Mi Amore
By: Dusk Quill
Okay, Shining Armor, you can do this… You can do this…
The Captain of the Guard stood as still as a statue, staring at the solid oak doors in front of his face. He shifted his weight back and forth from hoof to hoof as his nerves tried to work his body up into following his mind. It was so simple. Just take a step forward, knock on the door, and give her the card. Oh, and the flower too. Both lay safely tucked inside his armor, just against his chest. There was nothing awkward or scary about it. It was just a friendly gesture on the holiday.
But was it really…?
Ever since she had begun foalsitting his sister, Shining Armor had developed a major crush on Cadence. He was sure she had to know. She was the Princess of Love, after all. How could she not? But if she did know, she hadn’t shown any signs of it. She was always so busy with her missionary travels and diplomatic endeavors. But now she was home again, and it looked like she was home to stay. He had his chance.
Just go up and knock on the door, his mind repeated over and over to him as his heart raced in his chest. Just hand her the gifts, say “Happy Hearts and Hooves Day,” and walk away. So easy!
Shining swallowed back a frog in his throat and tentatively took that step forward—and hesitated in place. What if she wasn’t in? What if he had been standing outside her room for half an hour and she wasn’t even there? What if she came around the corner suddenly and surprised him?
Mental images of him screaming like a filly and tearing down the hallway flashed before his eyes. He shuddered. Yeah, that would be attractive… No, he had to take the initiative and make his move before he looked too foalish.
Shining took a deep breath and puffed his chest out. In his momentary swell of confidence, he reminded himself that he was the Captain of the Guard, a proud soldier of Equestria, and had faced much scarier things than the pink princess in his lifetime. That momentary swell of confidence was all he needed.
His hoof rapped against the door, barely audible, even to him. Nopony answered. Oh well, she wasn’t home! Shining quickly began to trot away, sighing with relief.
Really…? Bucking really, Shining? Some fearless captain you are.
He growled in frustration and turned a complete about-face on his heels and marched back to the door. This time, he knocked with more determination behind each strike. Three deep, insistent knocks echoed around the empty hallway. Most of the guards were off duty for the day, spending time with their special someponies all across Equestria. That had been Cadence’s idea.
But Hearts and Hooves Day was almost over. The clock had just recently struck five. He was running out of time to make his move. He waited, cringing in fear as he listened for the door latch to open. His heart pounded like a drum line against his ribs. What if he stuttered like an idiot? What if he couldn’t even say anything at all?!
These terrified thoughts buzzed around in Shining’s head like angry parasprites as he waited, and waited—and waited. He was suddenly very much aware that nothing was happening. A quick glance to the clock in the hallway. Five minutes had passed.
He knocked again. Another five minutes passed. Still no answer.
His brown knitted together in confusion. Was she really not home? Had he really spent all this time worrying and working himself up to be standing outside an empty room for… how long? Forty minutes now? Forty-five? He’d lost track of the time.
“Cadence?” he called out through the door, knocking again. “Cadence, it’s Shining Armor. Are you in there?”
Nopony answered. He pressed his ear to the door. Nothing even stirred. He looked up and down the hallway. Nopony was around at all. What was stopping him from just sneaking in and leaving the gifts somewhere she could find them? Oh yeah, his nerves. Or lack thereof.
“Okay… Okay, Shiny… Just gotta do this… Just gotta move fast. Get in, get out. Easy peasy.”
Shining Armor took in a deep breath and slowly released it, rubbing his hooves together as he mentally prepared himself. He stretched his legs, taking another deep breath.
And then he quickly pushed the door open with his magic and rushed in, shutting the door sharply behind him. He collapsed against the doorframe, breathing hard. Masterful execution. Cadence’s room was as he expected decidedly empty. Her large bed was made to pristine condition, and it looked completely undisturbed. The only light was the late afternoon sun coming through the large windows.
This was the first time Shining Armor had ever been in Cadence’s room. He snapped the door lock into place. He didn’t need an errant guard interrupting him and blowing his surprise. Now, where to leave the gifts? There was a desk pushed against the side of the room, and a vanity near her armoire. Her nightstand beside her bed was always an option. Hell, even her bed would do. But where would work best?
Shining slowly trotted across the hardwood floors, taking in the environment around him. He reached into his armor and pulled out the card and a single white rose. The color matched his coat almost perfectly. Deciding the edge of the bed was the most direct route to display his favors, he approached, smiling to himself for a job well done. He hadn’t even been caught.
That was when the window behind him suddenly burst inward, and Shining Armor screamed out in terror.
“Okay, final checklist… Card?”
“Check.”
“Letter?”
“Check.”
“Flower?”
The pony produced a single red rose from his saddlebags, staring at the vibrant, rich color in the warm sunlight. He’d chosen it for his color. It was the most beautiful one the florist had in stock, and it resembled his fur.
“Check.”
“Gun?”
The pony shot a sharp glare at his partner. “Are you kidding me, Val?”
Valiant grinned and laughed. “Yep! You’re all set.”
“Fantastic.” He slipped the flower back into his saddlebags. “Get me hooked up.”
The two ponies began the final rigging of the hooks and clasps on both himself and the railing of Canterlot Castle’s roof. How perfect it had been that this was right above his destination. Or close enough. He could work with this.
Valiant began to attach the rope to the railing and through the hooks before tethering it to the pony descending. Each one snapped tightly into place. He tossed the remaining rope down the side of the castle. He was all set to make his move.
“Okay, you’re good to go, Captain,” Valiant said. “But… why aren’t you just flying down there?”
“Because Quarter needed us to test out the rappelling gear.”
“But isn’t this more complicated?”
Fleethoof grinned. “Yeah, but it’s also more fun.”
Valiant couldn’t help but laugh again. “If you say so. Ready?”
“Ready when you are.”
“Go! Go! Go!”
And then Fleethoof jumped off the edge of the railing, clinging tight to the rope as he fell past the balcony and back towards the castle wall. His hooves made contact with the old stone, and he kicked off again, letting himself slide further down the rope as he went, gradually rappelling down the castle. He grinned widely. This was a thrill. It reminded him of flying, but much more rigid, and at a constant descent. This was going to come in handy one day.
Down, down, down he went. He passed a window, glancing inside. It was a hallway. He continued down, passing another window with some sort of office or something. He kept going down, passing another hallway, and then he landed next to a bedroom window.
Fleethoof peeked inside, looking for some sort of confirmation. The room was decorated lavishly, with fine furniture and velvet chairs. He couldn’t see much from this window, but he could see a desk with a few pictures on it. Each one had an assortment of ponies, but only one appeared consistently: Princess Cadence.
Gotcha.
Fleethoof sidled across the wall, placing his rear hooves on either side of the window. Then he kicked off the castle and swung back in, bringing his hooves against the window frame, kicking it open loudly and swinging inside.
Somepony screamed.
The two very surprised ponies stared off with one another. Neither moved, and neither spoke. Nopony knew exactly what to say. Fleethoof hadn’t been expecting anypony to be in the room, especially since it had been empty when he scouted it out ten minutes ago. Shining Armor hadn’t expected anypony to come barreling through a second story window like a juggernaut.
“Fleethoof?! What the hay?” Shining Armor finally asked, getting his breathing back under control. “What was that?”
"Making an entrance?” he said, grinning sheepishly.
Shining rolled his eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same!”
“Oh, uh… well, I was just… um, looking for Cadence!” Shining Armor lied, badly, smiling all too widely to be believable.
“So you broke into her room?”
“Hey, the door was unlocked. You did the breaking and entering.”
“Infiltrating. It’s different,” he corrected, and then spotted the rose and card on Cadence’s bed. “Gifts for Hearts and Hooves Day?”
“Oh, these? No, no! I mean, yes. I mean, not exactly. I mean…” Shining said, stammering and feeling his face go warm. He hadn’t expected to explain himself to anypony. “Because she’s my friend. They’re friendly gifts. For a friendly holiday. For a friend. Between friends. We’re friends.”
Fleethoof stared incredulously at his friend as he kept his smiling façade up.
“Uh huh, okay then,” he said, unsnapping the rope from his harness. “I did the same thing.”
Fleethoof pulled the card and rose out of his saddlebags and set them down on Cadence’s nightstand. He hesitated, leaving the letter in his bag for the moment. He didn’t want Shining Armor to question him on it and have to explain it.
“You up for drinks at The Cannon tonight? A few friends are gonna be there, a bunch of guards without dates, that sort of thing. We could just hang out.”
“Who says I don’t have a date?” asked Fleethoof, and then laughed at the look Shining Armor gave him. “Oh c’mon, I don’t have a special somepony. Sure, I’m game. I just gotta return this equipment to Quarter, and—”
A noise outside in the hallway caught both ponies’ attention. It was the sound of hooves on stone tile. The soft clopping was getting closer and closer by the second. Neither of them said a word, holding their breath as they waited and listened. The hooves got closer, and then stopped.
Silence hung in the air for a tense moment. And then the door handle turned and the locked door tried to open.
“Huh, I thought I left it open,” came the voice of Cadence from the other side, musing to herself.
Shining Armor practically jumped out of his skin, and Fleethoof’s wings flared out, feathers flying off him in terror.
“Oh buck oh buck oh buck,” Shining Armor whispered hastily, bouncing on his hooves anxiously. “What do we do?”
Fleethoof took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down, even though his feathers kept ruffling and he trembled gently in place. “Don’t worry. There are two of us, not one. It won’t look so suspicious if we both wish her a Happy Hearts and Hooves Day. It’ll just look like we’re being friendly and surprising her! I say we wait and do nothing.”
The sound of a key sliding into the lock resounded around the room.
“I changed my mind,” said Fleethoof quickly, rushing back to the window. “I’m outta here!”
“Wait for me!” Shining Armor called after him, leaping onto the pegasus’s back as he latched himself back onto the rope.
Fleethoof swiftly jumped off the ledge of the window with Shining holding onto him for dear life, leaping back down the castle wall, gradually making their way to the ground below. Above them, they heard the door open and close again. They were just above the first floor windows now.
They could just barely hear Cadence walking around in her room above them. The hoofsteps stopped, lingering. She had noticed something. Was it the Hearts and Hooves Day gifts? Or was it the suddenly open window? Both ponies froze, hanging in midair, waiting with bated breath as they stared up at the window.
And then Cadence’s head peeked out the window, her eyes running down the rope hanging there to the two stallions suspended in the air.
“Shining? Fleet?”
“Abort!” Fleethoof said to the pony on his back as he released the rappelling rope from his harness.
“Jump!” Shining called back as the two ponies dropped to the ground below. Fleethoof hadn’t noticed his saddlebags were now completely empty.
While slightly confused by her door suddenly locking, Cadence chalked it up to a slip of her memory, and reached for the key above the door. She unlocked the door and stepped inside, shutting the door quietly behind her. She didn’t even take three steps into the room before she stopped.
There, on her bed, lay a single white rose, and a sealed envelope. On her nightstand sat another envelope, accompanied by a solitary red rose. A bunch of red feathers lay across the carpet at the foot of her bed, gently tumbling about in the breeze. That was when she noticed the window was open.
What in Equestria? Cocking her head to the side in confusion, Cadence approached the windowsill, studying the rope inexplicably hanging there.
And then she looked down, meeting the wide-eyed blue gazes of the two stallions hanging on the rope.
“Shining?” she asked in confusion. “Fleet?”
“Abort!” the pegasus called out, reaching for something on his waist.
“Jump!” said the pony on his back, and the two fell to the ground.
Cadence gasped as she watched both ponies hit the ground and tumble about for a moment before scrambling to their hooves. They seemed unhurt for the most part, but left the princess in a densely confused state.
“Run! Run!” Shining shouted as they scattered in two different directions, fleeing like two little colts who had just been caught doing something they weren’t supposed to.
“Ooookay…?” she said to herself, following the rope up to the balcony it was tied to, and spotting Valiant as he ducked his head quickly out of sight.
Cadence giggled softly to herself and shut her window. She sighed and shook her head. Such silly colts… She glanced back at the two roses. It was obvious to tell whose was whose. But something else had caught her eye.
In amongst the scattered pegasus feathers, a folded piece of paper sat on the floor. Cadence picked it up, studying the unassuming parchment for a moment.
And then she opened it, and began to read the letter.