Preview for the first chapter of my new story · 5:19am Dec 13th, 2020
An early look at the first chapter of Rule for Bodyguards, my new story centered on the blossoming romance between Shining Armor and Princess Cadance,.
It had started out normal enough. Where had it gone wrong? He'd woken up, girded his armor, reported for duty, responded to a disturbance in the castle, spilled scalding hot coffee on Prince Blueblood...
Oh. Right. The Coffee Incident.
Looking back on it, things had gone downhill from there, starting with being screamed at by his superiors for the better part of an hour. Ending with chasing a cranky cockatrice through the courtyard, trying not to become the latest fashionable statue in Princess Celestia’s garden. Still, he’d had the sweet oblivion of sleep to look forward to until his door had burst open and his commanding officer told his to get dressed and ready to present himself to the Princesses. Now, he stood outside the throne room, after day court hours, trying not to sweat through his uniform.
The doors to the throne room creaked open and the guards outside uncrossed their spears, granting him access to the sanctuary. He swallowed nervously and entered, trying to appear more confident than he felt. Who knew? Maybe the princesses were just feeling sociable this evening?
The stern look on Celestia’s face did away with that faint hope. He approached the throne and bowed deeply, nearly prostrating himself before the princess.
“Your highness,” he said slowly, “You sent for me?”
“I did.” A pregnant pause hung in the air like an unspoken threat. “I received a very interesting message from my nephew during my tea time this afternoon, asking me to consider reinstating capital punishment. Would you care to explain to me why Prince Blueblood is in the medical wing with coffee burns over 20% of his body, including his-”
“I think we all know the extent of his injures, Celestia,” Cadance interjected. “What is more telling is the fact that nopony who was actually at the... incident could or would give a clear answer as to what happened. As the only guard on the scene, we were hoping you could answer a few questions about the exact sequence of events.”
Shining Armor hesitated. “That... may be difficult, ma’am.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And why is that?”
“I have taken an oath of secrecy, in front of witnesses regarding the events of this morning, my princess. I can no more renege on this vow them my own solemn promise to you.”
“I see.... and if I ask Blueblood about this promise, will he confirm that you did, indeed, make this vow of secrecy?”
“Most definitely, your highness. In fact, it was his idea.”
“is that so? Interesting.” Shining could feel Celestia’s eyes upon him, like she was trying to look into his soul to find the truth of the matter. After a few seconds, she turned to Cadance. “What do you think, Cadance? How would you handle this?”
Cadance looked at Celestia, then back at Shining Armor, biting her lip in a rather undignified manner. “When I was there earlier, the Doctor said that he was expecting Blueblood to make a full recovery, with no lingering physical effects from the incident. Given the minor injuries of the involved parties, the desire to keep the matter private, and the total lack of evidence, I think the only thing we can to warn everypony to be on their best behavior.”
Celestia continued to stare at Shining for a few seconds, then nodded. “I think that is all we can do, given the situation as it stands.” Shining let out an audible sigh of relief, nearly collapsing to the floor.
So, it is done. I take my secrets to the grave. And not an early one.
"if that is all, princess, then I would like to-”
“We have more to discuss, Private Armor,” Celestia interrupted, “matters not related to the events of today.” Shining’s heart fell again.
“Relax, Shining, it’s not bad,” Cadance giggled, “in fact, it's good news! We’re giving you a promotion! Sort of.” She shrugged. “I mean, you’ll have a much more stressful job, but on the other hoof, you get to hang out with us more, that should make up for it, right?”
Shining Armor looked up at the two princesses above him, not understanding.
“Cadance has selected you to lead her bodyguard escort on her first diplomatic mission to Roam, Corporal Armor,” Celestia said emphasizing his new rank. “in spite of the events of today, I have decided to go along with this, given your mutual history, among other things.”
“Princess... this is a great honor-”
“No, Corporal. This is not an honor; this is a duty. I will be holding you personally responsible for her wellbeing. Do you understand what all this entails?” Shining Armor nodded. He knew the results if his incompetence or negligence led to Cadance being harmed. Celestia had outlawed Capital Punishment centuries ago, but there were still a number of very unpleasant places to serve out a life sentence. He'd been trained how to be a personal bodyguard, but he’d never expected to need those skills, considering his rather poor performance during testing. Or at least, what he’d thought had been a poor performance.
I’m either the beneficiary of rampant nepotism, or rampant incompetence. Yay me.
I need to do another editing pass before I'm ready to ship it, but so far, I'm loving what I have. I definitely feel more confident about this story then my last. I won't be taking down Recollections, but I am putting it on Hiatus until I'm ready to fill out the backstory a little more. Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
