Shining Armor, Shining Armor, Cadance, and Cadance all sat together in the back of a chariot as it sailed through the air, being pulled by two Pegasus stallions who had decided for their own sakes not to ask any questions.
Captain Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza watched with stunned looks as their counterparts peered over the side of the chariot, both with huge smiles on their faces and laughing cheerfully at how high-up they were.
“This is incredible!” Cadance shouted as she felt the wind blowing through her mane. “This is so much better than riding a plane!”
“You said it! Though I just hope the two pulling this thing don’t get tired,” Shining said with a slightly worried look. “By the way, Cadance?”
“Yes?” both Cadances replied in unison.
An awkward silence descended on the group for a moment. “Um, sorry. The pony one,” Shining amended. “Man, this is gonna get confusing… I know! For now, I’ll just refer to you two by your ranks! Captain and Princess, right?”
“T-That’s right,” the other Shining Armor said. “But that doesn’t really help us. What should we call the two of you?”
The FBI agents Shining Armor and Cadance thought about that for a second. “How about Shield and Heart? Those are the aliases we sometimes use on our undercover assignments.” Shining Armor suggested.
Captain Shining Armor nodded. “Very well then. For everypony’s convenience, we’ll be known as ‘Captain’ and ‘Princess’ to you, and you’ll be ‘Shield’ and ‘Heart’.”
And so it was decided. ‘Shield’ would have shaken ‘Captain’s’ hoof, had the hoofcuffs binding him hooves together not prevented him from doing so. “Soooo… any idea when we’ll be getting to this ‘Camelot’?”
“Canterlot,” Captain corrected, “And about half-an-hour. Just sit tight and don’t even think about scheming anything.”
“Honestly, Shiny,” Princess said. “They seem nice enough to me. By the way,” she added, turning to Heart, “I’m sorry for freaking out earlier. I just kind of thought you were a changeling.”
“Oh, that’s quite alright,” Heart said, although she couldn’t deny that she was absolutely terrified by her earlier encounter. “I’m surprised you believe in such things though. I stopped believing in supernatural things like that when I became a teenager.”
“‘Supernatural’?” Princess shook her head. “Maybe where you’re from, but in this world, they’re very real.”
“The changelings are a race of shapeshifters,” Captain explained. “They take on the form of somepony dear to you and then feed off of your love. Their Queen, Chrysalis, came very close to overthrowing us not too long ago, so we’ve stepped up our security against changelings greatly in recent times.”
“‘Chrysalis’?!” both Shield and Heart shouted in unison.
They both shared an uneasy look before laughing nervously together. “Y-You don’t think…” Shield began.
“Could be,” Heart said.
“In any case,” Princess interrupted, “I believe you were about to ask me something, Shield?”
Shield turned to the Princess and jumped when he realised he was about to ask something very important. “Oh, yes! That’s right! I was wondering why you have a horn, yet Cadance – my Cadance – doesn’t?”
Princess smiled and brought a hoof up to her horn. “Well, it’s sort of a long story, but I suppose we have the time. You see, in Equestria, there are two Royal sisters who rule our land. Both of them are what we call ‘Alicorns’, which means they have both a Unicorn’s horn and a Pegasus’ wings.
“Those two were born that way, and as far as we know are the only pureblood Alicorns to date. However, back when I was still growing up as a Pegasus filly in my quiet little village, I did something that nopony else had ever done before: I developed a new type of magic, by introducing love into somepony who’s heart was seemingly lost forever. For that, I was granted this horn, and the title of ‘Princess’.
“Though my powers remained the same, and my lifespan is not any longer than your average pony, with this horn I can now use magic just like Unicorns can, and with my title, I have been given the Crystal Empire to rule over.”
Shield gave an appreciative whistle at Princess’ story. “Wow. But wait, you became a Princess for doing what hadn’t been done before?”
Princess nodded. “Something like that, yes.”
“But, isn’t that basically what everypony who invents something, or discovers some new concept, or proves some new theory, or develops a new fashion trend or art style does? Are you saying there are Princes and Princesses walking all over Equestria?”
“I-It doesn’t quite work like that…” Princess said.
“Oh? Like what then?” Shield asked. “In our world, there are a lot of people who graduated from University by developing an original thesis the likes of which has never been done before. Would Equestria’s equivalent to them be Royalty?”
Princess sighed. “No. Like I said, it doesn’t work that way. To date, only two ponies have become Alicorns in this way. I don’t know why, it’s just how it works.”
Shield gave her a curious look, but decided not to pursue the topic further, since it seemed she really didn’t have the answers to give him. “Even so, becoming a Princess and being asked to rule a land just because you ‘developed some new magic’ or whatever… How can they know you’ll be a good ruler based on just that?”
“She’s a great ruler!” Captain shouted, glaring at Shield.
“No, I have to agree with Shiny,” Heart said. “Not to sound egotistical or anything, but I understand what Princess meant with her story. My charisma and my charms have gotten me out of many tight binds, and helped me uncover some useful information in my world. I’ve even managed to convince a few of the criminals we were after to turn themselves in and turn over a new leaf. Even so, I cannot imagine myself leading an entire kingdom from just that.”
“I of course underwent extensive tutoring by Princess Celestia beforehoof,” Princess said. “I never knew my parents. I was an orphan when my village took me in, so the Princess took me in as her niece upon my coronation and personally saw to my education.”
“And you were okay with that?” Shield asked. “You were okay with leaving everyone you knew behind and accepting the responsibilities of a leader, just like that?”
“I was nervous at first,” Princess admitted, “But after awhile, I sort of… Are you okay?” Princess asked, noticing Heart staring at her with a shocked look on her face.
“… Y-You never knew mum or dad?” Heart asked, causing a silence to fall immediately between the four ponies.
“… I never met them… Not once…”
Heart looked down at the chariot’s floor with a solemn look on her face. “I-I’m sorry…”
Princess shook her head. “It’s fine. I’ve made my peace with it… I take it, you knew them?”
Heart nodded. “I still do.”
“… What are they like?”
Heart smiled. “They’re great. No matter what decisions I made in my life, they were always there to support me. Even when I told them I would be joining the FBI…” Heart looked up to see small streams falling down Princess’ cheeks.
“I see… I’m glad. They sound like wonderful parents.”
Neither Captain nor Shield could react before Heart moved forward and wrapped her forelegs around Princess, offering her a shoulder to cry on and a warm embrace to calm her down.
Both Captain and Shield silently agreed to stay put and not say anything until Princess had calmed down, at which point Heart moved away to allow Captain room to hold her in his forelegs. The rest of the trip was quiet. Even when Shield saw the wonderful city in the mountains ahead of them, he kept his excitement locked inside.