~Several Weeks Later~
"I'm glad that you and Sunset are finally getting along," Celestia said with a bright smile as she sipped her morning tea with Cadence. It was a look that the younger alicorn had not often seen on Celestia over the past year or so that she had known her. The smile held a genuine warmth and satisfaction, and Cadence hoped that she would see Celestia smile like that more and more throughout the years to come.
Cadence returned an equally warm smile. "I'm glad, too," she said happily. A faint blush heated her cheeks as she thought back over recent events and her mind turned to her new close friend. A chuckle pulled her out of her thoughts and her blush deepened as she looked towards Celestia. "What?"
The larger alicorn brought a hoof up to her lips in an attempt to stifle her light laughter. "Oh, Cadence. If you were any more in love you would have a big sign exclaiming it atop your head," she said mirthfully.
Cadence grumbled into her cup of tea, but she was not really angry. It was a little unnerving that Celestia could read her so well, but she supposed it came with the many many years of ruling. But she sure as hay couldn't 'read' Sunset, she thought to herself scornfully for a moment, but she pushed the thought from her mind. Celestia was making a real effort to reconnect with Sunset and try and mend the student-teacher bond that had deteriorated over recent years. Cadence could not really be all that mad at her for trying.
"She really has improved, you know," said Celestia after a moment. "I think in no small part due to you."
The pink alicorn smiled at the comment. She was glad to know that she had a positive effect on Sunset. Cadence had done her very best to be there for Sunset, especially recently. The knowledge that it was helping the unicorn to improve in these aspects brought no small amount of joy to her heart.
Celestia's smile mirrored Cadence's as they continued drinking her tea. "How did you do it?" she asked.
"I'm sorry?" Cadence replied, not knowing what the other princess was referring to.
"How did you get through to her?"
Huh. Now that was the question, wasn't it? In all truthfulness, Cadence did not actually know. So that is what she said. "I do not know," she replied quietly. "I just did what you asked me to do when I first became a princess. You said she needed a friend. So, I reached out to her and tried to be her friend." She shrugged her shoulders as if it was a simple fact.
Celestia chuckled. "Many a pony would not have your determination," she said. "Most would not choose to endure the nastiness you had."
Cadence just shook her head. "I can't explain it," she began. "But I could feel that Sunset wanted to change. Somehow, I knew that if I stuck with it and kept reaching out that she would eventually take that chance and grab on." She looked back up to see Celestia smiling and nodding.
"I'm very proud of you, Cadence," she said softly. "And I am very proud of her. You have both come a long way, and I am overjoyed that you two managed to get close."
Cadence's face blossomed into a bright smile. She was glad, too. Sunset was one of her closest friends now, and she could not be more happy about that fact. A small blush returned to her face as she briefly daydreamed about where that friendship could lead.
"Well, I think that's enough about Sunset for this morning," segued Celestia as she finished her tea. "We wouldn't want you to turn into an actual tomato, now would we?" A playful smile once again graced the monarch's face as Cadence let out a fake sigh of exasperation.
"Will you stop teasing me one of these days, auntie?" she asked, rolling her eyes with a smile.
"Maybe," came the reply, Celestia giving her a soft smile. There was a moment of pause before she spoke up again. "You've been a princess for a few months now, Cadence. Do you think you're ready for your first duty?"
The idea caught the pink alicorn's attention, and she set her tea down on the table. "My first duty?" she asked. "What do you mean?" She was a little nervous. There had not been other princesses besides Celestia for a long time, and to be quite honest, Cadence did not really know what she would be doing. Celestia's seneschal, Raven had done a brief explanation of her royal duties before her coronation, and they mostly revolved around helping Celestia with tasks and public meetings. Outside of that however, the description of her duties was incredibly vague.
"Think of it as your next assignment," Celestia said. "It may sound a little dull at first, but there is a purpose in it for both of us."
Cadence nodded. "Alright," she said. "What do you want me to do?"
Celestia placed her teacup next to Cadence's and levitated over a folder from her desk. "Sunset Shimmer is nearing the end of her tutelage with me," she said. She saw that Cadence was about to protest and held up a hoof to keep her at bay. "I'm not throwing her out or anything of the sort," Celestia explained, and the other alicorn visibly relaxed. "But she is reaching the point where she has learned all she can from me. You have done a great deal in bringing her past those final steps, and I cannot thank you enough."
"So if Sunset is no longer your student," Cadence said as she put the pieces together in her head. "Does that mean..."
"I will be taking on a new pupil, yes," Celestia confirmed. She floated the folder over to Cadence who plucked it out of the air gently. "You remember that incident a few weeks ago with the dragon, don't you?"
Cadence nodded in response as she looked through the documents. "How could I forget? There was a massive dragon in the middle of Canterlot!"
"That was the magic of one 'Twilight Sparkle.'" said Celestia, a hint of pride in her voice. "The very embodiment of a gifted unicorn if I do say so myself. I've been in talks with her family to take her under my wing."
"So that's who is going to be your new student?" Cadence asked. "Wow, these exam results are impressive. I mean, I have no idea what half of these magical things mean, but the results seem incredible."
Celestia nodded. "Oh they are very far above average. This young filly is almost at the level of arcane prowess that Sunset is, and nearly four years younger, too." The brought a particular file to Cadence's attention. "Look at this. After she became the first student to actually hatch the dragon egg, she asked to keep him as a 'lab partner!'"
"Oh my gosh, that's so adorable!" Cadence gushed with a bright smile. "So what does this have to do with my first princess assignment? You said it would be boring?"
Celestia chuckled as she took the folder back from Cadence. "Well, I would not call it boring. I believe the actual word I used was dull," she corrected mirthfully. "I want you to be Twilight Sparkle's foalsitter. One of the mistakes I made with Sunset was that I do not feel I adequately helped her transition to being my student. I rushed in blindly, and it resulted in her losing touch with the social world," she explained. "I want her to stay in the school for now, and keep in touch with all of her friends. But I still want to be able to keep a close eye on her."
Cadence giggled. "You want me to spy on your new student for you?" she asked.
"No, no," Celestia assured her. "I want to to help transition her. I don't want her to become disconnected like Sunset was. Guide her into the process and be a friend along the way." Celestia rested a hoof on Cadence's shoulder. "Be there so that she does not feel as alone as Sunset did."
Cadence nodded with determination. "I will do my best, Princess."
The pink alicorn was guided out of the castle soon afterwards. It had been a while since she had properly left the palace walls, save of course, for her brief trip to an alternate dimension. Canterlot really was a beautiful city. Pearlescent architecture flanked either side of the street that her carriage rumbled down, and all of the ponies trotting about seemed incredibly happy to go about their days. The population was heavily skewed towards unicorns, however the odd pegasus and earth pony popped out among the crowds.
The Sparkles were not exactly nobility, and thus lived a considerable distance from the castle. She realized quickly that she had never been this far away from the castle. Her outings leading up to her coronation had been reserved to the commercial districts immediately outside the palace grounds. As the carriage traveled through the cobblestone streets, Cadence found that she no longer knew her way back, and was incredibly thankful for transportation.
Eventually though, the rolling came to a stop in front of a modest house. The facade was a muted purple with white dormers, and a quaint garden bed meeting it at the ground. The door to the carriage was opened by one of the escorts, and she stepped down. Cadence was excited to meet this young filly.
It appeared she did not have to wait long. The front door opened to reveal a light purple unicorn with a white and purple mane. A small, lavender filly poked her head out from behind her forelegs, casting an inquisitive gaze onto their visitors. As soon as she saw Cadence, her eyes widened and she squeezed out from her mother's grasp and bounded down the front steps. She quickly trotted up to Cadence and came to a stop at her front hooves.
"Hello!" the young filly chirped as she looked up at Cadence. The small unicorn only came up to the midpoint of her chest, and was the most adorable pony that Cadence had ever seen. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and you're going to be my new foalsitter!" The statement was made as a fact, not a question. Twilight already knew who Cadence was, and why she was here.
Cadence replied with warm laughter. "Why yes, I am," she said. "It's nice to meet you, Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight smiled. "What are you the princess of?" she asked.
"I'm sorry?" Cadence responded confused.
"What element do you represent?" Twilight clarified. "You know, Princess Celestia is the Princess of the Sun. What are you the princess of?"
"O-oh," Cadence said, caught off guard by the line of questioning. "Well, I guess you could call me the Princess of Love. At least, that's what-"
"That is very interesting," Twilight said, cutting her off as she brought a hoof to her chin. "That would imply that love is not actually and arbitrary emotion but instead some thaumaturgical construct that can be manipulated by the aura-aero flows of aliconistic arcane filaments. Which would mean that the idea of love as ponykind knows it is actually just a societal construct-"
Cadence blinked as the small unicorn rambled on. She had no idea what the young filly was talking about, but was never the less impressed at the sheer amount of vocabulary that she was throwing around. How in Equestria did she know all of these things at her young age? She was talking about aspects of magic that Cadence had just learned like they were commonplace small-talk topics!
"-but that's all just a theory I have," Twilight eventually concluded. Her mother coughed behind her. "Oh!" she said, as if suddenly realizing something. "Do you want anything to eat? To drink? My mother told me to ask you but I got distracted."
"I'd love something to drink," chuckled Cadence, enamoured by the absolute adorableness of this young pony. Twilight turned and trotted back up the front steps to her mother and Cadence followed behind, greeting the pony whom she learned was Twilight Velvet. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm really excited to get to know Twilight better!"
When Cadence returned to the castle, she was filled with a bubbling warmth that radiated off of her in beams. Sunset was waiting for her at the entrance, and she quickly galloped up to her.
"Wow, what's got you so happy?" the unicorn asked as Cadence approached.
The alicorn practically let out a squee as she idly danced in place. "I just met the cutest, most adorable little filly ever!" she cried. "And the best part is I get to foalsit her!"
Sunset raised an eyebrow at Cadence's enthusiasm. "Yikes. If I ever get this excited over having to deal with a slobbering foal and their messy diapers, please, just take me out of my misery. It would be a mercy kill. I beg you. I won't even be mad."
Cadence rolled her eyes at her friend's sarcasm. "She's not that young. She's only like four years younger than us," she said. "Besides, it's my first job as a Princess of Equestria!" She placed a hoof to her breast and flung her mane to the side in an over-the-top gesture.
"I thought I was your first job as princess," Sunset snickered, her grin showing that there were no hard feelings.
Cadence grinned back and stepped past her. "That was not an official assignment," she said as she entered the castle, and Sunset trailed behind her.
"Hey," the unicorn spoke up after a few moments. "I have some pretty great news, too."
Cadence turned around to face her. "Oh, really? What is it?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.
Sunset proudly lifted a hoof to her own breast, mimicking Cadence's gesture before proudly declaring, "I have officially graduated from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, under the tutelage of the Princess herself, with the highest honors possible!"
Somehow, Cadence's smile got even wider and brighter and before either of them knew it, the alicorn had swept Sunset up in a tight hug. "Oh my gosh, Sunset that is amazing! I'm so proud of you!"
To Cadence's surprise, Sunset leaned into the hug and returned it without hesitation. "I know! Princess Celestia even allocated me a royal grant to pursue a research topic of my own choosing!" She pulled away after a moment, and Cadence noted with interest a faint blush donning the mare's cheeks. "I have so many ideas!" she exclaimed, but her mood darkened for a moment. "But none of them have really forumated enough to be good enough yet."
"Don't worry," Cadence said, patting Sunset's shoulder. "I'm sure that one will come to you in no time." Her reassurance seemed to make Sunset lighten up again, and the alicorn again noticed the blush returning.
"Yeah," Sunset said. "I'm sure if I keep thinking about it something will come up. But hey, that's a future Sunset Shimmer problem. Tonight, we party!" She pumped a hoof in the air and Cadence laughed, following the unicorn down the hallway.
"What did you have in mind?" she asked with a smile.
Sunset shrugged. "I haven't got any solid ideas. Maybe we can just hang out together and play some games or just talk." Her signature devilish grin took over her face as she glanced back at Cadence. "Maybe crack open a drink or two."
Cadence laughed and playfully pushed Sunset. "Haha! You are such a delinquent," she mirthfully chided, but she followed Sunset to the wine cellar anyways.
The days following the assignment of their new roles went by as smooth as ever. A new normal settled into place as the two of them slipped into the tasks assigned to them. Every afternoon, Cadence would travel across town and foalsit Twilight, although she did not really find it an actual job. They had too much fun together to consider it real work. Sunset's lab was restored, set up in one of the empty rooms closer to the library. She had been given all the resources she could possibly need at her disposal, and had taken all of them head on. Each day, Cadence heard about a new idea that the unicorn was exploring and how it either was promising or how it exploded in her face.
Their evenings quickly evolved into fireside chats accompanied with some sweet treats from the kitchen or a bottle of wine. As the weather got colder, the two of them got closer and closer until they were huddled together at the foot of Sunset's bed, a roaring fire heating the room as they idly chatted about their days. Sometimes they would lay side by side under a blanket while Sunset studied her theories, or sometimes they would crack out a board game. (Cadence was getting much better at manipulating the smaller pieces with her magic now, so the games were easier for her.)
Tonight was one of the night where they just sat up against the bed together, enjoying each other's company and idly engaging in conversation. A comfortable silence had permeated the room as the warm static of the alcohol slowly took them over. Sunset was getting loose and soft, and Cadence appreciated the closeness that the unicorn only seemed to show when she was buzzed. She wished that she could get more of it, and her heart ached. Eventually she would tell Sunset how she felt, but first she needed to gather the right words.
"So," she said, trying to start a conversation to take her mind off of her feelings for a bit. "Have you thought about what your next project is going to be?"
Sunset shrugged, taking a long sip of her wine. "I dunno," she said. "I've been thinking about it, and I can't quite come up with anything. I was so excited to be set loose, but I'm now realizing that maybe there really is nothing left to do." In a quieter voice, she added. "Maybe it would be better off if I had actually left."
"Sunset..." Cadence said, reaching out to rest a hoof on her friend's foreleg.
"I know," Sunset said bitterly as she filled up her glass with the rest of the wine. "It was stupid. I'm stupid. We all know this."
Cadence opened her mouth to tell her that she was not stupid and that whatever her underlying reasons were, they were valid. She wanted to quickly nip the conversation in the bud before it went to far. But she did not get the chance to voice it before getting cut off by Sunset.
"And I know you're going to say that I'm wrong, and that I had my reasons, but frankly, you're wrong," she said, slurring slightly. "I was running away, that's all. Just Sunset being her stupid coward self, running away from the problem instead of trying to fix it. And now I have you, and that's great but I realized that there is something else I want, just one more thing. And I should just bucking pony up and ask you but..." She trailed off, as if suddenly realizing what she was saying. The took a shuddering breath followed by a deep gulp of wine, and added so softly under her breath so that Cadence could barely hear her, "I'm probably gonna run away from this one, too."
"Run away from what?" Cadence asked quietly. Her heart was beating rapidly, anticipating Sunset's next words. "What did you want to ask me?"
For a moment, it seemed like this was it. Sunset was going to confess to her, and Cadence would be able to accept that confession and reciprocate with one of her own. They would be together, and there would no more tiptoeing around each other like giddy schoolgirls with crushes. They could embrace their love and bask in their closeness and everything would okay.
But at the last second, Sunset's face slipped into an apathetic slump and she turned away. "It doesn't matter," she slurred quietly. "S'not important."
Cadence tried not to visibly show that her heart had just shattered. It was not important to Sunset. It did not matter. Or maybe it was not what she was going to ask after all. But Cadence was the princess of love, and she could feel the pull on the string between them. It was there, but Sunset was still not ready to accept it. Cadence did not know how much longer she could wait for Sunset to make up her mind before that string grew lose and eventually unravelled.
"O-oh," Cadence finally said. She resigned herself to the facts and gathered her composure. "Okay."
It was awkward after that. Neither of them spoke, choosing instead to just sit and stare at the empty wall across from them. The was an unasked question hanging in the air, but neither of them were bold enough in that moment to ask it.
"I think," Cadence began, watching as Sunset's head popped up at the sound of her voice. "I think I'm going to go to bed for tonight." She watched carefully as Sunset's face fell, before it was quickly replaced by her usual, neutral gaze.
"Alright," the unicorn said softly. "Good night, Cadence."
Without another word, the pink alicorn stood up, taking one last moment to wait for Sunset to say something. But Sunset offered nothing, and so Cadence began to walk away slowly, fighting the unsteadiness in her step. She refused to admit that maybe it was the heartache brewing inside her, and instead blamed it on the wine. She reached the door, and pressed her hoof against it, ready to open it up and crawl into her bed and cry. Her heart forced her to take one last pause, to just give Sunset one last chance. But her stillness was met with the cold silence of Sunset's room, and so with a heavy heart, she pushed her door open.
"Wait."
Cadence turned around, desperately trying to hold back the hope that rose in her chest before it consumed her.
"Wait," Sunset called out again, reaching a hoof out to her. "Don't go."
"Please... stay."