The Only Chapter
Princess Cadance wasn’t the type of pony to pout. Rather, she preferred facing her problems head on. ‘Grab the bull by the horns’, as it were. And yet, here she was, her face stuffed into her pillow. It had been a few days since she’d been called ‘useless’ by one of her subjects, but she hadn’t moved away from that pillow unless she’d had to.
It didn’t help that Shining Armor was off in Canterlot on business, leaving her completely alone to run an empire that apparently found her to be useless.
No. That wasn’t fair. Just because one pony had called her useless didn’t mean that everypony thought she was…. Right?
Thankfully, before her thoughts could spiral any further downwards, she heard a gentle rapping on her door. “... Cadance? Are you in there?”
Huh? That voice sounded an awful lot like… “Auntie?”
“May I come in, Cadance?”
Cadance stayed silent for a moment, mulling over her options. On the one hoof, she could simply turn away Celestia like she had everyone else thus far. On the other hoof, this was Celestia. Her loving aunt, who had raised her like her own kin. Never before had an answer seemed so clear to the young alicorn. “Come in…”
The door to her bedroom creaked open. Finally, she picked her head up from that pillow, if only to see the look on Celestia’s face. To her utter shock, her aunt’s expression conveyed anything but disappointment. In fact, she almost looked sad.
“When Luna told me what was troubling you, I thought it best to journey here myself,” Celestia spoke.
“Luna? How did—”
“She know?” Celestia guessed. “My sister peered into your dreams and saw the state you were in. She was worried, to say the least.”
Her tone carried a hint of motherliness to it, and suddenly, Cadance didn’t feel alone. “I hear that you’ve entrusted Sunburst with Flurry Heart?”
Cadance nodded, wiping a bit of snot away from her snout. She took a quick second to glance back at her pillow. It was soaked in tears, and she looked back to Celestia. “Y-yeah. He’s been a good crystaller.”
Celestia simply smiled. And yet, that was enough to make Cadance sigh. “Go ahead, auntie. I know you didn’t come here just to talk about my daughter. Tell me how childish I’m being…”
“‘Childish’?” Celestia repeated. She followed that up with a titter. “You are many things, Cadance, but childish has never been one of them. Even as a little filly, you were more mature than most ponies.”
“Whole lot of good that did me,” Cadance responded with a roll of her eyes, her gaze drifting downwards. “I can’t even keep my emotions in check…”
“You have every right to be upset, Cadance,” Celestia replied. Cadance felt a soft thud to her right, and she looked up to see Celestia sitting next to her. “There is no shame in letting your emotions out every once in a while.”
“There is when you bottle them up inside for too long and they all come out at once,” Cadance replied sadly. “Besides, what good is a ruler that’s ‘useless’?”
“None of that.” Cadance could feel Celestia wrapping a wing around her, and the much larger alicorn pulled her in close. “Have you already forgotten what made the crystal ponies love you?”
Cadance remained silent, looking up at her aunt.
“You care about your subjects, Cadance. That’s more than one could say for most rulers,” Celestia smiled, nuzzling her niece. “And you are certainly not useless for doing so.”
“I’m sure it’s easy for you to say that,” Cadance shot back. “Nopony has ever called you useless.”
Celestia craned her neck back, opting to look down at Cadance with a bewildered expression on her face. Still, she giggled. That cute, motherly giggle that Cadance had come to love over the years. “Have you ever attended one of my Royal Courts, Cadance?”
“... No,” she admitted.
“You may find it hard to believe, but I have been called ‘useless’ on many occasions. Whether it be a noble-pony that is unhappy with their taxes, or a simple street pony that believes I will grant them a loan from the Royal Treasury, it has happened.”
Cadance found herself taken aback by that. Even Celestia had been called useless? Was such a thing even possible? “B-but… how do you handle it?”
Celestia smiled. “The duties of a ruler do not entail making every one of your subjects like you, Cadance. If anything, being loved by your subjects is more of a reward than it is a prerequisite for being a good leader.”
Cadance frowned. “You always taught me that a good ruler keeps their subjects happy. All of their subjects.”
“That is true,” Celestia nodded. For a moment, it seemed as if she was debating over what to say next. Much to the younger alicorn’s chagrin, her next words only reinforced the point she was trying to make. “But just because somepony is happy with their life does not mean that they will love the ones that make that life possible. Do you truly believe that the dragons all loved Dragon Lord Torch?”
“Not really,” Cadance replied. “But from what I’ve heard, he basically let them do whatever they wanted to.”
“To an extent, which can be said of any ruler that isn’t a dictator. You have done a wonderful job returning to Crystal Empire to its former glory. One pony thinking otherwise does not change that fact,” Celestia assured her. “Do you remember what I told you when you were just a filly?”
“You told me that… ‘the mark of a great ruler is not to be loved by all, but to love even those who don’t like you.”
“Tell me. Do you hate the pony who called you ‘useless’?”
“No…” Cadance looked up to Celestia, a little smile on her face. “I care for all of my subjects. Even her.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
Cadance took the opportunity to nuzzle into the crook of her aunt’s neck. “Hey, auntie?”
“Yes?”
“Could you stay here for just a bit longer?”
“Of course,” Celestia smiled.