• Published 13th Apr 2013
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The Marvelous Misadventures of Shining Armor and the CMC - lrft4_san



Shining Armor is accidently turned into a little filly.

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Chapter 8: An Evening With Princess Cadence

“C-C-C-C…” Shining Armor stammered, too full of fear and embarrassment to speak.

“Cadence, you remember the Cutie Mark Crusaders: Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle,” Twilight said, trying to hide how nervous she was. She quickly turned to check on her brother, who looked like he was about to be sick, as he continued to stare, slack jawed up at the beaming face of his wife. Poor Shining Armor, she thought, regretting that she hadn’t told her brother that Cadence was going to be joining them the day that she had received the letter.

“Of course I remember them,” she said, directing her attention to the group of fillies. “And how have you three been? I trust that you’re still busy trying to get your cutie marks?”

“Yes ma’am,” Apple Bloom said, returning Cadence’s smile.

“We’ll never stop our quest until we find our special talents, and earn our cutie marks,” added Scootaloo, flashing a confident grin.

Cadence giggled.

“Good, I’m glad to hear it.” Then she turned to Shining Armor, her smile unwavering. “And who are you, little one?"

“This is Gleaming Shield,” Twilight said, seeing her brother in a near catatonic state. “She’s my little cousin from Canterlot.”

Cadence seemed a bit confused, yet no less delighted.

“Huh, I thought I’d already met all of your relatives at mine and Shining Armor’s wedding.”

“Oh, uh, she and her family weren’t able to attend. My, um, uncle told me that they had been on vacation in Baltamare at the time, and since Canterlot was on high alert, they weren’t able to make it back for the wedding.”

The elder alicorn thought on this for a moment, considering whether or not Twilight’s story made sense, then nodded and smiled at the little faux filly.

“Well it is very nice to meet you, Gleaming Shield.” Cadence couldn’t help but giggle. “You know, you look an awful lot like-”

“Shining Armor,” Scootaloo said. “Yeah, everypony’s been saying that. Right Gleaming Shield?”

Shining Armor didn't say anything; his day had been stressful enough without having to worry about Cadence. In a brief moment of shock, he let his little body take over, as he let out an awkward squeak, before making a hasty retreat into the kitchen.

When he was alone, Shining Armor clutched at his racing heart, trying to calm himself down, but to no avail. I can't believe this, he thought, as he began to nervously pace back and forth across the kitchen floor, I can’t believe Cadence saw me. Oh why did she have to come here now? As Shining Armor paced, the sudden sound of hooves approaching caused him to jump, but he released a sigh of relief when he saw that it was only Twilight.

"Shining Armor, " she said, as she sat down next to her sulking brother. "Are you doing alright, B.B.B.F.F.?”

Shining Armor looked up at his sister with a look that told her that he wasn't.

"I'm so sorry, Shining Armor, I should have told you when I got Cadence's letter that she was going to be coming to town, I just thought that-"

"Letter?" Shining Armor asked. "Wait, you knew Cadence was coming?"

Twilight shuffled her hooves anxiously, as she nodded her head.

"I figured that if you had known about Cadence's arrival earlier, you would have spent the past few days here panicking, which would have distracted me from working as hard as I have been on this spell."

Shining Armor sighed, as he nodded sullenly.

"I guess that makes sense. But still..."

"If it makes you feel a little better, I've made some major headway with the spell since I saw you yesterday, so it should be almost ready for testing. I might even be able to start tomorrow."

This news did seemed to cheer Shining Armor up a little.

"Just one more day as a filly, huh? I think I can do that. I just need to avoid Cadence until then, and everything will be-"

"Actually..." Twilight gave her brother a sheepish smile.

"Oh no," Shining Armor said, shaking his head furiously, "I am not spending time with her; not while I look like this."

"You will if you want to turn back to normal; I can’t just have Cadence around here while I work on the spell. If she starts asking questions about what I’m working on, then it won’t take long for her to put things together."

"Can't she just go out, and see the town on her own then?"

"Shining Armor, that's so rude. Cadence is my guest. I can't just invite her to Ponyville and say ‘sorry, I'm busy at the moment, so I can’t show you around town like I promised, but why don’t you go out on your own and I’ll see you in the evening.’ What kind of sister-in-law would I be?”

“So you’re just gonna dump her on me?”

Twilight glared at her brother.

“She is your wife; I’d think that you would be happy to spend time with her, no matter what you look like.”

Shining Armor’s ears drooped. Twilight was right; sure his current form embarrassed him beyond belief, and the last pony he wanted to see him like this was Cadence, but she was his wife, and he loved her enough that he knew it shouldn’t have mattered that he was in the body of a little filly.

“Fine,” he finally said, even though he was still feeling a bit anxious about the whole sticky situation, “I’ll do it.”

Twilight’s face softened, and she wrapped a foreleg around her brother’s shoulders.

“It’ll be alright, B.B.B.F.F., Cadence seemed to buy the story I told her about you being called to Canterlot for a meeting with Princess Celestia, so I’m sure she won’t figure out that you’re really her husband. Besides, even if she does find out, this is Cadence we’re talking about; I mean, sure she’d find it a little funny, but she’d never make you feel bad about it.”

“Yeah...I know.”

Shining Armor felt himself calm down just a little, and he gave his sister a smile. It wasn’t a strong smile, but it was enough to assure Twilight that he was going to be fine.

“So are you ready to face Cadence?”

“No...but I will."

With one last deep breath, Shining Armor picked himself off the floor, and made his way back into the other room, where he found the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Cadence sitting on the floor in a circle.

“Sorry about that,"Twilight said, as she and her brother approached the group, "I guess Gleaming Shield was a little nervous about meeting you for the first time. I hope the girls haven't been too much trouble."

"Oh they've been no trouble at all," Cadence said with a giggle. "I've just been helping them with their Crystal Empire homework."

"Princess Cadence has been a huge help," Apple Bloom said, showing Twilight her almost completed worksheet. "Sorry we didn't wait for you, Gleamin' Shield; I know you were gonna help us, but we just couldn't pass up the chance to learn from the princess of the Crystal Empire herself."

"I-it's o-ok," Shining Armor stammered, still feeling a little intimidated by his wife’s presence.

"Awww, there's no need to be shy, Gleaming Shield," Cadence said, picking up on Shining Armor’s unease, "I might be a princess, but we're family now, so just think of me as just another one of your cousins.” She flashed Shining Armor her sweetest smile. Shining Armor wasn't sure, but there was something about her smile that he found foreboding; it was almost like Cadence knew that she was addressing her husband. But she can’t know, he reassured himself, she can't know.

“I-I’m sorry I took off like that,” he said, “I…I just wasn’t expecting to meet you here...for the first time."

"I was just telling Gleaming Shield that, I'm going to be really busy tomorrow, and, uh, that I think the two of you should spend the day together. I'm sure it would help him get over his shyness," Twilight said.

Everypony gave Twilight a confused look. Everypony, except Shining Armor, who slapped a hoof against his face.

"Him?" Apple Bloom asked.

"His?" Scootaloo added.

Twilight gasped when she realized she’d accidentally slipped up.

"HER," she shouted, trying to cover her mistake before anypony started to question it. "Sorry I must be tired from all the studying I've been doing."

"Maybe you should take a break," Sweetie Belle suggested.

Twilight shook her head.

"I can't. It's very important that I get this work finished as soon as poss-" Twilight suddenly yawned very loudly, "-as soon as possible."

"I agree with Sweetie Belle," Cadence said, wrapping a supporting hoof around her sister-in-law's shoulders. "I'm sure whatever you're working on can wait until tomorrow."

Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but instead let out another yawn.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Wait a minute," Apple Bloom suddenly piped in, "Gleamin' Shield can't spend the day with Cadence, she's got school."

"I'll just have to skip it," Shining Armor said. As appealing as school sounded compared to showing Cadence around Ponyville, he had to respect Twilight’s wishes, and keep her occupied for the day.

"But you can't just skip school; Miss Cheerilee will get upset with you."

"Yeah," Scootaloo added, "after what happened between you and Diamond Tiara, it might be a good idea if you didn't do anything else to upset the teacher."

"Hang on," Twilight interrupted, "what happened between you and Diamond Tiara?"

Shining Armor, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath; he had hoped that he could have avoided bringing up the little schoolyard scuffle to his sister, but thanks to the Crusaders, there was no way he was getting out of telling her. He had to face the music, and worst of all, he had to do it in front of his wife.

"She, uh, might have started a fight with me, and," another deep breath, "I might have accidentally cast a levitation spell on her and lifted her off the ground a few inches by the tail...and then got a detention for bullying her."

Twilight looked horrified.

"But don't worry," Shining Armor quickly put in, before his sister could berate him, "I already apologized to her, and she accepted it, so we're all good now."

"Well I'm glad things have worked out between you both," Cadence said.

"Still," Twilight said, giving her brother a stern look, "you need to be more careful. Your magic isn't stable, and could easily react to your emotions."

"I know, I just-"

"I'VE GOT IT!" Sweetie Belle suddenly exclaimed, taking everypony by surprise. "Gleaming Shield, you can't skip school, and Princess Cadence, you'll need something to do while Twilight is working, so why don't you come to school with us."

Shining Armor shook his head furiously.

"I don't think that-"

"That's a great idea," Apple Bloom said. "Since we're already learnin' about the Crystal Empire, Ah'm sure Miss Cheerilee would just love to have The Princess Cadence come and talk to the class for a while."

"Well if you're sure she wouldn't mind having me,” Cadence said, “then I would be honored to teach your class more about-"

Gurrrrrg!

A sudden low growling sound echoed throughout the room.

"Oh my, how embarrassing.” Cadence held a hoof to her stomach. "I guess it’s been a while since I've had something to eat."

Twilight thought for a moment.

"Well," she finally said, "I was planning on making stew for dinner tonight, if that's alright with you."

Cadence's stomach emitted another rumble.

"Actually, would it be possible for us to have hayburgers? Lately I've been having the strongest craving hayburgers. Hayburgers with hot sauce, and pickles."

Twilight and Shining Armor stared at Cadence, shocked; not once in the many years that they had known her had she ever had a sudden urge to eat burgers before. Not that she didn't enjoy them every once in a while, she just had never expressed having a craving for them. And what was with the hot sauce, and pickles?

"I guess we can do that, only I don't have anything to make them with, so we'd have to go out if that's alright?"

"As long as they can make my hayburgers spicy, then it'll be fine."

"Uh, yeah, I think they can do that."

Yet another growl.

"Then lead the way, sister-in-law; I don't know how much longer I can last."

Twilight guided Cadence and Shining Armor to the door.

"Wait," Apple Bloom called, "aren't you gonna help us with the rest of our homework?"

Cadence walked up to the little fillies, and smiled sweetly.

"I'm afraid you three are on your own from here on in," she said, "but I’m confident that you'll do just fine without me."

The Crusaders returned Cadence's smile, bumped each others hooves, and cheered, obviously pleased with the idea that Cadence trusted that they would succeed without her help. When their homework was packed away into their saddlebags, they followed the others out into the early evening air.

...

The sun had almost completely disappeared below the horizon when Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo said their goodbyes, and parted ways.

"Bye," Sweetie Belle called, as she turned around in the cart to wave to Cadence, "we'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning."

"I'm looking forward to it," Cadence shouted back.

As they continued down the road, Cadence couldn't help but turn her head every which way, taking in the shops that they passed, most of which already had their lights out, and little signs on the doors that read "closed."

"This is such a nice little town," she said, taking in a deep breath of the sweet summer air. "Don't get me wrong, I love living in the Crystal Empire, but there's just something about a town like this that just seems so peaceful."

"Well I wouldn't say it's always this calm," Twilight said, with a roll of her eyes, and a giggle. "It seems like almost every week there's some sort of commotion that disrupts the peace. Like the time a unicorn named Trixie showed up, claiming that she was better than everypony at everything, and the town almost got destroyed by an Ursa Minor because she’d claimed she was powerful enough to take down an Ursa Major; or like when Spike was overcome with greed, turned into a full sized dragon, and started rampaging through town, taking things that didn't belong to him; then there was the other time when Trixie came, challenged me to a magic duel, cheated, banished me, then apologized after I tricked her into thinking a door stop was a powerful artifact that would amplify her magical abilities."

Shining Armor and Cadence stopped walking, gave each other a blank stare, then broke out in fits of hysterical laughter.

"Oh my," Cadence said, trying to regain her composure, "well it certainly seems like you've got your hooves full here." Another burst of laughter flooded over the couple.

Twilight turned, and smiled, happy to see that, for the moment at least, her brother was getting along with his wife despite the awkward situation.

“Well, it’s not like that all the time, but those types of things do happen, and when they do, it can be a bit of a hassle to get things back to normal. That’s why I’m happy to have such good friends; we all help each other out when things get out hoof.”

For a moment, Shining Armor forgot about his trepidation, and allowed himself a brief, proud, brotherly smile; Twilight had always been so antisocial when she was just a filly, that he had feared that she would never be able to make friends with anypony other than Cadence or himself. No matter how much he or his wife had tried to convince Twilight to try and be a little more sociable, she would just make excuses, saying that having other ponies around all the time would be too troublesome, and would distract her from her very important work for Princess Celestia. When Shining Armor had received a letter from Twilight after the return (and subsequent defeat) of Nightmare Moon saying that she was able to return Princess Luna to normal with the help of the new friends she had made in Ponyville, he had felt great relief that his sister had finally opened up to other ponies.

The trio of ponies continued their way through Ponyville until at long last they reached a long building, with large windows, through which Shining Armor could look inside and see ponies sitting in booths, munching on food. The giant sign, which was brightly lit against the growing darkness, had a picture of a hay burger, and a soft drink painted on it, signaling to anypony who could see it that this was a place to get fast (and most likely cheap) food.

As they stepped through the front door, the scents of grilled hay patties, and hot horseshoe fries that wafted out from the kitchen transported Shining Armor back to his foalhood, to the nights when his parents were too tired, or too busy to make dinner, and would take the whole family out to the Hay Burger. Everything from the window booths, to the floors, sticky with various spilled beverages, was just like how he remembered the one back in Canterlot. It had been quite a few years since he had set hoof in this type of fast food establishment; after joining the cadets, he had stuck to a very strict diet to keep in shape, and as a result he hadn’t touched a hayburger since.

As they approached the front counter, a young, unicorn mare with a blue mane tied back, and a sunny disposition, greeted them.

"Hi, welcome to the Hay Burger," she said with a cheery smile, "what can we get for you this evening, Princess Twilight?"

Twilight stepped up to the counter when the cashier addressed her.

"I'd like a double hayburger, with cheese, a large side of horseshoe fries, and a medium iced tea."

After quickly jotting down Twilight's order, the mare turned to Shining Armor, and her smile grew even wider.

"My what a cute filly you are. And what will you be having?"

"Uh, could I get a couple hayburgers, a large fry, and a large iced tea?"

The mare broke out in a series of giggles.

"I think that might be a bit too much food for such a little filly. How about the foals meal instead? That should be just the right size for you, plus it comes with a really cool toy."

Shining Armor looked from the mare to his sister, who just shrugged her shoulders, to Cadence, who seemed to find the situation quite humorous.

"Fine, I'll have the...foals meal."

Again, the mare smiled as she took down the order.

"And what'll it be for y-y-y..."

The mare stammered when she noticed Cadence’s horn, wings, and crown, and realized that was in the presence of yet another Alicorn princess.

“Your Highne-ouch.” The mare tried to bow as a sign of respect, but forgot to back up, and accidentally bumped her head on the counter.

"Oh dear, are you alright?” Cadence asked.

The cashier just nodded her head frantically, though she held a hoof to the spot where she had contacted the counter.

“What can I get for you, your High-”

Cadence smiled, as she held up a hoof to stop the mare.

“Please, just call me Cadence. And I'll have three regular hayburgers with cheese, um, an order of sliders, a medium fry, and a strawberry lemonade. Oh, and could I get hot sauce and extra pickles on all of my burgers?”

The cashier, Twilight, and Shining Armor all stared at Cadence, not believing what she had just ordered. Cadence, clearly saw them all looking at her funny.

“It's...been a while since I've eaten," she said. This seemed to be enough to satisfy the cashier's curiosity, but Shining Armor was still trying to figure out what was going on with his wife's appetite.

When their food had been served, Shining Armor and Cadence followed Twilight to a table where they sat down, and began to eat. Or at least Cadence began to eat; Shining Armor and Twilight just sat there, stunned, watching the pink alicorn as she devoured burger after burger. And they weren't the only ones; a couple of ponies sitting at a nearby table had taken notice of Cadence, and stared, slack jawed, shocked that a princess was putting away so much junk food right in front of them.

"Aren't you two going to eat?" Cadence asked when she noticed that the other two had not yet touched their food.

"Oh uh, right," Twilight said, as she and her brother quickly undid the paper packaging of their food and began to eat.

While neither of the princesses seemed to mind their burgers, Shining Armor found his foals meal to be more disappointing than what he remembered from when he had actually been a foal. It wasn't that the food was bad, on the contrary Shining Armor thought that the Hayburger was surprisingly good for fast food, it just couldn't compare to the food that he had at Sweet Apple Acres the night before. Not only that, but the "really cool toy" had turned out to be a cheap plastic doll of a pink unicorn mare with a yellow mane, who the tag around her neck said, was named Pink Lemonade. Very cool, Shining Armor thought, as he tossed the toy aside, and reached for his horseshoe fries.

"So how have you been enjoying your stay in Ponyville so far, Gleaming Shield?" Cadence asked, after taking a sip of her tea to wash down the food.

"It's certainly been...eventful," he said, still finding it difficult to look his wife in the eye.

Cadence nodded and smiled, encouraging her filly-husband to go into more detail.

"Since I've been here, I've been initiated into the Cutie Mark Crusaders, became a police officer for a day - which now that I think about it, might have actually been illegal - and found some missing muffins, went to school - ahem - got into a little fight, got a detention, had a sleepover with the Crusaders at their clubhouse, apologized for getting into a fight, and now I'm eating with you at the Hayburger."

"My, it certainly sounds like you've been busy."

"Very busy." Of course Shining Armor had conveniently left out where he accidentally caused a colt to have a crush on him, and that prior to coming home, he had been a part of a small fashion show.

"Well I can't wait to explore the town; I'd been hoping to visit Ponyville for a while now, but I've just been so busy with returning the Crystal Empire back to its former glory, and preparing for the Equestia Games. It was unfortunate that when Shining Armor and I had finally found some time to visit, I was in no condition to make the trip." Cadence gave a little chuckle. "I was beginning to think that I was fated to never see my sister-in-law's home."

"I'm glad you were feeling well enough to make the trip," Twilight said.

"Me too. I just wish that Shining Armor was here too. Where is he anyway, Twilight? You never told me why he had to leave."

“Oh, he’s, ummm…”

“He was called away to Canterlot on urgent business, remember, Twilight?”

Twilight gave her brother a blank stare, trying to process what he had just said, then nodded quickly, trying to collaborate his story.

“Oh yeah, that’s right, he’s in Canterlot now. Sorry, I guess I really do need a good night’s sleep, if I keep forgetting things like that. But don’t worry, he shouldn't be gone for too much longer. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if he showed up tomorrow night.”

Twilight risked giving her brother a little wink to remind him that he wouldn't be stuck in his filly body for much longer. This seemed to calm Shining Armor down a bit; just thinking that in one more day he would be changing back into himself made the idea of spending a few hours as filly with Cadence bearable.

Shining Armor's heart began to race as Cadence looked down at him, still wearing that beautiful smile of hers, only now there was something about it that scared him; for a moment, there was a knowing look in her eyes, as if she knew that it was him that she was staring at, and not a little filly. She doesn't know, he reminded himself, as he forced himself to smile innocently back. She doesn't know.

When they were finished eating, Twilight, Shining Armor, and Cadence got up, took care of their trash, waved goodbye to the cashier (and the cooks, who poked their heads out of the kitchen to catch a glimpse of The Princess Cadence) as they made their way out of the restaurant.

Back outside, Shining Armor took a deep breath of the cool night air and felt himself relax a bit; he'd been so caught up in the hubbub of the Crusaders' adventures, that he hadn't gotten to appreciate just how peaceful Ponyville was. Things back home had been busy ever since the defeat of Sombra, especially in recent months now that they were preparing to host the Equestria Games. With all the construction, and ponies asking for his and Cadence's approval on things from sunrise, to sunset, the young prince had almost forgotten how wonderful Luna's nights could really be.

Glancing over at Cadence, he found that she shared the same sentiment; her content smile, and the way she fluttered her wings told Shining Armor that she was definitely enjoying her time in Ponyville so far. Suddenly the young prince felt a twinge of sadness mix with his nervousness; sadness because he was deceiving his wife, the pony he had sworn to always be truthful to, and sadness because although they were only a couple of feet away from each other, being in his little filly body made Shining Armor feel miles away from the mare he loved. She was right there, and he couldn't embrace her, or tell her that he loved her; not yet anyway. Just one more day, he told himself.

When they were finally back at the library, a wave of yawns seemed to wash over each of them in turn. Despite the fact that it was still fairly early in the evening, all three ponies had had a long day, and were ready for Princess Luna to carry them off the world of sleep, and dreams. Even Twilight had to admit that the prospect of sleeping in her own bed was more appealing than spending one more night in a row seated at her study table.

"Wait a second," Twilight said, as they reached the second floor landing, "I only have the one guest bed."

“I, uh, can take Spike’s bed,” he said, glancing over at the baby dragon’s little wicker basket. “He doesn’t seem to be using it tonight.”

Twilight shook her head.

“You don’t have to do that, Gleaming Shield. You can just sleep with me.”

"Nonsense," Cadence said, "you're our host, so you shouldn't have to share a bed." She suddenly wrapped a foreleg around Shining Armor's shoulders, causing a shiver to travel down his spine. "Gleaming Shield and I don't mind sharing the guest bed, right?"

"Uh, right," Shining Armor said, feeling less excited than usual about sleeping in the same bed with his wife. Don’t be stupid, Shining Armor, he told himself, it's not like she can figure out who you are in her sleep.

So without further debate, Shining Armor climbed onto the bed next to Cadence, who had already hunkered down under the light layer of blankets. Just one more day, he reminded himself again, as he tried to make himself comfortable, just one more day.

"Goodnight, Cadence. Goodnight, Gleaming Shield," Twilight called from the other side of the room.

"Goodnight," the other two said in almost perfect unison.

With that, Twilight blew out the lantern that hung on the post by her bed, covering the room in a blanket of darkness, and moonlight.

This might not be so bad, Shining Armor thought, as he lay there, waiting to drift off to sleep, I just need to play innocent filly for a day, and then I can spend the next week relaxing with Cad-

Shining Armor’s heart suddenly froze when he felt a foreleg wrap around him, and pull him in tight. His eyes immediately shot open, and he looked up to see Cadence fast asleep, and cuddled up right next to him. Usually Shining Armor didn’t mind Cadence hugging him in her sleep (which she did often), but right now he just wanted to put as much distance between himself and his wife as possible.

“Uh, Cadence,” he whispered, “could you let go?”

But Cadence didn’t answer, she just pulled her husband closer.

Shining Armor tried to slip away, but Cadence’s grip was unrelenting. Great, Shining Armor sighed, finally giving up his struggle, this is gonna be a long night.