"Hold still, Shining Armor. This will only take a second."
"Ok," Shining Armor stood as still as a statue - until his father's magic tried to knot the tie around his neck, which caused him to squirm again. "It's tight. Why do I have to wear this thing?"
Night Light sighed and let go of his son's tie. "We're going to see the new princess."
"But can't I go without a tie?"
"No, you can't." Valiantly, Night Light lit his horn and picked up the tie again. "This is history in the making! There's never been another princess before. You want to look your best when you're there."
"Okay." Shining Armor fidgeted as his father jerked his tie around. Looking for a way out, he thought of his friends. "Will Wishing Star and High Road have ties?"
"Yeah, they'll have them too." The other colts' parents had agreed to meet at Shining Armor's house before heading to the coronation. After a moment, though, Night Light remembered that High Road was a pegasus. If Night Light was having trouble putting a tie on, even with magic, he wasn't sure High Road's parents could do it at all. "… Probably."
Hearing that there was a chance his friends wouldn't be wearing ties, Shining Armor brightened. Before he could ask about it though, the doorbell rang. He turned his head, hoping to hear his friends, but his father used his magic to make Shining Armor look forward. As Night Light kept working on his tie, Shining Armor heard his mother open the door, then exclaim in surprise, "Blaze! Aren't you supposed to be on duty?”
As soon as he heard the name, Shining Armor shouted, "It's Uncle Blaze!" He wriggled out of Night Light's grasp and ran downstairs to see his favorite uncle. Tie-knotting attempt thwarted, Night Light sighed in defeat and trotted after his son.
Shining Armor headed straight for the living room, where he could hear his uncle talking. He spotted the armored stallion taking his helmet off and immediately ran up to greet him. “Uncle Blaze! You’re back!”
Blaze turned to see the white colt quickly crossing the room. Grinning widely, he lifted a hoof and ruffled his nephew’s mane. “Heh, I sure am, kid. The Royal Guards and I have been busy getting ready for the coronation, but I came to see you first.”
Shining Armor had seen the Royal Guard on duty in the castle once. They had seemed really serious and important, so Blaze had to really care if he was here instead of doing Royal Guard work. Shining Armor stared in awe, but his mother frowned. “That’s very nice of you, Blaze, but isn’t there something you’re supposed to be doing?”
“Aw, lighten up, Velvet. I haven’t seen you since before the trip to La Manecha. Hey, Night Light.” Shining Armor’s father walked into the room, still holding an undone tie. “Is that for Shining Armor here?”
Night Light smiled at his brother-in-law. “Good to see you, Blaze. Yeah, I was trying to get Shining Armor ready to go … but I guess we’ve still got time, if you’re here.” He looked at Blaze questioningly.
Taking the hint, Blaze chuckled and started to explain. “Alright, alright, according to the plan, I’m supposed to be at the castle getting ready, but we ran into a problem. We had time for a rehearsal, which turned out perfectly, except for one thing.” Blaze paused, then motioned for the others to move closer, which they did. As if it was a shameful secret, he whispered, “Princess Celestia thought it looked silly.”
Velvet raised an eyebrow. “Silly? How?”
“Well, I don’t know how much you’ve heard, but the new princess is a foal. She’s … this tall.” Blaze held a hoof up at about Shining Armor’s height. They, in fact, had not known she was so young: as far as most ponies knew, a new princess had just appeared out of nowhere. Looking at his uncle’s hoof, Shining Armor realized that this meant she was actually about the same age as he was.
Blaze continued, “It’s a big event, so we made sure everything was fit for a princess, from the decorations, to the ponies, to the uniforms and costumes. It looks great, but the thing is, we didn’t see the big picture. In the end, if we use all of that, the ceremony will look like it’s about everything except the princess.”
As Blaze shook his head regretfully, Night Light chuckled in understanding. “You made it so you can’t see the forest for the trees, huh?”
Blaze sighed, “Yeah, ‘over the top,’ is what Princess Celestia called it. The princess is the whole reason for the coronation, so we have to tone it back a bit. We started by taking out the Royal Guard and the chorus.”
Shining Armor’s mouth dropped open in shock. He had been looking forward to seeing the Royal Guard doing what they did best. “Taking out the Royal Guard? You’re not gonna be there?”
Reacting to his nephew’s disappointment, Blaze gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, kid, the Royal Guard will always be there.”
A knock at the door stopped Shining Armor from asking anything else. Velvet walked over and opened it to reveal two colts and their parents. “Right on time! Good morning, everypony!” Velvet motioned them in.
“Good morning to you, too! You know we’d never be late for something like this.” Shining Armor recognized the pegasus stallion as High Road’s dad. As the adults started talking, Shining Armor went over to his friends. With some apprehension, he noticed High Road and Wishing Star were both wearing ties.
His friends weren’t looking at him, though. The armored guardspony being introduced to their parents was far more interesting. Wishing Star asked, “How come there’s a Royal Guard here?”
“He’s my uncle,” Shining Armor said proudly.
That got his friends’ attention. “Your uncle’s a Royal Guard? Awesome!”
“What kind of stuff does he do?” High Road asked.
“Uh,” Shining Armor knew it was important, but he didn’t really know much else about the Royal Guard. He thought fast. Asking Blaze was the easiest way out, but there was one thing Shining Armor could say first. “Well, he went all the way to La Manecha to find the new Princess.”
Neither of his friends had ever been to La Manecha, so, by default, the fact that Blaze had been there was impressive. Shining Armor enjoyed their amazement as he thought of what else the Royal Guard did. Blaze himself overheard, however, and frowned.
“Hold on there, Shining Armor. I did go to La Manecha, but that was because Princess Celestia was visiting the Donkey King. Nopony knew we were going to find a new princess.” Blaze explained.
Night Light heard the side conversation as well. Joining in, he said, “That’s what I thought. The coronation announcement was a bit of a surprise, really.”
“How did you find the princess, anyway?” Wishing Star’s mother asked curiously.
“That’s an interesting story. I hope you’ll forgive me if I let Princess Celestia tell everypony about it at the coronation. She’s very proud of her new niece.” Blaze grinned apologetically.
“Speaking of the coronation, we should get going soon.” High Road’s mother said.
Velvet’s eyes widened in surprise. “Is it that time already? Oh dear, I’m so sorry, but we still need to get ready. Honey, why isn’t Shining Armor’s tie on yet?”
Night Light made a helpless expression. “Give me a second. Come on, Shining, let’s get that tie on.” Shining Armor groaned in disappointment, but trotted over to his dad anyway.
“Uh, actually,” Blaze interrupted with a small smile. “Do you remember what I said about toning back the coronation?”
Shining Armor’s ears perked up. “You mean, we don’t have to wear all this stuff?”
“We’ll see about that,” Blaze grinned at him, then turned to the colts’ parents. “There was a bit of a change in plans for the coronation. Originally, the new princess was going to be escorted by a chorus and the Royal Guard. That won’t work, so instead,” Blaze motioned towards Shining Armor and his friends. “We’re looking for well-behaved young colts to take our place. I think these boys are just right for the job.”
“Take … your place?” Velvet asked, confused. “You mean, they’ll stand in for the Royal Guard? In the ceremony?”
Blaze nodded. “That’s exactly what I mean. Princess Celestia herself requested it.”
It was starting to dawn on the colts that they might be more than just part of the audience.
“What do they have to do?” Wishing Star’s mother asked.
“Not too much, we’ll walk them through it. They just have to walk the princess from the doors to the stage. Um, there might be a little singing involved. I’m sure they’ll love it.” Blaze explained.
There was a pause, during which the colts glanced at each other and at their parents, hoping they would get to go. Then, High Road’s father said, “It sounds great to me. Why not?” The other adults agreed, causing Shining Armor and his friends to cheer for their good fortune.
“Looks like you don’t need that tie after all.” Blaze put his helmet back on and opened the door. “Let’s get going!”
Blaze and the colts parted ways with the others once they reached the castle gates. The parents had to find a good spot, since they had Shining Armor’s baby sister with them. Meanwhile, Blaze led Shining Armor and his friends deeper into the castle.
“Where are we going?” Shining Armor asked.
Blaze said, “We’re gonna get you ready for the coronation. You don’t need those ties, but we do have some neat uniforms for you. Think of it as being junior Royal Guards.”
This day was getting better all the time. “Really? You’re the best, Mister Blaze!” Wishing Star laughed excitedly. Beside him, High Road’s eyes shined in anticipation.
“Don’t thank me yet. Wait ‘till you see it.” Blaze chuckled at the colt’s enthusiasm.
One thing was bothering Shining Armor, though. “If we’re taking your place, where are you going to be?”
Blaze raised an eyebrow, surprised that Shining Armor was still distracted by that, but he reassured his nephew, “Like I said, the Royal Guard will always be there. We’ll be on duty, we just won’t be part of the escort. That’s up to you.” He stopped in front of a pair of double doors and turned towards the colts. “And here’s where it starts, the castle changing rooms. Let’s get you three ready.” Lighting his horn, he pushed the door open for them.
Inside, ponies were bustling about finishing last minute preparations for the coronation. A group of Royal Guards picked up some pink banners and marched out a side door. Across the room, tailors were putting the finishing touches on some ponies’ costumes. In the middle of the room, there were racks of fabrics and clothes that reminded Shining Armor of the tailor shop where his parents had bought his tie.
As the colts walked inside, heads turning so they could see everything, one of the tailors looked up from her work and walked over to meet them. “Nova Blazon, are those colts for the ceremony?”
Blaze nodded. “Indeed they are. This is my nephew, Shining Armor, and his friends, High Road and Wishing Star.”
The tailor smiled warmly. “Pleased to meet you! I’m glad you could be a part of the ceremony, I think this is going to be a very memorable day for you.” She examined each of them for a moment before she trotted over to one of the racks of clothes. To Blaze, she said, “Thank heavens you got them, this change was on such short notice. We’ve only got one other colt so far, but that should be enough, perfect actually, except …”
They waited for her to continue, but she just pursed her lips and picked a colt-sized uniform from the clothes rack. Blaze raised an eyebrow and asked, “… Except what?”
“Oh, nothing,” she said with a falsely cheery smile. “I’m sure the four of them will do just fine. Here we go, try this on …”
She held out a maroon uniform jacket. It looked very official, with its golden buttons and bright red collar. Shining Armor carefully put it on and found out that it was surprisingly comfortable, too. As his friends received their own jackets, Shining Armor decided that the uniforms looked pretty good.
Soon, the tailor stepped back to scrutinize her work. Satisfied with their appearance, she giggled and said, “I think you make charming little guards. The princess is lucky to have you three today.” She checked the clock. “And we finished just in time. The coronation is starting soon, you should get to your places.”
“Right. Come on, this way!” Blaze led the colts out of the changing room and down another hallway. They could hear the chatter of a large crowd of ponies up ahead. It was loud, and it only grew louder as they got closer. Shining Armor looked out a window and saw a crowd of countless ponies below them. There were so many, it seemed like everypony in Canterlot had showed up.
Shining Armor swallowed nervously. “That’s a lot of ponies,” he said, a little afraid.
Blaze noticed. “Don’t worry, you’ll do fine! The crowd will love you, and besides, this is really all about the princess: imagine how she feels right now.”
Shining Armor thought about it, and somehow he felt worse. Who knew what kind of things could happen in front of that many ponies? His uniform could look bad, or he could trip and fall on his face, or he could sneeze, but as bad as he had it, there was somepony who was going to have even more ponies watching her …
They rounded a corner and came within sight of a small group of ponies. A couple Royal Guards were standing by a really tall double door. There was also a colt in a uniform nearby and, further away, a bunch of fillies in flowery dresses. This must be the escort Blaze talked about. Shining Armor’s heart thumped painfully as he realized the coronation was going to happen on the other side of those doors.
“Here we go. This is where you’ll meet the princess. Hold on a second.” Blaze walked over to the other Royal Guards to talk about something. As Shining Armor and his friends looked around, the other colt noticed them.
With an arrogant huff, the blonde-maned colt said, “I was wondering when my subordinates would arrive. You’re late.”
Shining Armor tilted his head to the side. “Sub – ore dinnets…?”
High Road frowned. “It means he thinks he can boss us around.”
Upset, Wishing Star protested indignantly, “Hey! Just ‘cause you were here first –“
Acting insulted, the snobby colt cut him off. “Just because? Hardly. I think I can boss you around because I know I can. I am a prince.”
Blaze finished his discussion with the Guards and interrupted the colts before they could continue. “That’s right. Prince Blueblood graciously agreed to help escort the princess today. Uh, you only have a short time together here, so try to, um, enjoy it.” Blaze glanced at Blueblood, then whispered to Shining Armor. “Don’t mind the Prince, he can only get on your nerves if you let him.” He stood up straight again and spoke to all the colts. “I can’t stick around, I have to get to my post. Have fun, huh? I’ll be watching.” And with that, Blaze trotted off.
The other colt gave them a smug smirk, pleased to be proven right by an adult. Prince Blueblood? This was what royalty was like? Suddenly, Shining Armor wasn’t so eager to be helping with the coronation.
Wishing Star was grumbling under his breath, but he could see the Royal Guards by the door. He wasn’t about to misbehave in front of them, so he settled for just glaring at Blueblood. The Prince was busy straightening his uniform jacket and didn’t notice. Shining Armor and High Road gave each other a look of relief that they didn’t have to restrain their more impulsive friend.
The sound of giggling reached their ears. Looking around, they remembered that there was a group of fillies in the hall, too. As the colts looked, one of the fillies stepped forward and the others huddled together, whispering excitedly.
As she walked closer, Shining Armor was stunned. He didn’t really think much about the fillies in his class at school, since he was busy playing with his friends, but this filly was beautiful …
She was right in front of them, and he was staring. He quickly looked away, and then looked back, because she was talking.
“Hello. Are you colts the Guards who are going to walk with us?”
“Uh …” It was an easy question, there was no other reason for them to be there. What was he supposed to say again? Blueblood beat him to it.
“Yes, I am Prince Blueblood and I am going to lead the Guard today.”
The filly quickly glanced at each of them before she focused on the Prince. “Oh, okay.” She bit her lip, then continued, “I just wanted to ask, have you ever – been in front of lots of ponies before?”
Blueblood smiled, happy to talk about his favorite subject – himself. “Since I was just a foal. I’m a natural in the spotlight.”
“… Oh.” The filly looked dejected. Shining Armor wanted to say something to make her feel better, but unlike Blueblood, he had never been “in the spotlight” before.
Outside, the orchestral music swelled. One of the door guards whispered loudly, “Princess! That’s your cue!”
The filly – the princess, she had wings and a horn – gasped, “Oh my gosh –“ She turned and ran towards the doors, just as the guards opened them.
“Fillies and gentlecolts, may I present for your love and admiration, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!”
On the other side of the doors, an endless crowd of ponies turned to look at the one pony whom they had come to see. The princess stood perfectly still, overwhelmed by the sheer number of ponies staring at her. Time seemed to freeze as everypony watched the little filly standing there.
Something in his heart told Shining Armor he had to help. He stepped away from the other colts and opened his mouth to say something, anything - when the words came, they were just loud enough so that she could hear him. “We’re right behind you, Princess.”
Her head turned. For just a second, Shining Armor could see the fear in her eyes – and she saw the honest concern in his.
Her fear seemed to lessen, just a bit. She gave him a little smile and turned back forward. Knowing she had somepony who cared, she raised a hoof and took a step towards her destiny.