4 - Cut Is The Deepest
She didn't see Cadance for a week and a half.
Not precisely didn't see - they still were moments in the halls where Sunset glimpsed that cotton candy pink form. But those moments were fleeting and usually through a crowd of servants, functionaries and administrators. Some of it was certainly because of the sour note their first session had ended on, and some of it was that Cadance was still struggling with the basics of her horn, but those were only minor parts of the reason.
After all, Cadance needed a coronation.
The idea, of course, made Sunset want to scream. She had tried imagining it was hers - or at least the practice run for her own - but that only barely masked the frustration. To make matters worse, her attendance was mandatory. Even if Celestia hadn't made it very clear that Sunset had a reserved place (and that she would be checking to be sure her student was there), Sunset knew her plans required that she make an appearance. Skipping out on Cadance's big day would create a huge obstacle in their 'friendship' - so Sunset had no choice but to swallow her pride and show up.
While the entire debacle had been thrown together in mere days, it was still a grand occasion. Hundreds of ponies had come for what they thought was the event of their lifetimes - the first new Princess in a millennium. And, they incorrectly assumed, the last.
Canterlot Castle's throne room was resplendent with bunting in Cadance's pink and soft blue; bright primroses native to her distant homeland; glowing candelabras that bore tapers with wax scented by oranges and cloves that was just strong enough to overpower the starch of noble clothing. Sunset's place wasn't on the dais - that was reserved solely for Princess Celestia herself. Her brilliant student was regulated to a place near the front and off to the left, in the shadow of the hulking Captain of the Royal Guard and coincidentally close by to Cadance's adoptive earth pony parents.
Celestia herself stood tall and proud beneath an arch of woven cypress branches, golden regalia carefully paired with a purple dress by the finest designer in Equestria. Her face, however, remained impassive and aloof - distant from the throng of mere mortal ponies around her.
Mortal save one.
It was the first time Cadance had worn her regalia and it showed: each of her steps was just slightly halting as she mentally made sure she didn't step out of the shoes. She didn't wear a peytral, instead mimicing the jewelry with a rise of silk on the front of her baby blue dress. She instead had opted for earrings as signs of office - heavy crystals of violet that hung out from under her elaborate updo.
As she marched down the red carpet to the dais - followed by an honor guard in full armor, a chorus literally singing her praises and a group of bearers carrying standards emblazoned with her Cutie Mark - Sunset zoned out. The imagery made her soul sick to look at and she retreated to within her own mind for safety.
Sunset's thoughts wandered - briefly thinking about her own coronation before going to far more important issues. Things like how she'd purge the castle staff after becoming a princess. Most would have to go: they were (unsurprisingly) too loyal to Celestia. A few had indispensable skills and so could remain... at least temporarily. Her favorite chef from the kitchens, Gastronomique, could stay. Possibly permanently - he was a griffon, after all, and so was far more mercenary than any pony would be. Which, as she thought about it, could be useful. A new Captain of the Guard would be mandatory, and a griffon...
Something in Princess Celestia's speech drew Sunset's attention back to reality. The Princess had been rambling for a bit now, giving vague platitudes about harmony and magic to the crowd. But she was reaching her climax - lifting a golden crown to place on Cadance's head.
"And so it is," boomed Celestia's voice, "That I have the great pleasure to crown a new Princess of Equestria. Let a new day dawn and all those within the realm greet her - Mi Amore Cadenza. Cadance - Princess of Love!"
The crowd erupted into sycophantic cheers. Sunset, however, did nothing more than applaud politely, letting herself be lost in the cacophony of hooves on stone. Her attention was squarely on those last three words.
Princess of love.
Sunset's mind leapt into overdrive.
It was a weak point. Love was just friendship turned up to eleven, possibly with some hormones mixed in. But for Sunset's purposes, that made it even better. You might deny a friend something, but a lover? You would do anything for somepony you loved. Even defy the Sun and tell them the deepest of secrets.
And that was it - she didn't have to become Cadance's friend. She had to become Cadance's love.
Of course, it would be difficult. Sunset would be facing down an alicorn in her area of expertise - not just against a pony with the appropriate mark but one with the raw might of an immortal. Then again, what better way to prove you were worthy of being an alicorn than defeating one?
But she'd have to take it slow. Cadance was stupid, but in this Sunset couldn't take chances. Mentally, she revised her plan.
The original Step 3 was thrown out - it was almost a guarantee, after all. Cadance had eagerly jumped at even the slightest hint of friendship between them, and her isolation within the castle meant bridging the gap was assured. Being friends with her was as simple as breathing - it simply meant not outright rejecting Cadance. Instead, there was a different step now, sketched out on the paper in Sunset's mind.
Step 3: Take target out on several unrelated outings
A risky step, but one that still had an escape. Creating a path to go from friend to lover could be done faster, but it wasn't clear yet just how deep Cadance's mark went. There was the possibility that being the alicorn of love was enough to give her some sort of love-sense - which would be disastrous. So taking it slowly at first was crucial, leaving an easy path to bail out of the plan if Cadance could detect emotions without training. Love magic was unpredictable - and often dark - so caution was wise.
But a few tentative things that could be dates or could be innocent? It gave Sunset the chance to get a feel for things and dismiss them as just friendship if Cadance got wise.
Step 4: Initiate dating
In theory? Easy. In practice? Probably a lot harder.
Truthfully, Sunset didn't have any solid ideas for how to do that. Her best idea was to use Cadance's strengths against her: who better to ask for how to date somepony than the alicorn of love? That still left a lot of blanks, however, and Sunset Shimmer was not one to leave a gaping hole in her plan.
But she also had no idea how to fix it.
She mentally out aside the issue for the moment. She had time. There was no need to fully lay that part out in the short term, let alone before the coronation ended.
The old Step 4 was now Step 5 and the old 5 was now 6 - and were otherwise unchanged. Her end goal was the same, just the methods had shifted. She would get the information and she would ascend.
It was foolproof - and it helped that Sunset Shimmer was no fool.
Even as all around her the crowd of dock-kissers cheered their newest princess, Sunset knew they would have another one to celebrate soon enough.
By comparison, the party afterwards was sedate. Half of Canterlot was crowding around Cadance, trying to curry her favor (and Celestia's favor, indirectly) before somepony else could get her ear. The result, obviously, was that none of them were getting the shot, but that didn't stop them from trying.
Sunset was content to watch from a distance - smugly smirking with a glass of sparkling cider as the nobility swarmed like koi for breadcrumbs. That was one aspect of princess-dom she wasn't looking forward to. But then, one of the perks of the wings was also the ability to banish somepony if you felt like it.
Unfortunately, one of the other parts Sunset didn't like was approaching her and she couldn't banish him yet. An involuntary snarl surfaced, overcoming all restraint. "Good evening, Blueblood."
"Prince Blueblood," he retorted for the four millionth time.
Sunset did not correct herself.
Drawing up beside her, Blueblood sipped his drink - something similarly shaded to the cider, but likely far more expensive, imported from some distant corner of the map and with a name nearly unpronounceable by the pony tongue. Sunset was also fairly sure it tasted like crap, but that was more hope than fact. And it didn't stop him from talking. "I see for once you're not trying to garner more attention, Miss Shimmer."
Sunset shrugged. "Don't see a lot of point. Everypony knows this is Cadance's night, plus it's funny to watch." She motioned slightly with her glass. "I mean, look at her. She's floundering so badly. You can see the panic in her eyes and the way her smile's straining. If Princess Celestia doesn't step in, I give it another five minutes before Cadance breaks."
"She is a bit uncultured," Blueblood sneeringly admitted. "But I suppose that's forgivable, considering how recently she was rescued from that backwater. In time, I'm certain she'll come to properly appreciate high society."
Instantly, Sunset's eyebrow spiked. "Okay, what are you up to."
Blueblood sipped his drink, eyes still on the overwhelmed pink princess. "I have no idea what you mean."
"You're being vaguely nice to her. You're never nice to anypony." Sunset's frown sharpened. "The only ones you're ever nice to are Princess Celestia, Kibitz when you want something and me when you're trying to--" She froze. And then immediately wanted to vomit. "Oh no."
A smug smile touched the corner of his lips. "Jealous?"
"Of you? Never."
"Of her." Blueblood's eyes didn't leave Cadance. "You're yesterday's news, Miss Shimmer. You were an interesting match before - intelligent, feisty, well-connected and from..." He paused, giving Sunset a meaningful look up and down. "Acceptable stock. But you're no alicorn."
Sunset saw red. Her glass cracked, a dribble of cider weeping out the hairline fracture made by her crushing magic.
Blueblood didn't notice - or didn't care. "What better way to secure the future of the bloodline, after all. It doesn't hurt that she is rather attractive as well."
Long, deep breaths brought color back to Sunset's vision. Slowly. "Is lineage all you care about, Blueblood?" Each word was hissed through clenched teeth that wanted to bite until she drew whatever foul ichor flowed through his veins.
Airily, Blueblood ignored Sunset's seething. "Not the only thing. But unlike yourself, I have a responsibility to preserve the line." He turned a critical eye to the amber unicorn. "You seek power for yourself, Miss Shimmer. I seek it because my duty demands it - I am the last scion of a grand heritage. I have my own wants, of course, but I also know what is required of me." He snorted. "I'm certain that in five or six generations, your descendants will think much the same. They'll be busy trying to keep your lineage from plummeting back into the dirt you're working so hard to raise it out of."
A snap about her own ascension - her lack of need for descendants to pass the power to - almost got out of Sunset's mouth. But she suppressed it in time, biting her tongue. "You're assuming that she'll be interested in you."
He laughed. Blueblood laughed at the barb - loud enough to pull some of the room's attention to him. And for that he paused, doing a quick hair-flip and flashing his beaming smile to the crowd before resuming the conversation. "You make that sound like it would be a challenge. Or anything less than certain."
Barely repressed anger surged through Sunset again - and this time the glass in her magic shattered under the pressure. "I," she threatened, "Will not stand idly by and let you--"
"Spurn you?" Blueblood slashed into the middle of her righteous rant, a dry smirk on his lips. "Cast you aside?"
"We never were something, Blueblood," Sunset hissed.
"And we never will be," came his smarmy retort. "You're just not that important anymore, Miss Shimmer. Good evening." Blueblood tossed back his glass to guzzle the rest of his drink - then turned on his frog and marched away with a self-satisfied grin.
It took considerable effort not to blast him - Sunset distracted herself by pinching her eyes closed and mentally running down the various spells she could potentially fire right up his tail. At thirty-seven (Mistmane's Miniature Meteorite) her internal rage had calmed enough to probably not attempt murder in the middle of the ballroom.
A caring, gentle wing touched her back.
Sunset stiffened with surprise - then relaxed under Celestia's calming touch. The wing hugged her, wrapping over Sunset's back and easing her racing mind into something more manageable. Despite everything - the bitterness, the frustration - Celestia still knew how to comfort Sunset. Under it all, Sunset knew, too, that she was still so very much that little filly who craved her mentor's attention and praise.
For a moment, they were that again.
Sunset leaned into the soft feathers and the strong wing, letting out a shivering sigh.
"Are you better?"
Her eyes popped open at the voice being wrong.
The wing was pink, not white.
In reflexive terror, Sunset's horn seared to life and she banished herself in a crackling pop of teal magic.
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Sunset is in wayyy over her head. So excited to see more!
Dear God, for a moment there I thought I saw a decent Blueblood... but nope, it was an illusion. Damn.
Sunset's "plan" is going to crash and burn real fast... in a good way tbh.
Nice swap at the end, shows just how much it means to Sunset that Cadence exists. Even her most comfortable place in her life is being taken away by her.
Honestly, I like blueblood too. Just imagining the various reasons he could have for being an a****** to Rarity at the Gala is so much fun. From Just being mean, to trying to make an example of her to other golddiggers (what he probably perceived her as), to being a noble fop, like you write him, or many other possible reasons. It's fantastic.
Need to capitalise "Miss"! Bit distracting seeing that over and over.
11006314
You know, it's the tiny things that slip in editing. Dang it!
On one hand this is excellent, on the other the fact that it's not an AU and we know how it's going to end is just painful to my poor heart!
Ohoho!
11006141
No such thing. She is Sunset Shimmer, everyone and every situation is beneath her.
As they say in the old school:. The game is on.
I'm glad to see Blueblood putting in an appearance as well. He fits very well into this dynamic, because just like Cadance and Sunset, he's another character who we know fits into this time period and social circle, and who thus should have established relationships and interactions with these characters, but it's something we so rarely see anything of. The closest canon ever came was the Blueblood/Shining Armor issue of Friends Forever, and I'm actually hard-pressed to even recall any other fanfics which covered it.
You can tell from Blueblood and Sunset's conversation that there's a million pieces moving in the background of the story, and Sunset's fighting against the current. She's... really alone, isn't she?
11022536
She is.
She just doesn't realize that's a problem.
Wow. Just...wow. I’m trying to wrap my head around what a Sunblood ship would look like. But, well, it’s really all there in the name, isn’t it? It’d be a fiery explosion of blood and would require a ton of gravity to fuse the two together and keep them together. I get where he’s coming from here, even if my own personal sentiments run far more toward Sunset’s, but how could he possibly think that would be a good idea?
At any rate, that little interaction really underscores what a hostile environment Sunset is in. It’s probably partially of her own making (her room is comically over-the-top antagonistic), but her problems clearly run deeper than mere ambition. Operation Sundance is either going to crash and burn or be very good for her depending on how much work Cadance is willing to invest in her new friend (regardless of whether her own feelings ever turn romantic). And judging by the tragedy tag, I’m guessing Sunset’s own flaws are going to catch up to her in the end.
11009491
Blueblood has too little screentime in the show to develope proper background or even personality. He can be anything that fanfic writers demanded. A great choice for canterlot casts.
11071035
Not that hard. Because we also doesn't know personality of sunset from before the mirror portal. We don't even know why she want to be alicorn.
I can see 'sunset that want celestia to accept her as daughter' and 'lonely blueblood that built wall around himself' can mesh quite well.
How embarrassing for her. But can't say I'm surprised!
I suspect the reason she modified plan is her quest to the form of alicorn moved to a specific alicorn, at least in part.
OOF. Massive L for Sunset. Half the time I feel like pleading at my screen for Sunset not to falter. I feel like she's way over her head here, and so is Blue. They both underestimate Cadence and her special talent.
Dear God.
That might be my perception of Sunset Shimmer as a first and foremost reformed antagonist, because I joined the Fandom a bit later, but damn.
Sunset is a horrible person. She physically can't stand anyone being gifted what she obviously is the only one deserving. Her envy, anger and pride spill out of the pages.
If this goes on as it does, than watching her fall and burn will be incredibly cathartic.
Truly Sunset is a master of deception and not a disaster lesbian with mommy issues