Back Up
Cadance waited at the Canterlot train station impatiently. Twilight had wrote back to her saying that whatever it was that Cadance wanted to talk about was going to have to wait a while. Cadance had lost more days than she would care to admit waiting for Twilight to get some free time, from the sounds of it she and her friends were having a lot of adventures in Ponyville.
When the train pulled up to a complete stop, Cadance let out a breath of relief. When Twilight exited the train, they spotted each other immediately and ran towards themselves to do their favorite nursery rhyme ritual from their younger days.
"Sunshine, Sunshine, Ladies Bug Awake. Clap Your Hooves And Do A Little Shake!"
They shared a laugh once they finished their funny dance. "I'm really glad you're here Twilight, I could really use your help. I know you said you were busy with your new friends..."
"Boy, I'll say, so much has happened I don't know where to begin!"
"Well I..."
"Let's see, Rainbow Dash won the best flyer competition in Cloudsdale..."
"Oh good for her. Now I asked you to co..."
"I just got a new pet, an owl." Twilight beamed.
"Yes Twilight, that's very nice but..."
"The funny thing is Spike was actually jealous. Can you believe that?" Twilight giggled.
"Really? Poor sensitive little thing. But Anyways I..."
"Oh, I'm sorry! I've been cutting you off haven't I?" Cadance rolled her eyes at the irony. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"
"I'm in love with your brother!!" blurted Cadance.
Cadance immediately regretted her decision. Her intent was to gradually bring it up in conversation and ease Twilight in to the situation, not to blurt it out like she just did. Heaven knows she thought the world of her brother, in her eyes nopony might be good enough him.
Twilight stood in stunned silence, letting the new information process. After a moment, Cadance started to get worried. "Twiley? Are you okay?"
"Oh..." she managed to squeak out.
"Uh-oh. Twilight, I didn't upset you did I?" Cadance frowned.
"My..."
"Twiley, it's okay. Your brother hasn't even..."
"SWEET CELESTIA!!! THIS IS AMAZING!!!" Cadance's hair was flown back by the sheer volume Twilight was cheering at. "Eeeheeheehee!!" Twilight giggled as she pranced in place.
Cadance smiled and wiped some sweat from her brow. It was both a relief and a joy to see her so happy with Cadance's feelings for her brother.
"You two make the perfect couple!! He's the most amazing big brother in the world and you're the most amazing foal sitter in the world, it's a match made in heaven!! When did he ask you out? No! Wait! How did he ask you out? Was it romantic?"
"Twilight listen, I know I love him but he refuses to acknowledge that he loves me back."
"What? I don't understand. How could he refuse to acknowledge his feelings? I mean, you're sure he loves you back, right?"
"Oh I'm positive about that, but that's what makes it all the more frustrating. He's being real stubborn about it!"
"Huh?"
"He thinks that because of his job, a relationship between the two of us would be 'inappropriate'. Because I'm a princess and he's just the Captain of the Royal Guard. It's like he thinks he'd be committing some kind of treason if he were to even try to love me back."
"What? But why...oh my sweet Celestia! It's a forbidden romance!"
"Huh?"
"A forbidden romance! I've read romance novels all about them, oh Cadance you are so lucky!" Twilight gushed.
"I haven't been feeling very lucky lately. You see, Shining Armor and I have made a bet. I have until the day of the Grand Galloping Gala to get him to admit that he loves me back."
"What happens if you win?"
"He will become my very special somepony and we'll get to live happily ever after and one day live in a crystal palace. But if I lose I have to let him go and accept the fact that we can't be together because I'm a Princess."
"Crystal palace? What?"
"Don't ask. Anyways, I've tried everything I can think of but your brother is as sharp as a tack. He sees every attempt I try coming!"
"Well we can't have that! Don't worry Cadance, he won't be able to stop our combined might!!"
Shining Armor was busy going over some paper work when suddenly a cold chill went down his spine. "What was that?" he shuttered.
Deciding that the best way to put it out of his mind would be to go on patrol.
Twilight and Cadance were up in her room where Twilight had found Cadance's Amazing Plan.
"This thing was really formulated, I'm impressed...but I do have some notes."
"'Notes?'"
"Don't get me wrong, Cadance. This was brilliantly thought out..."
Cadance puffed out her chest a little bit in pride.
"But it is way too cliche to work on my brother."
Cadance deflated a little bit. "What?"
"This is my brother we're talking about! If you want to get him to admit his feelings to you and himself then you have to get past his defenses. You have to be original, creative! And I know exactly what we're going to start with!"
Shining Armor's patrol had actually been pretty boring so far, maybe some of his troops were right when they gossiped about him being paranoid.
He was about to consider taking a break when one of the council ponies passed by him. "Sir!" Shining Armor saluted.
The council pony nodded his head to the captain. "At ease. Captain Shining Armor, I just finished collecting a survey from the troops on you. They say you might be a little uptight but that's to be expected from a stallion in the military, outside of that the one complaint they had is that they wish you could do more. Mighty fine job you're doing, keep up good work!"
Shining Armor smiled as he watched the council pony walk away. The council attended to matters in Celestia's place whenever she was too busy with other affairs, so technically speaking they were his bosses. To get praise from one of them was a big compliment to his performance with his duties.
"Okay, after reviewing your past attempts I think I'm starting to see the problem."
Cadance sat on the floor, listening to Twilight as if she were a teacher giving a very important lesson.
"What is it?"
"You're coming on too strong." she said bluntly.
"Excuse me?" Cadance couldn't help but feel a little bit insulted with Twilight's insensitive explanation. "I'm just trying to show him what's in my heart, how serious I am about this relationship!"
"However, that seems to be the problem. You're coming at him with all your feelings all at once and he feels like he has to dodge just to survive. No, what you need is a more subtle approach."
Cadance rubbed her chin in thought. "Subtle, you say; exactly what did you have in mind Twilight?"
"Dinner!" she retorted.
Cadance's face lit up. "You mean like a romantic picnic? Oh that would be wonderful and..."
"Whoa! Dial it back there, I just meant a dinner. Nothing fancy. He's told me he likes to eat in the mess hall alone, so we can probably take advantage of that."
"Dinner for two?"
"Yes."
"Oh! Maybe we could pay Octavia to give us some ambiance and..."
"Nothing fancy!" Twilight repeated.
Cadance frowned. "Then I don't understand. If there is going to be nothing fancy then how is it going to help me get him to admit his feelings."
"What we do is start off with simple conversation, nothing to do with love or the bet. He enjoys talking to you, I've seen it in him since I was a filly. However, this all only to play off our trump card."
"Trump card? What's our trump card?" honestly, with Twilight it could be any number of things.
"You are going to make the dinner! The quickest way to a stallion's heart is through his stomach after all."
"That...is brilliant! Why didn't I think of that?! Twilight, you're a genius!"
"Yes. Yes I am." Twilight beamed. "We can probably get everything ready before Shiny gets down to the mess hall if we hurry."
"It's time to dress for battle then!"
Twilight rolled her eyes as her former foalsitter applied her make up.
"Cadance, you're acting like putting on lipstick is the same as applying battle make up. We're trying to get him to admit he loves you, we're not going to war ya know?"
"War?" Cadance squinted her eyes. "Love is war!"
Twilight giggled. "That sounds like something Pinkie Pie would say."
The growling in his stomach told Shining Armor that it was finally time for lunch so he started to head to the mess hall. They always had the best ration bars in his opinion, always gave a guard exactly what he needed to carry on for the rest of the day.
As he started to draw closer he saw none other than his own beloved little sister waving at him from outside the mess hall.
"Twiley," he beamed. "What're you doing here, kid?" He trotted over to her, smiling bigger than he had all week.
"I came to visit, but just for the day. I heard you've been having some lady problems lately."
His grin faded away. "Oh great, word is starting to spread. That's just what I need. For whatever reason, Cadance has decided that we are in love."
"And are you saying that you're not?"
Shining Armor failed to fight back a blush. "O-Of course not! Especially when she just brings it out of left field like that!"
Twilight smirked. 'He so totally loves her.' "Were you about to have lunch?"
"Actually yes. Care to join me? I always wondered what a non-military pony would think of our ration bars."
"Sure, but let me ask you something. If Cadance isn't your type, then what is?"
Shining Armor opened the door for his sister as they went in. "It's not that she isn't my type, we just have different political positions."
"Okay but just for argument's sake..."
Shining Armor looked around the mess hall, they were the only ones there. 'That's odd, there should be at least a couple of other guards here.' The meals here are free for them after all.
"Shiny?" Twilight waved her hoof in front of his face to snap him back to reality.
"Oh! Sorry, Twiley. I guess my ideal girl would be...well for starters I'd like her to have multi-colored hair. The more the better. Especially if it is just free flowing, natural, not done up in any of those fancy hair styles. Secondly, she would have to be kind and caring, sympathetic to others in need. And not fat!"
"What?!"
"Well I also want a mare who can take care of herself."
"Oh."
"Being smart would be a plus, I don't want some bimbo. I'd like her to be fun too, in my line of work I could use a mare who knows how to have fun. However, I think most of all I would like her to have is hope."
"Hope?"
"This world we live in can get pretty harsh, to have a mare who looks on the brighter side of things...well, that would be exactly the kind of mare I could fall for."
Twilight took a moment to process this information. When she was done she gave a dubious look.
"You just described Cadance." she accused.
"No I didn't."
"Yes! Yes you did!"
"No I most certainly did not."
"You described her to a t!"
"Twiley I don't know what you're talking about. Let's just grab some grub, okay?"
"Fine." Twilight followed him to the counter, her knowing smirk completely missing his gaze. "Whatever you say."
Shining Armor grabbed a tray for both him and his little sister, but the food wasn't pre-made and waiting like it normally was. Shining Armor walked down to kitchen counter to ask the chef what was going on, who he found was not the chef. Who he found was Cadance wearing a chef's hat.
"Cadance?! Where's Chef Iron Spoon?!"
"We gave him the night off." Cadance explained with a smile.
"You can't just...wait...who is 'we'?" he asked before turning his entire attention to his little sister with the sheepish grin. "Twiiillley...what's going on here?!"
"Oh nothing BBBFF, I just thought it would be nice for you and Cadance to have lunch together..."
"Twiley..."
"And having her be the one to cook the actual meal, can't really hurt can it?"
Shining Armor blew some hair out of his face and rolled his eyes. "Twilight, I have enough problems with this bet without you getting roped in to them. And you..." He pointed his hoof over at Cadance. "You're a cheater! Teaming up with Twilight on me, she's my little sister for crying out loud!"
"You never said I couldn't use to Twilight to help me!" Cadance folded her arms across her chest.
"That's because I didn't think you would actually resort to it! This was just supposed to be between you and me!"
"But I heard several other ponies got dragged in to helping both sides and..."
"Stay out this, Twilight!" Shining Armor snapped.
"Okay then," Twilight smiled. "I'll just leave you alone to talk to Cadance all by yourself."
"Right...wait! What?! No, TWILEY!!"
However, it was too late; Twilight had made a beeline for the door which she promptly closed behind her. Shining Armor felt himself sweat as he heard the doors lock, and lucky him, he had no idea where the key was.
From the kitchen window Cadance spotted Twilight looking in. A devious smile formed on her face as her horn lit up; surrounded by Twilight's magic Cadance felt her hair become undone. Without it being done up in a ponytail or some other fancy doo Cadance found it was almost long enough to reach the floor. She gave Twilight a quizzical look who mouthed back to her the words 'Just trust me on this!'
Grinning she turned her attention back to the stallion who had earned her affection. He seemed to be on the brink of having some kind of panic attack. She cleared her throat, snapping him back to reality and herself.
"So..." Cadance flipped her hair. "Come here often?"
On this day, Shining Armor had blushed harder than he ever had in his life.
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My Little Scientist: Love is a Chemical Reaction
That was funny. I loved it. Especially how they trick Shinning to being alone with Cadence. Great job with this chapter.
I laugh at where Shining Armor realized their plan
There is no such thing. What you describe is simply not possible. Also,
I'm gonna guess you mean "sharp as a tack" right here, seeing as how tact is a way of talking to someone.
Iron Maiden: Run to the hills! Run fooor your liiiffe!
"That was a good idea" -Stu Pidface-
This is the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the laugh I will pour on!
*pours laughter on shining armor*
Shining: HEY!!!
Sorry :3
4686912 But I like songfics
4685583
Who knew Twilight was such an expert on romance, though being related to the intended recipient of love does put things in her favor.
So...can Cadence even cook?
4687821 That's the question
4688311 It's an AU man.
I want to see Shining fake-cry. Hell, I do it when people don't stop bothering about a girl everybody knows in my school likes me. It's not even crying, it's just me making a 'E heh, e heh' sound over and over. Works every time.
Hm....
"No! No! No!" 
"Shining Armor is describing me you know."
"Princess!? What are you-?"
"Oh nothing Twilight, I just followed the sound of a stallion who knows his mares and describing me with the best compliments I have ever heard. I think he and I should have a long talk."
4707373 "Uh Twiley? She's playing with my hair...a little help??"
4708305
No, I can't go against Princess Celestia
Oh Shining Armor, what a fine stallion you have become, good thing Cadence isn't powerful enough to object me in taking you as my husband.
Love is war?
I don't see any tanks anywhere
4708857 "Uh I don't know if I really want to get marri..."
"SHINING ARMOR!!!"
"I hereby order you to propose to me."
4709264 That's the heavy artillery.
Cadance will call those in when she feels it's necessary
4709946
It is at that moment that Shining Armor cannot object. As the Captain of the guard he must make the decision and even though he hates it, he must accept...
"Yes Princess..."
"Yes Twilight, there is ANOTHER way to become an Alicorn"
4713627
Let's just say it involves a little Barry White music
4715172
And Shining Armor finds himself enjoying the rest of his life as a prince, an Alicorn and the joys with Celestia...
Lucky stallion...
4717547 Shining ArmorxCelestia
Could such a thing actually be possible?
4718945
Let us see... HE is he Captain of the guard for some amount of time we don't know, is young compared to the rest of the guards, is in a high position to always report to Celestia, Based on season 4 final episode, He is the 'Last pony' between Tirek and the Princesses...
So yeah, I have a strong feeling Celestia chose a young stallion like SA for a reason other than being part of the guard.
Which I am planning on a fic anyway.
4718957 Truly?
4718991
Yes, but life is in the way, as usual.
4719032 Well that's life aint it? Heck, while you're at it, why not give him Luna too (with Cadance of course)
4719250
Oh I do plan on having SA be Shipped with PC and PL separately and together in princest and another with his wife in the mix.
-Continued-
will you marry me?
Shining: *Gulps* very well
Celestia: OH SHINING! YOU MADE ME THE HAPPIEST ALICORN IN THE WHOLE WORLD!
4745406
Okay? And?
our private moments.
yes your highness.
Shining Armor: Of course your highness.
Princess Celestia: there will be a grand celebration, a large banner of our wedding, a feast fit for Equestria!
SA: Of course Princess.
PC: We can get more than one wedding cake. Indulge in the fine art of coupling. The ritual to turn you into an alicorn.
SA:
PC: The usual works and of course...
SA:
*hidden crush on Celestia*
PC: *thought* I already know he has a crush on me.
-Wedding, reception, and the alicorn ritual came, and nighttime followed-
PC: oh honey pie, it's time for our.....*reveals her naked self* reproduction cycle.
SA: uh don't you mean sex?
PC: that's what meant to say you silly colt. Now brace yourself.
-And so this keeps going on and on and on until they finally slept like a pile of rocks-
4761631 and around and around we go until I update again
Silly Twilight makeup is a woman or mare in this case war paint!
5551057 LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD!!
That might describe Cadence,,, but...
He just described Princess Celestia...
Celestia?
Okay, not Celestia
You had me at battle makeup.
10970780
This is beautiful!
10971074
Ikr?? Your story reminded me of this anime so much!!!
4709946
He wished to avoid being burned and in doing so reached for the sun.