A Princess's Prerogative
As the door to the Royal Sun Room closed, Princess Cadance finally allowed her smile to slip. The latest proposal had been painful to reject. Every now and then she’d get a pony desperate enough to plead with royalty for something that just couldn’t be agreed to. Heaving a sigh, she sipped on her rose tea and looked to the scenery of dusk outdoors. The Sun Room was aptly named, an entire wall made up of western windows to view the descending sun. Every morning the servants would clean it with the fastidiousness of mothers washing their newborn foals, the crystal floors sparkling and the windows spotless. She had never asked for her private meeting room to be so cared for, yet the crystal ponies did it anyway. She never knew if it was for her sake or for the cultural significance of the room itself, a place of many meetings in the past from many leaders. It was said that the Sun Room was where the Crystal Empire spoke, for good or for ill.
Technically, it was the Western Sun Room – there was another just like it on the other side of the Crystal Palace. But somehow, via luck or tradition, perhaps a bit of both, this was the one that had all the glory.
Regardless, Cadance preferred it over the Eastern Sun Room. The setting sun always had a certain loveliness to it. More practically, it was a way to gauge the passing of the day without clocks. She could make it appear as though she was thinking on what petitioners were saying while staring at the horizon for inspiration when she was really just counting the hours until the celestial disk touched the world to signal the end of her least favorite part of ruling.
Speaking of which, the pale red guard standing by her throne spoke up while observing her clipboard. “Your Highness, we have one last petitioner. A ‘Dandy Lion’ from Fillydelphia.”
Court petitioners were one thing. The Sun Room was for personal requests, almost universally by those ponies wealthy enough or important enough to arrange for some one-on-one time with a princess. A vulgar practice, allowing those with money and connections to monopolize the last couple hours of her day. Yet it was Celestia’s practice, and so hers as well. A means of satisfying the nobility and business classes. Important for dealing with the arrogant and self-obsessed. A few were good-natured and meant well, but the majority? If only she could refuse them outright in public instead of having to pretend to enjoy their company.
“Your Highness?”
Right. Work. “Just thinking, Ruby. Do go on.”
Clearing her throat, Ruby turned her eyes back to the form. “Dandy Lion. Earth pony. Fillydelphia. Dropped out of the Royal Guard Academy, now works as a fitness trainer. Teaches Little League Hoofball in his off time. All the petition states is that his matter is ‘private’.”
Cadance’s attention had been caught with the announced occupation. “Is there no information for why he didn’t go to Celestia if he’s from Equestria? Or Luna or Twilight?”
Ruby scanned the form, lifted the sheet to look at the next page. Her brow furrowed in frustration. “Nothing. If you’ll not tell your husband of my lack of decorum, I’d say the officer who took this petition is damn lazy.”
The language brought a tiny smirk to Cadance’s face. Shining Armor had a thing for ‘decorum’ when the guards were on duty. It made the public secret of their lack of it around her all the more entertaining. Her idea, of course. Yet there were more interesting matters at hoof. “He does not sound like a member of the elite. One must wonder what he did to win this meeting.”
“I have no idea, Your Highness.” Ruby shrugged, her armor rattling from the motion. “All indications point to him being slightly below Middle Class. I’ll ask around.”
“No, that’s alright.” Cadance turned to the guards near the door. “Show him in, please.”
The doors opened and one of the guards poked his head out to call for the petitioner. A moment later, Mr. Lion appeared. He was a large fellow, perhaps rivaling the size of Shining Armor. His coat was bright yellow and immaculately brushed, while his mane was a wave of near-white grey that had been styled to fall over his right shoulder. If anyone doubted his occupation on paper, one look at his muscles cast those doubts aside. His was the physical form that made lesser mares drool and Cadance imagine a sweaty wrestling match of sorts with Shining Armor.
A magical talent for empathy was not necessary to see the anxiety radiating off the pony. For all his size, Dandy Lion approached the throne meekly. He was keeping his head high, but the half-lowered ears and the way his eyes flicked towards Ruby gave him away. With the faintest touch of magic, so light her horn wouldn’t be seen glowing without someone looking for it, she took a finer taste of his emotions. She barely repressed a cringe at the swirling fear and desperation roiling off him, and quickly cut the spell off.
“A good evening to you, Mr. Lion,” she called, her voice pleasant but neutral. “I hope the long wait wasn’t too much of a burden for you.”
Dandy Lion hopped in place at being addressed, then dropped into a low bow. “Y-your Majesty.” His trembling voice was lighter than she anticipated. “Th-thank you for seeing me. I know you are busy and I do not w-wish to burden you for too long with my humble presence.”
Humble, indeed. Smiling down on him, Cadance tapped her hoof twice on the arm of her seat. Ruby responded to the unspoken command quickly, levitating an elegant couch to rest before Cadance’s. “Please, rise and sit. Relax and be at peace. You are no burden at all, I promise you.”
Rising back to his hooves, Dandy Lion spent a good bit of time looking between her, the offered couch, and Ruby. At last he allowed himself to sink down onto the cushions, though he sat upright and had his tail tucked around his flank. Only then did Cadance notice that his cutie mark was of a trio of seeding dandelions being blown by the wind. Metaphorical, perhaps?
“Tea?” Cadance poured herself another cup from the table at her side. She always preferred to make her own. Seeing his hesitance, she poured him a cup without waiting for a reply and deposited it on the arm of his couch. “You’re a long way from Fillydelphia, Mr. Lion.”
“J-just Dandy, if you please, Princess.”
My, but he was polite. Yet he spoke the words as if they were unfamiliar to him. He was fighting to maintain a certain behavior in front of royalty. It reminded her of Twilight’s farmer friend, Applejack; she used to worry that her manner of speaking wasn’t appropriate for ‘royal conversation.’ “Very well. Dandy. What brings you all the way to the Crystal Empire? I understand you are Equestrian, which is beyond my jurisdiction.”
“I…” Dandy froze, his eyes wide as he stared at nothing. She watched his Adam’s apple bob with his swallow. Amidst a sea of apparent anxiety, he found his voice again. “I-I believe you are the best suited to hear my petition, Your Majesty.”
No noble or elite would make the mistake of calling her ‘Majesty’. She stirred a sugar cube into her tea, the steam veiling her face and her growing curiosity. She offered him the cup of cubes. “Am I to take it that this is less a petition regarding matters of State and more to do with matters of Love?” She said it plainly to let him know the inquiry was honest.
Fumbling with the cup, he dropped three cubes into his tea. Not intentionally, if the way he cringed was any indication. “It’s a little of both?”
“I see.” She didn’t, but if Cadance learned anything from Celestia, it was to never reveal such things. What in the world could be a matter of both love and the state? “Do enlighten me.” She raised her cup to her lips.
“I’d like a marriage license.”
She paused, peering at him through the steam. The stallion couldn’t meet her eye, instead staring at his tea. His face had gone pale, but he said no more.
His manner brought a smile to her lips. So that’s what this was all about? Her cup landed silently on the table. “There are many ways to get a license for marriage, Dandy, few of which involve a princess. Why come to me?”
“B-because…” He sucked down a few quick, sharp breaths, then grabbed his tea and chugged it down.
Colts could have such romantic ideas when they wanted to. Dandy Lion wasn’t the first to come to her for romantic reasons, although they usually did it in the public court. Most ponies couldn’t have their wedding officiated by the Princess of Love herself, so getting her blessing was clearly the next-best option. She’d never had anypony request a marriage license, but there was a first time for everything. And whyever would she say no?
The priority now, however, was to prevent him fainting. “Breathe, Dandy. It will be okay.” She leaned closer, grinning to help put him at ease. “Might I ask who the lucky mare is?”
“It’s not.”
The words slipped through his breaths so fast she almost missed them. She cocked her head and maintained her encouraging smile. “I beg your pardon?”
He huffed, chest heaving, for some time. His eyes bugging out and his entire body shook as though he were facing down Nightmare Moon rather than the Princess of Love. Then, abruptly, he closed his mouth and held his breath. She watched, puzzled, as he held it for several seconds and his chest visibly lurched in an effort to suck in more air. “Mr. Lion?”
Abruptly, he opened his mouth and gulped in a single, long breath. As soon as he was done, he hurriedly said, “Not to a mare.”
No amount of training could keep the smile on Cadance’s face. She stared at Dandy, who seemed to be steadily getting smaller with every passing second of silence. By his distraught expression, he might as well have signed his death warrant.
She channeled her magic once more, seeking out the only emotion that mattered. It was like looking into a deep pool and reading the flow of the waters for the right current. The one she found was strong. Far stronger than it should be given the circumstances. Far stronger than she would have liked.
This is going to hurt both of us.
“Dandy. You know the laws of Equestria.”
He nodded slowly, unable to look her in the eye. “Y-yes ma’am. I mean Your Majesty. But Love is your jurisdiction, isn’t it? We thought maybe y-you could make an exception.”
An exception. If only it could be that simple. “The law exists for a reason. I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but I must reiterate it now: with a vastly wide margin of mare-to-stallion births in favor of mares, every stallion needs to be with a mare. If I made an exception for you, what is to stop others from coming forward?”
His ears wilted back. But then, hurriedly, he raised both hooves as if to stop her from speaking again. “Hear me out. Please. The law exists in Equestria, yes, but it never did in the Crystal Empire!”
Cadance paused her response, a curiosity worming its way into her mind. A curiosity… and a cruel, daring, unpleasant hope. This was such an obscure area of legality that everypony took it for granted. She’d never bothered to investigate such things after her coronation. “The Crystal Empire is still a territory of Equestria. At least until we are fully back on our hooves and can survive independently.” Few ever suggested that day would come with any seriousness.
He nodded excitedly, his eyes sparkling as a fresh smile formed on his lips. “True, but within the borders of the Empire the Empire’s social laws trump Equestria’s. For cultural reasons. And the law in Equestria doesn’t care where the marriage license comes from as long as it’s within Equestria and its territories!”
Cadance stared at him. She stared long and hard. She stared for so long, in fact, that he began to wither under her gaze once more. “Did… Did I make a mistake?”
Shaking herself, Cadance managed to get a smile out. The treacherous little hope was growing. “No, your interpretation is perfectly valid. If I granted a license to you here, the rest of Equestria would have to recognize it.”
His eyes lit like beacons. For all of two seconds. Then he shrank back, clearly seeing the doubt in her expression. “But you won’t do it?”
“I…” She closed her eyes and saw Celestia’s disappointed face. The hope faltered. “I don’t know. This is not something to decide on a whim.” Opening her eyes, she looked down upon him, once more testing the strength of his love. The current was just as strong this time as it had been before. There could be no questioning his conviction. “Tell me this, Dandy Lion: if I said no, what would you do?”
Dread roiled off him in waves, forcing her once again to shut down her passive empathy. She barely kept from cringing at the tears forming in his eyes. “I don’t know, Your Majesty. Y-you were our last hope.”
“Are,” she corrected, raising her hoof to stop him before he could jump any further into his conclusions. “Please, what is the name of this… stallion you love?”
By his flinch, he didn’t miss her stumble. “C-Catch Sear, Your Majesty. He runs a griffonese restaurant.”
She considered him for a time longer. “When are you scheduled to go back to Fillydelphia?”
“Tomorrow morning, Your Majesty.”
“Not anymore.” Cadance turned to Ruby. “See to it that Mr. Dandy Lion has a new ticket for the day after tomorrow, and that it and his hotel are reimbursed by the crown.” Her guard bowed and began writing on her clipboard.
Dandy Lion’s earns perked, his brow furrowing and his head cocking to the side. “I don’t understand.”
Cadance turned back to him to generate as warm a smile as possible under the circumstances. Her quickening pulse remained secure behind those lips. “As I said, this is not a decision to be made lightly. I must think on it for a while. Please return here tomorrow at sundown. I will give you my answer then.”
It was as if she’d already said “yes”. If his eyes got any wider they might burst, but it was the grin that nearly blinded. “Oh, thank you, Princess! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“I haven’t—”
“Thank you!”
“If you’d—”
His muzzle hit the floor. “Thank you!”
“Mr. Dandy—”
He rose and danced about with all the energy of a colt half his apparent age. Which wasn’t that old. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Sighing with a small smile, Cadance lit her horn and caught his hooves, planting them firmly to the reflective floor. This, at last, was enough to make him pause in his antics, if only to stare at his hooves as if having never seen them before. “Mr. Dandy Lion.”
His head snapped her way, his mouth opening, but he caught himself with a sheepish smile. “Y-yes, Your Majesty?”
“Before you get too excited—” Cadance quirked an eyebrow at Ruby’s snickering “—please remember that I have yet to make a decision. For your own sake, do not assume my wish to think on the matter means I am going to approve. I would hate for you to get your hopes up prematurely.” Or her own.
Dandy Lion’s ears folded back, but his smile didn’t go away entirely. “Princess, I honestly didn’t expect to get that much. This is the first thing even remotely close to a victory we’ve had on the matter, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to enjoy it.” A beat, then a blush. “B-but maybe I should have waited until I was back in the hotel?”
Chuckling, she released his hooves and stood. “That may be wise.”
Cadance smirked when she spotted Shining Armor standing by the dinner table. “So, how long this time?”
He looked up with a smile of his own, promptly pulling out her cushion from beneath the table. “Twenty-three minutes.” He waited for her to sit before going to his own side.
“Someday you’re going to surprise me and already be seated when I get here,” she quipped as Velvet Lace entered with today’s meal. “Hay, you might even eat without me. What a shock that would be.”
Turning his nose up with a mocking air of haughtiness, he replied, “Impossible. For a stallion to sit before his lady would be most unbecoming. Who do you think I am, Blueblood?”
“I think you’re silly, is what I think.”
With the evening ritual complete, they turned their attention to the food. Roasted beets in a red wine glaze with alfalfa and a sprinkling of onions and celery. A curious mix, but not one Cadance ever turned down. Shining related to her the basics of his day as they ate, but she only half-listened. Her eyes drifted to their maid, Velvet Lace. A pretty, young crystal pony. Orange with a long, black mane tied into a ponytail.
“Is something wrong, Princess?”
She’d been staring at the maid, who was scanning her uniform as if in search of some fault. “Oh, no. Sorry, Velvet. I was just thinking. Please don’t mind me.” Velvet smiled and nodded before pouring Cadance’s drink and leaving for the kitchen. Silence reigned in the dining room as Cadance poked absent-mindedly at her food.
“Y’know,” Shining said in a leading tone, “Ruby told me you had a very unusual request in the Sun Room today.”
Seeing his curious gaze, Cadance felt her stomach churn. “Did she tell you what the request was?”
He set his fork aside and sat up at his full height, indicating his intent to give her his undivided attention. “She only said I should hear it from you directly.”
She nodded, her gaze going to her glass of pink wine. She lifted it in her magic, rolled it in gentle, circular motions, sniffed its strawberry aroma. “Did you know Velvet was in a relationship with Oil A’Boil?”
“You told me last week. I believe it was their three-month anniversary.” Shining smiled fondly. He always did when she gushed about romance. Perhaps he presumed this would be more of the same. “You advised Oil on a good place to go for a romantic date. Said she was nervous.”
“She.” Her eyes met his. Searching. Wondering. Hesitant. “Both mares. What do you think of that?”
Shining shrugged. “It’s their business.” Then his lips curled in a wicked smile. “Unless you were planning a surprise for me.”
Rolling her eyes playfully, she sipped her wine and set it aside. “Stallions.” Then she paused, smile slipping away. It was several seconds before she spoke again, tasting the words for flavor and value before using them. “And it’s fine. If some mare propositioned you for an hour of fun, I wouldn’t bat an eyelash at the fact. How many times has it happened already?”
He shrugged again, noncommittally. “No idea. Twilight once joked I should be competing with Applejack’s brother. Supposedly he’s quite the specimen.”
“He certainly is.” Batting her eyes, Cadance rested her chin atop her steepled hooves. “But nothing compared to you, Love.”
He grinned, a peacock in his element. “You know how to make a stallion feel appreciated, though I think Twilight might disagree with you in that regard.” He chuckled and took a bite of his beet, though this did little to hinder his charm. After swallowing, he added, “She’s sampled his wares a time or two. As has half of Ponyville, supposedly.”
The smile dropped from Cadance once more. Her eyes fell to her own meal. She let the fork swirl the sauce around, rolling it over the celery before stabbing some. “How would you feel if a stallion did that?”
Shining went stiff as if he’d become the victim of a cockatrice’s stare. His brow gradually furrowed. His jaw clenched. “That’s… indecent.”
“Does it make your stomach churn?” She raised the celery into the air, watching as the sauce dripped lethargically over her beets. Like her hope dripping to the floor as a puddle of waste. “Does the idea of a stallion bedding a stallion disturb you?”
“Yes.” The answer came like the crack of a whip. “It’s not proper. It’s wrong.”
She took a bite of celery, not meeting his gaze.
“Cady, what’s this about?”
The mix of flavors, normally heavenly, was like dirt to her tongue. She would have gotten similar results licking the floor. After swallowing, she pushed the plate back and heaved another long sigh. “But if Velvet and Oil get together, you have no complaints. You might even want to join in.” She watched as he continued to stare at her with eyes that spoke of uncertainty. “Today, I had a stallion request a marriage license so that he could be with another stallion.”
Shining’s ears perked. He shifted in place, not once looking away. “And you said no, of course.”
“I said I’d think about it.”
“I… see.” It was his turn to play with his food. The mixture of guilt and frustration in his expression made clear he was aware of his unintended faux pas. The silence returned, heavier than before, as if the weight of the sun had fallen upon them. After a time, Cadance pulled her plate back to herself and resumed eating, but slowly. Her movements were by rote, her gaze a thousand miles away. This lasted for an untold time, but long enough for Velvet to return to check on them. She didn’t stay long, scurrying away without her usual, lovely smile.
Abruptly, Shining broke the quiet between them. “I think I get it.” Her glance revealed not revulsion, but curiosity. “You’re the Princess of Love. You can’t help but want to spread it. Right?”
Pursing her lips, she replied, “I never liked that manner of describing it. Makes it sound… indiscriminate. That’s Friendship, Twilight’s domain. Nor is love the free favors performed by every stallion across Equestria. Love, at least the kind I represent, is far more… personal. Which isn’t quite accurate either, but I’m sure you know what I mean.”
He nodded as the tip of his hoof ran rings around the edge of his wine glass. There remained a tension in his motions, as if he did them through effort alone. “Romance, then. You celebrate it in all its forms, and for good reason. You can’t help being you, Cady. So when somepony suggests the potential for a stallion to be with a stallion, no matter how much it might seem revolting to you, you also want to encourage it.”
Cadance cocked her head at this. “But it’s not revolting to me.”
Wine spilled across the table. Shining did nothing to clean the mess, instead choosing to gap at her. “It isn’t?”
She shook her head. Slowly, with meaning. “What disturbs me, what makes my skin crawl and my stomach twist into knots, is the fact it disturbs everypony else. As you said, I’m the Princess of Love. I can’t be repulsed by it if its real. What Dandy Lion feels for Catch Sear is as real as it comes.”
“I… But you…” Shining glanced at the growing pool of wine. Grabbing some napkins, he busied himself with cleaning it. Then some more. He attacked the mess with a vigor, his eyes never straying from the task, a soldier standing guard against the coming assault. Cadance watched him with shoulders slumped and eyelids heavy. He worked until there was no more wine on the table, then kept working, as if he might rub a hole in the crystal itself.
The slow grind of reality brought his motions to an end. He lingered for a moment, and his eyes hinted at careful thought. His face went through a circle of emotions; frustration, uncertainty, surprise, concern. It settled upon acceptance. When he next spoke, it was in a quiet voice. “Cadance, you know I’ll support you in anything you choose. But there’s a reason stallion-on-stallion relationships are taboo. Last I checked, the ratio was almost seven-to-one. Every stallion needs to be… productive. Every stallion.”
And so it had begun. Cadance had no need to think on her responses. “That they are together doesn’t mean they won’t be ‘productive’, Shining.” She gestured to him. “You yourself service plenty of mares outside of our marriage. There’s nothing to say Dandy Lion and his intended won’t do the same.”
His frown deepened as he carefully deposited his ruined napkins to the corner of the table. He looked to the door to the kitchen, which remained steadfastly closed. No help would be coming, not for a while. His eyes shifted to the summoning bell near his plate, a potential call for reinforcements. After a moment, he sighed and brought his attention back to Cadance; it seemed he would do this solo. “I suppose that’s true. But if you open this door, you’ll make it possible for anypony to come over and demand it.”
“And how often is that going to happen?” With her chin atop a hoof, she copied his earlier motion of running the tip of the other hoof along her wine glass. “It can’t be too many who are like them. I don’t really see a risk.”
“I do.” He said the words firmly enough to draw her eye. “But let’s say you’re right. There’s still Celestia and Luna. They won’t take it well.”
The big guns, was it? Cadance scowled and sat to her full height. She speared a piece of beet with a vicious thrust of her fork. “I am a princess as much as they are. I can make my own declarations without their input.”
“You’ll cause a scandal.”
Her hoof slammed against the table. “Then it will be my scandal! I don’t need them holding my hoof like I’m some baby pegasus taking her first jump off the cloud. I will not make my decision just because they would or wouldn’t like it.”
Shining watched as she took a vicious bite of the beet. He remained a mountain before the wind, unbowing to her aggression. “You aren’t saying this just to prove yourself independent of them, are you?”
“Of course not!” She paused, set her fork down, then wiped her lips with a napkin and swallowed. Her hoof trembled as it rose to her chest. The wind left her with the hoof’s slow extension, and by the time she’d exhaled to her fullest the shaking had ceased. Resuming her collected stature, she tried again. “No. I honestly want to do this.”
His face twitched into only the faintest touch of a frown, gone as fast as it came. “Then why didn’t you give him the license then and there?”
“Because,” she whispered, “I knew you would try and talk me out of it. As much as I believe it is the right thing to do, society at large will disagree. I… I have to be sure I’m not the one in the wrong here.” She turned her gaze to the chandelier above, staring beyond its glittering surfaces. “If I can’t convince you, how will I convince Celestia? And I haven’t convinced you.”
He shifted from side to side, the sound of his shuffling cushion inordinately loud in the large dining room. Like the cry of a foal in the looming night. Or perhaps a young princess against a staring, judging world.
“You’re right,” Shining said, his words a knife through the stillness. “You haven’t convinced me. I don’t believe it’s the right thing to do.”
Cadance said nothing to this. She merely continued her study of the ceiling. Yet her frown grew, and her eyes misted over.
He tapped his hoof on the table, the sharp clacking drawing her eyes. “That being said, you are the Princess of Love. That means you are the final word. You define what is right and wrong in the world of romance. We both know it’s not a black and white topic. The rest of the world doesn’t have to agree with you. Not me, not Twilight or Luna, not even Celestia. We might not approve of the decision, but we’d have no choice but to abide by it.”
“But is that right?” she asked, wings fidgeting as she covered her lips with a fetlock. It was a pitiful shield against her qualms. “Can I just tell everyone ‘this is how it’s going to be’? I might as well don a red cape and have green smoke coming out of my eyes.”
“That sounds kinda sexy.”
“Stallions.” The subdued laughter thinned the atmosphere, allowing her breaths to come a little easier.
Shining’s grin flashed sparkling teeth, but only for a second. “Celestia and Luna make decrees all the time. This is no different. They have their areas, the things they are masters of, and they can change them at will. Nopony thinks twice about it, but that’s because they’ve been doing it for so long they’ve learned how to make an order seem like a suggestion, or manipulate things so that it feels like it was society’s idea all along.”
Tapping her chin, Cadance stewed over his words. Options sifted around behind her eyes. “I was thinking about making some declaration, but it would lead to a lot of trouble for all involved. Maybe you’re right. Maybe if I just permitted the license quietly and didn’t make a big deal out of it. A first step.”
He nodded. “You have to tell the others though. If you try to make this change without informing them, they’ll work to stop it and have no idea they’re undermining you.”
“Worse, they might think I’m the one undermining them.” The tapping shifted to her chewing on the tip of her hoof. “How am I going to convince them? I might be the Princess of Love, but that doesn’t mean they won’t fight me on this.”
The quiet swooped back in, bringing with it the unsettling atmosphere. It gave a ghostly impression of staring eyes and judging frowns, of whispered disdain and open revulsion. Cadance folded her forelegs to her chest and bowed her head against this phantom wave of negativity.
Shining Armor’s hoofsteps echoed amidst the silent clamor, pushing it back with mere presence. He settled at her side and wrapped a leg about her withers. “Cadance, do you believe Celestia, Luna, and Twilight respect you?”
She glanced his way out the corner of her eye, not answering immediately. “Sometimes I think the public views me as the ‘lesser’ princess, even compared to Twilight.”
“I didn’t ask about the public,” he reminded, voice soft as satin. “I asked about your peers.”
Pursed lips. Furrowed brow. Lowered ears. Contemplation radiated from Cadance. “I believe so, yes.”
Shining nodded. “Then they can’t fight you on this, because it isn’t their jurisdiction. They might argue the point, try to convince you, but when push comes to shove, they’ll back down.”
Hooftips didn’t taste very good. “Do you really think so?”
“If they respect you as a princess, then yes, I do.” He smiled and nuzzled her cheek. “And I’ll be behind you every step of the way.”
“Even if you don’t approve of what I’m doing?”
“Especially then.” Somehow, he managed to make this sound even more firm than when he’d first denounced the topic. “If you really believe in this path, then I’ll follow.” Squirming and averting his eyes, he added, “As long as you don’t try to get me to try it.”
She giggled as the weight of her expectations began to lift at last. “Are you saying you wouldn’t like to see me between you and another stallion?”
“With your tastes? I’m more concerned I’d be the one in the middle.” A wave of green washed over him at this notion. It was enough to bring out full, bubbling laugh from her.
And with that laugh, the pall shattered. Cadance pulled her husband close and planted the faintest little kiss on his lips. “Thank you, Shining. I think I know what I’m going to do now. You really are the best.”
“Anything for you, Cady.” He chuckled and added, “Well, almost anything.”
The excited energy Dandy Lion had displayed the day before had disappeared. Upon entering the Sun Room he was sober and jumpy once more, like a mouse slipping past a slumbering cat. He settled into a bow before Cadance and said not a word.
She looked down upon him, a Princess by every measure. The room was empty save for the two of them and Ruby, who today was as stoic as one might expect from a Royal Guard. The air was seeped in anxiety, uncertainty, and a lingering dread.
“Dandy Lion. I have reviewed your request, as well as its costs and benefits to society as a whole, and have come to a conclusion. Before I pronounce it, is there any more you would like to say on the matter?”
The young stallion licked his lips. His eyes darted between the princess and the guard like a honey bee unable to select the proper flower. His jaw shifted, suggesting a desire to speak, but eventually he shook his head. “I-I’m ready to hear your decision, Your Majesty.”
“Highness.”
He blinked. “I’m sorry?”
Princess Cadance remained impassive, a teacher lecturing a student. “For your future knowledge, Mr. Lion. Princesses are always referred to as ‘Your Highness’. If I were to be addressed as ‘Your Majesty’, I would be a queen or empress.”
Dandy Lion flinched and lowered his head. It seemed less intended as a bow and more a result of an incredible weight falling upon his shoulders. “My apologies, Your Highness.”
The imperial frown departed Cadance’s features. In its place was a warm smile. “It is quite alright, Dandy. I just thought you should know for when Princess Twilight Sparkle decides to speak to you, as I know she will. She can be finicky with details.”
The stallion blinked, then gradually raised his head. “Princess Twilight Sparkle wants to see me?” His face grew a little paler as she approached. “A-are you punishing me?”
Cadance chuckled as she leaned down to place a hoof on his shoulder. “No, Dandy. It is because when she learns what I have done, she will want to research the matter very thoroughly. Ruby?”
“Your Highness.” Ruby stepped forward and proffered something small in her magenta aura.
Cadance accepted it with a flourish of her magic and levitated it before Dandy Lion’s gaping face. “It is my decision to grant you your license, Mr. Lion. Please give my congratulations to Mr. Catch Sear.”
He didn’t so much sit as fall to his haunches. Quaking forehooves reached up to take the certificate as though it might disintegrate if he wasn’t gentle enough. His breaths came with the slow rhythm of ocean waves crashing against a shore. “Is this real?”
“It is very real.” With a hoof beneath his chin, she raised his face up so to look in his eyes. “But I grant this on a condition.”
As though it were a newborn foal, Dandy clutched the certificate to his chest. “A-anything. Name it!”
She smiled for him, soothing and patient. “I need you to keep this quiet for now. I have sent a message to the other Princesses alerting them to my actions, and I am sure they will want to discuss it soon. Until the politics of it all is smoothed over, it would be best if you didn’t invite the world to cast judgement upon you. For your own peace.”
Rivers formed down his cheeks as he nodded. “I understand. Oh, thank you, Princess. Thank you so much. I… I honestly didn’t think…”
“It’s okay. For a moment I wasn’t sure either.” Settling back, Cadance nodded to the door. “Don’t let me keep you. You’ve got a train to catch, and a fiancé to surprise.”
“Yes. Yes!” He turned to leave, paused. Then, in a lunge, he embraced her around the barrel with enough force to squeeze the air out of her. “Thank you!” She raised a hoof, forestalling Ruby’s advance even as she gasped. By the time the oxygen was flowing through her lungs once more, Dandy Lion was gone, his galloping hoofsteps echoing in the hallway beyond.
The guard was at Cadance’s side. “Are you alright, Your Highness?”
“I’m fine, Ruby,” she croaked. Another deep breath got her voice back to full strength. “Mr. Lion was just excited, that’s all.” She grinned at the door as it closed, her wings fluttering as she sat up tall. “And I for him.”
“Of course.”
The words had the faint touch of one not daring to overstep her bounds. Cadance looked to Ruby. “Is there something you wish to say?”
Ruby grew very interested in her clipboard. She fidgeted under Cadance’s stare, which continued to bore into her long after the quiet had settled upon the darkening Sun Room. At last she spoke. “I do not mean to question Her Highness’s will, but… are you sure this is the right decision?”
Cadance studied the mare, rubbing her chin with her fetlock as she did. Her gaze gradually shifted to the windows, through which she could see the fading sun beyond the protective dome of the Crystal City. It was an unusually calm day beyond its warm safety, the distant snow glistening in the last rays of the day. “Does it disturb you?”
Ruby shook her head, paused, nodded. “It feels like you’ve gone down a road upon which there is no turning back, Princess. I fear for what will come.”
At that moment, a white flame erupted before Cadance. From within its brilliant depths emerged a scroll. She caught it in her magic with ease, instantly recognizing the sun seal upon it. “You are probably right. But I feel it is the right road. For me. For Equestria. I do not think I shall regret it.”
She broke the seal and opened the scroll. It seemed the Sun Room would once again be a place of cultural significance. And this time, all of Equestria would know it.