything that didn’t have to do with me. I respected Dollar Sign and Blueblood for trying to cheer me up with a smile, but it almost did nothing. My only relief came from the end of the day. Everyone packing up for the final bell lifting my spirits. All stress dissipated once class was dismissed.
Having every intention to just go home to do nothing but mope, I was in for a rude awakening when he, of all ponies, came up to me by the doors.
“Ready to go?” Shining Armor asked me.
I blinked a dozen times before asking, “Huh?”
He tilted his head. “Didn’t you... You didn’t get the note in your locker, did you?”
I shook my head. Having not even bothered with the thing since I would have meant facing Buck again. “Sorry, I didn’t check.”
He sighed. “Alright, summed up version; I start detention tomorrow. Today, I help you and make sure you can watch Twily first.”
Oh right, the babysitting thing. ‘Lead the way,’ I said, I lowering my head. Happy to see none of my friends were around to hear.
He gave me a quizzical look, but said no more. He started walking, and I followed behind.
“Hey, um...” he said once we reached the housing district. “Thanks for the warning about your friends. One of them tried to ask me to the dance today. Though one of my friends almost fell for her charms.” He chuckled. “Hey is, um, is everything okay?”
I bit my lip. “Dandy.” I rolled my eyes as I half expected him to say something about me being a spoiled little brat for having to work for a change.
“Alright.” He said simply. “Though, I might be the last pony you’d want to talk to, you want to talk about it?”
I came to a stop to raise my head up. He stopped as well to look back at me.
“It’s just...” I stared, then shook my head. “It’s just stuff you wouldn’t understand.”
“Buck and your friends reaction to your grounding get you down?”
My eyes widened.
“Word travels fast, even to us nerds.”
I felt another knot in my stomach.
“I’m sorry about what happened.” he condoled.
“You do?” I asked with surprise.
“I mean,” he chuckled, “the princesses not getting her prince and all. Isn’t that tragic?
I groaned. There it was.
“I’m sure you can do better than him anyways.”
I was about to scoff him. Until I realized he genuinely meant it. “You do?”
He shrugged. “Why not? I think everyone could do better than that jerk and... Oh look, we're here!”
Twenty bits told me I knew what came after that ‘and’. However, I looked past it that he had the decency not to say so. “Thanks.” I said, looking at his house. An avenger white two story canterlot home. Complete with fall decoration, a tree ready to lose most of it’s leaves, and a miniature playground out front. It’s single slide next to a tree swing gave me an idea that Twily was still rather young. More so when i past the dumpster with a dirty diaper on it’s side “So? Time to enter the wonderful world of babysitting?” I mused, stepping over a raggy looking doll
Shining armor picked up the doll, grinning goofily. “Oh you’ll love Twily. Don’t worry!” ^^
“Uh-huh...” I nodded, and walked forward. But not before his magic grabbed me by the shoulder. Turning me so I would face him, he glared at me. A dark and threatening look on his face the chilled my very soul. “Though just to make one thing perfectly clear, your majesty. If anything happened to my little sister, it will be on your head. Got it?”
I shouldn’t have felt scared. Perhaps it was from the trauma with Billy. Or maybe he was just protective of his sister. Either way, I felt the weight of his words knowing he had every intent to carry out his threat if I screwed up. My title be damned.
“Crystal!” I shrieked. Pulling back and lifting my wings defensively.
He took a deep breath and suddenly realized he had just threatened a princess.
“I.. I... forgive me!” he quivered. “I didn’t mean... it’s just I care for my sister and...”
I found his nervousness cute and giggled. “It’s alright. At ease soldier. I’m sure if I had a baby sisters, I’d be just as protective.”
He chuckled nervously.
I gave him a reassuring smile. Which soon turned into both of us laughing at the situation.
“But i do mean it with Twily.” he coughed.
“Right right!” I nodded quickly. I then turned my back on him so he wouldn’t see my flustered face.