Guarding the Heart

Awakening in the dark, Shield sat up and stared straight at the mirror on the far wall from him, his reflection hinted at by the faint moonlight shining through the nearby window watching him back.

"What in Celestia's name is wrong with me" he called out to the mirror image of himself, hoping to find the answer stirring up from within. Shield sat in silence awaiting anything that could help pardon his actions earlier that night.

Then the memory of holding Flurry Heart from earlier popped into his head, 'Yes I was only taking care of the child of Her Majesty,' he reasoned with himself, 'nothing more than that'. Then the memory shifted to Cadance's form behind him, her hot breath on his neck causing his hair to stand on end even now hours later. The calming way she spoke, the way her eyes locked onto his.

He needed to shake the thought, it was the only way to continue performing his role as royal bodyguard. He stood and made his way out back into the hallway leading from his room to the main entrance hall of the Crystal Palace.

Exiting the hallway he was greeted with silence aside from the chuckles of the night guards outside the palace doors on watch. Shield stood there scanning the room for a moment before the colors of the eye catching mural to his left caught his attention.

Staring down from the painting was the royal family of the Crystal Empire. Shining armor adorned in his regal fitted armor, Princess Cadance standing proud near him dressed in a beautiful gown matching her stunning makeup. The sight of them together caused Shield to stop and breathe, 'They are married Shield,' he reasoned in his mind before dropping his gaze down to the smiling Flurry Heart depicted in a similar cute bow that Cadance had been searching for earlier yesterday morning.

"They have a daughter..." Shield said aloud, staring at the artwork in a daze. The daze only broken by the sound of a scraping from above, Shield looked up quickly and spotted a figure moving rapidly outside the windows of the palace. He galloped to the doors leading out and ripped them open, surprising the two guards stationed there.

"Ah! Sir- I-" the guard on his right stuttered out of surprise. Shield ignored him and stared upward to try and find the source of the movement and sound only to find nothing, Shield turned to look at the guard who was still attempting to ascertain what was happening.

"Guards!" Shield barked,"Tell me why you are joking around when you are on duty!" he said angrily through his teeth.

"Sir!" the guards jumped into a salute quickly realizing the severity of what the question posed, "We have been keeping an eye out among the streets and watching the perimeter as ordered. We have yet to spot any oddities or possible dangers" they repeated in unison, almost as if it was practiced.

Shield snapped his head back up towards the palace exterior searching for the shadow to no avail, then without turning back to them he started again.

"Guards, please keep note not only of the ground level. There may be those with wings who could fly above and watch through the windows" Shield ordered.

"Yes sir!" they snapped, both holding the salute higher than before.

Shield turned and walked back into the palace thinking to himself, 'I am exhausted, it was most likely nothing other than a bat flying past' he reasoned. Still the feeling didn't sit well, he had been too lax earlier and needed to ensure Her Majesty's safety. He walked past the hallway leading back to his bedroom and instead headed towards the royal bedroom, where Princess Cadance had retired to earlier in the evening.

Turning a corner he spotted the door still being latched and closed, giving him a bit of ease to his nerves that were on edge. Still he walked over quietly and then sat alongside the doorway in watch. He couldn't just go back to bed after seeing any possible risk to Her Majesty, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if anything happened to her. He watched through the hallway and listened patiently.

Shield opened his eyes and the light of the morning struck him, causing him to flinch back as the sunlight assaulted his eyes. He raised a hoof to clear the bits of sleep from the corners of his eyes,

"Sir Shield" Her Majesty spoke gently right next to him, the sudden realization of her presence caused him to snap his head over and his muscles to tense. He looked over at the visage of the Princess staring at him curiously through the door, her mane shining a reflective haze of color onto the door around her, bouncing the light of the morning elsewhere.

"Your Majesty!" Shield knelt into a bow, mentally screaming at himself for having fallen asleep while on watch.

'Must have been the damned wine' Shield thought, a small frown appearing on his face.

"Why were you outside my door asleep?" the Princess asked curiously, tilting her head outward a bit more to see what was happening and causing some of her hair to slip off her shoulder and fall towards the ground.

"I had worried that there may have been an interloper in the palace Your Majesty, I was simply acting out of caution for your sake" he replied, holding his bow to refrain from staring at her too longingly. The effects of the wine still causing him to hold onto his feeling too closely.

The Princess turned and frowned at him before walking out of the room into the hall and glancing about. She stood for a moment, then glanced about the hallway seemingly looking for something, or somepony, before turning back to him in a huff.

"There isn't anypony around Shield" she said in a questioning tone. He looked at her expression and could visibly see the frustration on her face, 'I overstepped' he thought to himself.

"I am quite sorry Your Majesty, I will not bother you as I have this morning again" Shield replied quickly, staring to gauge her reaction.

The Princess visibly deflated at the statement and turned and stared down the empty hall once again, before letting out a breath.

"Of course Sir Shield" she said in a monotone voice before beginning to head down the hall towards the restroom to ready herself for the day. 'She seems annoyed at that answer? Did she want me to continue guarding her room? Or perhaps she is mad I didn't think of her daughter first! Or-'Shield stopped in his tracks and stared at the alicorn walking down the hall.

"Cadance" Shield called, causing the alicorn to stop and look back with a blank expression, "I am sorry for forgetting your request so quickly," he shifted a bit trying to get used to the feeling of not using a title for her before finishing, "I won't forget again" he said with a serious expression.

Cadance watched him silently, looking at his movements and listening to his tone. She then fully turned and smiled brightly at him,

"You better not!" she laughed before turning and continuing down the hall to start her day.

Shield watched her carefully, the way her mane bounced about when she walked and the way she was trotting made it almost look like she was bouncing like a giddy filly on her way to a exciting event. Shield smiled, closed the door to her bedroom, and followed behind her.