//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Memories 
// Story: Change the Heart 
// by FatesWinds 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 4:
Memories
"Hold on to your memories, dear Medley, for one day they may be all you have left of those close to your heart." ―Mme. Bolero, A Song of Fortune



Heart Shield left Ponyville early in the morning; he didn’t want to have a repeat of his last train ride, not when Lady Celestia had been wanting to see him. The train arrived at Canterlot station just as the streets of the city began to bustle with activity. Lady Celestia was waiting for him when he stepped onto the platform.
“Lady Celestia?” he said, startled. “Have you been waiting here since you raised the sun?”
Lady Celestia laughed. “Not at all. Twilight Sparkle sent a letter to me after you left saying you’d be on the first train. I just arrived as the train pulled in.”
“Oh,” he said.
She laughed again and nodded toward the exit. “Come, let’s take a walk.”
Heart Shield nodded and ran to catch up to her, following her outside. Lady Celestia led him through the streets of Canterlot, smiling as he looked around.
“That’s right, you haven’t been through the city since you were a foal,” she said.
“Yeah, your guards brought me straight to the castle from Cloudsdale and I didn’t get a look around as I ran to the station to go to Ponyville.”
“How is your time in Ponyville going, by the way? Are you liking it there?”
He looked at her, nodding happily. “I’m loving it there; there’s so much to do and a lot of fun times to be had. I have jobs with Fluttershy, Applejack and Twilight Sparkle, not to mention the odd jobs I do around town.”
“Have you made many friends?”
“Well when I first got there, Derpy was the only one I had, but I’ve become friends with several other ponies now; Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle, for example.”
“That’s a relief to hear,” Lady Celestia said with a smile. “I would have been shocked if you just kept to yourself and didn’t let anypony in like you were doing in Cloudsdale. It seems like I made the right choice in sending you to Ponyville. Tell me about your jobs; I hear that a few are in return for staying with some ponies.” She nudged him in the side with one of her wings and winked. “Quite the playcolt from what I hear, sleeping with three young mares, including my star pupil.”
Heart Shield’s face went bright red. “I-it’s not like that at all!” he stammered. “I mean, yes I sleep in their houses with them, but not like-! I haven’t-! We d-don’t-! I sleep in the spare rooms Fluttershy and Twilight have, and the barn at Applejack’s family’s ranch, n-none of us are like th-th-that!”
“Oh? I heard that Applejack and you had a rather lovely Hearts and Hooves Day dinner.” The smile on her lips grew wider, seeing the young pegasus getting so flustered.
“That was just as friends! Who told you about th-!”
Celestia laughed. “Relax Heart Shield, I’m merely teasing you.”
“Sounded like something Dash would do,” he muttered under his breath, his cheeks still red.
He and Lady Celestia walked around Canterlot for much of the day, talking about his new life in Ponyville and how he was getting along with everypony. She had to leave after lunch to tend to her duties, but requested that he stay in Canterlot for the night. After she left, he spent the rest of the day wandering around looking at all of the old houses he’d grown up in and places he’d used to go to, smiling as he reflected on his time in this city. There was the racetrack where he’d seen his first Wonderbolts race; and over there was the theater where he’d watched the play on the founding of Equestria! The houses he’d lived in now belonged to different ponies, though some of the new occupants directed him to where his old families now lived. He was surprised at how many of them still remembered him when he found them. They asked about how he was, and several invited him to stay the night with them so that they could catch up, though he turned their offers down. All too soon, night fell and he headed to the room Lady Celestia said he could stay in.
The next day, as the sun rose, he found himself waking in a state of unexplainable excitement. It took him several minutes to figure out why this was, and the realization of the cause only served to make him even more excited. He said goodbye to the Princess after a hurried breakfast and ran to the sweets shop, arriving as it opened. There was one last pony he wanted to see before he left, and he wanted to get something for his friends too. He was a little surprised to see a red unicorn stallion behind the counter, but gave his order nonetheless.
“Excuse me,” he said as the stallion gathered the candy he’d requested, “but I was wondering if Sugar Cube was here today.”
The stallion stopped suddenly, the taffy he’d been about to put into a bag hovering in midair, then went back to finishing the order before speaking.
“Sugar Cube hasn’t worked here for a while,” he said a pained look on his face as he handed over the bag and took Heart Shield’s money, “not since she passed.”
“Passed? Was there a test she was taking?”
The unicorn looked at him with pity. “Afraid that’s not the passing I meant. She passed away, kid.”
Heart Shield stared at the unicorn, dropping the bag. “What…?”
“Five years ago. Heard it was old age catchin’ up. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this.”
Heart Shield didn’t move, his head pounding. Finally he picked up the bag and thanked the unicorn, his voice hoarse.
“Hey, are you going to be okay?” the shopkeeper asked.
“Yeah,” Heart Shield replied, putting on a strained smile, “I’ll be fine. Have a good day.”
He walked to the station in a daze, trying to comprehend the news he’d been given, his excitement replaced by disbelief and confusion. The entire train ride, he sat in his seat, his head spinning. Sugar Cube? Gone? The idea that she was no longer around left him in a state of shock. The conductor had to come into the car once the train had arrived in Ponyville to snap him out of his thoughts. He stepped off of the train, his head still spinning, not noticing the three mares waiting for him until they called out to him.
“Mornin’ Heart Shield!” Applejack said, waving at him.
“Good morning,” said Fluttershy with a smile.
“Morning,” Twilight called. “Did you have a good trip?”
He looked at them, his expression hollow for a moment before quickly smiling at them. “G-good morning,” he replied, trying to sound cheerful. “My trip was okay; I brought back some sweets for everypony.” He handed Twilight the bag, maintaining the smile, though clearly not well enough.
“Is everything alright?” Fluttershy asked. “You look like something happened.”
He nodded. “I’m fine,” he lied, his voice beginning to crack.
“Mhm,” Applejack said skeptically.
“If something’s wrong you can tell us,” Twilight said, looking at him concerned.
He looked at the three of them before looking at the ground, holding back his tears as best as he could. “I… I know I have to work today, but…” He stopped and shook his head, trying not to cry. “Can I take today off? I promise that I’ll get back to work tomorrow.”
Twilight and Applejack exchanged a look.
“Sure thing Sugarcube.”
“Take as much time as you need.”
“Thank you,” he said hoarsely before running off. His tears fell as soon as he cleared the platform.
Fluttershy started to go after him before stopping as Applejack held out an arm to cut her off. Her friend shook her head slowly.
“I think it’s best if we let him have time to himself for now. Somethin’s obviously upset him, an’ he doesn’t sound like he wants to talk about it. Just give him his space for now, that’s the best thing any of us can do for him right now.”

***

Heart Shield didn’t stop running until he reached the lake where Rainbow Dash was found relaxing on occasion. Thankfully, nopony was there. He wandered over to the sand and sat down, his shoulders shaking. He stared at his reflection in the water. For a moment, he saw a small foal looking back at him.
“Heart Shield, my favorite customer!” said the sky blue unicorn mare behind the counter of the shop. “What can I do for you today?”
The little foal put his hooves on the glass side of the counter as he looked to see what was on display. “Can I have a peanuh budda bwittle?” he asked, pointing to the item in question. “And a cho… chalk… choca-…” The tiny pegasus frowned as he struggled to pronounce the words. “Chalk-a-late stwaw… stwawbuwwie car…a…mel tart?”
He looked up at the unicorn to see if he’d gotten it right. She smiled at him.
“A chocolate strawberry caramel tart?” she asked, carefully sounding out the words for him.
Heart Shield nodded vigorously. “Chocolate strawberry caramel tart,” he repeated.
“Well of course you can. How about I throw in a little something extra too,” she said with a wink, already gathering the candy in a bag. “After all, I couldn’t let my favorite foal leave without a special surprise on his birthday.”
Heart Shield’s eyes widened and he beamed at her. “Tank you Sugacoob!” he said.
“You’re very welcome,” Sugar Cube replied, floating his bag down to him. “Happy Birthday Heart Shield.”
Heart Shield’s reflection rippled as his tears hit the water. He closed his eyes, crying silently to himself. Sugar Cube had always been kind to him, giving him free sweets whenever he came by, and had always sent him a special bag every year on his birthday. He’d been confused when they had suddenly stopped, but he had just thought that she had figured he’d grown out of wanting gifts. Now he knew why the gifts had stopped, and he wished he’d never found out. He stayed at the lake for several hours, alone and mourning Sugar Cube’s passing, before somepony found him.
“Heart Shield!”
He looked up and saw Derpy waving at him from a cloud. He waved back halfheartedly, wiping at his eyes. She flew down to him with a smile that faded slightly when she saw the tear stains along his cheeks.
“What’s wrong Heart Shield? How come you’re all the way out here crying today?” she asked, her ears flopping down in concern.
He looked at her for a while before he broke down again. He told her about going to the sweets shop, asking to see Sugar Cube, and learning about her death. He explained, through tears and hiccups, that he was devastated by this news and that he’d been here wanting to be on his own to mourn. Derpy listened to him silently as he talked, and cocked her head when he finished as she thought for a few moments, her brow furrowed over her wonky eyes, before telling him to wait there and flew off towards town. She returned several minutes later with a bag in her mouth. He looked at her confused as she landed next to him. She opened the bag and, when he saw what was inside, he laughed as some more tears fell.
“Muffins make things better!” she said simply, offering him some, which he took gratefully.
They sat there at the lake, eating muffins as he shared tales about Sugar Cube with her. Eventually his tears dried up and a smile returned to his face.
“Thanks Derpy,” he said. “I needed that.”
“No problem,” the grey pegasus replied, cocking her head to the side and smiled wide. “Happy Birthday Heart Shield.”

***

Sugar Cube’s passing weighed heavily on him for months, but his friends, after he told them, helped him to come to terms with his loss. He never appreciated them as much as he did then; their help made things much easier for him to bear. Six months after he’d been given this news, six happy months, Twilight received a letter from Lady Celestia, announcing the wedding between her niece, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor. They said farewell at the station; his friends were still a little worried about him, despite his mood finally returning to normal, but he turned down their offer to have him accompany them. He wasn’t invited, he explained, and he still had his work to do in Ponyville. He waved to them as their train departed toward Canterlot, none of them aware of the events to take place there, nor of how those events would change their lives.