We Have All the Time in the World

A short story, by Canon Fodder (Formerly known as Thunder Buck)

Love. It’s the subconscious motivator for most songs ever written. It adds the color to our spoken word and emotional scenery. Without it, our world would be similar to the Giver’s: grey, monotonous, and utterly stoic. People fight because of love, they fight for love, and they talk on behalf of love. They do this, knowingly or not, but they do it for love.

source

It had been a world of adventure for the little filly today. They went to the park, had a picnic, rolled around the grass and sang songs, just like they had done many times before. But it never did bore the enthusiastic Twilight Sparkle. Spending time with her favorite foalsitter was one of her favorite things to do. Besides reading, of course. Nevertheless, when the young pony didn't have her head in the books, she was so full of life, fascinated with the world around her. It gave her a chance to really be a foal. Not that she wasn't a foal, but not every little pony she knew was into reading as much as she was. No where near, in fact. But she didn't care, because although she never had other ponies for friends, Twilight knew she could count on her big brother and of course the best foalsitter of all foalsitters, Princess Cadence.

The Princess was always happy to see the filly, especially when they planned to go to the park. Foalsitting was her one escape from her expectations as a member of royalty. It didn't earn a lot, but she valued the times with her little companion much, much more. On the other hoof, when it wasn't royalty, it was school. Her graduating year hadn't been all it was spruced up to be.

Everypony for the entire year had been talking about where they'd be going after high school. Where their lives would end up. Cadence wasn't the one for all that. In a way, she was sort of like Twilight. She wasn't glued to textbooks the way she was, but it was mid-June and her exams were quickly approaching, so the young Princess knew the importance of studying. With so much on her mind, foalsitting Twilight had become the only silver-lining in her life.

The door to Twilight's bedroom opened gently, with a slumbering purple filly hanging limply from Cadence's back, her head resting on the Princess's ravishing multicolored mane. It was funny how time had flown. It seemed like just seconds ago they were chasing each other around the house. Now, there she was, being put to bed by her foalsitter as if nothing exciting had gone on all night.

As she lifted the covers with her teeth, Cadence used her magic to smoothly lift the exhausted Twilight into her bed. Then she wrapped a magical aura around the two loose corners of the blankets and flew them over the shoulders of the cute filly clinging onto her smarty-pants doll. A doll that definitely seen better days. Following a goodnight kiss, the foalsitter blew out the candle on Twilight's nightstand and quietly headed to the door. When she finally made it out into the hallway and left the door ajar, Cadence let out her own lengthy yawn.

"Oh my, what a day. I'm beat!" she whispered to herself, descending from the staircase of Twilight's household.

She stepped from the bottom stair and gazed around the empty family room, there was nothing left to do except. "Study!" Cadence groaned.

The young mare walked through the empty living room and crossed the hall into the dining room where her Math and English books lay, her notebooks and papers spread all over the table. Despite being a Friday night, her Math exam was on Monday and there was no way she was finishing her review. If it wasn't bad enough, her English exam was later that day. Although she had never had a problem with it, English was just a subject that came naturally to her. It was Math that gave her a dull mood. The graphs, circles, parabolas, domain and range, algebra, and so on. It never made any sense to the teenage filly, it only looked like numbers and letters thrown together with squiggles and lines that showed her no meaning. But there it was. "Which has the smallest vertical stretch factor compared to y=x^2? (a) -5/2(y-1)=(x+1)^2 (b) -2/3(y-1)=(x+2)^2 (c) 2(y-1)=(x+1)^2 (d) 3(y-1)=(x+1)^2"

She repeated the question to herself and plopped down in the dining room chair with a disgusted frown. "Really don't wanna do this..."

But despite her mood towards the numbers, she used her horn to wield her quill. After performing the workings on her scrap paper, she concluded her answer to be 'd'. She circled the option and made sure to compare her answers with the ones in the back. To her relief, she was right. If only she could bring her book into the test. But Cadence knew looking in the back of the book would not be a luxury to relax herself inside a supervised exam, where a stunt like that could get her a zero. During the exam, she would simply have to answer the question and wait about a week before finding out if she was right or not. Math was easily her worse class, her marks were reversed in her English, however.

After only a mere minute into her math studies, Cadence found herself already glancing at her English novel, "Lord of the Parasprites", a compelling tale of adventure where a class of colts are stranded on a desolate island. It was her favorite next to "Celsius 232", a dramatic story of one stallion trying to understand his civilization that burned books to mediate their society. She bit her fetlock, wishing she could pick up one of the two right now and dive into its fantasy. But the Princess was passing English with flying colors, where as Math seemed to be laughing at her.

She couldn't help it. Just the same, it was a lost cause. With an exam in three days, she still had to cover advanced trigonometry and her unit on the circles. Six months of course material in three days was no easy task, so her novels would simply have to wait. But just as she was beginning to delve into her work, the front door swung open and walking in from a long night of drills was Shining Armor, looking just as tired as Cadence was.

Just noticing that her mane was still everywhere, Cadence quickly trotted into the living room and grabbed her scrunchy off the coffee table. Then as Shining undressed himself from his uniform, the Princess fixed her mane back into a ponytail and walked around the corner to greet her friend. "Hey!"

The stallion jumped at her welcoming. Normally he would've expected it but he wasn't expecting anything other than a hot cup of tea. "Oh hey, Cadence." He returned, scratching the back of his head. "You're still up? I figured you'd be asleep on the couch like you usually are."

The Princess giggled and shook her head. "Not this time. Exams start on Monday and I want to have a good head start on studying."

"You're beginning to sound like Twilly more and more." He chuckled walking pass her. Armor entered the kitchen and found that the kettle was still hot. "Did you have this on?"

Cadence called from the dining room. "Yeah, I made Twilight some cocoa but she fell asleep before it cooled so I drank it!"

"Good enough!" Shining replied happily. "Saves me the trouble of boiling the water."

When he left the kitchen levitating his tea, he turned in to the dining room and noticed his friend stressing over her Mathematics. With an amused smile, Shining pulled up a chair next to her and began studying what she was studying. "Hmmm let's see...A...D...C...C...D...B..."

"Quit it!" Cadence laughed, playfully hitting the stallion. "Where's your folks, anyway?"

Shining sipped his cup then laid it on the table. "Mom and Dad decided to stop into their friend's for a bit so they'll be along shortly. Feel free to stick around for a bit. After all, we don't have much time before I leave on Sunday."

With that being said, Shining Armor threw his hoof over Cadence's shoulder and pulled her into the one-hoof hug which she accepted. "It's not like I won't be sleeping-in tomorrow anyway, so I don't see why not. Was drill fun?" She asked with a humored grin.

Shining sighed and leaned back in the chair, placing his hindhooves on the dining table and held the tea in his hoof. "Oh yeah, I'm still feeling giddy over the 50 laps we had to do around the track." He mused sarcastically. "How about your Math? You looked like you were about to flip this entire table a moment ago."

"You may want to hold on to that thought just yet." The Princess groaned, utterly annoyed with the topic. "I've been studying all week and I've only just barely covered half the course. I don't know how I'll be able to memorize it all."

"Doesn't look that hard."

Cadence snapped her head around and shot the stallion a pestered glare. "Oh yeah? You've been out of high school an entire year, I'd like to see you answer a few of these."

Her dare was simply met with a keen smirk from Shining. "Alright then...Check the back for those ones I just answered. I bet you any money that I got all six of them right."

"I will." She smiled back wittily. Cadence scavenged the back pages of her Math book and searched for her work page. She smacked her hoof on the text when she found it. "OK, got it! What did you say, A, D, C, C, D, B? ...A...D...C...C...D...and B! How did you?"

Shining burst out laughing and almost fell from his fixed position on the chair. The perplexed Princess sighed, but inevitably broke into laughter as well. She hit him again. "Lucky guess."

"Lucky nothing!" he assured. "I'm just better at Math than you."

Cadence rolled her eyes and scoffed at him. "Well you may be right, there. But if I recall a year back, I was the one that saved your flank when the English finals came around."

His first impulse was to snap back with a witty response but Shining knew that she was right, unlike Cadence and Math, his problem was her advantage. English was one subject that the colt just couldn't grasp. The books, he found humdrum. The terms, in one ear and out the other. And his skills with the quill wasn't all that fluent neither. It was simply his drawback, and he certainly was thankful. Having her assistance helped him pass the written aptitude test for the Royal Guard. With all that in mind, he let out a very small nose laugh. "Touché. English is stupid anyways. I mean, why are we still trying to understand Shakesmare? Nopony can understand it."

"Oh you mean...Thou sayeth my words boggle thy mind?" Cadence mused with a cocky grin.

"I understand that much." Shining muttered with the roll of his eyes. "But I'm sure you can't tell me this...OK, here's a simple one. y = log x. So if y = 10, what is x?"

The Princess knew she had to know this. Logarithms was the first unit she covered. She only finished covering it not too long ago. But she was drawing blanks, and she looked at her friend with a pitiful and dumbfounded look on her face. Cadence couldn't remember, and her exam was on Monday! She couldn't believe how she had let that unit slip through her mind.

Armor was finding her position hilarious. He held his hoof to his mouth, trying to barricade the laughter that he held in. He down right knew she wasn't going to get it without looking in her book, so he answered it for her. "Answer's 10 to the power of 10."

"I'll be lucky to even pass this exam." She complained, letting her head fall on the table.

Shining Armor patted her back and chuckled. "I'm sure you'll do fine, Cadence. Just remember that Math isn't an informative subject, it's more practical. You can't just memorize the formulas, you need to work them out, do examples. Some ponies say practice makes perfect? Not in this case. Practice can only make better. Nopony is perfect at Math, not even me."

"I suppose you're right." She said, coming up with a sigh. "But it's already 11 o'clock and I just don't feel like doing this right now. So I think I'll leave it for tomorrow."

The stallion took another gulp of his tea and nodded. "Good idea. I don't care who you are, Math is something you can't do late at night...Well unless you're nocturnal or something."

"So how long are you leaving for anyways?" Cadence asked suddenly, more or less trying to change the subject of conversation.

"I'll only be gone for a year." He answered plainly, then he straightened up in his seat again and shot a funny look at the Princess. "Why, you gonna miss me?"

Cadence scoffed at him, laughing. "Oh yeah, I'll miss you. But I don't think it's a good idea to leave with only half your wit. I hear those drill sergeants can be pretty tough on ponies like you."

At first he broke into a short chuckle but then he slowly turned his head towards her, smirking at the shot she'd given him. "Did you just call me a half-wit, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?"

Again, the Princess hit him in on the shoulder, this smack being harder than the previous two. "Don't call me that!" she exclaimed. "You know I hate that name."

"I remember the first time you told me that." He laughed.

The irritated Cadence rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you sure felt good spreading it all throughout middle school."

"I couldn't help myself, colts will be colts after all...But I eventually grew up."

That, she had to laugh at. "Oh yeah right! You were the same all the way up to your graduation. But it looks like this Royal Guard business is beginning to straighten you out a bit. What're you going to be doing at that camp anyway?"

Shining took a moment to think about that. He never did ask anypony about it, he didn't think it was very different other than being away from home. It was a question that he could only shrug at. "Not sure. Besides the extended hours of training and preset meals, I don't think it'll be all that different. But that doesn't mean I won't enjoy it! A few of us from Canterlot are going to be there so I won't be among strangers. We'll get to pick on our new drill sergeants, then I hear the camp has an entire recreational facility we can go to, and every Friday, me and a couple of the guys will be riding into Dodge to hang out at the local saloons. It won't be all blood, sweat and tears. Most stallions have the time of their lives at camp. It gives them a chance to just be themselves, you know? Get away from the city life."

The thought of these ideas made Armor excited. He was going to have the full experience of a member of the Royal Guard, and work with the best. But to Cadence, she really knew he was only excited about the bonuses that came with the work. She may not have been able to read his mind but she knew most colts were all the same. But just when it seemed like she had him pin-pointed, she noticed the stallion suddenly having a somber look in his eyes. "Anything wrong?" She asked in a worried tone.

The question caught him by surprise and at first he didn't know what to say. But then he gave her a reassuring smile. "No, no, I'm fine. Just something on my mind. The only downside I guess, is that I won't be home until the Hearth's Warming holidays. Even then, I'm only home for about a week. Then I'm gone for another six months. It's gonna be hard on the family for the first month or so. Especially for Twilight. She's not used to me being away longer than a couple days. I'll miss being around her."

Cadence sympathized. It must be scary to know you won't be home with your friends and family for a whole year, especially when you'll be staying in some desolate military compound, way out West. With a tender smile, the Princess wrapped her hooves around him and just held onto him for several seconds. When she finally let go, she still clung onto his shoulders. "She's not the only one, you know. All jokes aside, Shining Armor. You're my best friend and I really will miss you."

Her words illuminated Shining's spirits. Cadence meant a lot to him. Even though their friendship didn't really take off until she began foalsitting Twilight, she'd always been there, right through foalhood. Yes, they did have their disagreements now and again, but they could always find the best in each other. It was something the two valued most about their friendship, that they could always count on one another, and put trust in each other no matter what was on their mind. She was indeed, Shining Armor's confidant, his best friend.

But knowing that he was going to be gone in the next couple days, Shining was beginning to notice something different. A feeling that had been quite seldom, but the thought had wandered his mind throughout his teenage years. It was something that made him feel happy, yet scared him to no end. He supposed that's why he didn't pay much attention to the issue at first. It was only simple to repress it then, but now, it was becoming stronger. Again and again, he told himself 'no', while his heart told him 'yes'. It was an argument that had no right or wrong answer. Simply, it was about what the best answer was. But to Shining Armor, that was the most complicated answer to find. He never had to deal with this. So why did it have to come up now?

Unable to ignore the elephant in the room any longer, Shining abruptly stood from his seat and headed for the stairs, leaving the Princess with a puzzled frown about her face. "Shining?"

She received no answer. The suddenly mopey stallion continued his way up the stairs and disappeared from sight. With obvious concern, Cadence closed all of her books then put them in her saddlebag before walking off to find out where Shining Armor had escaped to.

Her first instinct was his bedroom but when she got to the top of the staircase and trotted past, he wasn't in there. Twilight's door had not been tampered with so there was no reason to check her room. The only other reasonable place he could have been was the balcony. So Cadence continued down to the end of the upstairs hall where she eventually found the sliding glass door, half open.

She peeked out the opening and discovered Armor overlooking the brightly-lit city of Canterlot on his haunches, his forehooves folded on the railing. The moon was casting its blue aura across Equestria which Shining Armor always found beautiful. She decided to walk out on the veranda and find out if he was alright, although being sure to shut the door so no draft would wake Twilight. Being careful not to be too hasty, the Princess gently placed a hoof on his shoulder. "Are you OK? Why'd you walk away like that? Was it something I said?"

"Sorry for doing that." He sighed. "I'm fine, honestly."

Just like a boy, too proud to talk about their feelings was what Cadence thought. She knew something was up. At first she was contempt with leaving the issue well enough alone, but then she had the strangest feeling in her. She didn't know what it was, but it made want to know what was up. "You sure? It was so sudden. I mean you've never just gotten up from a conversation like that before."

Shining Armor decided to glance back and give her another clarifying smile that he was sound. "I'm positive, Cadence."

"Oh okay." She said simply. "Is it alright if I just sit with you then?"

He nodded, staring back up at the enticing moon. The Princess pulled up to his left and sat down, sharing his view of the night sky. For minutes they just sat there, taking in the solace of the night. Every few moments, however, Cadence would shift her eyes over at Shining's face. It wasn't like him to be so quiet, and she could see it in his eyes, a sparkle that she had seen before but never acknowledged. There was something about it now that poked at her curiosity. "Is there something else you're thinking about other than the trip? You're not quite yourself."

That statement was able to bring a small smile to the stallions lips. "Is it that obvious?"

"Kinda." Cadence replied.

There was something he wanted to say right there and then but instead he forced himself to choke on the words and just continue to blow off the problem. So he simply disregarded it. "Just something I gotta figure out on my own. Don't worry about it."

"Well how could I not?" She defended, laughing at his notable stubborness. It wasn't like the Princess to jump in on another pony's personal business, but this was her best friend. She just had to pry on it. "You can talk to me about it."

"I don't think I can."

"Are you really sure?" She pushed on.

He turned his head slightly, but only opened his mouth part way before changing his mind to remain silent. Shining replied to the query with a subtle shake of his head. It was clear to Cadence that it wasn't homesickness, or it could've been. She didn't know. "Can you at least tell me what the problem is about?"

Armor knew she wasn't going to give in. But she didn't deserve the cold shoulder. She was only trying to help, so she at least deserved to know what it was about. "It's about you." He muttered quietly, but loud enough to make his words audible.

Princess Cadence didn't know his full problem, but she understood his reasons for holding back. There were some problems only a single pony could answer. She put her hoof atop his shoulder again, hoping he would consider opening his mind to her. Unlike her first touch to the shoulder, this one wasn't asking 'what's the matter'. This time it was saying 'I'm here for you'. That turned out to be enough for Shining Armor. That, or it was just simply eating him inside-out and if he didn't come clean, he was going to regret letting it go too late. With a heavy, conclusive sigh, Shining Armor turned his whole body to face the Princess and looked at her with the up most sincerity. "I love you, Cadence..."

There it was, the hardest four words that he had ever said to another pony. As the years went by, the weight of his feeling grew. It grew to empower his mind, becoming an unavoidable daily thought. Now it was out, finally off his chest. But all it seemed to do was leave the Princess shocked. Flattered, but shocked. Knowing that surely wasn't enough, the stallion had to further explain. He stood up and began slowly pacing the veranda, shifting his sights back and forth between watching his steps and gazing up at the stars. "Yes, it's true. Don't get me wrong, Cadence, I have treasured our friendship for years. I still do, but I can't help but face the facts that falling in love was just something I couldn't control. You've just been there for me, through everything. I've felt this way about for the last five years, but it never became a frequent issue until I heard I was going away to Fort Connemara. Since then, I couldn't stand the thought of you dating another stallion while I was gone, with me feeling this way about you."

"You- You really feel that way?" Cadence asked, blushing, and feeling an unexplainable thump in her chest.

"I do." He nodded, slowly making his way to face Cadence. "I can't deny it. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin a good friendship, but if I didn't tell you this, I just don't know what I would've done. You're kind, smart, intellectual, beautiful and funny. I can't imagine living without you beside me, cheering me on, because you always have. Like Twilight, you're the most important pony in my life, and I couldn't get this far without your support. It took me a while to figure out that I don't just want to be around you...I wanna be with you."

She stared into his eyes, wanting to say that she was happy to hear that, but couldn't. Cadence did care for Shining Armor, but did she care enough to really love him? She asked herself this again and again but couldn't find her answer. To his regret, the Princess turned away from him and let her head and ears sink. "Shining, I'm really glad you finally opened up, but...I don't know. I just can't see us dating after everything."

With a confident smile, he took a hold of Cadence's hoof and held it in between them. "I know it may seem difficult to understand at first, but it can make sense in the future. We'll never know unless we take the chance."

He waited for an answer, but the look on her face made him realize that she was having second thoughts. It was something that Cadence just couldn't grasp. Then it was like she didn't even know him anymore. The same stallion that looked at her like a sister, now looked at her like a lover, and she turned away from him, giving Shining the cold shoulder. "I- I- I can't, Shining. I can't say yes. It wouldn't be right. I mean, I got a lot going on right now. A relationship with anypony just wouldn't work out. I'm a Princess, the future heir to the Crystal Empire. I'll be going to university in the fall, I foalsit other ponies. There's just simply no time for dating."

"You mean there's nothing I can say that'll make you reconsider?" He asked, hopelessness and a tremble clinging to his voice.

She wanted to say yes, she wanted to comfort him, she wanted to ensure his happiness, she even tried to look at him, but her inner worries were conflicting with her feelings. With great regret, she shook her head. "No, Shining. Plus, you'll be gone for entire year! Who knows, I might have feeling for somepony else by then. The last thing I want to do is hurt you and bringing our relationship any further than friends could put us at a liability. You understand, don't you?"

He understood, he understood his whole world was beginning to crumble. After five long years, everything he's thought about saying to her, now simply brushed away without any rational thought. It ripped at his heart and Shining Armor just felt like tossing himself off the balcony. But something inside him made him want to fight back. He couldn't just let all this go, because even though Cadence was staring off into the sky, Shining Armor could still see it in her eyes. She was hiding something, and the stallion wasn't about to give up so easily. His smile had disappeared, transitioned to a much more serious expression that wanted answers. "I understand...I understand I wait five years to open up and just like that, you can't even consider it. You can't even tell me the truth."

Cadence was caught off guard to hear a response like that. Feeling completely insulted, the mare turned back around and slapped Shining across the face, snapping his neck to the side as she shot him a sickened glare. "How dare you! That was the truth!"

He knew raising his voice as well wouldn't amount to anything, he didn't even want to. Armor still cared about Cadence, but her suddenly defensive attitude was brought out on instinct, not thought. It was clear she was hiding something. He rubbed his hoof over his left cheek then stared back at her. "No it wasn't. It wasn't because you couldn't even look me in the eye. You couldn't, because you know I'd see right through you. Well I could see a lot more than that."

She wanted to prove him wrong, but knew he was right. Cadence couldn't look at him longer than three seconds before she was staring at the ground. It wasn't in her nature to lie. Especially to somepony like Shining Armor. She couldn't think of anything to say, she was speechless and confused with the entire scenario. Then she felt a hoof land on her shoulder, it was Shining's turn to offer comfort. He was smiling again despite the stinging in his face. "I'm not as stupid as I look, Cadence. You think I don't notice that look in your eyes? That sparkle? It's the same one that everypony has when they're in love. It's something we can't explain. It just happens. Some of us try to hide it, but more often than not, we only end up emphasizing its presence. We've all tried to look past it, and I've learned from my experience that you can't. It can't be done. There's just things in this world our minds have no control over, and love is one of them. I know this may be hard to take in, but we can't just use our minds to erase the feeling for another pony, we can't because our hearts won't let us. And we try to fight it, but in the end, our hearts always win. That's called the sparkle, and I see it in your eyes right now...So look me in the eye, and just try to tell me that you don't feel the same way I do."

Cadence glanced up for a moment to see the hoof on her shoulder, then she decided to follow it to Shining's warm smile, she was bewildered by his devotion to care for her, even after she'd just slapped him. But the question still stood, did she really have the same feelings for Shining? Cadence began fighting with her emotions, whether to be angry with herself, or be joyful. It all became too much for the young mare and her eyes began to swell with tears. Gripped between what was right and wrong, tears began to roll down her cheeks and fall to the ground like raindrops. She let her shoulders and head sink down, eventually falling against Shining Armor who allowed her to cry into him. But she tried, she struggled to pull herself together and reconcile with her emotions, and finally her feelings, by admitting the truth. "Shining, I do have feelings for you, and I don't know why. I never thought I'd develop these feelings. I just can't understand it, you're right. I have magic that brings a mare and colt together, but when my heart tries to do the same, it's like I have no say in the matter. I don't know why I have these feelings for you, but I do. Why is this happening now?"

"Because our hearts are trying to tell us something." He answered swiftly, holding her by the shoulders. "And if I'm right, then their telling us that we're meant to be together."

"But I'm afraid, Shining." She argued, falling into another sob.

Shining chuckled briefly before wiping the tears beneath her eyes. "What could possibly be scaring you?"

"I'm afraid of what'll happen to us if it don't work out." She murmured dismally. "You're different from every other pony in Canterlot. They're all out to follow in the hoofsteps of somepony, to be like their peers. You're not like that. You're unique, you follow your own dreams. You're a real friend and I don't want to risk losing you. I don't want to hurt you after ten years of friendship if we break up."

The stallion took his hooves and cupped them under Cadence's chin, her amethyst eyes meeting into Shining's. His still heartfelt smile comforting her. "You're never going to lose me, and don't you forget it. I did learn something from English class, you know. I learned that mistakes should always be remedied between friends, and especially lovers...I promise, I will never do anything to harm you. If anything, I'll use everything in my will to protect you. Also, what's there to say it won't work out? I love you, Cadence and nothing's going to change that."

"You- You really mean that?" She asked, breaking through her tears with a hopeful smile.

Shining brushed through her mane with his hoof and laughed. "I would've never remembered that quote from English if I didn't. What's that sparkle telling you now?"

The Princess smiled sheepishly and giggled, snorting away her tears. "It's telling me...that I love you as well."

Shining sighed happily, having feel a huge weight lift from his shoulders. "Does that mean I can be your coltfriend?"

With a deep breath, Cadence took Shining Armor's hoof in both of hers and looked back at him. "You'll have to let me think on it."

He respected her decision, and gave her an understanding nod. "Well alright. You take all the time you need, I just hope tha-"

But before he could even finish, he was surprised with a kiss from the Princess. The two wrapped their hooves around each other and embraced their affection. At last, their love had sparked a flame that was too intense to ignore, they did indeed love one another. All the years of pent up emotions had overflowed, pouring into their hearts with the power to take on the world as one couple. That's all they felt they needed. Nothing more, nothing less, only love.

When they separated their lips, they gazed into their eyes once more, noticing that the sparkle was showing them a new reality, a new vision that let them know everything was going to be alright as long as they had each other. Shining was the first to utter a word. "I love y-"

"Hello? Anypony home?"

But again, his words were cut short. But this time it wasn't Cadence, it was his parents returning home.

Back downstairs, Night Light and Twilight Velvet were just getting in from a long night of fun, and the sags under their eyes showed it. After putting away his jacket and hanging his fedora on the hat rack, Night Light strolled past the dining room and noticed Cadence's saddlebag still on the table. "Honey, how long was Shining Armor supposed to be at the castle tonight?"

Twilight Velvet called out from the porch as she hanged her coat in the closet. "I'm not sure...Oh his uniform is here though! He must be home. Why do you ask?"

"Because Cadence's bag is still here." He promptly answered, proceeding into the family room.

Velvet walked in and put a hoof to her cheek when she saw it. "Awe the poor dear must of forgotten it."

Night sat down in his recliner and yawned, then he reached down to the side to fetch a newspaper. "Don't worry about it, I'll drop it off on my way to the market tomorrow."

Shining's mother walked in the family room with the Princess's bag and laid it on the couch, then stared at her husband with an inquisitive brow raised. "It's going on to midnight, and your going to read that newspaper now?"

"Just the sports section." He chuckled, levitating his pair of eyeglasses from the coffee table. "Just wanna check what the score was in the Canterlot and Fillydelphia Flyers game. I've been so busy this week, I had to give our tickets away."

She shook her head, giggling at Night Light while she started clearing away some of the odds and ends laying around the house. "Well I might as well stay up too. Looks like Twilight left her presence known before she went to bed."

"That's foals for you, hun." He chuckled, flicking through the pages of the Canterlot Daily Column. "Oh horseapples...Canterlot was shutout, four to nothing."

Then from the corner of his eye, Night Light seen somepony climbing down from the stairs. When he took his eyes from his paper, he discovered it was Shining Armor, and to his surprise, Princess Cadence following from behind. "Son? Where were you two upstairs? Princess Cadence, me and my wife thought you had forgotten your bag."

"Hey, Pop." Shining greeted drowsily. "No, she was just about to leave but I told her to stick around for a bit until you guys got home, so we decided to go out on the veranda. Where's Mom?"

Twilight Velvet poked her head in from the hallway. "Did somepony say my name? Oh it's you, sweetie...Princess? Oh I thought you'd gone home. I left your bag on the sofa, there. How was Twilight this evening?"

"What? Oh she was just fine. I took her to the park for a bit, then we sort of made a mess of your living room. Sorry about that." She apologized, scratching the back of her head."

Shining's mother returned her gesture with a kindly smile. "Don't worry about it. As long as Twilight had fun."

"So Son, how was your night?" Night Light asked, folding the newspaper on his lap. "Did you ask the Captain what time you'll be leaving on Sunday?"

"Yup." He nodded. "The train leaves at one in the afternoon. But all of us gotta be there for roll call at eleven."

His father rose from his seat and walked over to the stairs, padding his son's shoulder as he passed. "I see. Well, I think I'll be calling it a night and head on to bed. Tell your mother I'm gone up, will ya?"

Shining nodded again with a parting smile. "Will do, Pop. I'm just gonna see Cadence to the road. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight, Son, and goodnight to you too, Cadence!" he called from atop the staircase.

"Goodnight, Mr. Light!" she replied.

With his father gone to bed, Shining carried the saddlebag and lead the Princess down the hall to the porch before placing it on her flank for her. "Thanks." She said gratefully.

"Shining, where are you going?" His mother called after him, coming into the porch, levitating a wet dinner plate and a dishtowel wiping it.

"Oh Mom!" he jumped, startled by her appearance. "I'm just gonna walk the Princess to the road. Dad said he's gone to bed. Don't worry, I'll be right back."

"Okay, sweetie." Velvet laid the plate and towel aside then walked up to kiss her son on the cheek. "I'll be gone to bed shortly, so when you come back in, be sure to lock the door and turn off all the lights, alright?"

Armor kissed her back. "Sure thing, Mom. Goodnight!"

"Night, hun."

After she put away the last dish, Twilight Velvet dropped the dishtowel in the clothes hamper on her way to the stairs, finally leaving the two teenagers alone to themselves once again. As Cadence waited, Shining opened the coat closet and rummaged around, aimlessly searching through the abundance of jackets and vests. "Did you have a coat?"

The Princess shook her head, unaware he was looking for one. "Oh, no I didn't. It wasn't cold this afternoon so I decided not to where one."

"Really?" He inquired, pulling on his uniform jacket. "It was freezing when I was walking home tonight."

Shining shut the closet then opened the door, offering Cadence to leave first. When they both had crossed the threshold, he closed the front door and started walking down the stone path in front of them. Side by side with his new marefriend, Shining threw her a happy smile which she returned with gratitude.

When they reached the end of the stone path, out on the sidewalk, Shining turned to her and started taking off his jacket. "What are you doing?" She asked, giggling.

"Cadence, I can see your breath out here." The stallion snapped back, laughing. "You're taking this coat and I won't be hearing otherwise."

With an amused smirk, the Princess mocked his corny hospitality. "Shining Armor, always the gentlecolt."

"Princess Cadence, always the stubborn one." He returned immediately. "Don't you believe in science? It always gets cold up here in the night."

Cadence rolled her eyes and sat down on the sidewalk. "Oh excuse me, I was too busy helping you pass English to pay attention in Geography. What did I tell you about that missing half of your wit?"

"Hey now, you just worry about studying that Math of yours." He replied, throwing the red, gold-collared coat over her shoulders.

Finally when the jokes were put aside and the jacket was draped over Cadence, Shining Armor sat in front of the Princess and took her hoof, wrapping his own around it. "I have to thank you. Not just for tonight, but for the best times we've ever had."

Cadence returned his remark with a compassionate smile then the two stared at their intertwined hooves, wanting to never let go. But they knew it really couldn't last forever. Looking back up at her, Shining used his other hoof to lift the Princess's chin again, then locked sights with his new-found love, feeling something inside his heart that, again, he just couldn't explain. But it felt wonderful, and fulfilling. "Cadence, I know you're going to be working really hard on your studying and everything, but, did you want to come with me and Twilight for a walk up the mountain tomorrow? I mean, if it's not too much trouble."

"No trouble at all." She beamed, answering almost instantly. But her sudden perky response was soon replaced by a troubled frown. "I just wish we had more time. Hearth's Warming isn't for another six months...I'm really going to miss you, Shining."

Her voice was beginning to quiver again, and Cadence threw her forehooves over him before she started crying again. Shining returned her embrace and held onto her, stroking her mane with his hoof. "Hey, I'll miss you too. But try not to worry about me, I'll be fine. After all it's only a year, and we're young...We have all the time in the world."

Cadence pulled from the hug and looked up at him, believing every single word he uttered. She knew he was never going to hurt her, and she promised herself the same. His sentiment soothed her heart and mended another stream of tears before they fell from her still damp cheeks. Shining Armor chuckled concisely as he wiped away a couple tears that managed to break through. "I'll write to you everyday, I swear by it. I'm not going to let anything come between us."

"Will you take me to the Hearth's Warming Eve Ball when you get back?" She asked him, staring into his starstruck eyes.

Shining was taken aback by the query at first, but then took her hoof in his own one more time and gave her an upbeat smile. "You bet. Will you wait for me?"

Then the young Princess took her other hoof and enfolded it around his remaining hoof. "I will." She whispered simply.

Finally Shining Armor had his chance to say it. There was no other pony or other entity to interrupt what he was about to say, because he wanted to make sure Cadence heard it with all of his compassion embedded in every word. He had said it earlier, but it wasn't said with the meaning he was about to put into it. He tightened the grip in his hooves then let his own single tear roll from his eye. A tear not of sadness or goodbyes, but a tear of joy and for the life-long memories they will share. He looked her straight in the eye and smiled happily. "I love you, Cadence."

"...I love you too, Shining." She repeated with a tear of her own.

Then with everything set in motion, Shining Armor leaned in and kissed Princess Cadence, tightly holding onto her one final time to support her, to let her know that he was never going to leave her side. Even though he was going to be on the other side of the kingdom, she would stick by him every step of the way, cheering him on and help him fulfill his dreams. Cadence too, felt safety in his embrace. She knew the meaning behind it, he was hers and she was his. They weren't going to let each other fall, and if it was inevitable, they'd fall together. Cadence never felt so secure, and happy. It only seemed like she put Twilight to bed not too long ago. In a mere hour, she had gone from talking with her best friend to sharing a kiss with her destined lover. It was going to be tough, but at least she still had one more day to spend with him and Twilight. The mare couldn't imagine her life without the two of them. But now, thankfully, Twilight wasn't the only silver-lining in her life anymore.

They decided to hold the kiss for as long as they could, because their love wanted them to. And some ponies say that love works in mysterious ways, but it's not all that a mystery. It was simply a product of fate. A fate, they had no control over because the connection was there from the start when their eyes first met, and they will grow up together. They will develop care and respect for each other, lifting the other when they succeed, or catching them if they should fail. As life goes on, these traits will transform into something much more powerful. A devotion to the other pony's life. A commitment of care he or she will give when the time is right. It is true love. It is a feeling that everypony will have in their lives. It may not appear right away, but it will appear, and when it does, they will know it.

So even though there will be times when these two ponies are apart, they won't ever have to worry. True love will eventually bring them together, no matter what the distance. Something as simple as a goodnight kiss may appear to only last seconds, but to the lovers it could seem like forever, so having time for love wasn't an issue and it never will...Because when it comes to love, Shining Armor and Princess Cadence will have all the time in the world.

The End