//------------------------------// // 9 The Aesthete's Spirit // Story: Alternate Beginnings: Year Four // by Doug Graves //------------------------------// Princess Cadance settles into her chair, pulling over a glass of apple juice and a tray of nuts. She takes a drink as Princess Celestia eyes the leftover yellow cake, glancing between the gathered ponies before the tray softly scrapes along the table, stopping in front of her. Pinkie Pie steps forward, pawing the ground a single time as she gives Princess Celestia a hard stare. Princess Celestia stares back, a brief showdown between the two as a tumbleweed blows by accompanied by a slow drumroll and Applejack whistling, a warbling up and down as she beats her hooves against the floor. The staring contest continues as Applejack whispers to Rarity, "Nice effect with that." Rainbow Dash eagerly jumps into Doug's lap as he takes a seat, one leg on each side of his hips, though she frowns as he maneuvers himself away from between her legs. She pouts as he says, "Sorry, Rainbow, but you told me earlier, before your heat started, to ignore any protests you made, no matter how badly you beg me." "Pah!" Rainbow scoffs, her eyes shifting back and forth, "I don't beg. You can't prove anything." She settles against him, her wings staying forced to her sides while his hand rubs her mane. Applejack sits between Rarity and Doug, looking up at her stallion with a pleading look on her face. Doug rolls his eyes, one hand petting Applejack while the other alternates between Rainbow and Fluttershy. Rainbow grabs an apple with her teeth, holding the fruit up so Doug can take a bite. The room goes silent as Princess Celestia and Pinkie Pie paw the ground, mirroring each other. Both of them look to the cake, then back at each other, before snorting and charging. They collide, Princess Celestia's horn narrowly missing Pinkie's head as a localized cloud of dust forms around them. Pinkie Pie seems able to hold her own by the existence of more limbs than an earth pony is commonly agreed to have, while Princess Celestia seems to be holding back, her horn remaining unpowered. After ten seconds of roughhousing Pinkie Pie is ejected from the dust cloud towards the table. The cloud clears, revealing the Princess raising a hoof, "Huzzah! Victory is mine!" She gasps as Pinkie Pie slowly gets up, the earth pony standing on two legs and raising her hooves to her muzzle, "I didn't hear no bell," before weaving back and forth. Princess Celestia mimics the two legged stance, raising her hooves, before Pinkie Pie turns and scarfs down half of the remaining cake and makes a mad dash to the kitchen. "Thief! Vagabond! Come back, you, you violator of the sacred field of cake boxing!" Princess Celestia gives chase, leaping over the table as the collected ponies turn to Princess Cadance. "So," Rarity says, "Tell us about this pony!" Princess Cadance smiles, "Well, we were both attending Canterlot Academy when we first met. I was going there while completing my Friendship Lessons for Princess Celestia. I had already ascended at the time, of course, and did my best to downplay my being a Princess and instead tried to fit in as anypony else would. I first noticed Shining Armor when he dropped his Ogres and Oubliettes books and I helped him pick them up." Rarity titters, "Oh, did you know Doug also plays? Or, at least, a different version of the game. Maybe you should have him over, I'm sure Doug could whip up a character for him!" "Oh, that would be fun, wouldn't it? At the time, I didn't know how much he was into those games." Princess Cadance smiles, looking at Princess Celestia as she walks back into the room carrying Pinkie Pie in her magic. Princess Celestia drops an immobile Pinkie Pie onto her chair, taking a seat on top of her, "Have at thee, royal rump warmer! This is your punishment for eating cake that is rightfully ours!" Princess Celestia looks at Princess Cadance, smiling, "Yes, he was quite the geek then. Oh, listen to me; he still is." Princess Cadance laughs, "Yes, he is. He managed to get up the courage to invite me to play, and I did, but his friends were just so in awe! Like they couldn't imagine him ending up with a mare like me. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself; that part didn't happen until later, once we were together. Let's see; at the time, I didn't know that he was involved in the royal guard, so my first impression of him was this gentle giant of a stallion who was so afraid to move around, like he might hurt somepony just by bumping into them. You see, he had to go through the earth pony section of the guard training in order to eventually qualify for captain, so he had some impressive muscles under his coat that he did his best to portray as, how shall I say, a little extra to grab onto." Applejack remarks, "Yeah, sounds like Big Mac; he can pull a house by himself if he has the mind to, but you won't see him challenge anypony to a wrestling contest." Princess Cadance smiles, "Yes, that does sound like Shiny. Never was the instigator of anything, barely even stood up for himself. I mean, we eventually went to a dance together where he asked me out, but that is a story for another time." Rarity pouts, "Aww, but we have time now!" Princess Cadance rolls her eyes, "Oh, fine, but there really isn't much to tell. Shining Armor thought I was going to the school dance with another stallion, so he never asked me. I thought he was busy or not really interested; I had been delaying this other stallion that asked me, but Shining never came around. I eventually said yes to this other stallion who kept pestering me over and over. I later grilled Shiny's sister for information, and made her promise not to tell him about the incident. And she wouldn't break a promise." From underneath Princess Celestia comes a muffled sentence, indecipherable except the last word, "Forever!" Princess Cadance continues, "Later, at the dance, I found out that he was, in fact, available and interested. I left my date and went to Shining Armor." Princess Celestia chuckles, "Yes, I do remember telling you to ditch that stallion you were with the first chance you got." "I really am jumping around a lot. So, at the start of the dance, the two of us, that is, myself and Buck, the stallion I was originally going to the dance with, we were crowned Fall Formal Queen and King. Which is funny, being a princess already. But, Shining Armor managed to convince the crowd of ponies of Buck's faults, and I gave Shining Armor the crown." The gathered mares beat their hooves onto the floor, Princess Cadance and Princess Celestia smiling at each other. "So, Shining Armor invited me to play a game or two of Ogres with his friends, but you don't want to hear about that." Doug says, "I want to-" before Rainbow silences him by pushing her mouth against his. Doug's long sigh is only slightly muffled, the pegasus barely able to keep herself from laughing as he changes his sigh into a long kiss. "Oh, don't mind him," Rarity says, "Tell us more about Shining Armor, he sounds dreamy." "Every bit and more." Princess Cadance looks up, eyes lost in the ceiling, "His love for me runs deep, as deep as Doug's love for all of you. He truly cares about me and all of the ponies around him, and will make an excellent consort and hopefully sire for our children. Alas, he will not be the first stallion I attempt to foal with. Whether that is for the best, I do not know; however, if I had tried with him, and it did not work between us then, I do not know if any amount of encouragement would have convinced me to try with him again. At the time I tried with the Prince, I did not know about Doug and his, how shall I say, potential. I do believe I ruined the Prince, though, he never was quite the same afterwards. He aspired to be consort with every fiber of his being, and did his best to please me. And he got to touch his dream before it was cruelly taken away from him." Princess Celestia gives a sad smile, "Yes, I do hope he is able to recover eventually, but it has been years and he is still as reclusive as he was before he attempted with you. But, sister, do not worry about my nephew, and I am sure that we will find a way to make it work between you and Shining Armor." "Well, Princesses, know we here are glad to give any assistance we can," Applejack says, smiling at the two alicorns. Her voice lowers conspiratorially, "Are ya planning on trying with him soon?" Princess Celestia interjects, "Speaking of trying soon, it is nearly time." The room goes silent as three sets of eyes light up, all attention focused on Fluttershy. The mare shies away at the attention, hiding behind her mane. Doug rubs her back, the pegasus flinching initially at the contact before cuddling closer to him. A few minutes later and the light in the room winks out, the Princesses returning to their previous positions and Rarity slowly sitting down. Celestia continues, "Fascinating, as always. I believe I am close to something, but not quite there; it may need a little research to the viability. Congratulations, Fluttershy, on your new filly. So, Cadance, you were saying about Shining?" Princess Cadance shakes her head, "Well, when I applied to join your herd two years ago Shining Armor was just promoted to lieutenant, part of the officer corps program. Princess Celestia hoof picked him to be on the fast track for promotion. I think she had an inkling of what would go on between us, what with how she assigned him to go to Canterlot Academy for additional lessons on the civilian side of things." "I will neither confirm nor deny my intentions with regards to any ponies, present or not." "Of course you won't. Now, where was I? Oh yes, so we graduate from Canterlot Academy; Shining had to keep his position in the guard a secret; well, not a secret, or I couldn't tell you, but just not commonly known. Shining Armor hopes to get promoted to Captain of the Guard in the next few years as he continues his training. Once that happens, we are sure to be married, as it would be a little improper for a Princess to get married to a pony of a lower station, even to a rapidly rising star." Princess Celestia winks, "Not that we would let that stop us, but we might find a way to get them an appointment or advance their career if it were the case. But Shining Armor certainly doesn't need the help, his shield spells live up to his name." Rarity sighs, looking over at Doug with a dreamy expression on her face, "It must be so nice to be married to your special somepony." Doug coughs, "Yeah, well, I already told you it already happened and we don't need to go through all that hassle." Rarity slides over to Doug, putting on her best face, "But, darling, it would be a fabulous opportunity to showcase all of us." As Rarity lists off each name the mare turns to Doug, giving him their widest smile. Even Pinkie Pie, peeking out from under Princess Celestia, "I can make us stand out in beautiful dresses, Applejack can cater the main course while Pinkie Pie handles the party, Rainbow can provide the entertainment, showcasing her moves, once she has recovered of course. Fluttershy provides the music, with a bird choir. Doug, you will just stand there, since that seems to be all you want to do." The gathered mares laugh, Princess Cadance saying, "That sounds marvelous, Rarity, I just may have to steal all of you in order to pull that off when it comes to my own wedding." Doug rolls his eyes, "And when you catch the bridal bouquet then we can plan the... rewedding? Maybe marriage celebration that you want to have so badly. Rainbow should be better by then, gives all of you time to prepare, decide if you really-" Rarity's eyes light up as she cuts him off, "Oh, darling, thank you so much! You won't be disappointed, I guarantee it!" as the other mares gather around, beaming at Doug. "Well, I can see I'm outvoted here. Yes, it'll be a great party. Woohoo." Doug manages to get as little enthusiasm as possible into his cheer, Pinkie Pie scoffing as she disappears underneath Princess Celestia. Rarity turns back to Princess Cadance, "So, tell us more, what's he like?" Princess Cadance giggles, "Well, you know he is a little bit of a nerd." Princess Celestia smirks at 'little', "And he's madly in love with me. And, when you put those two together, he tends to go to outlandish lengths to try to prove this love to me, even though I know he loves me with his whole heart. So, there was one time, he got all of his friends and a few others, I think they were new recruits, to dress up as monsters. Then, he had me dress up in this really tight, form fitting suit. I have no idea how he got my dimensions so exact, or who made it for him, though he probably made it himself. It was mostly blue, and white, and had all sorts of bandages wrapped around my hooves and head. I could barely see out of it! And he dresses in this green tunic, and we wander around 'fighting' his friends. Well, originally he wanted me to be captured by the monsters, but I told him that I thought that he should be the one captured and I would be rescuing him. We decided to run around together then, after that, both of us fighting the monsters and finding pieces of crystal hearts." "Oh dear, I'm beginning to doubt my earlier idea about inviting him over," Rarity quips. "Too late, I already heard it." Doug reaches over to scratch Rarity's ears as she rolls her eyes. "Well, he's always been kind to me. He could stand up for himself a little more, but that could have just been a product of being in a school environment. After all, it wouldn't do to win your schoolyard scuffles by pinning somepony to a wall with a shield, now would it?" Princess Cadance smiles, peering into a glass of apple juice before continuing, "You can't exactly remove the guard training that they made all of us go through. And they don't include many courses on, how shall I say, diplomatic solutions." Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance stand, a brief bow to the assembled mares. Princess Celestia says, "Well, my little ponies, it has been wonderful, as always. Thank you again for your assistance." "Of course, your highness, we're always glad to offer our help, however you need it." Applejack looks over at Fluttershy, the pegasus returning a shy smile, "Do, uh, do you think you'll need to visit us again? It's been a pleasure having you here." "I believe so; after observing you and your foal today, I believe that it would very likely work between Doug and either myself or Cadance. And if the foals turned out low powered, which they likely would - well, low powered for an alicorn - it would correct in a generation. However, as we know that is not your, or even our, at this point, preferred solution, I think a bit more research is in order." Princess Celestia winks at Applejack and Doug, "Let us know what, if any, decisions you make in that regard." The gathered ponies wave, heading to bed while the Princesses stand. "Good night, my little ponies." Princess Celestia gives a short bow as three mares walk out of the room. Fluttershy pauses, looking back at Doug with a smile and rubbing her belly before she leaves, leaving Rainbow quietly snoring in Doug's arms as he stands.