The Prince Meets the Recruit
“Nephew?”
“Yes, Auntie?”
“What is this paper about?”
A newspaper was thrown onto the royal dining table in front of the young prince. Blueblood turned away from his pocket mirror as he was combing and turned to see a wide-angled photograph of himself at the front page along with a headline written on top of it.
NEPHEW TO PRINCESS CELESTIA SLAPS AT AND LASHES OUT TOWARDS CHARITY EVENT HOST!
Princess Celestia looked at her nephew with a stern expression. “Would you mind explaining this in front of me, please?” she said. Her tone wasn’t pleased, and was in fact very disappointed. “Because this is from The Royal Canterlot Tribune earlier and I’ve been hearing from many of my own council members that the image you’re projecting yourself here has been getting worse and worse.”
Blueblood rolled his eyes at his aunt’s worries and went back to eating his eloquently made breakfast of Prench Toast affixed with delicious strawberries and blueberries, covered under a warm maple syrup. He levitated a fork and a knife towards the meal and cut a small piece, but before he could eat it a voice to his left suddenly spoke up.
“You gotta listen to Auntie, Bluey. You said it yourself that -NOM- you’d take things down a notch! You don’t want to get -NOM- press-mobbed again don’t you? ”
He stopped eating and sighed, before turning to his left to see his cousin, Princess Cadance, munching savagely on her own breakfast. Preposterously not even using the great cutlery they’ve provided and instead using her magic and even her hooves to eat her meal, to which out of all things she can order from the chef; why did it have to be a hayburger?
“I don’t need to. Besides, it’s not my fault when that prissy mare tried to insult me on stage in front of the entire population of Manehatten!” he said, turning away from her.
Cadance tilted her head in confusion at his remark. “According to the newspaper, she only ever wanted to improve your appearance a bit. And you called her a Manehatten Whorse. And it’s not like she was going out of her way to be rude to you.’' As she finished her sentence, her cousin quickly slammed his hoof down on the table, startling both of the princess’.
“She doesn’t respect me! What kind of prissy mare in a charity event spewed such hatred to my face in front of a public crowd, where all those mangling press ponies are! She’s lucky that they hate me enough to call me liar, but if they somehow do I’d be more than—”
“Nephew!” Blueblood recoiled against the chair from his aunt’s Royal Voice. She continued, “Need I remind you that the same prissy mare has organised hundreds of charity events in her lifetime, made donations to orphanages and hospitals and is also a very good supporter of the family? I’m not worried about the royal family’s reputation but I’m worried about your reputation, nephew. I’m getting worried. You’ve been acting inconsiderate ever since your father’s passing but you need to—”
“DON’T YOU DARE SPEAK ABOUT MY FATHER!” he said, almost shouting at the table. Everywhere he went, his father didn’t ever seem to leave him alone, even in death.
Celestia sighed, realising that trying to reason with her nephew is almost fruitless. “Nephew, every one of my council members is even considering the possibility of removing you from-from the family. You know that would do?” she stressed out.
He scoffed at the notion. “Please auntie, mine’s gotten worse as it gets. You know me, right? These attention-seeking ponies deserve every word I say to them, whether they’re a noble, a politician or just a commoner.” he said, turning away from them as he held his head up high.
“Princess Celestia?”
Everyone turned towards the door as they saw a white head with black glasses resting on their muzzle peeking her head into the royal dining room. “May I have permission to enter? I have some reports to share with you. ” Raven Inkwell asked the princess. With an affirming nod, she entered the room, bowing to Cadance as she passed her side of the table. “Your majesty.” she said before heading to the princess, and passing Blueblood without a second glance.
He scoffed and proceeded to eat his own breakfast without speaking. Celestia turned to Cadance and gave her a knowing look, before turning back to Blueblood. “Nephew. I need you to do me a favour.” Celestia said to him.
Blueblood, with a mouthful of Prench Toast, raised an eyebrow inquisitively; nodding as he took a sip of his hot dark coffee.
“Recently, one of our recruits for the Royal Guard has been… underperforming greatly in his training, and the council is worried that a bad image could be projected onto the Royal Guard.” Celestia said, taking a sip of her own tea before continuing. She held an otherwise hidden grin under her smile. “So I’ve done some considerations in my room and honestly, I’m proud to announce that you are to be his official trainer for the entire month!”
Blueblood spat out his coffee towards Cadance’s face.
The room fell into a heavy silence as Shining Armor faced his lieutenant, a unicorn by the name of Locking Works, seated across from him at the office table. Locking Works’ gaze bore into Shining Armor, his voice a quiet but domineering force.
Shining could feel sweat forming on his body, maybe it’s the armour he’s wearing or just the unbearable tension he’s feeling. Either way, it’s not helping him feel any calmer.
“You know why you’re here, right?” Locking Works stated, his tone carrying a harsh tone that made Shining Armor wince in fear and nervousness. Shining took a seat on the steel chair, his fur standing on end as the lieutenant held a file bearing his face and name in his magic. The file was then slammed down with a resounding thud, causing Shining to instinctively recoil.
“We’ve given you hundreds of remedial training, we’ve given you weeks of probationary periods to give you a chance of improving. But so far, I’ve seen jack shit! What in the Tartarus are you doing, Armour!” Lieutenant Works shouted out angrily.
The file on the table seemed to be mocking him, most of the pages holding damning records of his citations, written by the other senior soldiers about his performance, none of which had anything good to say about him. He sighed to himself and his ears fell flat down, trying to hide a sniffle.
I just wanted to-to-to show her what I can do. I’m not a weak stallion. But this.. This is killing me. I can’t even finish a stupid basic training mumbo-jumbo. I just want to..
“Armour!” Lieutenant Works’ voice boomed, jolting Shining Armor from his stupor.
Shining snapped to attention, sitting up straight, his eyes locking anxiously onto the lieutenant’s stern gaze. The lieutenant looked at him with a deep-seated frustration. “You’re in the shit here, kid.” Lieutenant Works began, his voice carrying the weight of finality. “ And, Shining Armour. I spoke with the Princess’ Council and they agreed that you should be—”
Before Lieutenant Works could finish his sentence, Shining Armor impulsively threw himself over the table, desperation in his eyes and tears. “Please sir I’m sorry, I promise I’ll do better next time. I swear! I promise I’ll—”
The lieutenant pushed the young stallion back on to his seat. “I haven’t even finished my sentence and you dare to interrupt your superiors?” he sharply said, causing the latter to gulp in uneasiness. “I would’ve had you discharged right here and now if this is the kind of behaviour you’ll display.”
Shining gripped his seat in nervousness and looked away.
“But as I said, the council has decided to look at your case. And they all came to a decision, a handler.”
A-a handler? What?
Lieutenant Works continued. “Princess Celestia has discussed with them of who will be your handler, and after some deliberation they all agreed with the princess that your handler should be—”
KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!
“Ah, perfect timing!” he said, rushing to open the door. “Princess Cadance! So glad of you to convince her majesty!”
Shining’s ears perked up at hearing her name, and immediately turned around to meet a beautiful pink alicorn princess.
Pr-princess Cadance..You-you’re my handler? Oh Faust, she’s even more beautiful than at high. She’s..
Cadance turned to Shining and momentarily had a shocked look on her face, before covering it with an uneasy smile. “Oh-oh! Shining Armour, I didn’t expect you to be here. I-I mean, you’re supposed to be the troubled recruit he’ll be training?” she said, rubbing her hoof on the side of her head.
HE?
Shining’s awe was quickly turned into confusion. But before he could say anything, another pony walked into the office. Cadance turned to the pony before turning back to the young recruit with a nervous grin. Shining’s eyes went wide and his pupils dilated into pinpricks.
“Well, Shining Armour. I want you to greet Prince Blueblood. He’ll be helping you with your training for a few weeks!”