After breakfast, Celestia led Shine on a tour of the castle. Shine walked beside her, trying desperately to resist the urge to stare at her. At first, he thought it was just meeting the princess herself that was causing him to act in such an odd way. However, he keep finding himself looking in the alicorn's direction every few seconds.
'Okay, I'm sure it's nothing, Shine.' Shine thought to himself. 'You're just drawn by her beauty, nothing wrong with that.'
And why wouldn't he be drawn? The alicorn was the most beautiful mare he had ever seen…
'No! Snap out of it!' Shine mentally slapped himself. What was he thinking? This was Celestia, crown princess of Equestria for crying out loud, not just another pretty face. To even think of her in such a way felt sacrilegious to him. He of all ponies, a commoner without a cutie mark, should not even think of her in that kind of way, ever.
"...And this is the royal study." Celestia declared as she opened the door to a room filled with books, snapping Shine out of his reverie.
As Shine entered the room, he was amazed by the numbers of books that there were. He had never seen this big of a collection of books before in his life. He only wondered how many centuries old the books belonging to the Royal Pony Sisters must be. His musings were interrupted by the squawk of a flame-colored bird sitting on a perch on the far side of the room.
"Gah!" Shine jumped, as he glanced at the bird, "Yikes…who's this?"
"Philomeena, my pet." Celestia smiled at the bird. "Shine, this my pet phoenix, Philomeena."
"Wow." Shine gasped. "I only heard of them in books. But I never seen one so up close before. I wonder how soft their feathers are…"
Shine reached out to stroke Philomeena. The phoenix ruffled her feathers, creating a spark that singed Shine's hoof.
"Ow!" Shine cringed, pulling back his hoof, "A feisty little devil."
"Meena, be nice." Celestia scolded her. "Shine here is our guest." She turned back to Shine. "You'll have to forgive her; She likes to play pranks on new ponies."
"So I see." Shine said, rubbing his burnt hoof.
"Perhaps we should continue the tour elsewhere?" Celestia suggested.
"Yeah. I think that would be good." Shine nodded, glancing at Philomeena, who only gave a defensive screech as the two left the room.
And so the tour continued. Celestia led Shine to a large, spacious room.
"This is the ballroom." She declared. "It's where we hold our formal get-togethers. In fact, we'll be holding the Grand Galloping Gala here in a couple of months time."
"Can't say I've ever been." Shine admitted.
"Well, I could always extend to you an invitation." Celestia offered.
"No offense princess, but I hardly think I'm the type of pony fit for such an event." Shine chuckled.
"You'd be surprised." Celestia smiled. "More often then not, the Gala is so frightfully boring; Stuffy, upper-class ponies acting 'proper' and 'dignified'. Having a more down-to-earth stallion such as yourself in attendance might liven things up."
"You really think so?" Shine beamed, trying hard to mask his joy over her compliment. "Well, maybe I could swing by..."
"Excellent." Celestia nodded.
The final stop was the castle grounds, where a group of royal guardsponies were going about their training regime.
"And these are the royal guard." Celestia declared. "The very best Equestria has to offer."
"Well, they are pretty good at what they do." Shine nodded, "I had heard many great things about them."
One guardspony, bereft of his armor, stepped forward. Shine gaped. He was the biggest pony he had ever seen, barring his friend Big Red. He had a gray coat, black mane and muzzle, teal eyes, and a Cutie Mark of two crossed swords.
"Good morning, princess." He smiled as he gave a salute.
"Good morning, guardspony Iron Hooves." Celestia smiled.
"Hey there, stranger." Iron said to Shine.
"Oh, hello. Do I know you?" Shine asked.
"No, but I know you." Iron smirked. "I pulled your flank out of the mud last night."
"Oh." Shine said. "Thanks, I guess."
"No problem. Wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't help ponies out." Iron chuckled. "Now then, judging by your build, I'd guess you're some kinda farm pony. Am I right?"
"More or less." Shine nodded, impressed.
"I must ask, what do they have you do on that farm?" Iron asked, as he paced around the Pegasus.
"Nothing out of the ordinary, I guess." Shine shrugged, "I do get into a couple of impromptu wrestling matches. Helps build the muscles."
"Well, I would like to see how well you fare against me. I've been training alongside the best guardsponies for nearly twenty years." Iron smiled. "By the looks of your injuries, this oughta be just the thing you need to get yourself back to top condition for when your wings heal."
"As fun as that would sound, I can't. The princess is giving me a tour of-" Shine started.
"Actually, the tour is complete." Celestia declared. "Feel free to take up Mr. Hooves on his offer. I will be inside the castle if you need anything."
"Okay then, princess." Shine nodded.
"Then let's get to it!" Iron cheered, as he took Shine aside, "How about we start off with push-ups? Think you can do a hundred?"
"You're on!" Shine smirked, as the two pegasus immediately dropped to their knees and began their little race.
As the pair of stallions started their little game, Celestia began to walk away, shaking her head at their antics. But suddenly, she glanced back at the two, her eyes focused on Shine as he did his push-ups at a rapid pace, despite his bruised hooves.
Celestia did not know why, but watching Shine exercising had inexplicably caught her attention. She was quite impressed that the pegasus could keep up a good pace after the events of last night, and now as she looked at him, he did seem rather built for a young pegasus, not too bulky, yet not so thin. She watched him for a while, until the sound of a clearing throat snapped her out of it.
"Enjoying the view?" It was Luna, back from the family outing.
"Luna!" Celestia gasped, her cheeks reddening. "I was just... um... observing the guardsponies' progress."
"Of course you were." Luna smirked.
Luna trotted smugly back indoors, an embarrassed Celestia following behind her. The princess of the sun took one quick glance back at Shine before going inside.