Allegiance

by Just a tree

Chapter 4: Lunch with Lyra

At the castle gates, Cadance and Shining Armor went ahead together, leaving the others to follow at a distance. Cadance was glad for the space – she knew ponies didn’t mean to stare, but her horn and wings sometimes attracted more attention than she liked. To be an alicorn surrounded by Royal Guards would have made her uncomfortably noticeable. Having just one Royal Guard was alright, especially if that Guard was Shining Armor.

Now that he was in public, though, he seemed to be interested in presenting the image of the Guard, stoic and silent.

Cadance decided he got to do that often enough normally. She wanted to ask him something. “So … if you don’t know Lyra, how many ponies did you get to know at the Academy?”

His eyes flicked over to her. He wanted to keep quiet, but he couldn’t very well ignore his direct superior. He had to respond. A least he knew how to answer her. “Nowhere near as many as you, Cadance. You knew everypony. I just had my friends in the clubs I was in.”

That silenced her for a bit. Cadance hadn’t known how different their time at the Academy had been. Sure, she had known he did things like chess and math for fun, because she had seen the evidence while she was foalsitting Twilight, but it seemed like everypony was nice enough to make friends. She hadn’t thought he might have just stopped trying to meet ponies.

But, then again, he was Twilight’s brother.

Now that she had made him talk, he seemed to want to keep talking. “What about you, actually? I’m happy to have a few friends I know I can always depend on. What’s it like, knowing so many ponies?”

Cadance had to think for a moment. It wasn’t something she knew off the top of her head. Everypony was different, but she did notice a few things that they all did. “Well …” She wanted to say that it was great, that she loved it … but she knew it wasn’t totally true. Maybe she had better just tell him what she really thought. “Everypony is special, and I’m glad to have the chance to meet so many different ponies and be a part of their lives.” Then she sighed. “Sometimes though, I feel like they don’t understand me. They just see a princess. What I actually say doesn’t matter, because they act the way they think they’re supposed to anyway.”

Something stirred in Shining Armor’s heart. He didn’t know how anypony could just ignore her like that. A pony was a pony, no matter what else they were supposed to be. Cadance deserved better. “That’s … awful. Does it happen a lot?”

“I don’t blame them. They’re just trying to be respectful, usually.”

She had avoided answering the question. He thought Cadance was being too considerate for her own good. He pressed, “So, it does happen a lot.”

“Well, sort of …”

Suspicions confirmed, Shining Armor said earnestly, “You should tell somepony. It’s not right!”

Cadance looked at him gratefully. “It’s enough that I can tell you.”

Technically, he was somepony, so Cadance had done what he suggested, but that wasn’t what he meant. “But it doesn’t change anything.”

Quietly, she said, “It doesn’t have to.”

The change in the tone of her voice caused him to look at her more closely. She wasn’t upset over the ponies she had told him about – but why not? “What do you mean?”

“I might know lots of ponies,” Cadance said, “but some ponies mean more to me than others.” With her thoughts thus revealed, she turned away to hide the blush she could feel showing on her face. “We’re here.”

Shining Armor looked forward to see a nondescript house. Cadance went to go knock on the door.

It was answered by a light green unicorn. At the sight of her friend on her doorstep, she smiled with unadulterated happiness, “Princess Cadance! You made it!” As they delightedly shared a hug, the unicorn noticed the Royal Guard standing a short distance behind her friend. “Since when did you have a bodyguard?”

“Since just this morning.” Cadance stepped back and raised a hoof towards her Guard. “Lyra, this is Shining Armor. Princess Celestia gave him to me as an assistant.”

Lyra’s face lit up in recognition. “Oh, I remember you! You two met during your senior year at the Academy, right?”

“Ah – yes, we did,” Shining Armor answered, slightly flustered. This mare knew who he was, but he knew nothing about her.

“That could have gone a little more smoothly, huh?” Lyra asked. That was an understatement; nopony could forget that thing with the stage collapse, could they? Noticing that the question made him look uncomfortable, she hurriedly said, “Uh, anyway, nice to meet you, Shining Armor.”

Despite his embarrassment, he forced himself to remember his manners. Bowing slightly, he said, “Same here, Miss Heartstrings.”

“What a gentlecolt,” Lyra commented slyly, glancing at Cadance. “Alright, let’s get going. You can tell me all about what you’ve been doing together while we’re on our way.”

Already, Shining Armor felt trapped by this energetic mare’s curiosity. First, Celestia herself had asked questions about Cadance that he wasn’t quite sure how to answer. Now Cadance’s friend was going to do the same thing. He hoped Cadance was right that it wouldn’t be too bad. Lyra shut the door and trotted out onto the street with the princess and her Guard.

Cadance spoke first. “Well, there’s not that much to say: he just got reassigned this morning. There’s one thing I should tell you, though. You’re not gonna like it.”

Lyra frowned. “That doesn’t sound good. What is it?”

Cadance started explaining, “Do you remember that time …”

---

“So, I can’t go to Ponyville with you.” Cadance finished sadly.

“Oh, no!” Lyra said, dismayed. “But we’ve been planning this for so long!”

Commiserating in their misfortune, Cadance said, “I know, I know, but Princess Celestia asked me to. She says this is how I can become a true leader.”

“Oh.” Lyra seemed taken aback. After a moment, she said uncertainly, “That does sound pretty important ...”

“I would have turned her down if it wasn’t. I was looking forward to going.”

“I know! It would have been great!” She sighed dejectedly. Her thoughts towards their would-be destination. “They’re mostly earth ponies, but I heard even the unicorns there barely use magic. It’s a whole town acting like earth ponies! Can you believe it? They probably use their hooves for everything!” Lyra started bouncing a little as her gloominess gave way to excitement.

Shining Armor had been a quiet, inconspicuous part of the group most of the way from Lyra’s house, but now he openly stared at the unicorn beside him in disbelief.

Cadance noticed and grinned indulgently. She explained, “It’s Lyra’s thing, don’t worry about it.”

Lyra started walking normally again. With a frown, she asked, “Don’t you think it’s at least a little interesting? I can’t be the only one.”

“It is, kind of, but nopony else likes it as much as you do, Lyra.” Cadance shook her head at her friend. “I don’t see why a pony would choose not use their magic. If anything, ponies who can use magic should use it to help ponies who can’t.”

“But that’s how it is here! That’s boring!” Lyra protested.

Cadance giggled good-naturedly. “Boring or not, I think it works just fine. Besides, if ponies weren’t using magic, do you think they could do that?” She pointed up ahead to a restaurant, where a unicorn waiter was holding several meals in the air as he delivered them.

Lyra pouted. “Laugh all you want, but I’m sure somepony could do that without magic if they wanted, if they practiced.”

“I’m only kidding, Lyra,” Cadance said soothingly, responding to the seriousness in Lyra’s voice as they walked into the restaurant. “You’ll have to tell me how they do it in Ponyville. Hi, can I get a table for three?”

To the waiter’s credit, he only paused for a moment, recognizing the princess, before he replied with a bow. “Of course, your Highness.”

Cadance and Lyra followed him to their spot. Shining Armor hesitated for just a moment, knowing that a restaurant was no place for a Royal Guard, but that he also needed to stay with Cadance. He settled for removing his helmet and trotted after them.

As they seated themselves around the table, Lyra frowned at him. “Gee, what’s wrong? You don’t like restaurants or something?”

“No, ma’am. Just thinking what my captain would say if he saw me eating here while I’m on duty.” Shining Armor replied neutrally.

“Your captain?” Lyra’s face scrunched up and she glanced between her companions. “First Princess Celestia keeps you from going to Ponyville, now his captain won’t even let him eat at a restaurant? You two can’t do anything without being bossed around, can you?”

Cadance grimaced uncomfortably. “It’s not like that, not really …”

Lyra scoffed. “Except it is. You, Royal Guard guy, you have to follow orders all the time, don’t you?”

Shining Armor shook his head. “Not when I’m off duty, ma’am.”

Thwarted, Lyra looked for another tack. She insisted, “Ok, for him it’s a job, but Cadance, you’re a princess! If there’s anypony Celestia can’t give orders to, it’s you!”

“But that’s what I’m saying! Princess Celestia doesn’t really give orders –“

“Are you ready to order, your highness?”

“Oh, uh,” Cadance looked at the mustached unicorn waiting to hear her choice of cuisine. “Can I have the daisy sandwich?” The waiter nodded and turned towards Lyra.

“Darn, I was gonna order that. Um,” Lyra flicked through the menu. “How about the … pecan pie?”

Shining Armor put in, “I’ll have the cucumber salad, please.” The waiter collected their menus and was on his way.
Cadance continued, “I’m doing this because it will help me become a true leader.”

“That’s what Celestia told you.” Lyra pointed out.

“Yes, but she’s right.”

Lyra countered, “She’s always right! If you have to wait until she’s wrong, you’ll never get to do anything!”

Cadance sighed. “I know. I wish I could go –“

“And you could! All you have to do is ignore Celestia and get on the train with us!“

Shocked, Cadance balked, “Lyra! Ignore Celestia? I can’t do that!”

Lyra waved a hoof dismissively. “Oh, you know Celestia wouldn’t punish you, you’re a princess!”

“But – but it’s Celestia! I know she wouldn’t be mad – I think – but I can’t just do whatever I want!”

“Your highness,” Their waiter arrived with the food they wanted. He set the dishes down and said with a flourish, “Enjoy.”

They thanked him and started eating. After a bite, Cadance said, “Celestia would be disappointed. I owe at least this much to her. She’s only trying to help me.”

Discouraged, Lyra moaned, “It’s hopeless. She won’t listen to reason.” Although it was very good, Lyra poked her fork at her pie morosely. Suddenly, she turned to Shining Armor, who looked up warily from his salad. “What about you, Shining Armor? Do you agree with Cadance? Would you do anything Celestia says, even off duty?”

He swallowed nervously and replied in the most general way he could. “I don’t think anypony would disobey the Princess.” It was an honest answer, but after a moment a nagging feeling made him amend it. “Well, most ponies wouldn’t, anyway.”

His first answer caused Lyra to roll her eyes, but then she heard him change his mind. “You know somepony who would.” She eyed him shrewdly, then leaned forward in excitement. “Who are you thinking about?”

Shining Armor leaned back a little. Defensively, he said, “I don’t think anypony wants to get Celestia upset at them.”

“Oh, come on, I know you were thinking of somepony, it was obvious,” Lyra prodded him exasperatedly.

From where she was munching on her sandwich, Cadance advised, “She’s very persistent, Shining Armor.” Lyra nodded in agreement with her friend’s opinion.

With Cadance unable or unwilling to deflect Lyra, Shining Armor gave in. He sighed. “Alright, have you heard of the Princess’s personal student, Twilight Sparkle?”

“Really? Twilight Sparkle would disobey Celestia?” Lyra wrinkled her nose. “I don’t see it. What makes you think she would go against her own teacher?”

“She told me as much. She’s my sister.”

Lyra’s mouth dropped open. “Wait, wait, you’re ‘that crazy filly’s brother?’”

Shining Armor blinked. “What? How do you know about that?” Cadance looked between him and Lyra, surprised that her friend had known something about Shining Armor that she herself hadn’t.

Lyra shrugged. “I might have overheard it while I was playing music for a restaurant once. I also heard – oh, that was the name, Shining Armor – I heard you were so good at dueling that you didn’t even need armor, but you’re wearing some now.” She eyed his golden plates quizzically.

This unicorn knew way more than she should have. A little put off by her freaky amount of knowledge, Shining Armor defaulted to citing a very basic reason. “The armor is how most ponies identify a Royal Guard.” That was something even a foal would know. It seemed to disappoint Lyra. Shining Armor grimaced and thought back to how he had gotten into his armor that morning. He turned slightly towards the princess sitting next to him. “You know, Cadance helped me put it on today.”

That caught Lyra’s attention. “She helped …? You didn’t.” Cadance paused in the middle of a bite, watching Lyra in confusion, but she didn’t deny anything. Lyra gasped. “You did! Oh, Cadance, you dirty, dirty filly! He doesn’t have a chance!” Lyra cackled, while Cadance hurriedly chewed so she could respond. Suddenly, Lyra thought of something and stopped laughing to ask, “Wait, does he have a chance? Are you using, you know,” She looked at Shining Armor and whispered conspiratorially. “It?”

Cadance’s eyes grew wide in horror. This time she made sure to give Lyra a clear answer. “No! I can’t do that!”

What were they talking about? Shining Armor frowned and looked back and forth between the two mares.

Lyra tilted her head. “Last time I checked, Cadance, I was pretty sure you could.”

Cadance hesitated, thinking of a way to explain. “That’s – that’s with other ponies. It works both ways, I’ve never tried casting it on myself. And – and I can’t create love, anyway, ponies have to already love each other before I can help.”

Oh. Oooh, that’s what they were talking about. Shining Armor looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. He hadn’t even thought that Cadance might be using her special magic on him. It didn’t feel like he was under a spell, but how was he supposed to know?

Lyra gave a short, “Oh.” She recovered quickly, though. With a sly smile, she said, “But, you didn’t say you didn’t want to.”
Cadance didn’t respond, instead reddening in embarrassment. Lyra could always find a way to get what she wanted.

“I’m glad there’s something you don’t need permission for.” Lyra smiled, satisfied. Then, as if she hadn’t just talked about the most awkward thing possible, she said. “Well, it’s about time to head to the train station.”

The sudden change in subject caused Cadance to shake her head, lost. “What?”

“The train station, so we can go to Ponyville. Well,” Lyra corrected herself. “I guess you’re not going, but I’m meeting Minuette and Twinkleshine there. Not to be rude, but do you mind if we leave now? You can finish your sandwich on the way.”

Cadance raised an eyebrow. “What’s the rush?”

Lyra paused, weighing her options, before she said, “You know how Minuette always shows up on time?”

Cadance nodded. “Well, sure. She’s punctual.”

Lyra rolled her eyes. “Punctual is one thing, perfect is another. In all the years we’ve been friends, she’s always been exactly on time, never early, never late, down to the last second.”

Cadance recoiled slightly, realizing Lyra was right, but she recovered and said, “Ok, so she’s very punctual.”

That wasn’t enough for Lyra. “You don’t believe me!” she said indignantly. “Well, I used to think so too, but what about this: yesterday, she had a dentist’s appointment right before Moondancer’s party. That was over in the commercial district, across town. That’s at least half an hour’s fast trot, but she showed up with Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine right on time anyway!”

“Maybe she cancelled the appointment?” Cadance guessed.

Lyra gave her a skeptical look. “We are talking about Minuette, right? Has perfect teeth, brushes twice every day, took classes on dental care? I’m pretty sure she went to the dentist.” Suddenly she remembered the time. With a cry, she jumped up off her seat. “Oh no, we’re gonna be late, we have to go!”

Cadance got up, quickly dropping a few bits on the table. “So, if she’s always on time, why are we trying to be early?”

“How else are we going to find out how she does it? Come on!” With that, she dashed out of the restaurant. Ponies turned to watch her go, curious about and somewhat annoyed at the disruptive green unicorn.

Cadance laughed and galloped after her, letting her royal poise disappear. Shining Armor looked around, seeing ponies stunned at the princess’s behavior, before he jammed his helmet on and gave chase himself.

---

After a merry race through the streets of Canterlot, dodging around startled onlookers and narrowly avoiding slow moving carriages, the train station came into sight. They trotted in, hoping they were on time, but according to the clock on the wall, it was two minutes past. In the small crowd next to the train, they could see two unicorn mares, one white and one light blue, waiting on the platform for them.

Lyra hid her face in her hooves. “Aaagh,” she said, disappointed, but too out of breath to say anything about it.

Cadance trotted past her, going to meet their friends. “Hi girls,” she said, barely winded. Shining Armor pulled up beside her, trying to slow down his breathing and thinking about the sweat he would have to clean off his armor.

The two mares, Minuette and Twinkleshine, stared at them.

“Did you run here?”

“Why is there a Guard with you?”

“Yes, we did. We got caught up talking, that’s why we’re a little late, sorry.” Cadance lay a hoof on his shoulder. “This is Shining Armor. He’s my new bodyguard.”

“Oh, uh, bodyguard. Right.”

“Wow, you get a bodyguard? Is he coming with us to Ponyville?”

Cadance’s face fell. “Well, I have to talk to you about that.” She took breath and said, “I can’t go to Ponyville.”

The reaction was about what she had expected. Their crestfallen expressions and sad eyes spoke as much as their pleading words. She couldn’t let them convince her to change her mind though, so she endured it with a heavy heart.

“I know, I know. Lyra already tried to get me to go,” Lyra nodded sympathetically. “But this is something that I have to do for Celestia. I have to lead the Summer Sun Celebration here.”

Minuette and Twinkleshine were suitably impressed at her new responsibility and even wondered what her Summer Sun Celebration would be like. Overall, they made her feel much better about staying behind, although Lyra gave her a pointed look at her mention of Celestia, which caused Cadance to shrug uncomfortably.

Too soon, the conductor shouted, “All aboard to Ponyville!” Cadance ushered Lyra, Minuette, and Twinkleshine towards the train, not willing to make them miss their ride to Ponyville. Once on board, they rolled the window up and kept talking to her, right up until a whistle blew twice and the train started rolling forward.

“Good luck, Cadance!” They leaned out the windows, waving goodbye.

“Have fun, girls!” She waved until the train started turning with the mountain, hiding her friends from view.

Shining Armor watched her. How hard had it been to keep saying goodbye to her friends? Now they were gone to have fun together without her. What was Cadance left with?

When the train entered a tunnel, disappearing completely, she turned around and smiled at him. “Thanks for coming with me.”

His eyes widened in surprise. Not entirely sure why he was being thanked, he said, “Of course, Cadance.”

She moved forward and lay her head against his armored shoulder. “Let’s go back.” Together, they walked back the way they came, towards the castle.

Comments

[Burnasius]

Please continue...
Also, you left out the three supposed guards tailing the princess and her personal guard.

[Just a tree]

3606223 I considered including something about those three, but I felt like it would just break the pace and be awkward. I introduced them there because I needed to show Shining Armor as a developing leader, a future Captain. I do have plans for Cherry Fizzy, Star Hunter, and Sunburst though.

Writing has slowed down a lot because of schoolwork, I’ll post the next chapter after finals.

[Burnasius]

3609643
Whoah! I am not forcing you to quicken the pace or anything. I was only stating a point of sorts over the three having been acting as incognito Royal Guard ponies, Shining Armor needing to do his job and an escort of Guards was truly not a good idea in meeting friends.