//------------------------------// // Fluttershy I // Story: Perspectives // by StunningSwan //------------------------------// My name is Fluttershy. I belong to the House of Shy, an aristocratic family. Though I am the eldest child of the family, I wasn’t meant to be the heir. My younger brother took that position since the law states that the firstborn legitimate son is to inherit his parent's entire estate. As the only daughter of my family, the only role left for me to play was to get married.  It was decided that I was going to marry Count Iron Will. He was much older than me, but he promised my parents that I would be taken care of. It is a norm for young mares to marry old guys like him, but I still couldn’t cope with it. I begged my parents to stop this engagement, but they refused. I had no choice in the matter. I was stuck, counting my days down until the wedding. That was until she summoned me. I was called upon to the Imperial Palace by Consort Cadence, the wife of Emperor Shining Armor.  “Your Highness”, I said as I greeted the Consort. Consort Cadence giggled and walked to me, “Why are you using formal speech? You can speak freely inside my palace”. “B-but your Highness-“ The Consort rolled her eyes, “It’s been awhile old friend”.  She gave me a hug and the warm atmosphere she gives off made me feel less tense. I relaxed and said, “I missed you Cadence”. Though Cadence was a commoner and from a different origin than mines, we knew each other since we were kids. She was the daughter of my old nanny, so we became close friends.  When her mother died, Cadence was only at her late teens. I offered her a place at the Shy Estate, but she refused. She wanted to become independent, so she left. We would write letter to each other and I would sometimes send her money. She refused the money of course, but after repeatedly sending the money front and back, she finally gave up and accepted it. Who knew a mare like her would become the lover of the Emperor. Rumors have said he was vicious and grim, how could my sweet and kind Cadence get with somepony like that? I had to ask her. After our little greeting, she guided me to a table where we drank tea and we started to talk about our lives. “Cadence? May I ask you something about the Emperor?” “Of course, what do you want to know?” “Is the rumors about the Emperor being vicious and grim true?” Cadence rolled her eyes and said, “Of course not. Shiny is a sweetheart when you actually get to know him” I was astonished.  Cadence laughed and said, “What’s with that expression? Did my answer really surprise you?” I shrugged. “Well, if any pony else said that, I wouldn’t have believed them. Since it is coming from you, I guess it is true”. Cadence gave me a smile and it warmed my heart. Though she is just a pegasus, for some reason, she has the ability to make any pony happy with just one smile. Maybe that’s how the Emperor fell for her. I’m not really surprised. “Are you ready to become the Empress?”, I suddenly blurted out. I covered my mouth after I realized what I just asked. “S-sorry I didn’t mean to-“ “It’s okay”, Cadence said. She slowly inhaled and exhaled, and then continued, “Though I have been training to become the empress since I’ve gotten to this palace, I feel like I can never be enough. But I’m determined to do my best for Shining. I want to be there and give him as much support as I can as his wife”. “With that mindset, I know you will become a great Empress”. Cadence chuckles and says, “Thank you Fluttershy” I nodded. Cadence cleared her throat, “Moving on to the next topic, I heard you are going to get married soon”. My happy mood turned into a sad one.  After Cadence noticed my expression changed she immediately said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring it up like that!”. I sighed, “It’s okay Cadence. It’s just sad that I don’t get the opportunity to have a happy ending like you”. “Maybe there’s still a chance” My ears perked, “What do you mean by that?” “Well for one, you’ll be too busy being my maid of honor for my wedding to focus on your own” I immediately got up from my seat in shock, “You want me to become your maid of honor?!” “If only you accept” “Of course I accept! I’m honored!”, I said. Being the maid of honor in an Imperial Wedding, is a perfect excuse to use to delay my marriage. But of course, Cadence has another thing up her sleeves.  I calmed myself and sat down. “What is the second thing?”, I asked. Cadence giggles and says, “You know me too well.” She cleared her throat and continued, “After I become Empress, I want you to become the Head Maid of the palace” Becoming the Head Maid of the Crystal Palace is a prestigious job that only high ranking noble mares can have. To think Cadence is offering me this position. This is the perfect way to cancel my engagement! The Head Maid will be too busy taking care of the affairs inside the palace to become a wife. I don’t know what to say and before I knew it, I started to cry. Cadence got up from her seat and went to me. “Oh no, did I say something wrong?!”, she said in a worried tone. I wasn’t crying because I was sad. These are tears of happiness. I hugged her and she hugged me back. “Thank you!”, I cried. It’s been two years. Cadence officially became the Empress. While I officially became the Head Maid and successfully got out of my engagement with Count Iron Will. Sadly, the pressure towards the Empress seems to never quell. It’s already bad enough that Cadence is being ridiculed for her commoner blood, but now, she is being pressured to produce an heir. Since Cadence hasn’t been able to have a child within these two years, the Royal Court has been pushing the Emperor to get a concubine. The Emperor, who is madly in love with Cadence, obviously refused, demanding them to give him more time, but the Royal Court is getting impatient. I am worried for Cadence. I don't know how she is feeling behind that smile of hers these days. If only I can help her de-stress herself. “What’s with the pout?” I jumped in shocked. I looked up, toward the voice, to find a draconequus floating above me. “Sir Captain! W-were you watching me this whole time?!”, I called out. The draconequus floated down in front of me and said, “Dis-cord”. “Excuse me?’’ “Call me by my name. Dis-cord” His face was so close to mine, it took me a moment to take it all in. “I can’t do that! You are the Captain”, I said as I began to fluster. “I’m going to keep bothering you about it until you say my name” There was a moment of silence. I felt unsteady, not knowing what to do.  The Captain is just going to keep bothering me more if I don’t follow his request. I sigh in defeat. “Sir Discord” Sir Discord shook his head and said, “Nuh-uh. Just Discord” A blush grew on my face as I quietly said, “D-Discord”. He looked happy as I said it. “Bravo!”, he cheered as he clapped. Discord is the Captain of the Royal Guards. He is very . . . unique compared to other ponies. He is not actually a pony, he is a draconequus. The only one of his kind in the Crystal Kingdom, maybe even in this entire world. When I first met him I thought he was scary and threatening. I have heard the Captain being a monster and ferocious in the battlefield. However, many of the staff in the palace strangely love and admire him.  And as the Head Maid of the palace, I had to get to know him eventually.  I was still wary and cautious around him and despite my first impression of him, I wanted to become his friend, so I had to look past his appearance and reputation. Surprisingly, I learned he is actually a jokester.  I really need to stop believing rumors I hear. I soon got closer to him and we are apparently on a first-name basis now. “Back to the topic, why are you pouting?”, he asked. I sighed and thought back to Cadence, “I am just worried for the Empress. I can’t imagine all the pressure she is dealing with. What’s worse is that she is pretending it is all okay.” I spaced out as I continued to walk down the hallway until Discord flicked me on the forehead. “Ouch, what was that for?”, I asked while touching my forehead. “You worry too much. You need to worry about your own priorities” “But the Empress is one of my priorities. One of my duties as the Head Maid of the palace is being the Empress’s personal maid” Discord scoffed. He appeared right in front of me again, but this time, his face was a bit closer. “Then what about me?”, he asked. I blushed and felt my heart skip a beat, but quickly got back to my senses. I reminded myself that it’s just another one of his pranks. I pushed his face to the side and walked past him. “You are the Captain of the Royal Guard, Discord. I don’t need to worry about you because I know you can fully take care of yourself” He popped up by my side again and said, “I guess you’re right. Someone as great and powerful as myself don’t really need to be protected”. I sighed and rolled my eyes, “Well, if you are done gloating, let’s say our goodbyes. I have to get to the Empress”. “Well then . . .”, he said as he took my hoof.  He kissed it and said, “Until next time M’Lady Fluttershy”.  He teleported away while I was still stunned by his move.  Once I unfroze, I started to fan myself with my hoof as I felt hot.  I hate it when he teases me. Cadence was at her tea table, it seemed like she was staring off into space. I walked to her and asked, “You look unwell Cadence, should I bring you some tea?”. She regained her focus and scratched her head. “Yes, please. You should bring a cup for yourself as well. I want to have tea with you.” I nodded and followed her request. Once I got back to her, carrying the tea set, I said, “I made your favorite” “Passion flower?” I nodded as I placed down the tea set on the table. “Do you want to talk about it? I know you have been under a lot of stress.”, I asked. Cadence sighed and said, “I don’t want you to worry about me. I am doing fine”. “Not knowing what is going on with you is worrying me a lot. It is better to let it out then to keep it all in. Confiding to someone you trust can help” Cadence, who was staring at her tea cup the whole time, finally looked up to me. “You’re right” She deeply inhaled and exhaled. “I finally convinced him”. I gave her a curious expression. I didn’t want to push her to tell me so I stayed quiet, waiting for her to continue. “I finally convinced Shining to get a concubine”, Cadence confessed. “Oh, I see”, I said in response. I had many things I wanted to say, but I didn’t want to interrupt Cadence. “The Royal Court has been pressuring Shining to get a concubine since I couldn’t bear him a child” She paused and looked down to touch her stomach.  “It is my fault Shining is being pressured. It is my fault I couldn’t live up to my duty. I couldn’t support him”, she continued. “It is not your fault. It really isn’t your fault Cadence”, I impulsively said. “But still . . . since I couldn’t have a child, I only had one option left as his wife. So I finally convinced him and I feel upset now. I know it is selfish to have such feelings, but I really didn’t want him to get a concubine”. I can feel that she is holding the tear. All this time, she was trying to be strong. I can’t believe she held it for this long.   I got up and walked to Cadence, giving her a hug. “It’s okay. The feelings you are having . . . it’s okay to have them. You may think it is selfish, but sometimes, it’s okay to be selfish”. From that moment on, I consoled her as she wept in my hooves. After a week, when Shining Armor finally agreed to the Royal Court of getting a concubine due Cadence’s words, the Royal Court finally picked a mare. This mare is Princess Chrysalis of the Changeling Kingdom. The Royal Court wanted to set good relations with their neighboring kingdom and the Emperor marrying the Princess of the Kingdom was the perfect chance. She will be arriving to the Crystal Palace soon.  I wonder what she is like.