//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10: Arrival 
// Story: Mother Celestia 
// by jl7895 
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“This is bad! This is very, very bad!” Cadence was rushing around the room next to mine making sure everything is in order. She got the news that her twin brother, Prince Blueblood, is going to stay in Canterlot for the summer yesterday and she has been freaking out ever since. There was a small shimmer of hope that her parents were going to come too, but it was over shadowed by the fact that Blueblood is coming.  “Where is it? Why isn’t here? He is going to be so mad!” Cadence had ordered a gift basket for him, because it was what he requested.

I’ve only met him once when Cadence’s family came to celebrate her birthday last year. Prince Blueblood was, for lack of a better term, a royal pain. He was more of a duke rather than a prince, but he insists that ponies call him a prince, but that’s not the worst part about him. He had a sense of self entitlement that annoyed us. He always thought that he belonged and Canterlot instead of Cadence. You could always tell that he resented her for it, but he hates me even more. He says that I am undeserving of the title of prince and I should just leave. He of course was scolded for saying this, but it never stopped him from saying it again.

“It can’t be that bad,” Spitfire said trying to calm her down, “I mean he is your brother.” We were sitting in the room waiting for Cadence to finish. We wanted to help, but she said that she would be able to get the room ready by herself. Shining was the one not here because we didn’t want Twilight around Blueblood.

“Don’t remind me,” She said while still pacing waiting for the basket to arrive.

“Cadence and I don’t really like him,” I said.

“Hang on, Golden Shield doesn’t like somepony in the royal family?” Octavia said.

“His first words to me were ‘Oh good, the porter is here. Take my stuff to my room. And I swear, if a single article of clothing is missing I’m going to throw you into the royal dungeon.’ And then he threw a bit at my hooves.”

“I hate him just from that story,” Vinyl said with a bit of rage.

There was a knock at the door and Cadence jumped to answer it. The basket filled with Blueblood’s favorite conditioners, lotions, and other moisturizing products, all of them were made for mares. We tried to hold in our laughter when we saw the basket. Vinyl was the first to break and the rest of us broke and started laughing harder shortly after.

“Stop it!” Cadence said as she put the basket on the dresser, “I can’t have you laughing at his stuff when he gets here.” It was pointless, there was nothing she could do to stop us. She took another look at the basket and started giggling herself. “I guess it is pretty funny.”

Suddenly, we heard the fanfare through the door. Again, Cadence eyes grew and her pupils shrank.

“He’s here,” she said.

Cadences ran to the chariot landing area, just to make sure she was there before it landed. The rest of us walked, but we still made it there in time. The chariot with the two pegasi that took me to Canterlot was about to land. We could see Blueblood with his blonde mane blowing in the wind. He had a smug look on his face. Unfortunately, neither of Cadence’s parents were with him. There was something off about the whole thing. Towards the lower end of the chariot there was a strand of pale blonde hair. It was like his mane grew to down to his hooves, but that was impossible. We could see his short mane on his head. 

The fanfare played again as the chariot landed, but Blueblood wouldn’t get off until somepony announced him.

“Now presenting,” Cadence said reluctantly, “His majesty, the one and only, Prince Blueblood.”

“Somepony’s modest,” Vinyl whispered to me and we started to giggle.

“What was that?” He said. He was trying to restyle his mane after the long windy ride.

“So, how was your trip, brother?” Cadence said, trying to change the subject.

“Awful. The wind ruined my mane and it took way to long. It’s almost as if their feather brains don’t even know what faster means. Oh, and speaking of feathers, I was blowing them out of my face the entire time. How have you been, Cadie?”

“I’m doing…”

“There you are boy,” he said to me, “take my bags to my room. And remember, I’ll have your head if anything is missing.”

“Still not a porter, Blueblood.”

“Prince Blueblood to you.” He turned to the fillies and raised an eyebrow, trying to be seductive. “Well, who are these fine mares?”

“Not interested,” Spitfire said.

“Disgusted,” Octavia said.

“Not even in your dreams,” Vinyl said

“I’ll see you there,” He said in an almost creepy manner.

“Can somepony help me with my bags?” A feminine voice said from the chariot's direction.

I’ll never forget the first time I saw her. We didn’t see her on the chariot because she was sitting just to see the view, but I’m glad the first time I saw wasn’t with Blueblood. She was a pure white pegasus with pale blonde mane. She was wearing a dress that hugged her defined her perfect curves. Everything about her face seemed small. Her eyes, nose, mouth, even the face itself looked small, and pretty cute. Even while caring heavy suitcases filled with clothes, her walk was so light and graceful. It was like she was walking on gift bag paper and she didn’t want to tear it.

“Porter, help her.” Usually I would ignore an order from Blueblood, but this time I didn’t. I ran over to her and picked up her two bags. They were only filled with clothes, but they were heavy. She looked up at me and gave me a smile. Her perfect teeth were just as white as her coat and were perfectly straight.

“Hi,” she said. Her voice was as graceful as her walk. It was like Octavia’s family was playing an entire symphony and all of their instruments were in perfectly harmony. 

“Hi, I’m…” I was interrupted by the one thing that made my heart drop. The words pierced my ears like somepony had broken off my horn, cut it in half, and jammed each half into both ears.

“Sweetie, don’t talk to the help,” Blueblood said, “and don’t forget my bags, porter.”

She walked over to stand next to Blueblood. He put his arm around her, but it felt like he was putting his hands around my neck.

“Who’s this, Bluey?” Cadence asked with a mocking tone when she called him “Bluey”.

“Prince Blueblood! And this is my mare-friend, Angel.”

“It’s nice to meet all of you.” She said as she shook each of their hands. 

“Octavia. Charmed.”

“What’s up? I’m Spitfire.”

“Call me Vinyl.”

“Hi, my name is Cadence.”

“Wait, Cadence? Princess Cadence? Oh my goodness! Not even five minutes in Canterlot and I’m already talking to a princess.”

“Please don’t make a big fuss about it. As far as the ponies around here are concerned, I’m just another pony.”

“Enough with the introductions,” Blueblood said “Cadie, is that café that I like still open?”

“Yeah, but…”

“Good let’s go. Come along sweet heart.”

“Actually, I feel like relaxing a bit. Do you mind if we go to our rooms?”

“You can, but I’m still going to the Café with Cadie and her friends. Boy, take Miss. Angel to her room and deliver my belonging to my room. Also if there is nothing missing when I return, I’ll give you an extra bit.”

I rolled my eyes, but I didn’t argue. I just nodded my head and started towards Angel. I remembered the advice Cadence gave me when I first met Blueblood. The less you say to him the better off you are.

“This way,” I said to her. I started to walk off, but Cadence grabbed my arm.

“Give her Blueblood’s room and give him 273,” She whispered in my ear. Cadence was an expert in love, but she tried a bit harder with me for some reason. She could tell when I had strong feelings for somepony and she always tried to make something happen. At the same time, she knew that I was the type of pony to admit that I was in love, so she had to force a confession and giving her the room next to mine was her strategy this time.

“I’m not in…”

“Just shut up and do it!”

“Are we going to go or are we just stand here collecting dust? I’m not very fond of the second one,” Blueblood said impatiently.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I promised to hang with some members of the hoof ball team. I’ll see you guys later.” Spitfire started to fly away faster than I’ve ever seen her take off.

“And I should really practice. I have a big concert coming up,” Octavia said right before leaving.

“I promised to do a thing for a pony at a place,” Vinyl had already started to walk off as she said this, which added a bit of comic relief. Cadence knew our friends were lying, but she couldn’t blame them. I didn’t wait myself. I offered my arm to Angel while still holding one of her suitcases. She took it and we were off. On the way, I found three butlers, Giles, Wardsworth, and Lurch, and told them to take Blueblood’s stuff to room 273, which was code among the staff for the smallest room, but even that one was twice the size of Vinyl’s room.

Like so many ponies before her. She was in awe of the castle. Running a head just to see some small detail that I haven’t even given a second thought to. It was still entertaining to watch, but I only hoped that I won’t cry again. I was lucky enough that I didn’t. We reached Blueblood’s, now Angel’s, room. She was in awe of that too.

“Oh my,” she said when she found the gift basket after running around looking at every detail, “These are all my favorite products. How did you know?”

“Blueblood told us,”

“Sure,” She said, but it sounded like she didn’t believe me. “So, are you head butler, or porter, or do the other ponies just respect you.”

“What? Oh no, I don’t work here.”

“I’m sorry. I just assumed because you took my bags.”

“No, my mom just raised me to be a gentle-stallion.”

“She sounds like a lovely mare. You’re very lucky”

“Well, I’ll let you get settled in.”

“Thank you, Mr.…um. I’m sorry, but I never got your name.”

“Golden Shield.”

“Prince Golden Shield?”

“Yeah, but please don’t call me prince.”

“This is unbelievable! First I meet Princess Cadence, then I meet Prince Golden Shield! Who’s next? Princess Celestia herself?”

“You might. Dinner will be served at five-thirty. Wear something nice. I’ll be next door if you need anything.” I left the room and immediately went to my room, right next to her’s. I threw myself on the bed and started to feel depressed.

There was no lying to myself this time. I am in love with Angel. I loved everything about her. Her smile, her voice, her wings, the way she walked and I don’t even know her that well. But of course, there was one problem. She was dating the one stallion that I could not stand. I didn’t care if she was with Shining or even Lightning Arc, I just didn’t want her to be with him. He doesn’t deserve her. He didn’t even introduce her until she made herself known. It made me a little sick that the bad guy won this time.

“I thought I heard you,” Celestia said as she opened my door. She saw that I was face down in my bed and that I wasn’t feeling that great. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Golden, I’m your mom. You can’t lie to me.” I sighed as I realized that she was right.

“Have you ever been in love?” I question threw Celestia off a bit. She is over 1,000 years old. In that time, even if it was when she was a little filly, when she had to be in love. It might have been inappropriate to ask, but she wanted to know.

“It was a long time ago. I think I was about your age when it happened. I wasn’t like you. My parents wanted to keep me inside and focus on becoming the ruler when I came of age. I of course didn’t want that, so I took advantage of every moment I got out of the castle. While taking in the sights, I accidently knocked over an onion farmer’s bushel. He was kind, sweet, and friendly. We hit it off right away. He didn’t care that I was a princess and I didn’t care that he was a farmer. We loved each other for what we saw in one another. He was my first kiss and I was his. My parents did not approve. I had to sneak out just to see him. One day out of nowhere, his family disappeared and I never saw him again, but I never forgot him.”

“Wow, I never thought of you as a little filly.”

“No kid ever does. Now, who is this lucky filly?”

“Angel.”

“Who’s Angel?”

“Blueblood’s mare-friend.”

“Oh…,” Celestia was at a loss for words. Although older, Celestia was nowhere near the love expert Cadence was. She only really had that one experience to go off of and that couldn’t help me right now. “Do you really love her?”

That was a question that I’ve thought about before, but never with Angel. I, of course, had crushes on fillies at school, but what Cadence always say about love. If you truly love somepony, you would want to spend the rest of your life with them. I always asked myself if that’s what I wanted in my future. The answer has always been no, but there is something different about Angel.

“Yes,” I said after think about it after a while.

“Then if she loves you, she’ll want to be with you, but if she loves Blueblood, you can’t intervene.”

“Thanks, mom. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now, I need to do some work. I’ll see you at dinner?”

“Always.”

Celestia left my room and I started to wonder what I was going to do next. I first put on a record and sat back. I was fine with just listening to it until dinner, but then there was a knock at my door. I waked to the door, wondering who would be knocking. I opened the door to find Angel standing there.

“Sorry,” she said, “did I disturb you?”

“Oh, no. I was just listening to some music. What’s up?”

“I was just hoping that you could show me around town.”

“Why don’t you wait for Blueblood to get back?”

“You know he won’t be back for a while. Please, Prince Golden Shield. I’ve always wanted to see Canterlot and I want say that I got a personal tour from a member of the royal family.”

“Alright,” I said with a smile on my face. I closed the door behind me and we were off.

I didn’t want to spend time with Angel. I wasn’t sure how long I could keep my feelings about her, but I did know that I wanted to tell her everything. How it was love at first sight. How much of a jerk her colt-friend is. How I want her to stay in Canterlot instead of returning to Fillydelpha. Every thought that I ever had about her wanted to come out. Not only that, but walking with her was just a tease. I would be happy if I could just hold her hand, but I can’t intervene between her and Blueblood. It was like teasing a young foal with promises of ice cream. That foal would bend for it, but they can never get it.

Besides all of that, we had a great time. Angel loved going into every building and just taking the city in. The sights, the sounds, even the rude pony who didn’t feel like taking a step to the side to avoid other ponies on the sidewalk. As we walking around the city, we got to know each other pretty well.

Angel is kind, intelligent, and a little bit goofy. She was able to hold a conversation without even trying. She has a personality like no other. Just talking to her for five minutes and you want to be her best friend. You would even feel a little sad when she said goodbye, because you knew that one ray of sunshine has temporally left your life. Needless to say, that she turned some heads while walking down the street, but she was modest about it. She didn’t try to show off her perfect body or use her looks to get ponies to do things for her.

“So, what’s your story? How did you become Princess Celestia’s son?” I took her to the park to rest. We found my favorite tree and leaned back in its shade.

“You don’t want to hear that story.”

“Sure I do. When do I ever get the chance to pick a prince’s brain again? Please Prince Golden.”

“Don’t call me Prince. Golden is fine.”

“Please Golden.”

“Alright, but I warned you.” I told her my story. I talked about the forest, the night terrors, how I’m not even sure if Golden Shield is my real name. But I also talked about the good things that happened to me. I told her about how Celestia found me, how I became friends with everypony else, and how I was glad that all of this happened.

“You poor soul.” She said after I finished. She grabbed my hand sending me a message that she was going to be there for me, but I didn’t care about that. Even if it was out of pity and not love, I still held her hand. I realized that it we had to go and get ready for dinner. I walked her home and to her room. 

I walked Angel and Cadence into the dining room and led them to our table. Blueblood requested his own table near the front table. He took the foals table, but he forced some servants to bring in a taller table. Poor foals. I always remembered having a great time with Cadence and any other foal that happened to sit with us. I tried to take Angel to his table, but he wanted eat alone. I took Angel to eat with us, but she didn’t mind.

“You guys have no idea how bad today was,” Cadence said. “I couldn’t wait to get away from Bluey. How do you put up with it Angel?”

“It’s just something that I have to do.”

“Enough about ‘Bluey’,” I said and started to propose a toast, “to us, our health, and our new friend, Angel.”

The rest of dinner was the best I’ve ever been to. Angel was a major hit and she loved everyone at the table. We traded stories, told jokes and just enjoyed ourselves. I think Cadence enjoyed herself the most, knowing that she didn’t have to put up with Blueblood for the rest of the day. She did beg us not to leave her alone with him again. After desert, which was Chef Celery Stalk’s signature tiramisu, Princess Celestia came to our table.

“Good evening, foals.” Angel didn’t know what to say.

“Say ‘hello’,” I whispered to her.

“H-hello.” She said after gulping.

“You must be Angel. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Princess Celestia. Please, my little pony, don’t be afraid of me. Your new friends can even tell you that I don’t bite.”

“Yes, Princess.”

“How are you enjoying your stay?”

“It’s been prefect, Princess. Kind ponies, great food, and even an extremely comfortable bedrooms.”

“I’m glad that you are enjoying yourself. If there is anything that you need, please don’t be afraid to ask.”

“I would actually love a tour of the Castle,” Angel said without missing a beat.

“Golden would be happy to give it, Auntie Celestia,” Cadence said when she was an opportunity for us to be alone. I rolled my eyes, knowing what Cadence was trying to do. Although I already admitted it to Celestia, I wasn’t willing to say anything about it to Cadence. She would just gloat.

“That’s an excellent idea, Cadence. Who better to show somepony around the castle than somepony who lives in it? Golden, do you mind.” 

“No,” I said while hiding my content for Cadence. I didn’t want to be alone with Angel again. I consider myself lucky that I didn’t say anything about my feeling today, I doubt that I would be able to do it again. At the same time, I’ve never disobeyed my mom, as a sign of respect towards her. “Whenever you want to go, I’m ready.”

“Can we go now?” Angel asked looking more excited than I’ve ever seen her. I looked to Blueblood’s table and saw that he had left without even touching his desert. I had a moment of relief knowing that he won’t watch us walk off, but that feeling was replaced by the thought of him lurking anywhere in the castle. He was somewhat a creature of habit. He would always take a shower after dinner, but anypony could really guess what he would do next.

We walked out of the dining room to start the tour. I looked over to Cadence before I left and she mouthed “You’re welcome” to me. She knew that I was cursing her instead of thanking her, but she thinks that she’s doing the right thing. I thought that she was doing the wrong thing. Celestia was right. I can’t get in between Angel and Blueblood, no matter how much I wanted to be with her.

I took her everywhere in the castle. The library, game room, sunroom, garden, and even our animal care center. There was a recently abandoned baby phoenix. Angel wanted me to keep it and raise it. I didn’t want to at first, but she talked me into it, but I also had to convince Celestia. The tour ended with a view of Canterlot from the tower balcony.

“Oh…my…” she said looking over the edge. Besides the mountain, the tower is highest point in all of Canterlot. You could see every part of Canterlot and see most of Ponyville.

“Impressive isn’t it?”

“It’s more than impressive. It’s…It’s…I don’t even know what it is!”

“There are times when I come out here and just look out on all the ponies and wonder what they’re doing. I wonder what everypony did today they are and hope they are happy.” We were both looking over the edge onto the city.

“Can I ask you something, Golden?” We turned to each other. I turned just to gaze into her eyes. They were a strong orange, and I loved them. It was like looking up at the sky just as the sun is setting even though it was the dead of night.

“Fire away.”

“Does anypony else get to see this?”

“Just members of the royal family. We did have somepony who propose up here, but that’s about it.”

“Really?”

“It would be the perfect place for you and Blueblood. Just a nice isolated place where no pony can see.” 

“I thought you said the only members of the royal family were allowed up here.”

“You don’t think that he’s a part of the royal family?”

“Please, he only calls himself a prince because of Cadence. He’s no more a prince than my father.”

“I’ll be sure to tell the guards.” We laughed at that, but neither of us were able to tell why. “I have to ask you something that’s been killing me.”

“What is it?”

“Why are you with a jerk like Blueblood? He didn’t want to spend the day with you, he didn’t want to see you when you got back, he didn’t even want to have dinner with you. I don’t mean that to poke around in your love life, but you could do so much better.” It felt good to get that off my chest, but I almost feared of the backlash.

“Do you really think I can do better?”

“You really could.”

“Is this better?”

She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. I was shocked at first and took a few steps back when our lips first met. I didn’t know what was going on and it took me a second to process it. When I figured out what was happening, I kissed her back. Angel stole my first kiss from me, but I'm glad it was her out of anypony.

“That was nice,” she said when our lips finally came apart. “You’ve kissed other mares, I could tell, you player you.”

“You’re the first.”

“You’re my first kiss too.”

“Haven’t you kissed Blueblood before?”

“I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I’m not really with Blueblood. He asked me to a school dance once and I said yes out of pity. Since then, he’s been saying that we’re going out.”

“So why didn’t you tell him?”

“Because I wanted to see Canterlot ever since I was a little filly. Blueblood promised to take me, so I have to play along.”

“So why don’t you tell him now?”

“He’ll leave me here, I know it. Plus, you do not want to see what happens when you break up with Blueblood. A new filly at our school dated him for twenty minutes and then he went on a public tirade. So you understand that if anything were to happen between us, we can’t say a word to anypony. Not your friends, not a guard, not even Princess Celesta.”

It almost hurt to know that she wanted to keep it a secret. When I first saw Angel, I wanted to shout from right there that I loved Angel and she loved me. When she kissed me, I really wanted to do it. But then I thought of something that Cadence told me. If you are in love, you’re willing to do anything for them. I asked myself if I really was willing to do anything for her. I did, and if it meant that I had to sneak around to be with her, then so be it.

“I don’t know, I might need a little extra convincing…” Neither of us really needed another reason to kiss. There was something that made that second kiss a little more magical and better than the first.

“I thought that one was better,” she said. I realized that my horn was glowing. It’s something that happens to unicorns when they have feelings for somepony. It makes everything, from holding hands to the manticore with two backs, feel just a little more special.

“And I thought you look way more beautiful than normal, which I thought was impossible.” I was referring to her extended wings. Like unicorns, there something that happens in a pegasus’s body that makes being in love a little more special. Their bodies can’t always know how to handle it, so their wings extend in hopes of burning it off.

Her wings were more magnificent than any other pony that I know. In reality, her wings were exactly like Spitfire’s or Lightning Arc’s and they were exactly like a smaller version of Celestia’s, but her wings were more beautiful than all of theirs put together. There was a very small chance that it was the magic talking, but I’ve thought of it before.

We waited until midnight to return to our rooms. It was mainly to make sure that no pony saw us, a part from the guards who couldn’t care less about what two foals do. All we did was look out at the city while I held her. We didn’t really say anything to each other, but we didn’t need to. It was amazing just standing there watching the glow of the city. I’ve seen it many times from my own room, but watching it with somepony made it special.

We walked back to our rooms with smiles on our faces and holding hands. We tried to make sure that not to make a noise, just to be sure not wake any other pony. I even used my magic to make sure the door doesn’t squeak.

“See you in the morning,” She said with a smile on her face bigger than I’ve ever seen. I turned around and Cadence was standing there, which caused me to jump back.

“Don’t do that,” I said when I realized that Cadence was there.

“So, how did it go? Did you two fall in love?”

“Nope. She’s with Blueblood and they are happy together. I can’t interfere no matter what. Besides, she’s just another filly.” It killed me to say that and I hopped that Angel wasn’t listening.

“You say that now, but you’ll turn. One day, maybe tomorrow, you’ll know that she’s the one. I know it, our friends know it, I even think that Angel knows it a little bit. Just give it time, Golden, you’ll know it too.”

“Please Cadence. I don’t want Blueblood’s seconds. He kinda ruined her for me.” I would much rather slit my own wrists then say anything close to that again. “Good night, Cadence.”

“Good night, Golden.”

I looked out into the city one more time before I went to sleep. It still had the same something that it did on the balcony. I knew that Angel was looking at it too.

“Angel, can you hear me?” There was no response at first.

“Yeah,” She finally said. She sounded a little hurt and I think I knew why.

“Did you hear anything that I said to Cadence?”

“All of it.”

“I didn’t mean a word of it, I swear. I don’t care who you were with before me. I want to be with you because I like you.”

“I know Golden. It still hurts. I know I was the one who wanted to keep it a secret. I should have known what would happen.”

“I’m sorry, Angel, I really am.”

“Don’t be I know you didn’t mean it.”

“Will you two shut up! I’m tryin’ to sleep!” Vinyl shouted from her room, which I guess Celestia offered. I was a little scared that Vinyl found out about us, but then I thought about it. We probably woke her up and she never heard a word we said us.

“Good night, Angel.”

“Good night, Golden.”

I went to bed feeling good and bad. On one hand, I knew that the mare I loved, at least liked me back. It felt so good knowing that somepony loved me. On the other hand, I just hurt the pony I loved. I didn’t mean it and she knew that I didn’t, but it still sucked.

Still I went to bed that night and had a dream. It was a simple dream, but I still loved it. It was just me and Angel standing on the balcony. I was holding her again and we were watching the city, taking our gaze away only to watch the waterfall. My mom was there too. She was shooting light towards the water to make rainbows. Like I said, it was simple and I loved. A part of me wished that it was real and that we really could be together with everypony knowing, but I had to be patient.

Weeks went by and they were more or less the same. The six of us hung out whenever we could, sometimes with Angel, sometimes with Blueblood, sometimes both. We didn’t let Twilight hang out with us when Blueblood was with us, but she did eventually meet Angel. They ended up liking each other and Angel didn’t mind playing with a little kid. Every night after dinner, Angel and I would sneak up to the balcony. I ordered the guards not to let anypony up there while we are and not to tell anypony who gave them their orders.

One of my favorite parts of the day was when we could sneak off. It didn’t matter if we went to the café, or the park, or even just at the balcony, I was happy to be with her and she was happy to be with me. I could just look into her eyes and just see everything we had and everything we were going to have. I know that she was my soul mate. I didn’t care if she with Blueblood or if she lived a three hour train ride away, I wanted to be with her.

Even though I couldn’t tell anypony, I was happy. That all started to change one night. We were sitting there about to receive our main course, when Giles, the castle’s head butler, came to our table.

“Sir Blueblood has requested Mrs. Angel to appear at his table,” he said in a Trottingham accent. Giles was both comforting and a tad creepy, but he was one of my favorite staff members, as he was the only one that could keep up with our jokes.

“Really, he wants to be seen with me?” Angel said. We were all shocked that Blueblood was willing to share his table with somepony

“There’s a first and last time for everything,” Giles said before he left. Angel got up to see what Blueblood wanted. 

We all thought that she was just going to be a minute at the most, but then she sat down. She spent the rest of the night there, even left with him. The worst part is that they looked like a real couple. There was a look in Blueblood’s eye that I’ve never seen before. It was almost a look of real affection for another pony.

“Well it looks like he really does like her,” Shining said “You weren’t lying, Cadence.”

“For the last time, I do not have a crush on Angel. I don’t know why you insist that I do.”

“I wasn’t talking about you,” Cadence said, “Blueblood really does like Angel. I know that it doesn’t look like it most of the time, but he’s told me how she makes him feel. He says that he gets lost in her eyes and she makes him feel like he’s good enough for her. That’s why he tries so hard to be a prince, so he can feel like he’s good enough.”

“I still don’t think he deserves her,” I said, “On their first day, he left her to go to some café where he got a cup of coffee that he said had too much sugar.”

“What’s with the obsession with Angel?” Spitfire asked, “If I didn’t know any better, I would say that you do have a crush on her.”

“I do not! I don’t care who she’s with, so long as it’s not Blueblood.”

“Oh yes you do,” Vinyl said. I was worried that she did her us all those weeks ago. “Watch I’ll prove it. Octavia, use your weird powers to figure out if he’s lying.”

“He’s not,” Octavia said. This shocked all of us because Octavia could always tell when somepony is lying. I was of course lying, but it was surprising that she didn’t catch it. “I’ve known for about two weeks. Every time he says that he doesn’t, he looks normal. Same amount of eye contact, doesn’t rub his neck, doesn’t use his hands, he doesn’t show any of his tells.”

“I guess you don’t,” Spitfire said. 

We didn’t talk about anypony’s love life, well except for Fleur De Lis and Fancy Pants. I couldn’t stop thinking about Angel and if she was really falling for Blueblood. I thought I was being an idiot. I went to the balcony, knowing that she would show up sometime that night. I waited for hours, but she never showed up. I feared that I was right, and she had started to fall for Blueblood, but I couldn’t understand how. He was a dressed up brute at his best.

I walked back to my room feeling depressed. As I got to the hallway considering knocking on Angel’s door tell her the truth. I love her and I never want to see her with anypony else. As I walked towards her door, I saw Cadence sitting outside mine.

“What’s up?” I asked her.

“Angel’s in there. I saw her trying to get in and we talked. She says it’s personal and that she trusts you the most. She only wants to talk to you. Golden, you have to be completely honest with me. Do you like her?”

“No. I love her. She’s the one mare that I can’t stop thinking about. She’s my first and last thought every day. I wake up excited to see her and I go to bed replaying her voice in my head. It kills every day to think that she’s with that jerk. I’m head over hooves in love with her.”

Cadence did say anything at first. All she did was hug and started to pat my back. She knew that I was really hurt that she was with Blueblood. 

“Go in there and tell her everything you said to me. If she really does love you, she’ll tell you right there.”

“Thanks, Cadence.”

I opened the door to find Angel sitting on my bed crying. When she saw me, she got up and hugged me. She started crying harder than before and I started crying too. For the first time in my life, I knew what Celestia felt when I cried. Somepony that you cared for hurt and there was nothing that I could do.

“What happened Angel? What did he do to you?”

“He called me over the table and reminded me that we met one and a half years ago. He wanted to celebrate and have dinner together. Blueblood was a gentle-colt for once and always put me first. He took me back to his room, he said to see the view from his room. When we got back, he pulled out…that…” She pointed to something on my nightstand. I walked over there and saw that there was a condom. I was speechless.

“What happened next?”

“I told him no. I told him that the first time wanted to be with some colt that I loved. I didn’t mean to say it, but he took it as if I didn’t want to be with him. He started to put the piece together and…he knows. I told him everything, I had to. He threatened to hit me. I’m so sorry, Golden. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Angel. I don’t care who knows. I don’t care if everypony wants my head on a stick. I don’t care about what anypony else thinks. I love you Angel. I love you more than I love waking up every day. Angel, you are always on my mind and in my dreams. Angel, I couldn’t stand to even see you at that table with him killed me. I want to be with you for the rest of our lives.”

“I love you too,” She said after a long pause. At first I thought that she as freaked out and that she was going to leave right there. I thought that I had ruined my first real relationship. “I knew from the first time I saw you, I fell in love with you. I know the whole love at first sight is corny, but I don’t care. There was something about you that I couldn’t put my finger on. The more time I spent with you, the more I figured it out. I loved you for your personality. I loved you because you cared for me and all of your friends. I didn’t care that you were a prince or that you knew royalty. You could have been, I don’t know, an onion farmer and I still would have loved you. That night was the best night of my life. Every time that I was away from you or when we tried to cover up our relationship, I died a little inside. I love you so much Golden.”

In that moment, we looked into each other’s eyes. We kissed each other more passionate than ever before. My horn wasn’t glowing and her wings weren’t extended. There was nothing making this more special, just us.

“Can I sleep here tonight?”

All I did was smile. We stayed up talking about us. Where we saw ourselves, if we could handle a long distance relationship, how often we would be able to see each other. We finally went to bed and feel asleep at the same time.

I woke up to me holding her close, the way Celestia held me when I was young. It felt good to hold her, but I knew there was something I had to do. I got dressed and stormed off to Blueblood’s room and banged on his door.

“Blueblood! We need to talk!” I head some shuffling and I knew that I just woke him up. 

“What do you want, porter?” My first instinct was to punch him, but something held me back.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!?”

“Trying to get some beauty sleep after an intense night with my mare-friend. Why do you care?”

“Because that ‘mare-friend’ just spent the night in my room crying because you tried to force yourself on her. You are scum, you know that. You just threw away any chance of love with an amazing mare like Angel all because you wanted sex. I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

“Please what do you know about love, porter? You’re surrounded by ponies at least twice your age all day. The closest thing you have to even a chance for love is Cadie, but she would never go for the help. She, just like Angel, is way too good for you. So why don’t you walk away before you hurt yourself.”

I balled my hands into a fist and was ready to punch him. He even started to cower.

“Golden!” Captain Iron Side said before I could do anything. “Come with me.” He had a look on his face I’ve only seen a few times. The last time I saw it was when a high ranking platoon screwed up. I followed him to his office in the castle and he told me to sit down. I obeyed without questions. A little out of respect and a lot out of fear. 

“I’m sorry, Captain.”

“What were you thinking? You can’t go around punching people.”

“You don’t understand, Captain, he deserves it.”

“No pony really deserves it, son. No matter what they do, no matter what they say, no matter who they are, no pony deserves it.”

“He does.”

“Alright, I’ll bite. Why does he deserve it?”

I told him everything that happened. Angel, that night on the balcony, last night. I didn’t think that he would understand.

“I completely understand. I know what’s it’s like to love somepony. I would do anything for my wife, but I would never hurt another pony. You have to learn something, son, there are awful despicable ponies out there. There are some that you can just shrug off, there are some that will lie and cheat to get what they want, and there are some that you never want to see again. All you have to do is remember the good ponies in your life. Remember the ponies that make you smile."

I thought of Octavia and Twilight

“Remember the ponies that have your back.”

I thought of Shining.

“Remember the ponies who trust you the most”

I thought of Vinyl.

“Remember the ponies who are willing to accept you for who you are.”

I thought of Spitfire

“Remember the ponies who love you unconditionally.”

I thought of Celestia and Angel

“Alright, son, I’m willing to pretend this never happened if you are.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Get out of here and go have fun.”

I knew that I had to face the music sooner or later. I decided to go back to my room and wait for Angel to wake up. I wasn’t going to hide what I did to anypony. Besides, I heard that relationships are built on trust. She was already awake when I got back.

“Good morning,” She said. “How did you sleep?”

“There’s something that I need to tell you.”

“Me too. If Blueblood knows, I think that we should stop hiding it. It would only be a matter of time before everypony knew so might as well. Now what did you want to tell me.”

“I almost punched Blueblood.” I went into full detail on what happened. When I finished she jumped up and hugged me.

“Thanks for standing up for me,” she said. “I promise that I won’t even give him a second thought. Now if you excuse me, I have to go get ready for today.”

In that moment, I knew that no matter what happened, we were going to be together for a long time.