Aborted Romance

Prince Shining Armor walked through the gallery, looking at painting after painting after painting after painting; drawing after drawing after drawing after drawing. Holy Celestia, these events are boring! he thought to himself. One still life picture looked much like another. Bowls of fruit, and occasionally flowers. Why do artists keep repeating those same themes over and over and over again?

But this one was different. A bowl of spaghetti!

He paused in front of the painting, and saw another patron of the art gallery also inspecting it with interest. A tall woman with a shock of orange–yellow hair, dressed in a military uniform.

“You like this one too?” she asked, turning to face him after they’d both been standing there for a few minutes.

“Yes… it’s so… different,” he replied. “So unlike the usual bowls of fruit.”

“I know the artist. He’s a colleague in my unit, and a personal friend. Soaring Skies, but prefers to go by the name of Soarin’.”

“You’re in the military then?” Shining Armor asked, before burying his face in his hands.

The woman turned to him and grinned. She adjusted her flight hat and looked down at her smartly buttoned uniform. “What gave that away, Sherlock?”

“Sorry…” Shining Armour responded, daring to look out from between his fingers.

“It’s no problem. People often get nervous around me and say silly things. I don’t know what it is… the uniform, my height, my severe personality…”

“Your good looks,” Shining Armor added to the list.

The woman blushed. She held out her hand. “Spitfire’s the name.”

“Shining Armor,” said Shining Armor, taking her hand and shaking it warmly.

“Oh… the Shining Armor?” Spitfire asked. “Prince Shining Armor?”

Shining Armor nodded.

“I’m… I was sorry to hear about your wife.”

Shining Armor’s face drooped. “It… it was a long time ago now.”

Spitfire straightened up. “I’m… I… I shouldn’t have brought it up.” She tried to change the topic. “So are you here in some sort of official capacity?” she asked.

“Yes, I have to go to a lot of these things.”