//------------------------------// // Princess Cadence and Shining Armor // Story: Stuck // by NickyD //------------------------------// Golden Oaks Library Thursday 11:30 A.M. "How could you do this to me!?" I shout at Twilight with venom. "I can't believe this...MY OWN FRIEND TOO!" "N-Nick, I-I-I'm sorry. I-I'm so, so very s-sorry." Twilight stutters weakly, taking a step or two back. I see her eyes are starting to water and her lip is quivering a little. Shame and regret is plastered all over her face. It has no effect on me. "Sorry doesn't cut it! Sorry doesn't make up for what you have done!" "C-Can't we just talk about this casually?" "Casual?! Ain't that a load of- you know what? Our friendship is done! I'm outta' here!" I turn around, with my arms and hands up, me walking to the door. Before I lay my hand on the knob, I feel Twilight's hooves on my shoulders. "Nick, it was a mistake, an honest mistake. Please don't go," she begs, putting her forehead on my back. I feel her tears bleed through my shirt and wets my skin a bit. I tuck in my lips, still angry. "Goodbye Twilight." I shake her hooves off my shoulders and open the door. Before I even take a step outside, I slam the door shut, turn and smile. "And scene! That was quite convincing Twilight. You're a pretty good actress." I change from a more positive mood in an instant, and so does she. We were bored, so I thought Twilight and I can do an improv for fun. I want to see how convincing of an actress she could be and I also want to show her my acting abilities. "Really? Well, thanks. I can see your acting talents really shine during that improvisation." "What about you Spike?" I turn my head to Spike, who is sitting on a cushion, observing. "Whatcha' think about the scene? "I loved it," my purple-scaled friend says, throwing his claws up. "I was really convinced that you were angry at her." "I did feel like was sorry for what I have done during the scene," Twilight says. "If you can convince yourself, you're golden," I say. "Can we try another improv?" she asks. "What do you have in mind?" "I have an idea," Spike exclaims. "Maybe you guys could try-" Before he could finish his sentence, there is a knock at the door. "Who could that be?" "Is it Cadence?" Twilight wonders out loud. She trots up to the door and opens the top part of it. "Cadence! Shining!" She practically shouts. "Can you hang on for just a second?" She closes the top part of the door, gingerly, and starts bouncing around the room like she's Pinkie Pie. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" She went from calm to excited real quick. "She must be really fond of Cadence and Shining visits," I say to Spike, folding my arms with a smile. "Oh yeah," Spike says. "She gets like that almost every time." Twilight stops bouncing, and lands in front of me. "Okay Nick, you're about to meet my sister in law and my brother. Try not to be dramatic like the last time you meet somepony regal." With the remembrance of me introducing myself to Celestia a couple days ago, I tug the collar of my shirt out of embarrassment. "Yeah, I should try to avoid that," I say out of, well, what else than embarrassment? "Just relax, I'm sure they'll like you." "Okay," I say after taking a quick breath. To be honest, I'm a bit nervous. I have no idea what to expect from this visit. Hopefully I don't make myself look like a fool in front of her relatives, as I did with Celestia. Well, I didn't make myself look like fool in front of her highness, it was just my introduction with her was a bit dramatic. If I avoid that, I should be alright. Twilight walks back to the door and opens it fully. "Twilight!" I hear another voice say. I take a peek and see a pink alicorn with purple tipped wings. Her mane and tail are highlights of light yellow, dark pink and purple. I also notice she has a crown on the base of her horn and I also take notice of a necklace around her neck. She must be Cadence. She looks like her picture from the icon book. Next to her, I see a white unicorn stallion with a navy blue mane and tail with a highlight of a light blue...I'm sorry but holy crap, this guy is buff! I can see why he leads the Canterlot Royal Guard. With a build like that, he is just saying to his enemies: "come at me bro"! "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake," Twilight and, who I'm pretty sure is, Cadence say while doing movements that correspond with the words. That must be their hand-er-hoofshake. It sounds a little childish though. It might be a long lasting relationship that has lasted since they were kids. That would make sense. "It's so good to see you again Twilight." "Likewise. Like what you said last time, we should get together more often, when the fate of Equestria is not in the the balance." The two giggle at the remark. What do they mean by that? "Cadence, Shining Armor, allow me to introduce you to Nick." She gestures her hoof to me and I do a respectful bow to them. "It's uh, it's a pleasure to meet you your highnesses," I say, slightly nervous. "The pleasure is mine," the pink alicorn says. She walks closer to me and I can get a better idea of what her height is. She's several inches taller than Twilight, so she reaches to the lower area of my rib cage. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Princess Cadence, the Princess of Love and ruler of the Crystal Empire." "And I'm Prince Shining Armor," the white, unicorn-stallion says. "Co-ruler of the Crystal Empire and husband to Princess Cadence." He puts his hoof around Cadence's neck and rubs his cheek against hers. "So you're the one who's been staying with Twili for the past couple of days?" I chuckle a little. "Twili? Is that a nickname you give to her?" I ask. I never knew she had a nickname like that. "Yeah." He brings a hoof to the back of his neck and starts rubbing it. "I have always called her that really. I can't really think of the last time I called her by her full name." "I know what you mean. I can't remember the last time I called my younger siblings by their full names." "Oh, you have siblings too?" he asks, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow. "Yeup. I grew up with a younger brother and sister. Let me tell you, they're a pain in the arse, but I love them regardless." "Really? Growing up, Twili was never really a nuisance. She's my L.S.B.F.F." What? "Little sister best friend forever in case you were wondering." Oh, that makes sense. "So Nick," Cadence says to me, "how are you enjoying Equestria so far?" Well that was a quick change of topic. "To be honest, I really like it here. I have made a bunch of friends already in such a short amount of time. I'm also thankful that I stumbled upon Twilight. I mean, if it wasn't for her, I would be who knows where." I see Twilight blush a little out of the praise I'm giving her. "It was awfully nice of you to give him a roof over his head, Twili." Shining says to her. "I bet mom and dad would be pleased with your sense of hospitality." Shining directs his attention back to me. "So Nick, when are you returning home?" "Sunday is when I'm heading back. Twilight is working on a spell that should send back home by then." "Hmm..." I hear Cadance muse. It didn't sound like it was an amusing "hmm", it sounded more like those thinking or concerned "hmms". Weird, when the spell was mentioned to Princes Celestia, she sounded like she corrected herself on something she was sure about. And here, Cadence sounds concerned. Strange… "How about we worry about that stuff later," Shining announces. "The point of this visit is to know you better. So why don't we do that?" "Well, what would you like to know?" I ask. "How about interests? What do you like to do in your spare time?" Cadence asks with curiosity. "Well, I guess mainly: sing, rap, hang out with friends, exercise, act, read every here and there, listen to music, and….I think that's about it." "You sing?" Shinning and Cadence chorus. "Yes I do," I answer in a matter of fact way. "You know Nick, I haven't heard you sing yet," Twilight adds. "You mentioned it when I had the girls over Sunday, but we haven't heard you demonstrate. So this maybe an experience for all of us, if you want to sing that is." Oh boy, here we go again. Just like with Cheerilee and Dash the other day. You know what? F##k it, I'll do it. "Alright, let me think of something." What should I sing for them? Something PG at least. Oh, I got it! "I think I have something in mind." I pull out my phone and immediately, Shining Armor asks the holy grail of questions: "What's that thing?" "He calls it a cell phone," Twilight answers. "It's supposed to be a device to call other humans on his home planet. But it's way out of range to actually call others. The device does have other purposes, like playing music." "Exactly," I say. "I have the instrumental track of one of my favorite songs here, and I'll just fill in the vocals." I unlock my phone and open up the music. I scroll through an instrumental playlist and try to find the track. After a few flicks of the thumb, I find the track I'm looking for. I press play and the cymbal with the drum start and a brass ensemble follows. I let the music sway me a bit and I start my song. I pause when the song ends and I hear vigorous stomping. Twilight, Shining and Cadence are sitting on their haunches and they stomp the wooden floor with their forelegs while Spike is clapping. "That was good Nick!" Twilight says amazed. "You have a pretty nice voice." Well, I'm no Sinatra, but... "I think that was great!" Cadence says. "But what is a "New York"?" Okay, time for a small geography lesson. "Well, New York is a city on my home planet. It's one of the biggest cities ever and is home to more culture than you could count. It's actually about an hour away from where I live." "Really? Have you been to it?" "I have once. It was so much fun. Seeing the sights, meeting the people, seeing the Statue of Liberty." "The statue of what?" Twilight asks with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, it's a landmark, a national monument even, that is in New York. It also goes by the name of Lady Liberty." Twilight gives off a snicker with her putting the side of her hoof to her mouth. "Sorry, it's just similar names. We have our own Statue of Liberty and it's nickname is Filly Liberty." ...I have said it once and I'll say it again, f##king pony puns. I just let out a forced chuckle though. "That's kind of funny," I say. "Do you have your own New York? I mean, that's where my statue is, I would expect something similar." "Well, our statue is in a city called Manehatten." Oh God! You're kidding me, right? "Manehatten?" I ask, just to be sure I heard it correctly. "Yes. Why?" Oh, they're gonna love this. "Well, New York has different parts and sections to it. One of them being called Manhattan." "Really?" Cadence asks, giving off a few giggles. "That is kind of funny. I like these human puns." "Human puns? I think they're pony puns." "Tomato, toemato." At the mention of the red fruit, or vegetable (I don't know), I hear my stomach grumble along with Shining Armor's. "I guess it's lunchtime," Shining says letting off a couple of light chuckles. "I'll have Spike make us something to eat," Twilight proclaims. 12:01 P.M. Okay, so I'm trying not to choke on my cheese and lettuce sandwich, 'cause I am laughing hysterically at the story Shining Armor is telling. We're all just eating at the table in the kitchen and still converse while we enjoy our food. "So we try to take a picture in front of the pool at the hotel," the stallion says. "We ask this unicorn to take it. He says he'll do it, magically lifts the camera and has a good view of us. We're posed, looking cute and all, and this volleyball clonks Cadence on the head, bringing her into the pool water." Twilight, Cadence, Spike and I are laughing very hard. I end up on my side, on the floor. I pound the side of my fist to the ground out of the hysteria. I pull myself back up and wipe a few tears from my face. "And the best part is, the unicorn took the picture as soon as she plummeted into the water. The ball is still in the frame too. It was timed ever so perfectly." "Even though I was the victim," Cadence starts saying, still giggling a little, "I still was a good sport about it. Sometimes, you just have to laugh it off." "Wow, that's-that's priceless," I say, now at the "slight laughter" stage of laughing. "You know, something similar happened to my cousin." "Do tell." "Okay, so my family was over at my grandparents house for this holiday called Labor Day. It's a holiday where we honor and pay tribute to our soldiers in the armed forces." "Ohh," Shining muses out of interest. "So me and my cousins were in the pool, just having fun. Another cousin of mine is standing near the edge of the pool and her dad is behind her. Now, one thing you have to know about us humans is that we wear a certain attire of clothing to go swimming. Swimwear is what we call it. My cousin, she didn't have any swimwear on, just regular clothing. So anyway, she kneels down near the pool to grab a pool noodle. So her dad feels a little mischievous and with his foot, he pushes her into the pool." The three equines and dragon burst into laughing fits. "He just pushed her in?" Spike asks hysterically. "Just a little push and then splash! She's in the water. She came up soaking wet" I chuckle at the little remembrance of that one Labor Day Holiday. That was a good day. "She was laughing it off too, so she enjoyed it." "That's funny," Twilight says giggling. "Yeah...What about you Twilight? Anything like that?" "Hmm." She puts her hoof up to her chin and thinks. "I can't really think of anything where I was pushed into water, pushing somepony else into water, or saw somepony do that to somepony else. But I did hear this story about Pinkie Pie jumping into water in a weird way." I give her a look of confusion. So does Shinning Armor. "How do you jump into water in a weird way?" "I was about to ask the same thing," Shinning says. "Well," Twilight begins, "this from Rainbow Dash. One time, her and Pinkie were hanging out at the pond. Rainbow Dash wanted to relax for a bit, so she asks Pinkie to try and keep the noise down if she goes swimming. So how did she do it? She jumps in the water, in slow motion, right before she even hits the water." I just stare at Twilight wide-eyed. "She jumped into the water slower than the rate of gravity?" I have to make sure I'm hearing this correctly. "Pretty much, yeah." Is there nothing that Pinkie Pie is capable of? First there were clones Dashie told me about, then appearing from thin air, now jumping into water slower than the rate of gravity? If the laws of physics were taken as seriously as criminal justice laws, she'd be a criminal. Hell, she could be tried in front of the Grand Jury. "Okay, well...um…" I am at loss of words. Maybe the next time I see Pinkie, I should ask her how she does all of that hullabaloo. Then again, I don't know jack s##t about all the physics laws she breaks, or physics in general. I'd probably suck at it. "I know, those were my thoughts too." There is a bit of a pause after that. I have no idea how to continue this conversation. How about we talk about something else? "So Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, what's it like to rule an entire empire?" I ask curiously. "It can be, stressful at times," Shinning says. "But it does have its perks." "Like?" "We don't have to wait in line at the donut shop," Cadence says in a joking tone. We all giggle at her remark. "But in seriousness, it isn't always that glamorous, there are times where you almost have to risk yourself for the good of the kingdom." "Well, a monarch must always look after their subjects." "Indeed. The most recent time where I had to look out for the lives of my subjects was when Sombra came back." I see Shining, Cadence, Twilight and Spike shiver at the name. "Whose Sombra?" They shiver again. It's like saying Voldemort isn't it? "Well, a thousand years ago, King Sombra was the original ruler of the Crystal Empire. He was a vicious and abusive leader who was hungry for power. He was banished to a place called the Frozen North, so he would not reign over the empire anymore. He placed a curse on the empire before his banishment, making the entire Crystal Empire disappear. But when the empire returned, so did Sombra. He tried to take back the throne, but I was not willing to let that happen. Though I was tired and weak beyond anything, I made sure Sombra wouldn't win." "So how'd you pull through?" "Easy, I made sure the Crystal Heart was in me and Spike's possession." "Crystal what? And Spike was in on it too?" Okay, now she lost me. "The Crystal Heart is what gave the city life, you could say. If Sombra had the heart in his hooves, he would have taken over the entire kingdom and darkness will reign once again. Fortunately, Spike was able to get the heart before Sombra could even take hold of it. After the Crystal Heart was put in its proper place, courtesy of Spike, the magic held inside the heart brought the Empire back to its once peaceful state and Sombra was no more." This guy sounds scary. I wonder if he was in that icon book? I probably missed him. "He seems like nice guy," I say sarcastically. "A fine fellow," Shining says back, speaking in a sarcastic tone as well. "I wasn't able the help my wife because of him. He crystallized my horn, rendering it useless. I would have helped Cadence with the barrier, but I wasn't able too because of him." "What barrier?" "Did we mention the barrier?" Shinning looks at Cadence with a raised eye brow. "Nope." "Oh," Cadence says. "Well, remember when I said I was tired and weak at that point?" I nod my head to answer. "Well, I had to use my magic to hold up a magical barrier so Sombra couldn't get into the Empire. I kept it up for days. I couldn't sleep or eat." Yeesh, that sounds terrible. "So how'd he get in?" "I fainted, so the magic kind of "turned off" you could say." That makes sense. "But I got up, Spike and I saved the day, and all is good again." She pets Spike's scaly head and he gives off a little snicker. "He-he, yeah, I'm awesome like that," Spike says proudly. I think Rainbow Dash may be rubbing off on him. 12:22 P.M. "Wait! Hang on a sec, Celestia raises the sun and Luna raises the moon?" I ask. making sure I understood what I heard completely. Lunch ended not too long ago, so we made our way back to the main library area and just talk around a table. I don't remember how we got onto this topic, because I am really interested in how the sun and moon work here for some reason. "Yes. That is correct," Cadence says. "Well that's odd." "How so?" "The sun and moon work differently from where I'm from. It's all about gravity and orbiting. My planet orbits the sun, and the moon orbits my planet. While we orbit, our planet rotates. So...hmm…." How can I better explain this next part? "Twilight, you wouldn't to happen to have a pencil and some paper handy?" With her magic, Twi levitates a piece of paper and pencil and places the utensils in my hands. I lay the paper on the table and draw three circles. One very large circle in the middle, a smaller one near it, and an even smaller one next to the "medium" sized circle. "Okay, so here is the sun, earth and the moon," I say pointing to the circles in the order I drew them. "The sun stays completely still, while the earth orbits the sun." I draw an outline of how the earth orbits. "The moon orbits the earth." I draw a similar outline for the moon around the earth. "Exactly how does that work?" Twilight says. "The sun's gravitational pull makes the earth orbit the sun and the same thing can be said with the moon around earth. Okay, now we get into rotation. One rotation is a day. So if the sun is directly facing this spot," I place a dot on the circle so it directly faces the sun, "It'll be noon here. But on the other side, it'll be midnight. And you can see the moon then. As the night goes on, you'll see the moon in different spots. It rises in the east and sets in the west, just like the sun. Except our position of our rotation depends when and where we'll see the sun and moon rise and set." "Fascinating." "It's nothing too big. This is really just third grade science on my planet." "Well, what is third grade to you is something more complex to us." For a second she sounded a little like Luna from a couple of nights ago….Luna…. "Your greatest fear will become a reality," I hear her voice echo in my head again. I feel some sort of sadness overshadows me and spreads across my face. "Are you okay Nick?" I hear Cadence ask. I snap back to reality with a quick shake of my head. "Umm, yeah, I'm good. I…" I trail off. I think I need to be alone for a minute or two. "I'll be back in a sec." I get up and make my way to the bathroom. I close the door and lock it. I take a step or two towards the faucet and turn on the cold water. I cup my hands and put them under the faucet, having water fill up my hands. I splash the cold liquid on my face and sigh. I swear, Luna is trying to give me some sort of anxiety attack. What's today again? Thursday? The end of the week is Sunday. So that's only three days away. Three days until I get to see my family again. And three days until my greatest fear becomes a reality. What is she trying to foretell?! "Why can't you just tell me Luna?" I think. "What are you hiding? Why aren't you telling me anything. For the love God, just f##king tell me?!" I tightly grip the porcelain sink and grit my teeth out of my frustration. I look at myself at the medicine cabinet mirror, just staring at my reflection. I see my facial hair is growing out a bit more, I really need to shave soon. I feel and look like a wreck actually, and I think I feel a headache coming on. I need some ibuprofen. I open the medicine cabinet and mumble the contents quietly. "Aspirin, vaseline, toothpaste, bandages, decongestant, sleeping pills...there they are." I grab the bottle of ibuprofen and read the instructions on the side of the pill container. It says only take one pill every six hours. I open the bottle and pour one pill into the palm of my hand. I put the pill in my mouth and lean down near the faucet the take a swig of water to easily bring the medicine down. I sigh escapes my mouth after I swallow the pill. I put the bottle back in the the medicine cabinet and close it. Then, I hear a knock at the bathroom door. "Nick? You okay in there?" I hear Spike's voice say from the other side. "You kind of got up and bee-lined for the bathroom. You good?" "Uhh...yeah. I-I'm fine. Really," I say, sounding like I'm unsure of myself. "You sure?" Nope. "Yeah, I'm good. Just uh-just give me a minute. I'll be back down." "Okay." I hear him walk away and I let out another sigh, but one more stressful. "Great, I probably have everyone worried about me by now. Perfect." I take a couple of steps towards the door and place my hand on the knob. Before I even open the door, I look up at the ceiling. "What are you hiding?" I whisper, before heading back to the group and keep the highness's visit a pleasant one.