//------------------------------//
// Day Of The Dirt 
// Story: Cadence Unbridled (Sections 1 & 2) 
// by Flikaline 
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Day Of The Dirt


Cadence woke up with a smile on her face. She had been having such a good dream. It concerned a certain colt who had only recently acquired his cutie mark. She was tempted to go back to sleep again, but decided it was time she got up. 

She quickly did her hair before any of the servants had the chance to come in and insist on doing it for her. She hurried off to meet her aunt, but on arrival, she discovered there was already somepony else there. There was a colt standing next to Celestia, a unicorn, who was taller than Cadence, but looked younger.

‘Good morning, Cadence,’ said Princess Celestia, ‘did you sleep well?’

‘So this is Mi Amore Cadenza, is it?’ the colt asked.

‘Cadence, this is Blueblood,’ Celestia told her, ‘he’s something like a great, great nephew of mine. Blueblood, this is Cadence, she’s my half-sister’s daughter.’

‘Luna’s foal then?’ Blueblood asked. Celestia tried not to show her annoyance at him bringing Luna up.

‘No, Luna was, is, my sister, not my half-sister. Cadence’s mother perished recently.’ Celestia replied, trying not to think about that journey and what she had found when she arrived there. Cadence was puzzled. Celestia hadn’t mentioned any ‘Luna’ to her.

‘Sorry about that,’ came Blueblood’s formal tone.

‘He likes to make out he’s a prince,’ Celestia whispered to Cadence, ‘but he’s actually a duke.’ Blueblood pretended not to hear.

‘What’s he doing here anyway?’ Cadence whispered back.

‘Oh, I pop in occasionally and decided to stay for a while to watch the ceremony.’ Blueblood told her.

‘Ceremony?’ Cadence asked, ‘what ceremony?’

‘Oh, didn’t I tell you?’ Celestia said, ‘Shining Armor got into the Royal Guard.’

‘He did!’ Cadence replied, her eyes sparkling with pleasure.

‘His famous uncle was older than he is when he got in,’ Celestia told her, ‘in fact he may be the youngest ever to join.’

‘When’s the ceremony?’ Cadence asked.

‘This afternoon, at four o’clock,’ Celestia replied with a smile, ‘you’re coming then?’

‘Of course!’ Cadence said brightly.

*

‘Mi Amore Cadenza,’ said Blueblood, ‘there is some mud up ahead,’

‘You mentioned that a few seconds ago,’ Cadence sighed. 

She knew he was younger than her but he did seem to be incredibly immature in some ways and Cadence had never felt so annoyed about being called by her full name. Celestia had given Cadence the job of taking Blueblood around for a bit with an apologetic smile and now Cadence could see why. When they actually came near the mud, Blueblood wouldn’t go within a few yards of it. 

‘How can you go so near it!’ said Blueblood squeamishly.

‘It’s just a bit of dirt,’ Cadence sighed, ‘it won’t kill you.’

‘I have my doubts about that!’ 

‘The only way you could die from it,’ came Cadence’s irritated tone, ‘is from dying of fright for irrational reasons.’ 

Blueblood gave a mumble.

‘If you don’t deal with this problem of yours,’ Cadence continued kindly, ‘no-pony’s going to believe you’re royalty at all, never mind the prince you want everypony to think you are.’

‘Hi Cadence,’ came the voice of Cadence’s friend, Fleur de Lis, who was a bit older than her and had been the one who had looked after her when she had first arrived.

‘Hi, Lis!’ replied Cadence, ‘oh, this is Blueblood, he’s something like a distant cousin of mine.’

‘Oh, hello,’ said Fleur de Lis, ‘nice to meet you.’

‘Likewise,’ Blueblood replied.

‘He only has one problem,’ Cadence continued, ‘he’s afraid of dirt.’ 

Fleur de Lis snorted and Blueblood scowled. Just then, a filly shoved past Cadence and hurried off. Cadence looked down at the ground sadly. Fleur de Lis scowled after the filly.

‘You can’t let Thora treat you like that, Cadence,’ Fleur de Lis told her.

‘It was probably just an accident, Lis,’ said Cadence sadly. Fleur de Lis shook her head firmly.

‘This is at least the sixth time she’s done that to you, Cadence,’ Fleur de Lis said seriously, ‘if you let her get away with it, it’ll get worse.’

‘She probably didn’t mean it . . .’ Cadence murmured. 

‘Part of the reason she can do it is because you’re so nice. Can’t you see,’ Fleur de Lis told her, putting a hoof on her shoulder, ‘she’s bullying you, Cadence! Maybe I should tell Princess Celestia about this . . .’

‘Oh, don’t, Lis!’ exclaimed Cadence, ‘I don’t want any trouble!’

‘Okay,’ responded Fleur de Lis, ‘but if it gets much worse or doesn’t stop, I will tell her.’ 

Cadence gave a small smile.

‘Anyway,’ continued Fleur de Lis, ‘I came over to remind you about our picnic,’

‘Do you think I’d forget that!’ asked Cadence with a laugh. Fleur de Lis smiled, happy that Cadence had cheered up.

Even though Cadence had cheered up, once Fleur de Lis had gone and she was continuing to walk around with Blueblood, she couldn’t help but think about Thora. She was the only pony who didn’t like her, the one foalsitter who wouldn’t accept her as she had told Celestia, and when she had tried just being polite as Celestia had suggested, things had started to get worse. She would glare too, whenever she saw that Cadence was happy, especially if she was with her friend, Shining Armor. 

Speaking of Shining Armor, there he was over there. Suddenly, she felt a surge of panic. Blueblood might be younger than her and a distant cousin but it didn’t necessarily look like that. Shining Armor had seen them, he felt sad, of course, what had he really expected? He began to walk off feeling rather miserable.

‘Shining Armor!’ Cadence called. Shining Armor hurried over. ‘This is my distant cousin, Blueblood,’ she said quickly, ‘Blueblood, this is Shining Armor.’ 

Shining Armor seemed to be a lot happier all of a sudden.

‘I heard you got into the Royal Guard,’ said Cadence shyly. Shining Armor’s face went a bit pink.

‘Uh, well, yeah,’ he answered, looking at the ground, ‘uh, can I show you something?’ he asked, looking up slightly.

‘Of course,’ Cadence replied with a small smile, unaware that she was batting her eyelashes. He concentrated hard and produced a small pink shield. 

‘It’s a repelling shield,’ he explained, ‘it took me a little time to work out what my cutie mark actually meant but it seems to be defense magic.’

‘It’s very good,’ Cadence told him, gazing into his eyes for a few moments, ‘um, so what do the three stars represent?’ she asked.

‘I don’t actually know,’ Shining Armor admitted.

‘I’ve heard,’ said Blueblood, ‘if you have a number of something on your cutie mark, it represents a certain number of ponies that you care the most about.’ 

Shining Armor’s face turned crimson. He knew Blueblood was right. It explained the two things he had been wondering, firstly, why his cutie mark appeared when he wasn’t performing his special talent which was nearly always what happened, and why it hadn’t appeared before. He had already, in a sense, acquired his special talent, but not the third star which made up his cutie mark. She hadn’t been living in Canterlot until recently. 

‘Are you alright, Shining Armor?’ Cadence asked, ‘you look a little hot.’

*

Cadence would never have told anypony, but it was a big relief to get rid of Blueblood for a bit. He would panic if there was even the hint that dirt had been there within the last year but at the same time, act as if he were somehow above everypony else. As she had pointed out to him, how could he act like he was above everypony else when he was acting like a foal?

Fleur de Lis was already at the picnic spot when Cadence arrived. 

‘Excited about the ceremony are you?’ Fleur de Lis asked with a smile.

‘Oh, yes! And he does so deserve it! He is so strong and brave and . . .’ Cadence stopped, feeling embarrassed and a little nervous. But Fleur de Lis hadn’t picked up on her feelings but had picked up on what she had said.

‘How do you know he’s ‘so strong and brave’, Cadence?’ Fleur de Lis asked. Cadence felt a little guilty. She normally told Fleur de Lis everything, the only exception having been, apart from this, her liking for Shining Armor.

‘Lis, there’s something I haven’t told you,’ Cadence began, ‘Shining Armor saved me from goblins.’

Fleur de Lis was very surprised.

‘Well, he didn’t do it all by himself, he would’ve done if he hadn’t been very unlucky and got knocked out but then he went and told Auntie Tia what had happened and they came after me,’ said Cadence rapidly, barely taking breath. ‘I greatly admire him for what he did,’ Cadence admitted, feeling guilty as she wasn’t telling the whole truth but she felt too embarrassed to admit how she really felt.

‘Well,’ said Fleur de Lis, ‘I can see why he got into the Royal Guard. He must be pretty tough to fight goblins.’ Cadence nodded.

‘Anyway, Lis, you looked like you wanted to tell me something as soon as I arrived,’ Cadence said.

‘Oh, yes!’ Fleur de Lis responded before lowering her voice, ‘I think Steamer might like me!’

‘Really?’ inquired Cadence, ‘That’s great, Lis!’

*

The two ponies had finished their picnic and were now enjoying the nice weather.

‘That cloud looks like a wedding cake!’ said Cadence.

‘Those ones look like you and Shining Armor dancing!’ replied Fleur de Lis.

‘No they don’t!’ Cadence retorted.

‘They so do, Cadence, and you’re blushing!’

‘No I’m not!’ responded Cadence, trying to cover up her reddening face.

‘If you say you saw a wedding cake maybe you and Shining Armor are getting married!’ exclaimed Fleur de Lis.

‘We’re not!’

‘You so are!’

‘We are not getting married!’

‘Give it a few years, Cadence!’

Cadence somehow managed to smile and scowl at the same time. Fleur de Lis got up and looked out at the ripples and light on the pond.

‘Come and look at the pond, Cadence, it’s beautiful!’ called Fleur de Lis. Cadence got up and went over to her friend.

‘Wow, you’re right, it is beautiful!’ Cadence said with a happy sigh. ‘Oh, Lis, look at those pretty flowers! They’re lovely. I simply must pick them!’ 

Cadence quickly set to work, using her magic to pick them and untied her hair to use the ribbon to keep the flowers together. She was almost done when somepony else’s magic snatched the flowers from her. It was Thora. Fleur de Lis put a foreleg around her friend. She was furious and glared at Thora; she knew that Thora only wanted those flowers because Cadence had wanted them. A single tear ran down Cadence’s face. 

Fleur de Lis was about to get up and confront Thora when Thora’s own magical hold on the flowers was replaced by a darker pink magic. Thora’s smug expression changed to anger and surprise. Fleur de Lis and Cadence looked up to see Shining Armor trotting towards them, carrying the bunch of flowers. 

‘You deserve these, Cadence,’ Shining Armor told her, placing the flowers lightly between her hooves. Cadence’s face glowed. ‘Excuse me while I deal with Thora,’ Shining Armor continued before trotting over to, and glaring at, Thora with a furious expression on his face. Thora glared back.

‘You’re an interfering parasprite, aren’t you, Shining Armor!’ Thora snarled, ‘this is the very reason I dumped you in the first place!’

‘And you are nothing but a nasty bully, who will leave Cadence alone or deal with me!’ Shining Armor growled back, ‘I should have been the one dumping you; I don’t know what I ever saw in you! If you do not leave Cadence alone the consequences will be dire!’ Thora continued to glare. Fleur de Lis came over. 

‘In case you haven’t noticed, Thora,’ Fleur de Lis snapped, ‘you’re the only pony in Canterlot who doesn’t like Cadence, never mind dislike her! I am quite happy to tell everypony that you’ve been bullying Cadence and I’m sure Princess Celestia would love to hear how you’ve been picking on her beloved niece!’ 

If the combined effect of Shining Armor and Fleur de Lis having a good go at her hadn’t been enough, Fleur de Lis’s comment about Celestia had. Thora muttered something before skulking off somewhere to be all self-pitying.

‘Thanks, you two,’ said Cadence quietly, as she was a little shaken up by the confrontation she had just witnessed.

‘You’re very welcome, Cadie,’ replied Fleur de Lis.

‘Any time,’ Shining Armor responded, ‘and make sure you tell me if she ever starts picking on you again!’

‘You’re very protective of her, aren’t you?’ Fleur de Lis commented. Shining Armor’s face went red again and he quickly changed the subject.

‘Uh, my parents wanted me to ask you if you could foalsit Twilie tomorrow,’ Shining Armor said hurriedly.

‘I think I can fit that in,’ Cadence replied, ‘what’s she doing now anyway?’

‘Studying again,’ Shining Armor told her, ‘that’s what she’s always doing when one of us isn’t around to stop her!’ Cadence gave a laugh. ‘Where’s your cousin anyway?’ Shining Armor asked.

‘He said he’d meet me here,’ Cadence told him, ‘which reminds me, he’s scared of dirt, right? Well, I’ve heard one way you can overcome fears is by facing them.’

‘So you’re planning to get Blueblood dirty?’ Fleur de Lis asked. 

‘That’s the idea,’ Cadence told them, ‘I don’t know how he’s going to react though!’

*

Blueblood had made the most enormous amount of fuss when his hoof got covered in mud. Celestia wanted an explanation for her niece’s actions once she had claimed it was her idea.

‘I’m not very pleased with you, Cadence,’ Celestia said sternly, ‘look at all the commotion you caused, and just before Shining Armor’s ceremony!’ Cadence looked at the ground, she hadn’t thought of that.

‘It’s not being cancelled is it?’ came Cadence’s anxious tone.

‘No, it’s not,’ Celestia replied stiffly, ‘but why did you do it in the first place?’

‘I, well,’ Cadence began timidly, ‘I figured, well, I heard one of the ways to overcome fears is to face them, and Blueblood’s so scared of dirt, I figured if we could get him covered in it . . .’ Cadence was surprised to find that Celestia had started laughing. 

‘Oh, that makes much more sense,’ Celestia said, still laughing, ‘I thought he’d just annoyed you too much! Trust you to cause chaos while trying to help a pony! But he wasn’t covered in dirt . . .’

‘It didn’t go quite as planned,’ Cadence admitted, almost smiling, ‘turns out he tends to freeze when he’s anywhere near dirt, so the push we gave him only managed to get one of his hooves dirty.’ Blueblood came into the room with a scowl on his face.

‘I don’t know what’s so funny,’ he said grumpily, ‘I must have washing this hoof seven times and it still doesn’t feel clean again.’ He left the room in a very bad mood. 

‘Maybe one day he’ll learn to deal with his issues on his own,’ said Celestia.

‘Auntie Tia?’ asked Cadence, ‘who’s Luna?’ 

‘Luna’s my sister,’ Celestia said weakly.

‘Why did you never mention her?’ Cadence asked, ‘and why have I never seen her?’

‘Well, it’s complicated,’ Celestia replied.

‘Could you tell me about her?’ Cadence inquired, ‘please?’

‘Well,’ said Celestia with a sigh, ‘I guess there’s time before the ceremony.’