The Student and The Princess

by ModMCdl

8. Drinking Up Love

The remainder of the week was relatively uneventful. Sunset was avoiding Cadence again, this time far more effectively. The alicorn did not know the reasoning behind it, and didn't make any effort to pry. She was still worried about accidentally using her magic on the unicorn again. Perhaps Sunset was right in keeping their distance until Cadence learned to better control her powers.

Her absence, however, left the alicorn feeling surprisingly empty. She had grown accustomed to Sunset's presence, as harsh as it could be. Cadence only hoped that they could get past whatever this was eventually, as she was fairly lonely with no pony but Celestia to talk to. Maybe her and Sunset could even become friends once they managed to put this all behind them.

The afternoon came with an unusual surprise for Cadence. She had returned from her breakfast and began to read one of the several romance novels she brought with her. Her cheeks were tinged red and a smile adorned her face as she pictured the relationship within the pages. Her enjoyment did not last long however, as the door to her room was swiftly opened.

The soft bang of the door against the wall startled her, and she looked up to see Sunset walking into her room. The unicorn looked angry, a emotion that had been increasingly present on her face for the past few days. This was the first time that Sunset had come in here in a while, and her sudden appearance startled Cadence. She had assumed that Sunset was trying to avoid the new princess even more than she had before, and so this sudden intrusion was a surprise.

"Oh hi, Sunset," said Cadence. The fiery unicorn did not reply, and instead grabbed a saddlebag that was hanging from the chair at her desk.

Cadence opened her mouth to speak again but instead found herself speechless as Sunset magically swept up her loose belongings. The unicorn tossed them into her saddlebag with little care, an empty glass beaker cracking as it collided with something else. The sound did nothing to calm her actions however, and more object were simply thrown in on top of the broken glass.

"Uh, Sunset?" asked Cadence quietly. "Is something wrong?"

Sunset did not even glance in Cadence's direction, instead offering a mere grunt in reply. The desk was soon empty, cleared of all the equipment and books that cluttered it before. She hefted the saddlebag over her back, before leaving through the side door she came through.

Cadence blinked, not understanding what was going on. Why would Sunset just throw away all of that stuff? She had labored over whatever projects she was working on since Cadence had arrived. Her demeanor when handling any of the equipment was precise and careful, but now it was as if she had not a single care in the world.

The door opened back up and Sunset strolled back in. She lit her horn and the table was surrounded with an deep red glow. With a heavy grunt, Sunset yanked the desk towards the door, the wooden legs dragging along the floor as she pulled it through.

The alicorn closed the book she was reading and spoke up again. "Do you need any help?" she asked, sitting up slightly.

"Nope," was the curt reply she received.

The desk finally made it through the door, and Sunset slammed it shut behind her. Cadence just sat in confusion, wondering what that incident possibly could have been about. Why on Equus would Sunset just abruptly empty out her self-proclaimed lab? And why so aggressively.

Worried, Cadence set her book down on her bedside table and hopped out of bed. She felt as if this charade between the two of them had gone on long enough, and was determined to put an end to it. The alicorn trotted over to the door dividing their two rooms with determination, and swiftly knocked on the door. "Sunset? Can I come in?"

There was a brief pause before Sunset replied, "Go away, I'm busy right now."

Frowning, Cadence tried again. "I just wanted to talk to you about something," she said. "It will only take a moment."

She heard grunting in reply, following by a crash. "Ouch! Leave me alone, Princess. I'm really busy right now!"

Cadence prepared a retort, but paused as Sunset's words sunk in. Princess? Sunset had never referred to her by that title. As a matter of fact, she thought that the unicorn intentionally refused to think of her as a princess. Why would she all of a sudden change her mind?

"Are you alright in there?" Cadence called as another crash was heard. "I'm hearing a lot of worrying noises."

"I'm fine!" Sunset said back, her voice rising with a hint of anger. "Now leave me alone! Go do your stupid worrying love crap somewhere else!"

Worrying love crap? That's a new one, Cadence thought to herself. Defeated, she turned away and went back to her bed and book. She would figure out what to about this eventually. Now, she was just going to try and loose herself in the story again.

A few minutes passed, and nothing Cadence tried was working. She would read a few lines, and then her thoughts would return to the unicorn in the other room. She would not deny that she was worried about Sunset- she was. Sunset was acting very strange lately, and it was starting to become more than a simple problem.

Unable to calm her mind, and not knowing what else to do, Cadence let out a sigh. She would have to talk to Princess Celestia.

---

"Good afternoon, Cadence," Celestia smiled, welcoming her into her study. The pink princess stepped inside the room, her stance low and sluggish. Celestia could immediately tell something was wrong. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked.

Cadence looked up at the older princess, offering a weak smile to offset her sadness. "Yeah, I am feeling fine, Princess," she replied softly. "I'm just worried about Sunset, that's all."

Celestia raised an eyebrow, an action she found herself doing more and more lately. "Worried? About what?"

With a sigh, Cadence sat down on the tufted carpet, idly pawing at it with a hoof. "Usually, she's mean or harsh. But lately she's just been distant," she explained. "Not that we were particularly close," the alicorn amended.

Concern began to rise in Celestia at these remarks as well. "What do you mean by distant?" she asked softly, taking a seat beside her.

"Well, she's not doing a lot of the things she used to, like the random experiments and stuff," Cadence said. "I rarely see her leave her room now. She doesn't even make those rude remarks." She ruffled her wings and turned to to face Celestia, her eyes slightly watery. "I think it's my fault."

Now worried for both of her students, Celestia awkwardly stretched a wing over Cadence's back. She did her best to offer a comforting gesture. "Why would you think it's your fault?" she asked.

Cadence leaned into the hold. "I don't know," she admitted. "I think maybe I have been influencing her with my love magic, and maybe now I'm trying too hard to push her away. I want her to feel like I'm not manipulating her, and I want her to know she can trust me but I don't think she ever will." Tears were leaking down the alicorn's cheeks now and she tried to bury her face further into Celestia's side. "And then after the incident this weekend, she won't even come near me. I tried to speak to her once and she just mumbled an excuse and left."

Celestia frowned. This situation was very confusing to her. "But, Cadence," she began. "I thought you and Sunset didn't get along at all? How is this any different or worse than before?"

"Before she would just insult me or have some snarky remark," Cadence said quietly. "Now, she just runs away from me." The pink alicorn lowered her head dejectedly.

"And this upsets you," the older alicorn summarized. Cadence simply nodded in reply. "Well, I certainty did not expect this," said Celestia, standing up and walking over to her desk.

Cadence looked at her curiously. "What?" she asked, not understanding what Celestia was saying. "You didn't expect what?"

Celestia looked back at the pink alicorn with a soft smile. "I didn't expect you to care so much about Sunset. I had thought you would at the least be impassive towards her. I didn't realize-" She cut herself off with a small laugh. "Oh this all makes so much more sense now."

With her sadness now replaced by pure confusion, Cadence raised an eyebrow. "Princess," she began. "I... I don't know what you're talking about."

Celestia laughed again. "You will soon enough," she said with a sly smirk. The response did nothing to clear up any of the pink alicorn's confusion.

"But Cadence," she added, her tone lowering a bit and her face becoming more serious. "There is something you should probably know." Cadence nodded, waiting for the Princess to continue. "I had to give Sunset and ultimatum. She's on her last strike. If she continues to act the way she has been acting, I told her she would no longer be under my tutelage."

Cadence let out a small gasp at the revelation. This was a harsh action, and she could not believe that Celestia had actually done such a thing. "Princess!" she gasped. "You aren't actually saying you're going to kick Sunset out!"

"In my heart, I feel I had no intentions of following through," Celestia admitted with a sigh. "But if her rage and insolence does continue, I may not have a choice."

Her brow furrowed in worry. Cadence rapidly tried to digest this information. Now that she knew what was going on, Sunset's abrupt change in attitude towards her made a lot more sense. The unicorn was trying to avoid interacting with her like the pegasus plague. She probably feared that any outburst would result in her loosing her home and academia, and was thus trying to avoid any situation that could result in that.

The ultimatum was quite unfair in her mind, however. Sunset seemed to have a perfectly valid reason to be so upset. Celestia had seemingly paid little attention to her while Cadence was getting accommodated with the castle, which was bound to upset her. Then, the possibility of Cadence forcing her love magic upon her was definitely a reason for the unicorn to be upset, even furious.

All of the reasons for Sunset to be upset were tied to her. In run-about sort of way, Cadence would be the reason that Sunset would be kicked out. The blame was levied on her, and she would not accept that. She had to find a way to convince Celestia otherwise.

"But, Princess Celestia," Cadence said. "What if I am using my magic on her unknowingly?"

"I don't see how-" the Princess began, but was quickly cut off as Cadence continued.

"If I was using my magic on her, her outbursts and frustration would be justified! You can't punish her for reacting the way any other pony would!" the younger alicorn reasoned.

Celestia frowned slightly. "No, they would not be justified. She had no right to blatantly accuse you or any other pony in this palace at her own will. There was no evidence that you were using your magic on her, she was just trying to-"

"How do you know there was no evidence?!" cried Cadence, frustration entering her voice. "Sunset said there was evidence, and you ignored her! Just like you always do! That's why she needs to act out and be all coarse. It's the only way she get any of your attention!"

The elder princess balked at the outburst. She clearly had not expected Cadence to be so passionate, or even argue about this. "Cadence, what has gotten into you?" she asked.

"What had gotten into me? Are you serious?" Cadence was furious now, how could Celestia be so blind? "You are threatening to expel a pony because she was upset that she was losing your attention, and then got angry about something that was perfectly reasonable to be upset about. How do you not see anything wrong with what you are doing?"

Celestia blinked, but said nothing. With a huff, Cadence turned and stomped towards the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Celestia, a hint of surprise in her voice.

Cadence turned to glare one last time at the Princess. "I'm going to find Sunset," she replied coldly, and exited the room.

Celestia watched her leave, unable to find anything to say. I'll need to get used to not being the only princess around again, she thought.

The pink alicorn angrily trotted back towards her suite. Celestia would apparently not listen to her reasoning, and she would have to solve this problem by herself. Her mind raced with various ideas and plans she could set into motion. However, she was not a mastermind, and they all seemed too far-fetched to work. It was not long before she found herself standing in front of the door to her half of the shared suite.

Perhaps the first step would be to actually talk to Sunset. If she approached the unicorn with a mentality of understanding, and offering her help, maybe she would listen. Or she might act too proud and say she doesn't need my help, thought Cadence dejectedly. With a sigh, she lifted her hoof to knock on the door. She would not know until she tried.

Three loud knocks rang out, and Cadence nervously shifted her hooves waiting for the reply.

"Wha do yah want?" came Sunset's muffled voice after a few moments. "I'm busssssy."

Cadence's eyebrows raised in surprise at the tone of Sunset's voice. Was she slurring her words, or was her voice just muffled through the door. "It's, uh, me... Cadence," she replied hesitantly, hoping that it would not push the unicorn away.

"Whddya want?" Her voice was clearer this time, but there was still a faint slur.

The alicorn shifted her hooves some more, not knowing exactly what to say, and slightly worried about the way Sunset was speaking. "Can I come in?" she asked finally.

There was a moment of silence, which only made Cadence's nervousness worse. "What the buck, whyynot," came the reply, and the alicorn let out the breath she had been holding. The was a clunk and some muffled swearing before the door opened before her.

As Cadence stepped into the room, a waft of harsh air hit her. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of alcohol. "Sunset are you alright, what is that smell?" she asked, turning the corner around the entryway into the bedroom proper. Any thoughts about why she was here evaporated and her eyes widened at what she saw.

Sunset was sitting on the floor at the foot of her bed, with her back leaning against the wooden frame. A bottle of something was clutched in one of her forehooves, half of the liquid already missing. Her hind legs were splayed out wide in an uncaring fashion, and Cadence quickly averted her gaze before getting a view of anything inappropriate.

"S-sunset," she stuttered. "What are you doing?"

The unicorn looked up at Cadence, her eyes taking a moment to focus. She blushed as she saw Cadence averting her gaze, and attempted to make herself more modest. "N-nothing (hic)," she replied, a hiccup interrupting her. "Just chillin'."

Just chillin'? Did she seriously just say that? Cadence took a few steps closer, reaching down and taking the bottle from Sunset's grasp. The unicorn mutted out a weak "hey" in protest but was unable to stop her. Cadence took a look at the label, Horseshoe Vineyards Double-Fortified Cabernet. She looked back at Sunset, and gasped as she saw the unicorn taking a swig from another bottle.

"Sunset!" she cried out, yanking the other bottle away from her. "Stop! You're going to make yourself sick!"

"So (hic)?" came the unicorn's reply as she reached for the bottle. "I'm getting thrown out anyways sho I dun see tha problem."

Cadence's eyes softened, and she put down the bottles outside of Sunset's reach. "Celestia told me about that," she said quietly.

Sunset slouched down looking at her hooves. "So you dun need to worry 'bout me anymore," she mumbled. "Bet you're real (hic) happy about dis."

"Why would I be happy?" Cadence asked, lowering herself down to sit beside Sunset. "I don't want you to be expelled."

"Wh'not?" slurred the unicorn, a weak amount of anger filling her voice. "It's perfect, you dun need to worry about me bein' mean to you or stealing that old hag 'way from you anymore."

Cadence chuckled at Sunset calling Celestia an "old hag," but quickly became serious again. "Sunset," she said softly. "It's my fault. If I didn't come here, you wouldn't be in this situation. I'm sorry," she apologized.

Sunset lifted her head to look at Cadence, her eyes watery. "That's what I said," she replied quietly. "But Celestia was right, itshnot." She lowered her head back down, and a few tears fell into her lap. "It's all my fault. I'm a horrible pony (hic), and Celestia was right."

The unicorn's response surprised Cadence, and she didn't really know what to do. Sunset was drunk and now openly crying next to her. She wanted to offer some form of comfort, but didn't want to push her limits. Her resolve broke quickly however, and she extended a wing out to drape over the unicorn's shoulders.

To her even greater surprise, Sunset leaned into the hug, crying against Cadence's side. The alicorn tightened her hold and placed her chin on top of Sunset's head, making reassuring nickers to try and calm her down. "It's alright," she said softly. "It's alright, Sunset."

Sunset cried harder, reaching up to clutch at Cadence, desperate for any form of comfort. Cadence gave her all she could offer, holding her tight and trying to convey her support.

"Y-you're d-doing it (hic) again," sputtered Sunset through her sobs, not leaving Cadence's hold. "T-the love thing."

Cadence blushed and pulled her head away. "What?" she asked, panicking slightly. She did her best to try and stop the magic flow in any way she could. But she did not even know how she was doing it in the first place. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"

"S'ok," muttered Sunset clutching onto her harder. "It feels warm. I probably won't remember this (hic) tomorrow."

Cadence relaxed slightly, her blush increasing as Sunset curled closer into her breast. She felt weird about unknowingly using her magic again, but at least Sunset seemed to forgive her. She was not sure about how she felt about Sunset's sudden clingyness however. Cadence liked it a lot more than she ever expected she would - not that she ever thought about it of course! It's just that she enjoyed the warmth that Sunset was giving off, and she would be lying her she said that the unicorn's mane didn't smell nice. Cadence quickly lifted her head up away from Sunset's fiery mane, trying to cool her face down.

Sunset's tears began to slow down, and her sobs grew quieter as Cadence held her. "You'll probably be a better princess than I ever would be, anyways," she mumbled as she calmed down. "You definitely have tha (hic) cute factor nailed." Cadence once again blushed at the compliment, and hoped that Sunset could not feel the brief flutter in her chest at her words.

"But I still bucking hate you," Sunset muttered weakly as her eye fluttered shut. "Not so much anymore, though."

With a chuckle, Cadence placed her chin back on Sunset's head, holding the unicorn as she fell asleep.

Author's Note:

We're approaching the climax here folks, prepare yerselves.

Comments

[JustFalcon]

Ah yes, the easiest fix to all your problems, Sunset. Getting drunk

[clubbzz]

Alcohol, the cause of, and the answer to, all of life's problems.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

10449490
Makes her feel better for she thinks she is doomed

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

And good on Cadance for calling Celestia out on her stupidly

[Darth Arcaneus]

By "climax", I'm assuming you mean the climax of the story and not the OTHER type?

[ModMCdl]

10449577
Assuredly. We'll keep it rated T

[Darth Arcaneus]

10449580
Oh horseapples!

[Argentyros]

I'm glad Cadence called Celestia out. Someone needed to, and she wasn't going to listen to Sunset, that's for sure.

[Shimmeringsun]

You'd think after what happened with Princess Luna, Celestia would realize she's making the same mistake with Sunset. How can she not realize she's hurting her? Ps: loved the chapter.

[Vaguely Demented]

When you think about it Celestia doesn’t do half measures. Slow decline into being a bad pony? She will wait until an unknown last straw and throw you out. Being forced to deal with Twilight’s villains? New statue eternally added to the palace gardens. Student is showing some real promise in theoretical governance? Retire.

[red-sun]

I do not drink
I do not have enough money

[Bicyclette]

Fun reversal of Cadance being the one distracted from reading now. Drunk teenager Sunset is a fun mental image.