"John, you be careful on your class trip to Canterlot," Mom told me while straightening my jacket. "Don't wander off and do as your teacher says, alright?"

"Yes, Ma, I will," I told her before hugging her. "Do you think I'll meet with the Princess just like Granny did?"

"Oh I have no doubt about it, youngin'," I heard Granny say as she walked over to me with something behind her. "Close your eyes, youngin'." I did as she said and felt a plop on my head. "Alright, you can open 'em."

When I opened my eyes, I saw the brim of a hat on my head and I took it off to see a tan Stetson, just like Pa's brown Stetson. "Wow! Thanks, Granny."

"You're welcome. A young man needs a good hat on his head. Now do as yer Ma tells ya and get to school," She told me while lightly smacking my back.

"Alright, I love you," I told my Ma and Granny before hurrying off to school.

"My little boy is growing up," Ma said to herself as I ran towards the schoolhouse while rubbing her belly.

As I walked down to the schoolhouse, I was surprised by someone tipping my hat over my eyes. "Hey!" When I pulled my hat back to yell at who did that, my words were caught in my throat when I was met with a pair of green eyes. "Cheerilee?"

"Hi, John. That's a nice hat," She told me as she walked beside me. "Ready for our trip to Canterlot?"

"Been ready since Miss Ruler told us last week," I told her as we kept walking.

Over the last few weeks, Cheerilee and I became the best of friends. On the days we were off school, we would hang out in the treehouse Pa built for me.

We would teach each other things the other didn't know. She taught me how to read better. I taught her how to hang from a tree. She taught me to sing. I taught her to dangle.

"My mom told me there's a shop that makes the most delicious cakes that even Princess Celestia herself has declared the best in the land," Cheerilee told me while thinking about cakes.

"In that case, I'll buy us two slices of cake for lunch," I told her as we saw the carriage we'd use for our field trip. "Race ya!"

As the two of us raced, my hat nearly flew off my head and I stumbled to get it as Cheerilee ran ahead of me with some of the others cheering her on I struggled to catch up and ran out of breath by the time I made it to the carriage.

"I see you two have had your morning exercise." Miss Ruler smiled while pointing towards the carriage.

"Yes, Miss Ruler." We both said before taking a seat on the carriage.

A carriage ride later

We were at the foot of the Princesses castle, staring up at all its splendor while Miss Ruler told us the rules of the field trip. "Now remember class, you're free to roam about but no wandering off on your own. The last thing we need is to tell your parents that you went missing on a class trip and if we're lucky, we might just see Princess Celestia herself."

I and the rest of my classmates liked the idea of the princess coming to see us as Cherilee took down some notes. This seemed like it was going to be a fun field trip with the exception of a certain Cedar Pine being present.

As we were shown around the castle, Cheerilee dragged me over to a stained glass window. "Look! It's Princess Celestia defeating Nightmare Moon."

"Wow! And look, she's using the elements of harmony to defeat her," Filthy said while pointing to another window.

"Hey, I have another thing the Princess can blast," Cedar said before taking my hat.

"Hey!" I went to grab my hat back, but Cedar threw it to one of his buddies who went and threw it to the other. For the next two minutes, I tried to get my hat back from those three creeps. Finally, I was able to corner Cedar. "Give me my hat back, or I'll break your muzzle again."

"I got a better idea." To my horror, Cedar opened a window and threw my hat through it. "Go get it!"

I pushed past him in hopes to grab it, but it was out of reach and it flew over to a building where the guards were training. While Cedar and his goons walked away laughing, Cheerilee came over to comfort me. "John, I'm sorry about your hat." She squeezed my arm a little before she started to head off.

"I gotta get it back," I said out loud before heading back toward the main door. As I kept going, Cheerilee ran up to try and stop me.

"Are you crazy?!? Miss Ruler will go ballistic!" Cheerilee told me while grabbing my arm.

"That hat was a gift from my granny! I gotta get it." I said more sternly as I jerked my arm away from her and went after it. As I left out of the palace, I could hear Cheerilee whimper from what I did. I'll have to do something to say I'm sorry, but right now, I need to get my hat back.

Once I was outside, I headed for the training grounds. I hid behind a barrel and glanced around for any guards. I could see my hat just a couple of meters away and it was just sitting there. I swallowed a small lump in my throat and made a mental note to kick that turn Cedar in the balls once I got it back.

“Okay…okay…just go get it, and run straight back,” I said aloud.

I glanced around to make absolutely sure I wasn’t spotted. Once the coast was clear, I jumped out from the barrel and sprinted toward my hat. My hat was at arm’s reach as I skidded across the dirt and picked it up. I examined it closely to make sure it wasn’t torn and patted the dust off.

“Whew! Glad I didn’t lose you. I best get back before-“ I said when I was cut short after a large shadow loomed over behind me.

I froze in place and began to sweat. I tried to move but my body wasn’t listening to me. One of the guards was definitely behind me and probably glaring daggers at me. I was finished. I knew full well I was trespassing and they’d throw me in jail forever.

“Hello there, little one,” a surprisingly soothing voice said.

After managing to regain control of myself, I slowly turned my head and looked up. My eyes almost bulged out of my head when I was met with the most beautiful figure I’d ever laid eyes on. She wore a very fancy-looking white dress, her mane and tail looked like a rainbow, and her fur and large wings were as white as snow. She looked down at me with a warm smile, and I was opening and closed my mouth like a fool.

“I…uh…I-I…” was all I could spout out. There was no doubt in my mind, Princess Celestia herself was standing in front of me! It was like a dream come true.

"Princess!" Coming up behind her, a unicorn mare with white almost grey fur and a mane with purple and white coloration came up beside her with a clipboard in hand. "Sorry for lagging behind, but my son had to use the little colts room." Behind the mare, a colt with a white coat and blue mane stood behind her.

"It's alright, Velvet. I was just having a little chat with my friend..." She looked down at me, waiting for me to give her my name.

"Uh, John. John Apple, your highness," I twiddled my hat before bowing my head.

I felt her hand raise my chin a bit to look into her eyes. "No need to be afraid, Little Johnny." We both chuckled at the name she gave me before she stood at her full height. "What brought you all the way to the armory?"

Clearing my throat, I answered while lifting my hat a bit. "I was on a class trip from Ponyville, and some jerks threw my hat out the window. My Granny gave me this hat today, and I didn't want to lose it."

"Oh, that's terrible," Velvet said while ushering her son forward. "My son Shining gets bullied from time to time."

"Mom....!" Shining whined while looking at the ground.

"Well, why don't you young colts join me? I just have to watch the guards show off their training before meeting with your class, John."

My eyes widened at the prospect and I nodded while putting on my hat. "That would be great!"

“Quill Pen?” Celestia said and a pegasus mare suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She had light blue fur and her mustard-yellow mane was tied up in a bun.

“Yes, your majesty?” The mare said with a bow.

“Please send word to this little colt’s instructor that he shall be accompanying me for the duration of his class’s field trip,” Celestia said.

"Right away, your majesty," Quill said before flying off back to the castle.

"Well then, first the guard training and then I believe lunch. How does that sound, boys?" Princess Celestia asked us with a smile.

"That sounds great!" Shining said as we followed her. While we followed her, Shining and I made conversation. "My name's Shining Armor," He told me while holding his hand out.

I took his hand and gave it a firm shake that Pa taught me. "John Apple. By the way, how come you're not in school?"

Shining had a sheepish smile before looking at his ma. "I sort of played the sick card so I wouldn't be bullied today. Mom didn't believe it, so she brought me to work with her."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Who bullies you?" I asked, hoping to give him some advice.

"Some snobs at the academy, they said I only got in because my mom is friends with Celestia." Shining sighed as we walked behind our chaperones. "So where you from?" He asked as we continued our chat.

"Ponyville. I live at Sweet Apple Acres with my Ma, Pa, Granny, and brother, Big Mac. Ma says she's having another baby soon, so I have that going for me," I told him.

"That's so cool! Mom said I'm gonna be a big brother too," Shining said. "I hope it's a little brother. That way we can play O&O together."

"What's O&O?" I asked when Shining suddenly gasped in shock.

"You've never heard of Ogres and Oubliettes?!? It's only the greatest board game of all time!"

"Sorry. I'm more into fishing and climbing trees when I'm not doing farm work," I told him as we stopped to look at the guards.

"Here's where young recruits train to become Equestrian guards," Princess Celestia told us as we watched a few guards hit a dummy with either swords or spears.

"Wow!" Shining gawked while watching them train. "I'd love to be a guard one day. Maybe even captain. What about you John? You going to be a farmer all your life?" When he didn't hear me, he looked over at me. "John?"

As I kept looking at the guards, my eyes kept wandering back to their weapons. Suddenly, I kept getting visions of weapons, strange weapons that were loud and acted like a bow, but went a lot faster and hit harder. My vision stopped when I felt Princess Celestia shake my shoulder. "Huh?"

"I asked if you were alright?" She asked me out of concern.

"Yes, your majesty. I just... was really interested in the weapons," I told her. Didn't know what those visions were, but they were interesting.

"Can't blame you." One of the guards said after noticing us. "Any youngblood would give an arm and a leg just to hold one of these and wear this armor."

"Oh, lieutenant Shield. Good to see you again." Celestia greeted him with a warm smile. "I was just showing these young ones the training grounds, perhaps you'd like to help?" She inquired with a smile.

"It would be an honor, your majesty," Lieutenant Shield bowed to the Princess before ushering us to one of the dummies.

"Now here we train in our combat skills both physical and magical. Gotta be in top shape if we need to protect her majesty, you there." The lieutenant looked at Shining Armor. "You seem like a strapping young lad, how's about grabbing a training sword and giving this dummy a few strikes?"

"Really, can I?" Shining asked while looking at his Ma. She nodded yes before Shining grinned and picked up one of the dummy swords.

While he was hacking away at the dummy, I got a better look at the guys firing arrows at the targets. Suddenly, the visions came back. This time, the weapons were bigger than before and fired more rapidly.

The visions stopped when the Lieutenant offered me a dummy spear. "Wanna give it a try, son?"

"Uh, sure." I took the spear from him and started making practice swings at the dummy.

"Widen your stance and don't lunge forward so much." The lieutenant instructed us as if we were his recruits.

"Hey, the kids have some spunk." One of the other guards complimented us as they watched us.

"Maybe they're guard material after all," A guard mare complimented.

We both liked the sound of that as we redoubled our efforts and did as our instructor said. As it turned out, Shining was a natural with a sword, and when the dummy's head fell, he put up a shield that launched it clear out of the training grounds. The guards were impressed with that display and I could see his Ma was very proud of him.

As for me, I stabbed the dummy in the chest and head multiple times before swiping at the neck, decapitating the dummy. Being a bit of a showoff, I stuck the dummy's head with the spear and paraded it around a bit.

"Ohh look out boys, we got a headhunter here!" Another of the guards joked before I gave the spear back to the lieutenant.

"You boys got some skills, maybe one of these days you might lead your own squad."

Both Shining and I smiled at the thought of us becoming members of the royal guard before I spotted my class walking into the courtyard and saw misses Ruler was not in a very good mood.

I went up to her with my hat in my hands, the same way Pa does when he's in trouble with Ma. "Uh Miss Ruler I can explain-"

"Princess Celestia informed us of the details in her letter. Honestly, Mister Apple, you should know better than to go galavanting off on your own." My teacher said while shaking her head in disappointment.

"Yes ma'am," I said with an apologetic look.

"Now get back with the rest of the class and we can continue our tour."

As I went to join my class, I felt a tap on my shoulder. When I turned around, I saw that Shining was holding out a piece of paper. "My address, in case you ever want to write me."

I smiled at the gesture and took the address from him. "Expect a letter from me, friend." We shook hands before departing. Before I returned to the rest, I bowed before the Princess and stood back in line.

"Hehe, you got in trouble," I heard Cedar snide as I walked past him.

"And you'll be in more trouble when we get home!" I growled at him before walking up to Filthy and Cheerilee. "Sorry for leaving you, guys."

"It's alright, and we got to see the Princess out of this," Filthy pointed out.

Cheerilee looked away, guess she's still sore about me ditching her. Guess I'll need to make it up to her. And I think I know how. I went up to Miss Ruler and asked to speak with the Princess.

Later

We were heading back in the carriage to go home, and I sat by Cheerilee. "Cheerilee."

"What!?" She asked with a huff. I placed a plate under her nose with a slice of cake. When she saw it, her smile returned. "Oh, wow! You got the cake?"

"I mentioned to the princess how you were looking forward to it, and she let me have it to give." I looked down in shame for a minute. "I'm sorry for snapping at you and pulling away from you."

Just then, I was given the surprise of my life when I felt a pair of lips smack against my cheek. My cheeks turned as red as an apple when I looked over at Cheerilee, giving me a smile. "All's forgiven. Now, help me eat this before anyone else sees it."

For the rest of the ride home, we talked and ate the sweetest cake in all of Equestria. When we had an hour left, we both got tired and fell asleep, with Cheerilee's head on my shoulder.

Author's Note

Alright, big thanks to my fellow League members for helping me with this.

Don't really have much to say on this, so I'll give you guys a clip