Cadance and Shining Armor both exited the crystal castle into the midmorning sun of Ponyville. It was the right kind of time to be outside, too early to be hot, with just enough sun to keep warm in the cool early morning breeze.

Shining recognized the scents that came with being a majoritively outdoor town with hoof traffic as the main form of travel. The smell of vegetation, dust, ponies, and water. There were a few sources of running water in town, nothing they were close to, but Shining still noticed as he followed behind his wife.

~Here we go~

"So!" He came up to her side and gestured out to the town with a hoof as she gave him an amused look. "Whole town to explore, what direction do you want to go first?"

Cadance made a show of tapping a hoof to her chin, "I... thiiiiinnnnk..." She snapped in a direction, "This way!"

"Onwards then!" Shining took a few running steps forwards, having fun. Cadance giggled behind him but kept pace. They walked a total of thirty seconds before Cadance found something to look at.

"Why do you think they build with straw roofing still?"

Shining slowed his pace to walk side by side with her, "It's earth pony magic." He stated

Cadance gave him a look that said, 'ah' and 'continue'

"Unfortunately that's all I got. Enchanted straw." He shrugged with a smile.

"Think they've got any parks?" She asked

Shining nodded, "They do. I checked a while ago. I know how much you miss nature up in the north."

She smiled to herself as she continued to appraise the architecture, "Sounds like a perfect place to spend lunch."

Ah crud, she's already planning the day out.

"Thinking about lunch already?" Shining mused

"My mind’s on food. Pancakes." She guessed out loud, mentally elsewhere.

Shining needed to ground her in their walk. She was using it as thinking time, rather than relaxing time.

How though?

He shifted on his hooves and pointed across Cadance's field of view to a series of stands that looked like food vendors from a distance. "What's that?"

Cadance came to a stop and followed his pointing hoof, "Looks like open market stalls." She turned to face him and tilted her head, the unasked, 'do you want to take a look?' answered by Shining beginning the trot towards them. Cadance followed in his wake for a moment before coming up next to him.

Hopefully a crowd will bring her into the moment. She loves public appearances

A few ponies did glance with wide eyes to the two royals as they came out from around a house on the grass. Any other place, seeing something like that would be cause for worry, in Ponyville? At least it wasn't Tuesday. That was a cause for fear, much less worry.

Cadance waved a few times as they walked. Shining picked a customer-less stand at random and approached. There was a pink unicorn mare with a backwards ballcap on, her yellow mane hidden behind her head and the hat, she smiled uneasily as Shining, the Prince of The Crystal Empire, approached her stand.

"Excuse me miss?"

The mare, unexpected from Shining, leaned over the wooden counter with a smile and stuck out her hoof, "Paint Brush!" She wore a massive smile, seemingly having gotten herself together.

Shining, excited to interact, reached over and gave the mare a healthy hoof shake, she had a sturdy arm; something which immediately garnered Shining's respect. "What do you sell out here at your stand?"

"I sell custom paint orders!" She leaned back and began a presentation as Cadance caught up. "This isn't my normal setup; normally my office takes full tickets." She said 'full' with more enthusiasm than necessary, despite the misunderstanding of specified terminology. "You need a paint? A thick one? A specific colour? Something sturdy? Something flammable? I can do it all." Her horn lit up as a yellow aura the same colour as her eyes and mane lifted a series of laminated cards into view.

Each had a series of individual colours on them, flipped between several different tints and shades of each per card. She continued as she showed them off, "Anything you can dream of, I can make it." She said with a degree of pride. She trailed off, not actually asking the question she was asking.

Shining admired the expertise in selling, he turned to Cadance, "Got a need for paint?"

Cadance already had a response ready, "Do you have paints that will seal over crystal?"

The mare nodded and immediately clipped back with, "Magic? Jewelry? Construction?"

"Construction?" Cadance asked back

Where's she going with this?

Shining was expecting a less direct line of questioning, at the very least, he wondered why Cadance would want paint to begin with. That and... you know... buying things was more of nuanced experience when you were royalty.

"I've got plenty of mixtures when it comes to construction crystals. Princess Twilight actually checked my recipe herself." The mare coughed into her hoof and mumbled something that Shining didn't quite catch.

Cadance did, and she giggled, dang Alicorn hearing.

"What do you think Shining? Got any colour ideas for a nursery?"

A nurser- OH, DUH

Shining quickly rolled his mind forwards, trying to imagine what a nursery looked like in his head as his wife waited for him to answer, eventually he settled on, "What do you have in greyed out pinks and blues?"

The mare waved her hoof like she was cutting something sideways, "Ohoh- you won't be disappointed. Give me just a second." The mare turned in place and walked back behind the stand, still visible, just further away. She pulled something on the ground closer to the front of the stand with her teeth as she opened it with her magic. A stack of cards came floating out before setting themselves down on the table.

Shining was getting impressed with this mare more and more. The professionalism of not reacting to the word 'nursery' was something he didn't miss.

Cadance stepped forwards, her height meaning she didn't have to lean over the counter to look at the cards. As the two mares began to speak. This was where Shining phased out of the conversation, at this point he was no longer required for the transaction. Not that he was kicked out of it; Shining knew what he and his wife were both good at.

Interior design settled very cleanly outside of his preview of skills and interests.

Cadance levitated a card to him, and he grabbed it from the air to let the two mares continue their conversation. The mare had politely asked about the baby, and Shining was doing his best to monitor Cadance's body language while looking for the next thing to do in the vicinity.

Maybe we can grab lunch at Sugar Cube corner? And take it to a park? Maybe we can find somewhere else. Though we do still need to apologize to the Cakes for ditching them. They probably didn't want to deal with Silver, but still...

"Shining?"

Shining snapped to, throwing a hoof up in a salute.

Cadance chuckled.

"Would you remind me to come back here before we leave?" Both Cadance and the mare behind the counter were giving him a look.

Gosh I probably shouldn't've tuned out all of that

"Yeah of course," was his far too quick response, "Found a colour you like?"

"Ms. Brush is going to prep them for tomorrow, before we leave."

Cadance had that look in her eye, like she was thinking of something else. Shining never really knew what it meant, but it didn't really matter. Nodding his affirmation he said, "I'll remind you the morning of."

Cadance turned, "Thank you, Paint Brush."

The mare cheerfully waved, "You're welcome Princess!"

After the disengagement from conversation, Cadance pulled a slip of paper off the counter in her levitation and then meandered towards Shining. He took step next to her as they both began walking away, a few ponies sneaking up behind them to Brush's stall to try and get a word from the mare.

"Where to next?"

Shining was glad he was as tall as he was. Being just about Cadance's height made eye contact not nearly as awkward as it could be.

"Can I say, 'wherever the wind takes us', again without it being cliché?" He smirked

She laughed, though not at what he said, and nodded

"Then," Shining smiled while he 'pretended' to clear his throat. "Wherever the wind takes us!"

So they both continued walking across the grass before they happened onto another dirt road that led out of town. Twilight's castle was already near the edge. Shining wasn't really keeping track of where they were, so they must've ended up getting turned around.

Cadance visually enjoyed the open plains around ponyville as they followed the path around the outskirts of the town.

"It's awfully quiet out here." She stated, turning away from the field, but not towards Shining, instead choosing to look straight ahead.

"I wouldn't say that. If I were you." Shining threw back, in an attempt to joke.

Cadance shifted, her posture changed, and her head hung just a little bit lower.

Hmmm, guess I'll just have to be direct.

"Something digging at you?"

Cadance quietly responded with, "uh-huh"

Shining patiently waited for her to come up with how to word what she wanted to say.

She did, eventually, "I just... wonder-what, that is, I-"

Shining kept silent.

"I don't know. I just feel off"

"Stuck in a vacation?" He guessed.

Cadance shook her head, "I dunno... maybe I just need to cool off. I'm sorry I'm-"

"No apologies, we talked about that."

"I know." Cadance refrained from apologizing for apologizing.

"How can I help?"

Cadance smiled, "You're already doing everything you can." She meant it as a compliment, assurance but-

That's not enough

Shining's face morphed into a concentrated frown, "Well I-"

Cadance laughed to herself, it was fake, "Never mind, I'm not going to keep being a downer. Do you have something you want to see?"

Shining had a little mental fight with himself that just resolved with 'it's complicated'

"Just you." He said softly.

Cadance rolled her neck, "You're too sweet." but he saw her blush, despite her trying to hide it.

"Nah. Never." He picked up his pace, "Cmon, let's stop sitting around in this air."

"You've got a heading then soldier?" She was faster than he was, keeping pace with him easily.

"Yeah, figure we can go bother Applejack; I know I could go for some exertion and apple products."

Neither of them were winded, and they were already halfway to the half of the town where Sweet Apple Acres was, so he figured, why not connect the dots? The whole point of the exercise was to do without thinking, it was what he thought of first, and that was enough. Even so, he could see Cadance mulling it around in her head with her intellect, it took less than a few seconds for Shining to see her visualize a couple of scenarios.

It was silly. Cadance wasn't nearly as book smart as Twilight, but Cadance thought in a way that baffled Shining sometimes.

"Sounds like fun." She said slowly, over the sound of the air rushing between them.

"You~ just want to kick some trees."

"I will not confirm, nor deny that."

Cadance was expressly, and equally, a thinker as much as she was a physical mare. Shining grinned to himself as she kept pace with his near gallop with a casual trot; if he didn't know her as well as he did, he would've assumed she didn't even know she was running.

A very physical mare.

Some exercise was exactly what she needed to get her mind off of the numerous things likely bothering her. That, and as much as he Loved his little sister, Twilight was likely going to bring up the stress levels. She didn't really know the 'now' and 'later' conversation premises yet.

Distracted by both the sight of his wife finally smiling as she blindly ran into the wind with her wings spread, and the continuation of his internal dialogue, he missed when they transitioned from dirt into grass.

"Shining! Look out fo-"

Her warning came too late, and Shining ran straight into a fence.

He rolled forwards, barely having had the chance to jump over it, before he fell into a tumble that ended up with him standing. If a little dusted up.

Cadance was giggling on the other side of the fence as he popped up.

"Let's not talk about that."

She shimmied the fence back into a non-precarious lean before flapping over it, and into the apple orchard. She smirked at him as she walked past, very audibly not talking about anything.

He matched her pace as she led, and decided to try and continue a conversation. The problem was talking about something Cadance was passionate about, without it being work, or something she hadn't done in a long time, like spreading Love with her magic; something she'd been kept from for a while due to responsibility.

Melancholic is the wrong option, but inane has already been used... Might as well keep it on point

"So you have an idea as far as apple bucking goes?"

"Pfft, no, do you? It's probably more difficult than just kicking a tree right?" She snarked, though her question was a serious one.

"We'll have to ask."

A high pitched voice: "Ask what?"

"Whoah!" Cadance flared her wings and jumped to the side, nearly bowling over Shining.

Shining looked over Cadance's shoulder, "Applebloom?"

"Howdy Cadance! Shining Armor! What are yall doing in Ponyville?" The filly came out from around the tree and onto the path.

Cadance answered first, "We're vacationing for a day and a half."

Ah, so we're not telling her about the thing, okay.

"Well" Applebloom gave them a sideways look, "What're yall doing in Sweet Apple Acres?"

"Just lookin' for some exercise." Shining smiled

"Really? I thought you royal types would-" She cut herself off, "I mean- uh, would-"

Cadance interrupted her, "No need for niceties Applebloom; I'm excited to do some hard work that doesn't cause my brain to come melting out of my ears."

"Well don't stop me from letting you appreciate a hard day's work." She chirped

Cadance's muzzle twitched into a smile, Shining watched her struggle to keep herself from correcting the filly's grammar, eventually coming to her rescue. "Can you point us to Applejack?"

"Sure thing!" She did, indeed point, "She's over by the crisps." She lowered to her flanks and cupped her hooves around her mouth, "APPLEJACK!"

"Wow." Shining said before he could stop himself.

If she had a deeper voice, she could've been my drill instructor.

Applejack came barreling out of the woods a few seconds later, "What'n tarnation are you-!" She answered her own question as she came to a stop, huffing slightly. "Applebloom! Consarnit! You nearly scared me half to death!"

Applebloom didn't wilt under the scolding. "How else was I supposed to-"

"That ain't to point. Granny an' I've told you a thousand times to only go yelling like that when there's danger." She continued to scold, seeming more concerned than upset.

"Alright..." Applebloom relented, "Sorry sis."

Applejack gave her sister a light mane tussling and then pushed her back towards the field. "Go on then- and stay safe, and stop yelling!" Once Applebloom was a distance away, moving buckets and bucking trees, Applejack turned to address the two royals who respectfully stayed out of the interaction.

"Morning Princess, Shining Armor, what can I do you for?" She said, adjusting her hat from the sprinting.

Shining took a little mental note of Cadance's desire to correct verbiage before said note drifted away in favour of speaking. "We were wondering if you've got any work for us." He gestured between the two of them.

"Work?" Applejack looked confused, but smiled anyways, "Well yeah, f'course I got work, why?"

"I've got the itch to productively kick something." Cadance simply stated, "Paperwork and dignitaries aren't nearly as simple, and are a thousand times less rewarding to kick." Shining could tell Cadance was itching, quite literally to get to the main event. She'd slipped into the 'talking to ponies' state she gets into when she's got her mind on other things.

A constant, lately.

"Ah see." Applejack nodded sagely, "Granny always says ain't no better cure-all than a satisfying day of work."

"Just point us in the direction." Shining added on, hoping to move this along.

"Well sure, Cmon, I'll show ya where I'm working." She waved a hoof and then turned to walk back into the orchard.

It was a short walk through the grass and trees to a path worn into the foliage from constant hoof traffic. It ran in-between the trees, and Shining got a glimpse of the barn out on the hill from a break in the tree line.

Applejack, being a quadruped, was able to turn and give them both an appraising look while they walked. Her hooves found placement over roots and rocks with the experience of someone who knew these fields. "Say, Princess, not that I mind the help an' all; but what's got you so worked up? It's not the baby is it?"

Cadance ever so slightly cringed, "Is it that obvious?"

"Something wrong?"

Cadance shook her head, "Honestly, being pregnant has been the least stressful thing in my life at the moment."

Shining had something to add, but was waiting for the right break between the two's back and forth to throw it in.

"Running the empire then?" Applejack said more as a statement than a question.

"Yes, but-" Cadance stretched out 'only'. "It's not only that. I barely run the Empire, I just sign things and come up with ideas."

Shining interjected, the moment for what he wanted to say was gone, "Now you're just being modest."

Applejack beat Cadance to the response, "He's right Princess, that's all leadership is. Having good ideas and doin' em."

That's not all leadership is

Mostly...

Their conversation took them from shorter to larger trees, until they were in a field of buckets as much as an orchard. Crisp, vibrant red apples hung from the branches, majoritively from the bottom and sides, rather than the interior foliage of the trees.

"Well here we are. Do yall need any instructing? Ever bucked apples before?"

Cadance snorted, "I've kicked a giant worm before. Does that translate?"

Uh- when? Excuse m-

"Last I checked?" Applejack chuckled, "Nope."

Shining walked up to a tree, "Then do you have any pointers?"

Applejack walked backwards up to a tree that had the buckets under it already, electing to show via demonstration. "You gotta get the right distance. You don't want to have to fully extend your legs, a good bounce will keep you going for a while. That, and if you throw your back into it, it won't help. All the buckin' comes from the legs."

Applejack leaned forwards onto her front hooves, and executed a buck exactly as she described. Shining watched the impact instantaneously travel up the tree and shake each individual apple loose, and into a bucket without dislodging a single leaf. She adjusted her hat after, and took on a prideful tone, "Ain't nothin' more to it than that."

Cadance looked intrigued.

Problem solving face.

Shining watched his wife wordlessly trot up to a tree, and take the same pose Applejack had.

"Just a little closer Princess."

Cadance shimmied backwards a step, then leaned forwards to buck the tree. There was a loud crack as her hooves hit the wood, and the tree shook like it had been struck by a cannonball. Apples fell, but randomly, with still half sitting up in the branches; a visible indentation was left in the bark where she'd kicked.

Applejack's eyes went wide at the display and she caught herself walking up to the tree, "Maybe not so much power there. They don't need to-"

*CRACK*

A branch fell down from the tree and landed on Cadance; she flinched but didn't move. The sight of his wife half covered by a tree branch, while amusing, was more worrying with Cadance's steamed expression.

"You okay?" He used his magic to levitate the branch from its base.

"Fine, what did I do wrong?" She turned to Applejack.

"Well, you hit it too hard. Not sure I was expecting that, you've got-"

"Any comments on my wife's legs will go unappreciated" Shining said, seeing where that was going.

Applejack smiled and nodded, "Just don't hit 'em as hard Princess. That's all."

Cadance didn't wait for more instruction, just wandered over to another tree and tried again. This time, nothing happened. Her face continued to morph as she went deeper and deeper into thought. Shining was too busy watching her to make his own attempt at knocking down some apples.

"I'm gonna..." Applejack trailed off as she began watching the same thing he was.

Cadance took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Both Applejack and Shining exchanged a worried look as blue smoke began to leak from the edges underneath her eyelids.

"Cadance?" Shining asked tentatively, her only response was to rear up onto her hindlegs and shout

"YAA!" With a flap of her wings, she smashed her front hooves into the ground. Nothing happened for a few seconds, then the ground began to shake under Shining's hooves.

"What in the-!" and "Cadance!" were the only sounds of alarm as the shaking grew in intensity until it shut off completely. All around them, a shockwave tore up the trunks of the trees around them. The vibrations practically blasted the apples off of their respective branches.

Cadance was stood awestruck in the storm of flying red projectiles, accentuated by the dull thumps of the fruit hitting the grass, and in some cases flying up and getting lodged into the trees. Shining created a shield across the ground to try and dull the impact and save as many as possible.

"What in the hay was that!" Came Applejack's disgruntled cry once all of the apples had come to rest. She herself had a bucket on her back, a quick attempt to catch the fruit as it all came crashing down around her. She had at least seven balanced on other parts of herself, with a pair sitting on her head, and three in her hat she had held in her mouth.

Cadance's look of triumph folded away in a flash. "Oh my gosh! Applejack, I'm so sorry!"

Applejack sank to her haunches, "Whatever that was, don't do it again. We don't let normal unicorn magic near the apples, Alicorn magic neither." She evenly said, clearly pissed, despite the grateful nod towards Shining for saving the apples from splatting on the ground.

"I just- I saw the- and I went for it. I'm sorry." She looked torn between asking Shining for help, and apologizing to Applejack more.

Shining didn't let her choose, "Hey, no harm done really." He tried to deescalate the situation.

"Darn straight, good thinking Shining." He held his shield until Applejack finished picking up all the apples, not wanting to drop them into the dirt. Cadance joined in, helping her without telekinesis. It was a short exercise of dexterity mostly done in silence.

After loading up all the buckets into a cart that was just over a hill, "Now yall can hang around and clear the other half of the field if yall want. I've gotta tow all these back." She nodded at the two, and continued, "Despite, the magic scaring me half to death, it still put me ahead of schedule."

"Sorry, again." Cadance said.

Applejack shook her head, "Now don't you worry about it. Maybe just..."

"Don't do that again. Yup. I won't." Cadance finished for her.

Once the cowpony was hitched up, she took off at quite the pace through the trees.

Impressive

"So... Am I going to get an earful now or later?" Cadance said, sounding like she was genuinely worried about being shouted at.

Shining gave her a weary smile, "Are you okay? Dark mag-"

"Emotion magic." Cadance corrected.

Shining gave her a look before continuing. "Dark Magic, is dangerous. I'm more concerned about you than apples."

She perked up a little, "I'm fine. I don't- rather, it doesn't feel dangerous."

Yeah- I doubt it's supposed to.

Shining took on his 'reprimanding' voice, saved for: children who were in big trouble, desk attendants when they made a serious mistake, and his wife, for when he needed her to take him seriously.

"Please stop doing dangerous magic on a whim. Learning? Fine, practicing? Okay, I don't like it, but okay." His tone deepened, "But none of this, 'let's just blast the ground, or fire a letter at my husband' thing. Knowing it's dangerous doesn't protect you from the danger, whether you feel like it or not."

"Shining! I think I could do some real good with magic like this!" She said back, not angry, but half pleading.

What?

Certainly not the response he was expecting, Cadance was able to continue before he could verbally recover.

"I think we've been lied to. I don't think corruptive magics are as dangerous as they seem."

"Cadance, please listen to what you just said."

"I saw ponies saved, Shining. Mares that would've been..." She shook her head, "I'm sorry. I don't want this to be an argument, it's just-"

Shining snorted. "I read the papers too Cadance. I know where you're coming from. I know it's important to you, but it has to stop. You are too important to be doing things like that." He gestured out to the field.

Cadance went silent. Shining used the opportunity to hug her. "I Love you."

"I Love you too." She responded

They sat there for a moment, the energy diffusing away from them until Cadance spoke again, softly, since Shining was so close. "Okay. I'll stop. It worked though, didn't it?"

Shining poked her in the horn with his nose, "I never argued against the effectiveness. I see the potential uses, and I support you in exploring them." He pushed himself away and held Cadance by the shoulders, making sure they were making eye contact before he stressed: "Safely"

She nodded and stood. "Feels like I ruined the moment." She looked around at the trees, and then lifted a hoof to inspect it, "Felt really good though."

"Really good how?" Shining asked, concern bleeding into his voice

Cadance waved the hoof and sent him a smile to assuage his worries, "Like exercise, the... feeling when you push yourself... but..." She searched for the word before settling on, "Magical?"

"So long as your legs don't start whispering to you."

"Oh hush, this isn't a Ogre's and Oubliette's campaign." She rolled her eyes.

"Just throwing it out there." He pointed towards the next section of trees, "More then? Or are you off to the idea?"

Cadance nodded, and began to move, "I feel like we owe Applejack."

They bucked apples until midday. Shining was terrible at it, much to his embarrassment, though it made Cadance feel a little better about her own skill with the activity; Shining didn't realize the overt extra competitiveness Cadance had adopted, thinking she was just excited.

Author's Note

I've been itching to do Shining's perspective for a while, because of the way his thoughts are consumed by Cadance. 'Cause let's be honest, if you were married to an Amazonianly beautiful manifestation of Love, they'd be the only thing you thought of too
(horse or human either, I know yall ain't picky)

There's a lot of things Cadance doesn't notice are out of the ordinary for herself, that Shining does notice, but likes; which I get the opportunity to show off by comparing the tiny little traits Shining has picked up from her over time. Like planning out situations, and managing interactions while still being honest.

Don't get me wrong, I find stories about Shining Armor being an idiot-dad immensely hilarious, but just a reminder:

Half siphoned magical strips of Shining Armor's Love for Cadance alone was enough to just straight up trash the Goddess of the Sun.
(In my own personal headcannon, quite the feat)

Either by surprise, or by might, it was done. Shining was smart enough, strong enough, and wise enough to catch the eye of a Princess by merit.

Shining is a good Husband.