"Nachtlicht! Hurry dear, or we'll be late!" Shining flinched at his mother's sudden outburst of German. "Gee Mom, you think he heard you?", Shining jested. His mother looked over to him and reeled in surprise. "Shining? Why are you here?", she asked. Shining shot his mother a confused look. "'Cause I live here?", he sneered. His mother glared back at her un-amusing son. "No. It's just you're never here when me and your father have date night! Well, I suppose you have to meet Cadence at some point.", she sighed.

"What? Why would you hire somebody if I'm here?", Shining presented. "Well, I guess you're right. I'll call Cadence and tell her she has the night off.", Shining's mother said. "WHAT! NOOOO!!", a small voice yelled from the second story. Shining's four-year-old sister, Twilight Sparkle bounded down the stairs at an alarming speed. Sure enough, she tripped and fell, but this didn't stop he righteous quest to save her sitter. "Please please please! Don't tell Cadence not to come!", she begged her mother. "But Twilight dear, your brother is here, so Cadence doesn't need to come tonight.", Shining's mother told her daughter. "Noooo!", Twilight whined, "Me and Cadence were gonna play together! She promised!" Shining rolled his eyes at his little sister's whining. When ever her voice hit the whiney pitch, the parents were putty in her hands.

Twilight Velvet looked nervous as she stared at the pouting child. Twilight had her puppy-dog eyes going, and it wouldn't take long. Not ten seconds later, Twilight Velvet emitted a sigh of defeat. "Okay dearest, Cadence will still come over today." Twilight's eyes went wide with glee and she began to happily cheer. "Yay! Cadence is coming! Cadence is coming!", she said as she began to spin around the room.

Shining threw up his hand in defeat. No matter what it was, if Twilight got all cutsey-wootsey, she got it. "What's the matter son?", Nachlicht said as he entered the kitchen. He briefly clapped his son's shoulder, and then went back to fighting with his red tie. "Nah, it's nothing.", Shining lied. He did NOT want to have this argument now. "If you say so. Velvet dearest, can you help me with this damned tie!", he spat. Velvet went over and helped him adjust his tie. Shining watched his parents fight with the red piece of fabric, until he was interrupted by a knock on the door. Upon hearing the noise, Twilight's eyes lit up.

Twilight and her mother went to answer it, and left Shining and Nachtlicht alone in kitchen. "You know son, you might like Cadence.", Nachtlicht said. Shining snorted at his fathers statement. "Oh yeah! I'm sure me and Twilie's baby sitter will be the very best of friends", he said. "Oh come on Shining. She's the same age as you, and from what Twilight telles me, she seems very nice.", Shining's father said. Shining shrugged, and heard his sister squeal exictedly.

"Cadence! Cadence! Cadence!", Twilight shouted happily. The new guest, Princess Cadence, bent down to hug the bubbly child. Twilight gave Cadence a look as if to share a silent thought. As if almost on cue, the two began to partake in a silly little dance and song. "Sunshine! Sunshine! Ladybugs awake! Clap your hands and do a little shake!", the said in tandem, ending their dance with a little shake of their butts.

"Cadence! Guess what?", Twilight chirped.

"What Twilight? Tell me.". Cadence replied with a smile.

"You get to meet my BBBFF! Shining Armour!"

Cadence's smile shifted from a forum of happiness into a smirk. "Oh-ho-ho! So I finally get to meet this elusive Shining Armour!", she said. "Yeah! He's in the kitchen. Hey Shining! Come here!", Twilight shouted towards the kitchen. Cadence stood up and waited for Twilight's older brother. Shining walked out of the kitchen, but was intercepted by his sister. "Come here! Come here!", she said, leading him into the living room. She pointed to a kind-looking girl, with shoulder-length, multi-coloured hair. Her eyes were light-pink, and had a warm, motherly look in them. Shining allowed himself to explore the rest of her body. Her arms were crossed under her breasts. C-cup at least., Shining thought. Her hips were narrow, and her legs were long. All in all, a DAYNUM in Shining's book.

Shining just kind of stood there lamely, staring at the girl in his living room. She did the same back, but with a hint of blush on her face. They just gaped at each other for a good thirty seconds, until Twilight interrupted their "staring contest". "Hey! Why are you acting so weird! Say hi to each other!", she pleaded. They snapped out of la-la land, and shifted uncomfortably. "I-I'm, uh, S-Shining!", Shining burst out. He extended his hand to the girl, and she shook it and replied. "C-Cadence." Their hands went back to their sides, and they averted each other's gaze. "Hey Shining! Come here for a sec. I have to give you money for the pizza", Nachtlicht said from the kitchen. Shining silently thanked Celestia and went back into the kitchen,

Shining walked into the room, only to be pushed out of the doorway by his father. "Jeez Dad! What was that for?", Shining snapped at his father. "It was for that", Nachtlicht said pointing at Shining's athletic shorts, which were a little long on him. Shining shot his dad a glare, and looked down at his shorts. He blushed at what he found. Shining's member was pitching a tent from within his pants. "Uh, oh, um...", Shining trailed off. "It's okay son. Listen stay in here, order the pizza, and wait for the storm to pass.", Nachtlicht told his embarrassed son. "Th-thanks dad.", shining said back. His father was leaving the room, but at the last minute, he added: "Don't forget to order a cheese for Twilight. You know she's picky about her Italian."

"Alright. You have everything Cadence?", Velvet asked.

"Yes Mrs. Velvet. Everything will be alright!", Cadence assured.

"Okay. I suppose you've never let me down before. Twilight come give me a hug goodbye!"

Twilight went an hugged her mother, and with that, they left. Shining walked out of the kitchen with his cell phone, and waited to be sure his parents were gone. "Uh, so Cadence, have any preference on pizza?", he asked. Cadence jumped a little, and turned to face Shining. "No, anything's good.", she replied.

"You sure? It's okay if you do.", Shining said.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it"

Shining shrugged and returned to the kitchen to order the pizza

"Caio?", a voice on the other end of the line said. "Uh, hello. Is this Salvatore? It's Shining", Shining said back. Shining heard hearty laughter over the pone. "Ah! Shining! How are you!", Salvatore said to the teenager. "Molto bene, Salvatore. E vio?", Shining replied in Italian. "Hahah! You've been studying! I am well, grazie. So what can I get you this evening? Finally got a date?", the Italian man jested. "Funny Salvatore! Okay, so can I get a medium cheese and a medium pepperoni?", Shining asked. "Why of course you can il mio ragazzo! It will be over shortly!", Salvatore said then hung up. Shining chuckled a little. He loved talking to Salvatore, he was the only Italian Shining knew, and went to his pizzeria after school on Thursdays every week.

"That'll be $25.56 sir.", the delivery boy said to Shining. Shining handed him thirty and let him keep the change. Shining grabbed the pizza, and watched the delivery boy leave. "Shining! Did you get any cheese!", Twilight said to her brother. "Yes Twilie. Don't you trust your BBBFF?", he said to the girl. She giggled a little, and went to take her place at the table. Cadence followed her in, and took a seat at the end of the small, circular table. Shining placed down the pizzas and went to grab plates, and brought them back to the table. He handed them out, and took a seat opposite to Cadence.

They all grabbed some of the Italian food, Twilight being the first, getting some of her super-special cheese pizza. Shining went to go grab some of the pepperoni, but in the process, he brushed hands with Cadence, causing him to quickly withdraw his hand. "S-sorry, go ahead", Shining sputtered. "Oh, n-no, it's okay you go get yours first.", she said. Twilight, who was getting a little annoyed, went and grabbed a piece for each of them and plopped them down on their plates. Shining shook his head at his sister's antics, and Cadence thanked her. "Now can you two at least pretend to be friends! Stop acting so weird!", she said. Oh well,I guess she just dosen't understand romance yet., Shining thought. "Yes Twilight, I'm sorry.", Cadence apologized to the toddler. "Good!", she said, and went back to eating her pizza.

After the all had their fill of pizza, Twilight interjected, "So what're we gonna do now Cadence?", she said to her sitter. "Do you want to play a board game?", Cadence asked. "Yeah! Shining can play too!", Twilight said, and burst out of the kitchen. Cadence blushed a little, and went to follow her.

This is going to be a long, awkward night., Shining thought.

Author's Note

Fucking lucky bastard............and my Italian is probably off, so if it is, point it out~