A Knight In Shining Armor

The dinner party had just ended when a soft, almost inaudible knock sounded at Princess Cadence’s door.  “Come in,” she gave her permission softly.

Champion poked his head inside, looking quite dashing with his uniform on and mane combed back.  He walked into her room and shut the door with a soft click.  Cadence didn’t really seem to be in the mood for talking tonight; she hadn’t talked through the whole dinner party and had been one of the first to leave.  Champion spoke up and said, “Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I’m really sorry about… what I did today,” Cadence only continued to look down at the colorful carpeting.  Champion cleared his deep throat and walked forward a few paces.  Cadence still continued to stare down at the carpet when Champion used his magical abilities to undo her ponytail bow and in the process said, “I don’t know what came over me, it was foolish though,” he placed her bow softly on the tabletop in front of her and continued “I just wanted to get you these though.  Just to say I’m sorry and tell you how much I love you.”  Cadence smiled weakly as a bouquet of freshly picked roses, daffodils, and lilies floated up beside her and nudged her gently on the cheek.

Continuing to float the flowers in midair, Champion walked forward and said “I really am sorry, you know?” with that, he approached the chair that Cadence was sitting in and planted a soft kiss on her neck.  Cadence felt empty though, sad.  She looked up in the mirror at herself, Champion kissing softly on her neck, and looked into her own eyes, searching for a hidden emotion.  Champion finished his kissing, and in a gentle tone said “I love you Cadence.  Now get some sleep, you’ve had a long day,” Cadence smiled up at him and kissed him back on the lips when he came in for it.

“I love you too,” she said quietly, using her magic to take the roses from Champion, give them a quick sniff and place them down softly on the tabletop.  Champion stood up on his great hind legs and gave Cadence a few easy rubs on her shoulder, placing a soft kiss in her mane as he did so.  He patted her shoulders once, then twice, and without a word dropped to all fours and walked silently out of Cadence’s room, closing the door back behind him.

After she heard the door’s soft click, she looked up at herself in the mirror, and as soon as her eyes met in the mirror, she broke down into a fit of quiet crying.  It wasn’t the first time that Champion had insulted or physically harmed Cadence.  No, in fact it was often a regular thing.  If Cadence dropped something, said something, refused to do something, or made Champion angry in anyway, he would slap her, kick her, throw her, and had even on one occasion choked her.  In the end though, he always came back to her and apologized quite sincerely for his actions.  Princess Cadence always forgave Champion too.  She told herself that Champion simply wanted to be in control of things, he had a condition, or of course, he did it for her own good.  Princess Cadence knew that Champion loved her, yes, but she thought he just had a strange way of expressing it; she even felt sorry for him at times.

But now she wasn’t thinking about any of that, she was thinking only of the pain and embarrassment that he had caused her.  Cadence crossed her forelegs on the tabletop, cradled her head in them, and continued to weep.  Eventually though, Cadence calmed herself with the thoughts of what she liked.  Thoughts of love, foal sitting, star gazing, they all calmed her mind.  Cadence’s eyes starting to dry, she looked up at the bouquet of flowers on her desk and smiled at them, their beauty doing some to comfort her.  She stood up and used one of her forelegs to wipe some of the tears from her eyes, and then using her magic, she pulled the lovely white rose from the bouquet and brought it up to her face as she went over to the window.  She sniffed it politely as she stared up at the night sky, and twirled it around gently.  As she stood there, she looked down and watched Champion exit the palace’s doors and head for the Royal Guard’s Barracks.  As she had once read in one of her favorite books, she wanted to toss the rose down to her lover, but for some reason she just couldn’t bring herself to do it.

To tell herself the truth, Cadence didn’t really know what that feeling was.  Was it fear, or was it something else?  She thought that if she threw it down and it landed at Champion’s hooves, he might think she was discarding the rose rather than making a romantic move.  On another hoof, she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to make any type of romantic move on Champion.  It was a strange feeling to her, the pony expert on love, baffled by this personal feeling.  Looking back down, she saw two of the guards salute champion and open the doors for him.  Cadence stood at the window just a little while longer and continued to ponder her thoughts as she took turns observing the night sky and the very much alive streets below, but after a small yawn escaped her mouth, she quietly closed the window and pulled the drapes closed, bathing the room in an easy darkness.  Cadence walked over to her bed and crawled into it, grasping the pillow and secretly imagining that it was the stallion of her dreams.  Which, as far as she knew, was Champion.

The next morning, Cadence was awoken by the smell of breakfast coming from the Royal Kitchen, the tiny amount of sunlight in the room, and by Champion’s voice as it boomed “AttenTUN!”  Princess Cadence crawled out of her bed and used her magic to drape her nightgown around her curvy body.  Using a magical spell that she had learned over the years, she combed her mane and put it into her usual ponytail, literally in the blink of an eye.  Then she walked over to the window that she had been standing at the previous night and pulled the curtains open.  Sure enough, she could see Champion walking sternly along a line of low ranking guards for early morning training.  She watched as Champion towered over the guards, got a breath’s distance away from their faces, and shouted in his commanding voice.

Princess Cadence knew that Champion was often harsh with his tactics in training, but she knew that was what gained him his position in the first place.  His goldencrusted shield cutie mark with spears over it practically screamed his talents as a commander.  Princess Cadence had a sort of realization when Champion reared up, threw a young, grey stallion to the ground and shouted at what must have been the top of his lungs at the poor guard.  “Is… Is that what he’s like to… me?” Cadence literally shook her head as she internally objected “No, Royal Commanders have to be stern,” she, and every other pony throughout all of Equestria knew that commanders of the Royal Guard and were the toughest and most stern stallions out there.

Then Champion looked up and saw Cadence standing in the window.  Princess Cadence put a beautiful smile on her face and waved down to Champion, who obviously noticed it, though it looked like he only rolled his eyes and went back down to “disciplining” his victim.  Cadence frowned and merely told herself that Champion didn’t see her smile.  She placed her robe neatly over the bed and walked out of her room to get breakfast.  As she walked down the stairs, her mood lightened at knowing she would get to foal sit Twilight again today, the thought itself lifted her frown.

After she finished her filling breakfast, Princess Cadence walked down the palace’s grand hallway and stopped to glance at herself in the mirror.  She always wanted to look professional for her clients, Twilight and the Sparkles especially.  Satisfied with her appearance, Princess Cadence walked out the front door and nodded her head politely as two of the Royal Guard bowed as she entered the courtyard and headed for the main gates.  From there on, she walked straight to Twilight’s home, and greeted her parents with a wide smile as she did each time she had to foal sit for them.  As soon as Twilight walked down the stairs, a sleepy look in her eyes and her little Smarty Pants doll in her mouth, she spotted Cadence, which alerted her senses instantly, and ran towards Cadence for a hug.  The two embraced and Cadence proceeded to help Twilight get ready for their usual day in the park.

As they headed for the door, of course they had to door their secret dance.  Giggling as they fell on their backs to the floor, Cadence stood first and then helped little Twilight Sparkle to her feet.  Heading back towards the door again, Twilight let out a small gasp and exclaimed “Wait!  I almost forgot something.”  Princess Cadence giggled quietly as Twilight ran over and grasped her little Smarty Pants ragdoll in her mouth and to the best of her mouth’s muffled abilities said, “Ready!”  Princess Cadence opened the door for Twilight and they set out on their way.  Twilight had placed Smarty Pants onto her back and had now struck up a conversation with Cadence who stopped to observe a couple who were sitting at a table and arguing.  Twilight frowned, never liking to see ponies argue, but then smiled when Princess Cadence lifted her head and sent a small pink heart flying towards the two.  It broke up into two separate pieces, and just like that, the couple stopped their arguing and began flattering each other.  Princess Cadence smiled and continued on, Twilight looking up at her in amazement.  It almost seemed impossible to the little filly that Princess Cadence could simply spread love like that.

Once they arrived at the park, it was bound to be a pleasant day.  Princess Cadence took a seat on a bench with Smarty Pants (she made a promise to Twilight that she would watch her) and watched joyfully, yet alert as Twilight crawled through the park’s play and slide structure.  After that though, Twilight crawled out of the structure and came back to Cadence, this time wanting to have a tea party with her and Smarty Pants.  Princess Cadence sat down on the red checkered blanket she always brought with her and Twilight, and patiently waited as Twilight filled her cup with imaginary tea.  Twilight then inquired more about life at the palace and asked a giggling Princess Cadence if she got to go to a lot of tea parties.

It was a pleasant time for the two, but then Champion showed up.  He was wearing a smug look on his face and lacked his golden helmet as she came forward and walked straight up to Cadence.  Little Twilight looked up once at him and shot directly underneath Cadence, wrapping one foreleg around Cadence’s taller foreleg as she pulled Smarty Pants close to her, obviously frightened by Champion’s imposing will and height.  Princess Cadence stared directly at Champion now and closed all of her legs tightly around and in front of Twilight.  “I see you’re foal sitting,” Champion said smugly, eyeing the purple ball that was hunched underneath Cadence.

  Princess Cadence nodded her head cynically and replied with a shake in her voice, “Y… yes dear.  Is… Is there something I can do for you while I’m out?”

  Champion continued to look down at the quivering purple ball as he asked mockingly, “What, a stallion can’t come say hello to his marefriend?”  Princess Cadence looked down, not wanting to start anything with Champion.  She couldn’t live with herself and didn’t quite know how she would react if Twilight was ever harmed around her.

“Come here little one,” Champion then commanded, using a slightly lighter tone, though it was obvious he was only trying and not meaning it.  The little purple ball then brought its head around Princess Cadence’s left foreleg and stared up shyly at the hulking black mass in front of her; every muscle in Cadence’s body was tense, every bone stiff.  “Shy, are you?”  It seemed like Champion was mocking Twilight more than asking her a simple question.  Twilight only looked down at the ground and hoofed the trimmed grass in silence.  Then Champion looked up and in a commanding voice said, “Cadence, move.”  Princess Cadence looked up in utter shock; she didn’t know what she should do.  Princess Cadence shut her legs around Twilight so tensely that they were in pain now.  Champion looked up and there was a tint of anger in his eyes now as he said, “You heard me Cadence.  I said move.  Now.”  Princess Cadence couldn’t take it anymore!  She refused to let Champion hurt Twilight in anyway, physically or verbally so she came out with her answer, a firm yet simple “No.”

  Champion’s eyes shot to Cadence’s as he asked “What did you just say to me?”  Princess Cadence looked away as fear choked her throat as she repeated “No, I said no.”

Then Champion reached down passed a quivering Cadence and cupped Twilight’s small head in his great hoof.  “So I presume you’re the Twilight Sparkle that Cadence tells me so much about…” Cadence shifted over to the right and moved Twilight with her, Twilight’s little chin coming out of Champion’s hoof as Cadence ordered “Don’t.  Touch. Her.”  Champion rose back to his full height and got dangerously close to Cadence as he towered over her.  He merely stared into her eyes and squinted.  Without a word, he backed away from her and whispered “I’ll deal with you later,” in the most menacing voice Cadence had ever heard him speak.  He looked back down at the purple ball that was still staring up at him and said “Farewell little one.  I trust you’ll always abide by Celestia’s law and will be a good little filly for me?”  Twilight only nodded her head and watched as Champion turned, his tail coming dangerously close to whipping Cadence across the muzzle and walked casually off as though nothing had been said.

Twilight continued to stare out from Cadence’s legs even after Champion had disappeared over the hills of the playground back towards the palace.  “Miss Cadence,” Twilight asked quietly, “who was that stallion?”

Cadence turned Twilight around with her foreleg and looked back towards her flank for assurance that Champion was gone and replied, “Nopony Twilight, he was nopony.  Just an old friend.”  Twilight only nodded her head, not clearly understanding what she had just been told.  Princess Cadence took herself and Twilight a considerable distance away from the park and into a very public Canterlot.  Though, if Cadence were doing it for protection or activity, she wasn’t quite sure herself.

Princess Cadence took Twilight to lunch and the two of them talked, Twilight wanting to know more about the large, mysterious stallion that had paid them a visit in the park.  It was clear that Princess Cadence was uncomfortable discussing it, especially with somepony as young as Twilight, but only satisfy Twilight’s thirst for knowledge, Princess Cadence either passed along the simplest of answers (most all of them were lies of course) or dropped completely from the question and gently told Twilight to eat her food.  Once Twilight was focused more on eating than making conversation, Cadence asked Twilight if she wanted to visit the Royal Library, one of Twilight’s all-time favorite locations.  Twilight eagerly nodded her head and raced to finish her small bowl of assorted fruits and vegetables.

Just before they set off for the library, Twilight wanted Cadence to do another of her love spells, but Cadence only giggled and told Twilight there was no need to use such a spell, nopony was arguing.  Then Cadence thought, “Yes, nopony’s arguing.”  It made her rather sad to think that most of these ponies were happy in their relationships, two ponies, mare and stallion, ready to take on the world together.  Princess Cadence loved Champion dearly, she just wasn’t sure if it was a real love she had for him.  She hadn’t often had the time to think about it, what with foalsitting Twilight and attending the many balls and feasts that came with being one of the Royal Family, but when she did have the chance to think about it, she wondered if her heart and mind agreed.  Cadence pondered this a little longer and checked Twilight’s small bowl to ensure that it was empty, and then led them to the library as promised.

Twilight ran to her favorite spot in the “History and Sciences” section once they arrived, and Cadence took a seat at one of the many solid oak tables so that she could relax in the cool library while keeping a watchful eye on Twilight.  Twilight was an astoundingly good reader for her young age, so Cadence knew she wouldn’t need to help Twilight with any of the words like she often had to with the select other colts and fillies she sat for, so she merely propped her forelegs up onto the table and used them as a pillow as she thought to herself.

She giggled here and there when she saw Twilight trot around with a stack of books twice her size, take a look at the cover and toss it back on the shelf in the correct place, but hidden under her gentle smile and beautiful stare, it was all but obvious that something was bothering her.  She literally shuddered when the words “I’ll deal with you later” echoed through her mind and seemed to come back to her ears.  She couldn’t lie to herself, she was afraid.  Princess Cadence knew that Champion would never do anything to hurt her bad. “Would he?” she thought.  Then Princess Cadence told herself that Champion was nothing more than a stressed stallion who, for the best interests of his mare, kept her in line.  Champion did take care of Cadence.  She remembered how once she had been threatened in the streets and just as she was about to be harmed, Champion rushed in and threw her attackers to the pavement.  Then she remembered the time when she had spent a day with Champion and her stomach grumbled the whole time because she hadn’t eaten in nearly 24 hours with all of her work, and Champion surprised her by bringing her back a very expensive pastry.

Princess Cadence glanced down as she saw Twilight pull a cushion up to the leg of Cadence’s chair and then place herself comfortably on it, her nose in a book as she did it all.  Princess Cadence watched an unknowing Twilight read, but was more focused on her thoughts than she was on the words in Twilight’s “History of Magic” book.  In the small time frames that Cadence allowed herself to think, it was almost like she accepted defeat.  She knew what she did was right, she knew she should have protected Twilight like she did.  But, she was certain now that it would cost her dearly, and she didn’t care.  She just wanted to see Champion and get her “punishment” over with.

Champion was swift and brutal in his attacks, but was careful to not leave a flaw or mark on Cadence that anypony was able to see without removing her coat, and all ponies knew that even touching a Princess’ coat could land them into some serious trouble.  His slaps were so swift and so precisely aimed that it was impossible for one of Cadence’s teeth to come loose, when she was down his kicks were so precisely aimed that they always landed on Cadence’s stomach and only knocked the breath out of her, and his magical powers were used so quickly yet harshly so that Cadence felt the pain and was not left with a crease in the fur around her neck.  Besides, there was little chance that anypony would challenge Champion because of his brute strength, stature, and position within the Royal Guard.

Not but an hour or so later, Cadence glanced back down to see that Twilight was fast asleep, laid comically out with a book over her muzzle.  Princess Cadence giggled softly, and using her magic gathered the books quietly and placed them in a neat stack atop the table.  She then got up just as quietly as she had sat down and pushed the chair back in and again using her magic, picked Twilight up and gently placed her snugly atop her back.  Coincidentally, it was almost time for the Sparkles to be home, which they were when Cadence arrived with Twilight now snoring quietly on her back, and they were gracious as always for the time Cadence spent with their little filly.  After a short conversation with the two, Princess Cadence wished them a pleasant night’s rest and walked out of their home.  As she walked slowly on, the moon her greatest source of light, Cadence wasn’t even capable of imagining the night that would lie ahead of her.