Midnight Rendezvous
~
Peaceful was the last word that came to Shining Armour’s mind when he went over his day.
Royal guard training had been brutal. He was sure there were more bruises on his coat than pimples on Poindexter. The armour on him was definitely not shining anymore.
Even more so, the bullies at school were going even more nonstop psycho than usual. He wouldn’t exactly say they hurt him very physically, though he was starting to worry if crazy-bully-itis was contagious. He was definitely starting to see things.
The weather was amazing, though.
If amazing meant thunder and lightning with a chance of tantrums.
He was absolutely ready to fall flat on his bed at seven thirty.
Unfortunately, that wasn't possible. Not only was it three in the morning, but he had to meet someone.
At three in the morning.
It was only the pony he was meeting that brightened his mood from extremely dark black to semi-extremely dark black.
He checked the hall for noises before slowly heading down it. He knew his mother would most probably lock him in her room for the next 48 hours if she found him sneaking out of the house this late (or early, rather).
He turned the corner, meeting the kitchen and living room. The door was just a few yards away.
Shining Armour unlocked the door, turned the knob and ever so slowly pushed it open…
He failed. It was a pull door.
Ever so slowly, he pulled it open, wincing when the slightest creak came from the hinges.
When the door was open wide enough, he slipped to the other side, closing the door behind him.
He sighed with relief. Mission accomplished.
The colt walked down their street, the midnight air cold and unwelcoming. The slight light of the moon made it just about possible to see where he was going with crashing into a stop sign.
A bit more walking, a few more turns, some more walking, and a twisty alley later, he came to his destination.
A small park, mostly grass, with a few wooden benches, some little oak trees, some big oak trees, a pond, and something that most certainly did not belong.
No, he was not talking about the most beautiful pink mare with the warmest mystic-purple eyes and kindest smile ever. That showed up in his vision quite a lot, actually. It made it hard to concentrate on training sometimes, when his mind was more full with his little sister’s foal-sitter than any guard knowledge he would ever know.
No, he was talking about the giant willow looming over half the park.
Part of him felt bad for the oak trees on the other side of the park, all smushed together and getting absolutely no personal space courtesy of the willow that belonged in a zoo cage for hippos to climb on. The other part of him thought I am feeling bad for trees. Yep, bully-itis is definitely contagious.
The park near the squiggly street. Under something that makes you think ‘Why, Celestia, is the world not uncanny enough for you yet?’
At least, that’s what Cadence said. And right now, Shining Armour was starting to think she was psychic.
He trotted over to the tree, frowning when the alicorn was nowhere to be seen.
Shining walked around for a little bit, still coming across nothing.
That was when he was hit.
Actually, he wasn't as much hit as he was thrown to the ground, tackled by hooves that he knew were familiar.
Instinctively, his magic flared up and he was immediately teleported on top of the tree.
The top of the tree was rather uncomfortable. Especially with the pony holding him down still holding him down. He must've teleported both of them.
Realizing his mistake and weight too late, the two of them fell out of the tree, and not one but two feet to the ground.
The tree wasn’t very high at parts, as one could've imagined.
Shining mumbled as he lay face-flat on the ground. The pony on top of him wasn't heavy, but weighed enough to still put pressure on his back.
“Alright Cadence. You got me. Now could you please get up before this becomes inappropriate?” he grumbled into the dirt.
He heard a soft giggle as the pressure ridded itself of its presence on his back. She must've gotten the message, even if his sentence sounded like Mhmmggrhh nngphh flmmbrg to her.
Shining Armour got up, sighing slightly.
“I’m so glad you could come, especially at this time,” Cadence stated quietly. “If you get in trouble, I’m so sorry, I’ll make it up to you, but this is really the only time I can really see you in private without guards flanking every section of my body like I’m from another planet.”
“And why is that?”
Cadence shrugged. The moonlight leaked through the small leaves of the tree, illuminating the princess enough so that he could see her without a torch. “Celestia likes to keep me under guard so I don’t get into any trouble, I guess. She forgets I’m an actual pony who doesn’t need an entire crew of armed stallions for ‘security reasons’ every time I go outside to get from fresh air to make sure nopony assaults me.” She frowned. “Rather hard to get air if you’re sharing yours with fifty other ponies who don’t know the purposes of personal space.”
He chuckled at her rant. She could be cute even when she was probably offending someone’s flank off. “I promise, when I’m done with my trainings, I’ll be the only guard to walk by your side.”
She smiled at him. Shining was sure she was blushing, though it was hard to tell since her coat was pink . “Anyway, that’s not the reason why we’re here.”
“That’s not?” He smirked.
Cadence rolled her eyes. “No. I wanted to talk about… Us.”
It took a lot for him to keep from gasping in shock. “Us? Since when was there us?”
Her gaze unfocused slightly. “I… I believe there was an us since months ago. Don’t you think? I mean… We’ve been mostly just hanging out, but… I think there’s more.”
“Honestly, I…” He couldn't help but find it difficult to not stare into her violet orbs. They were accented by the moonlight, warm and kind and seemingly glowing. “What do you mean?”
“Shining, I’ve never really had any form of friend all my life… Twilight is like a sister, Celestia more or less some aunt… You've always been so kind and… er, friend-like. So, um, I just wanted to know if…”
“We’re friends?”
“Yeah. Friends.”
Shining was somewhat disappointed. He had thought Cadence was going to talk about becoming more than the friends that Shining was certain they were. Oh well. “Oh. Friends…” he paused, “Cadence, I can’t believe you’re actually asking this. If I have one true, sincere, lasting friendship, it’s you. No arguing there.”
She was definitely blushing now. Her cheeks were more red now than their usual pale pink. “T-Thanks. I… I just wanted to know.”
“Is that all you wanted to talk about?”
“I… No.” Her eyes came back into a deeper focus, the emotion in them illegible. “We’ve only known each other for so long, but for that so long… I-I don’t know how to describe the feeling. It seems like something has grown, something more than our friendship. You’ve been so trustworthy and so kind and welcoming and open, and… Thanks for that. Thanks for being such a good… Such a good friend.”
“It’s always been my pleasure, Princess. Thanks for accepting me as a friend too. You’re the most caring pony I know and probably will ever know. I’m supposed to be the knight in shining armour… But I can't stress how many times I’ve been able to count on you. That thing growing… I can feel it too. And I have an idea of what it is.”
Cadence looked down, but Shining could see the darker shade of pink on her face. “When I use my magic to spread love and light, I feel the same thing. But this is stronger… Like I’m enchanting myself instead of somepony else. I don’t know what it is. It feels… Strange, but good in a sense.” She raised her face a bit. “Uh… I’m getting off course. What I’m saying is that I’m thankful for you as a friend and I’m glad that I’m your friend as well.”
Shining Armour, being a regular pony and actually knowing what liking someone means, was utterly tempted to say YOU’RE IN LOVE JUST ADMIT IT ALREADY but held back. He was happy that she felt something between them too, just slightly awkward that she had exactly zero idea what actual love was.
Ironic.
“I’m glad too. Um, but about your spreading love and light and stuff… Do you think… I don’t know, maybe that it’s one of those things you're experiencing right now?” he responded to her.
She ran a hoof through her mane, taking out the blue ribbon that held her hair up before continuing. “Hm.. No, I don’t think I’ve ever thought about that. But I can’t exactly say I’ve been experiencing a lot of light, considering the fact I’m basically locked up in Celestia’s spare room more often than not.” She started playing with the ribbon in her hooves. “Strange. You would think living with raiser of the sun meant actual light.”
Shining smirked, though he was more focused on how much more cute she looked with her hair down. “I meant the other one... Love.”
Cadence stopped twirling the ribbon around. “Oh. Love? Maybe. I mean, I do really care about you and I guess I do love being around you, so… Yeah. That could be accurate. But… I do feel there is more.”
The other pony did the mental equivalent of a facehoof. How could she be so oblivious to love? It was her talent, for the actual sake of Celestia! “Uh, not that either. I mean the other type of love.”
She frowned slightly. “You mean… In the romantic sense?”
“Yeah.”
Her focus to the conversation seemed to have found its way to Tartarus. She stayed quiet for a long time.
Shining, for one, was getting tired of long silences. He spoke up. “Cadence. I know we’ve pretty much known each other for a measly two years. But those two years… They have been the most complete period of my entire life. I didn't know where I was until I met you… You’re the reason I signed up for guard training. I’d been finally given a role, to protect. You made me understand my cutie mark. And those two years… There’s a spark, Cadence. It’s been only getting more electrifying over time.”
For the first time that night, the princess locked her majestic purple eyes straight into his navy blue ones. “What are you saying?”
“I really like you, Cadence. I really, really do. It’s close to love… And right now, I think I’m just falling ever so closer to it. Because of you.”
She looked at him for so long, not even blinking once. Shining made a mental note never to have a staring contest with this mare.
“Shining Armour,” she finally replied.
“Y-Yes?”
“I think I like you too. And, for the record, I feel that spark as well. I think you’re right. I think it is love.” She leaned a bit forward, giving Shining an exact four milliseconds to register what was happening. She kissed him.
A princess, an alicorn, the Cadence kissing him. He couldn't say he’d never dreamed of it, because that is definitely a lie. But he’d never ever thought of it actually happening.
The actual kiss? Oh, that was short. A second and it was gone. Vanished. Lips on, lips off. Short, but it was the sweetest thing that Shining Armor had ever experienced. If his life wasn't complete now… Well, then, just wait until the proposal…
He shook his mind of those thoughts. Cadence spoke again.
“Thanks you for making me realize that.”
~
Streaks of colours like autumn leaves were painted across the sky around the yellow sphere ever so slightly showing its rays of light to the world behind the horizon, melting away the darkness of night into a warm, bright day.
Cadence and Shining Armour sat at the bottom of the tree, their hooves faintly touching. They watched together as the midnight blue slowly dissolved into a sky shade, admiring the sunrise as it made everything clear and visible again, though Shining Armour was more of admiring her eyes.
The purple irises were now accentuated by the sunlight instead of by moonlight, the amethyst highlights in them now clear. He understood the emotion in them now… Confusion, uncertainty… But also compassion.
All Shining’s hopes of not getting the triple L, locked, lectured, and live through it all, were completely gone. And who knows what Celestia would do once she found out Cadence hadn’t gone out with at least eleven guards at her side?
To be honest, he didn’t exactly care about his eternal punishment. Apparently Cadence did.
“Oh gosh… Celestia’s going to absolutely freak out for the next twelve hours when I get back.” She turned her gaze from the sun and to Shining. “And I am so, so, so sorry if you get in trouble because of this… I-I can take the blame if you want. I’ll foal-sit Twilight for five extra hours and I can help you with some chores and…”
Shining interrupted her. “Cadence, I really couldn't care less if I get permanently kicked from the house. We got everything kind of sorted out, which is good and all that really matters.” A devilish grin slowly took over his once sweet smile. “But there is something you can do to make up for it..”
“And that is...?”
“Guess.”
“Um… Oh.”
And that marked their first ever second kiss, which Shining was sure lasted until Celestia was well done raising the sun.
~
“Is that enough for you?”
“Mm… Maybe ten more and we’re good.”
~
“Big brother? Why does your face look more like a tomato than you?”
“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE, OKAY? YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING.”
…
“...Okay, weirdo. Get out of my room now.”