The Reluctant Protector

It was difficult to find Cadance. We got directions to one part of the palace, only to find that the princess had recently moved to a different part. One game of hide and seek later, we arrived at her suite. I cracked the door open a tad and peeked in. She was stood with her back to the door flanked by none other than Twilight Sparkle and Rarity, the barer of the element of generosity.

I cleared my throat as both myself and Lyra entered the room. Generosity noticed me and grimaced, then went back to adjusting Cadance’s dress. Twilight smiled amicably and approached us. “Hello, Artemis. Lyra.”

I nodded my head in greeting. “Twilight.”

“What are you doing here?” She asked. No maliciousness behind her words, just genuine curiosity.

“We came to meet my niece. The bride-to-be."

Rarity looked over in interest and Twilight looked between me and Cadance. “Of course. Wait, Cadance is Princess Celestia’s niece, and she’s getting married to my brother… Then technically… We’ll be related.” She said with wide eyes.

Lyra snickered. I blanched and my mouth turned into a thin line. “Welcome to the family, kiddo.” I walked further into the room and Generosity subtly changed her position around Cadance so that the princess was between us. “Nice to see you again.” I said a bit loudly, conveying that I knew what she was doing. She stopped her work on the dress and peeked around Cadance, her eyes not meeting mine.

“Er, yes. Likewise, dear.”

It was quiet for an awkward second or two until I cleared my throat. “And you must be Princess Cadance. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Cadance was short for an alicorn. Though, that’s to be expected as she only went through her ascension recently. That is, recently on an immortal’s timescale. Only slightly taller than Twilight, she was pink. Very pink. Though not element of laughter pink. This was more subdued, like a little girl’s bedroom wall. Her hair was a light purple with light gold streaks and her doe-like eyes shone in the light – tinted a rosy hue by the city-wide shield outside - that streamed through the window.

She was, by all accounts, a fairy-tale princess. I held out my hand to her, “I’m Artemis. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

She stared at me. And stared at me… And stared at me. Then just as I was about to pull my hand back, she placed her hand in mine and shook it, gently. “It’s Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.” She said in a factual tone. Despite the coldness of her delivery, her voice was like the ringing of silver bells.

Twilight huffed slightly and the smile went from my face. I tried to paste it back on, as much as my feelings on her comment would allow. “Er… Right…” More seconds of quiet... “Oh, this is Lyra Heartstrings. My student.”

Lyra stepped forward, her hands set demurely in front of her. “H-Hello.”

Cadance – sorry – Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, sneered down her slightly pointed snout at Lyra like she was a dead rat on the side of the street and nodded once. She looked back to me, “was there anything else?” She asked.

“Nope. Just came to wish you luck for your big day.” I smiled and looked her in the eyes. “Break a leg.” Then turned to leave.

Before I got to the door of the room, something tugged on my cloak. I turned to see Twilight looking up at me. “We...” She looked back at Cadance, then to me, her eyes resolute. “We need to talk.”

I looked back at Cadance too, to see that she was stood perfectly still with her back to us, as the element of generosity worked around her. I bent down to Twilight's ear. “Come to Celestia’s room in twenty minutes.” The purple unicorn nodded and walked back towards the princess.

“What do you think's going on?” Lyra asked as she leafed through a book, pulled from one of Celestia’s shelves.

“Nothing good,” I replied as I poured myself a cup of tea. “Sorry, did you want some?” I asked holding up the teapot.

She nodded with a smile. I poured and said, “Twilight thinks something’s wrong. Despite how I feel about the mare, she’s smart.” I carried the cup and saucer over to Lyra and she took it with a hum of thanks. “Not only that, but Cadance has been a friend of her family since she was little. Did you see that look she gave her? Unless they both had a huge falling out, something has changed and I’m willing to bet that the change is with Cadance. Can you honestly see that bitch of a mare being friends with Sparkles family?" I shook my head in disappointment. "And after all that talk of her being charming, charismatic and just downright lovely.”

Lyra’s eyes lit up and she placed the teacup on the table in front of her. She turned to me. “Cadance is a changeling.”

I leaned on Celestia’s desk and folded my arms, waiting for her to continue. She did. “Cadance and Shining Armor were on a diplomatic mission in the east. I don’t know when they were due back, but I do know that their wedding was scheduled for later in the year. Suddenly, they’re both back and they instantly move their wedding up to this week. Right in the middle of all this changeling malarkey and right as an anonymous tip gets sent about a terrorist attack on the city!”

A flash of green light caught my attention and a letter appeared in front of me. Someone contacting me directly? I grabbed the letter out of the air, opened it and read. My eyes widened and I can only assume that the colour drained from my face. Not good…

I opened my mouth to speak but Lyra cut me off, turning away and scratching her chin. “No, wait. Shining Armor can't be a changeling. Both Princesses Celestia and Luna confirmed that he’s the only one capable of making a shield over the city. They called him, ‘The Princesses Paladin’. So, Cadance is the changeling. But what’s Shining Armor?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but, once again, I was cut off. “Holy…" Lyra continued. "They’re using him… They made him put up the shield to stop us escaping! They've penned us in like animals!” She jumped in the air and fist-pumped. “Booyah! That was right off the top of my dome! Am I good or what?”

“Lyra!” I shouted.

She startled slightly and bumped into the table, knocking the teacup over. She rubbed her leg, “um… ouch… Sorry, yes?”

“You remember Copper Whisk, the mare who came to day-court? The one who lost her son?”

“You did tell me about that, yes.” She said, her ears flattening.

“I gave her a dragon-fire candle so that she could always contact me…” I held up the letter I just received. “She has informed me that her son has just walked through her front door.”