//------------------------------//
// My Love Song 
// Story: The First of Many 
// by NotARealPonydotcom 
//------------------------------//


Where there is love there is life -Mahatma Ghandi



"...so we lay there on the beach, talking, kissing, things like that. It was the best night of my life. Still is. Then the sun began to rise, at which point we realized how much trouble we were going to be in for being out for almost half a day. What's worse, we had totally ruined our outfits, though I think I was more worried about that than Cadence was. Even though I knew I was screwed, I took my time walking her home. When we reached the castle, Celestia was waiting for us, looking... well, I wouldn't say angry. But she definitely wasn't happy. She meant to ask us why we were so late, but Cadence sort of answered her question before she asked it by grabbing me and giving me as sloppy a kiss as possible in front of her and about half of her personal guard. So I guess that got her to let me off with a warning, somehow, though it was really embarrassing when she handed me a condom and winked at me-"

Twilight jumped up in her seat, sputtering. "What? Celestia did that?"

Shining laughed and nodded. "Yeah. It's weird how you hardly notice how much of a prankster she is, Twily. Anyway, I left after that, and hid the condom in my balled-up jacket. Needless to say, when I got back to our house towing an extra saddlebag stuffed with wet clothes and records (which weren't ruined, thankfully), and a soaking wet outfit (definitely ruined), Mom nearly exploded. But Dad managed to calm her down long enough for me to explain, which changed her mood from worried and furious to overjoyed and loud, which is almost as bad. Then Dad took the ruined suit from me, and unrolled it. I'll never forget the moment when the condom Princess Celestia gave me fell to the floor. It was like time slowed, or something." He sighed nostalgically, eyes clouded with memories. "Mom almost killed me. Dad acted like he was upset with me too, but he winked when Mom wasn't looking, so I guess he was proud or something. No matter how much I tried to explain, Mom wouldn't believe me when I said I didn't 'make whoopee' with Cadence, and before I knew it I was grounded for the rest of the summer." He shrugged. "So much for a second date."

Twilight smiled sadly. "I remember that. You looked so happy to see Cadence again, the day you left for your first day of training."

Another sigh escaped him. "Yeah. I was really pissed I wasn't able to go out with her again before I had to leave. I was even more pissed at myself for waiting so long before working up the balls to ask the mare of my dreams out on a date. It messed me up in the camps, too, thinking about her: I wondered sometimes if she would get impatient and go find some other colt. But every week, she'd send me a letter, with a different photo of her and you in it. I had to hide them from the other trainees, for fear that they would read them aloud and mock me." He looked over at Twilight. "That just made it even better to come home after basic training, though."

Twilight smiled and nuzzled her brother. "Thanks for the story."

"Feel better?"

"Mm-hmm."

The doorbell rang.

In an instant, Twilight leapt up from the couch and flew over to the stairs, her calm demeanor from a second before completely gone. She glared at the door, her face regaining the madness that had claimed it only minutes ago.

"Get him away! Tell him I have important Princess business, or that I was never here, or that I died from Alicornitis! Just get him away, I order you!"

Shining laughed and shook his head. "Not happening, LSBFF. You're going out with this guy,and that's final."

Twilight shivered. "Didn't you hear yourself talking? Everything bad that happened to you could easily happen to me!"

"And if that really ruins the night, then you two aren't meant for each other." Shining trotted over to his sister. "But if everything that could possibly go wrong does in fact go wrong, and the two of you can still laugh about it, well..." He smirked. "...maybe you'll have finally found your knight in shining armor."

Twilight tilted her head in confusion. "What, another BBBFF?"

Shining Armor facehoofed.


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When the door finally opened, the young colt who had been eagerly waiting at it for almost a minute was shocked to find not Twilight, but his boss standing behind it. On instinct, Ocean Floor snapped to attention, and caught the bouquet of flowers he'd been holding in one hoof with his magic as it went flying out of said hoof, now in a rigid state against his forehead.

"Captain Armor, sir!" He snapped off the salute, taking the cake for Shining Armor. The white unicorn bent his head down and burst out laughing, making Ocean Floor flinch with embarrassment.

"Oh Celestia!" Shining said, and looked back up at the still saluting colt. "At ease, buddy. This isn't the guard, this is my house."

Ocean Floor blushed and lowered his hoof, which took the floating bouquet out of the air. He grinned sheepishly. "S-Sorry, sir, I just-"

"I'm Shining, here. Okay?"

The cerulean stallion fumbled with his words, but straightened up again immediately. "Uh, right. Well, Shining, I'm sorry about saluting. I just didn't know you would be here."

"As if I would let my little sister go out on her first date without checking out her choice of stallion!" He smiled. "And, to tell you the truth, I'm very glad it's you."

"R-Really?" Ocean Floor beamed, then shook his head as if to clear it. "Uh, as good as it is to hear your compliments, si-Shining, I didn't come here for that." He nodded to the flowers in his hoof.

"Right." Shining looked over to the stairs. No sign of Twilight. "She's a bit nervous. Worried that it might end badly."

"Well, that makes two of us." Ocean Floor laughed sharply, not meaning it at all. "Though, I'm more worried about what she might think of me."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mm-hmm. I hope she doesn't think I'm afraid of getting banished or something. I know she wouldn't do that, or I wouldn't have asked her out. Y'know, if she were that kind of mare."

Shining nodded. "Yeah, that's kind of what she's worried about, too." The two stallions laughed.

The sound of hooves descending stairs made Shining's ear twitch. He turned, and smiled brightly as Twilight came down the stairs slowly. When she'd rushed up them begging Shining to distract Ocean Floor, he was worried that she was going to hide and not come out. Now, though, her reason for disappearing was obvious: she'd changed dresses. She now wore one that hid her wings from sight, and Shining couldn't help but let a little liquid pride well in his eyes at the sight of her. He turned back to Ocean Floor and grinned widely.

"Well, it appears the lady is ready." He stepped aside, but thought of something better to do first and leaned in to whisper in Ocean Floor's ear: "Now, you were right when you said that Twilight isn't the kind of princess who just sends ponies to the moon. I, on the other hand, am very protective of my sister. Should she come home in tears, or even the least bit upset about her night out, well..." He paused, for dramatic effect. "...I would suggest not coming back to the Guard tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the day after that. If you catch my drift." He moved away from Ocean Floor's ear, using all of his strength not to burst out laughing at the sight of the blue colt's shocked face. He smiled, and bowed in the direction of his advancing sister. "Ocean Floor, behold: the Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight stepped into Ocean Floor's view, and the teal-maned colt gasped, forgetting almost at once the threat Shining had just made to him. When Twilight saw Ocean Floor, she too acted with surprise. She had never seen him without his armor on, it seemed, and something about the way Twilight blushed when she looked her date up and down told Shining she preferred his natural cerulean coat over the false ivory of his Royal Guard guise. There was a moment of silence, where nothing happened. Then Shining Armor coughed. The other two ponies jumped, and Ocean Floor seemed to remember he was holding something.

"Um, these are for you, Twilight." He held the flowers out to her, and she took them with her magic. She smelled them, and smiled as their scent relaxed her slightly.

"Myosotis," she muttered, nibbling one of the pale blue flowers. "My favorites."

"Lucky guess," Ocean Floor said, shrugging in a way that said "Celestia totally told me what your favorite flower was." Thankfully, Twilight didn't notice, as she as still absorbed in the bouquet. Her face was tinted red, and the red darkened when Shining gave another cough. Ocean Floor got the message, and gestured out the door.

"Shall we get going then?" he said, still nervous but not nearly as much as before. Twilight smiled and nodded, stepping forward.

"Where are we headed?"

"Uh..." Ocean Floor glanced at Shining Armor, who raised an eyebrow. "It's a surprise." He smiled, and he and Twilight stared at each other for a few seconds. Shining coughed once more, and the two jumped out of their trances for the second time that night.

"So, let's get going, then," Ocean Floor said, gesturing once more out the door. Twilight smiled and stepped out into the night, trotting down the path leading away from the house. Ocean Floor followed, giving Shining one last glance that said "Celestia give me strength," and shut the door behind him. Shining discreetly stopped the door with his own magic, simultaneously using it to simulate the sound of a door closing. He peeked through the crack he allowed himself, and watched the two ponies walk down the road, already beginning to chat with each other. To his amusement, he heard Ocean Floor's voice crack, and chuckled silently to himself. Twilight chuckled as well, making Ocean Floor blush and look up at the sky in embarrassment. Shining watched the couple until they disappeared from sight. He felt a sudden wave of deja vu overcome him, and he shut the door, shivering. He turned to the staircase, dismissing the feeling as nothing. He trotted up the stairs slowly, imagining his sister having the time of her life with Ocean Floor, and what it could mean for their family. He made his way down the hall to his room, and opened the door slowly, not wanting to disturb the room's slumbering occupant. To his surprise, he found that said occupant was actually awake, sitting up in the bed they shared.

"Cadence?" Shining approached his wife cautiously, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw tears running down her cheeks. She was leaning against the backboard of the bed, holding a pillow to her chest with her face half-buried in it. She was staring at something sitting on the covers in front of her. When Shining said her name, she turned her head slowly towards him, giving him a look he couldn't comprehend. Sensing danger, he rushed to her side, and asked, "Cadence, what's wrong? Why are you crying? Did your sickness bounce back?"

Cadence shook her head into the pillow, and lifted it up to look him in the eye. Her sparkling purple eyes drew the whole of his attention, as they had for years, but he still saw that she was smiling through her tears.

"Cadence?"

She leaned forward abruptly and kissed him passionately on the lips. At this point, Shining had no idea what was going on, and thus simply leaned into her lips. When she pulled away, he was left leaning over the bed, utterly confused and slightly aroused. He opened his eyes and stared at her, asking for an explanation with his eyes. Cadence gestured with hers down to the thing she'd stared at on the bed. He looked down at it, and his cerulean eyes widened when he saw what it was.

The thing sitting on the bed was small, white, and stick-like. One end thinned out into what could easily and disastrously be mistaken for a thermometer. However, the defining feature on the small object was a minuscule silvery screen, which, after this certain usage, now bore a dark red "+." In an instant, Shining Armor felt the breath leave his body, as he realized in a burst of cold shock why Cadence had come down with such a sudden bout of sickness. He blinked once, twice, three four five times before looking back up at his wife. More tears were running down her face, and he couldn't help but feel some of his own welling in his eyes. Numb, he whispered her name once more:

"C-Cadence..."

She pulled him into an embrace, burying her face in his shoulder. Even through the muffling fabric of his red jacket, he could still hear her speak words that would stay in his head, along with this moment, for the rest of his life.

"Shining, I'm pregnant."

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THE END