It was a long day for Princess Cadence. For the whole day she needed to have a Royal meeting with Celestia, Luna, and Twilight along with Dragon Lord Ember about politics and stuff that Cadence couldn’t really find it in her to remember at this point.
She was thankful Twilight was around to make the day bearable, as she knew Ember the best so it was easier for negotiation purposes. In any case, she was still flying home to the castle with a smile on her face.
It was her and Shining Armor’s anniversary, and she just knew that her husband would be planning something special for this grand day. After all, Shining Armor truly cared about her and of course, their wedding day was a day to remember, not all for the best reasons but either way, she just couldn’t wait to see him and have the most romantic night with him.
Unfortunately for her, Shining Armor was not planning for their anniversary at all, it seemed.
It wasn’t that Shining Armor meant to forget or anything like that, oh goodness no. It was that today was associated with a terrifying memory. Last year, some unreformed Storm Guards tried to take over the Crystal Empire and it was looking very bleak for them. Naturally, Equestria was victorious in the end but with today being the day when the attack was held and the fact that Cadence was meeting with the Dragon Lord. He couldn’t exactly trust if any renegade dragons would attack so of course, he enlisted to double security.
Sunburst was a bit surprised about the new security measures when he walked over to Shining Armor in the throne room after he was done entertaining Flurry Heart.
“…Whoa. That’s a lot of guards.” Sunburst said in awe as he looked around.
“Yep.” Shining Armor smirked proudly, “Ever since the attack on Equestria last year by the Storm King followers. I am not taking any chances against the dragons should they decide to attack.”
“Isn’t Spike friends with Dragon Lord Ember though?” Sunburst inquires with a raised eyebrow.
“Not all dragons are like Ember. I recall Twilight mentioning me about a dragon named Garble who really hates ponies.” Shining Armor explained.
“I suppose that makes sense.” Sunburst looks around awkwardly.
“I made sure to enlist more guards today and I even put in a magical forcefield around the castle for protection. I’d try shielding the whole Empire but I don’t want to leave myself open to migraines again.” Shining Armor then spoke up proudly before sighing wistfully, “Cadence would be so proud I’ve been taking such precautions, and just before our anniversary tomorrow. That reminds me, I’ll have to get her a present after she comes back.”
“Wait… tomorrow?” Sunburst asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah. Our anniversary is tomorrow. Obviously.” Shining Armor shrugged with a smile as if it was obvious.
“Uh… sir… Cadence told me your anniversary was today.” Sunburst said with a gulp.
Shining Armor’s eyes immediately widened. He was so focused on a villain potentially attacking, he completely forgot that TODAY was the day their anniversary was supposed to be.
“Oh no, oh no no no no no no no.” Shining Armor began panicking, “The anniversary was today?! Aw man, last year we celebrated it the day after the attack.”
“To be fair sir, celebrating an anniversary after a villain attacked us kind of an inappropriate time.” Sunburst admits with a sheepish smile.
“Ugh, I must have gotten the dates mixed up because of the attack.” Shining Armor sighed as he facehoofed.
“Hey… cheer up. It’s not the end of the world.” Sunburst smiled reassuringly, “Maybe now, you can get a gift before-“
Soon Shining Armor heard a buzzing sound from his shield and ran to the castle balcony to see Cadence was tapping on it, clearly confused. She soon spotted her husband and flew upwards.
“Shining? Why is there a shield around our castle?” Cadence asked, clearly weirded out by what’s going on.
“Sorry Cady… I was… just taking precautions after last year.” Shining Armor smiled nervously before taking down the shield and letting Cadence fly towards the balcony and soon she stepped on it.
“Well, I’m finally back after that meeting with Ember and the others.” Cadence smiled giddily as both made it to the throne room where the guards left their post due to Cadence’s arrival, “Sooooooo, what do you have planned for tonight?”
“Yeah…. about that…. I kinda sorta forgot our anniversary was tonight.” Shining Armor chuckled nervously, waiting for Cadence’s reaction and when she finally did, it was not pleasant.
“I’m sorry. You did WHAT?!” Cadence asked incredulously.
“Uh… I’m gonna go write a letter to Starlight.” Sunburst backed away in fear, not wanting to get caught in the middle of this lover’s quarrel, “and maybe some earmuffs for Flurry Heart.” he added silently, the last thing they needed was a crying baby in the mix of this.
“Now Cadence, I know this may seem bad, but just let me explain.” Shining Armor spoke desperately, “I didn’t want another attack on Equestria like there was last year, so I made sure to take precautions since you were meeting with the Dragon Lord today and-“
“Are you serious Shining Armor? The reason you forgot about our anniversary was because of your paranoia!” Cadence said angrily, “I can’t believe you forgot that it was our anniversary but only the Storm Guard incident.”
“Look, I know it sounds paranoid but I just want to make sure our kingdom is safe.” Shining Armor said sadly.
“From what?! The dragons have never been a threat and even less so since Ember and Smolder’s influences.” Cadence scoffed before groaning, “Look. I just can’t deal with this right now Shining. Tonight, you should probably find somewhere else to sleep.”
She then walked off with a glare sent Shining Armor’s way.
“Oh man, I really screwed up this time.” Shining Armor grunted as he face-hoofed himself, “What do I do? I’ve never gone through something like this with Cadence before.” He said as he paced around the room.
The one negative thing about dating the Princess Of Love is that you aren’t really sure where else you can get reliable romantic advice from.
Shining Armor then tried to think of anypony else he might know that might help him.
He first thought about Sunburst but remembered his only real experience on romance was his failed one with Starlight.
Celestia and Luna never had much experience either given one of them was more focused on ruling a kingdom and the other was banished to the moon for a thousand years.
He briefly thought about Spike… and then realized he mostly just had his one-sided crush on Rarity to work off of.
Shining Armor then figured it out, there was one pony above all else he could rely on, even if their choice for a significant other was definitely an odd one.
Twilight then heard a knock at her door which was strange to her given it was so close to night time, so she opened it to find Shining Armor standing outside with a sheepish grin on his face.
“Shiny?” Twilight asked in shock.
“Hey Twilight, Um… can I come in? I need some relationship advice.” Shining Armor explained as he rubbed his hoof awkwardly.
“Relationship advice? Why do you need…” Twilight began before Starlight walked to the scene, her eyes fixed on a scroll.
“Uh Twilight, you gotta see this.” Starlight said in disbelief, “I got a note from Sunburst and apparently Shining Armor forgot his and Cadence’s anniversary, and I think this is pretty concerning information given-“
She then looked up to see Shining Armor standing at the doorway with an annoyed look and Twilight looking shocked at what she heard.
“You forgot your ANNIVERSARY?!” Twilight asked, clearly dumbfounded by what was going on.
“Starlight, are you kidding me. I was literally about to tell her that.” Shining Armor said angrily.
“Sorry.” Starlight smiled awkwardly, “Didn’t see you there.”
“Don’t flip this situation on my girlfriend, you forgot YOUR anniversary. We have to talk about this.” Twilight said sternly before dragging Shining Armor in with her telekinesis and honestly, if it weren’t for the whole situation he found himself in, he’d probably still be trying to grasp at the fact that Starlight Glimmer was dating his sister. Sure he already knew this, but the concept was so surreal to him.
As Twilight closed the door and let Shining Armor go, Starlight decided to speak up again, “You might wanna get into a comfortable room. I imagine you’re going to have a LONG talk.” Starlight advised the two siblings.
Shining Armor couldn’t argue with that, this might be a long night but he knew he needed this.
