Something to Say about Swords
Prince Shining Armor and his daughter, Princess Flurry Heart had a wholesome, innocently dangerous, not so typical father/daughter dynamic.
Cadance and Shining Armor had a good marriage, though it was a bit strained from his recent antics. Shining Armor had wanted to be a Royal Guard for as long as he could remember and part of Cadance’s attraction to him was his very serious yet very sincere desire to serve Equestria and to protect ponies from harm once he succeeded in joining the Guard. He was a bit goofy and could be called socially awkward, but he wasn’t stupid… most of the time. His successes allowed them to date and eventually marry, and once the Crystal Empire returned, she took her rightful place on the throne with her beloved husband at her side.
Having a daughter was the highlight of Cadance’s life, marred only by the fact that Shining Armor didn’t seem emotionally capable of being a father. He was a soldier, through and through. It made him a great Prince and an even better General, but Cadance had been hoping for something resembling a normal family. In hindsight, this would have been worse for her if she had produced a son and that was at least part of the reason why they didn’t have another foal, not that she would ever tell Shining that.
Unfortunately for Cadance, Shining’s attitude and personal sense of responsibility and honor had rubbed off on Flurry Heart, a young adolescent Princess who should honestly care more about colts, dating in general, and learning about how to rule the Empire, just like Cadance at been at that age. She just didn’t understand how her daughter could be so different from herself.
To Cadance’s dismay, Flurry Heart still loved to play Crystal Guardsmare as her preferred ‘Play Date’ activity and would often spend at least one day a week with her father romping around in armor and playing with weapons. Sharp Weapons. Magically enhanced weapons. The more dangerous… the better. And… with new custom-made armor to match. Flurry got new armor every year once she had outgrown the old armor, but the color scheme had never changed. It was always pink and purple armor, polished to a shine that could make a Crystal Guard jealous.
Flurry Heart was ten years old now and Cadance was hoping that Flurry would outgrow this nonsense. A loud crash in the distance crushed that hope…
With a sense of dread, Cadance decided to go check up on today’s ‘Play Date.’
Cadance walked out into the Crystal Gardens and her jaw dropped. Flurry Heart was dressed in her polished armor, holding a sword, and sitting on a Catapult. In the payload basket…
Flurry’s voice echoed in the garden. “PULL!”
Shining pulled the lever with a grin and Cadance could swear he said the word Yeet.
The large siege engine dropped its counterweight and launched Flurry through the air at speeds that would give Rainbow Dash a thrill. She was waving the sword wildly over her head while laughing like a madmare, and finally spread her wings to slow her fall only to fly back to the catapult payload basket, which Shining had conveniently used his magic to reset for another launch.
“Again! Again!” Flurry giggled uncontrollably.
“NO!!!” Cadance screamed at both of them.
Flurry pouted. “Killjoy.”
Shining sighed but didn’t argue. “No… she’s right. This has been fun but it’s time for everything else that we must practice. Weapons first. Did you have an idea for today?”
Flurry lifted her sword. “I’ve tried polearms, axes, and swords for melee, and I have to say that swords are my favorite. I’d like more practice with this, and hopefully we can incorporate the other practice to make it more fun. Please?”
Shining nodded and took the sword, testing it, cutting his hoof slightly. “Sharp enough to cut through armor. Perfect. Let’s get started.”
Cadance’s eyes widened and she sputtered. “Can you please use practice weapons? I’m begging you here…”
Flurry rolled her eyes. “Mom! It’s not fun if it’s not dangerous.”
Shining walked over to Flurry with black face paint. “Here you go. I’m going to put this under both of your eyes to help cut out the glare.”
He applied the battle paint and smiled. “There. Now you’re a little goth warrior princess.”
Shining pulled out a mirror that he kept in a magical storage portal for his wife and showed Flurry. She gasped and then giggled. “I like it.”
Shining backed off and drew his own sword. “Now. When engaging the enemy with a sword, the point is to deflect the enemy’s weapon out of the way and strike them. While sword fighting, you aren’t trying to hit the other person’s sword unless you’re preventing them from striking you… you’re trying to get around their sword and get to the wielder. All those movies with sword fighting scenes are nonsense.”
Flurry nodded and lifted her weapon. Cadance eyed both of them. Shining turned his back on his daughter and started to walk away slowly, as if to create more distance before beginning the duel. Flurry, however, wasn’t willing to give up such a chance for an easy point.
She charged her father silently and brought the sword down, trying to strike his back, only for her sword to bounce off a very powerful personal shield. The sword vibrated in her hooves, and she gritted her teeth.
Shining tsked. “Always assume that an opponent with magic will use magic to counter.”
Cadance gasped. “Striking your opponent while his back is turned? That’s very dishonorable, Flurry!”
Flurry glared at her mother. “Honor is a poor substitute for victory! The dead can keep their honor. Maybe for an official duel, it’s not acceptable, but in real battle, when lives are being lost… our ponies deserve victory, however I can provide it!”
Cadance was at a loss for words.
Shining simply nodded. “Very good, Flurry. Our ponies expect a fair monarch who will be just towards our citizens. Our enemies do not deserve the same mercy. We can’t expect the Elements of Harmony to solve all our problems… otherwise, we would have disbanded the Guard and Army years ago…”
Shining teleported behind his daughter and swung his sword so fast that his blade was a blur. Flurry still managed to block it. She used the momentum from the strike to perform a double backflip, aided by her wings, and tried to bring her sword down onto her father’s head only for her strike to be blocked again.
The clash of steel on steel was hard for Cadance to bear but she refused to walk away, her eyes glued on the battle. A glint in Shining’s eye gave Cadance a pause. Flurry also saw it and nodded… and the pace changed.
The duel slowly became a duet. Flurry and Shining circled each other like ballroom dance partners. Their swords still clashed against each other, but they were literally ballroom dancing at this point… practicing the waltz that Cadance had insisted Flurry learn before the next royal party being hosted at the castle. All that was missing was the music. However, it didn’t look like they needed the music… they had it memorized.
It felt like it lasted forever but it must have been about ten minutes. The waltz was perfectly executed, and Cadance couldn’t help but clap her hooves at the display once the waltz was over.
Flurry smirked at her mother. “Swords make everything better.”
Shining laughed and leaned down to give his daughter a kiss on the cheek. “Okay. I hate cutting our play date short, but you have homework to finish still. If you can prevent yourself from falling behind again… we’ll have two play dates next week. Deal?”
Flurry nuzzled her dad. “Deal.”
As Flurry walked away, Cadance shook her head.
“That was cute but holy Tartarus, Shining. Catapults and Swords? You’re the worst father ever.”
Shining snorted. “Not according to our daughter…”
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