//------------------------------// // Chapter 15: Suitors (Cadence) // Story: Mother Celestia // by jl7895 //------------------------------// Golden and I looked out into the group of 20 suitors staring back at us. There were mostly unicorns, a few pegasi, some earth ponies, a griffon, and a zebra. I’ve always liked zebras because of their little couplets they spurt out. I looked at all the colts and compared them to Shining and I would much rather have him over every colt here. Celestia gave some speech that I was half listening to. Something about how we will choose one mare and one colt to marry us. We couldn’t marry until we were out of High School, so at least we got two years to get to love the person. We were taken to the grand ballroom for a little get to know party. It was weird going into the grand ballroom and not see the dinner tables set up. The dinners moved from the royal dining room to here when I was in the fifth grade because it accommodated more ponies. I look over to the corner where the foal’s table is usually set up and thought about the first night I met Golden. He was such a scared little thing who had no idea what was going on. Poor thing. Even if I didn’t see my mom every day, I still got the chance to write to her whenever I wanted and she was just a carriage ride away. “Excuses me, princess,” one of the suitors said. He was a unicorn with a black mane and a grey coat a little darker than Octavia’s. He was taller than the rest and had the kindest smile. I looked at his neck for his cutie mark, but it was covered. “My name is Monologue. It is a pleasure to meet you.” “Likewise,” I said. I thought about just resisting at everything. I wanted to just sit in the corner and think about how I’m going to get through this week. I wasn’t going to leave my room or even talk to anypony, besides Golden of course. I then realized that I was representing all of Canterlot and had to act as such. “I just wanted to tell you that I don’t care about your title or wealth. I want to get to know the real you.” “That’s nice to hear. Where are you from?” I asked trying to be nice, “Los Pegasus, specifically Applewood. My dad is Center Stage.” I was a little shocked to hear that he was Center Stage’s son. Center Stage is probably one of my favorite actors after I saw him as The Spector in The Spector of the Opera. “I love your father’s work,” I said as calmly as I could, although I was jumping for joy inside. “Everypony does. You know, I’m getting into acting too. I played Ziff in a local production of East Side Story.” “How did that go?” “Pretty well. There are ponies that said that I saved the show.” “If you don’t mind, I would like to meet the other guests. We have all week to get to know each other.” I lied a little. I didn’t want to get to know the other guests, but my hands were tied. “It’s fine. I understand.” Monologue didn’t really socialize with the other colts. He talked to a few and that was it. In a matter of minutes, most of the colts were friends. I noticed that some of the mares tried to be friendly, but it was obviously fake. I never understood why mares were that way. I’m not fake towards Octavia, Vinyl, or Spitfire. I walked over to the punch bowl, but I was stopped by the only earth colt here. He was taller than most of the rest and obviously the strongest one. His muscles looked even bigger than Shining’s, even with him taking up boxing. Too bad for him, muscles don’t really impress me. “Let me save you the trouble, princess,” he said. “My name is Linebacker and yes I will marry you.” “Cute, but I think nine other colts have the same idea.” “Come on, sweetie. We both know that there is no pony here that looks as good as I do. Why don’t you tell the others to go home and we can have our wedding right now.” “Sorry, but I’m not easily impressed. Why don’t you act like every other pony and try to impress me by acting like a decent pony.” I moved him aside and went to get some punch. I saw another unicorn standing by the table in silence and looking down at his glass. He was well dressed and defiantly the best dressed. It reminded me of when I first saw Shining. He was the only one sitting at the table when Golden and I came in. He wasn’t like the others. He didn’t want to socialize or seem like he wanted to be there at all. I felt a little obligated to talk to him. “Hi,” I said while I poured a glass of punch. “How are you?” “I’m sorry?” He said. He looked up at me and pushed up his glasses. “I’m just saying ‘hi’.” “Sorry, I was just thinking about something. Hi. I’m good. How about you?” “I’ve been better. What were you thinking about?” “How I could impress you when I have muscle head over there to compete with. I mean all I am is a geeky kid who’s never had a mare friend. There’s no way that I could get a princess like you.” “Well you never know. If there’s one thing I know about love, it doesn’t matter who the other pony is or what they believe. Love doesn’t care about titles or family trees. What matters is that you would do anything for the other pony.” “So what you’re saying is that there is a chance that we could end up together?” “Oh no. Sorry, but I have a colt friend. I’m just doing this to entertain my Auntie Celestia.” “Are you sure?” “I’m sorry. You’re sweet, but I’m spoken for.” “Well, I like to make the best of things. Cheers to a fun week in Canterlot.” “Cheers,” I said and we clinked our cups. “What’s your name?” “Stardust.” “Try to have some fun, Stardust.” I walked away and noticed that he tried to socialize, but he was too different from the other colts. He seemed to click a little better with some of the mares, but that was just one or two of them. I tried to find Golden, but instead a Pegasus ran into me. He made me almost spill my drink. “Sorry,” he said, “it seems like I’m falling for you.” He started laughing at his own joke, but I just rolled my eyes. “Hi, I’m Starney. Starney Binson” “Hi, have you seen…” “Probably not, but I have seen you in my dreams.” He thought that he was so charming and witty. Truth be told, the biggest turn off for me are lame pick-up lines. I pushed by him after hearing a few more lines that I would feel ashamed to repeat. I found Golden, but he was trapped by a mare who wouldn’t stop talking. He mouthed “help me”, but I was again blocked. He was a Pegasus pony with a strong Trottingham accent. “Hey, I’m sorry for my mate over there,” He said. He had a very sweet voice, one that you wanted to say that everything was going to be alright. “I know many of these colts here could be…dirty.” “It’s fine, I’m used to it at school.” “Well I would imagine with a filly as beautiful as you. Where are my manners? My name is Gawain.” “Hello, Gawain. I think you know who I am.” “Say it anyway. I want to hear you say it.” “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” What’s wrong with me? I hate being called Mi Amore Cadenza. “Please call me, Cadence.” “I think I like the other one a bit more. It’s so exotic and lovely.” “Y-You can call me Mi Amore Cadenza.” Shut up! I won’t even let Shining call me that. I realized that I was blushing, so I ran off as fast as I could. I’m lucky that I put my glass down because I accidently ran into the griffon. Griffons are the type of creature that would get furious at the drop of a hat. I cowered a bit in fear of him slicing me in two. Somepony grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the way. “Are you alright?” The griffon said. He didn’t look angry at all. He looked a little concerned for me. I saw Golden out of the corner of my eye and realized that he pulled me aside. “I’m fine.” I looked over to Golden who was still holding onto my arm. “You can let go,” I said to Golden. “Sorry,” he said. “Just acting on instinct.” I can see that he was happy because he finally got away from that talker. Golden walked off, but took his sweet time doing it. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be standing in everypony’s way,” the griffon said. “You’re not like other griffons are you?” “If you’re talking about the legendary griffon anger, than no I’m not. My name is Gildheart, the prince of the griffons. I’m told that I have to represent all griffons and we are not all hot headed.” “Well, glad to know that you won’t get angry easily.” “Of course not. I’m sorry princess, but I was talking to this young colt here.” I looked around Gildheart and saw that he was talking to Stardust. I was a little happy that he started to socialize. “I’ll let you get back to your conversation.” There was suddenly somepony started playing a jazz saxophone. I, like most other pones in the room, gathered around the colt playing it. He was a light blue pegasus was a dark blue mane. I started to think about what it would sound like if he and Octavia worked together. I then thought that would sound awful. The structure of classical couldn’t work with the freeform of jazz, although I do actively enjoy both. “Thank you,” He said when he finished his first song. “My name is Jazz Bass and I’ll be here all week. Longer if that mare right there wants to marry me.” He started playing for a while longer, but he was more of a background noise. “Great set,” another unicorn pony said to me, “even if I never really enjoyed jazz.” He looked familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. “Really? I’ve always thought that jazz artists where the most creative musicians in Equestria.” “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate all their work. It takes something special to come up with something on the fly and it’s certainly something I can’t do. I just don’t enjoy it.” I know that I’ve met him before, I just can’t figure it out. I think that I’ve at least heard his voice before, I just can’t put a name to the voice. “Can you settle a bet for me?” he said. I nodded my head not really paying attention to him. I was way too busy trying to figure out who he was. “Is that pony Monologue?” “Yes. Who are you?” I said after finally giving up. He started to chuckle a bit, furthering my confusion. “You really don’t know who I am? I’m not surprised. You’re used to seeing me in a mask.” Right then it clicked. “Masquerade? Oh my god, what are you doing here?” I said as I hugged him. Masquerade was the only suitor that lived in Canterlot. His family owned a string of business and if they didn’t, they still found a way to make a profit off of them. No money in Canterlot changes hands without his family knowing about it. They were also legendary for treating their employees with the upmost respect. Ponies would work for them until they retire and then they would receive a generous pension. I’ve really only met him once when we were younger and he came to one of the dinners. He looked so different then, so younger. Since middle school, he always threw a masquerade ball for his birthday. We always attended it, but we couldn’t find him with his mask. Every year I talked to him, but it I didn’t know at the time because of the mask. “What every other colt is doing. I want to win you over,” He said. “It’s all the colts at school talk about, at least those who don’t have are heads up our flanks. I heard about this whole thing, and seeing as how my family is one of the richest and most successful in all of Equestria, I decided to throw my hat in.” “You know I’m with Shining, right?” “I know and I want to make you a deal. Give me a week to really get to know me. If by the end of the week, you don’t chose me, we can still be friends. No hard feelings. If, however, you think that there is some chance that something can happen between us, you have to choose me.” I thought about it for a while. There was no chance that I would ever fall for Masquerade when I have Shining. “Deal,” I said. “You have to give me a fair chance. That means no ignoring me.” “Deal.” “I’ll let you mingle with the other ponies before you send them home.” “You’re that confident that you can woe me?” “I’ve met the other ponies. None of them hold a candle to me. You may think that you won’t fall for me, but you haven’t really got to know me, you know the mask.” “We’ll see,” I said as I walked off. I decided that the next pony I talk to wouldn’t be because we ran into each other or he initiated the conversation. I walked towards a Pegasus that I didn’t recognize. He had a teal coat and was talking to one of the girls. As I approached him, I noticed that it got a little colder. I tapped his shoulder to get his attention. His fur was ice cold and I think I saw some frost on one of his wings. “Hi,” I said. “I’m Cadence. I thought it would be nice if I introduced myself to the colts around here.” “Snowy Glacier. I’m sorry princess, but I was talking to this nice filly here and I hate to ice ponies out.” He turned back around to talk to another pony. He seemed more interested in talking to her than me, which made me happy. One less pony I have to worry about. I didn’t see him or that other mare for the rest of the night. I think we can all assume what they were up to. As I walked away from him, I noticed another Pegasus who looked like he was going out of his way to avoid the mares at the party. “Are you alright?” I asked him. “I’m fine,” He said. He was backing away from me and looked as if he didn’t want to talk to me. “Are you sure? You look like is if you’re allergic to mares.” “I’m sorry princess, but I don’t really want to be here. It’s not that I don’t find you pretty, it’s that I kindda already have a mare friend and I love her.” “Don’t worry, I know how you feel. I’m only here because my Auntie Celestia is making me. Something about a stupid tradition.” “Me too, except for that Auntie Celestia part. My parents are all like ‘You have to go here and win her heart, Charming. It’s tradition that the colts in our family marry a princess.’” I laughed at his impersonation of his parents “My name is Charming, by the way.” “Cadence,” I said. There was something about Charming that I liked. It was probably the fact that he was the only one here without a second agenda. He just wanted to get through this week and hope I didn’t choose him. I ended up talking to him for the rest of our time at the party. He told me about his mare friend and she sounds like a lovely mare. We found out that we have a lot in common, mainly about our ideas about love. It was nice to talk to a new colt and have no sexual tension between us. Golden eventually joined us and by the time we finished talking, we were the only ones left in the room. We realized that it was almost ten and time to call it a day. “This is going to be the longest week of our lives.” Golden said to me he walked me to my room. “I can’t believe that my mom is making us do this. She’s encouraged me to go for Angel since I first told her that I wanted to be with her.” “I know, Golden, but it’s what we have to do. We’re royalty and we unfortunately have to follow tradition. Trust me, there’s nothing I want than to be in Shining’s arms. Good night, Golden.” “Good night, Cadence.” I closed my door and laid down on my bed. I tried to think of any way possible to get out of this, but I couldn’t think of anything. I finally decided that I just had to suck it up and pick one of them. Who knows, maybe the real colt of my dream is here. I have to at least give them a chance. “Cadence,” Shining’s voice in my head said before I fell asleep. I was going to miss his voice. “Cadence,” It said again. I didn’t want to think about it so I just ignored it. “Cadence,” Now I’m annoyed. Please head, I don’t want to think about Shining right now. “Cadence, come to the window.” Alright voice, if I listen to you will you shut up. I started to get out of bed and looked at the window. Shining was there. I ran over to the window and kissed him. It was nice and passionate and something I needed after today. “What are you doing here?” “I missed you, and you didn’t tell me what was going on.” “It’s this stupid thing that Auntie Celestia is making me and Golden do.” “What is it?” “Wait, how are you standing here? My room is on the second floor.” “Hi Cadence,” Soarn’ said. I pocked my head out the window and saw that Shining was standing on him. “Now will you tell me what’s going on?” “Alright, but you can’t get jealous. There are ten colts here that want to marry me and I have to choose one of them by the end of the week.” “What? Princess Celestia can’t make you do that.” “She can. It’s a tradition and I have to obey. I’m so sorry Shining.” “Does that mean we…” Neither of us wanted to say it. I looked at the floor and started to cry. “No! We can’t! I love you Cadence, and there is nothing that anypony can do to stop me!” “What? No! Never. None of them can hold a candle to you Shining. I love you too much be even think of being with any one of them for a second." “Don’t worry Cadence, I’m going to figure this out.” We kissed again and he left afterwards and I was by myself in a dark room. I knew that Shining would find a way to get me and Golden out of this, but there was a little part of me thought that I was trapped.