My Knight in Shining Armor
Author's Note
And it begins! Today's one-shot is Rescue Shipping-focused (Shining Armor/Lily). Yeah, I'm not even going to try with portmanteaus.
Hope you like it! Especially you, Jetto!
My Knight in Shining Armor
“Hey-O!” Greeted a young Pegasus stallion strutting into a library. He was of average height, had cyan fur and spiky navy blue hair. He wore a slightly oversized unzipped blue hoodie over a white shirt and blue jeans with gray running shoes. His handsome face had a cocky smirk on it as he went to greet the stallion behind the desk.
“What is it, Soarin?” The other stallion, a Unicorn, asked. Unlike his more casually dressed friend, this other male was more formal. He wore a white dress shirt with a pair of black formal pants and black polished shoes. His blond hair was neat and groomed, unlike the more wild style of his friend.
“Well, Blueballs,” Soarin said, deliberately messing up the other’s name to rile him up. “I was gonna ask if you and Shining were free right now, but since you’re being mean and all to me, I might just leave.”
“OK, First,” the other stallion said, not amused with Soarin’s jokes. “My name is Blueblood; Second: I haven’t seen Shining all morning, he’s probably training; Third: No, I’m not; and Fourth: Don’t you have a job that you should be doing?”
“Surprisingly, Chase and I didn’t get any customers all morning," Soarin replied. "So we decided to call it an early day. Then, I figured: “Hey, why don’t I round up the guys, and we can all do something fun?””
“In case you forgot,” Blueblood said, “The last time we decided to do that, you got us banned from the bowling alley, and we had to spend the night in the county jail.”
“Hey!” Soarin defended. “How was I supposed to know she was the owner’s wife? I was drunk off my ass! And he threw the first punch, we were attacking in self-defense!”
“That doesn’t excuse you teabagging his unconscious body.”
Soarin stopped to consider his next words. When he figured out what to say, he began to speak again.
“I reiterate: Drunk off of my ass.”
“I’m amazed you know what “reiterate” means.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” Blue said, annoyed. “You’re mind is so corrupted by sex and alcohol, it’s a wonder that there’s a coherent thought in there.” He looked at the clock: 1:00 PM. Shining was due back hours ago. Where the Hell was he?
Meanwhile, in the downtown area of Ponyville (which was just the marketplace, some of the lesser nice-looking houses and a bar), the stallion in question was currently carrying bags full of various items for a blonde, pink Earth Pony mare in a purple sundress who seemed to be awfully nervous. The former was tall and well-built with bright blue hair and white fur, wearing a gray shirt with black sweatpants, which were somewhat dirty and a dark blue jacket.
“AgainthankyousomuchfordoingthisShiningArmorIdon’tknowhowIwouldvegottenhomewithallofthesebagsbymyself,” she said, her words flying out a mile a minute. Lily cursed inwardly at her inability to talk to him like a normal pony. He just had this weird effect on her that she couldn’t (or, to be more accurate, refused to) put her finger on.
“It’s no problem, Lily,” he assured. “Though I do wonder just how much of a coincidence it is that she was just leaving her house right when I was coming back from the Everfree,” he thought to himself. As much as he hated the forest whose creatures nearly killed him and his friends, it was a pretty quiet and peaceful place to do his morning routine.
On his way back, he bumped into Lily, who needed to go to the marketplace to stock up on supplies, but her list was huge. Shining, being the helpful young man he was, offered to assist her figuring that with his help, she’d be done quicker, and he’d be able to get home without hearing Blue read him the Riot Act.
Unfortunately, Lily’s list was much bigger than he thought, and his arms and horn were currently begging for him to let go of these accursed bags, and rest.
“Justonemorestopandweredone!” Lily announced in her usual squeaky motor-mouth voice that reminded Shining of Spike when he first tried coffee, but I’m getting off topic.
The stop in question was, ironically enough, a flower stand full of violets, petunias, roses, daffodils, you name it.
“Hello,” said the stand’s owner, a tall, strong-looking Earth Pony stallion. “What can I do you for you… Oh, Lily, is that you?”
“Hello, Cardinal,” the much shorter mare said quietly, apparently familiar with this stallion. Shining Armor wondered what their relation was. Family? Co-Workers? Exes? “I didn’t know you were working here today, and…” She trailed off, slightly intimidated by the much stronger-looking pony, who was enjoying seeing her squirm. Shining noticed this and frowned.
“Hey,” he said, walking towards the scared mare. “What’s wrong, Lily? Is this guy bothering you?”
“Nonotatallitsjustthat-”
“What’s it to you?” The other stallion interrupted, glaring at the Unicorn.
“You’re making my friend uncomfortable,” Shining said, glaring back. “I don’t know what the reason between your tension is, but if you keep upsetting her, you’re gonna deal with me, got it?” He had spent the last few hours shopping, carrying Solaris-knew-how-many heavy bags, was exhausted, was not a fan of bullies, and none of the gang was here to stop him from doing anything reckless. Not a very good combination.
“Is that so?” Cardinal sneered. He turned to Lily. “Get what you want, and get lost. Your little boyfriend sounds angry.”
Shining was about to let go of the bags he was carrying and show Cardinal just how angry he really was, when Lily gave him a pleading look that said “It’s OK, really, things will be fine.” The stallion nodded reluctantly, showing he understood, albeit not fully.
Lily picked out a few random flowers, then went to Cardinal to pay.
“That’ll come out to 20 bits,” Cardinal said with a smug smirk.
"20?!” Shining thought to himself, clenching his fists, nearly losing his concentration on the bags he was holding in the air.
“Oh, really,” said Lily, slightly confused and sad. “I could’ve sworn it came out to-”
“Prices went up a couple days ago,” Cardinal explained, still keeping that mean look on his face that Shining wanted to punch off. “Haven’t had the time to change the labels.”
"How convenient," Shining thought dryly. "Lily,” he said. “If you’re a little short, I can spot you...”
“Ohno,” The blonde assured her secret crush. As grateful as she was, she didn’t want to seem like a moocher. And Daisy did say thatb guys didn't like it when the girl constantly relied on them for money. “Icanpayforit.” She checked her wallet, only to find herself short a few bits.
“What’s takin’ so long,” Cardinal said impatiently. “Don’t have the money? Big surprise, there.”
“Hey, man,” Shining scowled. “I’m getting sick of your crap. What’s your damage, anyway? Does picking on an innocent girl make you feel like a man?”
“No, but really, who cares about this little bitch? Look at her! Shy, scared of her own shadow, always has someone fight her battles...” He trailed off seeing that Shining had dropped the bags he was carrying and cracked his knuckles. Shining was trained to be a Royal Guard, and was also among six of the most powerful people on the planet. While he was a nice guy and preferred to avoid violence, he was not a pushover.
Just ask Princess Luna, if you don’t believe me.
“Boyspleaseletsnotfight,” Lily pleaded. Shining ultimately backed down, but still kept an eye on Cardinal. “Ididn’treallyneedtheseflowersanywaysoIlljustputthemback.” As she tried to do so, Cardinal “accidently” stuck his foot out, causing her to trip and crush the flowers from under her.
“Tsk, tsk,” Cardinal shook his head in mock disappointment. “Man, Lil’, you’re so clumsy. You do know that broken merchandise costs double, and you have to pay for it, right?”
Lily sighed while Shining looked ready to punch out Tirek himself.
“ButIcan’taffordthat…” Lily said, slightly pleading that Cardinal would drop this and leave them alone.
“Well, how are you gonna pay for your little accident, then?” Cardinal said smugly.
SLAM!
That was the sound of Shining putting down some bits on the counter, giving Cardinal the “Say-one-word-and-I’ll-kick-your-ass-so-hard-you’re-kids-will-be-feeling-sore look”. For once, Cardinal shut up and took the money.
“That should be more than enough,” the white stallion grunted. “Keep the change.” He turned to the mare, and spoke more gently. “Come on, Lil’, let’s go home.” The two left without another word.
As the stallion and mare walked along to her house, taking a shortcut through the lake, which was surprisingly empty of life, besides the two ponies. Lily couldn’t help but feel sad. She let Cardinal pick on her and poor Shining Armor wasted all that money. Those flowers were supposed to be a “thank you” present for helping her out, but now she didn’t even have that. How could a day that seemed so promising turn out so badly? How? Shining noticed her sad face, and stopped walking, as did she.
“Lily, is something wrong?” He asked. He was surprised when she jumped into his chest and began crying, both silently grateful that they weren’t in public.
“I-I’m so sorry!” She cried, getting his shirt damp with her tears. “Well, I needed to clean this thing, anyway.” Shining thought to himself.
“Why are you sorry?” He gently asked. He had a good idea why, but wanted to be sure.
“I-I kept-t y-you all m-morning,” she said stuttering do to her tears. “I-I made you carr-ry all my s-stuff an-and I-I embarrassed you a-and m-made you spend a l-lot of mon-ney prob-bably, be-because I’m such a klutz and a c-coward.”
“Hey,” the blunette said comfortingly. “Don’t worry ‘bout it. It wasn’t your fault you tripped, and it you are not a coward. He’s just a jerk and bully who likes to make people feel as small as he is. ”
Lily blushed. His words were so soft and caring, not like Cardinal’s harsh and mean ones. She felt so safe and comforted in his arms. She smiled into his chest slightly. She wanted to say something, but couldn’t bring herself to.
Eventually, she pulled back from his chest and showed her smile.
“You have a nice smile,” he said, causing Lily to blush even more. “And don’t worry about the money, I’ve got plenty of funds back home.” This wasn’t a complete lie. He may have been suspended from Guard duties, but Princess Celestia gave him and Blueblood a weekly stipend to help get the two off their feet and in addition, Shining received compensation for being Blueblood’s guard, again from Celestia. Though, that was pretty much all of his spending money for the week, but she didn’t need to know that.
“If anything,” he said, “I should apologize to you. I kept getting in that guy’s face, even though you wanted to keep things civil.”
“No!” She suddenly said. “You were trying to stick up for me, there isn’t anything wrong with that.”
“I know,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. “It’s just, people say I can be a bit of a hothead, and can go a bit overboard with keeping people from getting hurt.”
“Well, they’re stupid!” Shouted Lily. “You’re just trying to do your job, there’s nothing wrong with that! Who cares if you’re get a little excited? You’re a nice pony, and you mean well; shouldn’t that mean anything?”
Shining smiled. There were very few people who said that something like that. Very few. He knew that it wasn’t as simple as Lily made it, but he was grateful that someone seemed appreciative.
“Thanks,” he said, giving her a quick hug, which she enjoyed.
The two began walking again, once more in silence, but this silence was less awkward and more of a comfortable one, if they needed to. They didn’t need to say anything, they were just happy in each other’s company.
Eventually, the two made their way to the house she shared with Daisy and Rose. Her friends were waiting at the door for her, taking her bags in with help from Shining. He didn’t seem to notice Rose and Lily putting something in his jacket, which he left hanging on a chair.
“Um, Shining Armor?” Lily asked as he was about to leave. Rose and Daisy pretended to leave the room, sneaking behind the kitchen door.
“Yeah?” He asked.
“About earlier…”
“Hey, I already said not to worry about the money,” he reassured. Rose and Daisy looked at each other in confusion.
“But, I feel like I should do something for you.” Daisy snickered at the unintentional innuendo, and was hushed by Rose with a glare.
“Don’t sweat it,” he assured. “I’ll be fine.” As he was about to walk through the door, he felt a sudden pressure on his left cheek. He moved his eyes to that direction to see Lily giving him a small peck.
“Thank you,” she said with a small smile, blushing madly.
“You’re welcome,” he said with a small blush of his own. He waved goodbye and left for home.
Lily walked like a zombie to the couch and plopped herself there with a dumb smile on her face. Rose and Daisy sat on either side of her, trying to bring her back to the world of the living.
Back at the Golden Oaks Library, Shining Armor found all five of his friends in the living room, talking when they noticed that their unofficial leader had walked in.
“Hey!” He greeted.
“He lives!” Cried Doc.
“Where have you been?” Blue asked, annoyed at his best friend’s lateness. “I’ve been stuck with these ding-dongs all day!” The other four stallions frowned at the insult, but ignored any urge to insult back.
“Sorry, man,” Shining said. “Something came up.”
“I’ll say!” Said Soarin with his trademark grin, pointing at the lipstick on Shining’s cheek. “Shiny here seemed to be a bit busy, if you know what I mean. So, who was it, bro? Fluttershy? Rainbow Dash?”
“Soarin,” said Shining, slightly annoyed.
“Cherilee? Ditsy? Rain Drops?” Soarin continued, not paying attention. At the mention of his roommate, Doctor scowled for some reason that he couldn’t understand.
“Soarin,” said a now more agitated Shining Armor.
“Berry Punch? Golden Harvest? Sasshaflash? Rarity?”
“Soarin!” Shining yelled. This got the ex-Wonderbolt’s attention. “I was with Lily-”
“Lily?” Thunderlane asked. “That shy girl that works at the flower shop?”
“Yeah. You know her?”
“We’ve talked a few times while she was working and I needed a “Please Forgive Me” present for Blossom; well, I did most of the talking.”
“So how good was she?” Soarin asked.
“Hey, I was just helping her out with a problem she was having... Soarin get that smirk off your face, before I punch it off.” Shining finished his explanation with the same glare he gave Cardinal earlier and it was just as effective.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Doc adjusted his tie and spoke up. “Well, now that the gang’s all here, let’s head off. It’s Friday, we’ve all had a long week and I think I speak for all of us when I say that we’ve earned the right to drink our problems away for the night.”
“Eeyup,” nodded Mac.
“Wait, guys, I’m broke.” said Shining.
“What do you mean?” Asked Thunderlane. “It’s your turn to pay.”
Shining sighed and told the gang the events from earlier this afternoon.
“Man, what a douche,” said Soarin. “Tell ya what, Shiny: I’ll pay this week, and you cover for me when it’s my turn next time.”
“Won’t need to,” said Mac, pointing to something in Shining’s jacket, which was revealed t be an envelope full of bits.
“Lily,” Shining thought. “Thanks. I promise I'll make it up to you." He then saw a little note that said “You’re Welcome” signed by Lily and smiled.
“OK, boys, let me get changed and we’ll head out!”
The five cheered as Shining went upstairs, dropping the note for Blue to grab.
"Hey guys," Shining called from up in his room, "This won't turn out like the bowling alley, right?"
"I WAS DRUNK. OFF. OF. MY. ASS!" Soarin yelled, causing the others excpte Blue to laugh, as he laughed at something else: Lily's note.
“What’s so funny?” Asked Mac. "Is the concept of saying "Thank You" so foreign, you think it's a joke or somethin'?
“No, look at the P.S.,” the Magic Element Bearer snorted, showing it to the gang.
P.S.: If you want to repay her, take her out to dinner some time.
- Rose.
