The Brother and The Sitter

by Spike120812

First Date

First Date

It was a short walk to Lumière des Ètoiles. Of course the fanciest restaurants in Canterlot would be located around the castle. That area was basically the Elite's stomping grounds; well, more like prancing grounds. Tonight, however, was just about Cadance and Shining Armor.

To say the restaurant was large would be an understatement. Looking at it from the outside, it towered over any other establishment around. Waterfalls graced the front and its palace-esque exterior just conveyed the feeling that only the fancy could dine there.

The interior nearly caused Shining Armor to go into cardiac arrest. It was graced with crystal chandeliers, live classical music was being played at every corner, and everypony there looked like they were ponies one should instantly know. Maybe he should've aimed for somewhere a little more low-key.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Cadance asked.

"It's so... big," Shining Armor said, trying to keep his heart rate down.

"Shining?"

"It's so... big."

Cadance was about to try to snap Shining out of his stupor, but was instead greeted by a dark brown unicorn stallion in a waiter's jacket looking like he was under all the pressure in the world.

"Princess Cadance! It is a pleasure to have you here at Lumière des Ètoiles again. You and your date's table is right by the fountain. Come along, your majesty," explained the waiter as he bowed to Cadance and took charge, showing them to their table.

The two followed, one of them still eyeing the majesty that was Lumière des Ètoiles.

The three ponies reached the fantastically placed table right in the center of the restaurant and in front of a marble waterfall.

The waiter seated Cadance and Shining Armor and then stood at the ready to take whatever order they might want.

The menus were already placed at the table, making the selection of an appetizer much easier.

"Just a dandelion salad for now, please.”

"Excellent choice, Princess." The waiter wrote down Cadance's order on a little notepad encased in his magic before turning to Shining Armor, "And for the gentlecolt?"

"It's so... big," Shining Armor repeated, and earning a stoic expression from his waiter.

"Is this his first time here, Princess?"

"I think so," Cadance replied, now fully understanding Shining's bewildered state of mind.

"That's quite all right, your majesty. We offer a wonderful appetizer for first-time guests. I'll have your orders out really soon," the waiter explained with pride in his place of employment.

"Thank you, sir," said Cadance before the waiter bowed again then headed for the kitchen. Now it was time to snap Shining Armor out of it.

She placed one of her gentle pink hoofs on one of his shaking blue ones. This got Shining Armor's attention, and he looked at what was happening. He saw their hooves, then looked up to see those caring purple eyes asking him to calm down. He did so, but with a half-hearted sigh.

"It's your first time here isn't it?" Cadance asked.

"Yeah," Shining Armor simply answered.

"Then why did you choose here?"

"Because I wanted tonight to be special. I wanted to take you somewhere really nice, but never in my wildest dreams did I think that place would look something like this!"

"Oh, Shining," Cadance beamed, touched that he wanted to do all this for her. "You didn't have to do that. I would've been more than happy with somewhere a bit low-key. It was actually what I was hoping for," explained Cadance, earning a surprised look from Shining Armor.

"So, you don't like it here?" he asked, expecting the worst possible answer.

"Oh no no no, I do like it here. It's a beautiful place," Cadance quickly answered back to ease Shining Armor's worry, "it's just that I was afraid you were going to drive yourself ragged trying to find a place like this."

Shining Armor let out a short sigh. Relieved that she liked the place he chose, but at the same time realizing he's been making himself look foalish.

"Thanks. Cadance... I'm sorry if I've been acting really weird."

"Don't be. It's your first time here. I'll admit, I was pretty blown away when I first saw this place," Cadance said as memories of that night flowed through her head.

"How'd that go?" asked Shining Armor, curious at the thought of a flipped out Cadance.

Cadance proceeded to tell of one of her less than graceful days, including a part about falling into the fountain and earning a barrage of stares from other ponies.

Shining Armor tried hard not to laugh but his efforts were in vain as he found himself in hysterics. For a while, the two shared their most embarrassing moments, and each one earning more laughter than the previous.

The two could've gone on forever, Shining Armor especially, but eventually their appetizers came and the two were ready to order their main dish.

Cadance ordered something impossible to pronounce if you hadn't eaten there before, and Shining Armor still struggled trying to comprehend just what in the name of Celestia was on the menu. Eventually, the waiter ended up suggesting the featured dish. Shining Armor shrugged and hoped for the best.

After the waiter took their orders and left for the kitchen, Cadance and Shining Armor continued on with their tales of less than desirable experiences.

"Wait. So it took four guards to get you out of the cake?" asked Shining Armor through stifled laughs.

"Yeah, not the best birthday a mare could have, but at least the cake was good," replied Cadance, recalling an instant where her aunt had a 30 foot cake made for one of her birthdays, and ended up falling into the very top of it as she blew her candles out.

"At least you never thought somepony's cousin was their coltfriend," Shining Armor countered more jokingly.

"Okay, you win," Cadance laughed. "Why did you think that anyway, Shining?"

"I honestly had no idea who your cousin was anyway. Since when did he become a prince? And why haven't I heard of him before?"

"Ahhhh, yes," said Cadance with a mix of a smile and a partially shamed expression as she recalled how Blueblood came into her life. "Me and Blueblood aren't direct niece and nephew of our aunt. I'm her great niece, and he's her great great great great great great great great, well you get the idea," Cadance began to explain. "Anyways, I just have more royal blood in me, and I guess that explains why I'm an alicorn." She pointed to her horn and opened her purple tinted wings.

"Blueblood actually came into the family through marriage about a year ago. One of my relatives down the line married his mom, and here he is now. Not too many ponies know about him right now. In fact, the Summer Sun Celebration was his first major thing with us."

"So, are you two close?" asked Shining Armor.

"At times. There are times where he can be this huge pain in my flank, but days like yesterday and today really show how much he cares for me." Cadance began to smile as she remembered something. "He's the one who helped me bring myself to tell you how I felt."

Cadance was met with a warm smile from Shining Armor. It may have been just yesterday, but he would remember that day forever. The day he and Cadance finally confessed their feelings for one another and now here they were, in the fanciest restaurant in town on their first date.

Their eyes met again, her purple orbs locking with his sapphire like eyes. They couldn't help but blush and turn away a little bit, still smiling. Their actions drew some unknown attention to themselves.

Of course others would be staring at the two daters; you don't see a princess out with some colt on what looked like a date every day, and in a restaurant full of Canterlot elite members wanting to know anything and everything about the royal family, interested stares were to be expected. One group of ponies in particular were eyeing the young princess and her mystery date.

***************

A few tables back of Shining Armor and Cadance, a group of at least five expensively-dressed ponies sat eyeing the two.

"Jet Set, dear, who is that young colt with Princess Cadance?" inquired a pale olive-coated unicorn mare with a voice sounding like she's been congested her whole life.

"I don't know, Upper Crust," replied the grey coated stallion in a voice of equally ear-shattering stuffiness. "But he must be somepony worth knowing if he is walking around Canterlot with Princess Cadance."

The other three ponies sitting at the table all nodded their heads in agreement, more out of just agreeing for the sake of agreeing and following the crowd. Typical of such elitists.

***************

Even if others stared, Shining Armor and Cadance let it go unnoticed. Their dinners came, and the two ate whatever impossible-to-pronounce dish they ordered. Even while she ate, Shining Armor couldn't stop thinking how beautiful Cadance looked. She probably knew he was looking at her, thinking wonderful things about her, but she pretended not to know. It was nice knowing that somepony could think such wonderful things of you.

Bit by bit, dinner was eaten, and the two started to just talk and make each other laugh. They talked about anything and everything, from abandoned crazy foalhood dreams, to more embarrassing stories, to just little things about themselves. It was a simple thing done in an extravagant setting. Once the two had enough laughter and stories, they both looked back to the waterfall behind them.

It was a spectacle to say the least. The way the chandeliers next to the waterfall seemed to make the descending water droplets sparkle and create mini rainbows was breathtaking.

"It’s beautiful isn't it?" Cadance asked turning to Shining Armor.

He turned to face her, meeting those twinkling purple jewels of eyes. They were like some kind of rare gem that he always managed to lose himself in.

"Sure is," he simply replied, not really talking about the waterfall.

The two eventually broke their gazes and were met with a little black fold-up, probably containing the bill. Shining Armor took a quick look at it and casually pulled out a small bulky bag from his pocket and placed it on the table. The audible 'thud' it made shocked Cadence. Where did Shining Armor get that many bits?

"I don't spend a lot of my paycheck on myself," said Shining Armor after seeing Cadance's expression. He began to walk up to her, and stretched out a forelimb. "May I walk you home?"

"Such a gentlecolt," Cadance playfully responded, taking his hoof in hers. The two made their way to the exit, glancing back at the scenery one last time before leaving. It really was a lovely place for dinner.

***************

Light drizzle fell from the grey and blue nighttime sky. Celestia had already raised the moon, and it seemed like it was trying to shine through the rain clouds.

Shining Armor and Cadance were walking through illuminated streets of upper Canterlot, hoof-in-hoof and smiling all the way to Canterlot Castle with light purple and blue auras hovering above their heads like umbrellas from the rain.

The two were on the front steps of the castle, and Shining Armor was struggling to find the right words for 'good night,’ so Cadance decided to break the ice.

"I had a really nice time, Shining Armor."

"Thanks, Cadance. I had a nice time too... sorry if I acted weird at the restaurant," said Shining Armor as he kicked his hoof at the ground.

Cadance smiled that heart-melting smile. "It's okay, Shining. Next time, let's just go somewhere more casual. Okay?"

Shining Armor's eyes widened at those words. "N-N-Next time?" He started to sweat.

"Well, yeah. There is going to be a next time, right?" Cadance asked, putting on a sly smile to get the answer out of Shining Armor.

"Y-Y-Yeah. Definitely!" Shining Armor was going nuts in his head. Next time! There was gonna be a next time! But that wasn't the best part, what came next was a complete and oh so welcomed surprise.

He felt a set of pink lips brush his cheek and plant a quick peck, causing his face to go redder than a tomato.

"Glad to hear. Well, good night, Shining." Cadance opened the door after dropping her light blue shield and was met with a squeaky response.

"Good night, Cadance," said Shining Armor, feeling the cheek Cadance kissed good night.

The doors closed, and he was left with his thoughts. Cadance kissed him... Cadance kissed him! It may have just been on the cheek, but she kissed him!

***************

Celestia stood close to the front doors of the castle. Cadance had just closed the doors and she was eager to know everything.

"Hello, Cadance," Celestia belled with a soft smile.

"Hi, Aunt Celestia," Cadance replied back.

"So, how'd it go?" Celestia quickly asked, slightly kneeling down to Cadance's eye level.

"It was-"

"WOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!" yelled a voice from behind the doors, followed by fast-paced hoof steps slowly growing softer and softer.

Cadance quickly swung open the doors again and through the drizzle saw Shining Armor taking off at top speed, holding one of his cheeks.

She smiled as she closed the doors and faced her aunt, who was giving her a devilish smile.

"So, I'm guessing it went well?"

Cadance sighed dreamily, leaning against the doors she was standing in front of, and slowly slid down.

"It was perfect."

***************

Shining Armor was running down the streets like crazy. That kiss, his first kiss... and it was from Cadance. It may have been on the cheek, but he didn't care.

He ran and ran, one of his hoofs still on his face, that delicately kissed face. He could never wash that cheek again.

His speed caused him to reach home a lot faster than usual. He skidded to a stop when he reached the front steps of his house. Boy, did he have a story to tell to the two ponies waiting for him inside.

He dropped his light purple magic shield and opened the door to find Stardust entertaining Twilight and Spike with her guitar. She was just finishing up a song with Twilight and it spooked him at how perfectly the song fit in with what had just happened.

"With a kiss goodnight," Stardust sang at the last strum of her guitar.

“Kiss goodnight," Twilight echoed.

The silence lingered before a set of hooves clopped together in applause. Stardust and Twilight turned to see Shining Armor, back home and smiling.

"Shining Armor!" exclaimed Twilight as she ran to her brother and gave him a hug around his forelimbs.

"Hey, Twi-Lee. Great job on the song." He looked up at Stardust, who was gathering her things. "You too, Star."

"Thanks, Shiny." She strapped her guitar on her back and scooted closer to him, and gave him a one-limbed hug before asking what her and Twilight were dying to know.

"How was it?"

Shining sighed dreamily as he recalled the night. It may have started a little bumpy on his part but it ended with one little yet big event he'd never forget.

"Perfect."

Author's Note:

Probably should've done this before, but the "Kiss goodnight" part that Stardust and Twilight sang: "Just A Kiss" by Lady Antebellum.

Comments

[Skeeter The Lurker]

Nice job, Shining. Nice job.

Loving how this is going on. Keep it up.

~Skeeter The Lurker

[The Fiery Joker]

This day is going to be per-shot

[Blaze3713]

2339790

*ejecting spent cartrage from rifle*

Darn, a non-lethal shot. Stupid gun pulls to the right.

In all seriousness, this was a sweet and funny chapter.

[Spike120812]

2339555
Sorry to say, but don't expect that too often, if it weren't for Spring Break, this probably wouldn't have been out until a good week or two, but thanks for the praise. I'll try to get 8 up and runnin'

2339602
Will do.

2339790
Huh?

2340613
Huh? And glad you liked it. Hope to not dissapoint for the next chapter.

[Burnasius]

How sweet, the date is a success but there is going to be gossip happening.

[Shadow_Wolf]

Excellent! Damn... now I gotta pay Twilight ten bits

[Spike120812]

2342699
How'd you know? Just kidding, or am I? All shall be revealed soon.

2346696
I shall, glad you liked it.

2362715
You and a few others.

[Spike120812]

2435911
Can you tell me exactly what is wrong with it? I knew something was, I just didn't know what it was.

[CanoLathra]

2438081
Nothing specific, just a large number of typos, spelling errors, weird sentence structure, occasional grammar mistakes, and all of the other things proofreaders fix. No problems with story flow, PoV, dialogue, etc. that the author must fix himself. Great story, not quite canon but very close, especially for a fanfic.

[Featherdust418]

Another excellent chapter! You know, I didn't think the date would be terrible... glad my hunch was right! Still, with Jetset and Uppercrust, something is bound to happen. Perhaps the date was not so perfect as it seemed...

[Lucky424]

Jet Set and Upper Crust, huh? Can I safely assume that Fancy Pants and Fluer were there as well?