A shining armor and cadance fic obviously, that just so happens to take place in an alternate universe in which the way they met was completely different than what's portrayed in the comics. I know for a fact it was posted in EqD at one point, and that it dealt with some level of detail on how the structure of canterlot royalty worked in that alternate universe, I'm also pretty sure it was leaning more towards the dramatic side, with the strict structure of royalty posing an obstacle for their relationship IIRC. If anyone knows what fic that is and shared it I would be really grateful.

You may have to be more specific as that describes a lot of the early fics.

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/23142/i-found-love-a-princess-cadence-and-shining-armour-story

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That's what I thought he was describing as well.

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I don't think that was it, and I'm afraid that's as specific as I can get since that was a long time ago and as such I don't remember much else from the description it had. I do, however, remember that it was posted on Equestria Daily (which is kinda to be expected) and that the header image the article used for it was one in which the both of them were on one of Canterlot Castle's hallways with orange light from the setting sun from the outside filtering through the windows, which gave the piece of fanart a pretty warm tone.