The Queen of the Changelings had felt many things in her long life. She’d felt the warmth of holding one of her own young, the sear of countless magical attacks, the embrace of easily a dozen species, and she was particularly partial to the feeling of cool grass under her hooves. This… this was a new feeling.
Chrysalis felt like she was drowning in love. She wasn’t really sure how to process this feeling, particularly because it felt fantastic at the same time it felt oppressive. It was all she could manage to focus and see where it was coming from. Slowly turning her head to look, she saw two familiar forms in the distance. The princesses, albeit without their wings, sitting at a chess table in the parkway. The paler of the two sat smugly, like everything was going just as planned. The pinker one had stood from her seat abruptly, eyes wide in shock, amazement, happiness, and… she was the source of this all.
She had no idea what was going on, but the swell of love over Chrysalis was almost too much to process at once. She was starting to feel lightheaded.
Cadance was just in shock and awe. It really was him. She knew she’d felt something between her and Shining Armor, but… She couldn’t help but stand frozen. Hundreds of years of searching for her one true love, and there he was, standing at the opposite end of the parkway.
Celestia chimed in, with a tone to her voice like she was playing dumb, “Is everything alright? Did you notice something?”
Cadance just laughed, heart fluttering in her chest in a way she hadn’t felt in centuries. She just had to find an excuse to head over to h-
Shining Armor abruptly fell to a knee, wobbling on his hooves. Before Celestia could say a word, Cadance had kicked off the ground, galloping to his side. It was far, a distance she would usually fly, but she didn’t have the time nor the clarity of mind to drop her disguise. Galloping farther than she had in years, Cadance’s lungs were on fire by the time she reached Shining Armor’s side.
Cadance leaned down to him in concern, “Hey… What happened, are you alright?”
With another sway of his body, Shining Armor looked up into her eyes, obviously surprised to see her at his side so suddenly, “I… Yeah. Sure. Don’t worry about it.”
“You look like you’re about to collapse,” Cadance said softly, “you should sit down.”
Shining Armor stood with a determined expression, “I’ll be fi- No actually, that’s not a bad idea.”
Guiding him over to a bench, Cadance sat down beside Shining Armor, anxiously watching him to make sure he was recovering. Shining just settled into the seat and rocked slowly like he was drunk. A million thoughts raced through Cadance’s mind as she was seated beside Shining Armor. It was a weird feeling, knowing that the pony next to you was your true love, but barely having met them yet. She wanted to act, to let him know, to treat him like a partner, but she knew intellectually that none of that made any sense and might just scare him off.
“You feeling a bit better?” Cadance checked with a motherly tone, “Do you have any idea what happened?”
Shining Armor smiled, his mood entirely unaffected by the circumstance, “Yeah, I’m doing fine, don’t worry about it.”
“If you say so,” Cadance murmured with a hint of disbelief, looking away.
Shining Armor, rapidly regaining his balance, grinned back at her, “Why are you worried, though?”
Cadance quickly looked back to him, blush hidden in her pink coat once more, “Just… If somepony you knew was about to collapse, wouldn’t you show concern?”
Shining Armor smiled wider, apparently getting his answer anyway, but made no comment, “Yeah, I guess. I didn’t realize I looked quite that bad.”
“We’ll probably have to take you off active duty until we sort out what the problem is,” Celestia stated.
It took a few seconds, but Cadance and Shining both nearly jumped out of their seats as they noticed her, standing behind their bench. Neither of them had noticed Celestia approaching, had seen any evidence she’d moved at all, she was just… there, standing like it was a completely natural thing for her to abruptly appear behind them.
As Cadance settled down, she was immediately troubled by her aunt’s statement, “Do you… think it’s a major problem?”
Celestia looked over to Shining Armor before putting on her usual mask of majesty, “Even minor matters require due prudence when it’s the Royal Guard.”
Cadance had known Celestia for long enough to know she was hiding something from her. She hated having things like this hidden from her, but didn’t want to make a scene in front of Shining, so…
“Sure,” Cadance replied, the tiniest sliver of frustration in her tone, “It’s our safety, after all.”
Celestia smiled peacefully to Shining Armor, “Take the rest of the day, be sure to take care of yourself.”
“I’m fine,” Shining lied, “but, if that’s an order…”
“It is,” Celestia clarified.
Shining Armor sat upright at the confirmation, forcing a bit more military poise, “Understood.”
Celestia looked back to Cadance, hidden amusement in her eyes, “Would you mind looking after him for a while?”
Cadance immediately heard the tease between the lines, but kept a straight face, “I suppose that wouldn’t be an issue, I don’t remember any obligations this afternoon.”
“Well, I should get back to the castle,” Celestia announced as she turned away, “I’m sure something needs my attention by now. We’ll pick up where we left off later.”
Cadance is immediately caught by the change in urgency displayed by Celestia. Just minutes ago, she was very intent on finding her true love, and now she casually wanted to leave it done for the day. She looked between Celestia and Shining Armor, more than a little confused. There was something that told her she shouldn’t just shrug this off to her aunt’s eccentricity. Something was going on.
“You know,” Shining Armor interrupted her thoughts, “I think I could use some food. Interested?”
Cadance snapped out of her thoughts at the proposition, offhandedly replying, “Sure.”
It was only Shining Armor’s smile at her answer that made her realize quite what had been proposed. With a blush that actually started to show through her coat, Cadance struggled to not look horribly awkward. Shining didn’t seem to care too much, just nodding toward a side road with a smile.
“C’mon, I know a good place.”
Squire chased after Shining Armor, struggling to keep up in his little sister’s body, “Hey, wait up!”
Shining Armor stopped abruptly to look back, “Oh, shi- shoot. Sorry, sis.”
Squire faked exhaustion, “We’ve been walking around for hours…”
“Well…” Shining Armor contemplated, “Yeah, you’re right. I forget I’m trained for this stuff sometimes.”
Spotting a flatter portion of the mines, Shining gestured toward it and walked over to sit down. More than happy to have slowed down his progress, Squire followed. They sat there together for a moment, Squire nuzzled against Shining’s side.
“Don’t worry, Twiley, I’ll get us out of here soon. I feel like we’re going the right direction,” Shining assured.
Squire managed to hold in her amusement at how wrong he was, instead her stolen voice came out hesitant, “I… Okay. I trust you, Shiney.”
The gentle, familial kiss Shining Armor planted on Squire’s forehead sent a chill through her body as she soaked in the love he was seeping over her. She was rather impressed, the love of ponies was quite delicious. This country would make a good acquisition.
“Hey,” Shining Armor got her attention, “How about you show me that magic trick you’ve been practicing again. Whatever’s happening right now, you’ve still got your big admissions test in a few days.”
Squire blanched, no idea what he was talking about, and sputtered out an excuse, “I… I think I’m too tired for that.”
Shining Armor looked at her quizzically, but let it slide, “Yeah, I guess that’s fair. Don’t force yourself, we’ll need our energy.”
As relieved as she was that this moment had passed, Squire was worried. She had no idea how long she could keep this going for. Unlike her Queen, she only had a handful of years experience at impersonation. Still, this was the Queen’s order. She would do everything she could.
It wasn’t the classiest restaurant, and it wasn’t her favorite type of food, but Cadance had never been happier to be out to eat. Looking across the table at Shining Armor, Cadance couldn’t help but smile. This, most certainly, had become a date.
Shining Armor smiled back to her, “Thanks for looking after me. Like… I really don’t need it, but I appreciate it.”
Cadance furrowed her brow at him, “You nearly collapsed on a busy thoroughfare, and you don’t know why. It could happen again and you could get run over.”
Shining looked like he was trying to come up with a retort, but just admitted, “Yeah, okay, that’s fair.”
Cadance couldn’t restrain a light giggle at the display. Shining Armor really was cute when he let his guard down. She reflexively tucked her mane behind her ear struggling at conversation. It had been far too long since she’d been on a date. After a while, she’d given up on normal dating entirely, since she knew none of them were the one, so she’d grown rusty on what she should be doing.
Shining took the initiative and broke the silence, “So what, uh… when do you need to get back to the castle? I feel kinda bad about keeping you away from your duties.”
Groaning lightly, Cadance admitted, “I don’t really have ‘duties’ these days. Sometimes I feel decorative.”
“Well hey,” Shining joked, “You’re not a bad decoration, so there’s that.”
Making a face at him, Cadance slumped forward a little, “I kind of wish I had something to do with my time, though.”
“So make something to do with your time,” Shining Armor suggested in a more commanding tone than she’d yet heard from him, “You’re a princess, aren’t you? Do what you want.”
Something in the statement hit home, and Cadance sat back upright. She was so used to thinking of her aunt as in charge, the thought hadn’t crossed her mind before. She did have authority. If she wanted to do something, she just… could.
As their dishes arrived at the table, Cadance smiled, “You know what? I will.”