Above The Bit
I can’t believe I’m so lucky, Shining Armor thought as he and Cadence walked in the direction of the café they had supposed to meet in, having just been over to Sweet Apple Acres to introduce Cadence to Big Macintosh, that Cadence actually likes me. I can’t believe that beautiful filly considers me worthy . . . Cadence smiled at Shining Armor as they walked along. He likes me, he really likes me! Cadence thought, how am I worthy of this strong, brave and handsome colt . . ?
When they first arrived at the café, neither of them seemed to be aware that they had reached their destination. The first thing they became aware of was a thumping noise inside. This turned out to be Joe bouncing around. The café owner was laughing.
‘Alright, Joe, calm down!’ the café owner said, ‘I know you’re happy and excited but . . .’ He turned his head to see Cadence and Shining Armor coming through the door.
‘I came to give this back,’ Shining Armor told the café owner, hoofing over the bag he had lent him, ‘thank you again.’
‘You’re welcome,’ the café owner replied, ‘and I’m sorry about all this. Joe told me everything he knows about what happened.’ Cadence had a sudden thought.
‘Joe,’ Cadence said quickly. Joe looked up. ‘There’s no donut shop in Canterlot and I’m sure Auntie Tia would be happy to give you some funding to start one up, especially after your help.’
‘Are you serious?’ Joe asked excitably.
‘If that’s okay with you,’ Cadence added to the café owner.
‘Of course it is,’ the café owner responded, ruffling Joe’s mane, ‘besides, I had a couple of colts asking about work earlier today. I haven’t introduced myself, have I? The name’s Oregon Trail.’
‘I’m Shining Armor,’ Shining Armor said.
‘It’s Cadence,’ Cadence told him.
‘Nice to meet . . . hang on, isn’t that the name of the new princess? Princess Celestia’s niece?’
‘That’s me,’ Cadence replied.
Oregon Trail was somewhere between shocked and amazed at having a princess in his café.
It was quickly decided that Joe would go with them when they returned to Canterlot. Shining Armor and Cadence had a snack in the café before they left, which Oregon Trail insisted they didn’t pay for as he felt partly to blame for what had happened.
*
‘Oh, Shining Armor,’ came Cadence’s sympathetic tone, after they had arrived back in Canterlot.
‘I have a black eye, don’t I?’ Shining Armor asked her.
‘And quite a bit of bruising on other parts of your body.’ Cadence added.
‘What am I going to tell everypony?’ Shining Armor said with a sigh, ‘They’ll think I’m been in some sort of fight.’
‘Tell them the truth,’ Cadence replied, ‘everypony should know how brave you were.’
Shining Armor’s face went red and he gave a small smile. They decided to meet up with Joe again later, and, in the meantime, he would have a look around.
‘See you later!’ Joe said.
‘Come on, Shining Armor!’ called Cadence.
Shining Armor hesitated, wishing he was any color but the white that he was; it made the bruising, which was showing more all the time, incredibly obvious.
‘Go on,’ said Joe, nudging him, ‘she’s waiting for her knight in shining armor!’
‘Oh, shut up, Joe!’ Shining Armor muttered with a smile, before trotting over to Cadence who put her head on his shoulder.
They were unaware they were being watched by Thora, a very jealous, green with envy Thora, who was both angry and surprised to see Cadence. Joe soon met a colt named Steamer who was spending time with his little brother, Tex, and decided that they would show Joe round.
As Shining Armor and Cadence walked along, Thora skulked after them, determined to ruin their date. They walked through the gates and towards the main part of the city. Cadence gave a happy sigh and smiled at Shining Armor who couldn’t help gazing into her beautiful eyes for a few moments.
They were approaching the steep slope. Thora summoned a thick piece of branch from a tree and cast a spell on it to turn it invisible. She then placed it, by magic, in Cadence’s path. The invisibility spell had made it so the magic surrounding the object was invisible too. She prepared herself to re-summon the branch as soon as Cadence had tripped. That would give Cadence a good scare at least.
‘Alright, princess,’ Thora sneered, ‘let’s see how much you like tumbling down that steep slope!’
Cadence did trip, but Shining Armor grabbed her before she fell.
‘Are you alright, Cadence?’ Shining Armor asked anxiously.
‘I’ll be alright,’ Cadence replied breathlessly, ‘just a little shaken up I guess.’
‘We should probably all be more careful on this slope,’ Shining Armor pointed out.
‘Thank you for not letting me fall . . .’ said Cadence, blushing slightly.
‘No problem,’ Shining Armor responded, ‘that’s what I’m here for.’
Cadence smiled. Thora cursed. She might even have just improved their relationship! She couldn’t afford mistakes like that if she was going to ruin their date. Shining Armor and Cadence walked down the slope and into the main city. Thora followed them sulkily at a distance. Cadence needed to sit down for a few moments as she was still recovering from her shock so the two of them sat down under a couple of trees.
‘Maybe,’ said Shining Armor shyly, ‘maybe we could watch the sunset together . . .’
‘That would be wonderful . . .’ Cadence responded.
Thora glared over at them. She summoned a bucket which happened to be close by and hurriedly filled it with water from the moat using a long distance summoning spell.
‘Let’s see how much she likes him, and he likes it, when he’s all wet!’ Thora snarled.
Cadence noticed the water and managed to push Shining Armor out of the way but got herself covered in water.
‘Are you okay?’ Shining Armor asked Cadence.
‘I’m cold and wet,’ said Cadence sadly, ‘and I must look a sight . . . But, at least, you’re dry.’
Shining Armor gave a small smile and put a foreleg around her.
‘You don’t look a sight,’ Shining Armor told her, ‘you look as lovely as always.’
Cadence gave a small laugh and a smile through a shiver.
‘Thanks, Cadence,’ Shining Armor added, ‘come on, let’s find somewhere to dry you off.’
Shining Armor did feel a bit suspicious. The two incidents seemed so random and had no explanation: Cadence had appeared to trip over something but there was nothing there and water had come out of nowhere, only in one place, on a sunny day.
They entered a posh restaurant owned by Fleur de Lis’s parents. Fleur de Lis came racing over.
‘Cadence, you’re soaked!’ Fleur de Lis cried, ‘and Shining Armor . . . Woah . . . You’re covered in bruises and you have a black eye! What have you been doing? Who have you been fighting with?’
‘Not now,’ said Shining Armor, ‘Cadence is very wet and chilled to the bone.’
Fleur de Lis quickly brought a few towels and she and Shining Armor tried to dry Cadence as much as they could.
‘Come into the kitchens, Cadence,’ Fleur de Lis told her, ‘it’s normally nice and warm in there . . .’ She turned to Shining Armor. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t realize it was you who had asked Cadence on a date. It should have been obvious!’ Shining Armor gave an awkward, slightly embarrassed smile.
Steamer and Joe suddenly blundered into the restaurant, receiving scowls of disapproval from many of the customers, racing after a slightly over excited Tex. Steamer caught him and landed at Fleur de Lis hooves. He smiled awkwardly, the braces clearly showing on his teeth.
‘Sorry,’ Steamer began, ‘my brother was pretending to be a cowcolt and got a bit carried away.’
‘Just don’t let it happen again or my parents will kill me,’ Fleur de Lis whispered with a smile, ‘and I don’t want them to disapprove of you either,’ she added.
Steamer picked himself up and noticed Shining Armor’s appearance.
‘Woah! Shining Armor, you’ve been through the wars haven’t you!’ Steamer exclaimed before remembering he wasn’t supposed to be in the restaurant. He, Joe and Tex headed out. Cadence gave a sneeze.
‘I’m supposed to be taking you to the kitchens!’ Fleur de Lis gasped, hurrying Cadence in, followed by Shining Armor.
‘Do you like Steamer back?’ Cadence asked her.
‘I’m not sure if I’m honest,’ Fleur de Lis replied, ‘I might do.’ Cadence smiled.
The kitchens were filled with a lovely aroma and were very warm due to the large amount of cooking.
‘So how come Cadence is wet and you’re covered in bruises?’ Fleur de Lis asked Shining Armor.
‘Well, they’re two separate things,’ Shining Armor explained, ‘the water came out of nowhere and would have landed on me if Cadence hadn’t pushed me out the way. The bruising I received from an extreme malcontent.’
‘What’s an extreme malcontent?’ Fleur de Lis asked, ‘and what was the quarrel between you and him?’
‘It was a mare,’ Shining Armor responded, ‘and an extreme malcontent is like Thora, but a lot worse.’
‘And the quarrel?’ Fleur de Lis inquired.
‘She wanted to turn me into soup,’ Cadence told her. The two ponies stared. ‘But now she’s turned herself into a bug, we don’t have to worry about her,’ Cadence continued.
‘This is the second time since you’ve been here that you’ve got yourself into major trouble, Cadence!’ exclaimed Fleur de Lis, ‘how is Shining Armor supposed to manage when you’re such high maintenance!’
Cadence and Shining Armor looked up to see that a large pot of soup was about to pour on top of them. They stared and clutched each other. Luckily, Fleur de Lis managed to stable the pot using magic and catch the culprit.
‘Put me down!’ Thora grumbled and grumped as Cadence and Shining Armor looked up again. Unfortunately, Thora managed to struggle free and headed for the front doors at a drastic speed.
‘Oh, forget about her,’ Shining Armor said to Cadence, ‘come on, it’s almost dusk, if you still want to . . .’ he added shyly. Cadence nodded and they left the restaurant.
As they walked on, the two colts, who were with their dates, that Shining Armor had met earlier, caught sight of him and Cadence. They gaped. Suddenly, Shining Armor found his sister running up to him. She seemed very excited but the first thing he noticed was her cutie mark.
‘I’m guessing you got in then!’ Shining Armor said with a laugh.
‘She didn’t just get in,’ came the voice of Twilight Velvet, who was walking towards them with Night Light.
‘She’s going to be Princess Celestia’s personal protégé!’ Night Light continued.
‘What?’ spluttered Shining Armor, ‘Well done Twilie!’
‘Congratulations!’ said Cadence who the three ponies hadn’t noticed was there before. Twilight Velvet and Night Light stared, understanding something that Twilight Sparkle did not.
‘Time to go, Twilight,’ Twilight Velvet told her. Twilight Sparkle was confused.
‘We should leave these two alone,’ added Night Light.
‘Why?’ asked Twilight Sparkle as her parents led her away, ‘I want to spend time with them!’
‘You can do that anytime!’ Twilight Velvet said, giving a knowing smile which Night Light returned.
Cadence and Shining Armor found a grassy patch in the open and settled down. The cool air was refreshing especially after coming out of those steamy kitchens.
‘Should we tell Twilight, you know, about us?’ Cadence asked, leaning her head against Shining Armor’s side.
‘I don’t think we need to,’ Shining Armor replied, his face reddening slightly again, ‘she’ll work it out for herself sooner or later,’
Cadence nodded and gave a happy sigh. Shining Armor beamed. As the sun set, and the moon was raised, Shining Armor put a foreleg around Cadence’s shoulder.