"Okay son, you sure you can handle this?"

"I will sure as Tartarus try."

"Remember what I told you, don't discuss anything of great Equestrian importance in detail, which includes...."

"Civil matters, possible war situations, and any forum of scandal."

"Alright, just be careful boy."

"Got it Dad!"

Shining exited his father's stone grey hatchback, and withdrew the flowers that were at his feet. They had survived the ten minute drive from the florist, and had nary a welt on them. Shining took a deep breath, straightened his shirt, and walked towards the front door of his girlfriend's house. It was a very exorbitant mansion and rivalled Canterlot Castle in size. Shining expected such a large home from Cadence. She and her family were royalty. Her father was also a major contributor to Modern Equestrian Sciences, including the study of The Magical Charge, a force that powers all machinery in the land.

Shining felt his confidence slowly wane as the stone steps of the front door began to draw closer. What were you thinking? Flowers and some nice clothes? You're a mockery to these people! I should just turn around and go home!, Shining thought, much to his displeasure. He had wanted to see Cadence today, but he didn't think that her family would accept him in open arms. Shining turned back to the gate.....only to see that his dad had long since departed for home.

"No turning back now.", Shining muttered, "It's only dinner. That's all. A quick meal and home!" Shining felt a new sense of makeshift readiness, and he continued the short journey to Cadence's front door. He climbed the steps that stole his confidence earlier, and looked at the bronze knocker bolted to the door. With an uncertain gulp, he grabbed it, and brought it to the door three times. He heard some unintelligible voices on the other side of the door. Shining shifted uncomfortably as he waited for the door to open.

A thin man in a suit answered the door. "Mr. Armour, I presume?", he said. Shining cleared his throat and regained his posture. "Uh, yeah. Shining Armour, that's me.", Shining replied to the butler. "Right this way sir.", the butler said. Shining followed him inside, and they walked to the dining hall. "Shall I take those?", he asked, gesturing to the flowers. "Oh, yeah, I'll give them to her before I leave!", Shining said. He handed the roses to the butler.

Shining entered the hall, and looked at the guests already there. Two official-looking people, who he assumed to be Cadence's parents, sat across from one another at the the end of the table. Cadence was at the opposite end with a set place next to her. "Your highness, Mr. Armour has arrived.", the butler exclaimed to the table. Cadence wore a warm smile, and Shining returned the gesture. "Excellent.", the official looking man said, "thank you." He rose from his seat, and walked to greet Shining.

"Hello my boy.", he said, "I'm Cadence's father King Voce, it's a pleasure to meet you." Shining shook his hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you sir. I'm Shining Armour.", Shining replied.

"Ah! Well I knew that. Come. Join us for dinner."

"Yes sir, thank you."

"Oh, and don't kiss Cadence in front of the wife. She can be.......'proper' at times", King Voce whispered to Shining. Shining nodded and sat next to Cadence. She looked over to him, and rubbed his hand under the table. Cadence's mother cleared her voice loudly, and shot Shining a glare. Oh, so that's what he meant. "The soups, please!", she exclaimed to the wait staff. They nodded, and went into the kitchen to get the first course.

"So, Shining Armour, just how old are you?", the queen asked.

"Almost seventeen ma'am."

"Oh, so you must be a very rebellious boy at home, hmm?"

"Dearest, please.", King Voce said to his wife.

"I'm sorry to disappoint, but I'm not that kind of teenager, ma'am."

"Oh really? Because from what Cadenza has told me, you seem like a real fractious boy!"

"I fought those goons because they attacked your daughter, ma'am!"

"Oh cut it with the ma'am malarkey, I can tell you already hate me!"

Cadence slammed her hand to the table, and silenced both of the quarrelling people. "Mother please, control yourself! He has done nothing wrong! Can't you give him the benefit of the doubt?", Cadence scolded. "I sure can.", King Voce said.

The wait staff returned to the dining hall with the soups. "Ah yes! Let's eat.", Cadence said. The waitors put a set of silverware and a bowl of soup in front of Shining. He unwrapped the napkin, and much to his horror, there was two forks and three spoons. FUCK! Celestia please burn me!" "Fuck", Shining whispered under his breath. He looked at the three identical-looking spoons on the table, and started to reach for one, than the other, until his hand just stopped.

"Come on Mr. Armour, aren't you hungry?", the queen sneered. Shining clenched his fist under the table, and wanted badly to punch a wall. It's the second one., Cadences voice said in his head.

Cadence?"

It's the second spoon, dummy. I told you to study!

Hold up, how are you even doing this?

Shining looked down to her other hand in her lap, and saw it glowing blue. Oh.

Get eating. I'm sorry for mother. She can be really horrible sometimes.

Shining grabbed the indicated spoon, and took a sip of the soup. "Yes, your highness, I am hungry, thank your for your concern.", Shining politely replied. King Voce was grinning at Shining over his spoon, silently telling Shining that he was okay.

The first course went by with little incident. Shining finished his soup, and silently waited for the main course. Two more, just another two. You got this! Cadences mother cast a disapproving look on Shining, and she signalled the wait staff again. "The lobster, please.", she said to the staff. Shining looked at her in shock. "What's the matter boy? Can't eat any more?" Cadence patted his shoulder, and looked at her mother hardly. "Yes, he can't eat that! If you would listen to me like father did when I talked about Shining you would know.." "That he's allergic to shellfish.", King Voce fininshed for his daughter.

"Lobster isn't shellfish!"

"Yes it is, dear."

"Well...but....fine, the beef then. Can you boyfriend eat that?"

Shining nodded, and damn near left the house then and there. "And bring me more wine!", the queen shouted. Shining looked to Cadence, and saw her eyes brimming in tears. She was furious with her mother's behaviour. "Hey, look at me.", Shining whispered to her. She looked at him, and put her gloved hand on his.

"I'm so sorry. She's always like this when I have friends over."

"Don't cry, it's alright. Imagine what my RGOTC instructor is like. I honestly expected your dad to be like this."

"No, he practically wants to get me laid and married.", she giggled.

"I'll be fine as long as your mother doesn't try to poison me again."

Cadence lightened up a little, and she never looked away from Shining. They were leaning in to kiss, but somebody dropped their glass on the marble floor. The two looked over to the disturbance, and saw King Voce with his face in his hand, and the queen looking very dangerously at Shining. "Oops! My bad.", she dramatically exclaimed.

"I'm so done with this.", Shining muttered. He placed his hand on Cadence's chin, and brought her back to his eyes. He leaned in and kissed Cadence passionately, right in front of the queen. Cadence was shocked at first, but her eyes eventually closed as the pleasure overtook her. Shining and Cadence separated, and he looked at the queen smugly.

"HOW DARE YOU!", she shouted.

"How dare I what? Kiss my girlfriend!", Shining shouted back.

"You slimy weasel! She is not some object of your affections!"

"But I can't pour my love into her anyway? Why? Because you want her with somebody who is of the same social caste as you? I'm sorry that I'm no prince, but I love your daughter anyway!"

Cadence was staring at Shining in disbelief. You...you love me?, she thought in his head. Shining rose to his feet, and looked at the ground. "I'm....I'm sorry your highnesses. I'll leave now.", Shining apologized. He walked out of the dining hall, and back to the front door.

Cadence allowed the tears to flow freely now. "I hope your happy!", she shouted at her mother.

"Happy? I'm elated that that fool is gone. How dare he yell at a queen!"

"He was sick of you giving him Tartarus! Can you blame him? He just wanted to eat dinner with me, but NO!, he had to put up with your constant....constant....SHIT!"

The queen looked at her daughter with anger, and the king only sighed. "Jenkins. Bring the boy back.", he muttered to the butler. "Right away, sir."

Shining was walking along the path to the gate, tears falling down his face. He was angry, he was embarrassed, and over all, he was ashamed. "Urgh! CELESTIA DAMN IT!", he shouted. He picked up a near-by rock, and hurled it into the street.

"You know.", a voice behind Shining said, "you forgot the flowers." Shining turned to look at the butler from before. "Just say they're from me. I can't go back in there.", Shinning moped. The butler cam to stand next to Shining. "You know, Cadence has never had a boyfriend before. I personally like you a lot.", he said. The butler handed Shining the floweres and a key.

"A key?", Shining asked. The butler nodded. "It's the key to Cadence's room. Chances are she'll be locked in there crying. Go be with her. I will handle the king and queen.",the butler smiled. Shining closed his hand around they key, and gulped. "Alright. Let's go."

"Your highnesses. Mr. Armour has already departed.", the butler said to the king and queen, who were still at the table. The queen snorted, and the king put his head in his hands. "Alright, thank you Jenkins. You can have the night off.", the king said. "Thank you sir."

Shining had made it past the dining hall with out people noticing him. Jenkins exited, and walked over to him. "Third story, door at the end of the hall.", he whispered. He began to walk away, but stopped and returned to Shining. "Oh! And just in case.", he said. He handed Shining a sealed plastic packet. Shining almost dropped it in surprise. "Are you fucking kidding me man?! A condom?", Shining severely whispered. Jenkins only chuckled, and walked away. Shining deposited the protection into his pocket, and went to the designated room.

Shining heard a muffled crying from the room. He pulled out the key, and put it into the lock. "Cadence?", he asked. He opened the door, and saw Cadence sitting on her bed in some flannel PJ's. "Shining? What are you doing here?", she asked him. Shining closed the door behind him, and presented the flowers to Cadence. Her eyes lit up at the sigh of them.

"Oh, Shining, thy're beautiful!", she exclaimed. She went up and hugged him, and Shining went a little rigid. He felt two small mounds poking him in the chest. No bra! NO BRA!, his mental warning system warned. Upon receiving the warning, his member decided to go to attack position, making the whole hug even more awkward. "What's the matter?", Cadence asked.

"N-nothing. Look, I'm sorry about my whole outburst at dinner. I acted like a real fool.", Shining shamefully admitted. Cadence put a finger over his lips to shush him. "I don't care why you yelled. My mom can be a real bitch sometimes. I can't blame you for getting mad.", she said to him. She returned to her bed and sat down. "I was gonna watch a movie. Care to join me?", she asked. She patted the bed next to her.

He sat next to her, only for her to push him onto the opposite side of the bed. Se crawled next to him, and put her head on his shoulder. She smiled and kissed his cheek. "So what do you want to watch?", she asked happily. Shining put his hand to his chin in deep thought. His eyes lit up at a possible idea. "Why not The Notebook?"

The two sweethearts lied on Cadence's bed as they watched the time-old classic romance together. Soon seconds evolved into minutes, and minutes to hours. The two had passed out only half-way through the film, and were snuggling with each other.

King Voce had thought that it was time enough now to talk to Cadence about what had happened. He went to her room, and slowly opened the door. Much to his surprise, the two were lying on her bed, arms wrapped around each other. He finally felt that sense of accomplishment that he had been expecting for a while now. There was his daughter in the arms of a boy who had snuck in to see her. He only smiled as he left the two to their rest. He was leaving, but something caught his eye. On Cadence's night stand was a bouquet of white roses, and a electric blue packet.

He laughed and stole the packet. "I have to get onto Jenkins about dishing these things out." He pocketed it, and walked downstairs. Jenkins was in the lounge, reading a large book. King Voce cleared his throat, and Jenkins turned to look at him. "Yes sir?", he asked. "You had said that Shining Armour had departed, didn't you?"

"Yes sir."

"So why is my daughter up in her room, in bed, sleeping next to him?"

"Perhaps he snuck in through window?"

"Or one butler who happened to like her date let him over my head."

"That's entirely possible sir." He had a small grin on his face.

"Thank you, Jenkins. You're a dime-a-dozen."

"Thank you sir for not firing me."

King Voce turned to leave the lounge, but he was stopped by Jenkins clearing his throat. "By sleeping next to each other.....?", he asked. The question was open-ended and vaguw, but the king got the message and and clear.

"Heh, at least their clothes are still on.", he murmured..

Author's Note

Song lyric not related.............

WHEN SHE GIVES YOU AFFECTION, YOU BETTER WEAR PROTECTION. THAT SKANK MIGHT HAVE HAVE AN INFECTION, ARE YOU PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION? IN SEX-ED (IN SEX-ED), REMEMBER WHAT YOU READ. GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEAD, USE YOUR BRAIN BEFORE YOU GO TO BED!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_6ItxioUco