Hearts & Hooves Day Disaster : Part 1
Cadence had got up that day to find the rooms and corridors finely decorated with golden, pink and red hearts. She couldn’t help but feel a little sad as she admired the decorations. She entered the room which she and Princess Celestia had planned to meet and have breakfast in, carrying a card in her mouth. Celestia was already at the table in front of a rather large pile of Hearts & Hooves Day gifts. Cadence trotted up to her aunt and gave her the card.
‘Happy Hearts & Hooves Day, Auntie Tia!’
‘Thank you, Cadence,’ Celestia replied, ‘how very thoughtful of you.’ Cadence sat down at the table and some servants quickly arrived to bring in breakfast.
‘You have lots of admirers, Auntie Tia,’ Cadence commented as one of the servants went to open a window.
‘I’m not the only one,’ Celestia said, pushing a large package towards a surprised, but pleased, Cadence.
She quickly unwrapped the package and found it contained: a bunch of pink, red and white roses, some chocolates in a heart shaped box, each bearing a letter ‘C’, a little teddy bear holding a small plush heart, a simple necklace with her cutie mark on it, and a card, which was evidently hoof made. Cadence was delighted and felt very complimented. Whoever had been responsible had evidently gone to a large amount of effort and trouble. There was a note.
Dear Cadence,
Would you do me the honor of meeting up with me in Ponyville at 1:15 today? If your answer is yes, tie one of your hair ribbons around one of the flag poles in the courtyard by 10:45. Love from your shy admirer.
It was evident from her expression and her face, which had become pinker, that Cadence was thrilled; however, she was also rather concerned. She showed the note to her aunt who gave a small smile. Cadence was a little surprised.
‘Aren’t you concerned?’ Cadence asked, ‘I mean, a blind date . . .’ Celestia gave a small giggle. ‘Are you keeping something from me, Auntie Tia?’
‘I know who it was,’ Celestia began with a smile, ‘I know who your secret admirer is. I caught him in the act of putting the parcel on the table.’
‘Are you going to tell me who it is?’ Cadence inquired.
‘That would ruin the surprise, wouldn’t it?’ Celestia replied playfully.
‘At least tell me if I’ll like him,’ Cadence said.
‘I should think so,’ responded Celestia, avoiding giving anything away. The conversation was interrupted by the shouts of the captain of the guard below which were coming in through the open window.
‘You call that running? I’ve seen foals run faster than that!’ the captain was yelling, ‘How come Shining Armor can do this course perfectly well but the rest of you are struggling? What are you, a bunch of fillies!’
Cadence went over to the window. She put her head on her hooves and watched Shining Armor doing his early morning training with a dreamy expression on her face.
Meanwhile, a few minutes later down below, Shining Armor, wearing armor that was a bit too big for him, was being subjected to the usual teasing from the other guards about his evident liking for Cadence. He was just hoping they didn’t ask him any awkward questions about his plans for the day. What came next, however, was almost as bad.
‘Well done, Shining Armor,’ said the captain, ‘unlike this bunch of lay-abouts, you’d be fit to fight something in battle, like . . .’
‘Goblins?’ suggested one of the guards with a grin, ‘Shining Armor’s had experience with those!’
Shining Armor’s face burned. Oh, no! Not this! It had been some time since the incident occurred and once the other guards had started teasing him, it was the one thing he had really hoped they wouldn’t find out about. He didn’t mind them knowing about him fighting those goblins, but if they knew about that, they probably knew about rescuing Cadence too, which would result in making the teasing worse.
‘Yeah,’ said another guard, ‘off rescuing fillies in fear, or to be more precise, a princess in peril!’
‘How did you find out?’ spluttered Shining Armor.
‘Princess Celestia let a couple of details slip, circumstance and seeing you train did the rest,’ the guard replied.
‘Alright, that’s enough of that,’ the captain snapped, although there was evidence in his expression that he was impressed, ‘haven’t you embarrassed him enough!’
‘Oh, Shining Armor,’ said the first guard that had spoken, ‘have you looked up recently?’
‘Why?’ came the tired tone of Shining Armor. Some of the other guards were grinning now.
‘Somepony’s watching you from a window!’ he replied.
Shining Armor looked up. Once Cadence realized Shining Armor had noticed her, she quickly disappeared from sight. She would barely admit it to herself, but she couldn’t help hoping that it had been Shining Armor who had left her the parcel. The guards were laughing and nudging each other. Shining Armor gave a sigh but still felt a little hopeful. Had she really been watching him?
*
Shining Armor was glad when training was over. He had even managed over breakfast to ask a couple of pegasus ponies in the Royal Guard if they would be available if he needed transportation. He was very tired out from training and decided to recover while having a shower. He would have dried his mane and tail but the timing was too close.
By 10:35, he was safely hidden in a bush near the flag poles. He waited nervously. He now wished he hadn’t eaten so much breakfast, as his nerves were giving him indigestion. Maybe she wasn’t coming. Maybe she already had a coltfriend but he just didn’t know about him. But Princess Celestia had seemed to be okay with it, remembering that embarrassing scene where he had just put the parcel on the table and had turned round to find himself face to face with her, but then, she hadn’t known about the note.
What if he had done this all wrong? Maybe he had been too extravagant, what if he had intimidated her or made her feel awkward instead? What had he been thinking! He had practically asked her on a blind date! And what about Princess Celestia, had she told her? And if she had, how did Cadence react? What if he had messed up his only chance of Cadence ever liking him? He put his head in his hooves.
He suddenly heard hooves approaching. He looked up. It was Cadence. He quickly noticed that she was wearing an extra hair ribbon. Cadence had been unsure as it seemed to be too much like a blind date, but she had also thought the approach was rather sweet, and, as her aunt was okay with it . . .
Cadence looked around before detaching her extra hair ribbon by magic and tying it around one of the flag poles. She looked around again before walking off.
Shining Armor was ecstatic. That was a yes! That was most definitely a yes! He was going on a date with Cadence! He was going on a date with the most beautiful, most wonderful, most perfect princess on Hearts & Hooves Day! After making certain that Cadence was gone, Shining Armor bounced out of the hedge and down the path.
‘He’s in a good mood, isn’t he?’ commented a mare who Shining Armor barely noticed was there.
‘Hey, Shining Armor!’ called a colt.
‘What’s got you in such a good mood?’ said another.
Shining Armor stopped, remembering that Cadence didn’t actually know who had sent her the parcel, and, the reason he had wanted to meet her in Ponyville: in case the whole thing turned into a complete disaster. He walked over to the two colts.
‘It’s just such a nice day for Hearts & Hooves Day, don’t you think?’ Shining Armor improvised.
‘It is if you’ve got dates like we do,’ said the first colt.
‘The only filly you’ve ever dated is a malcontent,’ added the second.
‘I’ve got a date . . .’ Shining Armor replied nervously.
‘Yeah, right!’ responded the first colt, ‘what’s her name then?’
‘I don’t want to tell you,’ Shining Armor told them stiffly.
‘That’s because she’s miss no-pony!’ sneered the second.
Shining Armor ignored this and trotted off. He didn’t care what they thought anyway, but, at the same time, he wouldn’t mind seeing the looks on their faces if his date were a success.
*
‘You’re in a very good mood, Cadence,’ Fleur de Lis commented as she entered Cadence’s room which Cadence was almost dancing around.
‘Yep,’ Cadence replied, flinging herself onto the bed with a lovely smile on her face.
‘I’m guessing you’ve got a date then,’ Fleur de Lis said, ‘spill the sparkles then, who is this mystery colt?’
‘I don’t know,’ Cadence replied, still smiling.
‘You don’t know?’ came Fleur de Lis’s concerned tone, ‘are you sure going is such a good idea?’ Cadence jumped off the bed and went over to the cabinet.
‘Come and see the things he gave me, Lis!’ called Cadence. Fleur de Lis trotted over and stared. ‘They came with this note,’ Cadence continued, hoofing it over. ‘And besides Auntie Tia knows who he is!’
Fleur de Lis seemed more relaxed now. If Princess Celestia knew who the colt was and was okay with it, it was a different matter. Cadence put the necklace on using magic and beamed.
‘What do you think, Lis?’ Cadence inquired.
‘That colt evidently has good taste,’ Fleur de Lis replied, ‘it looks lovely on you, and the chain colors go with your magic and eyes. Would you like me to apply any makeup?’
‘No thanks, Lis. I don’t usually wear it and this colt seems to like me as I am.’ Cadence responded.
‘You make a good point, besides, you don’t really need it, you look practically perfect as you are,’ said Fleur de Lis.
‘Oh, Lis, stop it, you’re embarrassing me!’ Cadence replied. Fleur de Lis gave a small laugh.
*
Shining Armor arrived in Ponyville at five to one so he decided to make a very quick visit to his friend, Big Macintosh. When he arrived, his friend looked a bit miserable. Shining Armor hurried over.
‘Are you okay, Big Mac?’ Shining Armor asked.
‘Nope,’ Big Macintosh said with a sigh.
‘What’s wrong? Did you get rejected by a filly?’
‘Nope, it’s my little sister,’ Big Macintosh explained, ‘she’s gone to live in Manehattan with our aunt and uncle.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ said Shining Armor, who had now only just remembered about his own sister’s entrance exam. He felt guilty; he hadn’t had the chance to wish her good luck.
‘Um, did you see the rainbow earlier today? And what brings you to Ponyville anyway?’ Big Macintosh inquired.
‘No, I didn’t, but then, I have been rather occupied today. I asked a filly to meet me in a café here.’
‘Eyep, sounds like you’ve got your day planned. I’m just glad I haven’t, too much work to do,’ replied Big Macintosh.
‘I could bring this filly around later and introduce you, if you like.’ Shining Armor offered.
‘Yep,’ responded Big Macintosh.
*
It was just before five past one when Cadence entered the café (the name and address of it having been on the back of the note). The atmosphere seemed to be quite pleasant and the building seemed to be quite private. She sat down at a table and looked around at the other customers who all appeared to be locals on dates.
‘Would you like a menu yet?’ asked a smiling yellow colt with a donut for a cutie mark who evidently worked there.
‘Not yet, thank you,’ Cadence replied, ‘I’m waiting for somepony,’
‘Ah, whoever he is, that colt is very lucky to get a filly like you,’ said the yellow unicorn. Cadence felt very complimented.
‘That’s very nice of you, thank you,’ Cadence told him while he was trying to tidy up his untidy brown mane which his sister was always complaining about (not that hers was much neater).
‘I’m just talking truth!’ the colt replied before walking over to take another customer’s tray.
After a couple of minutes, Cadence thought she would ask that colt for some tap water. She got up to see where he could be, taking her necklace off and leaving it on the table both to show that she was sitting there and to tell her mystery colt that she had arrived. As she looked around, she noticed some steps leading to what looked like a basement. Her curiosity got the better of her and she headed down the steps.
It was rather dark down there with the only light being a few feeble gas lamps dotted along the corridor. The basement was a lot bigger than she had expected, and, for some reason, she felt a little frightened. She thought she heard somepony behind her. She turned rapidly but there was no-pony there. She called out. No response. Maybe it had just been her imagination.
She was just about to go back when she noticed a pair of doors which led into a room. Perhaps she should look in there. As soon as she had entered the room, the door slammed shut behind her, plunging Cadence into darkness.
A moment later, the only thing she could see was a pair of large, angry, orange eyes.