Cadence Mi Amore Cadenza was the most popular girl in school. She had everything. Money, good looks, friends surrounding her, guys flocking to her side. Everything a teenage girl could ever want. But she didn’t have the one thing she truly wanted though.

His name was Shining Armour. He was in the same grade she was in and in all of her classes. They barely talked for most of the 11 years they had been in school together, but Cadence saw how sweet and kind the boy could be. He was always walking his little sister home from elementary school, smiling and nodding attentively to whatever the child had to say.

She’d watch them from her car, smiling to herself, wishing that she could have a younger sibling like that. Soon, without realizing it, she had developed a crush on the young man. And found herself scrambling for anyway to get closer to him.

That’s when she realized the fastest way to get close to him was his sister. But how?

“Cadence? Did you hear what I said?” Her mother asked, turning to her as they sat at the breakfast table.

“Uh, wha? No, sorry mom. I zoned out for a bit.” She responded, popping a piece of her waffles into her mouth.

“I said the Sparkles are looking for a babysitter for their youngest daughter. Twilight, I think is her name.” Her mother repeated, taking a sip of her coffee as she flipped to the next page in the newspaper that she was reading.

“Twilight, huh? How old is she?” Cadence asked, the gears turning in her head. She could get this job, find out everything about Shining from his sister, and get paid for it. It was a win-win.

“About seven. The old sitter quit, and the boy is in extra curricular activities so he can’t watch her. I think this would be a good opportunity for you to open up and take responsibility for someone else other than yourself.” Her mother told her, flipping to another page in the paper. She grinned at her daughter. “Plus, it’ll look good on a college application. I think it could count as some community service.”

Cadence nodded. “Sure thing, mom. I’ll just go to the Sparkle house after school and see what the qualifications are.” She got up and pushed her chair in before placing her plate in the sink. After washing her hands, she grabbed her backpack off the sofa in the living room and her keys off the counter. After waving goodbye to her mom, she stepped out into the fall sunlight.

When she got to school, she saw Shining Armor leaning against his bike listening to music. She decided to approach him. "Hey." She said, tapping him.

He jumped slightly, and looked at her wide eyed. He quickly surveyed the area around them, then looked back at her, yanking the earbuds out of his ears. "Hi. Hey." He croaked. She could see the poor guy was clearly nervous.

"I know we don't know each other very well, but my mom said your folks were looking for a sitter? You know, for your sister?" Cadence explained, smiling at him.

Shining Armour nodded. "Uh, yeah. The old hag who used to do it quit. Are you interested?" He responded stiffly.

"Yeah. I was actually wondering if I could swing by and see if I could get the job. You mind if I walk home with you?" Cadence told him.

Shining Armour looked as if he was about to drop dead. "N-No. I-I don't mind. I mean we would have to stop by the elementary to get Twily."

Cadence nodded. "Well okay. I guess I'll see you after school?" She smiled at him again, this time a little flirtatiously.

Shining was red in the face now. "Y-Yeah, see ya." And with that, he put his ear buds back in, shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets and walked off briskly towards their first class.

"Smooth, Cady." Cadence sighed to herself. "Real smooth."

As the late bell rang, Cadence made her way to her locker to gather her things. Then she continued down the hallway, trying to scout out Shining. When she finally did find him, he was leaning against the wall in front of the boy's bathroom, hair dripping wet.

He looked sad, and angry.

"Um, Shining?" She asked, getting his attention. He gave her a sorrowful look, and smiled sadly.

"Hi."

"Hi." She greeted back. "You wanna tell me what happened?" She added, nodding towards his hair.

"I fell." He grumbled.

Cadence decided to not push him further. Looking at the angry in his eyes, she grabbed his hand. “Well, whatever happened, I hope you’re okay.” She smiled sweetly at him, before letting his hand drop back to his side.

Shining gave her a bit of a shocked look, but nodded. “Yeah, let’s just go.”

As they stepped outside the school, a few curious eyes were on them, wondering why one of the most popular girls in school was with someone like Shining Armour. Shining wasn’t as popular as people might have thought. He was actually a nobody, a geek in a sea full of somebodys.

Cadence knew that, but she didn’t know how bad it really was.

Shining walked over to the bike rack and sighed once he saw that both the tires had been popped and were now flat and lop sided. It was going to cost him at least fifty dollars to fix the damage. That was the second time that month. Guess it would be another few weeks without lunch again.

Cadence leaned over his shoulder and saw the tires. “Someone thought it’d be funny to do that, huh?” She asked as he unlocked his bike. He didn’t respond, just simply nodded and started walking. Cadence followed behind him, her eyes watching him and her head tilted in an inquisitive way. She wondered what he was really like at home.

Crossing the parking lot and exiting the school yard, Shining walked beside his bike, wheeling it along as Cadence walked beside him. He didn’t say anything, just seethed through his teeth, his grip on the handlebars tightening, making his knuckles go white.

Cadence noticed, but said nothing. Seeing how angry he was, she didn’t want to bring up the obvious. She did wonder who could have done such a thing though.

They walked a couple of blocks and past a few houses before turning at a corner. A large brown brick building came into view. As they got closer, the large letters that said Canterlot Elementary School glittered in the fall afternoon sunlight.

There were kids waiting at the curb for their parents, some were crossing the street with the help of a parent or a sibling, the crossing guard halting cars as they passed.

One child in particular, was leaning against a tree in the front yard, the shade keeping the sun out of her eyes as she read, her bookbag next to her, leaning against the tree. She looked like she had no interest in playing or even talking to the other children.

“That’s her.” Shining Armour said, pointing to the little girl. He walked over the edge of the green and dropped his bike. Then, quietly and carefully, he tiptoed up to the girl, snatching the book out of her hands.

“Hey!” Twilight squeaked, looking up with a scowl.

“You’re never going to make any friends if you keep isolating yourself.” Shining tsked playfully.

Twilight crossed her arms. “B.B.B.F. you’re a jerk.” She grumbled, getting up and putting on her bookbag. He stuck out his hand and she reached for it.

“But I’m your jerk.” He responded smirking.

Cadence had watched the whole thing from where she was standing and thought it was very cute. Now more than ever she wished she had a younger sibling to tease and play around with like that. She thought Shining Armour was so sweet for caring so much about Twilight.

Most boys she knew in school didn’t give two craps about their younger siblings. But here was Shining, looking at his little sister like she was his whole world. His escape to happiness and beyond. She loved that. She loved that about him. His anger from earlier seemed to have dissipated, and now he was nothing but smiles.

“I’ve got a surprise for you.” She overheard him tell Twilight as they walked back over to her.

“Oh yeah? What is it? Is it a new telescope? Or a new dictionary with fourth grade words in it?!” Twilight bubbled, jumping up and down.

“Hmm. No. But I’ll definitely add that to the birthday and Christmas list.” Shining grinned, ruffling her hair.

“Yes!” Twilight shouted, pumping a fist in the air. “But really, what is my surprise?” By now they were a few feet in front of Cadence. When they finally reached her, Twilight looked up to see the older girl smiling down at her.

“Hi.” Cadence said, waving.

Twilight stared her in bewilderment, then looked back at her brother. “This is my surprise? A girl?” She asked, turning back to the teenager, her eyes squinted in a confused manner, her mouth open a bit.

“Yep.” Shining nodded.

“But I don’t like girls. I don’t even like boys yet.” Twilight said, her head tilted up at her brother.

Cadence stifled a laugh as Shining nearly turned beet red. “No, no, Twilly, this is Cadence, she might be your new babysitter.” He explained quickly, rubbing her back.

Twilight fixed her face. “Oh. Okay. So you’re Cadence?” She asked, looking back up at her. She was begining to become annoyed with all the neck craning. She made a mental note to get taller over the next few months.

“Yes, I am. And you must be Twilight.” Cadence responded, bending down to Twilight’s level.

Twilight frowned. She hated when people did that. She was their equal, not some ignorant child that need to feel cute all the time. She was Twilight Sparkle, one of the smartest kids in her school. She was the only child in her class doing advanced academics, and she didn’t even eat with the students. Most of her lunch periods were spent with teachers, helping the upper grades with their homework and class work, and teaching the younger grades to understand what they usually could not.

She was not an ordinary seven year old. And she’d be damned if she was treated that way.

“Look,” Twilight started in a polite tone, putting a hand on Cadence’s shoulder. “I get that you want to ‘relate’ to me and make me feel like we’re going to be ‘best friends’ but let me make one thing clear. I am a gifted child of a rare caliber. And I demanded to be treated as such. I am not a nose picking, paste eating, cookie stealing, mindless second grader. I. Am. God.”

Her face was completely motionless. It took almost everything Cadence had not to burst out laughing. That was one of the cutest intimidation attempts she’d ever seen. It reminded her of those videos of owls being angry about being petted. It was too cute to be threatening. But she took it seriously nonetheless.

This was Shining’s little sister after all. And if she wanted to make some extra money and get closer to him, she was going to have to get along with the girl. No matter how odd she was. Cadence bowed, then smirked. “Yes, Princess Smarty Pants.”

Twilight laughed, her arms clutching her sides before looking back up at her brother. “I like her. Can we keep her?”

“Well, this is it.” Shining said, opening the gate to let both girls in before he himself entered. He patted on a mailbox that said ‘Sparkle’ in purple paint, dropped off his bike in the garage, then pulled out his keys to open the door. Before he could even put it in the lock, the door swung open, and Twilight flew up into their father’s arms.

“Daddy!” She giggled, throwing her arms around him. Cadence rolled her eyes playfully. For a kid who didn’t want to be seen as cute, she was doing a good job of playing the part. Shining stepped aside to let her walk in before him, then shut the door after he entered, locking it and throwing his bag on the floor.

“So, you must be Cadence?” Mr. Sparkle asked, putting Twilight down.

Cadence nodded, holding out a hand to shake. “Yes, I was interested in babysitting Twilight. She’s quite a bright kid.” She watched as Twilight rolled her eyes, making her way over to the couch to turn on the TV.

“You bent down to her level?” Mr. Sparkle asked, laughing a bit.

“How’d you know?” Cadence asked, a little dumbfounded.

“She hates when everyone does that.” he responded, before calling up the stairs, “Honey, the new sitter’s here!”

A few minutes later a woman appeared, putting her cellphone in her pocket. “Are you a friend of Shining?” She asked, shaking hands with Cadence.

She nodded for the second time. “Mmm, yeah, you could say that. It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Sparkle.”

“You too, dear.” The woman said, patting her hand. “Shining! It’s almost time for your job!” She called over her shoulder.

Cadence hadn’t noticed that Shining Armour wasn’t even in the room. She guessed his room was upstairs, because that’s where he came down from in a fast food worker’s uniform. She wondered what his room looked like, but wondered even more as to why he was wearing what he was. “Part timer?” She teased.

“Something like that.” He smiled wryly, putting on his hat. “Mom, give me a ride please? Someone slashed my tires again.”

His mother gave him an incredulous look. “Again? That’s the third time this month!” She put two fingers on the bridge of her nose. “Alright, hurry up.”

Shining ran to where his hoodie was hanging and quickly shoved it on while his parents turned back to Cadence. Just when she was about to say something, her phone rang. She picked it up, and when she was done talking to the person on the other end, she hung up. “Sorry this is such short notice, honey, but can you watch Twilight tonight? We have to go to an event tonight and there aren’t many other options.” their mom asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Sure! It’ll be a great way for us to get to know each other better and spend some time bonding! We’ll have so much fun!” There was a gagging noise heard from the living room, but was ignored.

“Alright. We’ll be back by nine. Make sure she’s in bed by eight!” Mrs. Sparkle instructed, shrugging on her coat as her husband and son shuffled out the door. “Good luck!” She called, as the screen door slammed shut.

Cadence locked the screen door and then locked the actual front door before striding into the living room. “Hey there, squirt. Whatcha watching?” She asked, plopping down beside her.

Twilight didn’t even look up at her. “My Pretty Pony.” She told her dully, her eyes glued to the screen.

“Wow.” Cadence said, earning a side glance from the girl. “You know, I used to watch that when I was your age.”

“It’s a reboot.” the same bored voice responded. Cadence looked to the screen to see a purple unicorn use her magic to teleport to another room. She then turned her attention back the sluggish girl.

“So, what do you want for dinner?” She asked, trying painfully hard to keep the conversation going.

All she got was a shrug. Her shoulders drooped. Oh. She’s one of those kids. She’s the antisocial loner. Thinking bout it, Twilight and Shining weren't that different. But Shining was a teenager, that was to be expected. Twilight was a child, she was supposed to be happy and friendly and cheerful.

And she....wasn’t at all. She was actually really depressing.

Cadence sighed as she rested her chin on her elbow. “Yup.” She murmured to herself. “So much fun.”

Author's Notes:

I got this idea because i really liked the backstory they got in issue 11 of the IDW comics. Also, im going to be babysitting a few kids myself, so it just popped into my head. Well, tell me what you guys think! :D