A Knight In Shining Armor

It was time.  One month had finally passed, and over the last few days, Shining Amor had been keeping himself very secretive and reclusive from Cadence, though he still made it abundantly clear that he loved her dearly.  Princess Cadence had seen Shining Armor walk into a store two days ago, and upon seeing her after exiting the store, Shining Armor took off in a run and escaped from her.  Every time she saw him she wanted to question him about his secrecy, but something inside of her just told her to leave it alone, and that the answers would come soon enough.

Eventually, the clock struck 11:00 at night, and Princess Cadence began to prepare herself.  She showered, combed her mane, and snuck quietly out of the castle.  As she walked down the dirt path, she thought about how lonely it felt without Shining Armor at her side.  Sure, she had walked down it plenty of times alone to come meet him, but each time it just felt alien without him there.  Princess Cadence looked up as an owl flew over her head, and continued to observe the full moon as she walked on; as Shining Armor had promised, the moon was nearing the midnight point at which it would be highest in the sky.

Only a few minutes later, Princess Cadence found herself at the base of the hill.  Taking a nervous breath, she ascended the hill not knowing exactly what she would find.  To her surprise though, once she had arrived at the very top of the hill, she found that their spot was empty.  She looked all around the peach tree and the surrounding grass, but she found nothing and nopony.  Trusting Shining Armor completely, Princess Cadence walked forward and laid down on her stomach underneath the tree.  She waited for a minute or two and began to hoof slowly, if not sadly, with a frown on her face.  But then, she felt something touch her shoulder gently.  She yanked her head up, and saw none other than Shining Armor standing above her.

“I was hiding behind the tree, just thinking,” Shining Armor said as Princess Cadence stood and the two held each other tightly.

“Thinking about what?” Princess Cadence looked up into his eyes, wanting an answer as to why he had wanted her to come that night.

“About what to say,” Shining Armor replied as he backed away from Princess Cadence.

“What to say about wha…” Princess Cadence tried to ask, but she was cut off as Shining Armor dropped to all four of his knees and proposed marriage to her.

“Princess Cadence, Cadence, will you make me the happiest stallion in Equestria and do me the honor of marrying me?”  Just as he said this, he used his magic and pulled a small black box from the branches above.  He opened the box to reveal the most beautiful golden horn ring that Princess Cadence had ever seen; she could tell right then and there that it must have cost Shining Armor a fortune.

The joyful tears fell freely from Cadence’s eyes as she met Shining Armor’s eyes.  Without a second of hesitation, Princess Cadence nodded her head and said through a choked voice “Yes…yes, I will!”  Shining Armor smiled as he stood completely up and using his magic placed the ring easily over Princess Cadence’s horn, so that she could test its size.  Before he could even close the box, Princess Cadence lurched herself into him and cried softly as she embraced him.  “I love you so much,” she said, again through a choked voice.

“I love you too,” Shining Armor replied as he rubbed Princess Cadence’s back softly and tried to comfort her.

Eventually though, Princess Cadence backed away from Shining Armor and allowed him to gently grab the ring and place it back into the box which he had dropped.  Princess Cadence could only stare at Shining Armor with love in her eyes now.  “Why did you run from me?” she asked him.

Shining Armor looked down in embarrassment and then levitated the ring back to her as he said “I’d been stopping at jewelry stores all over Canterlot to see if I could find anything better, but I couldn’t.  I ran so you’d be more focused on me and not notice the store even if you passed by it.”  Shining Armor smiled down at Princess Cadence who only looked at the little black box in disbelief that all of this was really happening.  “I wanted to ask you sooner,” Shining Armor continued to explain his delicately executed plan, “but, no matter how bad I wanted it, I never had the time.  I also wanted to get the best I could for you, and it took me awhile to save up because I knew I wanted this one,” Shining Armor said without a bit of concern for the money he had spent, “but it’s worth it all to me just because you said yes,” Shining Armor finished his explanation by kissing Princess Cadence softly on the lips.

“I… I don’t know what to say,” Princess Cadence was truly at a loss for words.  She kissed him back and said, “I don’t want anything else in all of Equestria, just to be your wife.  I love you, Shining Armor, I love you so much.”  Shining Armor smiled at Princess Cadence, and as thanks for what he had just been told, dried her eyes softly with his hoof.

“Don’t cry,” Shining Armor chided softly to the sniffling Princess Cadence, “you know, eyes like those don’t deserve to have tears in them?” he asked her playfully yet considerately as he remembered the words he had spoken to her the last time she had cried.

Princess Cadence smiled, laughed a little, and dried her own eyes with the top of her foreleg.  “You…you tell me that all the time,” Princess Cadence said as she looked at Shining Armor, still in disbelief at what had just happened.

Shining Armor smiled softly to her and said, “I know.”  Out of things to discuss, and without a question to be asked, Shining Armor held out his hoof to Princess Cadence and asked “Stay with me?”

An easy smile on her face, Princess Cadence took his hoof and quietly said, “‘Till death do I part.”  And with that, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor laid down underneath the tree, just so they could see the graceful moon in the sky.  As usual, Princess Cadence laid her head softly down on Shining Armor’s back.  Though not but a few minutes later, she changed her position and laid down beside him, they crossed hooves this time, and it was Shining Armor who laid his head down on her head, an easy smile to himself.  He knew he had just gotten the mare of his dreams, and she knew she had just gotten the stallion of her dreams.

Not but thirty minutes later, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor fell asleep in that very field on that very night, wrapped tightly around each other.  The little black box, which was the very key to the couple’s future sat in between their two bodies, touching them, like a unbreakable bond.