After the week I just had, it was nice waking up to nothing. I do think that I would feel better if I Celestia didn’t stop me or if Angel and I weren’t “taking a break”. But it was still nice waking up and having no pony expecting you.
I spent most of that day in my room, just listening to music and reading. I didn’t even go to dinner that night. When a pony came knocking at my door, I asked them to go away. The only ponies I let were the librarian to bring me books and a maid to bring me food. For the first time in a long time, I had a day to myself.
Cadence told me through the door that our friends really wanted to see us, which I was fine with. We met up at the café and did a little bit of catching up. Most of their time was spent helping Angel and Shining with research. I told them about what happened with me, Lavender, and Angel.
“Thank god,” Spitfire said, “I never really liked her.”
“Her teeth and mane always have to be perfect,” Vinyl said.
“She was a little condescending,” Shining said.
“She was extremely condescending,” Vinyl said, “and opinionated.”
“No matter what it was, she had something to say about it,” Shining said.
“You guys know that we’re just taking a break, right? There’s still a chance that we get back together.”
“I think it’s better if they just get it out of their system,” Cadence said.
“What about you, Octavia,” I said, “Do you have anything you want to say.”
“I think she’s an idiot.”
“Whoa, Octavia. We were just taking a few jabs. That was a little harsh don’t you think.”
“I mean it. She’s willing to give up somepony like Golden over nothing.”
“It wasn’t nothing. I cheated on her.”
“It was one stupid kiss, Golden. That’s it. A moment of weakness. That could have been your lowest point in your relationship and she wants to give it up instead of riding it out. Anypony who is willing to do that over nothing doesn’t deserve you.”
“It’s not just that. She’s been insecure about the relationship since you kissed me. She thought I would leave her for some other pony. As it turned out, I proved her right.”
“You didn’t leave her, Golden. You told us that she proposed the ‘break’. I know that you knew that it was just a weak point and you wanted to ride it out and come out stronger on the other end. She didn’t and that’s why she’s an idiot. If you ask me, Golden, you should make it official. She obviously doesn’t feel the same way about you as you do her.”
“Is that it?”
She didn’t respond. None of them did.
“None of you understand what she has done. She tried her best to fit in and have all of you like her. Shining, did you know that she said that you were the best colt that you knew? She said that she would be lucky if she had a colt that’s half the colt you are. And Vinyl, she said that you are one of the most talented ponies that she has ever met. And Octavia, she tried her hardest to be your best friend.”
“No she didn’t!” Octavia said quickly.
“We should go,” Cadence said. Her, Shining, and Spitfire got up and started to leave. Vinyl wanted to stay, but Shining and Spitfire dragged her away. I would have told them to stay, but I was a little too interested in what Octavia was going to say.
“I know that she asked you to stop being friends with me. And the fact that she felt insecure about you leaving her means that she doesn’t trust you. To be honest, she shouldn’t and you know that. You knew that you deserved better than her. You knew that you want somepony who accepted our friendship and she didn’t. That’s why you kissed that mare, not because you thought that you were weak. You did it because you didn’t want to be with her anymore.”
“I wouldn’t do that to her. If I didn’t want to be with her, than I would have done it. My mother raised me better than that. If I could do that whole thing over again, I would have told Angel how I felt or, even better, never kissed her in the first place.”
“You did it because it’s what you wanted to do.”
“Why do you care so much about my love life?”
“Because I…”
“Because you what?” I said after a moment of silence.
“Nothing. I’ll see you around.” She tried to leave, but I grabbed her arm.
“Tell me.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Tell me.”
“You’re hurting me, Golden.”
“You what?”
“I care for you. I care for you more than I care about most ponies. Golden, I care for you more than I care about Vinyl. That night, during my concert, you made me go out there. You made me feel comfortable and helped me start my dream and I can never truly repay you for that, but I can come close. Now please let me go.”
“Thank you,” I said as I obeyed.
“I’ll see you around.”
I didn’t stay long after she left. I just ordered another coffee and went to the Hoofball field to watch Spitfire practice. I watched her kick a few balls into the goal and decided to join her.
“Are you ready for this year? This is it, we’re going to be captains.”
“Maybe you, I apparently can’t withstand a kick to the legs.”
“Come on, that was one big guy with one mistake. You are now the best colt on the team. Of course you’re going to make captain.”
“How do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Disconnect. We just had an intense moment and here you are playing Hoofball and acting like nothing happened.”
“I don’t like to think about that kind of stuff when I play. All I think about is how good it feels when I’m playing.”
“What do you really think about Angel?”
“Come on, Golden, don’t put me in that situation.”
“I just want to know what my friends really think.”
“I kinda agree with Octavia. If she felt so insecure about you leaving her, maybe you should have. And you have to admit that she is overacting a bit. I mean, it was just a kiss, it’s not like you had sex with her. Maybe you should just make it official.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“You should go home and listen to some music. That always makes you feel better.”
“Thanks Spitfire. Thanks for being such a great friend.”
“Well, I owe it to you. Freshmen year, I felt like and outsider and you made me feel welcome. Now get going before you kiss me too.”
I laughed and walked off. On the way back, I was stopped by Self Portrait, a unicorn that goes to my school.
“Hi, Golden,” She said, “So, I heard that you’re single. Do you maybe want to grab something to eat or see a movie or something sometime?”
“Sorry, but I think I’m going to take a friend’s advice and be single for a while.”
“Are you sure? Because word of what happened last week has been getting around and every mare knows that you are single. If you hook up with me, than everything will be fine, but if you don’t, every mare will be all over you.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
“Fine, but don’t say that I didn’t warn you.”
A few more mares stopped me on the way home and said the same thing. I took Spitfire’s advice and listened to music. She was right, I did feel better. I went to dinner that night feeling better. We acted as if nothing happened today. Even Octavia, who wasn’t one to let things like this go, acted like the last part of our get together didn’t happen. I didn’t mind because I thought it ended all right between all of us.
Shining and Cadence tried their best not to be a couple around me. Cadence even put Spitfire and Vinyl in between them. I told them that it was okay, but Cadence said that she didn’t know what I was talking about. It was a little funny watching them trying to make eye contact. Of Course, Octavia was the only other pony to notice and we giggled about it.
After dinner, just went back to my room. Something told me to the balcony. I decided against it because I didn’t really want to think about Angel. I read a little more of a Doctor Whooves book before I fell asleep.
Celestia woke me up the next day and told me that she wanted me to learn a little bit about my family. I got ready and she took me to the library. I didn’t notice how big the library was until we walked through it. We walked for a good five minutes before arriving at a wall with a family tree painted on it.
The tree went back centuries and was so tall that I could barely see the top. Celestia told me that I didn’t really have to worry about that far back, she just wanted me to see her grandparents and everything after that.
“My mother and father took over the throne when my grandmother died. They had me shortly after.”
“Alicorns can die? But, you’re almost a thousand years old, and your parents have to be way older.”
“Alicorns are very special. They have more magic than the regular unicorn which causes them to have some abilities that no other pony has. One of them is immortality. An alicorns can completely stop their aging process. However, at a certain age their decision becomes permanent.”
“How many alicorns choose to become immortal?”
“Not many and that led to alicorn’s endangerment. As crossbreeding between alicorns, unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies became more common, we learned that there is an extremely low chance of being born an alicorn. In fact, there is only one other known alicorn that isn’t a part of the royal family.”
Out of curiosity, I followed Cadence’s family to figure out her relation to Celestia. My great grandfather had an earth pony son, who had a pegasus daughter who had Cadence and Blueblood. I then notice another line coming off of my grandparents.
“Who’s Luna?” I asked after following the line.
“My sister…” she said. I noticed that she was tearing up a bit.
“Why haven’t I met her?”
“I don’t like to talk about it and please don’t make me.”
“Okay.”
I looked at Celestia’s portrait again and saw a dotted line coming from it. I followed it to a portrait of me.
“Why is my line dotted?”
“Because you’re adopted.”
“But, you’re my mom.”
“You’re still adopted, Golden. I’m not your real mom, so it had to be dotted.”
“No,” I said as I grabbed a small can of black paint, “You’re my real mom. And this is how it should be.” I used the paint to finish the line. Celestia smiled and laughed a bit we hugged and talked about our family, little while longer. After, I met up with my friends. Again, they acted as if yesterday didn’t happen. Again Cadence and Shining tried to not act like a couple.
The rest of the week was more or less normal. A mare asking me out every other hour, Octavia and I laughing at every awkward thing our friends did, Spitfire and I practicing Hoofball. I tried my best not to think about Angel. For the most part, I was doing fine. Every so often, however, I would find my mind thin thing about what she was doing. I reminded myself that I couldn’t be thinking about her and should spend this year thinking about myself. And then something hit me: I’m going to see her at school. I knew that I would have to face her sooner or later, So I decided to cross that bridge when I got there.
As it turned out, I had to cross that bridge on the first day.
“Hi Golden,” She said as she walked into our Anatomy class. Unfortunately the class was popular because of this teacher and Angel was one of the last students to show up I so the only swat open was next to me.
“Hey Angel,” I said as she sat down next to me.” How have you been?”
“Fine. And yourself? I heard what happened. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m actually a little relieved that my mom stopped it. I don’t know if I would have been ready for that big of a commitment.”
“Because that’s what you want to hear.”
“I mean, I think I will one day, just not today. I’m not helping am I?”
“No.” We chuckled a bit and talked a bit longer. She found another group of friends to hang out with. Most of them were other girls, but there was one gay colt. I was a little relieved that she wasn’t really hanging out with other colts that wanted more than just a friendship. Though I didn’t want her to not date other colts, I’m just not ready to see her dating. The conversation got more awkward as it went on. There wasn’t really a lot to talk about. The only thing notable that happened was what caused us problems in the first place.
The class seemed to go by quickly, but that was because I wanted it to end. The longer I sat next to Angel the more it made me think about Lavender, Star, and the twins. When the bell finally did ring, I was the first one out the door. I walked away from the class as fast as I could, just to make sure that I didn’t spend any more time with Angel.
My next class was Music Apperception. It’s a new class that school was offering and Octavia and Vinyl begged us to take it. Cadence couldn’t because she was going to run for junior president and the meeting take place during second period and Shining and Spitfire said they wanted to take another class that was only available during the same time. I agreed to take the class because I thought it would be an easy class and it would be nice chance to find different types of music.
I entered the classroom and found an open seat next to the girls. I started to tell them that Angel was in my last class and Vinyl busted out laughing.
“You and your ex in the same Anatomy class!” She said through her laughter. “The only thing that could make it better is if Boobs McCleavage was sitting next to you.”
“First off, her name is Lavender and she’s a sweet mare when you get to know her. Second, it’s not funny. The more we talked, the more I felt disconnected to her.”
“That’s a good thing,” Octavia said, “the more disconnected you feel, the easier it is to get over her.”
“I don’t know if I want to get over her, at least not yet.”
“Look, Golden…”
“Alright,” Vinyl said, “Let’s calm down. You know it’s really bad when I’m the voice of reason.”
Octavia and I didn’t talk to each other after that. To be honest, I was a little tired of her and how she thinks what’s best for me. I’m 17, I think I can take care of myself.
When the bell rang, I again rushed out of the class. I was kicking myself a little because I had to run to my locker before I went to my next class. I tried to make my way there as quickly as I could, but I was constantly stopped by mares. Every time I told them that I wanted to try and be single and told them try again in a year.
Shining and Spitfire were in my class and I was a bit happy about that. Like I said, Spitfire could disconnect easily and she could tell when I didn’t want to talk about something. As for Shining, he was under strict orders from Cadence not to talk about Angel. He didn’t want to anyway. We have a bit of a connection and could tell when the other one didn’t want to share.
Our teacher is Mr. Truman. He’s the oldest teacher on staff and is infamous for his “Truman Talks”, which were talks he gives to ponies to whip them in line. They apparently work, because he has never failed a student. At the same time, he has a few strange methods. First, he keeps his classroom cold. He believes that if you’re shivering, than you’re not sleeping. Second he ends the class with four reminders: no drinking, no doing drugs, no sex, and don’t fail any classes. He says that he’s seen students’ life cut short or didn’t graduate because they didn’t follow one of the rules. I quickly found out that he was a nice guy only wants to see his student succeed.
I had Language Arts next, which was the only class I had by myself. The only problem was that the class was on the other side of the campus, so I didn’t have time to mess around. When I got to the class, there wasn’t many seats left. I picked the one that was surrounded by the least amount of mares. Luckily, there was a seat next to only one mare, and she was lost in another colt’s eyes.
“Oh, god,” A unicorn colt to my right said. “You’re Prince Golden and you’re sitting next to me.”
“Please don’t freak out,” I said. “I’m just like any other colt here.”
“I’m sorry, it’s just that I never met anypony from the royal family. I just can’t believe it.”
“You’ve never met me or Cadence? Are you new here?”
“Yeah, well no. I attended Star Swirl Academy and didn’t really get out much. I heard about some transfer program and I thought I would try it out. I somehow drew Canterlot High out of everywhere and here I am. My friends call me Ace, by the way.”
“Well Ace, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Ace and I talked for a bit longer. He was pretty star struck to even see me, probably more than the mares. When the class started, Mrs. Steinbeck made us dance to “123” by Johnson 5. I was happy that I got her out of the other teachers. Many of the mares and colts on the Hoofball team loved her. They were always talking about how she was helping them get a job or talking about some movie that just came out or making a reference that only a handful of us would understand. I met her and her husband, who is also a language arts teacher, once when Cadence dragged me to some club meeting on a day that I didn’t have practice.
Mrs. Steinbeck started to talk about her favorite books and why she loves each one of the. She would talk with such emotion and power, as if everything she thought about a book happened to her. She even read her favorite passage from a book and I understood why she loved books. When she read, she painted this world and make everything come to life. She was so enthusiastic I just had to pick her brain after class. There was apparently at least one every year that becomes intrigued with her views, but she was surprised that I was the first this year. I became so lost in the conversation that I didn’t even realize that we talked through lunch.
My next class was Trigonometry, which I decided to take because somepony told me it was the easiest math class a junior can take. I’ve never really been that good at math. The best grade I’ve even gotten was a B- and that was because a tutor helped me the entire time. I decided that I was going to take vivid notes and study. It probably wasn’t a good sign that I almost fell asleep on the first day.
I ended the day like I always did, playing Hoofball with Spitfire. I walked onto the field with her and we were welcomed with applause. I saw Hat Trick and Scissor Kick, who graduated last year, standing next to the coach with a smile.
“Congratulations, Golden Shield and Spitfire,” Hat Trick said.
“Not only are you two the new captains of the Canterlot Wondercolt’s Hoofball team, but you two are the youngest in the school’s history.” Scissor Kick said.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said.
“They’re not,” Coach Scoreline said. “You two are the best we have and your teammates all said they will quit if you two didn’t get it.”
The rest of the time was spent with try outs. We guaranteed the returning players their spots, but that still left a few positions open. Since last year, more and more sophomores have been trying out for the varsity team. While we would like to put at least one of them on the team, the junior senior players were much better. Lucky for us, we didn’t have to make a decision today as tryouts took about a week.
When the bell rang and school ended, I didn’t wait for my friends. I didn’t really want to hang around Octavia until she’s over this whole “Anti-Angel” thing she’s doing. To be honest, I didn’t really want to think about Angel or this I just had week. Well it was that and I didn’t want to get trampled by a mob of mares, which would have happened if I stayed in one place for too long.
I was lucky enough to make it back to the castle and only have a few mare stop me. I would usually be greeted by Celestia, but she had to do some clean up after she stopped the ceremony. I made my way to the personal kitchen, made myself a snack and then went to my room. I found a letter on my desk from Baltimare. I didn’t hesitate to open and read it.
Dear Golden Shield,
It’s been a while since I’ve done this and it’s long overdue. It’s only been a week and I miss you so much. There’s a part of me that wishes I accepted your offer, but there’s another part of me that makes me glad. I’m going to be like a little mare getting a toy she’s been waiting for.
Just for fun, I let Vyxsin out of her cage for a day. Big mistake. Just by wearing her tight clothes, which I have no idea how I was ever comfortable in, I had colts all over me. I don’t think I’ll be doing that again anytime soon.
I miss you so much and I can’t wait to see you again. With any luck it will be soon.
Love,
Lavender
I smiled as I read the letter and could almost hear her. I picked up a quill and wrote back to her, telling her about Octavia’s reaction and how Spitfire and I were made captains of the Hoofball team. I was about to write “Love”, but then I realized that I couldn’t if I still wanted to fix what I had with Angel.
Letters came every day for the next two week. It was my favorite part of the day, mainly because I got to talk to somepony about all my problems and they won’t judge me. Octavia and I still haven’t really talked. It’s just really been a “hello” and “how are you”. I wasn’t sure if she was still trying to get me to officially break up with her. Anytime she ever brought up Angel, I told her that I didn’t want to talk about it.
Speaking of which we were doing fine. We spoke every morning any almost any other chance we got. She told me about her friends and some stories. It was nice just talking, but I missed calling her my marefriend. Every time I see her I wish that she should run up to me, plant a kiss on my cheek, and say that she forgave me.
I walked into my Music Apperception class, but only saw Vinyl sitting at our usual seats.
“Where’s Octavia?” I asked Vinyl.
“I didn’t think you would care.”
“Why wouldn’t I care?”
“Because you haven’t talked to her. You that hurt her. You’re one of her closest friends and you don’t even want to see her.”
“It’s not that Vinyl. She just wants to talk about my relationship with Angel and I just don’t want to.”
“Whatever. I don’t know where she is.”
“What’s eating you?”
“You are. Seriously, all she did was show some tits and you’re all over her. Is that all it takes for you? What if I started hanging around you in nothing but a bra? Twenty bits says that you’ll think I’m the love of your life.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Oh yeah, then was it because she stuck them in your face. Or are you more of an ass colt.”
“Vinyl! Would you shut up for five minutes and let me explain. When I was old enough, I figured that I felt like I loved her. And you didn’t hear what she said to me.”
“Well that’s not the point. The point is Octavia was trying to help you and you just shunned her.”
“She wasn’t trying to help me. She was meddling in my love life. Not only that, but she knew that I still felt something towards Angel and she was telling me how I should feel.”
“I guess she does do that sometimes. But you shouldn’t just block her out.”
“You’re right.”
“And don’t even get me started…wait what? Did you just say I was right? You never say I’m right.”
“Lavender and I have been writing to each other and she told me the same thing, more or less. I was planning on apologizing today, but she’s not here.”
Time seemed to just drift by. I was pretty distracted and barley paid attention. I was walking around almost zombie like, ignoring any advances from mares, so there was that. Ace was able to snap be back by acting like he saw a ghost.
“What’s up with you?” I said.
“I-I-I-It’s…h-h-h-h-he-he-he-her.” I looked at the door and saw Octavia walking in. I jumped up to greet her.
“Hi,” we said at the same time.
“I’m sorry,” we again said at the same time. “You first. I’ll go.”
“Please let me go,” I said. “I’ve been acting like an idiot who thinks he always knows what’s best for him when we both know that’s not true. I need somepony like you to put me in my place and make sure I don’t do something stupid, like ignoring a friend.”
“I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t involve myself with your love life. You do know what’s best for you sometimes and I should respect that.”
“So, what are you doing here?”
“I was meeting with a counselor this morning and my schedule changed and I’m in this class.”
“That’s great! This is my new friend, Ace. Ace this is…”
“Y-Y-You’re Octavia Melody. I’m such a huge fan. I’ve been to all of your concerts.”
“Well it’s always great to meet a fan.” We talked a bit longer, but Ace was stuttering like he had a speech impediment, and I introduced her Mrs. Steinbeck. After just five minutes of talking, she understood why I’ve been skipping out on her and our friends at lunch.
Months went by and nothing really changed. I still wrote to Lavender every day and she always wrote back. Cadence won junior class president, but that was expected. Vinyl started getting more gigs as a DJ, which she enjoyed. Shining was made the quarterback of the Hoofball team and was getting more stare to me, thank god. This made Cadence a little jealous and she started to act a little protective of him.
Masquerade decided to throw an end of the year party. The six of us went as a group, as usual. I invited Angel to come with us, but she said that she was going with her friends. I was a little disappointed because I saw this as a chance to fix whatever we had left. I realized that there was no chance of fixing what we had at the party when I saw Masquerade’s arm around her. With a little help from Cadence, I was able to talk to Angel in private.
“When were you going to tell me?” I asked her
“Don’t worry, I’m not with Masquerade. He asked me to be his guest and I thought it would be alright if I invited my friends. I didn’t think this was a date.”
“Are you into him?”
“He’s a little too flashy. Are you going to act like this whenever I’m with any non-gay colt?”
“We can’t keep doing this. We have to talk about it now.”
“About what?”
“About us. I think it’s time that we stopped taking a break and decided if we’re still a thing or if we should just move on.