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// 1. The Stupid Princess of Love 
// Story: The Student and The Princess 
// by ModMCdl 
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If Sunset Shimmer were as powerful as she wished to be, the intense glare radiating out from her turquoise eyes would incinerate those pink wings and burn the victim for good measure. Her brow was furrowed downwards, and her face was twisted into an angry grimace. Who the buck did this mare think she was, just trotting into Canterlot and getting- no... stealing those wings.

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the newly christened Princess of Love, stole her alicorn wings. And Sunset was going to make her pay.

...after she suffered though this wretched ceremony, of course.

She felt a gentle tap on her flank, and turned to see Princess Celestia, her teacher and ruler of Equestria, standing behind her. The fiery student quickly reigned in her anger and simply raised and eyebrow at the alabaster alicorn. "Yes, Princess?" A talented listener may have been able to detect the air of resentment that laced her voice.

"Why don't you find your seat, Sunset," said Celestia softly. "The ceremony is about to begin." With that, the Princess of the Sun turned back to the new pink alicorn, leaving Sunset Shimmer alone.

The unicorn's face fell slightly at that. Ever since Princess Cadenza, or Princess Cadence, as she preferred to be called, had stepped into the spotlight, Celestia had been paying little attention to Sunset. And that feeling, of Celestia ignoring her, it hurt. Throwing those emotions away and locking them in a deep corner of her mind, Sunset merely replied, "Of course, Princess," in a rude, snarky tone, before walking out into the court chamber.

'At least they gave me a front-row seat to this thing,' she thought dully to herself, before plopping down in the chair. She leaned back in a very casual manner, crossing her forelegs over her torso, and earning her a few unpleasant glances from Canterlot's finest nobles. Feeling at least a little humility, Sunset straightened her posture somewhat, while still trying to remain as disrespectful towards the pink princess brat as equinely possible.

The ceremony itself was very much a bore. Cadence marched in, completely full of herself in Sunset's opinion, and took her place at the head of the hall, right before Celestia. The choir marched in behind her, belting out what seemed to be an endless stream of "Behold! Behold! Behold!" as they held up banners embellished with the pink alicorn's cutie mark. Princess Celestia was all smiles the entire time, giving a speech about how proud she was of her niece's achievements and such, and welcomed Equestria's newest princess into the ranks of the monarchy. Well, now it was a... diarchy? Sunset pondered the thought, finally finding something other than glaring at Cadence to amuse her.

Suddenly, the chorus of beholds began to rise up again, and Cadence and Celestia were headed for the balcony. With a thankfully resounding silence, the doors closed behind them, and Raven, Celestia's scribe, announced that all of the guests were welcome to head to the reception area by the kitchens. Seeing this as her escape, Sunset quickly ducked out of the grand hall, and headed towards her chambers. The unicorn was very eager to lock herself up and ignore everypony for the rest of the day.

Sunset's spirits managed to rise a little as she trotted along towards her room. At least, in the end, she was still Celestia's student. And in time, Celestia would inevitably grow bored of Cadence, and return to her student. Until then she could wait. The unicorn rounded the corner, entering the hallway that lead to her suite. Then, she froze as she saw the sight before her.

There were at least a dozen maids, guards, and general staff ponies rushing about, moving furniture into and out of her suite's main room. Hoof steps rapidly trotted up behind her, and she stepped out of the way to see Raven rush past her at a hurried pace. Thoroughly confused as two heavy-set ponies carried out a couch she never cared for, Sunset regained her ability to walk, and slowly approached her suite.

"What's going on?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Raven paused from her frantic scanning of her clipboard, and looked up, as if noticing Sunset standing there for the first time. "Oh, Miss Shimmer," she greeted. "We're just prepping for the Princess's arrival." With that, she went back to studying whatever was attached to her clipboard.

The fiery unicorn standing beside her huffed in annoyance. Some help that was. Realizing that Raven would be of no help to her, Sunset cantered up to one of the various royal guards scattered about the corridor. "So, since she was no help, mind telling me why we're prepping for Celestia's visit to my room?" she asked, waving her hoof about at the ruckus around her.

The unicorn guard shifted his eyes down to look at her slightly smaller form, and raised an eyebrow. "Princess Celestia?" he repeated in a questioning tone.

Rolling her eyes, Sunset nodded. "Yes. You know, the Princess of the Sun? Ruler of Equestria?" she listed the various titles in an overly sarcastic tone.

"I don't know what you're talking about. All I know is that Her Highness ordered us to prep the guest suite in time for Princess Cadence's arrival," he replied, a slight edge to his voice at being addressed so rudely. "She will be staying here."

Sunset Shimmer balked at him. 'What. The. Buck.' Whatever level of animosity she felt towards Celestia in the wake of that stupid, pink alicorn's ascension had just doubled- no tripled. Princess Cadence, the pony she openly hated, was going to live with her. Oh, hay no! And did he just call her room the 'guest suite?!'

The Royal Guard shifted uncomfortably under Sunset's gradual glare. "Um, Miss?" he tapped his hoof on the ground in front of her. "Are... are you alright?"

Realizing that somepony had spoken, the unicorn was broken out of her hateful, internal tirade. "Hm?" she asked, shaking her head slightly. "Oh, yeah, I'm... fine..." she trailed off. "Do you know where Princess Celestia is?"

---

The doors closed behind her with a heavy sigh as the Princess of the Sun walked in from the balcony, the cheers behind her going silent with a soft bang. The new Princess Cadence was beside her, cheeks rosy from all of the attention she had received today.

"Whoah..." she breathed out.

Celestia smiled softly at the newly ascended alicorn behind her. "Woah indeed," she laughed. "I have to say, it has been a while since one of those things occurred!"

Cadence, following in her new equal's laughter, just shook her head. "I never imagined it would be so... festive! I kinda figured it would be overwhelming at first!"

With a grin that could almost be considered malicious, Celestia laughed again. "Oh, we haven't gotten to that part yet!"

The pair left the royal court and started down the hallway. "So, Princess Cadence," Celestia began, placing emphasis on the princess part. "Now that you are officially royalty, we can't have you living in just any old cloud house!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Princess, you seem almost more excited about my ascension than I am," giggled Cadence mirthfully.

The alabaster alicorn joined in the brief fit of giggled. "Do I? I'm sorry, its just been so long since there's been another prin-" she was cut off suddenly by a raging voice ahead of her.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHERE SHE IS?!!"

"HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW? YOU ARE HER BUCKING SECRETARY!!!"

Celestia and Cadence rounded the corner to witness Sunset Shimmer bellowing into Raven's face relentlessly. Upon noticing the two alicorns down the hall, the fiery unicorn backed away from the poor unicorn and addressed the two. "Oh, there you are."

"Sunset!" chastised Princess Celestia, approaching her student. "What is the meaning of this!"

"IT'S HER!" Sunset flung out a hoof to point at the pink alicorn.

Princess Cadence was very uncomfortable. Sure, she was still trying to adjust to the whole "I'm a princess now" thing, and many ponies may consider that uncomfortable. But what she was experiencing now was somehow even more uncomfortable.

Sunset Shimmer was literally standing a few hooves away from her, screaming into the face of Princess Celestia. And as she did so, Celestia just stood there calmly, listening to what Sunset had to say. Never in all of her life did Cadence ever think that she would see any pony be so blatantly rude to the ageless alicorn, let alone be screaming in her face. And she never expected Celestia to react so calmly either.

"Do you mean Cadence?" asked Celestia. "What could she possibly have done to make you upset? Today seems like a day in which she has made many ponies happy."

Cadence could picture steam pouring out of the fiery mare's ears as Sunset's face turned bright red with rage.

"What could she have done?" she asked, her voice a half whisper. "Oh, where do I begin?" The unicorn threw her full attention at the pink alicorn now, only adding to her discomfort.

"Let's see..." Sunset began. "I have been your student for years now, and have gotten little to no recognition on my talents, but as soon as some random pegasus shows up and gets all familiar with some old fishing town somewhere, she gets to become a bucking alicorn!"

Celestia raised an eyebrow at Sunset's foul language, and opened her mouth, but the young mare wasn't finished.

"Then, on the same day, I have to give up my personal space to make way for her new royal highness, because there is obviously no other room in the castle where she can stay! Nope! Not a single suite, guest bedroom, or even cupboard around!" The unicorn took a deep breath, before a sickeningly sinister grin took over her face. "Actually, if I recall, there's a certain, dusty old room next to yours that could be used. It's not like anypony worthwhile actually used it anyways-"

"SUNSET SHIMMER THAT IS ENOUGH!" Celestia bellowed, her voice echoing in the corridor and leaving a deafening silence in its wake. Sunset fell instantly silent, her ears flattening against the back of her head. Cadence, too, flinched at the sudden outburst, now feeling more uncomfortable than ever.

"Sunset Shimmer," Celestia repeated, her voice once again clam and collected, but still stern. "Princess Cadenza will be staying in your suite, which as I recall, is rather large, and has two rooms." Sunset opened her mouth to interrupt, but her mentor gave her no chance. "She will be staying there because no where else in the Castle is fit to accommodate her quite yet, and probably won't for the coming months. As you know, the Royal Wing of the castle is being renovated, and I, myself, will be displaced for a few months." She gestured a hoof to the door to Sunset's suite. "That suite is kept clean and tidy for you, and therefore, by convenience, Cadence, will be staying there until her royal chambers are ready."

"But Princess-" Sunset began.

"It is non-negotiable." With that as her final word, Celestia walked briskly past the now-stoic unicorn, and spoke with the staff which were now bringing in furniture to the suite.

Cadence remained where she stood, one foreleg awkwardly crossed over the other as Sunset glared at her, the fire in her eyes burning into the last, fleeing bits of her confidence.

"This isn't over," the unicorn said coldly, as she turned and stormed away into the suite. Celestia just watched after her, a sad and tired smile on her face. It seemed that she was getting more and more used to these outbursts.

A few short moments passed with Cadence still standing there in shock before Celestia returned to her side. "I'm terribly sorry about this Cadence, but I hope you really do understand where I'm coming from here," she said. "Sunset Shimmer desperately needs a companion. Perhaps not a friend just yet, but just a pony nearby." The alicorn turned and began to walk down the hallway. "Walk with me."

The pair traveled the hallways alongside each other, the conversation stalled until they reached their destination. A set of closed, oak doors, the portal to Celestia's private chambers. They entered silently, and the alabaster alicorn closed and locked the door behind them.

"Here, we can speak freely, Cadence," Celestia said before letting out a heavy sigh beside her. "She was not always like this. Sunset used to be a very kind pony. But lately..." Celestia shook her head. "I am scared of what she may become, Cadence. Of what she is becoming. I truly am. Now, more than ever, she needs someone." A pristine, white wing unfolded and lay across the smaller alicorn's back. "With your capacity to love, I believe you can get through to her. Save her from the future I fear may come."

Cadence nodded, letting out a weak sigh of her own. "I will try my very best, Princess."

Celestia smiled. "I know you will, Cadence. I know you will. Consider it your first official duty as an Equestrian Princess."

Despite what had just occurred, and the new situation she was presented with, Cadence let out a small, tired laugh. It was only her first few hours as a princess, and it was already becoming very difficult.

But she would try.