//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: True Love Waits (To See Your Smile) 
// Story: Érōs 
// by Ice Star 
//------------------------------//

Cadance's hoof tapped the face of her sky blue acoustic guitar absentmindedly. She owned many instruments, since she took care to ensure that royal status didn't rob her of beloved hobbies. Shining knew she would own many more — including some that he would never see — but this guitar was quite new, and it was not the same as the usual bass she liked to play.

Lighting her horn with a similar shade of blue, she plucked at a few strings and ran the arcane energy through her short-cropped curls. Even this far north, the noon sun hit them at just the right angle, illuminating the blonde streaks in it just right, and Shining liked that. Reminders of the land he once called home could be found anywhere, and often where he least expected. How could he not savor such treasures?

The sports were different. Here, jousting was all the rage, and ice hockey was too. Stories and legends lacked the elusive Starswirl the Bearded that many foals had whispered about with excitement — a lone sorcerer, a mystery, and even Twily no longer spoke of her old idol. In the Crystal Empire, their great heroes were Crystal Alicorns, gleaming ponies of the past, Cadance, Shining himself, and Spike.

And Spike? He now slept deep in the Gemheart Mountains caves, slumbering and collecting a hoard of his own. The huge drake could have no better place to sleep than in a nation that adored him. 

Shining cleared his throat, and his magic reached for the glass of ale next to him. The crystalline mug was carved with images of shieldmaiden mares — a tradition Equestria was foreign with. The Equestrian Royal Guard, his proud EUP, was unified and traditionally for anypony who identified as male. At least in his days. For decades, Luna had worked to completely overhaul the legionary unity and mostly-male force — diverse new magics, armor types, fighting methods, and everything state of the art ruled. The military he once knew was gone, and could no longer even be called the EUP. Non-ponies had been allowed in the royal guard for the first time under Luna's orders, and now all genders could be drafted in times of crisis instead of just stalli— err, males. He sipped his drink calmly, the only thoughts on his mind being the taste of ale, a dislike of hospitals, and how he savored every moment out of them...

...and of course...

...Cadance.

She would be on his mind often — forever and always — especially if there was a world where they were divine. She was his wife, his one and only, his love. She was a demigod too, with a centuries-long lifespan. She was going to live beyond a normal pony's two hundred years.

Sometimes he thought about that.

Sometimes a bit too often.

Maybe today was one of those days.

"Dear," Shining said when Cadance still hadn't played anything, "is something wrong?"

Cadance's purple eyes were now trained on him, with the barest hint of concern that he could recognize before anypony else when he saw her look like that. "No, Shiny. Just haven't thought of what I wanted to play." She pats the face of the guitar with a forehoof and lets the sound sink in. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Mm-hmm, yes dear." It wasn't a mumble but he spoke quietly and quickly enough. Shining Armor took another sip. It was a slow day; a day to relax and savor laziness. He was no Twily, but he'd have to work out the knots of his thoughts some other time. Maybe later. 

He watched as Cadance scrunched up her muzzle. "Are you sure you're doing okay, Prince Brooding Armor?"

Shining sighed. "Yes, Candybutt—"

A hoof thumped the guitar in surprise. "DON'T CALL ME THAT!" his wife shrieked.

Shining felt himself smile, and it occurred to him that was the first smile he had given all morning. To Cadance. To himself.

And then he heard a quick guffaw die in his throat and a giggle.

He mouthed 'Candybutt' in her direction, and she plucked a couple of guitar strings in irritation. Her muzzle still scrunched as sunbeams danced across it, casting stripes of light along her pink coat.

Another guffaw escaped Shining, sounding half like a cough. But he was smiling as he did so. His horn lit up with his magenta aura, and he scratched his mostly gray beard. Did they need any words for moments like this? He didn't think so.

Cadance smiled at him again, for what must've been the twentieth time this morning, and the gesture was still sweet. "You know what? I think, I know what I'm going to play—"

Shining's smile stuck. "You do? What's it going to be, eh?"

"Why don't you wait and see?" Cadance poked her tongue out at him and Shining even heard himself snicker. Today was certainly shaping up alright, wasn't it?

"Fine," he said, voice oozing unsubtle mock-impatience, "keep me waiting forever."

For a split second, there was a slice of silence between them that both understood. Then earnest, bubbly laughter from Shining's teasing wife was the only noise around them.

"You won't be waiting forever," Cadance mutters, her cheerfulness unabashed by the slight slip, but there's still a sigh in her voice.

Around them, the pause stretches, flowing thickly between them in the crystal-walled parlor. Shining wonders what shrewd Skyla will be doing this cold morning in her wing of the castle. Once his Empress Cadance retires, she will be able to step up and rule. Must his daughter really be the Crystalline sovereign so soon? He still remembered when she would canter out into the chill of sunrise snowdrifts right after breakfast as a little filly. 

Maybe he only thought it was a little cold today, even after all his years in the Empire.

Cadance splits the silence with a hum and his name. "Shiny?"

"Mhm?"

"Are you gonna listen?"

His smile is still there. "Yes, Cady, I'm all ears."

From across the room, a burst of blue aura tugs at his mane. Cady pulls at the lock as she shoots him a stink eye that Shining Armor always thinks would be more natural on Luna, since Cadance always makes it look too playful. She then adjusts the guitar in her forehooves and leans back against the walls that Shining often found to be chilly even now, and the white outside the window acted as her backdrop.

"Anyway," she said, posed over her guitar, "here's—"

"Cady," Shining said, blue eyes lighting up and foalish whimsy causing his ears to prick forward — though not nearly as quickly as they used to. "Look outside."

She turned around, mouth opening, and the breath of a question never spoken fogging the window. But Cady smiled a little wider when she saw the new snowflakes falling toward the ground below, dusting their empire with an enchanting layer of white. High above them, the Empire's aurora lit up the daytime snow with all the colors of the world brought to their cherished home.