//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: Twelve Years Ago in Canterlot // by SS Nomad //------------------------------// Shining Armor was not a clever stallion. The crystal cave was a maze, and he had gotten lost in the palace’s labyrinth enough times to know full well he was bad at mazes. Still, he had to stay strong, since it wasn’t just him trapped. Yawning silently, looking down at his sister’s sleeping form, cuddled up nervously against him. It felt like they’d been down there for days, but logically he knew it couldn’t have been more than a few hours yet. Not wanting to disturb Twilight, he just laid there, trying to come up with a plan to get them both out. Closing his eyes, he struggled to remember his basic training, both as a guard and as a mage. There had to be something in there he could make use of. The first thing that sprang to mind was telepathy, but he winced reflexively as he remembered the rebound from trying to cast that earlier. He could try that, but he was nervous to use it as anything but a last resort. He still had no idea what to do, his thoughts just not gaining any traction. His own reflections stared back at him in the walls of the cave, each looking confused and lost. He had no training in navigation and adventur- Shining Armor blinked. He was wrong. He had no formal training at this sort of thing, but… He had dozens of hours of training at mapping and navigating caves. They were just never real. He laughed just once, genuinely amused as all of his high-school weekends of wasting time with his friends, some dice, and a dungeon to explore rushed back to him. Slowly, so as not to shake Twilight from her slumber, he stood, looking around the crystal caves with new eyes. He wasn’t lost. He was adventuring. The Queen of the Changelings casually took a bite of her sandwich, pretending for a moment that she could taste it and was enjoying the flavor, before smiling back at Princess Cadance from behind her disguise, “You know… I think I could get used to this.” Cadance grinned at her cheekily, “Now, now, don’t get ahead of yourself.” “I don’t think I am,” Chrysalis replied with a masculine smirk, “I mean, we’ve gone out to eat together twice in as many days.” Cadance looked ready to retort, but instead pouted in embarrassed frustration, bluffing, “Well… Last time was work.” Chrysalis’ laugh was loud enough it drew some attention from the nearby tables until she covered her mouth and ducked low to hide from the stares, “Well, hey, thanks at least for not pretending this time is just business.” “W-” Cadance’s face turned flush, “I mean…” Chrysalis reached over with her unfamiliar white foreleg to take Cadance’s hoof, “You know… I understand if this is weird to you. I mean… I work for you and all. Also, uh… age difference.” “Could you not, like… keep calling me out on my internal monologue?” Cadance replied, looking down at their entwined hooves with a smile. Chrysalis caught herself, realizing Shining probably wouldn’t have been able to read the scene this well, but tried to play it off, “I’ll see what I can do.” They both sat there for a moment, each a being of godlike power trying to pretend they were normal unicorns with normal lives, holding hooves and lost for words. Each, for their own reason, knew they wanted to be with the other, and nothing more needed to be said. Chrysalis sighed and stood, letting go of Cadance’s hoof as she did, “I… have to go do something. I’ll be right back, okay?” A little disappointed, Cadance nodded, adding a little tease, “Duty calls?” Chrysalis missed the meaning at first, but laughed and nodded towards the bathroom, “Hey, biology happens whether or not you want it to.” Cadance nodded knowingly, gesturing that she was free to go. As Chrysalis stepped toward the back hall, she spared a glance back to their table. Cadance sat there, staring into her drink and just generally letting her excitement slip while she thought Shining wouldn’t see. Chrysalis smiled, watching that living beacon of love stew excitedly over her. She wanted to tell herself that it was just a matter of course, that spending time here with Cadance was just a step on the path to taking Equestria as her own, that she wasn’t growing attached. She didn’t. She’d promised not to lie to herself. She spared one more glance at the pink mare and smiled, pushing open the back door of the restaurant and slipping off into the alley. Sure, she’d lied a little, but… The surprise would be worth it. Cautiously moving so that Cadance wouldn’t see her out on the street, Chrysalis excitedly trotted off. Every so often, when you manage to make something work flawlessly, you just feel like taking the rest of the day off to bask in your success and reward yourself for your efforts. Everypony does it to some degree, just slowing down and relaxing after an achievement, although admittedly some accomplishments are more deserving of the act than others. In the case of ending an invasion ten or more years before it actually happens, you damn well deserve it. Princess Celestia slid her body down into the warm water of her bathtub, staring up at the ceiling. She’d informed the guards that she was taking the rest of the day off and not to disturb her. This evening was just for her. She relaxed and let her mind drift off, the troubles of Equestria melting from her thoughts for now. She reached over with her magic, lifting a glass of wine she’d set near the sink and bringing it carefully to her lips. She still had to come up with some way to convince Cadance that lying to her was the best option, but… She took a sip of red, the sharp tang of tannins crossing her tongue. She could worry about that later. Right now, she just wanted to sit back and relish this oh so familiar feeling. Once again, a dozen years before it even happened, Celestia had saved Equestria and nopony was the wiser. Sitting alone at the table, Cadance was starting to wonder what was taking Shining Armor so long in the bathroom. It just seemed… off. It was well past the time it would have taken in there, and even if he had stood there psyching himself up in the mirror or something, he should be finished by now. Was something wrong? What if something had happened to him? The entire reason they’d gotten this moment in the first place was because Shining had collapsed. Fear flooded into her as she pictured her date collapsed on the tile of the stallions’ room floor. She froze trying to come up with some way to make sure he was okay. The door of the restaurant opened with a ping, causing her to turn on reflex and see what was going on. Her concerns melted instantly as she saw Shining Armor step in, clearly completely fine. It took her a moment to realize that him walking in the door made no sense, and she turned to glance at the bathroom. “Sorry about that,” Shining smiled as he approached, setting a parcel under the table. Cadance was confused, looking up at him before leaning over to see what the package was, “I thought you we-” “Yeah…” Shining interrupted, “I kinda maybe lied a bit. I just wanted it to be a surprise.” The box below the table was simple, yet familiar. Other than being wrapped in simple brown kraft paper and tied shut with twine, the only distinctive marking on it was a simple stamped logo. Again, familiar, but she couldn’t quite pla- the word ‘confectioners’ was on the label. Her eyes went wide as she quickly realized what part of town they were in and looked up at Shining’s grinning face. “You asked to come to this restaurant just because it was near that place Lyra found, didn’t you?” Cadance questioned, unsure if she should feel impressed or deceived. Shining, for his part, seemed proud of himself, “That… yes. I mean, it’s good food too, though.” Cadance lifted the package and set it on the table, undoing the twine and removing the paper. Sure enough, inside was a pair of boxes identical to the one Lyra had showed up with the night before. Cadance glanced up into Shining’s eyes excitedly, catching a glimpse of his smug pride before he hid it behind a goofy smile. Opening the upper box revealed an assortment of chocolate spheres in cute little paper cups, eliciting a mindless lick of the lips from Cadance. “Don’t you think you should save them for later?” Shining teased. “That thing you said,” Cadance reminded him as she lifted one and held it in front of her lips, “about me doing what I want because I’m a princess.” As Cadance took a bite out of the little chocolate nugget, Shining chuckled with some hint of pride, replying, “Of course, who am I to tell you otherwise.” Cadance sighed happily as the chocolate melted to her tongue, replying with an almost patronizing air, “I value your opinion, though.” Playing along, Shining saluted loosely, “Of course, miss.” Popping the other half of the candy into her mouth, Cadance closed the box, “But yes, I’ll save the rest for later. No reason to not savor these.” Shining smiled and reached his hoof across the table casually, “I’m glad you like ‘em.” Cadance took his hoof in her own and replied with a sassy grin, “You knew full well that I’d love these, that’s why you got them.” Shining shrugged and smiled, “I mean, yeah.” The feeling of Shining’s hoof in her own was heaven. Cadance looked deep into his eyes, still in shock with how easily this was all going for her. Then again, fate explicitly brought them together, and they were destined to be perfect for each other, so… All Cadance could think of was how much she wanted to see him again. “We should do this again some time,” Shining announced, shocking Cadance with the words that were just in her own mind. More than slightly flustered by that, Cadance replied, “Of course! I- I mean, yeah, of course we should. Do you have anything in mind?” Shining Armor just shrugged, “Like, not off the top of my head. This was as far as I’d managed to fantasize.” Cadance giggled, looking down at the box of candies, before a thought crossed her mind, “Hey, there’s a dance coming up in two days. You know Dancing in the Park, right? I was planning to go.” “I guess I’ll have to find my tie,” Shining joked, pantomiming adjusting one with his hoof, before he seemed to be struggling to remember something, like the memory was there but disorganized, “My… sister’s school interview. I think it’s on the same day.” Cadance deflated, “Oh… I mean, I underst-” “I’ll see if I can get out of it,” Shining interrupted. Cadance seemed shocked, “You… no, you don’t have to do that.” “It’s fine,” Shining reassured, gripping her hoof tighter, “It’s just gonna be some boring, procedural thing. The filly’s a prodigy, she won’t need my reassurance to get in.” “Still, it’s your family,” Cadance continued to object. Shining sighed, “Still, I’ll see what I can do. I’d love to go dancing with you.” Cadance blushed lightly and looked away, “...Thank you.” The restaurant was still busy and vibrant, but Cadance couldn’t really push herself to care anymore. She was here and happy, even after the meal was long since done. She looked down at the white hoof wrapped around her own and smiled. This was it. This was what she’d been missing in life. Cadance smiled peacefully up at Shining Armor, content. “Let’s get out of here,” Shining proposed, “Gotta get back to the castle eventually.” Looking deep into the eyes of the pony she wanted to spend forever with, Cadance just softly replied, “Yeah, let’s go.”