//------------------------------// // "If you forget..." // Story: Love and Barriers // by CvBrony //------------------------------// Canterlot Solar Academy Three Months After Twilight Sparkle’s Birth Okay, this spot should do. Cadence fluttered her wings a little, fanning them out to give them a short stretch before lying down on the grass. The warm sun touched her nose, keeping her nice and warm while her pegasus magic kept the wind out of her face. She took a quick look around to make sure the other foals were all off playing and well away from her. Assured that the spot she chose was sufficiently quiet and out of the way, she gently placed her book on the grass and flipped it open. Now to finally finish this thing! Words and paragraphs flew by in her mind, the world outside bleeding away into nothingness. Foals and swings were replaced by airships and pirates, romance and adventure, destinies and magic. She was thoroughly drawn into the world presented by the book, and nothing could pull her out. “Hey, look, it’s the Princess.” Nothing, perhaps, except for the whiny, slightly-nasally voice of a perpetual tormentor. A large part of her just wanted to ignore them, as the teacher suggested. Experience, however, told her that it would only make herself a bigger target. “What do you want, Jet Set?” Cadence asked, keeping her eyes on the book. The grey colt trotted around to her side, his two friends behind him. “Just seeing what you were doing here all alone. By yourself.” Cadence folded her ears against her head and scowled at them, hoping that maybe they’d back off. The lone filly of the trio looked over at her book. “Look, she’s reading during recess! What a freak!” Or maybe not. Cadence glared daggers at her, wishing so hard that she could break the “rules of nobility” her parents thought were so important and just throttle them or at least be rude back. Center Stage, I’m embarrassed to have the same coat color as you.  It was just last summer that she fought with her mother to let her go to school without bodyguards around every waking moment. This, it seemed, had some consequences. “Hey, freak! We’re talking to you!” Jet Set kicked her book away with a forehoof. Cadence sighed. “I’m not a freak.” She really didn’t want to dignify them with a response, but they were here, so it was all she could do to regain her composure and stay calm. Nothing short of a teacher’s help would stop them now. As if any of the teachers here would lift a hoof to stop a bully. “Yeah? What kind of a pony has a horn and wings? A freak, that’s what,” the second colt said, snapping his tail in her face. “Princess Celestia has a horn and wings.” At this, they sneered, and Cadence braced for the inevitable. “So you’re sayin’ you’re like Princess Celestia, huh? Well then, let’s see you move the sun.” Jet Set got closer to her, pointing a hoof right in front of her face. “If you can’t, then you’re just a freak.” Cadence felt her wings twitch a little despite her best efforts to control them. “I’m not a freak, and I can’t move the sun. You know only Princess Celestia can do that!” “Then you’re a freak!” Center Stage lit her horn and lifted up the book. “So what book is so important that you’d miss recess, freak?” “No!” Cadence jumped up to her hooves and summoned her magic. Her own horn blazed first blue then purple, sending what was, for a foal, a huge amount of magic at the book. Center Stage’s yellow magic shimmered and dissolved, completely drowned by Cadence’s power. Her book back in her own field, she zipped it into her forelegs, locking them tight before spreading her wings, wishing she knew how to fly. “I’m not letting you take my things!” The three foals all exchanged glances at each other before Jet Set started to chuckle. “I doubt you can stop all three of us. Ready, guys?” Cadence dropped to the ground, covering the book with her body and hugging it as hard as she could. They’d have to fight her for it. She even put as much of her magic on it as she could to stop either of the two unicorns from taking it away. The three foals had all crouched down, ready to pounce. “One, two, three!”   She scooted backwards, ready for them. “Ow!” “Oof!” “Oorg!” Cadence blinked, not quite believing her eyes. Directly in between her and the bullies, a shimmering, purple, curved field of magic had appeared out of nowhere immediately after they’d leapt, and all three had bounced right off of it like they’d just ran head-first into a brick wall. That’s… That’s not a telekinetic field. That’s a shield! “Enough, you three.” From her side, a young voice caught Cadence’s ear.  She turned around to see a colt walking up behind her. He was rather tall, but she recognized him from another class in her grade, so he probably wasn’t too much older. He had a dark blue mane and tail with lighter blue streaks in it, along with a white coat. More importantly, though, he already had his cutie mark: a blue shield with a six-pointed, purple star in it. He walked in between her and the wall and stuck out his chest. “Why don’t you all go pick on somepony your own size?” Jet Set rubbed his head, standing up to face the colt through the shield. “Like you?” This was it. He’d get afraid, back off, and leave her to her fate. The new colt just laughed. “Sure, but who else do you have? It’s not a fair fight with just you three.” Or not. Cadence felt her jaw go slack. He wasn’t just staying; he was daring them to go after him! No, it was even more than that. His grin, his confident eyes, he actually wanted them to try something. Is he crazy!? “That’ll be quite enough!” That new voice might be the end of it. A teacher had galloped right up to them and scowled at Cadence’s rescuer. “Shame on you, Shining Armor! You know casting spells unsupervised on school grounds is against the rules.” He swung his neck around to look at the teacher, but his face barely changed. It was still strong, defiant even. This colt was trying to stare down the teacher! “Well?” the teacher asked. “Aren’t you going to apologize?” A gentle breeze that moved through the playground was all that she could hear, even with other foals playing. The colt’s mane waved in the wind, a few strands lying on his smiling, determined face. Doesn’t he care that’s he’s about to get in trouble!? “No.” The teacher lifted a hoof in surprise. “No!?” “No. I don’t apologize unless I’ve done something wrong.” “Done something… Well, we’ll just have to see the principal in his office, won’t we?” The teacher caught him in a magic field and started dragging him off.   “Wait!” Her heart went from a nervous trot to a panicked gallop. “It wasn’t his fault!” Just as fast, it stopped in place when the teacher’s gaze swiveled back on to her. “Then who cast the spell, Princess?” The colt looked at her, too, like he was angry at her. His stone-etched gaze was almost threatening, but she couldn’t tell what he wanted her to do. Regardless, she’d learned long ago the consequences of lying. She not only had to justify her behavior to her parents but her aunt as well. That did not mean that she couldn’t tell them why he did it. “He did, but he did it to protect me!” The teacher barely gave a glance to the trio of foals running away from the scene of the crime before dismissing her. “Rules are rules, Princess. Unsupervised casting of magic is strictly forbidden. And to think, Shining Armor, you were so promising. Such a waste of a scholarship. Principal’s office, now.” As she dragged him away, Shining Armor smiled at her. He didn’t want her to cover for him; he wanted her to tell the truth! Now, though, he’d be punished, but the bullies were getting off scot-free. Though she was a Princess of Equestria, all that she could do was stare as the teacher led him away. “I need to talk to Auntie Celestia. Please let me through.” Her aunt Celestia had this thing where she just stared at her guards, and they either knew what to do or immediately did what she told them, no matter how strange or dangerous. “I’m sorry, Princess, but Princess Celestia is currently busy.” It was clear, now, that she couldn’t quite do that because the guard next to her chamber door wasn’t even flinching. It didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try. “You don’t understand! It’s important!” She stomped her hoof. The guard shook his head. Some movement was progress, at least. “I’m sorry, but—” The door opened, and a gilded hoof stepped out from behind the door. The purest warmth radiated from its owner’s smile. “Well, if it’s important, who am I to refuse a princess?” Cadence bowed as deeply as she could. “Thank you, Princess! Thank you so much!” “Not at all, my little pony. I was just about to have dinner. Why don’t you join me?” Her little wings flapped at her sides. Dinner with Auntie Celestia! Now she could tell everything to the Princess. “I think I’ll have it in the garden this evening.” She turned to the guard. “Tell the chefs, won’t you?” The guard jolted into a salute. “Yes, Your Highness!” She didn’t even use that stare! “Hmm. That is a bit of a situation.” Celestia took a sip of her tea and stared out into the evening sky over the gardens for what felt like an eternity to her guest. “Well?” Cadence asked. The alicorn looked at her, and eyebrow raised. “Well, what?” “Can’t you do anything?” More silence passed between them, but the look on the monarch’s face wasn’t something she’d ever seen from her before. Calm and loving as always, but also excruciating. Cadence shrunk down and even lay down on her cushion when Celestia lowered her head to speak at the filly’s level. “What would you have me do, young Princess?” she asked. Cadence opened her mouth to give a direct answer, but it was covered with a hoof she honestly hadn’t realized was as large as it was. “Before you answer,” Celestia said, “think. Truly think about your response—in silence—for at least two minutes.” Cadence was not an especially impatient filly. She knew that there were times for her to be silent and times where she could speak. There were rules of etiquette in life, and as a princess, these had to be very carefully followed. One of these rules was to obey Princess Celestia. This one time, however, she was sorely tempted to break the rules and shout. Still, this wasn’t just any rule she’d be breaking, but the most important rule. So, she stayed put, closed her eyes, and thought. She truly thought about what happened and what she wanted. It wasn’t until then that she realized that Celestia didn’t ask her what she wanted. She asked her what she “would have her do.” To a princess, that was a very different question. She wasn’t supposed to think about what she wanted. She was supposed to think about what her actions did and if they were appropriate. The easiest thing was to just ask Celestia to get the bullies to stop picking on her and have the teachers release Shining Armor, but if the Princess was making her think, there was obviously something else she didn’t see yet. Still, she really wanted those bullies to stop. Not just those, either. There were others that picked on her. She knew she wasn’t even the only one they picked on! Then, she realized what Celestia was getting at. Even if they were made to stop picking on her, they’d keep going after others. That also meant that Shining Armor might still keep getting in trouble. A little light went on in her mind, and she knew what to say, so she opened her eyes. “Have you thought about it?” The alicorn smiled. “Yes, Auntie Celestia.” “Now, what would you have me do?” Cadence stood up and belted out her answer. “I want you to make those teachers make all the other kids follow the rules and stop picking on other foals!” Celestia smiled at her. “And why do you say that?” Cadence’s wings flared out. “Because if I just have you stop those three from picking on me, they’ll just pick on others instead! And then that colt might get in trouble protecting them too!” Celestia spread her wings a little. “An astute observation!” Cadence’s smile couldn’t get any bigger. “However, I’m afraid I cannot do that.” Nor could her surprise be any greater. “What? But, why not?” “Because I am the Princess of Equestria.” She shook her head. “What? But that means you can do that!” The alicorn lowered her head closer to her level. “It means, Cadence, that I must consider all of the consequences of my actions. You did a very nice job realizing that there were other foals that should be protected, but this goes far beyond the foals and teachers in your school.” Cadence tilted her head. “It does?” “Perhaps a concrete analogy is needed here.” Cadence tilted her head even more. “Huh?” “An example to show what I mean. For instance, that cushion you are sitting on. Wouldn’t it feel good to stomp on it a little?” “Aww, my mom told me about that thing where you hit a cushion when you’re angry.” “And?” “It doesn’t work,” Cadence said. Celestia broke out into a fit of laughter. “Oh, out of the mouths of foals! Still, why don’t you give it a try, just in case?” Cadence rolled her eyes and sighed. Adults. “Okay, I’ll try.” She got off the cushion and gave it a little stomp. “Oh, come now, you can do better than that!” She rolled her eyes again and stomped on it a little more. “Harder! Pretend it’s the foals that picked on you!” She stomped it again with both forehooves. “Harder! Make it feel it!” She jumped up and down on it several times, putting in as much effort as her little body could muster and sending down feathers from it flying about. “Feel better?” Celestia asked. “Not really. And I think I killed your cushion.” She lifted it up a little, examining it. “That’s all right. In fact, why don’t I give it a try?” She got up off her own much larger cushion and lifted a hoof over it. “Say, before I do, did you get a good look at the shield the young colt made? What was his name?” “The teacher said it was ‘Shining Armor,’ and I don’t know if I saw it really well or not.” “Hmm. Did it look like this?” Her horn glowed, and a golden, shimmering wall of light appeared between Cadence and her aunt. “No, not really. It was more curved. And more… sparkly?” Celestia looked much more surprised at this than Cadence expected. “Oh? Really? More like this?” The wall curved around the filly and bent over a bit in a partial dome shape like the young colt’s had. “Yeah, that’s what it looked like!” “My my. And he was in your grade? You have a talented new friend. Anyway, to business. Let’s see if I can work out some of my own frustration, shall we?” “Okay.” The filly sat down, fully expecting to watch a grown alicorn beat up on a cushion. What she did not expect was the sound of thunder. She didn’t even see Celestia’s hoof move; it was simply at the ground in an instant. The hit knocked the filly a bit into the air and forced her to cover her ears. Smoke, feathers, cloth, and even tiny bits of marble flooring plinked off the barrier in between them. The blow tossed table they were eating dinner on into the hedges. When the alicorn used her wings to clear out the dust, she saw the marble flooring they’d been sitting on had cracked and crumbled under Celestia’s mighty hoof despite the now-destroyed cushion that should have softened the blow. Had the shield not been in between them, she might’ve been killed. Cadence dropped her gaze to the ground, trembling as Celestia approached the crumbling, dissolving shield. “This is why I cannot do as you request, Cadence. Were I to act in such a manner, it would not stop at the cushion, or in this case, at the foals who picked on you or even the teacher who allowed it to happen. It would continue to the principal, the superintendent, even the Secretary of Education. There would be investigations and hearings over a system that had failed so direly that it caused me to act to save my kin. Hundreds of ponies could lose their jobs, even those who had no involvement. As a Princess of Equestria, I must know all of the consequences of my actions, both immediate and eventual.” Cadence lay on the floor, gazing up, mouth wide open when it wasn’t coughing. She hadn’t even known Celestia could do that, and she certainly hadn’t considered all that might happen if she stepped in to help her at her school. Moments passed, and all she could do was stare at the small crater in the middle of the gardens. It wasn’t long after that when the guards came rushing in. “It’s okay, everypony!” the Princess announced. “Just a little lesson is all.” Little!? The guards were shaken but relieved, and most filed out while others searched about the gardens. “Don’t worry too much about the damage.” Celestia said, giving her a smile. “There’s a unicorn on the janitorial team who’s quite skilled with repair spells.” The Princess glanced at one of the guards, and he rushed over with a bow. “Have the attendants bring out a new table and cushions, would you? And some more tea.” She looked down at the filly with a smile. “We seem to have spilled ours.” In remarkably quick time, the guards had cleared out the debris, laid a large rug over the crumbled marble, and even brought out a new table and cushions for them, complete with a new serving of tea. This, however, would only be realized later, as she spent most of this time just staring at the tiny crater, thinking about what had happened. “So, do you see now why I can’t just ‘storm the gates’ at your school?” Cadence shook herself out of her daze but remained silent. Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of that poor colt being punished in detention for trying to help her. “Be at ease, my little pony. It will be okay.” A levitated napkin wiped under Cadence’s eyes. “I never said I wasn’t going to help.” She looked back up at her. “But… But you said—” She pointed at the obliterated section of the ground. “I said I couldn’t go to your school and intervene directly. Doing so would be like what I did earlier to my poor cushion. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to go about finding a solution.” Cadence winced as Celestia brought up her hoof again but relaxed when she only hit the new cushion lightly. “It’s all about knowing just where—” she hit the cushion again “—and how hard—” and again “—to strike.” She finished with one final tap. “Then, all the lumps in your cushion even out, and you have a comfortable place to sit again. Now, listen closely. Tomorrow afternoon, I want you go to your principal and tell him exactly this and just how I say it…” Cadence knocked on the principal’s door with a copy of the school’s rule book in her magical grasp. It was odd for a student to willingly go to the principal, but she had found the main office surprisingly willing to let her see him. She guessed that if a student wanted to go there, it must’ve been important. “Enter!” She turned the knob and walked inside. The very first thing that caught her eye was the pair of paddles hanging on the wall behind him. She almost choked at the sight of them but fought past it. Auntie Celestia said it was very important that she sound confident. “Well well, Princess Cadence, what brings you here?” The principal was getting on in years. His coat was teal, but a lot of his mane had either gone gray or had just gone entirely. The way he adjusted his glasses made him look even older. It was clear he was going for a “friendly old grandpa” look, but he wasn’t quite old enough for it. At this point, really, he just seemed creepy. Following her auntie Celestia’s advice, she took a deep breath and walked straight up to his desk, stared at her principal, and puffed out her chest, just like she’d seen the nobles do when they were trying to look important. “I’m here about the colt that was sent here yesterday. Shining Armor.” The principal adjusted his glasses again. “Ah yes. What about him?” “I want his punishment lifted. Immediately.” At that, he sat up almost as straight as one of Celestia’s guards! “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Princess. A teacher witnessed him casting an unsupervised spell on school grounds. You know that’s against the rules.” Cadence slapped the rule book she was carrying on his desk. “Those same rules also say students can’t pick on other students! So why weren’t the students who Shining Armor was protecting me from punished? They were bullying me! Just like they do every day!” The principal waved his hoof around, dismissing her accusations. “I’m afraid the teacher didn’t witness it.” Stop. We know what you want to say, that you saw it and that’s what matters, but don’t. Celestia warned you about it. Stick with what she told you to say instead. Cadence put on her best impression of that snooty cousin of hers. “Are you suggesting that a Princess of Equestria isn’t trustworthy?” The principal didn’t even flinch. “Not at all. But if we simply believed what every student said without proof, we’d be putting everypony in detention at the slightest accusation. We have to stick with what we see.” That’s exactly what Celestia said he’d say. She looked down at his desk and fiddled with a pen on it. “Well, I suppose that’s fine. If you won’t listen to me, others will.” “Others?” Celestia had told her to keep a calm expression, but she couldn’t help the smirk growing on her face. “I think I’ll start with those nice ponies with the cameras that follow me around. They’re always asking how I’m doing at school, but they’re kinda pushy, so I have the guards shoo them away. Maybe I should let them stay. I’m sure they’ll listen about how so many of us colts and fillies get picked on at one of Canterlot’s most prestigious schools.” The principal’s teal coat went nearly as white as Celestia’s. “You wouldn’t…” “Mother always says they like to make big stories out of little ones. I wonder what they’ll say if I tell them I’m being picked on, and the principal is punishing the brave colt who defended me.” “This… this is blackmail!” “Watch your tone!” Cadence’s gaze snapped up to him. “A Princess of Equestria does not commit blackmail! Who We confide in is none of your business! That We have something to confide that so embarrasses you is your problem, one that would not exist if your job was done properly.” She stomped her hoof on the ground, just like she did with the cushion. Wow, that was a mouthful. How does Auntie talk like this all the time? She got up and swung the office door open, stopping for the parting shot before leaving. “Leave Shining Armor alone. Right now, he’s doing a much better job protecting Us from bullies than you are. In fact, We strongly suggest— No, We demand you release him from his punishment and get the teachers to put a stop to the rest of the bullying going on here! If you don’t, you’ll be feeling the same as We do while the press tears you apart!” With a burst of magic, she slammed the door shut behind her, leaving all the office workers slack-jawed from the ire of the cute, little princess. Aunt Celestia is a genius. “What do I do if he still doesn’t let him go?” Cadence asked. “He will.” Celestia said. “But—” “He will. Trust me.” Cadence looked down at the ground and squirmed a little. There was still a chance this wouldn’t work. Celestia stroked her back with a hoof. “But just in case, if he really doesn’t, then do exactly what I said. Toss the press a bone and watch them go to town on it.” Cadence dwelled on the memory of her conversation with Celestia while waiting outside the detention room door. She’d heard Shining Armor was still inside, despite her talk with the principal. She couldn’t quite see in the room to tell if the rumor was true, but she figured that if he came out of the room with the rest, the principal was trying to call her bluff. If he left early, however, then she’d won. She was starting to go over what, exactly, she was going to tell the first reporter she saw when the door opened, and her knight stepped out. The two just looked at each other for a long moment. I was so busy thinking about what to say to the reporter I didn’t think about what I was going to say to him! Now what do I do? “Hey,” he said. “Hey.” She squirmed a little. Dangit, now what? How am I supposed to think with such a cute colt staring at me? And did I really just think of him as cute? To Cadence’s eternal gratitude, the colt spoke first. “Are you really a princess? Were you the one who got me out of detention?” “Um, yes, I am. I mean, I did. I mean, um, yes. To both.” Principal? No problem. Blue-eyed colt with his cutie mark? Impossible. “You didn’t have to do that.” What’s with this colt? “Um, yes I did! You got punished because of me!” He shook his head. “I was punished because the teachers don’t want to see fights.” “Fights?” “It’s like this.” The colt sat down. “If you were picking on me, that’s normal to them. If I do it back, it becomes a fight. Means we might start hitting. That’s all adults really care about. They don’t want parents coming in yelling ‘why was my foal hurt in a fight.’ They don’t get that being picked on hurts too.” “So, then, why did you do it?” The colt shrugged. “Easy. I don’t care about what they want. I care about what’s right. I don’t think it’s right that you were being picked on, so I did something about it. If I get sent to detention for it, I don’t care. I did what’s right.” “Then that’s what I did, too.” “What do you mean?” She took a step towards him, keeping her head a bit lower than normal. “I mean, I’m a princess. I’m supposed to act ‘for the good of Equestria.’ I couldn’t just let somepony that protected me get punished. I had to try to help him. It wouldn’t be right to just let him be hurt even if some of the teachers got mad at me.” The colt looked right into her eyes and smiled. “Finally, a filly who gets it. I’m Shining Armor.” Shining held out a hoof, and she gave it a bump with her own. “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but that sounds stupid, so everypony just calls me Cadence.” “Awesome. Well, thanks for the help. See ya around!” He got up and started walking away. Wait, he’s leaving!? No! No, this isn’t what you wanted to happen! Well, I didn’t even really know what I wanted to happen, but you can’t just let him leave! Say something! Anything! “Wait!”  The colt turned around, and her thoughts tried to catch up with her words. Well, okay, I have his attention, now what do we say? You got us into this, mouth! Figure something out! “Um, those bullies might be back tomorrow. Do you think you could, maybe, hang out with me at recess? Keep them off me?” Shining looked genuinely shocked at this. It didn’t take much thought for her to realize why. “Oh! Don’t worry about the teachers. I got them to leave you alone. They won’t punish you anymore for protecting me. Eh heh heh…” If there was a way for Cadence to be more nervous, she didn’t want to find out. Rubbing the back of her head bald with her hoof certainly wasn’t helping things either, but it was all she could do while waiting for him to finally say something. “Hmm…” Even when he said something it didn’t help. Dangit, say yes, turn me down, something! “… you promise?” He finally said something! What did he say? Oh, what was it? He just said it, and I can’t remember! I need to promise myself to pay attention more— Wait! That was it! He wanted me to promise, what, exactly? Oh, right! “I promise. I already talked with the principal. In fact, I bet if you went and talked with him, he might make you a hall monitor.” Okay, so I’m making this part up, but at this point, I think I could look at the principal funny, and he’d do what I want. Shining’s ears perked up, and he smiled at the news. “Awesome! Thanks, Cadence, it means a lot. See you tomorrow!” “Oh— okay!” She waved goodbye as he walked off. Right after he turned the corner, her thoughts caught up, and she yelled down the hall, “You’re welcome!” Smooth, filly. Real smooth.