• Published 31st Jan 2019
  • 4,529 Views, 224 Comments

The Student and The Princess - ModMCdl



Sunset Shimmer is Celestia's prized student. Cadence is Equestria's newest princess. They never really got along well, but after Cadence's coronation, it just gets worse. Especially now that Celestia wants them to be... best of friends?

  • ...
20
 224
 4,529

2. Living Arrangements

Princess Cadence wandered the halls of Canterlot Castle, stalling as much as she could before returning to her new home. Her conversation with Celestia had at least shed some light on the current situation, but it still seemed impractical. Celestia wanted her to become friends with Sunset Shimmer? While her interactions with Sunset in the past had been minimal, they were mostly unpleasant. The fiery unicorn had always shown no interest in becoming friends with her, despite her early attempts. Cadence wasn't the cold type, and would always try to be kind to Sunset despite the circumstances, but this task seemed to be a little too hopeful.

The pink alicorn hung her head and sighed, stopping before one of the many ornate, stained-glass windows of the castle. The sun outside was low in the sky, gently drifting beneath the horizon. Her first day as a princess was slowly drawing to a close, and soon, she would have no choice but to retire to her new bedroom.

Well, she did have a choice. 'I could stay up all night and wander the halls of the castle...' Her body promptly protested against this thought with a long yawn.

With another yawn, and feeling defeated, Cadence turned from the window, and headed back to her shared room. She walked at a slow pace, ever stalling the inevitable next encounter with Sunset Shimmer. The halls stretched on, but it was not long before she reached her destination.

Standing before the ornate door to her suite, Cadence took a deep breath. Preparing herself for whatever was to come, the pink princess rested a hoof upon the polished surface and pushed the door open with a creak.

She was greeted by a small, closet-sized room with two branching doorways, and a mattress lying haphazardly on the floor between them. Raising an eyebrow at the peculiar sight, she headed to the door on the left first, reaching out only to find it locked.

Figuring it was Sunset’s room, she went to the door on the right instead. Finding this one unlocked, Cadence went inside, only to be greeted by the harsh glare of a fiery unicorn.

“Oh,” she said, instinctively taking a step back. “Sorry, I thought this was my room, the other side was locked, you see, and-” Cadence suddenly found herself cut off by a snarky voice.

“Oh, yeah,” Sunset said, mock worry on her face. “This was supposed to be your room, but actually,” she leaned away from the desk she was working at and whispered, as if telling a secret. “It's my lab.”

Cadence looked around the room. It was a splendid bedroom, assuredly much more elegant than any of the bedrooms she had before coming to Canterlot. The furniture in it looked as though it was brand new, and she figured that this was what the castle staff was moving in to the suite when Celestia had confronted Sunset earlier. The only peculiarity was that the bedframe was missing the matching mattress.

"It doesn't look much like a lab," she said, without thinking. Quickly though, she shut her mouth and looked back at Sunset, who was now glaring at her.

"It's. My. Lab." the unicorn repeated coldly. "You may sleep in the vestibule if you must reside with me." Turning, she went back to whatever it was she was doing.

Frozen by the strange occurrence, Cadence could only think to ask, “The what?”

Sunset let out a groan. “That area out there! Where you just came from!”

“I don't think they call that a vesicle…” Cadence trailed off as Sunset spun back around to glare at her. “Okay, well, is there a bathroom or anything I can use?”

Begrudgingly, Sunset gestured a hoof over to a door on the other side of her “lab.”

“Alright, well, um, thank you,” mumbled Cadence as she went over to the indicated door. Upon reaching the door, she sighed. The doorknob was one of those annoying round ones; the type that couldn't be gripped easily by hooves, and we're meant for unicorns selectively. They were popping up all over the castle, and were proving to be a burden to the new princess.

Cadence, a former pegasus, had not yet mastered even some of the more basic magical skills. Celestia was teaching her, but it was proving more cumbersome than either of them had imagined. But she was not going to let her novice skills stop her right now. Sunset was right there, and she was not going to let the first impression be of weakness.

The alicorn briefly wondered where this want to impress Sunset came from, but didn't let it linger for too long.

Concentrating, Cadence thought back to one of the first lessons Celestia gave her. She closed her eyes, and pictured the doorknob in front of her. Then, she searched inside herself for the well; a well that was filled with hot, molten lava. Twisting the handle, she brought up a bucket and focused on channeling that heat and power to her horn. Her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth as her horn ignited with a light blue aura. Cadence smirked gleefully, and tried to pour the bucket over the doorknob… only to lose concentration as a teal aura overwhelmed her own and twisted the knob for her. The door swung open in front of her.

Cadence looked over to see Sunset staring at her with an unreadable expression on her face. The alicorn could feel something though. She wasn't sure what it was, as her magic in the realm of feelings wasn't developed fully either. But it was like a warm tingling, like just entering a warm room in the fall.

“You were taking too long.”

Sunset’s voice snapped Cadence out of her trance. The fiery unicorn was back to reading a book, not seeming to pay any attention to the pink alicorn.

“Um, thanks…” she said as she walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her with a hoof.

With a groan, she collapsed against the door, her flank landing hard on the tiled floor. Great. One of her first interactions with the pony she was supposed to befriend, and she made an idiot of herself. 'Why do I care so much?' she asked herself. It wasn't like she even really liked Sunset all that much. The unicorn was arrogant, narcissistic, and a total bitch overall. None of those qualities even remotely appealed to Cadence, at least not consciously, and this strange feeling she got around Sunset didn't help to explain any of it. All it helped to explain was why nopony liked her in general.

And then it hit her.

Like to ton of bricks being lifted off of her chest, Cadence realized what the was feeling. She felt sorry for Sunset Shimmer. No pony liked the mare, she was antisocial to the max, and a royal pain the flank. Sunset was the ultimate pity case, and Cadence felt sorry for her.

With this realization in mind, the pink alicorn stood from her slumped position against the wall, and faced herself in the mirror. Celestia's task for her had now taken on a whole new meaning. She would do her best to become friends with that lonely little pony, no matter how hard it was. She would be nice to Sunset, no matter how mean or cruel she was in return.

This would be the first test of Cadence's skill. Friendship was just another form of love, and Cadence would get Sunset to recognize the magic of friendship.

---

As the door shut behind Cadence, Sunset attempted to refocus her attention on her work. The castle staff had moved most of her equipment into her own bedroom, but she refused to surrender this space to the newcomer. So she sat at the desk in the nearly empty room, reading a book.

However, she found that she had trouble concentrating on the words. She could hear Cadence fumbling around in the bathroom, no doubt screwing about trying to use her magic. Sunset had to admit it was pretty humorous to watch the former pegasus try and open the door by herself, with her muzzle scrunched up and tongue sticking out-

Sunset was shaken from her inner thoughts as she heard a hoof knocking on the door. "Cadence?" came Princess Celestia's voice. Sunset groaned and let her head slam into the desk. Of course she would come to check on that spoiled pink featherbrain.

"Cadence," came the voice again. "Are you in there? Why is your mattress out in the entranceway?"

Realizing that the annoyance would not leave on her own, Sunset briskly opened the door with her magic from across the room, and felt the room glow slightly with the entrance of the princess of the sun. Not really wanting to deal with this right now, she refocused her attention on her book. An action which turned out to be a futile attempt.

"Sunset!" Celestia said, sounding startled to see the unicorn in the room. "I told you this was to be Cadence's room! Why are you in here, and where is she? Where is her bed?"

The fiery pony grunted, before lifting her head and spinning around. "She understands that this was my space, and offered to sleep out in the corridor," she mumbled, hoping the Celestia would accept the blatant lie. She didn't.

Celestia's gaze bore into her, and Sunset had to fight the urge to look away. "Sunset," Celestia's voice, unlike her gaze, was soft. "I know you're having a hard time adjusting to this, but you need to accept it. Part of your teaching is to welcome change in your life, and not all of the changes will be entirely in your favor." Celestia took a few steps closer to her pupil, before adding in a hushed tone, "You want to be a Princess, and yet you still act like a foal sometimes. So pony up, accept what's changing, and get used to it." With those final words, Celestia turned and left, the mattress magically being dragged back into the room before the door closed gently behind her.

Once again alone in her former room, Sunset let out a deep breath before slumping into her seat. As much as she put on a strong face, Celestia's chastising still got to her. The princess was right, she supposed. She used to be a good student, but where did it all change? Hearing Cadence drop something else in the bathroom, her train out thought got back on course. 'It all changed when I decided I wanted to be something more than just a student.'

The door to the bathroom opened, and Sunset bit her tongue from mentioning how Cadence was able to open the door on her own this time. "Did somepony visit while I was in there?" the pink alicorn asked Sunset.

"Yeah, Celestia came in to do your bidding," grumbled Sunset, turning back around to her desk. "You can sleep in here, but this is still my space so don't expect me to leave. I have work to do." Sunset gestured to the mattress that Celestia had dragged in before opening her book back up and attempting to read again, very aware of the alicorn in the room behind her.

"Oh," Cadence said sounding surprised. Quickly though, a smile appeared back on her face. "Well, thank you for compromising for me! That's really thoughtful of you!" Cadence tried to be as friendly as possible. In some strange way, she could all of a sudden see Sunset's point of view. Here she was, a pony whom Sunset had only passing contact with before, and she was suddenly moving in with her.

The feeling passes almost as soon as it came, and Cadence was left confused. She didn't know where these thoughts and emotions were coming from, but they were certainly... interesting to say the least. Trying to shake the puzzlement from her mind, she focused her attention on the mattress lying on the floor next to the bed. She lit her horn, and attempted once again to call back to the magic lessons Celestia had given her.

No luck. "Uhhh, Sunset?" she asked timidly. "Could you help me put the mattress back on the bed, please?"

'Of course she needs help.' Sunset fought the urge to vomit. Her opinion was resolute now; she hated that damn princess, no matter how sexy she- 'wait a minute, where did that come from?!'

Author's Note:

Dun dun duuuuuuuuh!