Cadenza

by SingMeloetta

Chapter 6

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! Sorry for the disappearance!
A warning: There is a small part of this chapter that involves Blueblood being a jerk to everyone's favorite pink princess pony, and the things he says may or may not hit too close to home for some people.

Several years had gone by since Twilight first became Celesta’s student. She had moved out of the Canterlot Castle and into Ponyville, a small town just off of Canterlot’s hillside. From what Shining Armor had heard about his little sister, she had actually made friends there, and it had been her who saved them all from the threat of Nightmare Moon.

The thought of his little sister facing down anymore threats to Equestria made him nervous, but he couldn’t worry about that now, as he stood in front of Princess Celestia herself and awaited his orders.

“Captain Armor?” Celestia called from down on her throne, getting the attention of the stallion who was clad in a purple armor suit.

“Yes, your highness?”

“I want you to do something. Although I know it may be one of the most difficult tasks you have ever had to endure, I fully believe that you, as the Captain of the Gaurd, shall be up to the task.”

Shining Armor stood tall, his expression telling Celestia that he was ready for anything from a station in the griffon lands, to a scope of the Badlands Changeling Hive. She couldn’t help but have a friendly smirk on her face, but the guard barely noticed her expression.

“I want you to take today off.”

Shining Armor nearly gasped at this; If she weren't his boss and the leader of Equestria, he probably would’ve questioned her. “Pardon me, your highness?”

“Tonight, as you know, is the night of the Grand Galloping Gala. I, as well as Cadenza, would like you to enjoy it. It’s supposed to be a night where all the ponies of Equestria are welcomed for a night of dancing and relaxation at the Canterlot Castle.”

“But your highness-”

She cut him off, already predicting his question. “There are plenty of other guards we have stationed around the castle for tonight, as well as the rest of the morning. Now, go do what you need to do to get ready. I’m looking forward to seeing what you have in store for my niece this evening.”

“Thank you, your highness.” He bowed to her one last time before leaving her throne room.

He had secretly been hoping to get the night off. Like the princess had thought, he did have big plans for Cadance that night: His thoughts transitioned to the small, plush box, and it’s contents, which he had spent a fortune on.

Still, it didn’t matter how much he’d spent on it; His hopeful fiance-to-be was the embodiment of love itself, so it was pretty much a given that in order to win her hoof in marriage, Shining Armor would have to show her the best night ever!

As he and Cadence walked into the ballroom later that night, he was soon overwhelmed by the majesty of everything around him. Cadence was dressed in a bright blue gown with streaks of pastel-colored light rolling down the back, her hair worn up in a complex style that must’ve taken hours to perfect.

Shining Armor had been so busy admiring the breathtaking space and his equally breathtaking marefriend that he didn’t even notice when Princess Celestia was trying to talk to him.

“Captain Shining Armor, are you alright?”

His face was quickly overwhelmed by a bright shade of crimson, his pure white coat not helping matters.“Uh-uh-um, yes, your highness, I’m alright.” Shining Armor could have sworn that he saw Twilight standing somewhere in the crowded room, but, as his mind was focused on getting out of the ballroom as quickly as possible, he didn’t think he had time to stop and say hello.

“Are you hungry? I could get us something to eat.”

“That would be lovely!”

Just as the two of them were making their way over to a nearby apple stall, they were cut in front of by a white stallion who they both recognized, though they were surprised to see a young mare standing next to him, considering most ponies in Equestria couldn’t stand in the same room as him for more than 5 minutes, let alone happily stand next to him. “Oh, Cady! Long time no see!”

For the first time that night, Cadence was anything other than positive. She let out a tired sigh as her voice temporarily lost it’s cheerful lilt. “Hi, Blueblood.”

“Cady, Cady, Cady, out of all ponies, I thought at least you would know to always respect royalty with their proper titles.”

She didn’t know what it was, but at that moment, Cadance could feel something inside her go off. Blueblood had put her down with his words ever since she had come to Canterlot. So why couldn’t she poke a little fun at him for a change? “Oh, my apologies, Baronet Blueblood.”

Blueblood scoffed. “How dare you! You should really show me more respect. After all, did you forget that my father still has the power to get you deported?”

Cadence’s newfound burst of confidence quickly left as she felt her head get dizzy. She was offended, but also confused; They couldn’t send her back to Altomare, could they? No, the Princess had taken care of her papers when she had first arrived in Canterlot, right?

Shining Armor readied a small magenta shield, taking a small step closer to Blueblood. “Knock it off.”

“I thought you royal guard were trained better than that. Really now, is that any way to speak to your superior?”

“You aren’t my superior.”

“Think of it this way, Captain Armor. You are a member of the Solar Guard, correct?”

“The captain, yes.”

“Well, as the Royal Gaurd’s job is to protect the members of the royal family, I am technically allowed to give you orders, correct?”

“If all about 700 other ponies who are ahead of you in the line of succession were to somehow be unavailable at the same time then I suppose, hypothetically, yes, you could. Although my entire family would also be ahead of you in the line of succession, so if it’s me your after controlling, there's no way to make that possible.” That was another reason why Cadance had become so smitten with him; Sure, he had a foal genius of a sister to compare to, but when it came to anything related to the way the royal guard operated, Shining was on top of it.

“And in that hypothetical situation, I would be your superior, and, as you are true nobility as well, I suppose, that at least puts you above the orphan you’ve taken to the Gala tonight. Then again, when your special talent is making everybody fall in love with you, can you really say your above anybody?”

Shining’s horn sparked in a rage. “Leave Cadance out of this you ignorant bigot!”

“Sh-Shining please, le-let’s just get away from him. I’m not feeling very hungry anymore.”

“If you say so.”

With the soft classical music being played from the stage, with minimal quiet chatter here and there, they figured that this hall would be the easiest place for Cadance to get herself back down to a state of normalcy after that run-in with Blueblood. Everything about that plan was going well until a pink pony with a frizzy pink mane had hopped up onto the stage and began to sing-although it was closer to shouting- a small song from their childhood. Normally, Cadance would have laughed at this, or at least cracked a smile, but she was so exhausted she could barely even muster a glare.

As if though fate was at its cruelest that night, Blueblood and his mysterious date walked back into the room, following behind a large cake that looked as if though it was ready to topple over at any moment. Of course, a pony stage-diving into it at top speeds was more than enough to finally cause it to fall over, most of it landing directly on top of Blueblood.

Though Shining Armor was satisfied to see Blueblood finally get his comeuppance, the last thing he needed was a swarm of every animal in the Canterlot gardens to come sprinting through the ballroom, a maddened yellow pegasus following behind them.

Quickly, he teleported them both out of the mess, hoping to not run into anymore trouble in the park. Other than the two of them, it was completely quiet; Everyone else in Canterlot was either still at the gala or otherwise indoors. He checked his pocket again, and sighed with relief; Somehow, in all that chaos, the ring hadn’t left his side. “Well, Cadance, I know tonight didn’t exactly run very smoothly, and I know that we could both name a million other places that would be much more fitting to ask this question, but if you say yes, it won’t just be me, you’ll be getting a pretty great sister too. Cadance, will you marry me?”

Cadance let the tears of joy roll down her cheeks as she smiled and kissed her new fiancé. “Yes!”

Comments

[Zapper Frost]

raise your hands if you hate blueblood ✋

[HB_DS2013]

I do!

[Jaro45]

✋Same here.