"Cadence! I'm soooo bored!" a small purple unicorn whined.
A pink alicorn trotted over to the small filly. Nudging the unicorn gently with her snout, Cadence sighed. "Awh, you don't want to have a tea party with Smarty Pants? You have been talking about it all day." She smiled gently at the filly, who had now curled up into a ball in the middle of her room.
"No. I've changed my mind. She's already had too much tea this week."
Cadence could not help but giggle a little at the filly's comments. "But won't she be sad Twilight? After all she does like her tea!"
"Well... she can't have any!" Twilight suddenly bolted up. "Do you think we can go see Shining Armor today?" she asked excitedly. "Didn't you say he was going to be doing his first thing as a royal guard today?" Twilight's eyes lit up as she gazed at Cadence, who looked kind of uneasy. "Please> he's my brother and your coltfriend and he's doing something really cool!"
"I... I dunno Twilight. I don't want your mom and dad getting mad about us just leaving the house." the alicorn looked at Twilight, who made her legendary pouting face. Sweat began to bead up on Cadence's forehead. 'Uh-oh. Not this face.'
"Pretty please? My parents don't have to find out." Twilight latched onto one of Cadence's slender legs and hung on as if her life depended on it. "Pretty pretty please? With a vanilla hot fudge sundae on top?"
"No Twilight, it'll be really crowded out there anyways, especially with all those tourists from Amareica and Japone." Cadence was determined to stand her ground and not give into the persuasive power of the small purple ball of cuteness clinging to her leg. But Twilight's pouting face quickly overcame Cadence's determination. "OK OK... Fine." she relented. We'll go visit your brother. But you have to promise that you'll stay right next to me at ALL times. You can't get lost OK?"
"Yay! You're the best Princess of all time! I promise. I will stay right next to you!" Twilight let go of her leg and rushed towards the door. "Come on Cadence! We have to go now!" The unicorn's excitement was obvious, as her voice was saturated with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The walk from the Sparkle residence to Tower of Canterlot was a quick one. Tourists were much more spread out here, as many had gone to the Royal Palace to watch the changing of the guard there, which of course was an internationally famous event. However, a few stallions still managed to stop Cadence for a selfie as the alicorn, with Twilight in tow trotted around, looking for Shining Armor. "He said he was going to be a the Tower of Canterlot... I don't know why I can't find him." Cadence mumbled. Twilight suddenly squealed with glee. "There he is! Look Cadence!" Twilight pointed to a guard post on the far right side of the Tower.
Sure enough, the white unicorn was standing there, at parade rest. Being an officer, albeit only a Lieutenant, he held a sword in his magic aura, while the two common hoof guards behind him grasped long ceremonial pikes. "What are you waiting for Cadence, let's goooooo!" Twilight was so excited to see her older brother that she nearly face-planted into the cobble road as she took off. "Wait Twilight!" Cadence called out after her. "You promised you would stay next to me! Slow down!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shining Armor knew trouble was coming the moment he caught sight of the purple blur headed straight towards him. 'Oh Celestia...' he thought to himself. He suddenly wished that his exposed post had at least some kind of railing or fence to keep the blur a sound distance away. But he did not have a fence. And the blur stopped right next to him, accompanied by a pink alicorn. 'You've got to be kidding me... Celestia is testing me.' was about the only thing that came to his mind.
"SHINING! SHINING! IT'S ME TWILIGHT!" Twilight eagerly exclaimed.
Cadence walked up, stopping right next to Shining's younger sister. "Awh... my butt-face has finally grown up." the Princess giggled. "You look so much better in your uniform! Like less of a butt-face, but still a big butt-face."
"Yeah Shining! You are like a cool butt-face now!" Twilight joined in
The guards standing behind Armor were breaking a sweat from trying to constrain their laughter. While on the parade deck or anywhere else, Shining Armor was always a stone-faced and stoic officer who did not take kindly to teasing. Now, they watched as their officer in charge was being jokingly harassed by a pink alicorn and a purple filly.
Cadence stifled a giggle as Shining's blush began to show beneath his snow-white coat. "Twilight go hug your brother and I'll take a picture!" the alicorn ordered.
"But won't mom and dad know we snuck out if they see a picture?" Twilight inquired.
"They'll forgive us Twily, especially after seeing their son standing guard for the first time. Now go Twilight!" Cadence pulled out her phone and brought up the camera. Twilight rushed her brother and clung to the bright red tunic that he wore.
"Come on Shining! Smile!" Twilight pleaded. "You look so ugly, just standing there looking like a rock."
Not even a blink on Shining's part. "You're a dumby. I'll smile even wider for the both of us then." Twilight grinned from ear to ear as Cadence snapped a picture. However, Twilight's glee was short-lived. Shining Armor suddenly snapped to attention and Twilight was jolted off of him. "STAND BACK FOR THE ROYAL GUARD!" Shining Armor yelled, his voice directed right at Twilight, then promptly returned to parade rest. Twilight scurried behind Cadence, whose jaw dropped. Twilight's eyes began to well up with tears and Cadence could feel the filly shake. Twilight's whimpers became audible just as Shining Armor regretted his decision. Cadence looked back at Twilight, her eyes full of worry. "Are-Are you ok sweetie?" she stuttered. A tear rolled down Twilight's cheek and landed onto the stone ground beneath her. Cadence twitched in fury. Cadence used one of her downy wings to pat and comfort the crying filly. "Don't cry dear! I'll get back at him for you."
At that moment, Shining Armor knew that, even though he had done the right thing, he was still probably screwed. He gulped, probably loud enough for the two guards behind him to hear. Strutting up to the young Lieutenant, Cadence huffed angrily. "Oh Lieutenant Armor... you have really messed up this time."
Shining Armor tried to maintain his bearing but was sweating nervously. He glanced over at his angry marefriend, who stood by his side, and then down at Twilight, whose face had become red and puffy from crying.
"STAND AT ATTENTION WHEN A PRINCESS ADDRESSES YOU MISTER!" Cadence screamed. Shining had no choice but to comply. His horseshoes made a rather satisfying 'Click' as the stallion snapped his hooves together.
"WHAT KIND OF A MEAN PONY ARE YOU? YELLING LIKE THAT TO YOUR SISTER? HAVEN'T I TAUGHT YOU ABOUT LOVE BEFORE?" A small crowd began to gather around Shining Armor's post. "I am disappointed mister. You should at least have been a little nicer to your own sister." Cadence shook her head.
"But Ca-Your Majesty... I... I-" Shining Armor tried to defend himself but was abruptly cut off.
"No excuses. I want an apology. From you. To Twilight." the love princess demanded.
Shining did not move but Cadence could feel him tense up. "Your-Your Majesty?"
"You heard me. Apologize to your sister." Cadence asserted. "I don't care if it breaks the rules. I am giving you an order."
Shining's entire face became red. Twilight, who had calmed down by now and was standing, tilted her head and looked curiously at her brother. Softening his expression, Shining lowered his head to be eye level with his sister. "I'm sorry Twily." Twilight's face lit up and she grinned from ear to ear once again. Wrapping her hooves around her brother, she giddily replied, "It's OK Shiny. I still love you." The crowd behind her let out a collective 'Aw' and many took photos of the embrace, much to Shining Armor's embarrassment. He knew he would never live this one down. After the hug, Shining snapped back to attention. Cadence moved directly in front of Shining. Her voice had returned to its normal kind and cheery tone.
"See how happy she is now? That's what a good brother should do. He should keep his siblings happy." The alicorn wrapped her hooves around her coltfriend. Leaning in close to one of his ears, she whispered, "Love you dear. But I have to punish you for making me yell like that." Cadence made a chomping noise with her teeth. "You'll get your punishment later, in private." The alicorn backed off and giggled. "Carry on soldier."
"Carry on, Aye ma'am." Shining duly responded. The stallion popped to parade rest with a thud.
Cadence turned around and wrapped one of her soft wings around the purple filly. "Now let's go and get some ice cream. So you can forget about this whole thing." she said as the two made their way through the largely dispersed crowd.
"But I'm not even mad anymore Cadence." Twilight responded.
Cadence smiled and looked down at the filly. "But do you want ice cream?"