Twelve Years Ago in Canterlot

by SS Nomad

Chapter 3

Cadance wasn't sure what to make of anything anymore. As she stepped out of the Royal Long Term Planning Tower into the early afternoon light, her normally cheerful and composed expression was replaced with the only things she was feeling at the moment, surprise and bewilderment. The young recruit at the door was looking at her with concern. She had to quickly pull herself together.

She took a deep breath and tried to rationally process what just happened. Apparently it was of vital importance to the safety of Equestria that she find Princess Celestia a lover. She could barely follow the argument as to why, but as best she could tell, Celestia genuinely believed this. Something about prophecy, dark forces, and divination. It looked and sounded like one of her aunt's insa-- eccentric moments, and yet...

She took a second deep breath. If it's not true, what harm does it do? Celestia wants to find her true love. Whatever her reasons, that's not something Cadance could reasonably object to. Finding their true love was a wonderful thing she wished for all ponies, so of course her beloved aunt deserved her help in finding the one. And if what Celestia said was true?

She took another deep breath. This was going to be... interesting. There was a more fitting word that she couldn't remember at the moment. She was pretty sure she could do this, though. Just so long as she assumed the whole "End of Equestria" thing was just her aunt making an excuse out of embarrassment. Just pretended it wasn't horribly stressful and important. Just her aunt being silly. Yes. Yes, that would do.

"Are... you okay princess?"

Cadance blinked rapidly, pulling herself out of her thoughts. The young recruit was still there, trying to judge the situation and if he needed to call someone. Cadance let out a sigh and recovered her smile and grace.

"Nothing to worry about, just... Well let's call it the peculiarities of living with family."

The guard seemed to accept this, letting out a light chuckle and smirking like he had his own experience in the field, "Understood, Princess."

"By the way, you're new here, right?" Cadance inquired, "What's your name?"

He shot to attention, "Trooper Shining Armor, day guard, at your service."

"At my service?" Cadance smiled impishly, "Perfect, follow me."

Shining's expression turned to interest and confusion. He could tell she was up to something, and had certainly heard rumors of Princess Candace's prankish side, so he felt the situation was slightly dubious. He was under orders to guard this spot until told otherwise, but now a princess had just given him a new order. He glanced back at the unadorned doorway to a seemingly irrelevant building, and then to the princess already turning to walk away. He followed.

---

To the southeast of the Hayseed Swamps, the land is dominated by flat moors, sparsely populated by small tribal flocks of sheep. The late afternoon sun had cooked away the morning fog and the air was growing humid from the damp soil evaporating. A small drove of hares nibbled at the plants as a flock of birds landed to drink from a pool.

All at once, the animals scattered, leaving just the sound of the wind in the grass and the smell of peat. A long and near silent pause hung over the area. Some strange odor, like copper and ozone, slowly filled the air. In a sudden flash, a ring of green flame ignited and licked skyward, two black equine forms slowly rising from the ground.

"There should be a small settlement about a mile from here," Queen Chrysalis explained, "Let's get going."

Squire, loaded down with luggage, was busy stamping out a small brushfire that their magic had ignited, "Just a... sec... yes, okay, good. Will we be needing disguise?"

The Queen paused to think. Goats perhaps? Their lands were nearby, and she needed an excuse to look like a traveler. Relations between the goats and sheep were passable. It would only be for a few hours at most, she could probably put up with being horrifically ugly that long.

Without a word, Queen Chrysalis was wreathed in a burst of green flame, only to emerge a large, grey goat. Squire nodded and followed suit, in a flash becoming a rather stocky example of hircine form. They looked one another over, as to judge each other's disguises, and turned to continue on their way.

The walk was a rather quick one, the settlement being even closer than the Queen's estimate. A small village of thatched roof cottages with only two stone buildings, the chief's hall and a tavern. The locals eyed their visitors with suspicion, not exactly used to outsiders in their midst.

Chrysalis quieted her thoughts and reached for the hive mind, finding two voices chattering away about the day's business. By the sounds of it, they had a very successful operation going in the region. Excellent, but not her primary concern.

"Attention. This is your queen. I have just arrived in the town of Baaladair."

After a stunned pause, a third voice came back, "I am within the village, my queen, in what way can I serve you?"

Good answer, this one had potential. Chrysalis replied, "I require a map of the Hayseed Swamp and regions beyond."

"Hmm..." her subject pondered for a moment before announcing, "I know just the soul to ask. He’s staying at the tavern, a visitor from those lands. Calls himself a 'pony.'"

"Excellent. Show me to him.”

---

Shining Armor was a little confused, sitting at a donut shop with the Princess of Love. The odd part wasn't protecting the Princess at this establishment. After all, Pony Joe's was a well respected Canterlot business that both of the princesses visited quite frequently. It wasn't being her only bodyguard, clearly, since he had managed to silently signal for backup on the way out of the castle. No, it was the conversation.

"So why did you join the guard?" Princess Cadance asked, taking a sip of something that looked to be a mocha.

When Shining heard he was going to be escorting the Princess to Pony Joe's, he had expected to be standing at attention nearby while she had a light snack. As he adjusted his seat across from Cadance, he stared at his mug of coffee as if it had the answer to her question.

"Well..." he stumbled for words, "I guess I was just looking for some, I dunno, structure in my life."

Cadance popped a powdered donut hole in her mouth and contemplated his answer. After a moment, she replied, "But why the Royal Guard?"

Shining paused and tensed up, not entirely sure how to frame his answer. It was honestly a very personal question and he wasn't incredibly comfortable with it, so he decided to try to talk his way around the answer.

He leaned back in his chair and looked out a window, "Well, I've never been much of a wizard. The only magic I can really claim any mastery in is protective spells. While I was contemplating my options, an Academy recruiter came to my school and found out about my talent. It just went from there."

Cadance paused, her drink hovering in her grasp, "You mean the Hurricane Academy? That would mean you're in the officer program?"

Happy to veer onto a tangent, Shining Armor relaxed some and responded, "Yeah, they've just got me on detail while I study. Getting pretty close to finally graduating to a rank and position, though."

"Your family must be pretty proud of you," Cadance replied sincerely, taking an elegant sip of her drink.

"My parents are happy for me, yeah," he explained, "but I'm not certain my little sister has even noticed. She's been so wrapped up in her books recently, trying to learn all there is to know about magic."

"I always wished I had a sister," Cadance mumbled wistfully.

"She can be a hassle sometimes, but she's worth it," Shining joked, "It seems like all she cares about anymore is studying and magic, but she's pretty adorable about it all."

Cadance chuckled, "I'd love to meet her someday."

"You'll have a chance soon," Shining offered, "She's applying for Celestia's School and has her interview in a few days. Knowing her, she'd love to meet a princess."

"I'd like that."

At this point, something finally occurred to Shining Armor. It had been a while since Cadance had touched her donuts or drink. She'd been rather wrapped up in the conversation. Currently, she was sitting there, staring at him with a dreamy smile, apparently oblivious to anything else. Sure, Shining Armor was no genius like his sister, but he could read this scene.

That's when the panic set in.

Comments

[Skeeter The Lurker]

Well that was... Quick.

Though, I could see Cadance making a move first.

~Skeeter The Lurker