The Marvelous Misadventures of Shining Armor and the CMC

Chapters

Chapter 2: New Filly in Town
Chapter 3: And Shining Armor Makes Four
Chapter 4: Here Come the Police Fillies
Chapter 5: Gleaming Shield's First Day of School
Chapter 7: Things Can't Get Any Worse, Right?
Chapter 8: An Evening With Princess Cadence
Chapter 9: Princess Cadence is in Town!
Chapter 10: The "Date"
Chapter 11: The Return of the Prince
Epilogue
Chapter 1: Everything Goes Wrong
Chapter 6: Gleaming Shield and The Crusaders Have a Sleepover

Chapter 2: New Filly in Town

The spell sent Shining Armor wheeling backwards, knocking him hard against the wall on the other side of the room; all the while jolts of magic ravaged his body, causing Shining Armor to spasm violently. When the shaking finally subsided, Shining Armor attempted to stand, but his body was still numb from the surge of magic and he toppled over onto his stomach.

“Shining Armor,” Twilight called from somewhere across the room, “are you alri…oh sweet Celestia, what have I done?”

Shining Armor’s eyes shot open and sought out Twilight; she had a terrified look on her face that worried the trembling stallion.

“Twi?” he said, his voice straining as he struggled to pull himself to his hooves. “Twi, what is it? What’s…” Shining Armor’s hoof shot up to his mouth as if to hold his words back. The voice that came out still wasn’t his own, yet it was different than it had been moments ago; while his colt voice had sounded high pitched and childish, it still had a masculine tone to it. This new voice sounded almost girly. No, thought Shining Armor, that’s ridiculous, I must have bumped my head when the spell hit me. But just to be sure, Shining Armor ran over to check himself out in the mirror that Twilight had conjured.

The pony in the mirror was very similar to the colt from before, but this one was smaller, with a sleeker build, his eyes were wider with longer, more prominent lashes, and the mane and tail were longer and lighter shades of blue than they had been when he was a stallion.

Shining Armor turned to face his sister, but she wouldn’t look him in the eyes. She didn’t, he thought as an awful realization came to mind. He looked back at the mirror horror struck, not wanting to believe what he saw. Then again, it could have all been just a trick of the mind caused by the shock of the magic that had angrily coursed through him, but there was really only one way of knowing the truth. Shining Armor nervously reached a hoof down between his hind legs, gingerly searching for something that should have been there, something that every colt and stallion would have. Then, he collapsed on the floor, tears welling up in his eyes; it was true.

“A f-filly,” he said through chocked sobs, “you changed me into a filly!?”

“I’m so so sorry big brother, I was distracted,” Twilight hastily tried to explain. “Just as I was starting the spell, I saw my friends’ little sisters outside. I tried to stop, I really did, but it was too late. I guess the combination of you concentrating on what you’re supposed to look like, and me picturing those three fillies must have been what caused you to change into a female version of yourself.”

Twilight watched Shining Armor wipe away his tears and trot irritably around the room.

“I can change you back, Shining Armor, I just need to cast a spell that should remove any spell you’re under.”

Shining Armor stopped his pacing and glared at his sister.

“Why didn’t you cast that spell instead.”

Twilight gave her brother an apologetic look.

“Actually, I hadn’t even thought about it until now. But it doesn’t really matter because-”

“No, please, you don’t have to explain, just cast the spell already.”

Twilight shook her head.

“You don’t understand Shining Armor, the spell I have in mind is very old, and written in Ancient Equestrian; it’s going to take me time just to translate it.”

“How much time?”

Twilight hesitated, too afraid to answer.

“Twi, how long do I have to stay like this?”

“About a week.” She gave her brother a weak, unconvincing smile.

Shining Armor started storming around the room again.

“Great!” he shouted in his little filly voice. “Just great; I had hoped to come here for a nice relaxing vacation and what happens? I get turned into a little filly. And now you’re tell me that I’m supposed to stay like this for a whole week!?”

The purple Alicorn sat beside her brother and put a foreleg around him in an attempt to calm him down.

“Hey now, it’s alright Shining Armor; sure, your body may have changed, but you’re still my big brother.” She gave her brother a more reassuring smile. “And, you can still have fun while you’re here; I might be busy, but that shouldn’t stop you from going out and enjoying yourself.”

“Yeah right, like I would ever want anypony to see me like-”

Shining Armor stopped when he heard the sound of hooves urgently knocking on the library door.

“Oh no, hide me.” He dove behind Twilight. “I can’t let anypony see me like this.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled at her brother.

“Relax big brother, no one would be able to recognize you looking like that.”

But that didn’t stop Shining Armor from diving under the table just as the door burst open and three young fillies bolted into the library.

“Quick Scootaloo, go check the window” said the earth pony with the red bow in her hair.

The second filly, a little orange pegasus, nodded and rushed over to a chair under a window, jumped up on it and pressed her face against the glass, frantically searching outside for something.

“Well,” the third, a purple and pink maned unicorn chimed in, “Is she out there?”

“I don’t see her.” Scootaloo said, returning to her friends. “Whew, that was close, wasn’t it girls?”

“Close? Close!? We wouldn’t have needed to run if you’d been watchin’ where you were drivin’ yer scooter.” The earth pony chided.

“Come on Apple Bloom, that wasn’t my fault.” The little pegasus glared at her friend. “Roseluck should have been watching where she was going with her cart. Right Sweetie Belle?”

Both fillies stared expectantly at the little unicorn who shook her head furiously.

“Oh no, don’t you two go dragging me into this.”

While the two fillies fought, Shining Armor watched from the safety of his hiding place under the table. As soon as he had seen the trio, he instantly knew who they were: the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Although he had only ever met them once, over a year ago during his wedding, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo had been a topic of interest in a few of the letters that Twilight had sent him since she had moved to Ponyville.

At one point, Shining Armor thought Apple Bloom had seen him, but she must have just missed him because she never ceased bickering with her friend. Still, it had scared him into readjusting his hiding place under the table.

On the other side of the room, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo continued to argue until a voice from behind them made all three fillies jump.

“Can I help you?” Twilight asked as she approached the three ponies.

“Oh, hey Twilight,” said Apple Bloom cheerfully, seeming to forget her feud with Scootaloo. “Sorry for bargin’ in on you like this, we were just lookin’ for a place to hide from Roseluck; she’s mighty sore with us for crashin’ into her flower cart. The library was the closest buildin’ to us, so we decided to hunker down here ‘til she decided to give up the chase.”

Twilight frowned at the three fillies.

“Did you at least apologize to Roseluck before you ran from her?”

All three fillies shifted around in a nervous silence.

“Well, you see, we would have but…no, we didn’t’” Sweetie Belle finally admitted. “She was scowling and yelling at us. We were scared, so we ran away.”

“We thought if we gave her some time, she might forget and not be mad at us anymore,” added Scootaloo.

“Girls, you know that isn’t the responsible thing to do.” Twilight said in a lecturing voice.

“Yeah, we know,” the Crusaders said with a unified sigh.

“Come on girls,” said Apple Bloom in a gloomy voice as she started for the door, “let’s go and tell Roseluck that we’re sorry.” The other two nodded and they followed their friend.

That’s it, thought Shining Armor, just a few more steps and I’m in the clear. But just as Apple Bloom was about to open the door, a small bit of dust, which had been disturbed from all of Shining Armor’s shifting, found it’s way up his nose, forcing the poor faux filly to sneeze.

“What was that?” Apple Bloom asked, as she turned around to face the direction where she thought she heard the sound come from?”

“What was what?” Twilight said nervously; she felt beads of sweat begin to trickle down her face.

“That sneezin’ sound; is there somepony else in here?”

“Nuh-uh, nope, nopony else here. That was just me,” Twilight gave a fake sneeze in order to cover up for her brother. “Oh, excuse me; I must have allergies or something. Anyway, you three best be-”

“Hang on,” Sweetie Belle said, inching towards the table, her eyes landing on the small, lumpy shadow that was Shining Armor’s rump sticking out from behind one of the large table legs, “who’s under there?”

There was no fighting it; Shining Armor had been found out. Slowly, he got to his hooves and walked out from under the table.

"Oh there you are!" Twilight said as she rushed over to her brother. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

“Hello,” said Sweetie Belle as she trotted over to meet Shining Armor. “Who are you?”

Shining Armor’s eyes shifted nervously.

“My name’s Shi-”

“SHIELD!” Twilight said a little too excitedly. “Her name is, uh, Gleaming Shield. She’s my, uh, little cousin visiting from Canterlot; she’s going to be staying with me for a little while.”

“Well howdy Gleamin’ Shield,” Apple Bloom said as she took Shining Armor’s hoof in both of her’s and rapidly shook it, “Pleased to meet’cha. My name’s Apple Bloom, and this here’s Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. And we’re-”

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders!” All three fillies shouted in unison and gave each other a three-way high hoof.

“Our mission,” Scootaloo continued, “is to do anything and everything until we find our special talents and earn our cutie marks.”

Shining Armor just stood there, staring at the three fillies who were giving him their most welcoming smiles.

Suddenly Sweetie Belle let loose a loud, excited gasp.

“Hey,” she said, walking around to Shining Armor's rump. “You don’t have your cutie mark either.”

Shining Armor whipped his head around and stared at his flank; sure enough it had remained as blank as it had when Twilight first changed him into a colt.

“Hey yeah,” said Apple Bloom. “Since you’re a blank flank too, why don’t you join our organization.”

“I, uh, I d-don’t-”

“Yeah, come on Gleaming Shield,” Scootaloo said, wrapping a foreleg around Shining Armor’s and pulling him towards the door. “It’ll be fun; while you’re here, we’ll go on some awesome adventures. And since you're new in town, we can even give you the grand tour; we’ve been all over Ponyville looking for opportunities to find our special talents, so nopony knows this town better than we do.”

“B-but I…” Shining Armor turned to his sister and gave her a pleading look, but she just smiled back.

“Don’t be shy Gleaming Shield,” she said, “you should go with them. I’m going to be here for a while working on that special project we were talking about, and I know you’ll just be bored being stuck sitting around inside all week.”

Shining Armor suddenly felt two more sets of hooves holding onto him, moving him towards the door.

“Come on girls,” said Apple Bloom leading the way, “let’s do our very best to show Twilight’s cousin all the amazin’ things there is to do in Ponyville; maybe we’ll even get our cutie marks as tour guides.”

“Cutie Mark Crusaders Tour Guides, Yay!” the three chirped.

“Have fun you four,” Twilight said as the fillies made their way out of the library with her brother. “Just make sure that Gleaming Shield is home in time for dinner.”

“We will,” the Cutie Mark Crusaders called back in unison.

When the fillies were gone, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as she trotted back to her worktable where she sat and began levitating various books off of her bookshelves and leafed through them, placing the appropriate ones on the table and the others in a neat stack beside her.

I’m sorry Shining Armor, she thought, I’m so so sorry. I didn’t mean to send you off like that, but I need absolute concentration in order to prepare this spell properly; I just wouldn’t be able to finish my work with you moping around all week. She looked out the window and saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders racing by, and Shining Armor, who had finally given into his fate, walking slowly behind the happy trio. Don’t worry B.B.B.F.F., I promise that I’ll change you back as soon as possible, just please, hang in there, just for a little while.

Author's Note

So did a round of changes to chapter two, particularly to the beginning of the chapter (when I originally posted this chapter, I had a little more that I wanted to add because I thought the scene would be too short without it). But it's very late where I am so I might tackle it again tomorrow when I'm more awake.

Round two of changes: I addressed a minor plot hole regarding why it would take a while for Twilight to prepare the spell for use. I think this should be an acceptable explanation.

Chapter 3: And Shining Armor Makes Four

“Now where should we go first,” Apple Bloom said as she led Shining Armor and the other Crusaders through Ponyville. There were so many different buildings and sights to see, it was impossible for the filly to choose a place start.

“Let’s see,” said Sweetie Belle, “We could show her Ponyville Tower; that’s supposed to be a big tourist attraction.”

Scootaloo shook her head.

“The clock tower? You’re joking, right?” she said. “There’s nothing cool about the clock tower. If we really want to show Gleaming Shield something awesome, we should take her to watch R-”

“We’re not goin’ to watch Rainbow Dash again,” said Apple Bloom with a roll of the eyes, “that’s what you chose for us to do yesterday.”

“Come on you two, don’t start fighting again,” Sweetie Belle interjected, “we’re supposed to be showing Gleaming Shield a good time.” She thought for a moment, “maybe we should ask her what she wants to do.”

“Good idea Sweetie Belle.” Apple Bloom said. “Hey Gleamin’ Shield, wha…” but their new friend wasn’t there. The three fillies searched the area, finally finding Shining Armor trudging along a short distance behind them.

“Hey Gleamin’ Shield, is somethin’ wrong?” Apple Bloom asked as she ran up to Shining Armor and saw the disdainful look on his face. “Gleamin’ Shield?”

Shining Armor snapped out of his thoughts as the three fillies approached him.

“Huh, oh, uh, sorry, I just, um, had something on my mind.”

“Oh, Ah’m sorry,” Apple Bloom said, “Anything you wanna talk about?”

Shining Armor shook his head.

“No, it’s nothing," he said, closing his eyes, and taking a deep breath, trying to push the horrible transformation experience he had just undergone to the back of his mind. “I’m sorry, what were you three just talking about?”

“Well, we couldn’t decide on what we wanted to show you first, so we just wanted to know if there was anythin' you would be interested in seein'.”

Shining Armor thought for a moment. Though he had never been to Ponyville before, and he hadn’t the slightest idea what the town had to offer, he was more than happy to take that lead from the three fillies; it came from years of being the captain of Princess Celestia’s royal guard. However, before he was able to open his mouth, a low rumbling sound answered for him.

“Well I guess I know what we’re gonna do first,” Apple Bloom said with a light laugh. “It sounds like you’re a mite hungry.”

It was true, Shining Armor was starving. The only thing that he had had to eat all day was the quick breakfast of toast and oatmeal that he had made before he boarded the train for Ponyville. He had meant to grab bite to eat with Twilight, but being turned into a filly and being forced to tour the city with a strange trio of little ponies got in the way of being able to satisfy his appetite.

“Yeah, I could go for some food,” he said, blushing as his stomach growled again, much louder than the first. “Where’s the best place to get food around here?”

The Crusaders didn’t even have to think about it.

“Sugarcube Corner,” they sang in unison. The three fillies grabbed hold of Shining Armor and started leading him down the street until they came to a stop in front of a shop that resembled a rather large, ornate gingerbread house.

The four little ponies made their way into the shop and chose a table in a corner near a window. With each breath he took, Shining Armor’s nose was filled with the increasingly strong scent of various baked goods. It wasn’t as off-putting as he had first thought it would be; rather, each distinct smell was so delicious, Shining Armor felt trickles of saliva escaping from between his lips. He quickly wiped the drool away with a hoof as a plump blue mare with a bubblegum mane walked up to them.

“Hello there dearies,” she said with a wide smile. She looked over each of the familiar fillies, until her eyes landed on Shining Armor. “Oh, you’re a new face. And who might you be?”

“This is Gleaming Shield,” said Sweetie Belle. “She’s Twilight’s cousin visiting from Canterlot.”

“She’s a blank flank just like us,” Scootaloo added, “so we thought she would like to hang out with us and join in our Crusade to earn our cutie marks.”

“Oh how lovely,” the mare said with another big smile. “Well, welcome to Sugarcube Corner dear. My name is Cup Cake, and that scrawny stallion behind the counter is my husband Carrot Cake.”

Shining Armor looked over at the front counter where a skinny orange stallion with a messy mane and red bowtie was counting out change and passing it to a customer along with what Shining Armor assumed was a cake in a bright pink box.

“Now what can I get for you today dearies?” Mrs. Cake asked, looking from one filly to the next.

“I’ll take a triple cocoa deluxe,” said Scootaloo, with an excited grin.

“And I’ll have a piece of the Apple Spice Cake,” said Apple Bloom. She quickly turned to Shining Armor and whispered, “their Apple Spice Cake’s pretty good, but it don’t hold a hoof to my big sis’.”

Shining Armor and Apple Bloom both giggled.

“And what about you Sweetie Belle?” Mrs. Cake asked the other unicorn.

“I want a strawberry short cake with extra cream and extra strawberries please,” said the little filly in her sweet sing-songy voice.

“OK, and what would you like Gleaming Shield?” Mrs. Cake asked as she finally reached Shining Armor.

Shining Armor froze; how was he supposed to know what he wanted? Unlike the other three, he had never been to Sugarcube Corner before and had no idea what the small bakery had to offer.

“I’m afraid I wouldn’t know,” he finally said, “what would you recommend?”

“Hmmm,” the mare took a moment to think over their menu, “We do have a triple berry cheese cake that is to die for.”

Shining Armor thought it over; that actually sounded delicious. Finally this day was starting to look up.

“That would be awesome,” he said, giving the mare a polite smile.

“Alright, Pinkie Pie will be out with your orders in just a few moments.”

Shining Armor felt his heart stop. No, he thought, not Pinkie Pie; she was one of his sister’s best friends. While the Cutie Mark Crusaders would have never been able to recognize him for who he really was, Pinkie Pie tended to have a keen sense about things, almost like she knew something that nopony else did. But then again, the transformation had been so perfect, he was sure that even his own parents wouldn’t have recognized him.

“Hey Gleaming Shield,” Sweetie Belle said, “you’ve been really quiet since we met you; why don’t you tell us a little about yourself.” All three fillies leaned in expectantly.

Shining Armor just stared back at them. He wasn’t expecting this; he had hoped that he might be able to get through the day without having to talk, but of course that was too much to ask for.

“Like Twilight said, I’m her little cousin and I come from Canterlot.”

The three fillies didn’t look satisfied with his answer.

“And?” Scootaloo said, attempting to prompt their new friend to say more.

“Well, uh…” Shining Armor looked out the window, trying to think up something to say. That was when he saw a cream colored mare pulling a cart full of bouquets that seemed to have been haphazardly crammed inside.

“Hey, uh, is that the mare you ran into earlier?” Shining Armor said, trying to turn their attention away from himself.

The three fillies followed his gaze.

“Yeah,” said Apple Bloom, “that’s Roseluck.”

“Looks like she was able to pick up all her flowers by herself,” Scootaloo added.

“Guess we won’t have to go apologize to her,” Sweetie Belle said with a sigh of relief.

Shining Armor frowned at the Crusaders.

“Hey, that’s not right,” he chided. “You crashed into her; don’t you feel bad about that?”

All three Crusaders looked down, guilty looks on their faces.

“We do,” Sweetie Belle said, while both of her friends nodded their agreement.

“Then you should go say you’re sorry.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” said Apple Bloom. The three little fillies got down from their seats and walked towards the door.

Just as the Crusaders exited Sugarcube Corner, a pink pony bounced towards the table, a large tray of cakes balanced perfectly on the top of her head. When she reached the table, she bowed her head, allowing the tray to slide off onto the table in front of Shining Armor.

“Here we go,” Pinkie Pie said in the most cheerful voice Shining Armor had ever heard. “Scootaloo’s triple cocoa deluxe, Applebloom’s Apple Spice Cake, and Sweetie Belle’s Strawberry Shortcake with extra cream, extra strawberry goodness. That means this one must be…” Pinkie Pie stared quizzically at the faux filly.

“Have we met before? You seem awfully familiar.”

Shining Armor felt little beads of sweat dripping down the back of his neck as he gave her the most innocent little filly smile he could muster.

“I d-don’t think so,” he stuttered nervously, “you l-look like the type of p-pony one would remember.”

“I am,” Pinkie said rather absent mindedly as she continued examining the little pony sitting in front of her. “I also remember everypony I meet. What did you say your name was again?”

“Gleaming Shield,” he said, though he didn’t remember her ever asking his name in the first place.

The pink pony thought for a moment, searching deep in her memory for the name.

“Gleaming Shield, Gleaming Shield…nope I don’t know any Gleaming Shield. Huh, and I was pretty sure that I’d seen you someplace before; I guess my memory must be-”

“Pinkie,” Mrs. Cake called from the kitchen, “I need you back in here to help me with these cupcakes."

“Okie dokie lokie, Mrs. Cake” Pinkie sang back to her employer. “I’m sorry, usually I’d throw you party right away to welcome you to Ponyville, and help us become best friends, but I have to get back to work; we’re so busy busy busy that it’s making me dizzy dizzy dizzy.” She did a little twirl, smiled once more at Shining Armor, then trotted away singing a happy little song.

As soon as the coast was clear, Shining Armor clenched his chest with a hoof, trying to keep his rapidly beating, filly sized heart from bursting through his rib cage; that had been way too close. He wasn’t sure if his innocent filly act had been overly convincing, but he guessed it had been good enough to trick Pinkie Pie. Shining Armor smiled at his slightly increasing luck. If I can keep this up, he thought, nopony will ever realize that I’m actually a prince; I might just make it through this.

Shining Armor sighed happily and turned his attention to the triple berry cheesecake that had been placed in front of him; the more he looked at it, the louder the growling that came from his stomach. He looked out the window and saw the Crusaders in the distance being scolded by the cream colored mare. Normally he would have remembered his manners and waited for his hosts to return to the table, but he was so hungry that he would have keeled over if he didn’t eat something now.

Out of instinct, Shining Armor searched the table for something to eat the cake with; back home he would have been given a fork to eat his meals, but not here. It was common for small town eateries to not include utensils with meals unless somepony (usually a unicorn, who could eat by levitating the forks and spoons with their magic) requested some. This was because most ponies didn’t use them. During his time in the royal guard Shining Armor had frequented many places like this one, so it was something he was used to.

Slowly, he brought his head down to his plate and took a small bite of his cake. Shining Armor’s eyes went wide as the combined flavors of blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries, along with the sweet taste of the cake tickled his taste buds; it was the most delicious cheesecake he had ever eaten. The chefs in the crystal empire were very skilled, but none of them could touch a hoof to what these small town bakers had created. As Shining Armor helped himself to more of the delectable cheesecake, he couldn’t help but think that when he finally got his body back, he would have to return and ask for the recipe, or at the very least, a cake that he could take home and share with Cadence.

When he was finished with his cheese cake, Shining Armor leaned against the wall, feeling very full; usually a piece of cake like that would never have been enough to satisfy the stallion, whose appetite was unusually large due to the physical training regimen that he had kept up since his academy days. Now that he was in the body of a little filly, however, he found that he was so full, he thought he might not be able to eat dinner when he got back to the library. Breathing a sigh of contentment, Shining Armor closed his eyes, allowing the cake to digest.

As he slowly opened his eyes again, he looked out the open window and saw a pair of fillies trotting by, followed closely by two unicorn colts, both with a bouquet of flowers levitating behind their backs.

“Come on Diamond Tiara,” said the shorter of the two colts, “won’t you at least consider being my very special somepony?”

The pink filly turned and advanced on the colt, rage burning in her eyes.

“Why can’t you two take a hint; Silver Spoon and I are not interested in you two.”

The grey filly walked up to Diamond Tiara and wrapped a foreleg around her friend.

“Come on Diamond Tiara, these two morons aren’t worth our time,” she said, trying to pull her friend back in the direction they had been walking.

The pink filly took a calming breath and started following Silver Spoon.

“You know,” said the taller colt, “You two might be more happy if you weren’t so grouchy.”

That was it; in a flash, the tall yellow colt was lying on the ground with Diamond Tiara sitting on his chest, her pink little hooves wailing against his face.

“You two are the most annoying colts I have ever met,” Diamond Tiara said with each blow of her hoof. “Get it through your thick skulls, I am not, nor will I ever be in love with either of you.”

“Hey get off of him,” shouted the short round colt. He tried to pull Diamond Tiara off his friend, but only succeeded in getting one of her elbows in his face, knocking him to the ground.

Shining Armor had seen enough. Before he knew what he was doing, he dove out of the open window and wrapped his forelegs around the abrasive filly. It took all the strength he could muster, but he was finally able to wrestle Diamond Tiara off of the poor, crying colt.

“What do you think you’re doing, hitting a defenseless foal like that?” He asked the fuming filly.

“None of your business,” Diamond Tiara scowled, giving Shining Armor her most wicked glare. “Why don’t you run along back home to your mommy before you end up just like him.”

But Shining Armor was unfazed by the filly’s attempts at intimidation; he had faced far more fearsome foes during his years in the royal guard.

“No,” Shining Armor shouted; as happy as he had been moments before, the whole transformation episode had put a lot of stress on the stallion, causing his emotions to run rampant. “I’m not going anywhere until you apologize to these poor colts.”

Diamond Tiara sneered at Shining Armor.

“And just what are you going to do about it, you little blank flank?”

Shining Armor closed his eyes and started concentrating. He didn’t want to hurt the little fillies, just subdue them. It took a lot of effort, but he eventually felt the overly familiar sensation of magic start building up at the base of his horn. Though he wasn’t the prodigy Twilight was, he was still more skilled in magic than most of the stallions who joined the royal guard; that was what gained him the captain’s seat at such a young age.

When he opened his eyes though, he saw the two fillies rolling around in a fit of laughter. It took him a minute to figure out what had happened to make them do so until one of Diamond Tiara pointed at a hoof at his horn; instead of glowing in its usual bright magenta aura, beads of magic coursed lazily like a like a little stream from the base to the tip, dripping off and vanishing before they could land on his face. Shining Armor blushed; this sort of thing used to happen to him all the time when he was a colt.

No magic, he thought, great. Thanks again Twilight.

The two fillies, still laughing hysterically, picked themselves up and started walking away.

“Come on Silver Spoon,” Diamond Tiara said as she fixed her little crown which had come askew while she was attacking the tall colt, “you were right, these foals aren’t even worth our time.” She stopped and turned, glaring at the two colts. “And I don’t ever want to see you two following us ever again! Got that?” When the colts gave her a hasty nod, the fillies turned and trotted away.

Shining Armor turned his attention to the two colts who were still slowly picking themselves off of the ground.

“Are you alright?” He asked as he extended a hoof to taller colt who was still struggling to get on his hooves.

“Yeah,” he said in a rather slow, droning voice. “I’m fi…” he froze mid sentence, and his face turned a bright crimson as he stared at who had helped him. “I, I, I…I have to go now.” He got up on his hooves and started galloping away. “Come on Snips.” He called back.

The short blue colt picked himself up and started chasing after his friend as fast as his stubby little legs could carry him.

“Wait for me Snails.”

Shining Armor watched in confusion as the two colts ran away.

“What was that all about?” he thought out loud.

No sooner had the colts turned the corner onto another street than the Cutie Mark Crusaders came running up to meet their new friend.

“Woo wee, that sure was somthin’ Gleamin’ Shield,” Apple Bloom said as she gave Shining Armor a congratulatory slap on the back.

“Something? That was one of the coolest things I’d ever seen,” added Scootaloo, her little wings buzzing, suspending her for a few seconds as she jumped in excitement. “I’ve never seen anyone take on Diamond Tiara like that. Where did you learn those awesome moves?”

“Huh, oh, I was just doing what I was trained to do if I ever saw somepony in trouble.” Shining Armor blushed slightly at their praise; those hadn’t even been his best moves. Since becoming a prince, he hadn’t had many opportunities to use what he had learned in basic training, so he had become a little rusty in his ability to apprehend wrong doers.

“Wait a minute,” Sweetie Belle said, “You were trained to do that?”

Shining Armor gulped; he’d said a bit too much.

“Wow,” said Scootaloo, her eyes filling with wonder, “so that must mean your father must be, like, a guardspony or something.”

“Uh, yeah, he is.” Shining Armor breathed easy; they hadn’t caught on.

“Hmmm,” said Apple Bloom, deep in thought. “That gives me an idea.” She waved a hoof to her friends. “Come on girls, let’s get goin’ to the club house.”

“The club house?” Sweetie Belle asked. “But what about the tour? We only showed Gleaming Shield Sugarcube Corner; shouldn’t we show her around town a little more before going to the club house?”

“There’ll be plenty of time for a tour later. We’ve got somethin’ more important to do right now.” Apple Bloom wrapped a fore leg around Shining Armor. “We gotta get this filly initiated.”

…

Shining Armor stared in awe as the four little ponies reached the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse.

A tree house, he thought, excitement coursing through his veins. He had always wanted a tree house as a colt; unfortunately he had grown up in the city, and there weren’t many trees that were big enough to build one in. Of course, the modest structure was nothing compared to the crystal castle that he now called home, but there was something about getting to live a foalhood dream that put a spring in Shining Armors step as he trotted up the ramp behind the little fillies.

“Welcome to the Cutie Mark Crusader’s club house,” said Apple Bloom quite proudly. “I know it’s probably not quite what you’re used to, what with you bein’ from Canterlot an’ all, but-”

Shining Armor shook his head.

“This is awesome,” Shining Armor said as he took in the room. “I always wanted a tree house when I was a foal.”

Sweetie Belle giggled.

“Technically you’re still kind of a foal, silly,” she said, “I mean, you can’t be older than us, since you still don’t have your cutie mark yet.”

Shining Armor blushed; he had almost given himself away again.

“Anyway,” Apple Bloom continued, “the reason we’ve brought you here today is because we want you as a member of our group. Of course, you would just be an honorary member while you’re staying here, but we hope that when you return to Canterlot you might start up a branch of the Cutie Mark Crusaders there.”

All three Crusaders gave Shining Armor their widest smiles.

“So Gleaming Shield, what do you think?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Shining Armor didn’t know what to think; while he knew that this transformation would only last a week, and that he wouldn’t be traveling back to Canterlot any time soon, he got the distinct impression that these troublesome fillies would be very persistent until he agreed to join them.

“I, uh, suppose I could,” he said, flashing what he felt was an unconvincing smile. The Crusaders cheered, apparently satisfied with his response.

“Sweetie Belle, if you’d please,” Apple Bloom said.

The little white filly cleared her throat and unraveled a very long scroll.

“We the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” she read, “elect Gleaming Shield to join us as a sister, friend, confidant…” Sweetie Belle stopped speaking and started quickly scanning the paper. “Scootaloo, I thought you said you rewrote this.”

The little pegasus held a hoof to her face.

“If you don’t like it Sweetie Belle, then why don’t you just make something up,” she said.

Sweetie Belle tossed the scroll aside, thankful that she wouldn’t have to continue reading from it.

“Gleaming Shield, today you showed courage in the face of true evil, and stood up for those who could not protect themselves. It is because of those qualities that we are honored to welcome you into our organization as a fellow Cutie Mark Crusader.” The other two fillies cheered as Sweetie Belle presented Shining Armor with a crudely crafted red cape bearing the Crusaders’ crest of a blue shield adorned with a little gold pony.

“With this cape you are forever recognized as a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders; we welcome you to join us on our quest to find our cutie marks.”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo each wrapped a foreleg around Shining Armor’s neck.

“Three cheer’s for the newest member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders: Gleamin’ Shield,” Apple Bloom shouted. “Hip hip-”

“Hooray!”

“Hip hip-”

“Hooray!”

“Hip hip-”

“Hooray!”

The three fillies laughed, even Shining Armor, who had been having one of the worst days of his life joined in; though he was still unhappy with his situation, at least he would have something to keep his mind occupied while he waited. How bad could it be, he thought.

“This brings us to our next order of business,” Apple Bloom said. “Now that we have a new member, I think we should do somethin' special for our next adventure.”

“Oh yeah,” said Scootaloo, “you said you had an idea for what we should try next.”

“That’s right; seein’ Gleamin’ Shield in action today got me to thinkin’: there must be other ponies out there that need rescuin’. That why thought we should go around town doin’ what we can to protect the citizens of Ponyville.”

She can’t be saying what I think she’s saying, Shining Armor thought, that’s a horrib-

“That’s a great idea Apple Bloom,” said Scootaloo. “We’ll be like the-”

“Cutie Mark Crusaders law enforcers!”

“Yay,” the three fillies cheered with a three-way high hoof. Apple Bloom looked over to Shining Armor who was still standing uncertainly in place.

“Come on Gleamin’ Shield,” said Apple Bloom, “don’t be shy, you’re one of us now.”

Shining Armor looked at each filly, then slowly raised a hoof into the air and clapped it against the others.

“Yay,” he said halfheartedly, but in his mind, he couldn’t help thinking: What have I gotten myself into.

…

Back at Golden Oaks Library, Twilight was busily pouring through her copy of Ancient Equestrian: a Beginner’s Guide to the Dead Language of Our Ancestors, when she heard a knock on her door. She looked up from her book, feeling quite frustrated at having had her concentration broken, when another knock prompted her to jump up from the cushion she was sitting on and trot over to the door and wrench it open.

“Can I help yo – oh Pinkie Pie,” she said as the happy pink pony bounced her way into the library. “Come in. Would you like a cup of tea?’

“Hey Twilight,” Pinkie Pie said giving her friend a smile. “No thanks, I just came over because I wanted to ask you why your brother looks like a little filly and why he’s calling himself ‘Gleaming Shield’?”

The alicorn choked on her tea; had Pinkie just said what Twilight thought she said?

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“That’s funny because I was working over at Sugarcube Corner earlier and I saw him there sitting with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, and I thought 'hmmm, Shining Armor's a filly...what's up with that?' I figured that if anypony knew what had happened to him it would be-”

“OK, OK, Pinkie,” Twilight sighed. “It’s all my fault; I was trying to cast a spell and it went wrong, and now he’s a filly. Now Pinkie, please, you cannot tell anypony that this happened; if word gets out that the prince of the Crystal Empire is unable to perform his royal duties, it could lead to political unrest. Not only that, but if Celestia finds out I botched a spell like this, she could take away my wings.”

“That’s terrible Twilight,” Pinkie said, wearing her most concerned face. “Don’t you worry your pretty little feathers; I won’t say a thing about this to anypony.”

“Promise?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Pinkie promise?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief; if there was one thing in Equestria anypony could depend on, it was that Pinkie Pie would never in her life break a Pinkie promise.

“Thanks, Pinkie, that really means a lot to me and Shining Armor.”

“Oh no problem Twilight. Why I remember this one time when-”

“Yeah yeah," Twilight said, hastily trying to usher her friend out the door before the pink pony went into one of her long tales, "I’m sure it’s a great story, and I wish I had enough time to listen to you tell it, but I have to get back to translating this spell that will change Shining Armor back to normal.”

“That’s OK Twilight, I’ve gotta rush back to Sugarcube Corner; I kinda took off without telling the Cakes so that I could run over here and tell you what I saw. Bye bye.”

Before Twilight could say farewell to her friend, the pink mare darted outside, shutting the door behind her.

Twilight shook her head as she walked back to the table, picked up her book, and continued reading. She was right in telling Shining Armor that this was going to take a while; she had hardly made any progress all afternoon. She sighed and took another sip of her tea; this is going to be a long week, she thought. Little did she know that at roughly the same moment the same thought was racing through her brother’s little filly head.

Chapter 4: Here Come the Police Fillies

How did things turn out like this, Shining Armor thought as he sped through the streets of Ponyville with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle in a wagon being pulled behind Scootaloo’s little blue scooter. The Crusaders had said that they wanted to try getting their cutie marks as police officers, but he didn’t think they would take it so seriously.

…

When Shining Armor had woken up that morning, he found a bag on the floor by the table which contained a filly sized police uniform, complete with a polished silver badge, a set of toy hoofcuffs, and hat. What made Shining Armor’s jaw drop when he saw the uniform was the vast number of blue gems that had been sewn into the dark blue fabric.

Along with the uniform, there had been a letter that simply read:

Put this on and meet us at the clubhouse at 9 o’clock.

Mom, Dad, he had thought as he stared at himself in the mirror, fully dressed in the filly police uniform, I remember how proud you were of me when I first wore my cadet uniform for you. He gave a nervous laugh; I wonder what you would think if you saw your son now: a little filly, dressed in a costume, playing at police officer. The more he saw himself in the costume, the less he wanted to leave his room; the pony staring back at him reminded the poor prince of his missing stallionhood. But Twilight had told him that if he didn’t meet the Crusaders, they were just going to come to the library and drag him along with them.

“Better to just play the part of the new filly and go along with their plans,” his little sister had told him, “they might be energetic, but they’re really nice. Who knows, you might actually have fun.”

“Yeah, this is going to be so much fun,” he muttered as he left the library.

…

And that’s how Shining Armor ended up joining the Cutie Mark Crusaders on patrol, searching for somepony in need of help.

“See anything yet girls?” Scootaloo asked over the buzzing of her rapidly flapping wings that propelled them along.

“Nope,” said Apple Bloom. “Sweetie Belle?”

The little unicorn shook her head

“Nothing yet,” Sweetie Belle said with a pout. “It’s not fair, we finally have a good idea to get our cutie marks, and nopony’s in danger. I mean, where’s all the action?” The unicorn filly sighed as she turned to the newest member of their group. “What about you Gleaming Shield, have you seen anything?”

“Huh, oh, no, I haven’t seen anything yet,” Shining Armor said, although he hadn’t really been looking; instead of searching the streets for ponies in distress, he was busy examining his uniform, trying to keep his thoughts off of the body underneath it. As embarrassed as he was to be wearing filly clothes, he couldn’t help but admire the craftsmanship that went into the costume; it was almost as skillfully done as the official uniforms worn by the Canterlot police.

“Hey Sweetie Belle,” Shining Armor said, his mind temporarily distracted from his filly form, “where did you find these uniforms?”

“Oh, they were in my sister’s costume closet,” Sweetie Belle said, “I think they were from a play that she made costumes for back when she was still a schoolfilly.”

Shining Armor’s jaw dropped for the second time that day. These were made by a schoolfilly, he thought as he reexamined the costume, that’s impossible. Though he would never call himself a fashion expert, he would have thought that something this fine could have only been made by a master seamstress. But then again, this was Rarity’s work; if there was anypony who could have made something this impressive at such a young age, it would have been her.

“I just wish you could have found something a little less girly,” Scootaloo said, examining her own uniform, “These gemstones don’t exactly say ‘intimidating, police force’ do th-”

“Watch the road!” Apple Bloom shouted, directing Scootaloo’s attention back to the front just in time for her to avoid drifting into the side of Sugarcube Corner. Unfortunately, Scootaloo had jerked on her handlebars too harshly, and upset the wagon, dumping its occupants out onto the dirt road.

Scootaloo turned her scooter around to pick up her friends.

“Are you all ok?” She asked over the chorus of groans, as the little ponies lay scattered on the ground. Shining Armor was the first one on his hooves so he began helping the others up.

“You need to be more careful Scootaloo,” he said, “we could have been seriously hurt.”

“Oh it’s alright Gleamin’ Shield,” Apple Bloom said as Shining Armor helped her to her hooves. “We’ve been in worse accidents. I’m just glad we didn’t end up in the stream this time.” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle laughed.

Scootaloo, on the other hoof, did not find it as amusing.

“Well, I’m sorry,” she huffed, “sorry that I’ve been so nice this whole time, pulling you guys around on the back of my scooter. Maybe you’d like to walk inste-”

“Shhh,” Apple Bloom said, putting a hoof to Scootaloo’s lips. “Did ya’ll hear that? Sounds like somepony’s callin’ for help.”

All four ponies put their ears to the wind; sure enough, somewhere at the other end of the street, somepony was crying for help.

“Let’s go girls,” Apple Bloom said. The three ponies hopped back into the wagon and Scootaloo started flapping her wings again, propelling them in the direction the cries were coming from.

“Wee-woo, wee-woo, wee-woo,” Sweetie Belle began singing at the top of her lungs. Shining Armor gave the other unicorn a perplexed look.

“What in Equestria are you doing?” He asked.

“I’m the siren,” she said quite matter-of-factly, “since we’re police fillies, it’s important to let other ponies know to get out of the way so we don’t run them over on our way to fight crime.” Sweetie Belle didn’t wait for Shining Armor to react before resuming her “wee wooing.”

I guess that makes sense, Shining Armor thought as he looked around at the ponies who jumped out of the way with confused looks on their faces, it does seem to be working.

At long last, Scootaloo brought her scooter to a stop in front of small house near the edge of town. Without hesitation, the energetic pegasus jumped from her scooter and charged into the house, followed closely by her fellow Crusaders. The four ponies found themselves standing in a hall where a blonde maned pegasus mare was sitting on her rump, her front hooves covering her face, trying to hold back tears.

“What’s going on in here?” Scootaloo asked as she approached the mare, who jumped when she realized she wasn’t alone.

The mare looked up and smiled weakly at the fillies as they approached.

“Oh hello girls," she said, wiping away her tears. She took a moment to examine the four oddly dressed fillies. "What are you supposed to be today?”

“Police fillies ma’am,” Apple Bloom said, holding her little badge in the mare’s face.

“Oh thank goodness,” the mare said a little more cheerfully, “I need your help.”

“Hi Derpy,” Sweetie Belle said cheerfully as she smiled at the mare. The unicorn filly felt a slight nudge in her side and turned to see Scootaloo giving her a look which she took to mean remember why we’re here, “Oh yeah, uh, what seems to be the problem ma’am?” Sweetie Belle asked, trying her best to sound like a real police pony.

The mare wiped more tears from her eyes. Her eyes; Shining Armor quickly noticed that the two bright yellow orbs were very hard to follow as they looked off in different directions.

One of her eyes finally landed on the unfamiliar pony.

“Who’s your friend, girls?”

“This is Gleamin’ Shield,” Apple Bloom said, “she’s Twilight’s cousin visiting from Canterlot.”

"Nice to meet you Gleaming Shield."

“Pleased to make your acquaintance ma’am.” Shining Armor said as he took a step forward. “Is everything alright here ma’am; we could here screams coming from down the street.”

Derpy shook her head as a new wave of tears began forming.

“It’s just awful,” she said through choked sobs, “I had just finished pouring the batter of my usual batch of breakfast muffins, when I heard a knock on the door. I set the muffin pan down and went to see who it was, and when I came back they were missing,” Derpy started crying again. “Those poor muffins; they didn’t even get a chance to be baked into delicious goodness.”

So this is it, Shining Armor thought, this is what my guardpony skills are good for: finding missing muffins? He may have hated being reduced to such exploits, but he couldn’t help but feel bad for the mare; something inside him wanted to help her. After all, he was never one to turn away somepony asking for help, even if he thought their problem to be a minor one.

“Can you tell us how long they’ve been missing?” He asked, trying to move the interview along.

Derpy wiped her face again and scrunched her nose as she ran through the events in her mind.

“I think it was five, maybe ten minutes ago.” The poor mare’s head sank low and her ears drooped to the side. “Please find my missing muffins; they’re all I have.”

Sweetie Belle sat on the floor next to Derpy and put a hoof on her shoulder.

“Awww, it’s ok Derpy,” the unicorn said in an attempt to comfort the mare, “we won’t rest until the culprit’s been brought to justice, right girls?”

“Right,” chimed Apple Bloom and Scootaloo together. All three fillies looked expectantly at Shining Armor.

“Er, right,” he said, nodding his agreement.

“Now where should we start?” Apple Bloom asked her fellow Crusaders.

“We should go out and start rounding up suspects,” said Scootaloo excitedly, “We’ll take them to the station and grill them for information.”

Shining Armor put a hoof to the pegasus filly’s mouth.

“We should probably look for clues before we start arresting random ponies.” Shining Armor thought for a moment. “Why don’t we start looking in the kitchen,” he finally said, “if somepony was in there, then we should find plenty of clues.”

“Good idea Gleamin’ Shield,” said Apple Bloom.

“I guess you’re right,” Scootaloo said, nodding her agreement.

“Well alright.” Apple Bloom waved a hoof to her friends. “Come on Crusaders, let’s go check out that kitchen.”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders started for a door, but stopped and looked at the mare.

“Uh, Derpy,” Shining Armor said, “would you lead us to the kitchen please?”

“Of course,” she said with a smile, “follow me.”

The four little ponies trotted along behind Derpy as she led them down the hall, and around a corner until they came to a stop in the entrance of a small kitchen.

Derpy’s kitchen was quite simple; aside from various cupboards drawers, and a few knick-knacks, the only things in the kitchen were an oven and sink against one wall, separated by short counter space, and a small, white refrigerator in the corner. Just above the counter top was a bay window that looked out on the streets of Ponyville. Finally, in the center of the room was a small island that was laden with dirty bowls and measuring cups.

“Sorry about the mess,” Derpy said as she trotted over to the center island, “this whole missing muffins thing has me feeling a bit scatterbrained.”

The walleyed mare made to move the dirty dishes to the sink, but Shining Armor stopped her.

“Wait,” he said, prompting Derpy to stop in place, “don’t touch anything. If somepony really stole your muffins, then they might have left something. If you move something, it’ll ruin any clues that we could use to help find who did this.”

Derpy slowly backed away from the island.

“Sorry,” she said with a sheepish smile. “Why don’t I just go into the other room and let you officers handle everything; you are the professionals after all.”

As Derpy left, the four Crusaders began inspecting the kitchen. Shining Armor had taken it upon himself to lead the investigation by assigning the each pony to start searching a different part of the kitchen. Being the most experienced, he decided to examine the center island while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked at the floor Scootaloo checked the counter (which she scaled by building a small pyramid out of her friends, and, with a running jump, launched herself onto the side of counter top, only struggling a little to pull herself the rest of the way up).

Shining Armor had made his own way up to the top of the island (all the while cursing the size of his tiny filly body), and began carefully examining the mess that had been made. Almost every bit of the island’s surface that didn’t have a bowl or measuring implement on it was covered in flour, discarded eggshells, and globs of light brown muffin batter, making it impossible for Shining Armor to walk around without getting some of the mess all over his little legs and hooves.

“I guess we’ll be goin’ then,” said Apple Bloom as the four defeated ponies pulled themselves up off the floor and made their way to the door.

“Oh, let me walk you out then,” Derpy said, setting the half cleaned bowl in the sink. She walked past little ponies and led them back through the house.

The short walk through the hall was a sad one for the Crusaders.

“Well girls it looks like we won’t be getting our cutie marks as police officers,” Sweetie Belle said as she gave a sullen look at her still blank flank.

Maybe it was his brotherly instinct, or maybe his new body had made him more empathetic to the fillies’ plight. Whatever the reason was, Shining Armor hated seeing these ponies upset.

“Hey, it’s alright girls,” he said with a sympathetic smile, “Just because things didn’t work out here doesn’t mean there aren’t other ponies who need our help; we shouldn’t give up just yet.”

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom said, her eyes burning with a renewed vigor, “just because this turned out to be a bust, don’t mean we should give up.” The little Earth filly jumped in the air excitedly, her giant pink bow bobbing up and down. “Now let’s get back out there and patrol the streets ‘til we find somepony who needs us and earn our cutie marks.”

That’s more like it, Shining Armor thought, if I’m to be stuck like this for a week, then I’m going to make sure that you three never give up.

“Thanks again officers,” Derpy said as she stopped abruptly. The four little ponies looked up and realized that they were already at the front door.

“You’re welcome Derpy,” Sweetie Belle said with a bright smile, “sorry we couldn’t find your muffins or who stole them.”

“That’s ok Gleaming Shield-”

“Sweetie Belle,” the little unicorn corrected.

Derpy gave a sheepish laugh.

“Oops, sorry. You’re both little white unicorns so I got you mixed up.”

The two unicorns stared at each other and laughed. It was true; other than mane and eye colors, and the fact that Shining Armor’s body was slightly taller and more muscular than Sweetie Belle’s smaller, fluffier form, there wasn’t that much of a difference between the two.

“That’s alright Derpy,” Shining Armor said with smile. He turned to the other Crusaders. “Well girls, we should probably go no-”

Shining Armor stopped talking when a loud ringing sound came from the direction they had just come from.

“Did ya’ll hear that?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Yeah,” said Sweetie Belle, “I wonder what it was.”

All four ponies turned to Derpy who just sat there with a dumbstruck look on her face.

“That sounds important,” she said, suddenly jumping to her hooves and smiling at the Crusaders, “I’ll just go see what it is,” the walleyed mare trotted off into the house. “Coming,” she sang as she disappeared back down the hall.

Derpy flew back into the entryway moments later, carrying a small tray of fresh baked muffins.

“Silly me,” she said, flapping in place, “I must have put them in the oven before seeing who was at the door.”

Shining Armor couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well I guess that solves this mystery,” Shining Armor said, smiling at the other Crusaders. “A job well done Crusaders. Shall we be on our wa-”

“MUFFIN THIEF!” Shouted Sweetie Belle as she pointed an accusing hoof at Derpy. “It was you who stole the muffins!”

“Wh-what?” Derpy sat down on her rump, and stared at the tray of muffins, then back at the Crusaders; she looked like she was ready to cry. “You’re right,” the pegasus mare said as she placed the tray on the floor and slowly held out her hooves, “Arrest me, please, before I steal them again.”

Scootaloo was more than happy to comply, slapping her set of toy hoocuffs on Derpy.

“Get in the wagon ma’am,” Scootaloo said as she started leading Derpy out the door, “we’re gonna take you down to the station.

“Whoa whoa whoa,” Shining Armor said, jumping between Scootaloo and the door. “Uh, girls, can I talk to you for a moment?”

He ushered the fillies into a huddle.

“I think we can let her go,” he said in a low whisper so that only they could hear, “I mean, it’s not like she really stole the muffins, she just misplaced them.”

Sweetie Belle stared at the floor.

“Yeah, you’re right,” she said, digging at the floor with a hoof. “I guess I was a little too hasty with my accusation.” She turned to her pegasus friend, “Scootaloo, let her go,”

The orange pegasus nodded and walked over to Derpy and slipped the cuffs off of her hooves.

“You’re free to go ma’am,” Scootaloo said.

Derpy flashed the Crusaders her brightest smile.

“Oh, thank you,” she said. “Is there anything I can do to thank you for all of your hard work?”

“No need for that ma’am,” Apple Bloom said, shaking her head, “just stay out of trouble, ya hear?”

Derpy nodded her head.

“I promise,” she said, “but you were such a big help; I have to give you something in return.”

But we didn’t really do anything, Shining Armor thought.

Derpy looked around the room until one of her eyes landed on the tray of muffins, still warm from the oven. She dug out four of the pastries and gave one to each of the Crusaders.

“Here you go,” she said, “how about some special apple cinnamon ‘thank you’ muffins.”

Shining Armor stared at his muffin hungrily; Twilight had rushed him out of the library so fast that morning that he had forgotten to eat breakfast. He took no time biting into his muffin, and gave a satisfied sigh as the sweet taste of apples and cinnamon mingled together on his taste buds. The mare who made it may have come off as bit odd, but she knew what she was doing when it came to muffins.

“Thank you,” he said as he wiped crumbs from his face, “that was really good.”

Derpy seemed pleased.

“You’re quite welcome. Please feel free to come back anytime; I make muffins every day.” The mare held her head up high, clearly proud of her baked goods.

Shining Armor looked around at the rest of the Crusaders who were just finishing up their own muffins.

“Ready to go girls?” He asked as he started making his way towards the door.

“Yup,” said Apple Bloom, following her new friend out the door with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle close behind.

“Thanks for the muffins Derpy,” Sweetie Belle called from the back of the wagon. “Sorry we thought you were a muffin thief.”

Derpy broke out in a small fit of giggles.

“That’s ok officers, you were just doing your duty.” The gray mare sat in her doorway and waved to the Crusaders who were preparing to take off.

“Bye bye officers,” she called in her cheerful voice, “good luck catching the bad ponies.”

“Thanks Derpy,” Scootaloo said, “we’ll do our best.”

The little pegasus turned to her friends in the back seat. “You girls ready?”

The three little ponies nodded as Scootaloo began beating her wings, propelling the Crusaders back down the street.

…

It had been a very long day; the Crusaders had spent most of their morning speeding through the streets of Ponyville, looking for wrongdoers, or ponies in distress, but to their disdain, nothing had come of their efforts. At one point they had heard more cries for help, but it had turned out to be Derpy, crying because her muffins had gone missing again. However, upon questioning (and little investigative work on Shining Armor’s behalf), it had turned out that Derpy had eaten the rest of the muffins. The gray mare had felt very embarrassed and apologized for wasting the Crusaders time, even offering to make them another batch of muffins for their efforts, but the little ponies declined and sped off on their way.

Now it was early afternoon and the three ponies riding in the wagon started to feel themselves begin to slow down. The small pegasus driver brought her scooter to a stop and slumped over the handlebars.

“Are you all right Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom asked, her voice filled with concern for her friend.

Scootaloo slowly turned to her friends and the three little ponies could see that the fur on her face was mated down, drenched with sweat.

“Sorry girls,” the little pegasus panted, “I just need to rest for a bit. No offence Gleaming Shield, but it’s a little harder pulling the wagon with you in it; I’m not used to the extra weight.”

“Oh, uh, sorry,” Shining Armor said, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

Scootaloo gave a tired laugh.

“That’s ok, I just need a few minutes to catch my breath.”

“Why don’t we get somethin’ to drink,” Apple Bloom suggested. “Applejack’s got her apple stand set up just a couple of blocks away; Ah’m sure we could get some juice or somethin’ from her.”

The other little ponies nodded their agreement.

“Do you think you’ll be able to make it Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked.

The pegasus stretched her little wings and gave them a few slow flaps.

“Yeah,” she said, sounding a little more rested. “My wings are a little sore, but I should be able to get us there.” Scootaloo started flapping her wings at full speed again, propelling the Crusaders down the road.

A few sharp turns later, the Crusaders arrived at the town square where several ponies had set up stands selling anything from vegetables, to flowers. They sped through the square, weaving through groups of ponies who voiced their annoyance as they jumped out of the way to avoid being run over, until at last, the scooter came to a stop in front of a large cart brimming with apples, and as many apple related treats a pony could imagine. On the other side of the stand was an orange mare wearing a cowpony hat that rested atop her blonde mane, and flashing a wide smile. Shining Armor quickly recognized the mare as his sister’s friend, and Apple Bloom’s older sister Applejack.

“Well howdy ya’ll,” Applejack said as she walked around the stand to greet her little sister and her friends. “How goes the peace keepin’?”

“Not too good,” Apple Bloom said as she clambered out of the wagon, “I thought that we’d be able to fight some crime or somethin’, you know, catch a robber, thwart an evil scheme, but haven’t found anythin’.”

“Well I can’t imagine you would,” Applejack said with a chuckle, “Ponyville’s one of the most peaceful towns in Equestria; it ain’t likely that anythin’ like that would happen ‘round these parts.” Applejack looked at each of the little ponies and saw their tired faces. “Hey now, no need to look so down. Here, I know just what you need.” Applejack went around to the other side of the apple stand and returned moments later, a tray with four bottles of apple juice, each one with a straw sticking out the top, gripped in her teeth. “How about you four sit down and enjoy some nice refreshin’ apple juice,” the cowpony said after she set the tray down in front of the Crusaders. “Ah’m sure this stuff’ll perk ya’ll right up.”

Each pony took a bottle from the tray and started sipping the sweet juice.

“Wow,” Shining Armor said, “that’s the best apple juice I’ve ever had.”

Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Well of course it is, young’un,” the cowpony said rather proudly. “That there’s Apple Family apple juice; made with the finest apples in all of Equestria. Won’t find anything nicer ‘round these parts.”

Apple Bloom suddenly looked up from her drink.

“Oh, sis,” she said, remembering that she forgot to introduce her new friend, “this is our newest member Gleamin’ Shield.”

Applejack beamed at the new addition to her little sister’s group of friends.

“So you’re the filly my little sis was tellin’ me about. Twilight’s little cousin, right?”

“Er, yes ma’am,” Shining Armor said.

“Well ain’t you a pretty little filly.” Applejack looked him up and down, “Huh. Ya know you kinda look like your cousin, Shining Armor.”

Shining Armor nearly choked on his juice.

“Yeah,” he said through a fit of coughs, “I, uh, I get that a lot.”

“Ya’ll must be awful proud of your cousins, what with them becomin’ royalty.”

“Uh…” Shining Armor was trying to think up an answer when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a green and golden blur. He turned his head to see a tall unicorn colt with dark bruises on his face running towards him; it was the same colt that he had saved from being pummeled beyond recognition the day before. The colt came to a sudden stop in front of Shining Armor and stared down at him, his cheeks turning a deep crimson as he tried to catch his breath.

“Hi Snails,” Sweetie Belle said in her friendly singsong voice, “What are you doing here?”

“I-I, uh,” he stammered, not taking his eyes of Shining Armor, “I w-w-wanted to, uh, thank you for saving my life yesterday.”

“Uh, you’re welcome,” Shining Armor said, trying his best to give the colt a friendly smile. Snails didn’t answer, he just stared lazily at Shining Armor, who was growing more uncomfortable by the second. “Uh, my name’s Gleaming Shield. What’s yours?”

The colt’s only response was the increased flushing of his cheeks.

Shining Armor looked to the other Crusaders for help, but they just shrugged their shoulders, clearly feeling just as confused as he was. Shining Armor turned back to the colt who was now sweating profusely.

“Was there something else you wanted?”

Snails gulped and produced something from behind his back in a light yellow aura. It was a bouquet of flowers; the same bouquet that the colt and his friend had carried with him while chasing Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon the day before.

“Th-th-these, a-a-a-are-”

“There you are you little thief,” yelled a furious voice from somewhere behind them.

All six ponies looked up to see a mare with a rose-colored mane charging towards them, fire raging in her eyes. Snails, jumped, and, still holding onto the flowers, dashed off, looking for a place to hide.

“Come back here Snails!” Roseluck shouted as she ran by the apple stand, “Bring back those flowers you stole.”

Apple Bloom gasped.

“Did you here that girls,” she said, jumping to her hooves in excitement.

“Yeah,” said Scootaloo, taking her place on her scooter, “Snails is a criminal, and you know what that means?”

I can only guess, Shining Armor thought, not wanting to hear the answer. Riding around with nothing to do had been fine, but now they were actually going to try and catch a thief? The girls had been hard on Derpy when they thought that it was her who had stolen the muffins, Shining Armor could only imagine what they might do if they caught an actual thief, no matter how minor his offence.

“We have to catch him, arrest him, and bring him to justice,” said Sweetie Belle, fixing her little police filly hat.

“Then what are we waiting for,” Apple Bloom said as she hopped into the wagon, Sweetie Belle and Shining Armor following suit, “let’s catch us a criminal.”

Scootaloo kicked her wings into gear and started propelling her scooter in the direction Snails had run as Sweetie Belle started singing her wee-woos again.

“Bye sis,” Apple Bloom called back to Applejack. “Thanks for the juice.”

“Wait you four,” Applejack shouted. But she knew that her words had been lost on the Crusaders as they took off through the town square.

Scootaloo barely had Snails in her sight as she zipped between ponies and different carts and stalls that had been set up throughout the square. The yellow colt had had a good head start, but Scootaloo’s wings were strong, and were quickly closing the gap between the pursuers and their prize. They were going so fast that Shining Armor was barely able to make out the cream colored coat of Roseluck who was still in pursuit of Snails and the stolen bouquet that bobbed in the air behind him as he ran.

They were just outside the town square, beyond the crowds of ponies, when they finally caught up to the running colt.

“Get ready Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said as she began to pull up beside Snails, who glanced over with a terrified look on his face.

Shining Armor had to hold on as the wagon started to jostle; he looked over and saw that Apple Bloom had stood up, and was now poised, ready to jump from the speeding wagon and onto the back of the colt.

“Ready,” the rosy maned filly said. She reached a forehoof to her hip and undid the clasp that held her hoofcuffs, and put them between her teeth.

“Wait,” Shining Armor yelled as he reached to try and pull Apple Bloom back into the cart, but his little hooves grabbed nothing but air.

There was a sudden yelp from behind as Apple Bloom dove on top of Snails and tackled him to the ground. Scootaloo slowed her scooter and brought it around to meet back up with Apple Bloom, who was already cuffing Snails when they reached her.

“Nice going Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said as she gave her friend a high hoof. She then crouched down and glared at the colt. “And what do you have to say for yourself Snails?”

Snails tried to wriggle out from underneath Apple Bloom, but the more he squirmed, the harder the little filly pushed him into the ground.

“Please let me go,” he cried.

“Oh no you don’t,” Apple Bloom said, “you’re under arrest for stealing flowers from Roseluck.”

Shining Armor’s eyes went wide in horror as he watched Apple Bloom shove Snails.

“Apple Bloom,” he exclaimed, “what are you doing?”

Apple Bloom looked up, an eyebrow raised in confusion.

“What do ya mean ‘what am Ah doin’?’ I just caught the criminal.”

“He’s not a criminal, he’s a colt. And what you’re doing is bordering on police brutality.”

The other three Crusaders stared blankly at Shining Armor.

“Police bru-what now?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Police brutality. It means to use a lot of force when you don’t need to.” Shining Armor grabbed a hold of Snails’ hoof and helped him out from underneath Apple Bloom. “Are you alright?”

Snails tried to wipe a tear away, but his hooves were still cuffed together.

“Your name’s Snails, right?”

The colt didn’t say anything; he just nodded his head.

“Are you alright Snails?”

Another silent head nod.

“Would you mind telling us why you ran?”

Snails didn’t answer, he just turned his head to hide his flushing cheeks.

“Please Snails; if you don’t tell us why you ran, then we will have to arrest you.”

Snails looked at Shining Armor, horrified; the poor colt didn’t want to go to jail. Slowly, he contorted his face until his horn lit up with a faint yellow glow, which levitated the bouquet that had fallen to the ground after Apple Bloom had tackled him. Snails then clumsily brought the flowers over and let the fall at Shining Armor’s feet.

He stared at the bouquet of flowers; it was his turn to blush.

“A-are these for me?”

Snails’ face flushed a deeper red as he nodded once more.

Shining Armor was quite taken aback; why was a colt whom he had never met before presenting him with flowers. Then it hit him.

“Are these for yesterday?”

Snails took a deep breath.

“I wanted to thank you for saving me,” he finally said. “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were so mean to us.”

“Then why were you chasing after them yesterday?” Shining Armor was very confused.

“It was Snips’ idea,” he leaned in close and whispered, “I think he might have a crush on her or something, and I used to think that Silver Spoon was really funny. But then…” Snails sat back on his rump and covered his mouth with his cuffed hooves; he had been about to say too much. He wanted to run away, but just as he turned around, he found himself face to face with sweating Roseluck.

“I’ve got you, you little thief,” the mare panted as stared down at the terrified colt. “Now give me back my flowers, Snails!”

Sweetie Belle stepped forward and picked up the flowers in her teeth.

“Here they are,” she said, her mouth full of bouquet. She set the flowers in front of the mare, but just as Roseluck was about to pick them up, Snails dove in the way.

“No,” he said, “you can’t have these; these flowers are for, uh…” The colt turned to Shining Armor. “Uh, what was your name again?”

“Gleaming Shield,” he said, “but listen Snails, you need to give those flowers ba-”

“I have money.” Snails dug a hoof into the center of the bouquet, and after a considerable amount of fishing around, withdrew two small gold coins. “I was feeling kinda guilty about taking the flowers yesterday, so I went into my piggy bank and took out enough bits to pay you back.” Tears started to well up in the colt’s eyes. “I’m really sorry Roseluck.”

The mare’s face softened as she accepted the bits.

“Thank you Snails,” she said with a smile, “that was very thoughtful of you.” Roseluck turned her attention to the Crusaders. “Ok girls, I think everything’s been cleared up here; I think you can let him go now.”

Apple Bloom nodded and carefully undid the little hoof cuffs and reattached them to her uniform.

“Alright Snails,” she said,” yer free to go. Just promise to keep out of trouble, ya hear?”

The young colt nodded his head furiously, then picked the bouquet of the ground and trotted over to give it to Shining Armor.

“Here you go, uh, Sheaming Glield,” he said, presenting the bouquet in his forehooves.

“Oh, uh,” Shining Armor frantically looked to the Crusaders for help, but found that they had their hooves in front of their mouths, trying to hide their giggles. He sighed, and held out his forehooves,

“Thank you Snails,” he said, trying his best to force a smile, “they’re, uh, lovely. And please, it’s Gleaming Shield.” Shining Armor grimaced as the bouquet was dropped in his outstretched hooves, but this went unnoticed by the young colt.

Snails smiled, pleased that his task had been accomplished. Then, as if somepony had stuck him with a hot poker, his entire face flushed red, as he leapt into the air and sped back down the road without looking back.

Shining Armor sat on the ground, staring at the flowers dumbstruck.

“Looks like somepony has a crush on the new filly in town,” Sweetie Belle said, nudging Shining Armor in the ribs.

Shining Armor grunted and rolled his eyes; he didn’t want a colt to have a crush on him. In fact, that was the last thing he wanted; it was just one more thing for him to stress over. Relief came, however, when Scootaloo, who didn’t want to talk about mushy stuff like young love, decided to change the subject.

“So girls,” the mini pegasus said, “did we get our cutie marks?”

The Crusaders had been so caught up in the excitement of catching a “criminal” that they had forgotten to check to see if a cutie mark had appeared. Three little heads turned excitedly to check their flanks, and each on elicited a heavy sigh as they saw the empty space where a cutie mark should have been.

“Nope,” said Sweetie Belle, “still blank.” The little unicorn looked over to Shining Armor who had returned to staring at the flowers, trying to devise a plan to avoid Snails for a week. “What about Gleaming Shield? Anything?”

“Huh, what?” Shining Armor snapped out of his thoughts.

“I asked if you got your cutie mark?”

Shining Armor looked at his flank, hoping to see the familiar stars and shield, but groaned when he found that it was blank as well.

“Well Crusaders,” Apple Bloom said in a surprisingly cheerful tone, “at least we tried. Ya’ll wanna pack up for the day?”

Scootaloo looked up at the clock.

“Yeah, my wings are still pretty sore from pulling you three all day.” She messaged the joint where one of her little wings connected to her back. “I think I’m gonna go home and ice them for a bit and then see if Rainbow Dash will give me a quick flying lesson."

“That sounds like fun,” Apple Bloom said, “I’m gonna go home and help Granny Smith make some apple pies.” Apple Bloom looked to the pair of unicorns. “What are you two gonna do?”

“Rarity said that she didn’t have any orders to work on this afternoon so I’m gonna see if she wants to play with me. What about you Gleaming Shield?”

Shining Armor had to think for a moment. He had originally made plans to spend time with Twilight and her friends and take in the sights of Ponyville, but clearly that wasn’t going to happen. Other than being dragged along with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, he didn’t have anything else to do.

“I’ll probably go back to the library,” he finally said.

The Crusaders all laughed.

“Yer just like Twilight, you know that,” said Apple Bloom.

Shining Armor couldn’t help but laugh with them. Well that’s a first, he thought, the only times I’ve ever been compared to Twily was when I was told how unlike her I was. He was never the reader his little sister had always been, but he enjoyed a good book every now and again, and right now, reading was better than just sitting around waiting for Twilight to finish translating her spell.

After stretching her wings one more time, Scootaloo hoped on her scooter, motioning to her friends to join her.

“Come on girls,” she said, “I’ll take you all home."

The three little ponies gladly hoped in the back of the wagon, still feeling tired from the morning’s events.

…

It wasn’t long before the scooter came to a stop in front of Golden Oaks Library. Shining Armor clambered out of the wagon and headed for the door.

“Good bye girls,” he said, trying his best to smile, “today was really…exciting.”

“Just wait ‘til you see what we’ve got in store for tomorrow.”

Shining Armor felt his muscles tense up a bit.

“What’s going on tomorrow? Treasure hunting? Alligator wrestling?”

The girls laughed.

“Don’t be silly Gleaming Shield,” Sweetie Belle said, “tomorrow’s Monday; we have to go to school.”

“We were hopin’ that you might come with as our special guest,” added Apple Bloom “Ah’m sure everyone would want to meet you, and Ah’m sure Ms. Cheerilee won’t mind.”

Shining Armor was taken aback.

“So just school” he said, “you, I mean, we won’t be crusading tomorrow?”

“Well, we might in the afternoon if we aren’t too busy with homework or something.”

“I guess that’ll be ok,” Shining Armor said after mulling the idea of going to school over. “I mean, it beats sitting around the library all day.”

The fillies smiled and gave each other a high hoof.

“Well alright then,” said Apple Bloom excitedly. “We’ll be here bright an’ early to pick you up.”

“Sounds good.”

Shining Armor had a hoof on the library door, when Sweetie Belle called out to him.

“Hey Gleaming Shield don’t forget your flowers.”

Shining Armor winced as he remembered the bouquet that he had tried to abandon in the wagon. He turned around just in time to see the bundle of flowers being tossed at him. Luckily his guard training had enhanced his reflexes, so he was able to catch the bouquet with his forehooves instead of with his face.

“Thanks Sweetie Belle,” he said with a forced smile. Without a second glance at the Crusaders, he placed the flowers between his teeth and disappeared into the library.

…

Twilight was still in the middle of translating the spell when her brother came home. She had been up since the crack of dawn, reading through her books, and was starting to nod off, so when she heard the library door open, she jumped almost a foot off the ground with a loud shriek. The little alicorn jerked her head around and stared, feeling very confused, as her brother trudged into the room, still dressed in his police filly uniform and carrying a small bouquet of flowers.

“Hey there B.B.B.F.F.,” she said, trying to stifle a smile as her brother sat on the floor beside her, “did you have a good day?”

Shining Armor placed the flowers on the floor and looked up at his sister.

“Honestly, I’m not entirely sure,” he sighed.

Twilight was very confused.

“What do you mean you’re not sure?”

“Well, I’m not. I know that I’m still not ok with the situation I’m in, far from it, and Celestia knows those little fillies will probably be the death of me, but there was something about spending time with them that I kinda liked. I can’t quite put my hoof on it, but seeing how passionate they are about finding their special talents really touched me.” He couldn’t help but laugh. “There was a moment today when they looked like they were ready to give up. And you know what, it killed me to see them so defeated. So I encouraged them; I told them that even if things didn’t work out, they should never give up. It made me so happy to see them smile as they got back on their hooves and back to Crusading.”

Shining Armor got off the floor, stretched his legs, and headed for the stairs.

“I’m kinda tired so I’m gonna go lie down for a bit; maybe read a book.”

Twilight watched as her brother ascended the stairs. She found it rather sweet that her brother had taken a liking to the crusaders. It seemed that spending time with those girls might just prepare her older brother for when he and Cadence had foals of their own. Twilight couldn’t help but smile as she turned back to her books, and continued her venture into translating her text.

Unfortunately for Twilight, just as she was getting into a steady pace, she heard a knock on the door. The young alicorn grumbled unhappily as she got up from the table and stormed to the front door. She was ready give whoever it was a stern talking to, but her face softened as she opened the door and saw a blonde maned pegasus mare wearing a mailpony’s uniform and holding a letter in her hoof.

“I have a letter here for a Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Derpy said with a bubbly smile.

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle as the mare gave her the letter with a polite bow.

“Thank you Derpy.”

The mailmare bowed again before turning around and flying back into town.

Twilight tore open the envelope and felt her heart drop as she unfolded the piece of paper. The first thing she noticed wasn’t what was written on the paper, but the penmanship it was written in; the smooth, curved letters were very familiar to Twilight because the pony who wrote them had also helped her practice her own writing when she was just a filly. The letter had come from her former foalsitter and wife of the Stallion who was currently trapped in a filly’s body and was now lying in bed, reading a book. Twilight quickly stuffed Cadence’s letter back into it’s envelope and scurried back into the library where she sat back at her table and started frantically pouring through her books again. There wasn’t any time to waste, she had to finish translating the spell and change her brother back to normal as quickly as possible; Cadence was coming to Ponyville.

Author's Note

The first part of this chapter (more specifically the scene with Derpy) was partly inspired by the Adventure Time episode Apple Thief

Chapter 5: Gleaming Shield's First Day of School

My Dearest Twilight,

I hope that you are doing well. I’m so sorry that I wasn't able to join my husband when he arrived the other day; unfortunately I haven’t been feeling well for a while now, and I didn’t want to add further stress to my condition. However, I am happy to say that my condition has improved, so I will be on the next train to Ponyville, and should be arriving in two days. Anyway, I better start packing my bags, my train leaves first thing in the morning.

With lots of love,

Your favorite foalsitter, and sister-in-law,

Princess Cadence

P.S. Please don’t tell Shining Armor that I am coming; I want it to be a surprise.

Twilight swallowed hard as she reread Cadence’s letter for the hundredth time. Ever since Derpy had delivered it yesterday, Twilight had to stop her research every fifteen minutes to read through the contents of the letter; her sister-in-law’s message had been very straight forward, but the young alicorn couldn’t help but hope that she might have somehow misinterpreted Cadence’s words. But no matter how many times she looked at the letter, there was no denying the horrifying truth that Cadence would be arriving in Ponyville in two days.

The young mare sat bolt upright and hid the letter between the pages of a book when she heard the unmistakable sound of tiny hoofsteps on the stairs.

“Morning Twily,” the Shining Armor yawned, as he wiped his eyes with a hoof and made his way over to join his sister at the table. “Is there any coffee? I could really use a cup if I’m going to go to school with the Crusaders.”

“Huh, wah,” was all could Twilight manage, “school?”

Shining Armor looked up at his sister quizzically

“Yeah, remember? I told you last night that those fillies want to take me to school with them.”

“Oh, yeah, I remember.” She really didn’t; Twilight had been so caught up in both her studying and worrying about what she would do about Cadence’s arrival, that anything her brother might have told her went completely unheard. “There should be a little coffee left in the pot. Would you like me to get it for you?”

Shining Armor shook his head.

“No, I think I can get it…somehow.”

Shining Armor got off the floor, and trotted into the small kitchen area where he found a percolator on one of the stove’s burners. When he reached the stove, he stood up on his hind legs and reached for the percolator, but it was just out of his reach. Come on, he thought, jumping and wiggling his forelegs in an attempt to reach his goal, stupid short legs, maybe I could…no wait, magic’s out of the question. Shining Armor cringed as he remembered how the simple spell that he had tried to cast to separate Diamond Tiara and the colt the other day had utterly failed.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Shining Armor called out to his sister.

“Twily, will you help me?”

Without rising from her spot in the other room, Twilight levitated a ceramic mug from the cupboard above the counter and brought it over to the stove and poured a fair helping of the hot coffee into it before placing the percolator back on the stove and lowering the mug so her brother could hook his foal sized hoof through the handle.

“Thank you.” Shining Armor slowly made his way back to the table and began sipping his coffee. “So how’s it coming?” He asked, watching his sister as she read through several books at the same time.

Twilight nearly lost control of the spell that suspended her books.

“Coming,” she said with a start, “nopony’s coming!”

Shining Armor cocked his head in confusion.

“What are you talking abo-”

A sudden knock at the door cut him off.

“Somepony’s here,” Twilight said, “I better go see who it is.” The alicorn rose from her seat, and rushed to the door.

What’s got her acting all jumpy this morning, Shining Armor thought as he took another sip of his coffee. The little pony looked up at all the books that lay on the table. Wow Twily, he thought, you’ve really been busy. I can’t thank you eno… Shining Armor’s thoughts drifted off when something caught his eye; sticking out from between the pages of one of the books on the table was a folded piece of pink paper similar to the stationary that Cadence used. His curiosity peaked, Shining Armor stood up on his hind legs, and grabbed the piece of paper in his teeth.

“Shi - I mean - Gleaming Shield, the Crusaders are here to take you to sch - NO, DON’T TOUCH THAT!”

Twilight pushed her brother aside to keep him from discovering Cadence’s letter.

“Ow, what did you do that for?”

“Oops, sorry, it’s just that, uh, I’m using that piece of paper as a, um, bookmark. Yup, that’s right, a book mark. It’s in a very important place, and if you remove it then it would take me even longer to, uh…” she looked over at the three little fillies in her doorway, “it would take me even longer to complete this very important spell. You wouldn’t want to ruin my work, now would you?”

Shining Armor blushed.

“No, I wouldn’t,” he said, “sorry, Twily.”

“It’s alright, everything’s fine.” The alicorn levitated her brother’s mug onto the table, and started nudging him towards the door. “Now go on; you don’t want to keep your friends waiting.”

“Yeah, come on Gleamin’ Shield,” Apple Bloom called, “we’ll be late for school if you don’t hurry it up now.”

Shining Armor walked the rest of the way, only stopping when he reached the door to look back at Twilight, who was smiling nervously.

“Have a great day at school Gleaming Shield,” she called.

All Shining Armor could do was give her another confused look, before turning back around and hoping in the red wagon.

…

It didn’t take long for the four little ponies to arrive at Ponyville’s schoolhouse, which was a red building with a bell and tower on top of it, and a playground in the front yard where many fillies and colts were playing happily, enjoying the few free minutes they had before class started. The schoolhouse itself was much smaller than the one Shining Armor had attended as a colt, but like all of the other buildings in town, it had a simple, rustic charm about it that he found to be a wonderful alternative to the hustle and bustle he grew up with in Canterlot.

“So this is it, huh?” Shining Armor asked as the scooter came to a stop at a post.

“Yup, this is our school,” Scootaloo said, as she jumped off her scooter, pulled a lock and chain from one of the pockets of her saddlebag, using it to lock her scooter to the post. “I know it’s probably not as fancy as your school back in Canterlot, but we do have one of the greatest teachers in all of Equestria…speaking of which, we should probably ask Miss Cheerilee if it’s ok if you come to class with us.”

Shining Armor slapped a hoof to his face.

“Wait,” he said, “you brought me all the way down here without asking if it would be alright for me to go to class with you.”

“Well, no,” Sweetie Belle said as she hopped out of the wagon, and readjusted her saddlebag, “but we figured that Miss Cheerilee wouldn’t mind. She loves teaching, and you must be missing some time from school to be here; it would be irresponsible of her not to let you join us.”

Shining Armor thought for a moment; Sweetie Belle was right, it was the obligation for a teacher to accept any student into his or her class, regardless of who they were or where they were from. Not every teacher agreed with this rule, but there were severe consequences for those who didn’t. Shining Armor recalled a bad memory from his youth:

...

When Shining Armor was just a colt, there was a teacher at his school (one whom he had never had) who was fired because he had refused to teach a student for seemingly no particular reason. It wasn’t until Shining Armor was a few years older that he learned that the student in question had been a griffon, and for reasons unknown, the teacher had hated griffons and didn’t want one in his class, afraid she would be too much trouble to teach. In the end, the teacher had been fired, and the griffon had gone on to graduate at the top of her class.

...

With that thought in mind, Shining Armor breathed a sigh of relief, mainly because it meant that he wouldn’t have to walk all the way back to the library by himself; while he didn’t mind traveling together with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, walking alone, trapped in a filly’s body, made Shining Armor feel…exposed.

Shining Armor followed the three fillies as they made their way past the playing ponies, and up the steps into the schoolhouse. While the outside of the building looked simple and rustic, the inside looked just as much like a classroom as the ones he had been in when he went to school in Canterlot. There were rows of empty desks in the center of the room, and three of the four walls were lined with shelves full of books, while the wall in the front of the room was empty except for a chalkboard where a few assignments from the previous week were still written. Just in front of the chalkboard was the teacher’s desk, where a mare with a cerise coat sat, drinking her morning coffee and preparing her lesson for the day. The mare looked up when she heard the sound of hooves approaching, and smiled at the Crusaders.

“Hello girls,” she said. She looked from each of her students, and then to Shining Armor, who did his best to return her smile. “Oh, hello. Are you a new student?”

“This is our new friend, Gleamin’ Shield,” Apple Bloom said.

“She’s Twilight’s cousin visiting from Canterlot for the week,” Sweetie Belle added.

“Twilight’s really busy with some secret project, or something, and we thought we would bring Gleaming Shield to school with us so she wouldn’t be bored at the library,” Scootaloo finished.

“Would that be alright, ma’am?” Shining Armor asked. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

Cheerilee couldn’t help but giggle at how formally the faux filly spoke.

“That’s quite alright,” she finally said, “you’re more than welcome to join us during your stay in Ponyville.” The teacher looked up at the clock. “You four better take your seats; it’s almost time for class to start.” Then she turned to Shining Armor. “The seat behind Sweetie Belle is open, so you can sit there if you’d like.”

“Yes, thank you ma’am.”

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo made their way to the back of the room, where a particular set of shelves had been divided up to in a more than a dozen small cubby holes. Each of the Crusaders undid their saddlebags and deposited them into their assigned cubbies, then proceeded to take their seats. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo sat in the front row with a desk between them, with Sweetie Belle sitting behind Scootaloo, and Shining Armor right behind her. When the Crusaders were all settled in, Cheerilee stepped outside and called to her students.

It wasn’t long before the small classroom was filled with the hustle and bustle of little ponies, who were chatting merrily as they stowed their things in their own cubby holes before taking their seats. Shining Armor stared sympathetically across at Apple Bloom when he saw that the poor filly was sandwiched between two ponies who, after their one meeting, he had already come to detest: Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. He would have liked to mouth an ‘I’m sorry’ to Apple Bloom, but he felt a pair of eyes burrowing into the side of his head, and he sighed when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a dull gold colored pony sitting next to him. Shining Armor looked to his left, just in time to see Snails hastily turn and begin talking to his friend Snips who was sitting on the colt’s other side. Celestia help me, Shining Armor thought, I don’t know what’s worse: being in the same room with that mean little filly, or stuck beside a colt who is infatuated with me.

As soon as everypony was seated, Miss Cheerilee stood in the front of the room, and took attendance. After she finished reading down the list of names, pleased that none of her students were absent, Miss Cheeilee said something that made Shining Armor flinch:

“Gleaming Shield, would come up to the front of the class?”

Shining Armor’s white cheeks turned a light shade of pink, and he gulped as he slowly rose from his seat and made his way through the rows of desks.

“Well if it isn’t the magicless blank flank,” Diamond Tiara muttered as Shining Armor passed her before taking a spot beside the teacher.

“Class,” Miss Cheerilee said, “we have a special guest today. Her name is Gleaming Shield, and for the next week she will be taking part in our lessons, so I would like for you all to help her feel welcomed in our classroom.” Then she looked down at Shining Armor. “Gleaming Shield, why don’t you tell the class a little bit about yourself?”
Shining Armor glanced around the room; most of the students wore friendly, welcoming smiles.

“I, uh, hello…” His voice wasn’t much more than a whisper; although he was one of the bravest ponies in Equestria, standing in front of the class with all of the little ponies staring at him, in his current state, made Shining Armor feel small and embarrassed. His gaze landed on the front row of students and saw both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon barely concealing their snickers as they watched him fumble with his words.

No, Shining Armor thought, swallowing his embarrassment, I will not give those two the satisfaction of watching me fail at something again. Shining Armor cleared his throat and began again.

“My name is Gleaming Shield. I am the younger cousin of princess Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville, and prince Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire, and I have come to Ponyville from Canterlot to visit my cousin in hopes that she might help me practice magic.” As he introduced himself, Shining Armor couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride as he watched the smug smile fade from Diamond Tiara’s face, only to be replaced by red cheeks, and a few beads of sweat; the filly was clearly starting to regret making fun of the new pony in town. “Sadly my cousin has been busy attending to her royal duties, but I have been fortunate enough to have already made a few friends who have been kind enough to show me around town and invite me to your wonderful school.” Shining Armor gave a bow of respect to the class (a formality that he had learned during his old school days). “Please, treat me kindly.” With that, Shining Armor walked back to his seat, and sighed, thankful that his introduction was over.

“Oh my gosh, that was amazing,” Sweetie Belle whispered, turning around in her seat to talk to Shining Armor. “I mean, did you see the look on Diamond Tiara’s face when you said that you were related to royalty? I thought she was going to be sick.”

“Yeah, that was awesome," Scootaloo added. “I’m so glad you joined up with us,”

“Alright class,” Miss Cheerilee said, calling for her students’ full attention, “As I’m sure most of you remember, last Friday I said that we would start learning about the Crystal Empire this week.”

Shining Armor looked around the room and saw many ponies smiling and cheering, clearly excited to learn more about the mysterious new country that reappeared in the Arctic North. This should be interesting, Shining Armor thought. As the new rulers of the Crystal Empire, both he and Cadence had to become very familiar with the customs, and history of the lost kingdom, so he was quite sure he knew more about it than anypony in the classroom; during their first few months on the throne, the prince and his wife had learned everything from the origins of the Empire and the rise of King Sombra, to traditional royal etiquette, and celebrations. Shining Armor’s little filly head was full of information about the Crystal Empire, but he was still very interested in hearing what the teacher had in store for her students.

“Now, before we begin,” Miss Cheerilee continued, “can anypony tell me something they know about the Crystal Empire?”

Only a few ponies raised their hooves; other than the Crusaders, Diamond Tiara, and two others, everypony remained motionless in their seats, eager to hear about the new country. Shining Armor wasn’t surprised; it had only been a little over a year since the Crystal Empire had emerged. After Sombra’s defeat, and the empire had once again become a permanent part of Equestria, Cadence and he had been more than ready to open it up to the rest of the world for trade and tourism. Since then, many ponies had started to travel from across the land to see the long lost Crystal Empire. Shining Armor could only guess that this was why there were a few ponies that actually raised their hooves; they must have either heard stories from their parents, or had actually visited the empire on a family trip.

“Ohhh,” Sweetie Belle said, nearly jumping out of her seat, “ohhh pick me, pick me.”

“Alright, go ahead Sweetie Belle,” Miss Cheerilee said with sigh.

“At the Crystal Empire, there’s this place where you can buy these beautiful crystal snow globes that are just so cool, and awesome, and I want one, and-”

“Thank you Sweetie Belle, that was very…nice.” Cheerilee looked around the room again. “Would anypony else like to say something?”

“Well,” Diamond Tiara said, an air of arrogance in her voice, “my father has been to the Crystal Empire and he told that even though it’s located in the far north, where it’s very cold, the empire itself is actually very warm.” The room was filled with the sounds of awe, everypony finding it amazing that such a place could exist. “And not only that, but everything there is made out of crystal.”

“Wow, everything,” Snips exclaimed, jumping up in his seat in excitement.

“Yes, everything; the buildings, the streets, the animals, even the ponies are made of crystal.”
Shining Armor tried hard not to laugh at this statement.

“I’m sorry, but is something funny to you,” Diamond Tiara snapped, turning around in her seat to face the Shining Armor.

“No, nothing,” Shining Armor said, “it’s just that what you said about the animals and ponies being made of crystal is complete nonsense.”

Diamond Tiara had a furious look on her face, completely forgetting that just moments ago, she was feeling guilty about having teased a relative of royalty.

“Well if you’re so smart, then how come they look like crystals?”

“It’s because of the crystals in the kingdom, or, more specifically, the Crystal Heart. Their coats sparkle because the magical properties in the Crystal Heart that amplify the feelings of love and friendship emit a special aura, unseen by the pony eye. Over the years, the natives of the crystal empire have developed coats that reflect this aura, giving them a crystal-like appearance. Without the Crystal Heart’s aura, their coats are actually just like ours, only more pastel.”

When Shining Armor finished his explanation, he looked around the room; everypony, even Miss Cheerilee, was staring at him, slack jawed.

“Whoa, how do you know all that?” Scootaloo asked, staring in disbelief at her new friend.

“Oh, um, I heard it from my cousins.” Shining Armor shifted nervously in his seat, hoping that the class had bought his weak excuse. He breathed a sigh of relief when he looked around the room and saw the other fillies and colts either nod or shrug, apparently accepting his overly informative statement to be secondhoof knowledge. His eyes then landed on Diamond Tiara, who was sitting with her forelegs crossed, and her face fixed in a scowl.

“Well that was very informative, Gleaming Shield, thank you,” Miss Cheerilee said. “And thank you, Diamond Tiara; what you said about the Crystal Empire having a warm climate despite its arctic location is actually what we will be starting with today.”

…

It was close to noon when the lunch bell rang. As if by instinct, Shining Armor placed his borrowed pencil and notebook in the little cubby in his desk, stretched his hooves, then got up to join the Crusaders as they walked to the back of the room, grabbed their lunches from their saddlebags, and exited the classroom. It was a familiar routine, one he had followed every day when he was in school, though the classroom wasn’t the same, and the ponies he was going to eat lunch with weren’t his old friends from school.

When the four little ponies were finally outside, they found a shady tree to sit under and enjoy their lunch. Shining Armor stared hungrily as the little ponies began pulling out their lunches; Twilight had rushed him out the door so quickly that morning that he hadn’t had the chance to pack anything for lunch. Lucky for him the three little fillies were kind enough to share with him some of their lunch; Apple Bloom gave him a few apple slices, Scootaloo, half a peanut butter sandwich, and Sweetie Belle shared some of her apple juice.

“So what did you think, Gleamin’ Shield?” Apple Bloom asked, as she reached into her bag, pulled out an apple slice, and a small cup of caramel for dipping, “does Miss Cheerilee know her stuff or what?”

Shining Armor nodded.

“I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting a teacher in a small town to have that much knowledge about the Crystal Empire; I mean it’s too new. But I was really impressed, and not just by how much Miss Cheerilee knows, but how she – owww!” Shining Armor rubbed the back of his head; something had just struck him. He looked down and saw a small apple core lying on the ground beside him.

“You think you’re so smart, don’t you, you little blank flank,” came an irritated voice from behind.

Shining Armor whipped around, and saw Diamond Tiara stalking towards him, rage burning like a wildfire in her eyes.

“What do you want, Diamond Tiara?” Scootaloo asked, jumping between the angry pink filly and her prey, her wings buzzing in agitation.

“Stay out of this, you little dodo; this is between me and the little “princess” here.”

Shining Armor winced when Diamond Tiara called him “little princess;” not because it reminded him of the awkward situation he was in, but because he could feel the hatred behind each syllable.

“You’ve been a pain in my flank ever since you waltzed into town; interfering in my personal affairs, and making me look like a fool in front of the entire class. Let me tell you something princess, nopony makes me look like a fool and gets away with it.”

“I’m sorry Diamond Tiara,” Shining Armor said, “I wasn’t trying to-”

“Don’t you give me that.” Diamond Tiara lifted a hoof, and shoved Shining Armor onto his back. The Crusaders tried to reach their friend, but Silver Spoon jumped in the way, blocking their path, and allowing Diamond Tiara to continue her tirade.

“Let me tell you something, princess; if you ever do anything to aggravate me again, I will make you wish you had stayed in Canterlot. Do I make myself clear?”

Shining Armor looked up at the pink mare standing over him. With each word she said, Diamond Tiara jabbed Shining Armor in the gut with her hoof. She hadn’t hit him hard enough to cause him pain, she just poked him firmly to show him that she meant business. But Shining Armor wasn’t so easily intimidated; rather, he could feel his irritation with the high-and-mighty filly growing.

“Leave me alone, Diamond Tiara,” he said, knocking her hoof away before she could jab him again, “I don’t want any trouble.”

“It’s a little late for that, princess,” Diamond Tiara spat as she raised her hoof again, and aimed it at Shining Armor’s face. He clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the hoof to make contact. But it never came. What did happen was completely unexpected; Shining Armor heard something soft hit the ground, and a shrill cry. He opened his eyes to see Diamond Tiara dangling upside down a foot off the ground, suspended by faint magenta aura that enveloped her tail, and right on the ground below was her little crown.

“Help,” Diamond Tiara cried, as she flailed her legs in a futile attempt to reach the ground. “Put me down right now!”

Why is she looking at me, Shining Armor thought as he picked himself up off the ground, still staring at the struggling filly.

“Stop it,” Silver Spoon pleaded, as she tried and failed to pull her friend back down, “why are you doing this?”

“But I’m not doing anything,” Shining Armor said, “I can’t even do magic.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Scootaloo said, pointing a hoof at Shining Armor’s forehead.

Shining Armor looked up and gasped; sure enough, his horn was glowing with the same magenta aura that held the little bully by the tail.

“B-but I…I’m not…I’m sorry Diamond Tiara, I didn’t realize I was doing this.” This was true; if Scootaloo hadn’t brought his attention to his horn, Shining Armor would never have known that it was he who was casting the levitation spell. Normally he would have to concentrate on the spell in order to cast it, but foal unicorn magic was fickle, and could sometimes be sparked in times of stress.

“I don’t care,” the pink filly cried, “I want you to put me down this instaaaaAAAAAAAHHHH!” Diamond Tiara shrieked as she watched the ground slowly grow further away.

“What are you doing,” Silver Spoon shouted, “She told you to put her down.”

Shining Armor scrunched his face, trying to concentrate on the simple levitation spell, trying to lower the filly safely to the ground, but it didn’t work; his body was still too young to be able to cast and uncast spells properly.

“WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA IS GOING ON HERE!?” Everypony froze when they heard the furious voice.

“Miss Cheerilee, thank goodness,” Diamond Tiara said, as the mare made her way over to the group of little ponies. “Tell this ruffian to put me down.”

But the teacher didn’t need to be asked; Cheerilee walked over to Diamond Tiara (who was now suspended at the mare’s eye level), grabbed hold of the little filly with her hooves, and gave her a gentle tug. In an instant the magical aura that had held her by the tail, dissipated into thin air, releasing Diamond Tiara from Shining Armor’s grasp.

“Are you alright, Diamond Tiara?” Miss Cheerilee asked, once all four of the filly’s hooves were safely back on the ground.

Diamond Tiara nodded as she picked up her crown and placed it back on top of her head.

“Then why don’t you and Silver Spoon join the rest of the students for recess.” Then she turned her attention to the Crusaders. “That goes for you three as well; I’d like to speak with Gleaming Shield in private.”

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo each gave Shining Armor a sympathetic look as they picked up their empty lunch sacks, and silently followed the two bullies to the playground.

“Using your magic to hang another student upside down,” Cheerilee said, turning her attention back to Shining Armor. “I would have thought that your school in Canterlot might have taught you to be more respectful of your peers-”

“But I-”

“I must say that I am very disappointed in you,” she continued, ignoring Shining Armor's pleas. “Now, I may not be your teacher, but as long as you are in my classroom, you will abide by our school rules.”

“But it was an accident,” Shining Armor finally interjected, “I didn’t mean to use magic; I didn’t even realize I-”

“I’m sorry, Gleaming Shield,” Miss Cheerilee interrupted, “it may have been an accident, but - and I really hate to say this - I have no choice but to take disciplinary actions.”

“Disciplinary actions…no, you can’t mean-”

“I’m afraid I do, Gleaming Shield; you will be staying after school today for detention-”

“But-”

“-and I will be writing a letter to your cousin Twilight, telling her what happened today. Understood?”

Shining Armor sighed.

“Yes ma’am, I understand.”

“Good, now come along, recess will be over soon.”

Shining Armor’s head was hung low as he followed the mare back to the schoolhouse.

…

The rest of the school day was a bit of a blur for Shining Armor. While he did his best to focus on Miss Cheerilee’s lesson, he couldn’t help but think about the dreaded detention that awaited him that afternoon. He felt like what he imagined Twilight would feel if she had earned anything less than a perfect score on a test. He knew it was stupid, worrying about such a punishment, as his actual school days were long behind him and that a detention wouldn’t have any negative affects on his spotless permanent record, but he just couldn’t stop worrying. It was more a morality issue than anything else; Shining Armor had always prided himself on his good behavior. Even when he was standing up to bullies, he had always done what he could to fend them off without resorting to violence.

After what felt like an eternity, Shining Armor heard the bell, signaling the end of the school day. Unlike the rest of the students, who were busy retrieving their saddlebags and packing their notebooks away, Shining Armor remained seated, sullenly placing his pencil at the top of his desk, and watched as it rolled back down, only to be caught by the lip that kept it from falling to the floor.

“Remember, class,” Miss Cheerilee said, getting her students’ attention before they began storming the door, “your Crystal Empire question sheets are due on my desk the day after tomorrow, so I don’t want any of you waiting until the last minute to work on them; that goes for you too, Snips and Snails.”

Shining Armor looked to his left and saw the two colts laughing nervously as they tucked their homework assignments into their respective notebooks.

“Hey, are you going to be ok, Gleaming Shield?” Sweetie Belle asked, as the Crusaders made their way past Shining Armor’s desk, saddlebags on, and ready to go.

Shining Armor didn’t say anything; he just nodded in response.

“Do you want us to talk to Miss Cheerilee for you,” Scootaloo chimed in.

“No,” Shining Armor said, “thanks girls, but I’ll be fine.” He placed his head on the desk, hiding his face from the fillies.

“Well, a’right,” Apple Bloom added, “Ah’m sure it won’t be that bad; Miss Cheerilee isn’t that strict, and hardly ever gives out detentions. Why, Ah bet you’ll be out of here in no time.”

Nothing.

“Ah’ve got it, why don’t we wait outside for you and then we’ll all go down to Sugarcube Corner for something sweet?”

Shining Armor lifted his head and gave a weak smile to the fillies, “Sure; sounds like fun.”

The Crusaders returned their friend’s smile and waved as they trotted down the row of desks and left the classroom. Just as he was watching them leave, he noticed a small, folded piece of paper had landed on his desk. Shining Armor looked around and just caught a glimpse of a green tail dashing through the doorway. Feeling a little confused, Shining Armor opened the paper, and read the sloppily written note inside.

Don’t worry, I’ve got everything taken care of. Just hold on.

What is that colt thinking, Shining Armor thought, as he tucked the note into his notebook, and placed his head back on the desk.

It wasn’t long before the room was empty except for Shining Armor and Miss Cheerilee, who was sitting at her desk, a pencil clutched in her teeth as she wrote a letter that Shining Armor presumed was meant for his sister.

“Now Gleaming Shield,” the teacher said, looking up from her work, “Seeing as this is your first day, and that it was an accident, you’ll only need to stay here for half an hour.”

Shining Armor breathed a sigh of relief; a half an hour wasn’t really that bad. Still, the young prince’s morals wouldn’t let him forget that he was being punished, and that he should feel bad about levitating Diamond Tiara by the tail, even if it had been just an accident.

“I expect you to use this time wisely by working on your Crystal Empire homework. Understood?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Shining Armor stared at the sheet of paper in front of him that consisted of questions about the Crystal Empire. It wasn’t that hard; at least, it wasn’t hard for the prince of said empire. In fact, it only took Shining Armor less than half of his thirty-minute detention to finish the worksheet. He didn’t want to risk getting up from his seat to turn in his homework, so he decided to just sit in silence. It was starting to look as if he was just going to be stuck in the room with nothing but his thoughts to help the time go by, when a soft knock came at the door. Before Cheerilee could get up from her desk to see who it was, the door slowly opened, and Shining Armor groaned silently as he watched the tall, golden coated colt enter the room and approach his teacher.

Snails blushed and gave Shining Armor a weak smile, as he spoke quietly to his teacher. Shining Armor tried to hear what was being said, but he was too far away.

“Really?” Cheerilee asked, when Snails finished his say. The colt nodded to his teacher and started walking towards the door, the mare following closely behind. “Excuse me, Gleaming Shield, I need to step out for a moment. Please stay seated until I return.”

Shining Armor watched as Snails led the teacher outside, curious as to what was going on. He didn’t have long to wait though; not more than five minutes later Cheerilee came back into the room, a small envelope clutched in her teeth.

“Gleaming Shield, come here please” she said, after returning to her seat and setting the envelope on her desk. Shining Armor slowly rose from his desk and gloomily made his way to the front of the room. “I’m happy to tell you that you are free to go.”

Shining Armor’s heart started beating rapidly; had she just said what he thought she said?

“I don’t understand,” he said. “Why?”

Instead of speaking, Cheerilee picked up the envelope, and tipped it upside down, allowing what looked like three, square pieces of paper to fall out.

“What…wait, these are…” Shining Armor stared in disbelief at the pictures of Diamond Tiara pushing him over, standing over him, and raising a hoof, ready to strike at Shining Armor’s face.

“You have Snails to thank for these,” Cheerilee said. “It seems he witnessed the whole thing while playing with our school’s shutterbug, Featherweight, at recess. When he saw Diamond Tiara approaching, he must have sensed that something was wrong and had Featherweight take pictures to use as evidence just in case something bad happened. At least, that’s what he told me outside.”

So that’s what his note meant, Shining Armor thought, remembering the scrap of paper tucked in his notebook.

“I’d also like to apologize to you, Gleaming Shield,” Cheerilee continued. “I’m sorry that I jumped to conclusions when I saw what was happening out there; I realize now that you were just defending yourself.”

“I wasn’t even really trying to defend myself,” Shining Armor admitted, “I didn’t even know I could do magic; I was just, I don’t know, scared. I was mostly angry at her for accusing me of acting like I thought I was better than her, but when her hoof was aimed at my face, I just felt so…helpless.” Shining Armor blushed; he really hated admitting his helplessness to himself, let alone to another pony. It just added to the growing list of things that reminded him of his filly state. “I guess my magic must have reacted to my emotions.”

“Well, whatever the reason, I’d just like to say that I’m sorry, and that I will be sending a letter home to Diamond Tiara’s parents, and she will be staying after school with me tomorrow.”

Shining Armor only nodded his acknowledgement at this news.

“Well then, I guess I’ll be going now,” he said, “Oh wait.” He ran back to his desk and picked up his homework and passed it to the teacher. “I completed the assignment.” Before Cheerilee could respond, Shining Armor dashed out of the classroom, eager to be free from his first (and hopefully last) detention.

…

No sooner had Shining Armor exited the schoolhouse, than he found himself face to face with somepony he didn’t expect; instead of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, he met Snails, who had apparently been waiting right outside the door for him.

“Oh, hello Snails,” Shining Armor said, giving the colt a polite smile. “What are you doing-”

“I was just waiting to make sure you made it out ok.”

“Yeah, I did, thanks; if you hadn’t had that pony take those pictures, I’d probably still be-”

“GleamingShieldIthinkyourebeautifulandawesomeandIwantedtoknowifyouwouldliketogotoSugarcubeCornerwithmeonThursdayafterschool.”

“Wai-wha-” but before Shining Armor could get another syllable out, Snails took off running towards the town.

Shining Armor sat on the ground, trying to wrap his head around what had just happened; he still wasn’t sure that he had heard Snails correctly. At least, he hoped he had misheard what the colt had said. Snails couldn’t have really just… No, Shining Armor thought, rubbing his hooves furiously against the sides of his head, as if trying to erase the memory from his brain. The poor little pony was so busy trying to wipe his mind of the last five minutes, that he didn’t hear the buzzing of Scootaloo’s wings as she pulled her scooter and the wagon with the other two Crusaders up along side him.

“Hey Gleaming Shield,” Scootaloo said as she dismounted her scooter and made her way over to her friend, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle following closely behind. “What are you doing out here; I thought you had detention?”

“Huh, oh, hey,” Shining Armor said, snapping back to reality, “sorry, I was just thinking about something. Yeah, I had detention but…Snails got me out.”

The three fillies looked at each other, perplexed looks on their little faces.

“How’d he do that?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Miss Cheerilee told me that he saw the whole thing between me and Diamond Tiara, and had somepony named Featherweight take pictures of her bullying me.”

“Well that was surprisin’ly smart of him,” Apple Bloom said. The other two fillies nodded their agreement that it was unusual for the colt to act so cleverly.

“That’s not all,” Shining Armor continued. “I…I think he might h-have asked me out on a d-d-date.”

“What?” all three fillies asked in unison.

Shining Armor just shrugged his shoulders.

“He said something really fast and then took off; all I could make out was something about Sugarcube Corner and Thursday night. I don’t know, I probably heard him wrong.” Shining Armor picked himself off the ground and started trotting towards the wagon. “Anyway, let’s go to Sugarcube Corner; it’s been a really long day and I could use a bit of time to de-stress.”

The little fillies exchanged smiles.

“Actually,” Apple Bloom said, “while we were ridin’ around, we thought it would be more fun if we got together tonight for a sleepover in the Crusaders’ club house.”

“A sleepover?” Shining Armor asked, his jaw dropping as scenes of horror suddenly ran through his head. There was no way he could sleep in such a small room with three little fillies; granted he was currently trapped in a body that was the same age and gender as these little ponies, but he was still a full-grown stallion, and the idea of having a slumber party with the Crusaders just felt...wrong. “I-I…no. Sorry girls I-”

“Awww, come on Gleamin’ Shield, t’ll be fun. I mean, you’ve had a rough day and could use some time to relax. With Twilight busy with whatever it is she’s workin’ on, we figured you could use somepony to hang out with.

“Just think; we’ll stay up tellin’ stories, singin’ songs, and since it’s gettin’ close to summer, it’ll be warm enough that we can sleep out under the stars.”

“Also,” Scootaloo added, “we were kinda hoping you could help us with our Crystal Empire homework.”

Shining Armor couldn’t stop himself; as soon as the words left Sootaloo’s lips, he broke out in fit of laughter. He wasn’t sure why; maybe it was because all of the stress had finally pushed him over the edge of insanity, or maybe it was because nopony had ever asked him for help on homework before. Whatever the reason was, the whole idea of just hanging out – no adventuring, no bullies, no getting into trouble – somehow put Shining Armor’s mind at ease. Plus, the idea that they would be sleeping outside instead of the clubhouse made him feel a lot less uncomfortable.

“What’s so funny?” Sweetie Belle finally asked.

“No, it’s nothing, sorry.” Shining Armor took a deep breath to recompose himself. “I guess it could be fun; I’ll just need to stop by the library first to let Twilight know.”

“Yeah, we’d better do the same with our parents, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo said. “We don’t want them running around Ponyville looking for us like last time.”

“Or the time before that,” Sweetie Belle added.

“Then it’s settled,” Apple Bloom said, sticking her hoof in the air.

“Cutie Mark Crusaders, slumber party at the clubhouse! Yay!” Once again, the three fillies cheered as they clapped their hooves together, holding them together while they waited for Shining Armor to slowly bring his hoof in to join theirs.

When the Crusaders finally withdrew their hooves, Apple Bloom, Shining Armor, and Sweetie Belle jumped into the wagon, and Scootaloo took her place at the helm. After a few steady, warm-up flaps, the little pegasus kicked her scooter into high gear. Shining Armor sat silently as they made their way down the street, listening to the other ponies chatting about their plans for the evening. He still felt a bit awkward having a sleepover with three real fillies, but from what he’d gotten to know of this little group over the past couple of days, he couldn’t deny that it might be a little fun. At the very least, it would certainly be the most interesting slumber party he’d ever attended; there was just no knowing how an evening with these three fillies would turn out. Only time would tell.

Chapter 7: Things Can't Get Any Worse, Right?

That night, Shining Armor had a very strange dream:

To Shining Armor’s dismay, Twilight had been unable to change him back to normal, and he was forced to return to the Crystal Empire as a little filly. To his surprise (and utter horror), Cadence was delighted with her husband’s sudden transformation; in fact, she almost seemed to prefer him that way.

To make matters worse, Dream Cadence said that she even knew the exact spell that could change Shining Armor back, but she decided that he should remain a filly, telling him that it would be more fun to have a daughter than a husband.

In a sudden flash of soft blue light, Shining Armor was sitting in their bedroom on a little stool in front of a large mirror on top of intricately carved wooden desk, with Cadence not too far away, rummaging through a drawer. The little “filly” gulped; he’d seen his wife sitting here enough times to know what it was that she had in store for him.

Just as Cadence was about to apply some form of makeup to her “daughter’s” little white cheek, a mysterious ringing sound began to fill the room. All at once, Cadence, and the bedroom evaporated in a puff of white smoke, which soon gave way to complete darkness, as the ringing became clearer, and louder.

“Rise and shine ya’ll,” Applejack called when she finally set down the little bell that she had been using to rouse the sleeping ponies.

“I DON’T WANT TO BE A PRETTY PRINCESS,” Shining Armor shouted, as he sat bolt upright in his sleeping bag, the remnants of the horrible dream still fresh in his mind. He rubbed his eyes, looked around, and noticed four sets of eyes that were all staring at him through the haze of Celestia’s early morning sunlight that was beginning to creep over the horizon.

“That’s alright, Gleamin’ Shield,” Apple Bloom said, sitting up in her sleeping bag, “you don’t have to be a, uh, pretty princess if you don’t wanna be.”

Shining Armor turned to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who were both doing nothing to hide their obvious grins, and uncontrollable giggles at the funny way their friend had woken up.

“Alright you four, up an at ‘em,” Applejack said, drawing the little ponies’ attention back to her, “you best get on up to the house and get ready for school now.”

Scootaloo looked up at the sky, which still held a few faint traces of distant stars in a sea of dark blue.

“But it isn’t even morning yet,” she complained with heavy yawn. “Can’t we at least sleep until sunrise?”

Applejack shook her head.

“Ah’m sorry sugarcube, but Big Macintosh and Ah have gotta move the cows to the East pasture before headin’ to the orchard, so we wouldn’t have enough time to wake you up later. Besides, you’ll need enough time to take care of your campin' stuff before you head back up to the house for baths and breakfast.”

"We can skip the baths, AJ," Apple Bloom groaned, hunkering back into her sleeping bag, “just give us a few more minutes to sleep.”

Applejack made her way through the group of sleepy ponies over to her little sister, grabbed the closed end of the sleeping bag, and yanked it upwards until the rosy-maned filly came tumbling out.

"You’re not skippin’ your baths, Apple Bloom; Ah ain’t sendin’ my little sister and her friends off to school smellin’ like Big Mac’s yoke on a hot summer’s day.”

Sweetie Belle brought a hoof up to her nose and gave it a little sniff.

“But we don’t smell...that bad,” she said, though her scrunched up nose gave away a hint of her dissatisfaction with what she smelled.

Shining Armor took a whiff of his own foreleg; sure enough the distinct odor of smoke from the previous night’s campfire had seeped into his coat.

“Maybe a bath wouldn’t be a bad idea,” he said, as he climbed out of his sleeping bag. “At the very least the water will help us wake up a bit.” Shining Armor began taking care of his things, trying to look as peppy as he could to encourage the Crusaders to do the same. Sure enough, within moments, three reluctant fillies were on their hooves, tidying up their campsite.

Once everything was picked up, they haphazardly tossed their stuff into a pile inside the clubhouse, then slowly made the trek back up the to the Apple family’s house.

…

“Hey, Gleaming Shield, would help me wash my back?” Scootaloo asked, passing Shining Armor a large, red washcloth.

The two little ponies sat together in a white, porcelain tub, filled with hot, bubbly water in the Apple’s upstairs bathroom. Normally Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo would take baths together, but with a new Crusader added to their group, there just wasn’t enough room for all four of them, so while Shining Armor, and Scootaloo were upstairs, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were using the one in the downstairs bathroom.

Shining Armor took the washcloth, and started dunking it in the water until it was saturated with suds.

“Guess I’m just helping you out with one problem after another, huh,” he joked, as he began scrubbing Scootaloo’s coat.

The little pegasus quickly responded by flapping her soaking wet wings in Shining Armor’s face, splashing him with water.

“Hey, cut that out.”

“What? You deserved it,” Scootaloo giggled. All the same, she calmed her wings, allowing Shining Armor to continue washing her back.

“By the way, how did you sleep last night?” Shining Armor lowered his voice. “Any, you know, nightmares?”

Scootaloo shook her head.

“Nope, none at all,” she said rather proudly. “Well, no nightmares anyway; I did have a few weird dreams, but nothing too scary.” She turned her head, and flashed Shining Armor a smile. “Looks like that talk we had last night really helped.”

“I guess I’m just like a big broth - er, I mean sister - in that way.” Shining Armor’s scrubbing intensified when he realized that he almost slipped up again.

“Hey what are you trying to do, rip my feathers out?”

Shining Armor stopped scrubbing, and looked down at Scootaloo’s outstretched wings; some of the feathers had become slightly crumpled during his frenzied washing of the little filly’s back.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that. Let me just-" He leaned down, and lightly bit down on one of the messed up feathers, and tugged on it ever so gently until it straightened out. Luckily Scootaloo's feathers were small, and soft, so they were easy to preen, which boded well for Shining Armor; after all, he was a unicorn, and wasn’t exactly an expert on proper wing care.

When he was finished with the last feather, Shining Armor pulled away to make sure everything was straight.

“There,” he said, satisfied with his work, “that should do it.”

“Whoa,” Scootaloo said when she saw what Shining Armor had done. “Where’d you learn to preen like that?”

“I, uh, I’ve seen Twilight do it a few times.” This was partially true; while he had been staying with his sister, he had caught her absentmindedly caring for her wings a few times while she was pouring through her books. But that hadn’t been where he had gotten his experience from; after a long day of overseeing the empire, Cadence liked to curl up next to Shining Armor while he preened her wings for her. She never really needed his help, (nor did her wings necessarily need to be groomed), she just found the whole act very relaxing.

“Well, I’m glad I finally have a friend who can preen wings; whenever I need emergency wing care, I just can’t trust trust Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle to know what they’re doing back there.”

At that moment, the door to the bathroom burst open, and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle trotted in, their coats, manes, and tails all poofy after having dried off from their own bath, and each one carrying with them a fluffy white towel on their backs.

“What are you two doin’, just sittin’ around, relaxin’,” Apple Bloom said, "we gotta get goin'." She ran over to the tub, turned the knob to get the water going, then turned another one which switched the water from the faucet to the shower, rinsing off the two unsuspecting ponies with a rain of freezing cold water.

Shining Armor, and Scootaloo quickly jumped out of the tub, and grabbed the towels from their friends' backs, in a desperate attempt to warm themselves up after the surprise, cold water assault.

"Geez Apple Bloom, what was that for," Shining Armor said, once he had finished drying himself. "I thought we had plenty of time to get ready."

Apple Bloom shook her head.

"Not if we want breakfast."

"Oh yeah," Scootaloo said, her little wings buzzing with excitement, "I totally forgot about breakfast."

The little pegasus quickly finished toweling herself off, then dashed out of the bathroom, and down the stairs.

"What's so special about breakfast?" Shining Armor asked.

Apple Bloom just giggled as she began leading the way out of the bathroom.

"You'll see."

As the crusaders made their way into the kitchen, they found that Granny Smith had been up and about for hours, preparing enough food to feed a small army (which apparently was the equivalent of a family of four, hardworking farm ponies, a starving pegasus filly, and two miniature unicorns). First there were the staples (toast, oatmeal, and eggs), then further down there were cinnamon rolls, blueberry muffins, apple muffins, apple cinnamon scones, apple Danishes, apple pancakes, blueberry pancakes, and hashed browns. Finally, in the center of the breakfast feast, there was apple butter, apple jelly, maple syrup, and the Apple family's famous zap apple jam.

“Alright young’uns,” Granny Smith said, as the Crusaders sat down around the table “Time t’get some grub in ya.”

Shining Armor tried his hardest to put away as much of the delicious food as he could, but he hardly put a dent in the breakfast before he couldn't eat any more. Sweetie Belle was the next to surrender to fullness, leaving just Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo to tackle the rest with Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, and Applejack.

“Is that all ya’ll are gonna eat?” Granny asked when she saw the little unicorns slumped in their seats.

Shining Armor and Sweetie Belle just groaned, too full to answer.

“Heh, ya’ll will never grow up t’be big n’ strong like Applejack if’n ya don’ eat more. Isn’t that right, Applejack.”

“Now Granny,” Applejack said through a mouth full of muffin, “those two don’t have the same appetites us Apples do.”

Granny just looked at the little ponies, who were trying hard not to slide to the floor.

“Ah suppose.”

When breakfast was over, the Crusaders excused themselves from the table, and thanked Granny Smith for the food, before slowly trotting outside, where they strapped on their saddlebags, climbed into the wagon, and began the trip back into town.

…

"Ugh, I'm never eating again," Shining Armor groaned, as he sat in the back of the wagon, clutching his aching stomach.

Apple Bloom just chuckled.

“See, I told you; breakfast is a big deal around our house.”

By the time they had gotten to the schoolhouse, Shining Armor’s stomach had calmed down enough for him to be able to move around without too much of a struggle. Since it was still too early in the morning to head to the classroom, the Crusaders decided to play on the playground until the school bell rang.

It had been quite a few years since Shining Armor had set hoof on a playground; the last time he could remember being anywhere near swings, and slides, and monkey bars was back when Cadence was still foalsitting for Twilight. Cadence, Shining Armor thought, as he sat down on an empty swing between Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, and began rocking back and forth, Cadence I miss you so much. While running around with the Cutie Mark Crusaders had done a good job of distracting him from worrying about his wife, just the memory of being with her, along with the dream he had had were enough to remind Shining Armor that the love of his life was miles away, suffering from some sort of flu. Some husband I am; my wife is sick, and alone, and I’m here doing…I don’t even know what to call this.

“Hey Gleaming Shield, are you feeling alright?”

Shining Armor looked up, and saw Sweetie Belle staring at him, a concerned look on her face.

“Oh, sorry. It’s nothing,” he lied, “just my stomach acting up.”

Sweetie Belle nodded her understanding, and went back to her swinging. Shining Armor decided to follow suit, figuring the exercise might help take his mind off of his worries. She’s fine, he assured himself, all she needs is a bit of bed rest and she’ll be as good as new.

As he swung, Shining Armor watched the parade of parents walk up to the school to drop off their foals. A few of the little ponies greeted him with smiles, and a warm ‘good morning,’ while a few others glared at him, and made sure to keep their distance as they walked by. Shining Armor wasn't entirely sure why they were acting so cold towards him, but he could only guess that word had gotten out about what had happened at lunch yesterday between Diamond Tiara and him. No doubt that's gonna come back and bite me in the flank somehow, he thought.

Shining Armor's attention was suddenly drawn away from the foals' scornful looks, when he heard the door to the schoolhouse open, and he looked up to see two familiar ponies stepping out. The first was a large stallion, whose slicked back mane, steely blue eyes, and expensive tie gave him an air of importance. While Shining Armor didn't know this stallion personally, he (as would anypony) instantly recognized him as Filthy Rich, owner of Rich's Barnyard Bargains, one of the most successful retail chains in Equestria. He certainly seems different than he does on his billboards, Shining Armor thought, when he saw the look of disappointment on Filthy Rich’s face in place of the bright, charming smile that he wore on all the ads for his stores.

Filthy Rich stopped just a few feet away from Shining Armor, and turned his gaze to the little pink filly who had been following, sullenly, behind him.

“Detention,” he said.

“Daddy, I-”

“I don’t want to hear it, Diamond Tiara. I heard enough from your teacher about what happened between you and that other filly yesterday. I’ve told you before that you have to do something about this attitude of yours; you know how much I hate having to come down here because you’re getting into disagreements with the other students over this or that. I thought we had agreed that you would try harder to get along with the other ponies.”

“But daddy, she used her magic to pick me up by the tail, and hang me upside down.”

“Only because you started picking on her first.” Filthy Rich shook his head. “I’m very disappointed in you, Diamond Tiara, and as much as I hate to say it, I’m afraid I have no choice but to ground you for two weeks. That means you will come straight home after school everyday and start working on your homework; no running off to the spa, no getting your hooves done, and especially no spending time with Silver Spoon outside of school.”

Diamond Tiara sat down, on the verge of tears.

“O-ok, d-d-daddy.”

Filthy Rich’s face softened, and he wrapped a hoof around the disheartened filly.

“Now Diamond Tiara, you know I still love you. I just wish you could make more of an effort to be nicer to other ponies.”

“I know, I j-just…”

Filthy Rich tightened his embrace around his daughter.

“Tell you what, if you can behave yourself for the rest of the week, and if you do well in school, then I’ll take you with me when I go to check on Barnyard Bargains’ Manehatten store this weekend. Deal?”

“Deal.”

Diamond Tiara wiped away her tears, and returned her father’s hug. “I love you daddy; and don’t worry, I promise I’ll do better.”

“I know you will, my little diamond,” Filthy Rich chuckled. “And I love you too. Now I have to get to work, but I’ll be around at four o’clock to pick you up after your detention.”

Filthy Rich got up and started walking down the lane, only stopping so that he could look back and wave goodbye to his daughter.

When her father was finally out of sight, Diamond Tiara trotted over to Shining Armor, who was still swinging, trying to pretend like he hadn’t been listening in on their conversation.

“I bet you’re feeling pretty happy with yourself,” she spat, “you get to waltz on home after school, and go on little adventures with your blank flank friends, while I sit alone in an empty classroom for an hour and a half of detention."

"Well, you do deserve it," Sweetie Belle said, as she stopped swinging.

"Deserve it? What I did to her wasn't nearly as bad as what she did to me."

"But you're the one who started it," Apple Bloom piped in.

"Yeah," Scootaloo added, as she trotted over from parking her scooter to join the conversation, "if you hadn't been such a bully to Gleaming Shield in the first place, then none of this would have happened."

Diamond Tiara's face went from pink to a deep red. She was just about to open her mouth to argue back, but she quickly held her tongue, and took a slow breath to calm herself.

"I don't have time for this foalishness," she said, turning to walk away.

“Diamond Tiara, wait,” Shining Armor called, as he jumped from the swing, and ran after the angry filly. “I just wanted to say-”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Diamond Tiara said without turning around. “In fact, I would prefer it if you just stayed away from me from now on.”

“But I-”

“No. Just shut up, and leave me alone.” She took another calming breath. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go inside, and wait for Silver Spoon to get here.”

Shining Armor watched Diamond Tiara as she stomped away into the schoolhouse.

“What was that all about, Gleaming Shield?” Scootaloo asked when she, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle caught up.

Shining Armor didn’t say anything, he just continued staring, dumbstruck, at the empty doorway.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” he muttered to himself.

When he had stepped out of what would have been the first detention of his life, all Shining Armor could think about was how happy he was to be free, he hadn’t really thought about what would happen to Diamond Tiara. After what he had just witnessed, Shining Armor was beginning to feel a pang of guilt in the pit of his stomach. Sure Diamond Tiara was a bully, and had picked the fight with him, but he had retaliated, even if he hadn’t meant to. I really need to apologize to her, Shining Armor thought. Even if she won’t accept it, I have to let Diamond Tiara know that I’m sorry about using magic on her.

The sudden feeling of a tiny hoof on his shoulder brought Shining Armor out of his thoughts.

“You sure you’re alright there, Gleamin’ Shield?” Apple Bloom asked, an obvious look of concern written all over her face.

Before Shining Armor could answer, he was whipped in the face by something, long, soft, and silver. He looked up to see what it was that hit him, and saw Silver Spoon glaring at him through her blue-framed glasses, as she went to join her friend in the classroom.

“I don’t know, Apple Bloom,” Shining Armor said, “I guess I’ll have to see what today has in store for me.”

…

Riiiing.

“Alright class, that’s all for today,” Cheerilee said when the final bell rang. “Now go on and have a wonderful afternoon, and don’t forget, your Crystal Empire homework is due tomorrow.”

Shining Armor stretched as he climbed out of his seat and went with the Crusaders as they grabbed their saddlebags from their cubbies in the back of the room.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Gleamin’ Shield?” Apple Bloom asked, as she tightened the strap of her bag.

“I have to,” he said. "Don’t get me wrong, I think Diamond Tiara deserves the punishment she got, I just feel she should know that I’m sorry about what I did yesterday.”

During recess, Shining Armor had tried multiple times to just walk up to Diamond Tiara to apologize to her, but every time he got close to her, she would turn her nose to the air, and walk off with a loud ‘humph.’ That didn’t discourage Shining Armor, though; after talking things over with the Cutie Mark Crusaders (who were perplexed by the idea that Shining Armor wanted to apologize to Diamond Tiara), he had come to the conclusion that the only way he could get the ill-mannered filly to listen to what he had to say would be to stay after school, and talk to her in detention, when she couldn't run away from him.

"Well, good luck," Sweetie Belle said, as the trio made for the front door. "Just don't be surprised if she completely ignores you.”

"We'll wait for you outside, so don't take too long," Scootaloo said.

With a wave goodbye, the Cutie Mark Crusaders disappeared in the throng of students heading outside.

Shining Armor looked around; by now the rest of the students had filtered out through the front door, leaving himself, Cheerilee, and Diamond Tiara alone in the classroom. This is it, Shining Armor thought, as he took a deep breath, and approached the teacher’s desk.

“Excuse me, Miss Cheerilee,” he said, just loud enough so only she could hear him.

“Oh, hello Gleaming Shield,” Cheerilee said with a bright smile, “was there something you needed me for?”

“Not exactly.” Shining Armor looked around the desk to Diamond Tiara, who had her face hidden behind a copy of The Crystal Empire: Secrets of the Long Lost Civilization. “I was kind of hoping I could talk to Diamond Tiara.”

The smile faded from Cheerilee’s face.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Gleaming Shield; after what happened yesterday, I think it might be best if the two of you gave each other some space.”

Shining Armor nodded.

“I completely agree with you, Miss Cheerilee,” he said, “I was just feeling bad about yesterday, and I wanted to apologize to her.”

Cheerilee stared at Shining Armor, completely taken aback.

“Oh. Well if that’s the case, then I don’t see any harm in you two talking.” Cheerilee got up from her seat and walked around her desk to wear Diamond Tiara was sitting. “Diamond Tiara, could you look up from your book for a moment? Gleaming Shield has something that she wants to say to you.”

“Tell her to go away,” Diamond Tiara said from behind her book.

“Diamond Tiara, where are your manners?”

The little filly closed her book, and set it down, and stared at Shining Armor with a look of pure indifference.

“Well?”

“Diamond Tiara,” Shining Armor began, “I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for levitating you yesterday. My magic is very...unpredictable right now. I know that doesn't excuse my actions, but I hope you can forgive me."

Diamond Tiara just continued to stare silently down at Shining Armor from her seat.

"Well Diamond Tiara," Cheerilee said, giving the little filly an encouraging smile, "isn't there something you'd like to say to Gleaming Shield."

At first Shining Armor was sure Diamond Tiara was just going to snub him like she had that morning, but she didn’t.

“Fine,” she said, rather dully, “apology accepted.”

Shining Armor was speechless; Diamond Tiara had just done the last thing he had expected her to do.

"Isn't there something else you would like to say to Gleaming Shield?" Cheerilee asked.

Diamond Tiara looked from her teacher to Shining Armor, and forced herself to smile.

“I’m...sorry,” she said, the words staggering as they came out.

An awkward silence fell on the room as Shining Armor let the filly’s words sink in. He knew Diamond Tiara didn’t mean what she said; the smile, the apology, they were all for Cheerilee’s benefit. Still, Shining Armor knew he would never get any sincerity from her, and decided not to push the matter.

“Thank you, Diamond Tiara,” he said, bowing his head as a sign of gratitude.

Cheerilee smiled.

“I’m very proud of you two,” she said,” now that you’ve both taken responsibility for your actions yesterday, I hope you can put it behind you and try to act more civil towards one another for the rest of Gleaming Shield's visit."

Both ponies nodded their agreement.

“Good. Now why don’t you run along now and join the others, Gleaming Shield; I’m sure they’re waiting for you. As for you, Diamond Tiara, I expect you to use your time to work on your Crystal Empire home work. If you finish it before the end of your detention, then I shall let you go early. Alright?”

“Yes ma’am,” Diamond Tiara said, as she reopened her book and got back to her homework.

Shining Armor looked back at the little pink filly, as he walked towards the door, and for a split second their eyes met. In that brief moment, Shining Armor could have sworn he saw something hidden there; it wasn’t kindness, but a sort of look that he hadn’t seen in the short time that they had known each other, almost like she was secretly accepting his apology with sincerity. Hoping to see that he wasn’t mistaken, Shining Armor turned around again, but Diamond Tiara had shielded her face behind her book. Huh, maybe I was wrong, Shining Armor thought, as he turned, and trotted out the front door.

…

Out in the open air, with Celestia's warm sun beating down, Shining Armor found that he was feeling as if a tiny weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He knew it was stupid, but moral victories always had that effect on him. Even the little ones, which most ponies would consider trivial were enough to put him in a good mood, especially when he was feeling upset about something. There, now that I've got that behind me I can go back to enjoying my time in Ponyville without any major distractions, he thought, as he rounded the corner to find the Cutie Mark Crusaders waiting by the scooter which was parked over by the swing set.

Scootaloo was the first to notice Shining Armor as he approached.

"Oh hey Gleaming Shield," she said, "how'd it g-g-g..." Scootaloo's muzzle suddenly scrunched up, and before Shining Armor knew what was going on, she burst out in a fit of giggles, which quickly spread to Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle.

"What's so funny?" Shining Armor asked, cocking his head in confusion.

“It's nothin'," Apple Bloom said, "it's just that-"

"-your coltfriend came looking for you." Sweetie Belle playfully nudged Shining Armor in the side, before the trio broke out in another chorus of girly giggles.

Coltfriend? What are they... Wait they don't mean... They can't mean...Shining Armor's white coat turned a bright shade of pink as he felt his happiness slip away with a small shred of his already dwindling dignity.

"Snails...came looking for me?" he asked, his voice coming out as a hoarse whisper.

Apple Bloom nodded.

"He wanted to make sure you hadn't forgotten about your date on Thursday."

"At least we think that's what he was talking about," Sweetie Belle said. "He was talking pretty quietly, and he stuttered a lot, but we were able to make your name out, and the words 'Sugarcube Corner,' and 'Thursday.'"

"It wasn't hard for us to figure out that he was asking' you out on a date," Apple Bloom concluded.

Shining Armor shook his head, and sighed. So I did hear him right, he thought, great now I get to deal with this.

“Look,” he said, “Snails is not my coltfr-”

“Yoo-hoo, Sweetie Belle.”

The four ponies looked up when they heard the call, and found a familiar white unicorn mare, with a flowing purple mane and tail trotting up to them.

“Rarity,” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, as she ran up to her sister and gave her a great big hug. “What are you doing here? You usually only pick me up from school on Fridays.”

“Oh I know dear, but I was hoping you and your friends would be willing to help me with the order I’m working on.”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes lit up like stars.

“Really? What do you want us to do? Do you need us to sew, or cut out fabric, or maybe help you attach the gemstones to the dresses?”

Rarity gave her sister a polite smile.

“Oh nonononono, nothing like that, although I do admire your enthusiasm, Sweetie Belle. No, the dresses are done for the most part, I just need four ponies to model them for me for final approval. Since you told me about the new filly who had joined your little group, I figured I’d ask you four to-”

“We’ll do it!”

“Wait, what?" Shining Armor asked. “Sweetie Belle, I don’t wanna -”

Before Shining Armor could protest, Sweetie Belle shoved a forehoof in his mouth.

“We’d love to model for you.” She gave her sister a bright smile, before turning to Shining Armor and whispering, “Rarity never asks me to help her with her work; please just go along with it.”

Shining Armor looked from Sweetie Belle, then to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, and sighed when he realized that there was no point in fighting it.

"There's no way I'm getting out of this, is there?"

"Nope." Sweetie Belle smiled sweetly, as she grabbed hold of each of her friends, and threw them into their places on the scooter.

"Come on girls, we've got a fashion show to put on."

…

Whatever dignity Shining Armor had had left after the Crusaders had referred to Snails as his ‘coltfriend’ had been completely stripped away as he stood there, completely made over from head to hoof:

As soon as they had walked through the doors of Carousel Boutique, the Crusaders were hurried in front of a small mirror while Rarity fit them into their dresses, each one covered in various sequins and ribbons, then did their manes and tails, and applied more makeup than Shining Armor had ever hoped to have on his face. Shining Armor insisted that the makeup wasn’t necessary, since Rarity just needed to see how the dress looked, but the fashionista pony just laughed like he had just told her the funniest joke in all of Equestria.

“Oh darling don’t be ridiculous,” she had said, “these dresses are for the daughters of an elite business pony from Manehatten. Why, if you four aren’t made up to look the part, then how would I know if they have just the right look for such important fillies?”

Shining Armor couldn’t come up with a good enough counter argument, so he just rolled his eyes, and begrudgingly sat in silence while Rarity applied blush to his already flushed cheeks. To make matters worse, when Rarity was finished, she complimented him on his “wonderful bone structure,” and told him that he would become a very lovely mare when he grew up.

When Rarity was finished dressing, and making up the Crusaders, she cast a spell, and a runway began to rise out of the floor in the center of the room. At the same time, a closet door opened somewhere behind them, and a set of deep blue, velvet curtains floated out, and attached themselves near the back of the runway, leaving just enough room for a few ponies to wait behind.

“Alright, now I want you four to go up there wait behind that curtain,” Rarity instructed. “Spike should be back shortly with our special guests.”

Shining Armor had felt his heart sink.

“Special guests?” he had asked. “You mean other ponies are going to see us?”

Again, Rarity laughed at Shining Armor.

“Of course; I need other ponies’ opinions on these dresses before I can send them out.”

This just keeps getting better and better, Shining Armor thought, as he followed Rarity up to the platform behind the runway.

While they waited, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle decided to take advantage of the free time to work on their Crystal Empire homework (which had been left untouched since the day before). Since Shining Armor had already finished his during his detention, he agreed to help the Crusaders with theirs, which the fillies greatly accepted.

As the minutes passed, Shining Armor became increasingly thankful that he had been given something to distract him from his light blue dress. Unfortunately that feeling of relief didn’t last long; just as the Crusaders were finishing up the fourth question on their homework assignment, the doors to the boutique opened. Shining Armor couldn’t see anypony through the thick curtain, but he could hear the distinct sound of hooves, the flutter of wings, and the chitchat of ponies as they began taking their places around the runway. Suddenly he remembered why he was there, and that whoever was on the other side of that curtain was going to see him wearing a dress. I mean, I know they’ll only see a filly in a dress, he thought, but… I… I can’t…

“I can’t do this,” he said out loud. “Sweetie Belle, help me out of this thing.”

“Wha- Hey, what are you doing?” Sweetie Belle asked, when she saw that Shining Armor was frantically trying to pull his dress off.

“I’m getting out of here; there’s no way I’m letting anypony see me dressed like this.”

Sweetie Belle placed her forehooves on Shining Armor’s shoulders and gave him a gentle shake to calm him down.

“But you said you’d do this for me.”

“I thought we were doing this for Rarity, not you,” Scootaloo mocked.

Sweetie Belle shot Scootaloo an annoyed glance.

“But I… I…” Shining Armor stuttered.

“Hey it’s alright if you’re nervous,” Apple Bloom said. “Just remember that we’re here with you.”

“That’s right,” Scootaloo said, “we’ve always got your back.”

Before Shining Armor knew it, three little fillies had their forelegs around his neck in a tight embrace.

“Are you girls ready,” came a voice from behind them.

The four little ponies looked up from their group hug, and saw Rarity trotting up to them, followed closely by a small purple and green dragon.

“Are you kidding,” Sweetie Belle said, letting go of her friends, to go over to her sister, “I was born readddwhoaaaa-” As Sweetie Belle approached her sister, one of her hind legs caught on the end of her dress, causing her to trip. Luckily Rarity was fast enough with her magic to catch her sister before the little filly hit the floor.

“Be careful, Sweetie Belle,” she scolded, “I can’t have you ruining those dresses before they’re finished. Why, the tiniest tear could mean that I would have to redo the entire dress.”

“Would not.”

“Would so.”

“Would not!”

“Would so!”

There was a low growling sound as the two sisters stared daggers at each other.

Spike, sensing the growing tension between the two sisters, quickly jumped between them.

“So, uh, hey, who is this anyway?” Spike said, changing the topic, and pointing a claw at Shining Armor.

Rarity and Sweetie Belle quit their bickering and turned to where Spike was pointing.

"Oh, that’s Gleaming Shield,” Sweetie Belle said, “she’s Twilight's little cousin visiting from Canterlot."

Spike gave Sweetie Belle a questioning look.

"Oh. Really? But I thought Shining Armor was visiting this week."

"He, uh, was," Shining Armor said, "but he was, um, called away to Canterlot on urgent business the day after he got here."

Spike cocked his head.

"But I just talked to Twilight yesterday, and she said that he was out exploring Ponyville."

"Oh, uh…she did? Well she has been awake for the past three days studying; maybe she just got confused."

There was a brief moment of silence while Spike mulled over this new information.

"I guess that makes sense," he finally said. “I keep telling her not to over do it, but she never listens to me. Especially when she’s working on something important."

Rarity looked up at the clock and gasped when she saw the time.

"Alright, places everypony," she said in a hurried voice. "Sweetie Belle, since I know you're the most eager to get out there, and since I know I won't hear the end of it if I don't, I'm allowing you to go first, followed by Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Gleaming Shield. Once the show starts, and Sweetie Belle has taken the runway, I want the rest of you to follow ten seconds after the pony in front of you. Once you are at the front, you will turn to the left, pose, turn to the right, pose again, and then walk right back here. Remember timing is everything.

“Now if there aren’t any questions, I must take my leave. Come along Spiky”.

Rarity took a deep breath, and without another word, turned, and walked back down the stairs, Spike following closely at her tail.

Moments later, the lights went out, and a loud, fast paced pop song started playing over the speakers.

"Fillies and, uh, fillies" boomed Spike’s voice from the other side of the curtain, "on behalf of the wonderfully talented, and beautiful Rarity, I would like to thank you for joining us this afternoon for our impromptu fashion show."

"Quick, line up girls," Sweetie Belle said, trying to get her friends into their places in almost total darkness, before taking her own spot in the front.

"Alright, here it is. The moment you've all been waiting for," came Spike's amplified voice again. “Now, it is our honor to present to you, the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

Shining Armor heard Sweetie Belle giggle with delight as the curtains parted, and a spotlight flashed on, following the little filly as she strode down the runway.

Yup this is going to be soooo much fun, Shining Armor thought gloomily, as Apple Bloom got ready to follow after her friend.

“Hey, it’ll be ok,” Scootaloo said, as she walked up to the opening in the curtain, “just remember that we’re in this together. Plus it doesn’t look like there are that many ponies out there.”

Not gonna make me feel better, but thanks Scootaloo, he thought as Sweetie Belle returned, and Scootaloo walked onto the runway.

Shining Armor walked up to the edge of the curtain, and peered out to see what he was up against. As it turned out, there weren’t that many ponies out there. In fact he only counted four black shapes in the darkness. Four. Ok, that’s not so bad. I just need to walk out there, and walk back, and only four ponies will see me. I think I can live with that; I mean it’s not like it’s anypony I kn-

“Gleaming Shield, you missed your cue,” Sweetie Belle said in a panicked whisper, shaking Shining Armor from his thoughts.

Shining Armor looked up, and saw that Scootaloo had already reached the end of the runway, and Apple Bloom was almost all the way back. Alright, let’s do this. With a determined look, he took a deep breath, and stepped into the spotlight.

The moment Shining Armor stepped onto the runway, he knew that it had been a big mistake. A loud series of snorts and giggles echoed from somewhere in the room, causing Shining Armor to falter as he continued down the catwalk. He looked out into the darkness, but he couldn't make any pony out; all he could see was the vague outlines of four ponies sitting not to far away from where he was walking. Yet there was no mistaking that laugh; it was Pinkie Pie.

Wait a minute, he thought, as he struggled to walk down the runway, almost bumping into Scootaloo, special guests? Pinkie Pie? Uh oh. Shining Armor quickly scanned the four ponies that were seated around the runway again. Sure enough, Pinkie Pie's distinctly curly mane could just be made out in the darkness. Ok, so that one's Pinkie, and one of them is Rarity. Please tell me that the other two aren't who I think they are; I'm already starting to feel a bit emasculated here. But he kept on walking until there was nowhere else to walk. Just do a little pose, and then walk back; do a look little pose and then walk back; do a little pose and then...

Shining Armor's retreat was more of a gallop than a walk, as he tried to get away from the spotlight, and Pinkie's uncontrollable laughter, which echoed throughout the entire room.

“Great, that’s done,” he said, when he was finally safe behind the curtain, “now somepony get me outta this thing.”

Sweetie Belle giggled, as she ran over and undid the zipper on the back of Shining Armor’s dress. The moment the little metal tab reached its end, Shining Armor sprung out of the garment, and smiled, as he slumped on the floor, happy to finally be free.

"Get mine next," Scootaloo said, standing next to the two ponies so they could help her out. Despite the fact that Shining Armor had felt completely ridiculous in his dress, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Scootaloo; not only was her's the only one that needed to be laced up in the back, it didn't have any holes for her wings to poke through, so the whole time she was dressed, she had to endure the uncomfortable feeling of having her little appendages being tightly bound to her body. Shining Armor had to give the little filly credit though, since she never once showed just how unpleasant it was.

When the tedious task of unlacing Scootaloo's dress was finished, she stepped out, and sighed happily, as she stretched her wings, and gave them a few little flaps before folding them in again. "That's so much better."

“Quick, do mine, do mine,” Sweetie Belle said. Shining Armor returned the favor, and helped Sweetie Belle, who quickly slipped out of her dress, and checked her flank.

“Still blank” she sighed. “I guess my talent isn’t in being a world famous fashion model.”

A few minutes later, once the Crusaders had finished changing out of their dresses, the music stopped, and the lights came back on.

“You four were absolutely wonderful,” Rarity said, as she returned to the stage behind the curtain, followed (to Shining Armor’s dismay) by Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Spike.

“You looked wonderful,” Fluttershy said, giving the Crusaders a warm smile, “just like four little princesses.”

“Except for Gleaming Shield,” Pinkie Pie said, barely able to contain her giggles. “She looked - heehee - more like - haha - a queen.”

Shining Armor just rolled his eyes, as Pinkie fell on the floor, laughing.

“For the life of me, I can’t figure out why she keeps doing tha… WHAT DID YOU DO!” Rarity gasped, as she stared at her beautiful dresses, lying in four little heaps on the floor. “Sweetie Belle, how could you just leave those dresses on the floor like that? I thought I taught you to hang your clothes up neatly.” Rarity quickly picked up all four little dresses, carefully put each one on a hook, and then levitated them over to nearby coat rack where she hung them up.

Sweetie Belle frowned.

“We could have done that ourselves if you had just given us a couple of minutes.”

Rarity stared at her sister like she was going to be angry with her again, but instead took a deep breath, and smiled.

“You’re right, Sweetie Belle. I’m sorry. It’s just that I didn’t notice anything that really has to be fixed, and I need these dresses to be in perfect shape so I can ship them out first thing in the morning.”

Sweetie Belle returned her sister’s smile, and gave her a great big hug.

“So you got everything you needed, huh,” Rainbow Dash said, breaking up the sisters’ heartfelt moment, “does that mean I can go now?”

Rarity looked up at her friend, who was hovering lazily in place with a bored look on her face.

“I suppose so,” she said, “I just needed the three of you here for your opinions, and judging from everypony’s reactions they’re perfect. Although it is hard to tell what Pinkie Pie thinks through all of her laughter.”

“I - heeheehee - love them.”

“Alright then, we’re out of here,” Rainbow Dash said, scooping up the still giggling Pinkie Pie in her hooves, and carrying her out of the boutique.

“I should be going too,” Fluttershy said, “it’s getting late, and I have to start making dinner for my animal friends.”

Fluttershy congratulated each of the little ponies again on a job well done, then followed her friends out the door.

“I suppose you four should be on your way as well,” Rarity said, as she led the Crusaders down from the runway, and started putting the staging away.

Shining Armor looked out the window at the setting sun.

“I’m sure Twilight will begin to worry if I’m not home soon,” he said.

“Awww, do you have to go?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom said, “Ah thought you were gonna finish helpin’ us with our homework.”

“But I…” Shining Armor’s words trailed off as three little faces stared at him with big puppydog eyes. “But-”

“Please, Gleaming Shield,” Scootaloo pleaded, “we’ll never be able to figure this all out on our own.”

“Fine,” he said, finally giving in, “but let’s go to Twilight’s; it’ll probably be a lot easier to study there.”

The three Crusaders cheered, as they ran to the corner where they kept their bags, repacked their homework sheets, and chased Shining Armor out the door.

“Thank you for letting us help you, Rarity,” Sweetie Bell called back to her sister.

Rarity just smiled and waved.

“I guess I’ll be going home too,” Shining Armor heard Spike say.

“Oh no you don’t,” Rarity said, “I still need you to help me with a few minor things before…” Rarity’s voice trailed off as the door to the boutique shut behind the Crusaders.

“Alright,” Scootaloo said, when everypony was loaded up in the wagon, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but let’s hurry and get to the library.” And they were off, hurtling down the street in the direction of Golden Oak Library.

…

Shining Armor opened the door to his temporary residence, and walked right in, followed closely by the Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. To his surprise, the front room of the library was completely empty; ever since his unfortunate accident, Twilight had been there, sitting at the table with her face inches away from a book. Maybe she went out, Shining Armor thought, as he led the Crusaders through the library.

“Twilight,” he called. “Twilight are you here?”

There was the sudden sound of breaking glass, followed by the scrambling of hooves that came from upstairs. Within seconds, Twilight had descended the stairs, a look of surprise, mixed with utter terror plastered on her face.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, trying to sound as calm as possible, not wanting to seem too panicked in front of the fillies.

“I’m staying here, remember?”

“Yes, I know that, but don’t you have, you know, crusading to do?”

“Well we were helping my sister with her work,” Sweetie Belle said, “but it was getting late, and we still had homework to do, so Gleaming Shield said we could come here so she could help us finish it.”

“I hope that’s alright, Twily. Twily? Hey, what’s going on?”

Twilight began shuffling her hooves nervously.

“Oh, it’s nothing, just-”

She stopped when the distinct sound of hooves began making their way towards the stairs.

“Twilight, is there somepony else here?” Shining Armor asked.

She gulped, and nodded.

“Who was up there wi-”

“Who’s at the door, Twilight?” A voice called down.

Shining Armor felt a sudden tightening in his stomach. He recognized that voice.

Twilight gave Shining Armor a look that said “Please don’t be mad,” but her big brother was too busy worrying about the clopping of hooves that were now slowly making their way down the stairs.

“Oh hello there,” Twilight’s guest said, when she saw that they had visitors.

The Crusaders all stared, wide-eyed, and slack-jawed, surprised at who was standing before them. All the Crusaders except for Shining Armor, whose hind legs buckled, sending him into a sitting position, as he found himself face to face with Princess Cadence.

Chapter 8: An Evening With Princess Cadence

“C-C-C-C…” Shining Armor stammered, too full of fear and embarrassment to speak.

“Cadence, you remember the Cutie Mark Crusaders: Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle,” Twilight said, trying to hide how nervous she was. She quickly turned to check on her brother, who looked like he was about to be sick, as he continued to stare, slack jawed up at the beaming face of his wife. Poor Shining Armor, she thought, regretting that she hadn’t told her brother that Cadence was going to be joining them the day that she had received the letter.

“Of course I remember them,” she said, directing her attention to the group of fillies. “And how have you three been? I trust that you’re still busy trying to get your cutie marks?”

“Yes ma’am,” Apple Bloom said, returning Cadence’s smile.

“We’ll never stop our quest until we find our special talents, and earn our cutie marks,” added Scootaloo, flashing a confident grin.

Cadence giggled.

“Good, I’m glad to hear it.” Then she turned to Shining Armor, her smile unwavering. “And who are you, little one?"

“This is Gleaming Shield,” Twilight said, seeing her brother in a near catatonic state. “She’s my little cousin from Canterlot.”

Cadence seemed a bit confused, yet no less delighted.

“Huh, I thought I’d already met all of your relatives at mine and Shining Armor’s wedding.”

“Oh, uh, she and her family weren’t able to attend. My, um, uncle told me that they had been on vacation in Baltamare at the time, and since Canterlot was on high alert, they weren’t able to make it back for the wedding.”

The elder alicorn thought on this for a moment, considering whether or not Twilight’s story made sense, then nodded and smiled at the little faux filly.

“Well it is very nice to meet you, Gleaming Shield.” Cadence couldn’t help but giggle. “You know, you look an awful lot like-”

“Shining Armor,” Scootaloo said. “Yeah, everypony’s been saying that. Right Gleaming Shield?”

Shining Armor didn't say anything; his day had been stressful enough without having to worry about Cadence. In a brief moment of shock, he let his little body take over, as he let out an awkward squeak, before making a hasty retreat into the kitchen.

When he was alone, Shining Armor clutched at his racing heart, trying to calm himself down, but to no avail. I can't believe this, he thought, as he began to nervously pace back and forth across the kitchen floor, I can’t believe Cadence saw me. Oh why did she have to come here now? As Shining Armor paced, the sudden sound of hooves approaching caused him to jump, but he released a sigh of relief when he saw that it was only Twilight.

"Shining Armor, " she said, as she sat down next to her sulking brother. "Are you doing alright, B.B.B.F.F.?”

Shining Armor looked up at his sister with a look that told her that he wasn't.

"I'm so sorry, Shining Armor, I should have told you when I got Cadence's letter that she was going to be coming to town, I just thought that-"

"Letter?" Shining Armor asked. "Wait, you knew Cadence was coming?"

Twilight shuffled her hooves anxiously, as she nodded her head.

"I figured that if you had known about Cadence's arrival earlier, you would have spent the past few days here panicking, which would have distracted me from working as hard as I have been on this spell."

Shining Armor sighed, as he nodded sullenly.

"I guess that makes sense. But still..."

"If it makes you feel a little better, I've made some major headway with the spell since I saw you yesterday, so it should be almost ready for testing. I might even be able to start tomorrow."

This news did seemed to cheer Shining Armor up a little.

"Just one more day as a filly, huh? I think I can do that. I just need to avoid Cadence until then, and everything will be-"

"Actually..." Twilight gave her brother a sheepish smile.

"Oh no," Shining Armor said, shaking his head furiously, "I am not spending time with her; not while I look like this."

"You will if you want to turn back to normal; I can’t just have Cadence around here while I work on the spell. If she starts asking questions about what I’m working on, then it won’t take long for her to put things together."

"Can't she just go out, and see the town on her own then?"

"Shining Armor, that's so rude. Cadence is my guest. I can't just invite her to Ponyville and say ‘sorry, I'm busy at the moment, so I can’t show you around town like I promised, but why don’t you go out on your own and I’ll see you in the evening.’ What kind of sister-in-law would I be?”

“So you’re just gonna dump her on me?”

Twilight glared at her brother.

“She is your wife; I’d think that you would be happy to spend time with her, no matter what you look like.”

Shining Armor’s ears drooped. Twilight was right; sure his current form embarrassed him beyond belief, and the last pony he wanted to see him like this was Cadence, but she was his wife, and he loved her enough that he knew it shouldn’t have mattered that he was in the body of a little filly.

“Fine,” he finally said, even though he was still feeling a bit anxious about the whole sticky situation, “I’ll do it.”

Twilight’s face softened, and she wrapped a foreleg around her brother’s shoulders.

“It’ll be alright, B.B.B.F.F., Cadence seemed to buy the story I told her about you being called to Canterlot for a meeting with Princess Celestia, so I’m sure she won’t figure out that you’re really her husband. Besides, even if she does find out, this is Cadence we’re talking about; I mean, sure she’d find it a little funny, but she’d never make you feel bad about it.”

“Yeah...I know.”

Shining Armor felt himself calm down just a little, and he gave his sister a smile. It wasn’t a strong smile, but it was enough to assure Twilight that he was going to be fine.

“So are you ready to face Cadence?”

“No...but I will."

With one last deep breath, Shining Armor picked himself off the floor, and made his way back into the other room, where he found the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Cadence sitting on the floor in a circle.

“Sorry about that,"Twilight said, as she and her brother approached the group, "I guess Gleaming Shield was a little nervous about meeting you for the first time. I hope the girls haven't been too much trouble."

"Oh they've been no trouble at all," Cadence said with a giggle. "I've just been helping them with their Crystal Empire homework."

"Princess Cadence has been a huge help," Apple Bloom said, showing Twilight her almost completed worksheet. "Sorry we didn't wait for you, Gleamin' Shield; I know you were gonna help us, but we just couldn't pass up the chance to learn from the princess of the Crystal Empire herself."

"I-it's o-ok," Shining Armor stammered, still feeling a little intimidated by his wife’s presence.

"Awww, there's no need to be shy, Gleaming Shield," Cadence said, picking up on Shining Armor’s unease, "I might be a princess, but we're family now, so just think of me as just another one of your cousins.” She flashed Shining Armor her sweetest smile. Shining Armor wasn't sure, but there was something about her smile that he found foreboding; it was almost like Cadence knew that she was addressing her husband. But she can’t know, he reassured himself, she can't know.

“I-I’m sorry I took off like that,” he said, “I…I just wasn’t expecting to meet you here...for the first time."

"I was just telling Gleaming Shield that, I'm going to be really busy tomorrow, and, uh, that I think the two of you should spend the day together. I'm sure it would help him get over his shyness," Twilight said.

Everypony gave Twilight a confused look. Everypony, except Shining Armor, who slapped a hoof against his face.

"Him?" Apple Bloom asked.

"His?" Scootaloo added.

Twilight gasped when she realized she’d accidentally slipped up.

"HER," she shouted, trying to cover her mistake before anypony started to question it. "Sorry I must be tired from all the studying I've been doing."

"Maybe you should take a break," Sweetie Belle suggested.

Twilight shook her head.

"I can't. It's very important that I get this work finished as soon as poss-" Twilight suddenly yawned very loudly, "-as soon as possible."

"I agree with Sweetie Belle," Cadence said, wrapping a supporting hoof around her sister-in-law's shoulders. "I'm sure whatever you're working on can wait until tomorrow."

Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but instead let out another yawn.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Wait a minute," Apple Bloom suddenly piped in, "Gleamin' Shield can't spend the day with Cadence, she's got school."

"I'll just have to skip it," Shining Armor said. As appealing as school sounded compared to showing Cadence around Ponyville, he had to respect Twilight’s wishes, and keep her occupied for the day.

"But you can't just skip school; Miss Cheerilee will get upset with you."

"Yeah," Scootaloo added, "after what happened between you and Diamond Tiara, it might be a good idea if you didn't do anything else to upset the teacher."

"Hang on," Twilight interrupted, "what happened between you and Diamond Tiara?"

Shining Armor, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath; he had hoped that he could have avoided bringing up the little schoolyard scuffle to his sister, but thanks to the Crusaders, there was no way he was getting out of telling her. He had to face the music, and worst of all, he had to do it in front of his wife.

"She, uh, might have started a fight with me, and," another deep breath, "I might have accidentally cast a levitation spell on her and lifted her off the ground a few inches by the tail...and then got a detention for bullying her."

Twilight looked horrified.

"But don't worry," Shining Armor quickly put in, before his sister could berate him, "I already apologized to her, and she accepted it, so we're all good now."

"Well I'm glad things have worked out between you both," Cadence said.

"Still," Twilight said, giving her brother a stern look, "you need to be more careful. Your magic isn't stable, and could easily react to your emotions."

"I know, I just-"

"I'VE GOT IT!" Sweetie Belle suddenly exclaimed, taking everypony by surprise. "Gleaming Shield, you can't skip school, and Princess Cadence, you'll need something to do while Twilight is working, so why don't you come to school with us."

Shining Armor shook his head furiously.

"I don't think that-"

"That's a great idea," Apple Bloom said. "Since we're already learnin' about the Crystal Empire, Ah'm sure Miss Cheerilee would just love to have The Princess Cadence come and talk to the class for a while."

"Well if you're sure she wouldn't mind having me,” Cadence said, “then I would be honored to teach your class more about-"

Gurrrrrg!

A sudden low growling sound echoed throughout the room.

"Oh my, how embarrassing.” Cadence held a hoof to her stomach. "I guess it’s been a while since I've had something to eat."

Twilight thought for a moment.

"Well," she finally said, "I was planning on making stew for dinner tonight, if that's alright with you."

Cadence's stomach emitted another rumble.

"Actually, would it be possible for us to have hayburgers? Lately I've been having the strongest craving hayburgers. Hayburgers with hot sauce, and pickles."

Twilight and Shining Armor stared at Cadence, shocked; not once in the many years that they had known her had she ever had a sudden urge to eat burgers before. Not that she didn't enjoy them every once in a while, she just had never expressed having a craving for them. And what was with the hot sauce, and pickles?

"I guess we can do that, only I don't have anything to make them with, so we'd have to go out if that's alright?"

"As long as they can make my hayburgers spicy, then it'll be fine."

"Uh, yeah, I think they can do that."

Yet another growl.

"Then lead the way, sister-in-law; I don't know how much longer I can last."

Twilight guided Cadence and Shining Armor to the door.

"Wait," Apple Bloom called, "aren't you gonna help us with the rest of our homework?"

Cadence walked up to the little fillies, and smiled sweetly.

"I'm afraid you three are on your own from here on in," she said, "but I’m confident that you'll do just fine without me."

The Crusaders returned Cadence's smile, bumped each others hooves, and cheered, obviously pleased with the idea that Cadence trusted that they would succeed without her help. When their homework was packed away into their saddlebags, they followed the others out into the early evening air.

...

The sun had almost completely disappeared below the horizon when Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo said their goodbyes, and parted ways.

"Bye," Sweetie Belle called, as she turned around in the cart to wave to Cadence, "we'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning."

"I'm looking forward to it," Cadence shouted back.

As they continued down the road, Cadence couldn't help but turn her head every which way, taking in the shops that they passed, most of which already had their lights out, and little signs on the doors that read "closed."

"This is such a nice little town," she said, taking in a deep breath of the sweet summer air. "Don't get me wrong, I love living in the Crystal Empire, but there's just something about a town like this that just seems so peaceful."

"Well I wouldn't say it's always this calm," Twilight said, with a roll of her eyes, and a giggle. "It seems like almost every week there's some sort of commotion that disrupts the peace. Like the time a unicorn named Trixie showed up, claiming that she was better than everypony at everything, and the town almost got destroyed by an Ursa Minor because she’d claimed she was powerful enough to take down an Ursa Major; or like when Spike was overcome with greed, turned into a full sized dragon, and started rampaging through town, taking things that didn't belong to him; then there was the other time when Trixie came, challenged me to a magic duel, cheated, banished me, then apologized after I tricked her into thinking a door stop was a powerful artifact that would amplify her magical abilities."

Shining Armor and Cadence stopped walking, gave each other a blank stare, then broke out in fits of hysterical laughter.

"Oh my," Cadence said, trying to regain her composure, "well it certainly seems like you've got your hooves full here." Another burst of laughter flooded over the couple.

Twilight turned, and smiled, happy to see that, for the moment at least, her brother was getting along with his wife despite the awkward situation.

“Well, it’s not like that all the time, but those types of things do happen, and when they do, it can be a bit of a hassle to get things back to normal. That’s why I’m happy to have such good friends; we all help each other out when things get out hoof.”

For a moment, Shining Armor forgot about his trepidation, and allowed himself a brief, proud, brotherly smile; Twilight had always been so antisocial when she was just a filly, that he had feared that she would never be able to make friends with anypony other than Cadence or himself. No matter how much he or his wife had tried to convince Twilight to try and be a little more sociable, she would just make excuses, saying that having other ponies around all the time would be too troublesome, and would distract her from her very important work for Princess Celestia. When Shining Armor had received a letter from Twilight after the return (and subsequent defeat) of Nightmare Moon saying that she was able to return Princess Luna to normal with the help of the new friends she had made in Ponyville, he had felt great relief that his sister had finally opened up to other ponies.

The trio of ponies continued their way through Ponyville until at long last they reached a long building, with large windows, through which Shining Armor could look inside and see ponies sitting in booths, munching on food. The giant sign, which was brightly lit against the growing darkness, had a picture of a hay burger, and a soft drink painted on it, signaling to anypony who could see it that this was a place to get fast (and most likely cheap) food.

As they stepped through the front door, the scents of grilled hay patties, and hot horseshoe fries that wafted out from the kitchen transported Shining Armor back to his foalhood, to the nights when his parents were too tired, or too busy to make dinner, and would take the whole family out to the Hay Burger. Everything from the window booths, to the floors, sticky with various spilled beverages, was just like how he remembered the one back in Canterlot. It had been quite a few years since he had set hoof in this type of fast food establishment; after joining the cadets, he had stuck to a very strict diet to keep in shape, and as a result he hadn’t touched a hayburger since.

As they approached the front counter, a young, unicorn mare with a blue mane tied back, and a sunny disposition, greeted them.

"Hi, welcome to the Hay Burger," she said with a cheery smile, "what can we get for you this evening, Princess Twilight?"

Twilight stepped up to the counter when the cashier addressed her.

"I'd like a double hayburger, with cheese, a large side of horseshoe fries, and a medium iced tea."

After quickly jotting down Twilight's order, the mare turned to Shining Armor, and her smile grew even wider.

"My what a cute filly you are. And what will you be having?"

"Uh, could I get a couple hayburgers, a large fry, and a large iced tea?"

The mare broke out in a series of giggles.

"I think that might be a bit too much food for such a little filly. How about the foals meal instead? That should be just the right size for you, plus it comes with a really cool toy."

Shining Armor looked from the mare to his sister, who just shrugged her shoulders, to Cadence, who seemed to find the situation quite humorous.

"Fine, I'll have the...foals meal."

Again, the mare smiled as she took down the order.

"And what'll it be for y-y-y..."

The mare stammered when she noticed Cadence’s horn, wings, and crown, and realized that was in the presence of yet another Alicorn princess.

“Your Highne-ouch.” The mare tried to bow as a sign of respect, but forgot to back up, and accidentally bumped her head on the counter.

"Oh dear, are you alright?” Cadence asked.

The cashier just nodded her head frantically, though she held a hoof to the spot where she had contacted the counter.

“What can I get for you, your High-”

Cadence smiled, as she held up a hoof to stop the mare.

“Please, just call me Cadence. And I'll have three regular hayburgers with cheese, um, an order of sliders, a medium fry, and a strawberry lemonade. Oh, and could I get hot sauce and extra pickles on all of my burgers?”

The cashier, Twilight, and Shining Armor all stared at Cadence, not believing what she had just ordered. Cadence, clearly saw them all looking at her funny.

“It's...been a while since I've eaten," she said. This seemed to be enough to satisfy the cashier's curiosity, but Shining Armor was still trying to figure out what was going on with his wife's appetite.

When their food had been served, Shining Armor and Cadence followed Twilight to a table where they sat down, and began to eat. Or at least Cadence began to eat; Shining Armor and Twilight just sat there, stunned, watching the pink alicorn as she devoured burger after burger. And they weren't the only ones; a couple of ponies sitting at a nearby table had taken notice of Cadence, and stared, slack jawed, shocked that a princess was putting away so much junk food right in front of them.

"Aren't you two going to eat?" Cadence asked when she noticed that the other two had not yet touched their food.

"Oh uh, right," Twilight said, as she and her brother quickly undid the paper packaging of their food and began to eat.

While neither of the princesses seemed to mind their burgers, Shining Armor found his foals meal to be more disappointing than what he remembered from when he had actually been a foal. It wasn't that the food was bad, on the contrary Shining Armor thought that the Hayburger was surprisingly good for fast food, it just couldn't compare to the food that he had at Sweet Apple Acres the night before. Not only that, but the "really cool toy" had turned out to be a cheap plastic doll of a pink unicorn mare with a yellow mane, who the tag around her neck said, was named Pink Lemonade. Very cool, Shining Armor thought, as he tossed the toy aside, and reached for his horseshoe fries.

"So how have you been enjoying your stay in Ponyville so far, Gleaming Shield?" Cadence asked, after taking a sip of her tea to wash down the food.

"It's certainly been...eventful," he said, still finding it difficult to look his wife in the eye.

Cadence nodded and smiled, encouraging her filly-husband to go into more detail.

"Since I've been here, I've been initiated into the Cutie Mark Crusaders, became a police officer for a day - which now that I think about it, might have actually been illegal - and found some missing muffins, went to school - ahem - got into a little fight, got a detention, had a sleepover with the Crusaders at their clubhouse, apologized for getting into a fight, and now I'm eating with you at the Hayburger."

"My, it certainly sounds like you've been busy."

"Very busy." Of course Shining Armor had conveniently left out where he accidentally caused a colt to have a crush on him, and that prior to coming home, he had been a part of a small fashion show.

"Well I can't wait to explore the town; I'd been hoping to visit Ponyville for a while now, but I've just been so busy with returning the Crystal Empire back to its former glory, and preparing for the Equestia Games. It was unfortunate that when Shining Armor and I had finally found some time to visit, I was in no condition to make the trip." Cadence gave a little chuckle. "I was beginning to think that I was fated to never see my sister-in-law's home."

"I'm glad you were feeling well enough to make the trip," Twilight said.

"Me too. I just wish that Shining Armor was here too. Where is he anyway, Twilight? You never told me why he had to leave."

“Oh, he’s, ummm…”

“He was called away to Canterlot on urgent business, remember, Twilight?”

Twilight gave her brother a blank stare, trying to process what he had just said, then nodded quickly, trying to collaborate his story.

“Oh yeah, that’s right, he’s in Canterlot now. Sorry, I guess I really do need a good night’s sleep, if I keep forgetting things like that. But don’t worry, he shouldn't be gone for too much longer. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if he showed up tomorrow night.”

Twilight risked giving her brother a little wink to remind him that he wouldn't be stuck in his filly body for much longer. This seemed to calm Shining Armor down a bit; just thinking that in one more day he would be changing back into himself made the idea of spending a few hours as filly with Cadence bearable.

Shining Armor's heart began to race as Cadence looked down at him, still wearing that beautiful smile of hers, only now there was something about it that scared him; for a moment, there was a knowing look in her eyes, as if she knew that it was him that she was staring at, and not a little filly. She doesn't know, he reminded himself, as he forced himself to smile innocently back. She doesn't know.

When they were finished eating, Twilight, Shining Armor, and Cadence got up, took care of their trash, waved goodbye to the cashier (and the cooks, who poked their heads out of the kitchen to catch a glimpse of The Princess Cadence) as they made their way out of the restaurant.

Back outside, Shining Armor took a deep breath of the cool night air and felt himself relax a bit; he'd been so caught up in the hubbub of the Crusaders' adventures, that he hadn't gotten to appreciate just how peaceful Ponyville was. Things back home had been busy ever since the defeat of Sombra, especially in recent months now that they were preparing to host the Equestria Games. With all the construction, and ponies asking for his and Cadence's approval on things from sunrise, to sunset, the young prince had almost forgotten how wonderful Luna's nights could really be.

Glancing over at Cadence, he found that she shared the same sentiment; her content smile, and the way she fluttered her wings told Shining Armor that she was definitely enjoying her time in Ponyville so far. Suddenly the young prince felt a twinge of sadness mix with his nervousness; sadness because he was deceiving his wife, the pony he had sworn to always be truthful to, and sadness because although they were only a couple of feet away from each other, being in his little filly body made Shining Armor feel miles away from the mare he loved. She was right there, and he couldn't embrace her, or tell her that he loved her; not yet anyway. Just one more day, he told himself.

When they were finally back at the library, a wave of yawns seemed to wash over each of them in turn. Despite the fact that it was still fairly early in the evening, all three ponies had had a long day, and were ready for Princess Luna to carry them off the world of sleep, and dreams. Even Twilight had to admit that the prospect of sleeping in her own bed was more appealing than spending one more night in a row seated at her study table.

"Wait a second," Twilight said, as they reached the second floor landing, "I only have the one guest bed."

“I, uh, can take Spike’s bed,” he said, glancing over at the baby dragon’s little wicker basket. “He doesn’t seem to be using it tonight.”

Twilight shook her head.

“You don’t have to do that, Gleaming Shield. You can just sleep with me.”

"Nonsense," Cadence said, "you're our host, so you shouldn't have to share a bed." She suddenly wrapped a foreleg around Shining Armor's shoulders, causing a shiver to travel down his spine. "Gleaming Shield and I don't mind sharing the guest bed, right?"

"Uh, right," Shining Armor said, feeling less excited than usual about sleeping in the same bed with his wife. Don’t be stupid, Shining Armor, he told himself, it's not like she can figure out who you are in her sleep.

So without further debate, Shining Armor climbed onto the bed next to Cadence, who had already hunkered down under the light layer of blankets. Just one more day, he reminded himself again, as he tried to make himself comfortable, just one more day.

"Goodnight, Cadence. Goodnight, Gleaming Shield," Twilight called from the other side of the room.

"Goodnight," the other two said in almost perfect unison.

With that, Twilight blew out the lantern that hung on the post by her bed, covering the room in a blanket of darkness, and moonlight.

This might not be so bad, Shining Armor thought, as he lay there, waiting to drift off to sleep, I just need to play innocent filly for a day, and then I can spend the next week relaxing with Cad-

Shining Armor’s heart suddenly froze when he felt a foreleg wrap around him, and pull him in tight. His eyes immediately shot open, and he looked up to see Cadence fast asleep, and cuddled up right next to him. Usually Shining Armor didn’t mind Cadence hugging him in her sleep (which she did often), but right now he just wanted to put as much distance between himself and his wife as possible.

“Uh, Cadence,” he whispered, “could you let go?”

But Cadence didn’t answer, she just pulled her husband closer.

Shining Armor tried to slip away, but Cadence’s grip was unrelenting. Great, Shining Armor sighed, finally giving up his struggle, this is gonna be a long night.

Chapter 9: Princess Cadence is in Town!

Shining Armor had been right, it had been a very long night. From moonlight, to early sunrise, Cadence had remained snuggled up to him, just like she would have been if they were in their own bed back in the Crystal Empire. It wasn’t really the cuddling that had had Shining Armor on edge, it was because every time he shut his eyes, he kept having that same strange dream of Cadence taking him home, still stuck in his filly body, raising him as her own daughter, and dressing him up in pink, frilly dresses. Shining Armor wasn’t usually one to let a bad dream get the better of him, but these nightmares were far too close to being reality for his liking, and it was enough to make the young prince squirm in his wife’s tight embrace, trying to put a little distance between himself and the sleeping mare. Eventually his little filly body had grown too tired, and he had been forced to shut his eyes, and go to sleep, bad dreams or no.

When he awoke bright and early the next morning, he found that he was alone in the room. Was it all a dream, he thought, as he wiped at his groggy eyes, and looked around the room for some sort of sign of Cadence’s presence. Of course, despite all his wishing he knew it hadn’t been (the presence of Cadence’s pink suitcases adorned with blue, crystal hearts was a dead give away). Shining Armor took three deep breaths; he wasn’t about to allow himself to be nervous. If I start freaking out, she might realize that something’s up, Shining Armor thought, as he climbed out of bed, and headed downstairs to join his family for breakfast. Besides, we were able to get through last night alright. As long as I keep up the charade, then I have no reason to worry.

Unlike the Apple family's larger than life meal that he'd had the morning before, breakfast at Twilight's was a much more simple affair; fresh baked blueberry muffins (which Cadence had quite proudly made herself), and idle conversation, most of which was done by Cadence between mouthfuls of food. “So what’s your favorite subject in school, Gleaming Shield?” She would ask, or “what does your father do for work?” Shining Armor was forced to think on his hooves, making up answers as fast as he could, which wasn't really all that difficult for the young stallion, since it was required of most guards to be able to to provide false information under extreme pressure, in case one had to go under cover, or was captured by an enemy, and tortured until they gave up any details that might assist in an invasion. Shining Armor hated having to deceive one of the three ponies whom he had sworn an oath never to lie to, but it was necessary to help keep his identity (and Twilight's mistake) a secret.

Thankfully, Shining Armor was saved from answering much more probing questions when their breakfast was suddenly interrupted by a series of excitedly rapid knocks at the front door.

"It's open," Twilight called, just as the door burst inward, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders came charging into the room.

"Mornin', everypony," Apple Bloom said, as she, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo came to a stop in front of the table, “ya’ll ready to see our school?”

“Of course,” Cadence said, daintily dabbing her face with a napkin, before rising from the table to greet the little fillies. “Now are you three certain that it’s alright that I stop by? I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“Awww, don’t worry about it none, princess.”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo added, “I ran into Miss Cheerilee last night on my way home, and she said yes.” The little pegasus then rubbed the back of her head, and smiled sheepishly. “I mean, she did mutter something about having wasted a whole night of lesson planning, but she said it would be alright if you came in to talk to the class.”

Cadence smiled in delight.

“Wonderful." She then turned to her husband. "Come on, Gleaming Shield, let’s go get ready for school."

Shining Armor nodded, shoved the rest of his muffin into his mouth, and followed Cadence back upstairs, where they spent the better half of an hour making themselves presentable, which included teeth, mane, and tail brushing, and, to Shining Armor's dismay, but his wife's pleasure, the application of makeup. When Cadence was finally happy with their appearances, they joined the Crusaders in the library, bid Twilight a hasty farewell, grabbed their saddlebags, and were out the door, on their way to school.

“Everypony’s going to be so excited to see you, princess,” Sweetie Belle said, as the Crusaders guided Cadence (who trotted along beside their scooter and wagon) down the streets of Ponyville towards the schoolhouse.

“I certainly hope so,” Cadence chuckled.

“Course they will,” Apple Bloom said, “It’s not everyday that somepony who we’re studyin’ in class comes to our school."

"Well I'm looking forward to meeting everypony."

Shining Armor knew that Cadence was being sincere in her eagerness to meet the other foals, and not just being polite; she genuinely enjoyed working with young fillies and colts. It was the whole reason she became a foalsitter in the first place. And she had loved every minute of it, whether it was playing games, reading stories, or helping them with their homework. Of course, as she grew up, and began to take on more royal duties (especially now that she was ruling an entire empire), she found that she had much less time to spend entertaining the local foals. Shining Armor hid a smile, as he thought about how much of a treat this was going to be for his wife.

"I only wish Shining Armor was here with me," Cadence continued, "I know he would have enjoyed visiting your school as well."

"I'm sure he might try to make some time when he comes back from Canterlot," Shining Armor said rather calmly.

Cadence looked down at him, and smiled.

"Just as long as he doesn't bore the students with his stories about life as a Canterlot guard; proper armor polishing techniques, different drills they had to practice, and all that dull stuff."

"I don't do-" Shining Armor froze; he had just been about to give himself away. "I mean, I don't think that sounds all that boring." He looked up to check to see if Cadence had noticed anything, and found that she was still smiling down at him, only now he thought he saw the briefest flash of something in her eyes other than just good cheer; she looked almost darkly elated, like a timber wolf that had just cornered it's prey. However, the second he blinked, it was gone. I'm just imagining things, he told himself, as he turned to face forward in the wagon, feeling his nerves starting to get the better of him.

A little further down the road, they passed a pegasus mare stomping out of Sugarcube Corner with her nose turned to the sky, followed closely by a very apologetic looking unicorn stallion.

"Please, Rainy, don't be mad," the stallion said, as he caught up with his angry companion, "I'm really sorry."

"Breakfast at Sugarcube Corner the day after doesn't make up for the fact that you forgot our anniversary again," Rainy said, without even looking back at the stallion. "If you can't think up a proper way to make it up to me, then you can forget about coming back home today."

"Uh oh," Cadence said, as she stopped, and watched the mare ready her wings for take off. Soft blue magic quickly formed at the tip of the alicorn's horn, taking the shape of a small heart. When the spell was finished, the heart then popped off her horn, split in two, and floated over to the couple, where they spun around the ponies heads, drawing them closer together, until the two halves met and became one, right between them. As the two ponies looked into each others eyes, their faces softening towards one another, and becoming loving smiles, the heart melted away into nothingness.

“I really am sorry, Rainy,” the stallion said, wrapping a foreleg around the mare, and pulling her in close for a hug. “I know I can be a bit forgetful sometimes.”

“No, I’m sorry,” the mare cut in, returning her partner’s embrace, “I might have overreacted a little.”

The two ponies leaned in close, and gently pressed their noses together in a loving manner.

“Tell you what, since we don’t have anything going on this weekend, why don’t we hop on the train and go to Manehatten, maybe take in a Bridleway show?”

Shining Armor saw the mare’s eyes light up, as she tightened her grasp around the stallion’s neck.

“Oh Sandy, I love you. But why wait for this weekend? Let’s go right now!”

Before the stallion could reply, the mare hooked a foreleg around his, and began leading him down the road.

“Blegh,” Scootaloo gagged, as she, the Crusaders, and Cadence continued on their way towards the school, “I hate mushy stuff.”

“Well I’m glad that things worked themselves out so quickly,” Sweetie Belle said. Then she turned to Cadence, a confused look on her face. “How did you do that?”

“I’ve always been a bit of a natural when it comes to love spells.”

“Whoa, so you can cast spells that make ponies fall in love?” Apple Bloom asked. “Where were you when we tried to set Miss Cheerilee up with my brother?”

Cadence tried her best to contain a giggle.

“I can’t make ponies fall in love, I can only can take feelings of care and affection that two ponies feel for one another, and temporarily enhance them to help them work past whatever troubles they might be having. A sort of guiding light to remind them of how much they love each other."

Apple Bloom nodded her head to show her understanding, but Shining Armor could tell that she was still a little confused by the whole thing thing.

"Have you ever had to use your magic on your husband?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Shining Armor's ears twitched, curious to hear what Cadence's answer might be. He couldn't recall any moments of discourse between them, but that didn't mean that there might not have been any; if Cadence had used her magic on him, then it was possible that he could have forgotten any disputes that they might have had.

"Once," Cadence said. Shining Armor's ears flicked again. "The day when the changelings attacked, and not only his fate, but the fate of all of Equestria depended on it was the one, and only time that I've had to use my love magic on my husband."

The changeling attack, Shining Armor thought, hiding a grimace from the others; not noticing his wife being replaced by the queen of the changelings wasn’t exactly one of his finest moments. Even after more than a year had passed, Shining Armor still felt extremely embarrassed about falling for her ruse. Still, he thought trying to look on the bright side, at least I haven’t done anything else to make Cadence use her love magic on me.

“Of course if he ever does anything to anger me, I know a spell or two that’ll set things right; maybe one that’ll make him want to rub my hooves whenever he tells a lie to me.”

Everypony laughed at Cadence’s obvious joke, except for Shining Armor who just shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

The rest of the trip was made in relative silence, except for the occasional outburst by one of the Crusaders every time they passed something of interest.

Within a few minutes, they arrived at the school, where fillies and colts were already playing on the playground out front. As they pulled up, all eyes turned towards them, and a wave of silence fell upon the schoolyard. Then an excited buzz filled the air, as the realization that they were in the presence of royalty began to sink in.

"Is that..."

"Oh my gosh, I think it is!"

"How did Miss Cheerilee get the Princess Cadence to come to our school?"

“Quick Silver Spoon, help me fix my hair before she sees how messy my mane is.”

Cadence took a step towards the small crowd, and the chatter instantly ceased.

"Hello everypony," she said, her voice full of delight, "I am Princess Cadence."

Complete silence filled the schoolyard, nopony wanting the pressure of being the first to address royalty.

"Come now, there's no need to be shy."

Before anypony could answer, Miss Cheerilee came bounding excitedly out of the schoolhouse.

"Your highness," she said, bowing her head until her chin was almost touching the ground, "it is an honor to have you join us today. My name is Cheerilee, and these are my students." She lifted her head, and turned to her students, to make sure they were also showing their respect to the princess by bowing as well.

"Oh no, the honor is all mine." Cadence returned the gesture in gratitude. " And I must apologize; I’m sure my being here must be an inconvenience to you, and your lessons.”

“Not at all, princess. After all, what better way is there to learn about the Crystal Empire than by having one of its two rulers come and talk about it.”

Cheerilee laughed, but Shining Armor suspected that, as Scootaloo had mentioned earlier, she was still a little upset at having to rearrange her lesson schedule.

“Well then,” Cheerilee added, after a moment of awkward silence, “shall we go inside and start the school day?”

Cadence nodded, then turned to the silent little ponies.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," she said, bowing elegantly.

Maybe it was the tone of pure cheerfulness in her voice, or maybe it was the disarming smile that she gave them, whatever the cause, the spell that had fallen over the little ponies broke, and they all came rushing toward her, talking at once, each one trying to be heard over the other.

"Calm down everypony; there will be plenty of time to ask your questions later. Now why don't we go inside, and I'll tell you all about the Crystal Empire."

The way they all stopped crowding around Cadence, and started rushing into the classroom, it was as if they hadn't already spent the last two days learning about the Empire.

"I don't think I've ever seen them so eager to learn before," Cheerilee said, as she, Cadence, Shining Armor, and the Crusaders followed the stampede of foals into the school.

And eager they were. As soon as class began, everypony was in their seats, eyes forward, ears perked up, ready to absorb all the knowledge the princess had to pass on.

With the students’ utmost attention, Cadence, decided to start her lesson, with the legend of how the Crystal Empire came to be. It was a story that Shining Armor knew very well, having read it numerous times, when he was looking for a way to fight off King Sombra. Still, he listened to her tale about the young mare who had been traveling with a group of Earth pony refugees during the time of strife between the three races; about how when things began to look bleak, she inspired a sense of hope and unity, which, like in the Hearth’s Warming tale, caused a magical, crystal heart to form, repelling the Windigo’s storm, but then turning the ice and snow around them into solid crystal, which became the foundation of the Crystal Empire.

The little ponies were entranced by the story, mostly because they were still in shock by the sudden surprise appearance of Princess Cadence, but also in part because they had never heard the story before, as it had yet to make it’s way south of the arctic region that he and his wife now ruled over. Even Cheerilee had listened intently, only looking down to make notes on a sheet of paper, for what Shining Armor assumed would be that night’s homework assignment.

The second Cadence finished her story, hooves shot up excitedly all around the room, each pony hoping that the princess would answer the questions that they had been begging to ask ever since they had laid eyes on her that morning. Some of the questions were thoughtful, and pertinent, such as "what sort of animals can be found in the Crystal Empire," or “how did King Sombra first come to power,” while others were more personal, touching on things like the Queen of the Changelings, and the royal wedding, or (in the case of one particularly giggly little filly) about how love magic worked. It seemed that there was no end to the little ponies’ curiosity. Thankfully Cheerilee interrupted before things got out of hoof to announce that it was time for lunch and recess. Everypony groaned as they got up from their desks; there was still more that they wanted to learn from the princess.

Lucky for them, Cadence was more than happy to continue the lesson outside. For the fillies, she taught them how to weave gems into their manes using a few jewels that she had brought from home to give to Rarity to use in her dresses, and (to his disdain) Shining Armor as a model, all the while regaling the colts with the story about the fall of King Sombra. This is a nightmare, Shining Armor thought, when Cadence finished styling his mane, and all of the little ponies gazed in awe at how it sparkled in the light of Celestia’s sun. Even Snails, whose undivided attention had been focused on Cadence the entire time, looked upon the young prince, his face flushing red.
When it was time to back inside, Shining Armor tried to return his mane to the way he liked it, but Cadence stopped him.

"Please, keep it like that," she said, as she picked her husband up, and began nuzzling him, "this style is absolutely adorable on you."

I give up, Shining Armor groaned internally, when his wife finally let him go, and ushered him back into the classroom.

The rest of the school day followed the same pattern of Cadence talking about the Crystal Empire, and the students bombarding her with questions faster than she could answer them. When the final bell rang, Cheerilee got out from behind her desk, and thanked Cadence, giving her another bow, before dismissing her students, who were all disappointed that their time with the princess had come to an end.

“Now don’t look so down,” she said, as the foals rose from their desks and began to slowly, begrudgingly, make their way to their cubbies, “I’ll be staying in Ponyville for another week, so there will be plenty of chances for you to ask me questions."

This seemed to cheer everypony up a bit, because the room was suddenly filled with excited chatter again. Fortunately they all seemed to have exhausted their need for knowledge, and just passed by Cadence, some bowing, some waving, and in the case of a couple braver fillies, quickly hugging her, before placing their homework assignments from the other night on their teacher’s desk, and dashing out of the classroom. As Cadence and the Crusaders made to follow them, Cheerilee approached, took Cadence's hoof in hers, and shook it rapidly.

"Thank you so much, princess," she said, bowing once more to the princess, "it was so wonderful of you to take time out of your busy schedule to visit our little school."

"It was my pleasure," Cadence said. "If you ever need any assistance with the rest of your Crystal Empire lesson, I'll be staying with Twilight Sparkle for another week or so, and I would be more than happy to help in any way I can."

"Oh, well, then would you care to stay for a few minutes to look over what I have planned for the rest of the week?"

Cadence shook her head, and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, but I promised the Crusaders that I'd let them show me around Ponyville this afternoon."

Cheerilee nodded and returned the smile, although it was obvious that she was disappointed in not being able to have some one-on-one time with the princess.

"Alright then. Perhaps I'll stop by sometime over the weekend, if that would be alright with you."

"I'll have to see what Twilight has planned, but I'm sure we'll be able to work something ou-"

"Excuse me, Princess," Apple Bloom interjected. "Ah hate to interrupt, but if we don't leave now, Ah think Sweetie Belle's gonna burst."

She pointed at the little unicorn, who looked to be doing some kind of anxious dance.

"Come on," she said, moving closer to the door, "we're burning daylight."

The adult ponies giggled at the little filly's haste.

"I suppose I should be off." Cadence bowed politely to Cheerilee. "It was really nice to meet you."

"And you as well, princess."

With one last bow, and a wave, Cadence and the Crusaders left the schoolhouse, loaded up their little wagon, and began their journey through Ponyville.

Their first stop, upon Cadence’s request, was Carousel Boutique so she could give the gems (which were still woven into Shining Armor’s mane), to Rarity. Along the way, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom did their part as tour guides, and pointed out different locations that they passed, such as Mr. Breezy’s Fan Emporium, various food stalls, including the Apple Family’s apple stand, and of course, the Ponyville Clock Tower, which the Crusaders had promised to show Shining Armor his first day there, and had yet to do so until the moment they passed it.

When they finally reached Carousel Boutique, they found Rarity standing in the door, waving goodbye to an elegant, blonde, pegasus mare, accompanied by a very important looking stallion, with a slicked back, jet black mane, a finely tailored suit, and several dress bags draped across back. As they passed by the couple, Shining Armor noticed the ponies turn their attentions first to the little ponies, then to Princess Cadence, to whom they said a brief, and surprised hello, before taking off down the road, excitedly muttering to each other about who they had just met.

“Oh my stars,” Rarity gasped, as she went into a very deep bow, “Princess Cadence, to what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?”

“Now Rarity,” Cadence said, placing a hoof under the unicorn’s chin, and lifting her head, “there’s no need to bow; we are friends afterall.”

Rarity shook her head.

“Nonsense, darling; you are a princess, and when greeting a princess, one must always remember to bow respectfully, no matter how familiar one is with her.”

The princess just rolled her eyes, and giggled, with Rarity quickly joining in, as if this was some sort of private joke between good friends.

“Oh Rarity it is so wonderful to see you again.”

“And you as well, Cadence. Now what can I do for you darling?”

Cadence looked over at Shining Armor, and waved her hoof, beckoning him over to her.

“I know how much you love using gems in your work, so I thought I would bring you a few crystals from home, for you to use in your dressmaking.” She pointed down at Shining Armor, and Rarity’s eyes lit up like stars when she saw the beautiful multi-colored jewels in his mane.

“Oh-ho, now those are truly exquisite,” she gushed, lifting Shining Armor off the ground to get a better look. “And you look absolutely adorable wearing them.”

Before Shining Armor could squirm away, Rarity hugged him close, all the while giggling uncontrollably, like a filly who had just been given a new doll. In a flash, he was whisked away inside, and plopped down on a pedestal in front of a mirror.

“Just wait right there, Gleaming Shield; I have just the outfit that will go with your wonderful new mane style.”

Shining Armor didn’t even have a chance to protest; no sooner had Rarity dashed off, then she was back, pulling a sparkling blue evening gown over his head.

“There, now don’t you look stunning?”

Stunning was the last thing Shining Armor wanted to look. Twilight is going to owe me big time, he thought, as the others joined him, no stallion should be forced into a dress against his will… Twice.

“Hold still for just a moment, Gleaming Shield,” Rarity said, as she rushed over to a trunk and began rummaging around. A few seconds later she returned, a camera floating in a magical aura behind her. “Before I take those gems out of your mane, I simply must take a few pictures of you, just in case genius strikes, and I need to use your look as inspiration.”

There was a sudden flash, and then another, and another, as Rarity walked around Shining Armor, taking pictures from every possible angle.

“Oooh, oooh, get one with us in it,” Sweetie Belle said, as she dashed to her friend’s side, followed quickly by Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Cadence.

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom said, “since Gleamin’ Shield’s gonna be leavin’ soon, she’ll want to have somethin’ to take home to remember the fun time’s we had together.”

I wouldn’t necessarily call getting turned into a filly, getting into fights with ponies, having colts fall in love with me, and wearing dresses fun, Shining Armor thought, then again… He looked back on his time with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, eating cakes at Sugarcube Corner, playing police filly, telling scary stories around a campfire. I guess it wasn’t all bad.

“Alright, everypony lean in,” Rarity said, standing in front of them, camera at the ready.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, who were on either side of Shining Armor, each wrapped a foreleg over his shoulders, as Apple Bloom reclined on the floor in front of them, and Cadence stood in the back.

“Smile.”

As he continued to think on all the fun that he had had with the three little fillies, Shining Armor felt a smile suddenly spread across his face.

“Say cheese.”

“Cheeeeese!” Five voices said in unison.

Flash!

“Alright, now come on,” Sweetie Belle said, grabbing her friends, and dragging them towards the door, “we need to get going if we want to show Princess Cadence around Ponyville.”

“Hold on just one moment, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said, setting down her camera, “I’ll need that dress back, and of course those crystals.”

She quickly cast a spell, lifting the dress back over Shining Armor's head, then, to his relief, loosened the loops in his mane, allowing the locks to fall freely, and the gems to become untangled. Shining Armor shook his head, happy to have his mane back to its usual style, albeit slightly curlier than before.

"Thank you again for the very generous gift," Rarity said, as Sweetie Belle returned to directing the others towards the door, "I promise to put them to very good use."

"I'm sure that you will," was all Cadence was able to get out, before the door to Carousel Boutique was closed.

"Sorry princess," Sweetie Belle said, as the Crusaders loaded up into their little red wagon, "but there's just so much that we have to show you, and so little time to do it in."

Cadence smiled and nodded.

"Then lead the way little ones."

...

It ended up being a very full afternoon. After leaving the boutique, the Crusaders led Cadence to the town square, where they first stopped by the town hall, which, according to Apple Bloom, had just recently been rebuilt after what she referred to as a “pegasus related incident.” Then they made their way back over to the shops, and stalls which they had passed earlier, making sure to stop by the Apple Family’s stand so Cadence could say hello to Applejack, and sample her wares, which, after finding the product much to her liking, the princess promised she would place a large order to take back to the Crystal Empire with her.

“This town really is wonderful,” Cadence said, as they left the apple stand, crossing a little bridge into a park where ponies were playing, and chatting happily.

“You really think so?” Apple Bloom asked.

Cadence nodded.

“I do. I mean where else can you find a store that specializes in selling only quills and sofas?”

“Sometimes I think that place stays in business because Twilight’s always ordering quills in bulk,” Scootaloo joked.

Cadence nodded her head in agreement.

“Twilight did always have a knack for wearing out quills; even as a filly about your age, when I would have to practically drag her away from her books and notes to put her to bed.”

Everypony laughed, even Shining Armor who had since forgotten his dress woes. It felt good being out with Cadence and the Crusaders taking a tour of the town, and joking around, even though he was in disguise. I’ll definitely have to do this again once I finally change back, he thought as he relaxed in the wagon, and gazed up at the sky, watching the clouds as Scootaloo continued to propel them down the road.

Their final destination was Sugarcube Corner, where they decided to stop in for a small treat. Nothing too much, since it was getting late, and none of them wanted to spoil their dinners, but they all agreed that just one little cupcake each couldn’t hurt. As soon as they were served, they sat down, and began eating in silence, nopony having anything of importance to say. That is until they spotted Snips and Snails passing by, prompting Sweetie Belle to ask:

“So Gleaming Shield, are you planning on going out with Snails tomorrow?”

Shining Armor nearly spat out his mouthful of cupcake.

“What’s this about going out with snails?” Cadence asked, her interest piqued.

“It’s nothing,” Shining Armor said, “I just helped this colt out with a problem that he was having with a bully, and now he want’s to bring me here after school to thank me.”

“It’s more than that,” Apple Bloom said. “He obviously has a crush on you.”

“Please, don’t say it like that,” Shining Armor said, cringing when she said the word “crush.” “And no, I’m not planning on going out with him.”

Cadence gasped.

“But you have to. If you truly helped him, and this is his way of thanking you, then it is your duty to graciously accept. Just thank him for the gesture, and let him down gently; trust me, I’m an expert on this stuff.”

“Meh, I don’t blame Gleaming Shield for not wanting to spend time with Snails,” Scootaloo said, “no offense to him, but he’s kind of a dork.”

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom nodded their agreement.

“That shouldn’t matter,” Cadence said. “Why, I remember when I was in school, there was this colt that I knew, who almost everypony thought of as uncool, and dorky, since he spent most of his time playing Oubliettes and Ogres with his friends, or playing make believe with his little sister.”

Shining Armor felt his cheeks turning red with embarrassment.

“Then one day he decided to take a chance in asking the most beautiful mare in our school to go to a dance with him, using many harebrained schemes to try and catch her eye.

“Sounds like a loser to me,” Scootaloo said.

Thanks Scootaloo, Shining Armor thought, gloomily.

“He was actually quite charming, and sweet, and one of the most courageous stallions I’ve ever known. Why, he even stood up to the biggest, most pompous bully in our school, or as he would say it, he “defeated the dragon,” just to dance with the mare he was in love with.”

“Wow,” Sweetie Belle said rather dreamily. “Then what happened?”

“Well, he joined Celestia’s royal guard, worked his way through the ranks until he became captain. Then he and the mare got married, and moved to the Crystal Empire, where they now rule as prince and princess.”

Everypony’s jaws hung open. Everypony’s, except for Shining Armor’s, who was just sitting there, his head resting flat against the table. I can’t believe she just told them all of that.

“So that stallion was Shinin’ Armor?” Apple Bloom asked.

“It was.” Cadence couldn’t help but giggle as she looked at the Crusaders’ dumbfounded faces. “So you see, just because somepony acts, as you put it “dorky” doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them a chance, even if it is just to be friends.” She then turned her attention to her husband, “So, I’m asking you just to meet with this colt, let him thank you for saving him, fulfilling his debt to you, and then just tell him that you want to be friends. Will you do this for me?” Then she flashed him that smile. The one that would make any stallion want to move mountains, or fight Ursa Majors just for her. The one Shining Armor could never say no to.

“Grrrrr...fine, I’ll go to Sugarcube Corner with Snails,” he grunted, admitting defeat. “But only so he won’t feel indebted to me.”

“Wonderful.” Cadence clapped her forehooves, then pick up the last little bit of her cupcake in her magic, and tossed it into her mouth.

“Now, I do believe it’s getting late, and you three best be getting home.”

“Awww, do we have to?” Apple Bloom groaned, as the Crusaders got up from the table, and followed Cadence to the door.

“But there are still loads more places that we need to show you,” Scootaloo added.

“Yeah, like Sweet Apple Acres, or Zecora’s hut, or the swimming hole,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Don’t forget the Crusaders’ club house.”

“And Rainbow Dash’s-”

“The princess isn’t gonna wanna see Rainbow Dash’s nappin’ cloud.”

“You don’t know that.”

Before a fight between friends could begin, Cadence intervened.

“Relax you two,” she said. “Now, I’ve had a wonderful time with you today, and I would be more than happy for you to show me everything there is to see in Ponyville, but as I said before, it’s getting late, and I think we should all head home for the evening. I promise, next time we get together, we can go anywhere you want to go, even the cloud where Rainbow Dash takes her naps.”

This seemed to calm everypony down, because they all smiled, then wrapped their forelegs around Cadence in a tight embrace. Then the Crusaders said their goodbyes, and hopped onto the scooter and wagon, and took off down the street, waving the entire way, until Shining Armor and Cadence lost sight of them.

Now it was just the two of them, walking in silence back to Twilight’s library. Shining Armor’s head hung as they went, his thoughts weighing heavy on his mind. The day had started off as well as it could have in this situation, and it had just all gone downhill since the afternoon started. What am I going to do? Shining Armor thought, this is just all too weird. I’m a stallion trapped in a filly’s body, and now I have to go to Sugarcube Corner with a colt that has a crush on me. No, I can’t go, even if it is just a friendly gesture to pay me back for saving him.

“Something on your mind, little one?”

Shining Armor jumped as Cadence’s voice brought him back out of his thoughts.

“Oh, uh,” he muttered. “Look, Cadence, I know I said that I would go to SugarCube Corner with Snails, but I can’t. I just can’t.”

Cadence stopped, and looked Shining Armor in the eye.

“Why the sudden change of heart?” She asked.

“I...have my reasons.”

“I see.” Cadence wrapped a foreleg around Shining Armor. At first he thought she was trying to comfort him, but her grip was just a little too tight. “Could it be because you’re not really a little filly, but a full grown stallion disguised as one, and you feel awkward hanging out with a colt who doesn’t know who you are?”

Shining Armor could feel the contents of his stomach lurch as she spoke.

“I-I d-d-don’t know what you’re t-talking about.” As much as he tried, he couldn’t break free from Cadence’s grip on him.

“You don’t have to lie to me anymore, I already know exactly who you are, in fact, I’ve known ever since I first laid eyes on you.” She flashed her husband a devilish grin, as she leaned in close and whispered in his ear. “Shining Armor.”

Chapter 10: The "Date"

Shining Armor stared blankly at his smiling wife, not knowing what to say. On the one hoof, Cadence knew, and that meant that he no longer needed to try and lie about who he was to her. On the other hoof, Twilight had specifically asked him to not tell a single soul to make sure that word of her mistake didn't reach the ears of her former mentor. What do I do, what do I do, Shining Armor thought, beads of sweat beginning to trail down his brow.

"I know what you're thinking," Cadence said before Shining Armor could form any sort of response, "you're trying to decide if you should come clean with me, or if this act is important enough to keep up that you will continue lying to your wife."

Shining Armor opened his mouth, but Cadence cut him off again before he could get a word out.

"Before you answer, just know that if you do insist on telling me anything but the truth, I'll make a copy of one of the pictures Rarity just took of you, enlarge it, frame it, and hang it in the barracks in Canterlot where all of your old guard buddies will see you dressed up like a pretty little princess. So choose your next words carefully."

An unpleasant shiver ran down Shining Armor’s spine at the thought of his former comrades - stallions and mares from whom he had once commanded great respect - seeing him as a little filly in a dress. That was all there was to it; he had been caught in a lie, and it was time to admit defeat and come clean. Shining Armor took a deep, calming breath to gather himself. He was a prince after all, co-ruler of a grand empire, and a former captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard, he knew how to handle a high stress situation with dignity.

"I'm soooorrrrryyyyy!" He cried, rushing over to Cadence and wrapping himself around one of her slender forelegs. "I'm so so so so so sorry."

With her free hoof, Cadence stroked Shining Armor's mane, like a mother would for her frightened foal.

"It's alright," she said with a giggle, as she attempted to calm her husband. She lifted her his head, and wiped away the tears that had started to fill his eyes. “I was only teasing.”

"I-I-I-"

Cadence placed a hoof to his mouth, and gave him a warm smile.

"Just take a deep breath, and start at the beginning."

Shining Armor looked into his wife's bright, beautiful eyes, and did as he was told, breathing deep to calm himself down. When he no longer felt like he was going to cry, he began his story. He told Cadence everything; about how Twilight had been practicing the spells that she had learned from Starswirl the Bearded's book, about how she had tested the age regression spell on him, and that she’d been distracted when she tried to change him back, accidentally turning him into a filly, and about how she’d made him live in his new body under the name 'Gleaming Shield' while she worked on translating a magic nullification spell.

He then went on to tell her about the adventures that he'd been on with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, being police fillies, going to school, having a slumber party and telling ghost stories around their campfire, and about the fashion show that he'd been forced to participate in (Cadence laughed particularly hard at that point). Since the situations involving Diamond Tiara, and Snails' schoolcolt crush had already been brought up, he didn't feel he needed to go into them again. He also didn't tell her about the time that he talked with Scootaloo about her nightmares; that had been a private moment, and he had promised the little filly that he wouldn't tell anypony about it.

When Shining Armor was finished reliving the last four days, he took another deep breath, feeling calmer than he had all week; it felt good to be able to tell somepony else his secret, even if that somepony had spent half the story rolling around on the ground, laughing in a very unprincess like manner.

"Goodness," Cadence said, when she finally collected herself, "it certainly sounds like you've been having quite the busy vacation."

Shining Armor nodded. It certainly hadn't been his ideal way of taking a break from all of the meetings, and Equestria Games preparations that had taken up most of their lives since taking the throne, but he had to admit that it had been a fun experience. Not one that he would want to repeat if he could help it, but fun nonetheless.

“I’m just glad it’ll all be over soon.”

Cadence giggled, and pulled her husband in close for an embrace, which Shining Armor happily reciprocated.

“I really am sorry,” he said, nestling in between Cadence's forelegs.

She just smiled, and gave him a light squeeze.

"You are forgiven," she said, then quickly added, "though I do expect you to make up for lying to me."

"Of course." Shining Armor leaned over, and gave Cadence's foreleg a little kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

The two ponies just sat there, enjoying the moment, watching the sun set over Ponyville, bathing the town in beautiful, golden light. A few ponies had taken to the streets, closing up stores, or buying some last minute items for that evening's dinner. It was so peaceful.

"So you really knew it was me the whole time?" Shining Armor hated to break the silence, but something had been nagging at him ever since Cadence confronted him. "How?"

Cadence gently stroked her husband's mane, then leaned down and planted a small kiss on the top of his little head.

"It really wasn't difficult to figure out," Cadence said. "First of all, you look almost exactly like you did when you really were a foal, only a lot cuter."

Shining Armor just rolled his eyes at Cadence's "cute" comment.

"Then there was Twilight trying to explain how you’re her cousin, and I knew that was a lie because, well, it was a terrible story. I mean, I’ve known you and your entire family since Twilight was in magic kindergarten; there’s no way you could have a cousin that I’d never met.” Cadence made a sound that was part giggle, and part sigh. “No offense to Twilight, but she's always been a very bad liar."

Shining Armor couldn't help but chuckle, as he thought back on when Twilight was a filly, and would try and trick Cadence into giving her an extra cookie at snack time, or would try to get some more studying in by telling her that her bedtime had been changed to eleven when it was really at seven.

"So why didn't you call us out on it earlier?" Shining Armor asked.

Cadence shrugged.

"I was hoping you were going to drop the act first, but you didn’t, so I decided to play along until you came clean. But then you just kept the lie going, so that's when I decided to tease you a little."

Shining Armor sat bolt upright.

"Tease me?" His eyes went wide with understanding. "That's why you put crystals in my mane during recess."

Cadence nodded, and giggled.

"It’s also why I made you leave them in until we got to Rarity’s; I knew that when she saw how adorable you looked - and you looked very adorable by the way - she would want to put you in a dress. She certainly didn't disappoint.

"I also tried to trip you up at breakfast this morning with all the questions I asked, but you maintained your cover until you were saved by the Crusaders."

"That's all thanks to my amazing skills as a former guard captain," Shining Armor said rather proudly.

Cadence just booped her husband lightly on the head. Shining Armor gave an exaggerated yelp, and rubbed the spot she had poked.

"So, what, were you also having fun with me when you told me that I had to go out with Snails?"

Cadence gasped.

"Absolutely not," she said, rising to look Shining Armor straight in the eyes to show that she was completely serious. "You are a prince, Shining Armor, and that means that when a pony is indebted to you, you are obligated to allow them to repay you. It would be considered extremely rude if you didn't."

Shining Armor opened his mouth to argue, but decided against it.

"Fine," he said, turning around and settling back into his original position. "So is there anything else that you want to tell me? Any more secret games or punishments that I should know about?"

There was a bit of a pause before Cadence spoke again.

"No, nothing like that, but there is something I need to tell you." Her voice surprisingly giddy. "Shining Armor I'm-"

Before she could finish telling Shining Armor what she was, the Ponyville clock tower rang loudly six times, marking the late hour.

"Sorry, what was that?" Shining Armor asked, eager to hear what Cadence was going to tell him. But she just smiled and shook her head.

"I'll tell you later." Then she used a levitation spell on her miniature husband, and lifted him off the ground and onto her back. "We need to get you home; it's almost your bedtime." She giggled at her own joke, and began a fast, yet careful trot back towards Twilight's library.

When they reached Twilight's, Cadence and Shining Armor were surprised to find the room completely spotless. Ever since Shining Armor's transformation, the table and the floor around it had been occupied by teetering stacks of books, new and discarded quills, and rolls of parchment. Now, everything was cleared away, returning the room to the way it had looked the first morning of Shining Armor's visit. Twilight was just putting away the last of her unused scrolls when she became aware of the royal couple’s presence.

"Cadence, Gleaming Shield, welcome back," she said, smiling from ear to ear, as she rushed over to the door to greet her brother and sister-in-law.

“My you’re certainly cheerful,” Cadence said, “did something exciting happen while we were away?”

Twilight nodded her head rapidly.

“You bet it did.” She beckoned them inside, and led them to her table where a single, sealed scroll lay in the middle. “After four days of research, putting off meals, and barely getting any sleep, I’ve finally finished translating that spell for Princess Celestia!”

Shining Armor’s heart began to pound in his chest as he looked from his sister, to the rolled up scroll that rested just a few feet away. There it was; the key to returning him to his normal form.

“That’s wonderful,” Cadence said. “May I see it?” She reached for the scroll, but Twilight quickly snatched it away with her magic before she could get her hooves on it.

“Oh you wouldn’t be interested in this; it’s just a boring old spell that Princess Celestia wanted translated for the Canterlot archives.” Twilight floated the rolled up piece of paper over to a nearby saddlebag, and tucked it away in one of the pockets. “You might be interested in this though,” she continued, producing two opened envelopes from the same pocket, “I got a letter from Shining Armor today saying that his business in Canterlot is complete, and that he’ll be on the first train to Ponyville tomorrow morning.”

Cadence accepted the envelope from Twilight, and opened it to read the contents of the letter. Upon unfolding the small piece of paper, she stifled a laugh.

"On a totally unrelated note,” Twilight continued, oblivious to the sounds Cadence was making, “I also received a message from your parents, Gleaming Shield, saying they really miss you, and that they are looking forward to your return tomorrow morning."

She passed Shining Armor the second envelope, giving him a wink as she did. Shining Armor sighed, as he removed the paper from within. Just as Twilight had said, the message inside was addressed to Gleaming Shield, regarding her return to Canterlot. As he looked at the paper, it was easy to understand what Cadence had found so funny; the overly neat penmanship in which the message had been written was unmistakably Twilight’s. The two married ponies looked at each other, and the room was suddenly filled with thunderous laughter.

“I thought you two would be happy,” Twilight said, “although I must say, I feel just awful that I was busy during your entire stay, Gleaming Shield.” She lifted her brother off the floor, and gave him a big hug.

“Uh, Twi-”

“You’ll have to promise that you’ll visit me again real soon, okay?”

Shining Armor wriggled free from his sister’s grasp, still laughing at the hilarity of the fake notes.

“Twily, you don’t have to lie anymore,” he said. “Cadence already knows.”

Twilight looked from Shining Armor to Cadence, who, in her mirth, nodded.

“B-but I...You… wha?” And then, just as Shining Armor had done earlier that evening, Twilight threw herself at Cadence’s hooves. “Oh Cadence, I’m so, so, so, so, so sorry. I didn’t mean to change Shining Armor into a filly. I mean, yes, I tested an age regression spell on him, but I tried to change him back, I just got a little distracted, and...and…” At this point, Twilight broke out in tears. “Please please please please don’t tell Princess Celestia about this.”

Cadence pulled Twilight into a comforting hug.

"It's alright, Twilight," she said, "I'm not going to go to Celestia."

A glimmer of hope shone in Twilight's eyes.

"So you aren't mad?"

Cadence shook her head.

"No, I'm not mad, just disappointed. Honestly Twilight, you should have just told me what had happened. You know I could have helped you sort things out."

"Yes, I know, I was just afraid of what would happen if anypony found out that I made a mistake. I'm an alicorn princess, I'm not supposed to make mistakes."

"Oh Twilight, it's alright if you mess up every now and again, especially now when you're still getting used to your powers. Do you think I was perfect when I first became a princess?"

Twilight didn't answer right away. She understood that Cadence hadn’t always been as proficient with magic as she was now, but she had always looked up to her old foal sitter, and that lifelong admiration made it difficult for Twilight to think of her as anything but perfect.

“No.” Twilight sighed, and wiped away a tear that had began to form in her eye. “I suppose you’re right, although I’m still embarrassed that I changed my brother into a filly and failed when I tried to change him back. And, I’m upset with myself because instead of coming to you in the first place, I spent an entire afternoon trying to figure out to best way to get Gleaming Shield on a train to Canterlot, and have Shining Armor get off a different train a few minutes later without anypony noticing.”

Twilight’s body suddenly perked right up. “Actually this is perfect. Since Cadence already knows your secret, I can just change you back right now. I’ve got the spell all translated, so we can finally put this whole mess behind us. That is, if you’re ready?”

Shining Armor opened his mouth ready to tell Twilight that he was more than ready to return to normal, but Cadence interrupted him before he could get a word out.

“Actually Twilight, could it wait just another day or so?” She asked. “Shining Armor still has some unfinished business that he needs to take care of. Right, Shining Armor?”

Shining Armor’s excitement died down as he remembered what Cadence had told him earlier that afternoon

“What does he have to do?” Twilight gave her sister-in-law a quizzical look.

Shining Armor sighed, and looked up at his sister.

“I have to go to Sugarcube Corner with Snails.”

...

That night, long after dinner and small talk (which was much more relaxed than it had been during previous meals), Shining Armor and Cadence had bid Twilight goodnight, and ascended the stairs to the bedroom. Despite having gone almost an entire week without sleep, the young princess decided to stay up a while longer, hoping to practice the spell a few times just to be sure that this attempt at changing her brother back to normal went according to plan.

Alone, up in Twilight’s room, the two ponies lay cuddled together in the spare bed with Cadence on the outside, hugging her husband close to her chest, as she hummed an old lullaby. With the awkwardness of trying to keep his identity a secret from his wife gone, Shining Armor found it a lot easier to enjoy the novelty of being the little spoon, his small form comfortably nestled in her grasp.

“Shining Armor,” Cadence suddenly whispered, as she continued stroking her husband’s hair, “if you don’t mind me asking, what are you planning on doing about the Crusaders?”

Shining Armor thought for a moment; he’d been so caught up in his adventures with the three fillies, he hadn’t considered what would happen when Twilight finished the spell, and his time with the Crusaders ultimately came to an end.

“I don’t know,” he said, “probably just tell them I have to go back to Canterlot or something.”

Cadence rose slightly so she could look at Shining Armor.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” There was a note of concern in her voice that told Shining Armor that she clearly didn't. “What if they want to see Gleaming Shield again? If they go to Canterlot, I’m pretty sure they’ll quickly discover that that pony doesn’t even exist. That is of course unless you plan on having your sister turn you into a little filly every time one of her friends visits Canterlot and the Crusaders decide to tag along.”

Shining Armor didn’t say anything; he knew Cadence was right. Even though he hadn't meant to, he'd left a lasting impression on those three little fillies, and they would certainly be hurt if they found out that their new friend wasn't real.

“So what do you think I should do?” He didn't really need to ask; he knew exactly what Cadence was going to say.

“You should sit them down, and tell them everything; about who you are, and why you were pretending to be a little filly.”

Again Shining Armor nodded. While it wasn't the ideal plan, he agreed that it was the best way to end his time as Gleaming Shield. Sure, there was a chance that the three little fillies would feel betrayed, but it was far better than ending things with them in a lie.

“Alright, first chance I get, I’ll come clean and apologize for lying to them this whole time.” He sighed, and cuddled closer to his wife for comfort. “I just hope they take it well; I’d hate for them to hate me because I hid the truth from them.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine; those three can be very understanding.”

“I suppose.”

With the matter finally settled, Cadence kissed the back of Shining Armor’s head, nuzzled him with her cheek, and wished him goodnight, before drifting off to sleep.

...

Unfortunately for Shining Armor, the comfort that he felt from being cuddled by Cadence didn’t last; as soon as he closed his eyes, he was once again met with the same nightmares that had plagued his dreams the night before. On top of the unsettling images of Cadence raising him as her daughter, he also saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders with looks of betrayal on their faces. It was such an unsettling dream that when he awoke, he almost considered not telling them the truth, saving himself from what could possibly be a horrible confrontation. But when he looked to his wife, smiling as she brushed her mane, he remembered her words, and steeled himself against any fear that he might have. But that would have to wait until after his “date” with Snails of course; after all, it would be pretty awkward telling them first thing in the morning, then playing filly for the rest of the day.

It'll all be fine, he told himself, as he ate his breakfast, actually this day will probably be the easiest one I've had all week. Then I can put this whole experience behind me, and go back to being myself. The thought of returning to his normal body perked him right up, until somepony knocked at the front door. It wasn't the usual excited knocking of the Crusaders that Shining Armor had grown accustomed to hearing every morning; whoever it was on the other side of the door tapped once, quietly, then waited a second, before tapping again.

Twilight got up from her spot at the table to see who it was, while Shining Armor and Cadence returned to their food.

“Oh, hello,” they heard her say from the door.

“Hi,” came a familiar droll from outside, “I was hoping… I mean, I was wondering… Is Gleaming Shield there?”

Shining Armor groaned silently, then took a deep breath, and put on as pleasant a face as he could muster, before getting up from his seat, and joining his sister and the visitor at the door. Sure enough, it was Snails, looking particularly nervous.

“Good morning, Snails,” he said, trying to sound cheerful, “what brings you here so early?”

The tall colt looked down at Shining Armor, then swallowed back some of his fear.

“I know I said that I’d meet you at Sugarcube Corner after school, but I was passing by, and I wanted to see if you'd like to walk to school together.”

Shining Armor looked from Snails, to his wife, who gave him supportive nod.

“I, uh, suppose I can,” he said, “it's just that the girls are going to be here any moment, and I'm sure they'll want to walk to school together. Maybe try and get our cutie marks on the way or something.”

Snails whole body slumped sadly.

“Oh, okay. I guess I'll see you after school then.” He turned and began to walk away.

“Wait,” Shining Armor said, mostly because he hated seeing the colt so let down, but also because he could sense the disapproving look coming from Cadence’s direction, “I'm sure the Crusaders won't mind walking to school without me just this once.”

Snails looked at Shining Armor, eyes wide with happiness, and tail swishing back and forth like a puppy's. Shining Armor couldn't help but smile at the colt’s excited tail wagging.

“If Apple Bloom and the others stop by, tell them I've left already, and I'll meet them at school,” Shining Armor told his sister, as he followed Snails out the door.

As Shining Armor had expected, the walk to the schoolhouse was very awkward. The entire time they were together, Snails barely acknowledged Shining Armor's existence, choosing instead to walk with eyes pointing forward, and not uttering a single word. His hooves were so shaky, that at one point, he ended up tripping himself, and was sent crashing into Shining Armor. This was followed by a string of apologies that only stopped when Shining Armor placed a hoof over Snails’ mouth, and told him that it was fine. After that, they returned to walking in silence, only now, Shining Armor could feel the colt’s gaze had shifted from the road, to the back of his head.

When they reached the school, Shining Armor was relieved when Snails left his side, and ran over to his friend Snips, who was playing on the swings with some other ponies. This is going to be a long day, Shining Armor thought, as he sat and waited for the Crusaders to arrive.

It didn't take long for the little red wagon being towed behind a pony on a scooter to show up. Scootaloo pulled up next to Shining Armor, and gave him a sympathetic look.

“So, how bad was it?” Scootaloo asked, as she removed her helmet, and dismounted her scooter.

“It wasn’t really bad,” Shining Armor said, “just boring.” He felt bad for saying it, but there was really no better way to describe a five minute walk with a pony who found himself unable to speak.

“Ah’m sorry you gotta go out with him after school,” Apple Bloom added. “You sure you don't want us to get you out of it?”

Shining Armor shook his head.

“No, Cadence was right; if he wants to pay me back for protecting him, than I should let him. I just need to make sure he doesn't get too attached.”

“If you'd like, we could go with you, so we can bail you out if things get too dull,” Sweetie Belle suggested.

“Thanks, but I should be fine on my own. However, if you three happened to stop by Sugarcube Corner and sat at a table near by, then that would be fine.” The Crusaders smiled and nodded, happy they could at least provide their friend with emotional support.

“Also,” Shining Armor continued, “I just wanted to thank you three for this week. You've been nothing but welcoming and kind, and I've had a blast hanging out with you.”

The little fillies blushed a little at his words of praise.

“Well, gosh, Gleamin’ Shield, we've loved havin’ you around,” Apple Bloom said.

The others nodded their agreement.

“Totally,” Sweetie Belle added, “it’s been so much fun having a new friend to join us in our quest to get our cutie marks.”

“It's too bad that you'll be leaving in a couple of days though,” Scootaloo added.

Before Shining Armor could say anything, he found himself in the tight embrace of the Crusaders.

“We're gonna miss you Gleamin’ Shield.”

“I'm gonna miss you all as well.” Shining Armor could feel himself choking up. This is going to be harder than I thought, he thought, as the girls released him from their hug. At the same moment, the bell began to ring, calling all the fillies and colts into the classroom.

“Listen, girls,” Shining Armor continued, quickly wiping a tear away, “after Sugarcube Corner, can we meet up at the clubhouse? There's something important that I need to tell you.”

“What is it?” Scootaloo asked.

“Oh my gosh!” Sweetie Belle gasped. “You're not dying, are you?”

“What? No, it's nothing like that. But it is a secret, so promise you'll wait until we get to the clubhouse to go into it further.”

The Crusaders promised, and Sweetie Belle, who had expected the worst, couldn't help but let out a laugh of relief.

As the last notes of the school bell faded away, Shining Armor and the Crusaders charged inside for what was going to be Shining Armor’s last day of school.

...

School that day was much the same as it had been since Shining Armor arrived. The morning had been dedicated to the continuation of Ms. Cheerilee’s Crystal Empire lessons, followed by lunch and recess, and then math and reading in the afternoon. The only real difference that Shining Armor could notice was the absence of the pair of eyes watching him from the seat next to his. He could only guess it was because Snails was too nervous to even look his way now that it was the day they would be going to Sugarcube Corner together.

Alright, let's get this over with, Shining Armor thought, when the final bell rang, and the school ponies collected their things and rushed out the door.

“Good luck,” Scootaloo said, with a pat on the back, as she, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle followed the other students outside.

Shining Armor just gave them a nod, as he watched them disappear.

“Are you ready to go,” he said, turning to Snails, who was standing awkwardly beside him.

The colt just fidgeted nervously, and nodded his head.

“Hey, Snails, you don't have to be scared of me; I'm just another pony, not an Ursa Minor.”

Snails looked blankly at Shining Armor for a second, then gave a halfhearted chuckle.

“I know,” he muttered, “but you’re still a filly.”

“Don’t worry about that, okay? Just talk to me like you would anypony else. Alright?”

For a second, he thought Snails was going to chicken out altogether, but the colt surprised him by taking several deep breaths, and, with a look of determination, led the way out of the classroom, and in the direction of Sugarcube Corner.

Unfortunately, that burst of confidence quickly faded before they reached the bakery. Just as it had been that morning, the walk had been made in complete silence. By the time they sat down at their table, Snails had returned to his nervous, jittery self, only stopping for a moment when Pinkie Pie came by to take their orders. Well this is going worse than expected, Shining Armor thought, as Pinkie rushed from their table to take care of another customer. The way Snails had been acting towards him all week had lead Shining Armor to believe that the colt would spend their entire time at Sugarcube Corner confessing his love to what he thought was a cute little filly. He hadn’t anticipated Snails being too scared to talk once the big moment had arrived.

Shining Armor looked around the room, and almost laughed; sitting at a window booth, each with a pair of fake glasses, and goofy looking mustaches were the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Are they trying to be undercover? Sweetie Belle, who was sitting on the end, smiled and waved at him, but was quickly cut off by Scootaloo, who swatted the more enthusiastic pony’s hoof out of the air. Then she turned to Shining Armor, and placed her own hoof in front of her lips in an obvious shushing motion. Shining Armor gave them a nod that said ‘I won't say a word,’ then turned his attention back to Snails, who appeared to be searching his brain for something to say.

“So, how have you been enjoying Ms. Cheerilee’s Crystal Empire lessons?” Shining Armor asked, taking it upon himself to get the ball rolling.

Snails looked at Shining Armor, and opened his mouth as if to say something, then quickly shut it again.

“Uh, Ponyville is a great town, what's your favorite thing to do around here?”

Again, there was a stare, and a mouth opening, followed by silence.

This is going nowhere, Shining Armor thought, maybe I should just call it quits. Just as he was about to throw in the towel, Pinkie Pie returned with their cupcakes. The sudden appearance of the bouncy pink pony startled Snails, and in his surprise, he accidentally kicked over his saddlebag, spilling its contents onto the floor.

“Darn it,” he said, bending down to pick up his school things.

Seeing the young colt in distress, Shining Armor bent down to help collect his belongings. That's when he noticed something not school related; a comic book, still sealed in its plastic bag. He reached out for it, but Snails snatched it away, as if he was embarrassed that somepony else had seen it.

“Was that the new Power Ponies comic?” Shining Armor asked, hoping that he'd finally found something that would break the awkward silence.

“You…like the Power Ponies?”

“Of course. I mean, I think the current Zap solo comic is better, but the main series has always been one of my favorites, especially the years when Frank Muler was writing it.”

Snails’ eyes went wide.

“You read the Frank Muler run?”

“Yup, all fifty of them.”

“Woah, that’s so cool. My mom won't let me read them, ‘cause she thinks they're too scary.”

Shining Armor nodded his head; although Frank Muler’s run head breathed new life into the Power Ponies comics, many ponies wouldn't let their children read them because of the darker tone it had taken on. Shining Armor’s own parents had taken that same stance, banning the comic series in their household.

“Yeah, my mom and dad didn’t like me reading them either; they thought they would be a bad influence on me.” Shining Armor couldn’t help but laugh at his memories as an actual little pony. “I used to have to hide each new issue I got in one of my school books, and read them at night so they wouldn’t find out.”

“That’s really funny,” Snails said, laughing along. The he stopped and gave Shining Armor a contemplative look. “Wait, how did you get them new? Aren’t they, like, super old?”

“Oh, uh…” Shining Armor’s eyes darted from Snails, to the Crusaders, whose attentions had been drawn away by Pinkie Pie, who seemed to be having a long winded conversation with the three fillies. “What I meant was that they were new to me. There’s a comic book shop in Canterlot that deals in older comics like that, and that’s where I got them.” It wasn’t a total lie; when the Frank Muler books had been released, they had been new to Shining Armor, and the shop he’d mentioned was a favorite spot of his to visit when he still lived in Canterlot.

“Oh, okay,” Snails said, accepting Shining Armor’s story. The colt turned to his cupcake, and began eating.

Finally, things are looking up, Shining Armor thought, as he began to devour his own pastry. He was more than happy to talk about comic books for a while; it was certainly better than sitting in an awkward silence until Snails eventually either ran away, or blurted out a confession of love. I just hope this means Snails will take it well when I turn down his request.

As if on cue, the colt looked up from his now empty plate, cheeks red, and a few beads of sweat beginning to drip from his brow.

“H-hey,” he said, rather shakily, “when I first met you, I thought you were really cool for sticking up for me and Snips, and the fact that you like comics makes you like, a bajillion times cooler. So I was just wondering-” Snails paused to calm his nerves

Here it comes, Shining Armor thought, preparing to politely decline Snails. For a brief second his attention drifted away from the stuttering colt, and turned towards the Crusaders, who, despite the milkshakes in their hooves, were watching intently, ready to jump in to rescue their friend at any moment. There was something else though, something that nearly made Shining Armor want to roll on the floor with laughter; leaning in through the open window just above Scootaloo’s head, and wearing the same ridiculous disguise as the three little fillies, was Cadence.

“What’s so funny?” Snails asked, when he noticed the goofy smile that Shining Armor was trying to hide.

“Oh, uh nothing,” Shining Armor said, “I just saw a silly looking bird fly past the window.” With a few good breaths, he forced down the giggles that wanted to burst forth, and turned his attention to the matter at hoof. “Now what was it that you wanted to say?”

“I j-just w-wanted to kn-know if you would maybe…” Snails shut his eyes in concentration. “Would you be my special somepony?”

This was it; the moment Shining Armor had been waiting for.

“I'm sorry, Snails,” he said, giving the colt a sympathetic look, “but no, I can't be your special somepony.”

The second Shining Armor finished speaking, Snails’ entire body seemed to deflate like a sad balloon. Despite the fact that the colt’s affections had made him uncomfortable, Shining Armor hated to see him look so let down; after all he'd felt the same way too once, when he'd thought Cadence wouldn't go out with him. But no matter how much he didn't want to hurt Snails, he said what he needed to.

“Oh,” Snails said with a hint of a sniffle.

“Don't get me wrong, I think you're great,” Shining Armor continued, hoping to cheer Snails up, “I mean, you helped me out with the Diamond Tiara thing, and you've been really kind to me ever since I got here. But you're just gonna have to trust me when I say that I'm not the right filly for you.”

“But you're one of the only fillies who's ever been nice to me, and who thinks comic books aren't, you know, dorky.”

“And I won’t be the last.” He gave Snails an encouraging smile. “Trust me, there are plenty of nice fillies out there who would be happy to call a comic book loving colt like yourself her special somepony.”

Shining Armor looked over at Cadence who was deep in a lively conversation with the Crusaders.

“If you don’t believe me,” he continued, “you should know that Princess Cadence fell in love with and married Shining Armor, and he has one of the biggest comic book collections in Equestria.”

A look of astonishment replaced the sadness on Snail’s face.

“Really?” He asked, somehow finding it hard to believe that a beautiful, elegant pony like her could have fallen in love with a such nerdy pony.

“Of course. She even converted King Sombra’s old study into a comic book library for him.” Shining Armor then leaned in close so only Snails could hear. “And I have it on good authority that she occasionally goes down every once in awhile to read when she thinks no one is looking.”

Snail’s couldn’t help but give a little chuckle.

Shining Armor smiled as well, happy to see the colt’s spirits lifted, even if only a little.

“So you see, I’m not the only comic book loving filly out there, you just have to wait until the right one for you comes along.”

To Shining Armor’s surprise, Snails, the pony who had been chasing after him, and hastily confessing his feelings for him for almost a week, seemed to be okay that he had been shot down. Although he still looked let down that “Gleaming Shield” hadn’t returned his affections, he had a hopeful look in his eye that seemed to say ‘that’s right, this isn’t the end.’

“Thanks, Gleaming Shield,” Snails said, wiping the last few tears from his eyes. “You know, for somepony who’s my age, you give really good advice.”

“I guess I’m just wise beyond my years,” Shining Armor joked. Then he held out his hoof. “Friends?”

Snails reached out and happily bumped it with his own.

“Friends.”

With his Snails troubles finally put to rest, Shining Armor felt a burst of energy rush through him. In a flash, he scarfed down the rest of his cupcake, and waved Pinkie Pie over so they could pay their bill.

“Well,” he said when everything was paid for, “now that you seem to be able to be near me and not go catatonic, and seeing as this is my last day in Ponyville, why don’t we go, and you can show me the shop where you buy your comic books?”

Snails’ tail began wagging excitedly, and he quickly nodded his approval.

The two ponies got up from their table, and exited Sugarcube Corner, chatting happily. Although things hadn’t quite gone the way the colt had been hoping for, the smile on his face was evidence enough to tell Shining Armor that he would be fine with how they ended things. I guess I did good, he thought to himself, as Snails went on about his favorite comic books. Yet, despite how glad he felt to have dealt with this particular awkward situation, there was still one final task that lay ahead of him. He turned around and caught a quick glimpse of three little fillies in fake mustaches running after them. Now I just have to face the Crusaders.

Chapter 11: The Return of the Prince

The rest of Shining Armor and Snails’ afternoon together was spent at a little comic book shop called Equestrian Heroes, just a short way down the road from Sugarcube Corner. It wasn't nearly as grand as the shop in Canterlot, but it was certainly impressive, with its shelves overflowing with new, and old comics, glass display cases containing various collectables and superhero action figures, and posters covering every inch of free space on the walls, depicting famous scenes from Power Ponies, or The Unbeatable Squirrel Mare. More surprisingly, he had even found a few rare variant covers of some of his favorite comic books. Snails, still nervously trying to please his new friend, had offered to buy him something, but Shining Armor told him multiple times that it wasn't necessary.

After an hour of browsing, and talking excitedly about comics, the two ponies left the shop.

“Thanks for inviting me to hang out today,” Shining Armor said, “I had a lot of fun.” He really had. Once he'd worked through the awkwardness of Snails’ crush on him, their afternoon of hanging out together had been quite enjoyable.

“Yeah, I had fun too,” Snails said with a grin. “And I'm sorry for acting so weird around you this week. Talking to fillies is just so hard.”

Shining Armor gave Snails a playful nudge.

“Hey, all you needed was a little confidence.”

“Hehe, yeah.”

In that moment, a sense of pride washed over Shining Armor, and he couldn’t help but smile. The pony that stood before him a far cry from the one he’d met on his first day in Ponyville. In just one afternoon, Snails had gone from barely being unable to speak to Shining Armor, to being able hold a full conversation while only stammering once or twice. I guess I must have given him the right advice, Shining Armor thought, with a bit of a chuckle to himself. It would still be a while before the young colt would be able to confidently walk up to a filly, and talk to her, but he would get there with time.

“Well, I should probably be going,” Snails said, as he readjusted his saddlebag. “I'll see you at school tomorrow.”

The smile faded from Shining Armor's face.

“Actually Snails, this is going to be my last night in Ponyville.”

Just as he expected, Snails looked broken hearted at the thought of his new friend leaving.

“Oh,” he said, rather sulkily, “well, maybe we could hang out the next time you're in town or something.”

Shining Armor didn't know how to tell Snails that he would never see Gleaming Shield again.

“About that,” he said, “I'm actually-”

“Excuse me,” came a voice from behind them.

They looked back and saw a unicorn filly standing there, a paper bag floating in the air next to her.

“Uh, hi,” Shining Armor said, thankful for the save, “can we help you?”

The filly froze for a second, as if she hadn't expected them to hear her.

“Oh, um,” she said in a nervous whisper. She reached up and adjusted the glasses that rested on her nose. “I’m sorry, I was just in the comic book store, and, uh, I might have overheard you two talking about spider-mare, and, well…” She removed one of the comics from her bag, still wrapped in plastic; it was the latest issue of Spectacular Spider-Mare. “It's one of my favorite comic books!” She accidentally blurted out a little too loudly.

“Oh,” Shining Armor said. That's when he got an idea. “Actually, I've only just started reading it myself.” He gave Snails a strong nudge, pushing him closer to the filly. “Snails here is more of an expert in her adventures than I am.”

Snails gave Shining Armor a horrified look that said ‘what are you doing?’

“Have confidence,” Shining Armor whispered to Snails. “Just act like you did with me all afternoon and you'll be fine.”

Shining Armor looked up and caught a sight of Cadence seated at a cafe not to far away, giving him a ‘good job’ smile.

“Now if you two will excuse me, I have to get back to Twilight’s now.” He held out his hoof to the colt. “It was really nice to have met you, Snails.”

Again, Snails looked sad that his new friend was saying goodbye, but at the same time, Shining Armor could see that he was also happy. With one last smile, he bumped Shining Armor’s hoof.

“Goodbye, Gleaming Shield,” he said. “I'll never forget you.”

Shining Armor couldn't help but choke up a little, as Snails turned back to the young filly to continue talking excitedly about comic books. It was strange; he’d spent the entire week trying to avoid the colt’s glances, and requests for a date, and now that it was all behind him, he was glad that he’d taken the chance to befriend him. To see him being able to talk to a filly other than Gleaming Shield had made the whole experience worth it. Wow, he thought, if this is how I feel after saying goodbye to Snails, I can't imagine what it's going to be like when I have to talk to the Crusaders tonight.

As he made his way down the street, Cadence left her seat at the cafe, and trotted up next to her husband.

“You handled yourself quite wonderfully,” she said, giving him a proud smile.

“Well, I'm no princess of love.” He looked back, and was happy to see Snail’s and the filly talking and laughing together. “But yeah, I think I did alright.”

“You don’t need to be a princess of love to help a pony find his confidence; just a good friend.”

Cadence placed a hoof on her husband’s head, and began stroking his mane.

“Speaking of good friends,” she continued, “are you ready to face the Crusaders?”

Shining Armor frowned.

“No,” he admitted, “but then again, how do you ready yourself for the ‘I’m actually a stallion in disguise’ talk?”

“It’s like you said to Snails; you just need confidence.” She hoisted her husband onto her back.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Shining Armor took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s go.”

...

They found the Cutie Mark Crusaders seated at the the base of their clubhouse, patiently awaiting their friend’s arrival, except for Sweetie Belle, who was nervously pacing back and forth as if she was expecting some sort of terrible surprise. When they saw Shining Armor and Cadence approaching, they rushed over to greet them.

“Oh thank goodness,” Sweetie Belle gasped, as she wrapped her forelegs tightly around Shining Armor’s neck, “I was so worried.”

“Why?” Shining Armor asked, feeling very confused.

An embarrassed flush filled Sweetie Belle’s cheeks.

“Oh, well...ever since you said that you had something important to tell us, I just couldn’t get it out of my that you were...that you were-”

“For the last time, Sweetie Belle, she’s not dyin’,” Apple Bloom said, grumpily. With Scootaloo’s help, she pried the white unicorn away, before giving Shining Armor a sideways glance. “You aren’t, right?”

“Of course I’m not dying,” Shining Armor said, “but I do have something important to say. Could we maybe go up to the clubhouse and talk? I don’t really want anypony else to hear this.”

The Crusaders nodded, and followed Shining Armor up the walkway to the treehouse.

“So what did you want to tell us?” Scootaloo asked, as the Crusaders sat down in a semicircle.

Shining Armor took a deep breath, and tapped his right forehoof on the floor three times. It was a dumb little ritual, but for some reason it helped to calm him down whenever he had to charge right into a potentially disastrous situation. It’s now or never, he thought. Just do it in one go; like ripping off a bandage.

“Alright,” he started, “I know we’ve had a lot of fun over the last week, and we’ve become good friends, and it’s because of that that I feel that I must come clean about something.”

The three little fillies leaned in close in anticipation.

“I’ve been lying to you about who I really am. I’m not actually Twilight’s little cousin, Gleaming Shield, I’m really...Shining Armor.”

This was met by a stunned silence from the Crusaders, who exchanged expressions of confusion.

“You see, on my first day here, Twilight decided to show me some of the new spells she was working on, and, well, long story short, a bad combination of spells resulted in me first being reverted back to a younger version of myself, and then into the filly that you’ve gotten to know over the past week.”

As he told his story, he watched the three faces staring back at them, expecting the confused stares to change to looks of betrayal. But they didn’t; Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle continued to look at him like he was speaking to them in a language that they were struggling to comprehend. I guess that’s better than the alternative, he thought.

“Anyway, when I met you three, Twilight asked me to keep my true identity a secret so word of her mistake wouldn’t reach Princess Celestia. I didn’t want to lie to you, but I did to protect Twilight while she attempted to translate a spell that could change me back to normal. I hope you’ll forgive me for keeping the truth from you all this time.”

Shining Armor closed his eyes, awaiting the Crusaders judgment of him.

“Wow, that’s…” Apple Bloom said.

“A really,” chimed in Scootaloo.

“Bad joke,” added Sweetie Belle.

“What?” Shining Armor opened his eyes, and was surprised by the smiles that greeted him. “I’m not joking.”

“Oh come on, Gleaming Shield,” Scootaloo said. “You expect us to believe that you’re actually Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor?”

“But I really am!”

“Sure, and Sweetie Belle is a good cook.”

“Hey!” Sweetie Belle protested.

“I can prove it.” Shining Armor walked over to the door, and looked down to where Cadence was sitting in the grass below. “Hey, Cadence, sweetie, could you go get Twilight and bring her here?”

Cadence nodded, and in a flash of magic, she was gone. Before Shining Armor could turn around, he heard the sound of something crashing to the floor, and several startled screams. When he looked back, he found his sister sprawled out on next to Cadence.

“Well, I thought you might fly back, but this works t-”

“Oh no,” Twilight said, as she leapt to her hooves, “oh, this is bad.”

“Twily, I’m ready for you to change me back now.”

Twilight stopped her nervous trotting in place, and gave her brother a terrified look.

“Don’t be silly, Gleaming Shield,” she said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about; you’re just a normal filly.”

“Twily, you don’t have to keep pretending; I’ve already told them who I really am.”

“YOU DID WHAT!?” Twilight’s face turned white. “What was point of you keeping your identity a secret then?”

“A question I was hoping you could answer, Twilight Sparkle,” came a voice from the doorway.

Everypony looked up, and quickly bowed their heads in respect as Princess Celestia herself entered the already cramped treehouse.

“Please, there’s no need to bow,” she said in a calm voice, as she smiled, and looked from one pony to another.

“Princess Celestia,” Apple Bloom said, shocked to see one of the great rulers of Equestira standing in the Cutie Mark Crusader’s clubhouse. “What are you doin’ here?”

“Oh, I was just visiting with my favorite student to see how her new magic studies were going, when all of a sudden she was poofed away. Thankfully I am quite skilled in tracing spells, so it was easy enough to follow her here. I do hope you’ll pardon my intrusion.”

“Not at all. Is there anythin’ I we can get for you? Tea? Maybe some of Granny Smith’s famous apple crisp?”

“Later, perhaps; right now there is some urgent business that I must discuss with one of the ponies in this room.”
Instead of Twilight, Celestia turned her attention to Shining Armor, who did everything he could to avoid making eye contact with her. But there was no escaping it. In an instant, he was levitated off the ground, and floated over to where the princess stood. As he hung in midair, the princess got as close as she could to the young pony, and began to examine him like a jeweler looking for a flaw in a diamond. Every once in awhile she would pause, and mutter “interesting,” before moving onto some other part of Shining Armor’s body.

“It’s just as I thought,” she said, placing Shining Armor back on the floor, her examination finished. Then she looked down at him, a regal gleam in her eye, and she cleared her throat. “TEN HUT!”

There was no stopping it; out of instinct, Shining Armor’s body snapped to attention. His rear hooves clicked together, stamping firmly into the floor, he straightened his posture so that he was looking perfectly ahead, and his right forehoof reached up and met his forehead in a salute to his princess. Years of being a member of the Royal Guard had trained him to always stand at attention when being confronted by a superior. Even now that he himself was royalty, his muscle memory seemed to still instantly respond to Princess Celestia’s commands.

Princess Celestia could only giggle at the sight of what looked like a young filly standing at attention like a Canterlot guardspony.

“My, this certainly is an interesting situation in which you’ve found yourself, isn’t it Shining Armor?”

Shining Armor swore he could feel his entire body turn red in embarrassment at having been so easily found out by Princess Celestia. More than that, though, he felt a tinge of panic for his sister, who looked like she was ready to faint at the very idea that her former teacher had caught her trying to cover up a giant mistake. However, as he looked into Celestia’s eyes, he saw that there was no anger there, rather, she seemed amused.

“At ease,” Celestia said, and Shining Armor’s muscles instantly relaxed. “Now, would somepony please tell me why my former guard captain has been changed into such an adorable little filly?”

A silence fell upon the room. Shining Armor looked to the Crusaders, who only now looked shocked at the idea that the pony who they had considered a friend wasn't who she’d said she’d been.

“I…” Twilight said, taking a step forward. “It was my fault. I was showing off some new spells to Shining Armor, and I got distracted, and accidentally changed him into a filly.

“Then the Crusaders discovered him, so I made him lie about who he was so nopony would find out that I'd made a mistake.” She then turned to the girls, and bowed her head as low to the ground as she could. “I'm sorry you girls were dragged into this whole mess. I should have never made Shining Armor lie to you for my sake.

“And Shining Armor, I'm sorry I made you lie. If I'd just done what you said and went to Princess Celestia for he-

“Wait,” Sweetie Belle interrupted, “are you saying that this really is Shining Armor?”

“Yes,” Shining Armor said with an apologetic smile. “And I am truly, very sorry if I've hurt you all.”

The Crusaders exchanged glances, then Apple Bloom furrowed her brow, and stamped her hooves on the floor.

“Awww, dang it!” She exclaimed.

“You have every right to be mad, Apple Bloom, and I promise that I'll-”

“I'm not mad ‘cause you lied,” she said, “it's ‘cause I owe Applejack ten bits.”

Shining Armor was taken aback.

“What?”

“WHAT!?” Twilight shouted in shock. “Applejack knew?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say she knew per se, but she couldn’t get over how much you looked like, uh, you. So I kinda bet her that you were just a filly, and not some stallion in disguise.”

“So you aren’t mad?”

Apple Bloom smiled, and shook her head. Then she surprised Shining Armor, by wrapping her forelegs around him in a hug.

“What about you two?” Shining Armor asked, turning to face Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, and was again surprised when they shook their heads as well.

“You lied to protect your sister,” Sweetie Belle said, joining in the group hug, “I’d have done the same for Rarity if she was in trouble.”

Well this isn’t going as expected, Shining Armor thought, as the warmth from the hug melted the fear that had built up inside him. Cadence had been right; the Cutie Mark Crusaders were very understanding for such little ponies. At least two of them were; he looked at Scootaloo, who still seemed a little skeptical about Shining Armor’s revelation.

“So you’re really Shining Armor?” She asked.

“I am.”

“That’s...that’s…” Her eyes went wide in wonderment. “That’s so cool!” She glomped on top of the others, knocking them all to the ground. “This is just like those adventure stories Rainbow Dash reads to me, where the prince in disguise infiltrates a small town, and teams up with a ragtag team of outlaws to save the day from some impending doom!”

“But we aren’t outlaws,” Apple Bloom pointed out.

“And there wasn’t any actual doom,” added Sweetie Belle.

“Well, yeah, but other than that it’s exactly the same.”

There was a brief pause, before everypony (the princesses included) joined in a chorus of laughter. When they finally calmed down, Shining Armor and the CMC spent the next half an hour recounting their exploits, from their first meeting, to their time as police fillies, and their afternoon spent as Rarity’s runway models, right up to the present, much to the delight of Princess Celestia, who sat quietly, enraptured by their tale.

“Well now, it certainly sounds like you've been having a wonderful vacation.” Celestia said, as the story came to an end. “That being said, I'm sure you are more than ready to return to your true form.”

Shining Armor nodded; as fun as it had been to run around with the Crusaders, it was time to change back.

“Awww, do you have to?” Sweetie Belle said.

“Yes, I-”

The Crusaders came crashing into him for one last hug.

“We're gonna miss you,” Apple Bloom said, nuzzling her friend’s cheek.

“I'm not going anywhere,” Shining Armor said, patting the young filly’s head, “I'm just returning to who I really am.”

As he released himself from the Crusaders tight embrace, he turned to Twilight with determination in his eyes.

“I'm ready.”

Twilight nodded, and her horn lit up with a bright magenta light. An ethereal beam shot towards Shining Armor, and wrapped itself around him like a warm blanket. This is it, Shining Armor thought, as the world around him was obscured by the magic that surrounded him. Goodbye, Gleaming Shield. It was fun getting to be you. There was a sudden flash, and an invisible force erupted from the spot where “Gleaming Shield” had once stood, shaking the entire treehouse.

When the blinding light faded, the Crusaders and the princesses gathered around, and they all gasped at the sight before them.

“Oh my gosh,” came Sweetie Belle’s astonished cry.

“What?” Shining Armor asked. He suddenly clapped his hooves in front his mouth, his own voice taking him by surprise. It was familiar enough, but after a week of speaking with a little filly’s voice, he’d almost forgotten what his own sounded like. “Did it...work?”

Instead of answering, Princess Celestia produced a magical, reflective field, which Shining Armor eagerly looked into. Staring back at him was the young stallion who had once been the captain of Princess Celestia’s royal guard, and was the current prince of the Crystal Empire; staring back at him was Shining Armor.

“It worked!”

Shining Armor dashed from the magic made mirror, to his little sister, and lifted her off her hooves into a tight embrace.

“You did it, Twily,” he said, pulling her in closer.

“It’s good to see you again, B.B.B.F.F.,” she said. She nuzzled her face against her brother’s neck, wiping happy tears against his coat.

Cadence walked up to them, and planted a kiss on her husband’s cheek.

“There’s my handsome prince,” she said, joining in the hug.

Shining Armor smiled, then released his family, and made his way to the door.

“C’mon,” he said, gesturing for everypony to follow him outside.

When they were all at the base of the tree, Shining Armor stretched his muscles, and without warning, charged into the dimly lit orchard.

“Woohoo!” he cheered, as he galloped, dodging trees and low hanging branches.

When he felt he had traveled far enough, he turned back. Everypony braced for impact, expecting the charging stallion to crash into them, but he didn’t; instead, Shining Armor cast a spell, creating a platform above them, which he jumped onto with ease. In a split second, he created another platform, higher than the first, and jumped to it, only to instantly launch himself into the air.

“Ahhh!” Came a cry from bellow, but they had no need for worry; before he had a chance to fall, another platform had formed under Shining Armor’s hooves. There he stood, observing the land, bathed in the golden light that marked the end of the day. Shining Armor breathed in deep the sweet apple scented air, and smiled; it felt good being in his old body. As Gleaming Shield he been limited by his size, and by the younger body’s inability to perform magic, but now he felt like he could do anything. He’d certainly proved the return of his athletic and magical abilities, yet, even with all the amazing feats he could accomplish, there was still one last thing he felt he needed to do in his true form.

With a nod of his head, the platform he was on began to descend, until his hooves were firmly back on the ground. He turned to the Crusaders, who looked up at him with awe in their eyes, and he reached down, and pulled them into as tight a hug as he could.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Why are you thanking us?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Because when I was first turned into a little filly, I was so scared about what would happen if I was found out, but not only did you three treat me kindly in my state, you accepted me, even after you found out the truth, and for that I am most grateful.”

“We were just doin’ what anypony would do,” Apple Bloom said.

“And did we mention how cool it is that you’re really Shining Armor?” Scootaloo said.

Shining Armor smiled, as he placed the Crusaders back on the ground.

“I’m going to miss being a Crusader.”

“What do you mean you’ll miss it?” Scootaloo asked.

“Well, I’ve got my cutie mark back.” He pointed at the shield and stars that now appeared on his flanks. “Plus I’m pretty sure I’m a little old now to be in the club.”

The three little ponies looked at each other, and grinned.

“Ya’ll thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Yup,” said Scootaloo.

“Absolutely,” added Sweetie Belle.

“Right.” Apple Bloom turned to the adult ponies. “Ya’ll wait here, and we’ll be back in a bit.”

“Where are you going?” Shining Armor asked, as the Crusaders began running in three different directions.

But there was no response. Shining Armor chuckled, and lay on the grass with his wife nestled next to him, waiting for whatever it was the Crusaders had in store.

Epilogue

“Gleaming Shield - I mean - Shining Armor,” Sweetie Belle said, once again taking on the position of master of ceremonies. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders would like to thank you for your dedication to helping us in our attempts to get our cutie marks.”

Shining Armor stood before the girls, an amused look on his face. They’re being awfully formal about this, he thought with a chuckle.

The scene was surprisingly ritualistic, with the Cutie Mark Crusaders seated in front of their treehouse, a small pyre, burning next to them, with a very confused looking Applejack on standby in case the fire needed to be put out. Pinkie Pie (who Shining Armor was surprised to find out knew about him being Gleaming Shield since day one), had come with the rest of their friends, and decorated the clearing with red and gold streamers and balloons.

“What the hay is going on here?” He heard Rainbow Dash ask Twilight.

“It’s a very long story,” Twilight said.

Shining Armor ignored the sudden laughs that erupted from their direction as his sister quickly summarized the past week’s events, and gave the Crusaders an exaggerated bow, which made the young fillies giggle.

“You are very welcome,” he said.

“Now,” Apple Bloom, continued for her friend, “if you would please present your cape.”

Cape? For a second Shining Armor had forgotten the had been gifted an identical cape to those currently being worn by the Crusaders.

“Oh, uh, just a second.” With a quick spell, he transported himself to his room in Golden Oaks Library, and grabbed the cape, which he’d folded, and placed in one of his suitcases, before poofing back to the clearing. “Here you are.”

Apple Bloom took the cape, and trotted back to her spot.

“When you first arrived here, we gave this to you to show that you were a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and now that you have your cutie mark, we would like to present you with this.”

Right on cue, Scootaloo brought forth a new cape. She unfolded it for Shining Armor to show that it bore his cutie mark. She attempted to put it on Shining Armor’s shoulders, but found it difficult now that he was much taller than she was.

“Princess Celestia, would you please do the honor?” She asked.

The princess smiled, as she lifted the cape in her magic, and secured it around Shining Armor’s neck.

“So, what does this mean?” Shining Armor asked, still a little hazy on the details of the ceremony.

“It means that even though you’ve got your Cutie Mark, you’re still a Crusader,” Apple Bloom explained.

“Which means we won’t need this one anymore,” Sweetie Belle said, taking the old cape, and holding it over the fire.

“NOOOOOOO!” Came a shriek from behind.

“Rarity, this is one of the new ones that doesn’t have your precious gold fabric sewn into it.”

“Oh, well,” said Rarity, embarrassedly. “Still, it would be best to save it darling; you never know when you might need another one.”

“Fine,” Sweetie Belle said, taking the cape away from the fire.

“And with that,” Apple Bloom went on, “your graduation is complete.”

The fillies cheered, and hugged Shining Armor in turn, congratulating him on achieving his cutie mark.

“Thank you all,” he said, “although, technically I earned my cutie mark years ago, it was still an honor joining you for a week.”

“Just promise us you’ll keep in touch,” Apple Bloom said.

“Of course I will.”

“And that you’ll come back to visit us,” added Sweetie Belle.

“Whenever I can.”

“And that you’ll give us ideas for things we can do to try to get our cutie marks,” finished Scootaloo.

“As long as they’re safe, you’ve got it.”

“Well then, I guess there’s just one last thing to do. Pinkie?”

From out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie produced a record player.

“Let’s paaaartay!” She shouted.

As the music began to play, everypony got up, and began dancing, except for Shining Armor, who settled down in the grass next to his wife. Cadence wrapped a wing around her husband, and nestled against him, the two content in watching the others enjoy themselves while they rested for a while.

“It’s good to have you back, sweetie,” Cadence said, planting a kiss on her husband’s lips.

“It’s good to be back,” Shining Armor sighed, as he leaned against Cadence. For a while they just lay there, enjoying each other’s company, not saying anything. Shining Armor watched the Crusaders; Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo dancing with Rarity and Rainbow Dash, and Apple Bloom begrudgingly giving Applejack a small satchel which he assumed was the bits that she lost in the bet. “I want a foal.”

It felt like somepony had bucked him in the gut; he hadn’t expected the words to escape his mouth. But as the words sank in, the more he realized that it was exactly what he wanted.

“I want a foal,” he repeated, giving his wife a warm smile.

Cadence just giggled, and gave Shining Armor a peck on the cheek.

“About that,” she said in a low voice so nopony else could hear, “remember how I said that there was something that I wanted to tell you?”

“Yeah…” Shining Armor’s eyes went wide with realization. He wanted to kick himself; how hadn’t he seen it before. The signs were there; the morning sickness, the weird food cravings, they all pointed to one thing. “Cadence, are you…”

“Yes, I am,” she said.

Shining Armor was torn between fainting out of surprise, and elatedly jumping in the air in celebration. Instead of either, his body settled for chuckling nervously.

“Of course,” he said. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice.”

“It’s understandable,” Cadence said, scooching closer to her husband, “we’ve both been so busy trying to resettle the Crystal Empire, and preparing for the Equestria Games. If I hadn’t gone to the doctor, I probably wouldn’t have known myself until the games were over, and I had a little more time to concentrate on our life.”

Shining Armor stared at his wife, dumbstruck, and then a smile spread across his face. Wow, he thought, as he leaned in for another kiss, I’m going to be a father. It was almost hard to believe that in one day he had gone from being a foal, to being the expected father of one. Both ideas were equally nerve wracking, and exciting.

“It’s too bad you had to change back though,” Cadence joked. “If you were still a filly, I could have used you to practice on.”

“Please don’t get any weird ideas,” Shining Armor groaned. “One week as a filly was long enough.” Still, he couldn’t help but think that what he had learned from his time with the Crusaders, or his experiences with Snails and Diamond Tiara, could be useful in the future.

“So what do we do now?” He continued. “Should we tell everyone? I’m sure Twilight would love to hear that she’s going to be an aunt.”

Cadence just shook her head.

“I think you revealing your true identity was enough excitement for the day. Also, I don’t think Twilight would hear anything that you have to say at the moment.” She gestured with her head towards Twilight, and Shining Armor looked to see his sister also hunkered down near Princess Celestia, sound asleep despite the ruckus that was happening just a short distance away. “Let’s wait until after the Equestria Games to tell everyone. That way we have enough time to get our lives on track first.”

Shining Armor nodded his agreement.

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you, too, my wonderful prince.”

“Hey, Shining Armor, Cadence,” Sweetie Belle called over the music, “come dance with us.”

“What do you think, sweetie,” Shining Armor said, rising from the ground, and extending a hoof to Cadence, “care to dance?”

“It would be my honor,” Cadence said, taking her husband’s hoof in hers, allowing him to pull her up, “Gleaming Shield.”

Shining Armor rolled his eyes, but grinned widely, as he and Cadence joined the others. He closed his eyes, thankful for his new friends, for his time as being a filly finally ending, and for his journey into fatherhood about to begin. With one last smile, and a whispered “I love you” to his wife, he, Cadence, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, danced well into the night.

Chapter 1: Everything Goes Wrong

Dear Shining Armor,

How are you BBBFF? It feels like forever since the last time I saw you (I think it’s been at least since my coronation ceremony). That’s why I was wondering if you and Cadence would like to come and visit Ponyville, just for a week or so. Mom and dad stayed with me last summer, so I think it’s about time that my big brother best friend forever and his wife did the same. I understand that you two are busy ruling the Crystal Empire, so I understand if you can’t come, but it would really mean a lot to me if you two could to see where I’ve been living. Please let me know what your decision is as soon as possible so I know whether or not I should make up the guest room for you two. I look forward to hearing back from you.

With love from your favorite little sister,

Twilight Sparkle

Shining Armor reread the letter his little sister had sent to him weeks ago; he had been feeling bad that he and Cadence had yet to make it out to Ponyville, so when the letter came, he made plans with his wife, and quickly wrote back saying that they would both love to visit her and would be arriving in three weeks for a two-week-long vacation.

Unfortunately, a few of days before they were to leave, Cadence had fallen ill; each morning, Cadence had been suffering from stomach pains and waves of nausea that made it almost impossible for her to move. Shining Armor had offered many times to stay and care for his wife, but Cadence just smiled and told him that he needed to go and spend time with his little sister, and that all she needed was a little bed rest. To reassure her husband, she told him that if she was feeling better before he returned to the Crystal Empire, she would join him in Ponyville for the remainder of their planned stay.

The prince sighed as he stared at the empty seat beside him.

“Oh Cadence,” he thought aloud, “I hate leaving you at home like this.”

Shining Armor leaned his head against the window and absentmindedly watched the scenery pass by so quickly that it was hard to distinguish anything as the train sped down the tracks.

“Your attention please,” came a voice over a loud speaker, “We will be arriving in Ponyville in fifteen minutes. Please make sure that any carry on items are out of the overhead compartments. The attendants will unload all other luggage once we come to a stop at Ponyville station. Thank you for choosing the Equestrian Express; we hope you enjoyed your travels.”

When the announcement ended, Shining Armor rose from his seat and stretched his legs; he hadn’t moved much since the train had departed from the Crystal Empire, so his muscles had tightened up and were very sore. After pacing around the empty train car for a few minutes, he used his magic to levitate his saddlebag from the overhead compartment and strapped it around his torso. As soon as he heard the sharp sound of a whistle coming from the front of the train, Shining Armor sat back down in his seat, awaiting the moment when the train would slow to a halt.

…

The sun was bright and the air was warm as Shining Armor stepped onto the platform of Ponyville station. It wasn’t as large or as crowded as the station back home, in fact, he was one of five ponies who was getting off at this stop, but he enjoyed not being swamped by ponies bustling about from one place to another.

“Shining Armor!” called a voice from further down the platform. The unicorn prince turned to see a small purple alicorn trotting his way, her wings outstretched and glimmering in the afternoon sunlight. “It’s so good to see you again BBBFF.”

Shining Armor smiled and wrapped his forelegs around the purple pony.

“Twily,” he said, “how’ve you been sis?”

“Good; busy, but good.”

“Glad to hear you’re doing well, sis. What’s kept you so bus-”

“Prince Shining Armor,” Called a trembling voice from behind, “Is his Highness here?”

Shining Armor turned to see a slender, trembling Earth pony stallion dressed in a blue uniform and hat, standing beside two white suitcases which bore the unicorn prince’s cutie mark.

“Oh, sorry, I’ll be right back; just gotta get my luggage.” Shining Armor walked over to the luggage attendant (who bowed deeply in the presence of royalty), and levitated his bags onto a cart.

“OK Twily, I think I’m all set here,” he said as he returned with the cart to his waiting sister, “I can’t wait to see your home.”

“Alrighty then,” Twilight said with a cheery smile. “Follow me BBBFF.”

…

It wasn’t a very long walk between the train station and Golden Oaks Library, the building that Twilight Sparkle had called home for the past three years. Shining Armor enjoyed seeing all the ponies going about their business as they passed by, either on their way to or from work, or, in the case of a group of three young fillies, running around excitedly, having just been let out of school.

When the two siblings reached the library, Shining Armor unloaded the cart, levitated his bags through the door, and placed them on the floor against the wall so they were out of the way; he would take care of them later, when Twilight showed him where he would be sleeping.

“Would you like a cup of tea?” Twilight asked as she trotted into a small kitchenette located in an adjacent room, “I put on a pot before I left so it would be ready for when we got back.”

“I’d love some,” Shining Armor said as he took a seat at the room’s large central table. “The train didn’t have a dinner service, so I haven’t had anything to eat or drink since I left the Crystal Empire.”

Twilight reappeared moments later with the teapot and two teacups floating behind, enveloped in a magical aura.

“So what have you been so busy with Twily?” Shining Armor asked as his sister served the tea. “Have you been doing work for Princess Celestia?”

“Actually,” Twilight said as she poured her own tea, “I’ve just been researching the spells that were in the book she gave me; the one that had the spell that transformed me into an alicorn. Did you know that Starswirl the Bearded created over a thousand spells before he died?”

“Come on Twily, you know I was never the reader as you were.” He gave a light laugh, remembering all the times in school when he had chosen to play outside with his friends instead of reading from his unicorn history text book. “But yeah, that’s really interesting.”

“That’s not even the best part,” the purple pony continued happily, “This book contains some of the most advanced magic that he ever created, and most of it is incomplete.”

“Let me guess, you’re trying to complete them.”

“Well, yes. Actually, I’ve succeeded in finishing a few of the more simple spells. Would you like to see them?”

“Sure,”

From a very young age, Twilight had been a bit of a magical prodigy. During her first few years of attending Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, she would come home and show off the new spells that she had learned, sending paper airplanes flying through the air, or, on one occasion, lifting the coach a few inches off the floor while the whole family had been sitting on it. Shining Armor had to admit that he had been a bit jealous of his little sister’s natural talent, but even more than that, he was very proud of her.

“Let me see,” Twilight said as she levitated an old, black leather bound book over to the table and began flipping through the pages. “Ahh, how about a duplication spell.”

“Sounds good, Twily,”

“OK,” she said, focusing on her brother's teacup, “here goes nothing.”

The alicorn’s horn began to glow with a purple aura, and, with a bright flash, where there had been a single teacup in front of Shining Armor, sat two teacups, identical down to the very last detail, including the steam that rose from the piping hot tea.

“That’s amazing Twi,” Shining Armor said as he clapped his hooves together.

“Thanks. It isn’t much though; it really only works about half the time, so I haven’t dared to try it on anything larger than a book or a lamp.”

“Still, I’m amazed you’ve learned to do something like that so quickly. That’s really cool Twily.”

Twilight blushed at her brother’s praise.

“Would you like to see another one?”

“Yeah, what else have you got?”

Twilight began flipping through the pages again

“Hmmm, time spell, too complicated, invisibility spell, again, too complicated…Ah hah! What about an age spell?”

“Age spell?” said Shining Armor, feeling a bit uneasy. “What, are you gonna turn me into a colt or something?”

“More or less.”

“I don’t know Twily, age spells are supposed to be really advanced magic, and you said yourself that that last spell only worked half the time; I don’t want to you to mess up and accidentally turn me into a chair or something.”

“Oh come on, Shining Armor look who you’re talking to; when I became an alicorn, my magical abilities were greatly enhanced, so I’m quite capable at handling spells like this."

“Yeah, but-”

“Oh please big brother, it’s a really straightforward spell, so nothing should go wrong. It’ll be safe, I promise.” Twilight gave her big brother a reassuring smile.

Shining Armor still felt a bit hesitant, but, knowing how persistent Twilight could be, he finally gave into his sister’s request.

“Fine,” he sighed, “I suppose I’m in safe hooves if it’s you casting the spell.”

Twilight beamed at her brother.

“Alright, just hold still and focus on what you looked like as a colt. Now close your eyes and hold that image in your mind. Ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be I guess.”

“OK, here I go.”

Shining Armor felt his body tingle as magic coursed through it. Then, as quickly as the tingling started, it was gone. The stallion opened his eyes; everything seemed a lot…bigger. He careened his head to look over the tabletop, then he looked down at his hooves and forelegs, which no longer held any trace of their previous strength.

“Wow Twily, that’s…” He heard himself speak, but the voice wasn’t his own; it was a high-pitched, prepubescent colt’s voice. “Amazing.”

Shining Armor began running around the room, enjoying feel of his smaller body.

“You really are the greatest when it comes to magic little sis.”

“I think you mean big sis.” Twilight said with a chuckle. “Here, check yourself out.” Twilight summoned a mirror from across the room and brought it to a rest in front of her brother who stared wide-eyed at his reflection.

Shining Armor’s jaw dropped as he stared at the blue maned colt that was reflected back at him. He turned around slowly, checking out his new body from every angle. Gone were the muscles he had gained from his years of training in the royal guard, instead replaced by short, stocky legs of a growing foal. What Shining Armor found most surprising was that his flank no longer bore his shield cutie mark; he was once again a blank flank.

“This is so cool,” Shining Armor said as he beamed at his sister.

Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle; it was funny seeing her brother like this. The alicorn had been only a baby the last time Shining Armor had looked this way, so it was a bit of a novelty for her to see him running around like a little school foal. Unfortunately it couldn’t last forever.

“OK, OK,” Twilight said, trying to get her brother to calm down, “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, but I think it’s time to get you back to the way you were. Now hold still so I can change you back.”

Colt Shining Armor sat on the floor and closed his eyes ready to be turned back into a stallion. Suddenly he felt the tingling sensation course through his body as he was once again absorbed by a blinding light. However, unlike with his first transformation, this one was followed by a second, then a third, then a fourth flash of light.

“Uh-oh,” said Twilight. There was a nervous quiver in her voice. “Shining Armor, promise you won’t be mad.”

“Why would I…” he paused; he was speaking in the same foal like voice. He opened his eyes again and saw that he was still sitting on the floor with his sister towering over him. “Twi, am I still a colt?”

“Yup.”

“OK, and why am I still a colt?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” she said as she ran over to the table and began furiously scanning the book for a solution. “For some reason the reversal spell doesn’t seem to be working.”

Shining Armor felt waves of panic course through his little colt body.

“Oh no,” he said, “Twi, this isn’t good; I can’t let anyone see me like this. I’m a prince, one of the rulers of an empire. It could lead to political unrest if a member of the royal family was unable to perform his royal duties because he was suddenly turned into a foal.”

“I know, I know, just give me a second, I’m trying to think of something.”

Suddenly a light went on in Twilight’s head. “I’ve got it, why don’t I use a transfiguration spell.”

“Transfiguration!? That sounds like a bigger risk than the age spell!" Shining Armor shook his head. "Thanks Twi, but I think I’ll just wait until the affects of the spell wear off.”

“Well, yes, that would be a good idea if the spell wasn’t…permanent.”

“Permanent!? What do you mean permanent!?”

“Well…the spell is designed to last until somepony casts a reversal spell. But the reversal spell doesn’t work, so that means-”

“It means I’m stuck like this. Great! Just great; I knew this was a bad idea.” He thought for a moment. “Maybe Celestia can-”

“No!” Twilight exclaimed in a panic. “We cannot tell her; do you know what Princess Celestia will do if she finds out I botched a spell like this?”

“No.”

“Neither do I, but I know it can’t be good. Oh I bet she’ll revoke my wings or something.” Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath. “Please, Shining Armor just let me try the transfiguration spell.”

The stallion sighed.

“There’s really no other way?”

Twilight shook her head.

“None that I can think of.”

“Then I guess I don’t really have much of a choice then, do I?”

Shining Armor sat on the floor and looked up at his sister.

“Is there anything you need me to do?”

“Yes: in order for this spell to work, we both need to concentrate on the shape that you’re supposed to take. Spike’s over at Carousel Boutique helping Rarity with something, so we shouldn’t have any distractions. Are you ready?”

Shining Armor nodded gloomily.

“I guess.” He said as he closed his eyes and started concentrating on his usual full-grown body.

Twilight stepped back and took another calming breath. Then she closed her eyes and began casting the spell.

CRASH!

Twilight’s concentration was broken momentarily as she quickly looked out her window instinctively to see the cause of the noise; Scootaloo, who had been pulling her two friends in a cart attached the back of her scooter had crashed into Roseluck’s flower stall, sending bouquets flying all over the place. Twilight closed her eyes again, trying to push the image of the little fillies to the back of her mind before she continued with the spell, but it was too late; her horn began to glow, filling the room with a spectacular, blinding light. The spell had been cast.

Chapter 6: Gleaming Shield and The Crusaders Have a Sleepover

“Twi? Hey Twilight!”

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes wrenched open as the voice calling her, and the gentle shaking that accompanied it jolted her out of a deep sleep.

“NO, RAINBOW DASH, THAT’S MY MAYONNAISE,” she shouted, as the remnants of her dream were replaced by reality.

“Uh, what,” said the voice again.

Twilight rubbed the sleep from her eyes with her forehooves, and quickly located who it had been who had woken her; standing just to her right was a small, purple and green dragon.

“Oh, hi Spike,” she said with a yawn, and a bit of a sheepish laugh, “sorry, I was up late last night doing, uh, work for Princess Celestia, and I was feeling really tired, so I decided to take a… wait where have you been?” Twilight suddenly realized that it had been three days since the incident with her brother, and in all that time she had not seen scale or claw of her number one assistant.

“Over at Carousel Boutique,” Spike replied, matter-of-factly. “Remember? I told you that I was going to help Rarity with this huge dress order that she had to fill.”

“That was three days ago, Spike.”

The little dragon just shrugged his shoulders.

“What can I say, Rarity wouldn’t let me leave until the work was done. Not that I’ve minded though.”

Twilight rolled her eyes when she saw the familiar lovey-dovey look on her assistant’s face.

“Well then, Romeo, if you’re all done over there, I’d like you to reshelve these books for me.” Twilight pointed a hoof toward a small stack of books that she had either finished using, or found to be irrelevant to her research. “I’d also like you to find-”

“Sorry, Twilight, but I just stopped by to get my wagon; I need it because Rarity ran out of gems this morning, so we need to go out hunting for more.” Spike walked over to the nearby closet, and started rummaging through it, tossing different objects onto the floor behind him.

“So where’s Shining Armor,” Spike called from the closet.

“Oh, he’s, um, exploring the town.”

“On his own?”

“Uh, yeah; I told him that I would’ve loved to have gone out with him and show him around, but I’m just too busy with this assignment.”

“I guess that makes sense. Has he at least been enjoying himself?”

“I think so. He got off to a bit of a bumpy start, but things have…changed since then.”

Spike finally emerged from the closet pulling a rather large, red wagon (which was more like a small, baby dragon sized cart) behind him.

“Well, it’s good to hear he’s doing well. Tell him I’m sorry I missed…”

Spike’s voice trailed away, as his eyes were drawn to a book that had somehow landed on the floor away from the others.

“Ancient Equestrian: A Beginners Guide to the Dead Language of Our Ancestors,” he read. “What do you need this book for?”

In a fit of a panic, Twilight grabbed the book with her magic, and yanked it out of the baby dragon’s claws.

“Oh there it is,” she said with a nervous laugh, as she placed the book on the table. “I was using it to translate this stuff for Princess Luna.”

Spike gave Twilight a puzzled look.

“I thought you said you were doing work for Princess Celestia.”

“Uh…yeah, it is. It’s for the both of them; you know, I’m a new princess and all, so they need to test me to make sure I’m knowledgeable in, um, this…stuff…” The end of her sentence trailed off; she knew it wasn’t a very convincing lie.

Spike just stared up at his friend; he’d known Twilight his whole life, and he could tell when she was hiding something. The beads of sweat on her brow, and the uneasy smile were clear indications that there was something that she wasn’t telling him. He was just about to press the matter, but a voice outside caught his attention.

“Spike,” came Rarity’s melodic call, “it isn’t polite to keep a lady waiting.”

“Be right there.” Spike picked up the handle of his wagon, and started wheeling it towards the door. “Have fun with whatever it is you’re doing; I’ve got a date with Rarity.” With that, the baby dragon opened the door, and left for what was sure to be a fun, yet exhausting day.

When the door closed behind Spike, Twilight sighed, and looked down at her work. She wished she could have told Spike about everything that had been happening; the dragon may have still been young, but he was the best assistant a pony could ask for, and she couldn’t help but feel that things would be a lot easier if he had been around. Still, she was feeling really good with how well things were going; it had only been less than three days and she was already a little more than half way through the spell. The fact that the spell had been written in the three different Ancient Equestrian dialects (Pegasus, Unicorn, and Earth Pony), and that each dialect used similar sounding words, meant that she had to search through every book that she had in order to find the correct translation. What made matters worse was that some of her books were very outdated, and only translated Ancient Equestrian to Middle Equestrian. Luckily she had come prepared for this, and had several other language books at the ready, which helped her slowly make progress to modern language. Yet with all the work that she had put into her translating, there was still no way that the spell would be ready for when Cadence arrived.

Another sigh escaped Twilight as she looked up at the clock. 3:00 PM, it read. Shining Armor should be home soon, Twilight thought, as she made her way into the kitchen and started brewing another pot of coffee, I hope everything went ok today. She might not have shown it when she pushed Shining Armor out the door that morning, but Twilight had been a little confused by how well her brother had been taking things since his accidental transformation; after everything he’d been through the past couple of days (being turned into a filly, and then being forced to spend time with three of the most hyperactive fillies in Ponyville), Twilight had thought that Shining Armor would be in a much fouler mood, but by some miracle, it seemed that his adventures were actually doing a good job of distracting him from his misfortune.

When Twilight finished preparing her coffee, she placed the percolator on the stove, turned on the heat, and went back into the library, where a small, white, unicorn filly was sitting at the table.

“Hey, Twily,” Shining Armor said, as his sister made her way over and sat down next to him.

“Oh, Shining Armor. How was, uh, how was school?”

“School was…um…” Shining Armor thought for a moment. I should probably leave out what happened with Diamond Tiara, he thought, Celestia knows how she’d react to that. “School was good. They started a unit on the Crystal Empire today, so I got to show off a bit of my knowledge.”

“Just a bit, huh,” Twilight said with a light chuckle, “well I hope you weren’t too much of a show off.

“Of course I wasn’t…well Ok, I might have showed off just a little bit.”

Both siblings stared at each other, and then broke out in a fit of laughter. Neither of them knew why they were laughing; there hadn’t been anything particularly humorous about what Shining Armor had just said. Yet there they were, a young mare, and her brother, both wiping tears from their eyes as they tried to compose themselves. One thing that they both knew, though, was that it felt good to laugh together again; things had seemed to be going downhill since Shining Armor had first set hoof in Twilight’s library, and there didn’t really seem to be anything to laugh about. Yet somehow, the idea that Shining Armor had just gone to grade school seemed to make them both realize just how ridiculous the whole thing really was.

“So how are you doing, B.B.B.F.F.?” Twilight asked, as the laughter began to die down.

Shining Armor thought for a moment; while he wasn’t exactly happy with how his week had been going, he felt that if he was able to find the humor in his situation, he might just be able to make it the rest of the week.

“Better than I was,” he finally responded, “though I’m still more than ready to get my old body back; being a filly is too exhausting.”

Twilight beamed at her brother, happy to hear that despite everything that had happened, Shining Armor was in good spirits.

“Well, hopefully you won’t have to wait too much longer; I just looked over the spell before you came in, and judging by how long it took me to get to this point, I don’t think it should take me that much longer to finish it.”

“Really?” Shining Armor looked up at his sister, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

“Yup; as long as I keep up this pace, I don’t see why I shouldn’t be done with this in the next couple of days.”

“YES!” Shining Armor reared in excitement, then closed the distance between himself and his sister, and wrapped his tiny forelegs as far around her as they would reach.

Twilight continued to smile down at her brother, even though she knew that what she just said had been a lie. Not a complete lie though; it was true that if she kept at it, Twilight wouldn’t have any trouble finishing the spell in two days, the trouble was that no matter how much effort she put into her work, there was no way that she would finish before Cadence got there. Of course she couldn’t tell her brother that, since Cadence had asked Twilight to keep her arrival a secret. A voice in the back her mind kept telling her that she should say something, to just tell him that Cadence was coming, but she ignored it, figuring that if she said something now, Shining Armor would just spend the next couple of days freaking out, creating a much more stressful environment than she need to finish her work. In the end Twilight decided that for the present, the less her brother knew, the faster she’d be able to finish the spell.

Twilight snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a faint rattling sound coming from the kitchen.

“Oh, that would be my coffee,” Twilight said, as she got up, and made her way to the other room. “Would you like some, Shining Armor?”

“No thanks,” he called back, “I’m actually heading back out.”

Twilight came back into the room with a pink coffee cup suspended in her magic, and sat at the table.

“I see, headed out for another afternoon of crusading, are you,” Twilight said with a light chuckle. “What are you going to do today? Are you gonna wrestle bears, or go mountain climbing?”

Shining Armor shook his head.

“Actually, we aren’t going crusading today,” he said. “The girls were thinking of having a slumber party at the clubhouse, and I was just stopping in to tell you that that’s where I’m going to be tonight.”

As if on cue, Scootaloo burst through the door, followed closely by Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle.

“Hey, Gleaming Shield,” she said, “are you coming or what?”

Shining Armor looked from the anxiously waiting fillies, to his sister.

“It’s ok, right,” he whispered to Twilight. “I know we haven’t spent much time together since I got here, so I could stay, and we could-”

“No, it’s alright,” Twilight said with a smile, “I’ve still got a lot of work to do, so I wouldn’t be that much fun to hang out with.”

Shining Armor nodded.

“Ok,” he said, “I just figured I’d ask before heading out.” With one last smile to Twilight, Shining Armor turned and trotted started making his way to the fillies. “Alright girls, let’s get going.”

“Have fun you four,” Twilight called as the Crusaders ran outside, the door closing behind them with a slam.

Twilight giggled, as she turned away from the door, still happy to see that her brother’s mood had so greatly improved in the past three days. Right, time to get back to work, she thought, as she turned back to the table, took a long sip of her coffee, and cracked open another book, ready for the long night of translating that awaited her.

…

The Crusaders made quick work stopping off at everypony’s houses. First they went to Scootaloo’s house (a modest sized, two-story home, located in the middle of town), where they stayed just long enough for Scootaloo to dash in, tell her mother she was going to be out for the night, before rushing back out and jumping on her scooter. Then they were off again, barreling down the road towards Carousel to Boutique where Sweetie Belle was staying with her sister while their parents were away visiting their grandparents. They were just about there, when they found Rarity trotting away from her shop, followed closely by Spike, who was pulling a large wagon behind him.

“Hey, Rarity,” Sweetie Belle called as the Crusaders zoomed by, “can’t stop; sleepover at the Crusader’s clubhouse.”

“Sweetie Belle wai…” but it was too late; the scooter had turned a corner and out of site. “Just make sure you behave yourself; I don’t want to hear from Applejack that you’ve been getting into trouble.”

Rarity’s voice barely reached Sweetie Belle’s ears, as the Crusaders hurdled down the street towards the edge of town, where they turned off onto the dusty old road that led to Sweet Apple Acres.

Shining Armor looked on in awe at the seemingly endless rows of apple trees that lined the long and winding road to the large red farmhouse that the Apple family called home. It was nothing like he had imagined when he had had the honor of tasting the delectable fruit that came from this particular orchard, when Applejack (a close friend of his sister’s) had catered his and Cadence’s wedding a few years back. Up until now, he had pictured a small orchard, with enough apple trees to feed all of Ponyville, but as he looked out over the hills that rose in the distance, each one covered in trees, and every one of those trees full of the ripe, red fruit, Shining Armor realized that he had completely underestimated just how large Sweet Apple Acres was.

At long last, the Scooter came to a stop just outside of the Apple’s house.

“Alright, gals,” Apple Bloom said, as the three little ponies clambered out of the wagon, “Ah’m gonna go look for Applejack out in the orchard. Why don’t you three go inside and get the campin’ gear, and stuff for s’mores for the slumber party.”

“Ok,” Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo said in unison.

Shining Armor followed the two fillies into the house, and found himself standing inside a cozy little sitting room, furnished with nothing more than an old, red couch, a lamp, a couple of rugs, and a potted plant growing in the corner. It certainly wasn’t much, but it was comfortable enough for a family of farm ponies.

“Alright, Gleaming Shield,” Scootaloo said, as she and Sweetie Belle started making their way across the room to a set of stairs, “me and Sweetie Belle are gonna go up stairs and get our sleeping stuff. Why don’t you go get the stuff we need for s’mores?”

“Uh, sure, but I-”

“They’re in the kitchen,” Sweetie Belle said, as she followed Scootaloo upstairs. “They usually keep the marshmallows and chocolate in the bottom drawer near the fridge, and the graham crackers in the cupboard right beside it.”

Shining Armor watched the last few hairs of Sweetie Belle’s pink and mulberry tail disappear up the stairs. Well, he thought, as he looked around the room, until his eyes landed on a door that he assumed must lead to the kitchen, might as well get to it. Placing his forehooves firmly against the door, Shining Armor pushed as hard as he could, until it creaked open just enough for him to get a good look inside.

Bingo. Shining Armor passed through the door, and into an old, country style kitchen. The first things that he noticed as he made his way through the kitchen were the large, white, oven and stove, the sets of cupboards that lined the upper half of the opposite wall, each one decorated with a large, green apple, and the plain, wooden table that took up a just a small portion of the large room.

As he made his way further into the kitchen, Shining Armor looked too his right, and sure enough, there was a tall, white refrigerator next to a counter top, with a set of three drawers, and a cupboard built beside each other into the base. Ok, Shining Armor thought, as he trotted in the direction of the drawers, according to Sweetie Belle, I’ll find the s’more stuff in here. Shining Armor grabbed the handle of the bottom drawer in his teeth, and yanked it open, so he could peer inside.

It took a bit of digging, but Shining Armor emerged from the drawer moments later, a bag of marshmallows, and a bag of chocolate bars clutched in his teeth. When he was completely out, he set his loot on the floor, and closed the drawer, before moving onto the cupboard.

While he was looking over the contents of the cupboard, Shining Armor heard the door to the kitchen open, as two ponies entered the room.

“I tell, yah, Big Mac,” came a heavily accented, elderly sounding voice, “Ah’ve got a good feelin’ ‘bout this year’s apple crop.”

“Eeyup,” said a second, deep, masculine voice.

Shining Armor’s heart began pounding rapidly when he heard the two ponies stop. Slowly, he raised his head out of the cupboard, and turned around to see a small, old, green colored mare, and a large, deep red stallion standing in the doorway, their eyes fixed on him.

“Ehh, Sweetie Belle?” Asked the older of the two, squinting her eyes to get a better look, “is tha’ you young’un?”

Shining Armor swallowed the nervous lump in his throat and shook his head.

“No, ma’am,” he said as politely as he could. “My name is Gleaming Shield, and I’m-”

“Yer a little thief is what ya is.” The old mare pointed a hoof at the small pile of food that Shining Armor had retrieved from the drawer.

“Wha… Oh no, ma’am, I wasn’t stealing-”

“Big Mac, catch that little’un.”

“Eeyup.” The large stallion trotted over to Shining Armor, who tried to dodge him, but failed, and he flailed his legs frantically as he felt himself being lifted off the ground by his tail. The old mare walked over to where Shining Armor was hanging upside down, and started examining him, her eyes just inches away from his face.

“Hmmm, Ah don’ recognize this’un, Big Mac. Do you?”

“Mopef,” Big Mac said, his mouth full of tail.

“Y'all new around here?” She asked, turning her attention back to Shining Armor.

“Yes ma’am,” he said. “Like I said, my name is Gleaming Shield, and I’m visiting my cousin who lives in Ponyville. I’m-

“Ah thought ya must be new t’ town.” The old mare gave him a sharp poke in the belly with a hoof. “Ya see, ponies ‘round these parts don’ go breakin’ into other ponies’ houses. We don’ take too kindly to that sort of behavior.”

”But Apple Bloom asked me too.”

The old mare paused for a moment.

“Asked ya to?”

“Yeah, she did. I’m a friend of her’s; we’ve been hanging out for the past three days.”

“A friend o’ Apple Blooms, huh? Well we’ll just see about that.” She turned her attention back to the stallion. “Big Mac, go an’ fetch yer little sister; she must be around here somewhere.”

Before Big Macintosh could move, a door Shining Armor hadn’t noticed before opened, and in walked a familiar blonde mare, followed closely by her little sister.

“What in tarnation is goin’ on in here, Granny Smith?” Applejack asked as she made her way over to her brother and Granny Smith.

“Oh, Applejack, Apple Bloom, there ya are.” Granny Smith said with a smile. “Yer brother an’ I just caught this little filly raidin’ our cupboards.”

Apple Bloom stifled a giggle, as she looked up at her friend, dangling upside down, giving her a look that said, “this isn’t funny.”

“Gleamin’ Shield wasn’t tryin’ to steal anythin’, Granny; she was just getting’ the stuff we need to make s’mores.”

Granny Smith squinted again as she looked from her granddaughter, to the pile of sweets on the floor, and chuckled when she realized that Apple Bloom was right.

“Well Ah’ll be,” she said with another chuckle, “Ah suppose we mighta jumped to conclusions about this little filly here. But ya can’t be too careful, ‘specially when there’s an unknown pony rumagin’ ‘round the pantry.”

“So do you think I could be put back on the ground now?” Asked Shining Armor, who had been dangling upside down a bit longer than he would have liked, and was now beginning to feel a bit sick as the blood rushed to his head.

“Sure thing, lil’ darlin’.” Granny Smith nodded her head to Big Macintosh, who in turn lowered Shining Armor back onto the hardwood floor.

Shining Armor held a hoof to his pounding head, as he looked up at the stallion who towered over him.

“Thank you, er, Big Mac was it?”

“Eeyup,” he said, with a bit of an embarrassed, apologetic smile. Big Macintosh opened his mouth to say more, but a pair of high-pitched screams, followed by a soft thud came from the other room, cutting him off.

“Now what’s goin’ on,” Applejack said, as she dashed into the sitting room, followed closely by Big Mac, Apple Bloom, Shining Armor, and Granny Smith bringing up the rear.

Right at the base of the stairs was a soft pile of various camping necessities, such as sleeping bags, pillows, and saddlebags, and lying on top of the pile were a very disoriented Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

“Oh for the love of… Are y'all alright?” Applejack asked, shaking her head in disdain.

Scootaloo shook her head, trying to regain her bearings.

“Yeah, we’re…Oooof.” Scootaloo tried to get up, but one of her hind legs caught on the strap of Sweetie Belle’s saddlebag, and she toppled down the pile, landing on her belly on the floor. “We’re good.”

Apple Bloom and Shining Armor rushed over to help the other two Crusaders back to their hooves.

“Did y'all get everythin’ we need?” Apple Bloom asked, checking over the mess her friends made.

“Most of it,” Sweetie Belle answered. “We couldn’t find the lanterns, but I think we left those in the clubhouse after our last sleepover.”

Applejack looked over the pile of camping gear.

“Huh, is that it?” She asked, a hint of shock mixed with humor in her voice. “Y'all sure packed a lot less than you usually do for your sleepovers. Not plannin’ on doin’ any crusadin’ t’night?”

“Naw,” Apple Bloom said, shaking her head. “Well we might try a few things, but,” she leaned in close and whispered so only her sister could here, “this is more for helpin’ Gleamin’ Shield relax; she had a bit of a rough day at school today.”

“Ah hear ya, sugarcube; it’s good of y'all to help your new friend adjust to life in Ponyville, even if she’s just stayin’ here for a short while.” Applejack pulled her sister in close and ruffled her mane affectionately.

“Alright, y'all,” Applejack said, as she let go of her little sister, “Ah’ve got an empty cart right out back that you can use tonight to carry your sleepin’ stuff to the clubhouse, so why don’t y'all go pack it up with your sleepin’ stuff, and then you can come inside and help me and Granny Smith make supper; Ah’m sure y'all will wanna grab a bite to eat before ya head out.”

“Ok Applejack,” Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo said in unison, before jumping into the pile and digging out their sleeping gear.

“Here Gleaming Shield,” Sweetie Belle said, rolling a rolled up sleeping bag towards the Shining Armor, “this one’s yours.”

“Tho's thith,” Scootaloo said, the corner of a blue, floral patterned pillow in her teeth. She gave the pillow a gentle toss, sending it flying towards Shining Armor, hitting him in the forehead. “Oops, sorry,” she said with a laugh.

Shining Armor just chuckled as he lifted the pillow, moving it up, over his horn, so it was balanced perfectly on his head.

“It’s alright,” he said, “I’ll just have to get you back later.”

“Is that a challenge?” Scootaloo smiled wryly, as she grabbed another pillow, and crouched down, looking like she was about to pounce.

“You bet it is.”

There was a sudden flash of orange and gold as Applejack jumped in between the two little ponies.

“That’s enough you two,” she said, giving them an understanding smile. “I know y'all are excited, but save the pillow fightin’ for when you’re at the clubhouse; Ah don’t want ya breakin’ anythin’ inside the house. Ya hear me?”

“Yes, Applejack,” Shining Armor and Scootaloo said together.

The two ponies giggled, as they joined Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom, who were already headed for the back door in the kitchen, wheeling their rolled up sleeping bags in front of them, and balancing their pillows on their backs. On their way out, the Crusaders stopped in the kitchen to pick up the dropped s’more ingredients, and then outside to deposit their items into the empty cart that Applejack said they could use. Once everything was stashed away in the cart, it was back inside to help with dinner.

…

Shining Armor had never really cooked anything before; there had always been somepony while he was living at home, or at the academy, or in the crystal castle, who had done the cooking for him. So when Applejack had told the Crusaders that they would be helping make dinner for everypony, he had felt a twinge of nervousness. Nevertheless, he was more than willing to try, and quickly picked up his knife to start slicing up the large, peeled potatoes that were lying beside the cutting board in front of him. Applejack had to stop by once or twice and make a few minor adjustments to Shining Armor’s technique, but other than that he felt that he had done quite well.

When Shining Armor had finished slicing his potatoes, Applejack made her way back to him and flashed him an approving smile, and complimented him on his fine work. Then she picked up his cutting board, full of potato slices, and carried it over to a large pot on the stove where she dumped them into an already simmering broth, joining the carrots, celery, and peas that the other Crusaders had contributed to the stew.

“Alright, y'all,” Applejack said, after placing the lid over the pot, leaving it a bit lopsided to let the steam out, “we gotta wait a bit for this stew to finish, so why don’t I hitch up your wagon and we can take your things to the clubhouse?”

“Ok, Applejack,” the Crusaders said, before jumping from their little stools, and dashing back out the door, Applejack following closely behind.

…

Instead of taking Scootaloo’s scooter to the clubhouse, the Crusaders decided to ride in the cart with their camping gear, all except for Shining Armor, who, after pointing out that there wouldn’t be enough room for all four of them and the gear, had opted to walk along with Applejack. Shining Armor didn’t mind the walk though; a wagon on the back of a scooter hadn’t been his first choice of transportation, and after three days his legs were in need of a bit of exercise, so a nice trot across the Apple’s property was most welcome. As they walked along, Shining Armor could sense a set of eyes staring down at him. Shining Armor looked up and saw Applejack looking down at him with the same look of curiosity that Pinkie Pie had given him his first day in Ponyville.

“Is something wrong, Applejack?” Shining Armor asked, giving the mare an innocent smile.

“Oh, uh, sorry sugarcube,” Applejack said, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink, “Ah just still can’t get it outta my head how much you look like your cousin, Shinin’ Armor; almost like you were him if he were a little filly.”

Shining Armor swallowed the lump that had begun to grow in his throat. He tried to think up a quick answer, but Apple Bloom, who had been listening the entire time, beat him too it as she leaned over the front side of the cart to join in the conversation.

“That’s ridiculous, sis,” she said, laughing at Applejack. “There’s no way Gleamin’ Shield could be Twilight’s big brother; she’s just a little filly like us. I mean…”

- Five minutes later -

“…and that’s why they can’t be the same pony.”

Applejack sighed, and rolled her eyes, as she unhitched the cart, and helped the little fillies out.

“For the last time, Apple Bloom, all Ah meant was that she only looks like what Ah think Shining Armor would look like as a filly.”

The rest of the trip had been quite uncomfortable for Shining Armor; while the distance to the clubhouse was only a five-minute walk from the farmhouse, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had somehow managed to spend the entire trip arguing the fact (much to Shining Armor’s discomfort, and Applejack’s annoyance) that their friend, Gleaming Shield, wasn’t, nor had she ever been, Shining Armor. With every mention of his name, Shining Armor felt a tightening in his stomach that made him want to just run back to Twilight’s library and hide under her bed until she was finished with her spell. Still, as awkward as the conversation made Shining Armor feel, there was one thing that seemed to put his mind at ease; after spending three days with these three, they still believed that he was, without a doubt, just a little filly. And if I don’t do anything stupid to mess this up, they’ll continue thinking that, he thought, as Applejack leaned into the cart and passed him his sleeping bag and pillow, which he rolled up the ramp, and into the Crusaders’ clubhouse, where the other three had brought theirs, and left them in a pile in the middle of the floor, along with their saddlebags.

When everything was put away, the four little ponies clambered back down the ramp, climbed into the cart, and it was back to the farmhouse they went.

…

“Ahhh, I’m stuffed,” Shining Armor said, as he reclined on his back in the grass under the clubhouse, and rubbed his stomach happily. He looked over at the other two little fillies, who were all in a similar state of contentment from the food they had just consumed.

…

Dinner had been fantastic; along with the savory vegetable stew that they had helped to make, Big Macintosh had baked some corn bread, and for desert, the most delicious apple crisp Shining Armor had ever tasted. If he had been in his real body, Shining Armor would have gladly helped himself to second, and third helpings of everything; unfortunately, his little filly stomach barely had enough room to accommodate the entire course.

When they had finished dinner, Shining Armor, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle slumped back in their seats, too full to move. They would have been more than happy to remain where they were, but the golden light of the setting sun, told them that they best be on their way back to the clubhouse, if they had wanted to have fun before they went to sleep.

The little ponies climbed off of their seats, and made their way back through the house to the front door. Before they left, to the dismay of Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, Shining Armor had volunteered their services to help clean the dishes as a way of thanking the Apple family for the meal, but Applejack just laughed and said it would be alright, and that they were more than happy to feed them for the evening.

“Oh, sis,” Apple Bloom said, just as the Crusaders were headed out the door, “would it be alright if Ah borrowed your fire startin’ kit?”

Applejack had to think on this for a moment.

“If Ah say yes, do y'all promise to be careful?”

“We promise,” said all four little ponies.

Applejack walked back inside for a few moments, and then reemerged with a simple fire kit, clutched in her teeth. Unlike the flint and steel that he had used on occasion when he was still a guard, this kit was made up of two sticks, one of which had a piece of twine tied to it, reaching from one end to the other.

“Alright, here ya are,” she said, as she passed the kit to her sister. “Ah’ll be down later tonight to put it out, and to make sure y'all go to sleep.”

“Thankths Apple-ack,” she had said, still holding onto the kit in her mouth.

When they were back outside, the little ponies had made their way to the scooter, and Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Shining Armor collapsed in a pile in the little red wagon, too full to move. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, was a ball of energy, propelling the little fillies down the hills towards the clubhouse as fast her little wings would take them. Shining Armor wasn’t surprised that she wasn’t clutching her tummy like the others were; pegasi burned through energy faster than most other ponies, so, naturally, they would need to eat more. While dinner might have been a little too much for the others, it must have been just enough to give Scootaloo that extra boost she needed to get through the rest of the day.

…

“HEY GLEAMING SHIELD!”

Shining Armor’s eyes wrenched open, and he nearly yelled, as he was so rudely woken from his post dinner slumber; a slumber that he hadn’t realized he had been in. As his surroundings slowly came back into focus, Shining Armor’s eyes landed on the blurry outline of a little pony sitting next to him.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” Sweetie Belle said, as she smiled innocently down at her friend, who had begun to slowly rise to his hooves.

Shining Armor shielded his eyes with a hoof, as he looked over the horizon at the quickly setting summer sun in the beautiful golden sky over yonder.

“How long have I been asleep?” He asked, as he stretched his tired body, and happily found that the pressure of his dinner had subsided.

“Just a few minutes; I was just coming to wake you-”

“Hey, are you two comin’ or what?”

Shining Armor turned around and saw Apple Bloom sitting on the ground next to the wagon, with Scootaloo, poised ready on her scooter.

“Yeah, come on, we’re burning daylight,” Scootaloo said, her wings buzzing anxiously.

“What’s going on?” Shining Armor asked with a puzzled look.

“Well,” Sweetie Belle said, “it’s getting late, and we were thinking about going to get wood so we could start our campfire soon. I was just coming over to wake you up to see if you wanted to come help us.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” he said, smiling at the three little ponies, as they began making their way through the woods, “who knows, maybe we’ll get our cutie marks in wood gathering, or fire building.”

…

After twenty minutes of collecting firewood, starting the fire, and groaning at the fact that they hadn’t earned a cutie mark in either task, the Crusaders sat around the fire (which they made in a fire pit that Applejack had made for them next to the little pond by their clubhouse), roasting marshmallows. Shining Armor, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle chose the slow method, holding their marshmallows just over the flames, letting the heat turn the gooey treats a light shade of brown. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, stuck her stick right in the center of the fire, and only removed it when the marshmallow on the end had caught fire, turning the outside a crispy, black color.

“Whoa, easy there, Scootaloo,” Shining Armor shouted, as Scootaloo tried to blow out her marshmallow.

“Relax, Gleaming Shield,” she said, giving her friend a comforting pat on the back, “I do this all the ti…whoaaaa, watch out!” The stick slipped from Scootaloo’s grasp, and just barely missed Shining Armor’s tail, as it fell to the ground. Shining Armor quickly jumped into action; he passed his stick to Scootaloo, and kicked dirt on the marshmallow, before the small flame could spread to the grass around the campfire.

“Thanks,” Scootaloo said, laughing sheepishly, “I guess I’ll cook it a little lighter next time.”

“Please do,” Shining Armor said, helping Scootaloo clean off her stick, and fitting it with a new marshmallow. “I don’t want you to accidentally burn yourself, or set fire to something.”

Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom giggled as Scootaloo passed Shining Armor back his own marshmallow, and joined them by the fire. Shining Armor couldn’t help but join their laughter; despite the bullying, and the detention on top of everything else that had happened since he first set hoof in Ponyville, Shining Armor felt very much at ease. Maybe it was because he was finally able to see the humor in his situation, or because he knew that he wouldn’t have to be trapped in this body for much longer, or maybe it was just because the warmth of the campfire was having a soothing affect on him; whatever it was, Shining Armor was genuinely beginning to enjoy his time with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They were a wild bunch of fillies (there was no doubt about that), but they were also kind, well meaning, and always willing to help a friend in need; all traits that Shining Armor had always hoped he would be able to teach his own foals when the time came.

As the night wore on, the Crusaders continued to make, and eat s’more, after s’more, after s’more, until they were all out of marshmallows. A cool wind blew through the trees around them, sending chills through the little ponies’ who were now sitting, quietly by the fire.

“So what do y'all wanna do now?” Apple Bloom asked, as she got up to throw more wood on the fire.
The four little ponies thought for a moment.

“We could always play a board game,” Scootaloo suggested. “I think I left Cloud Busters in the clubhouse.”

“We’re not playin’ Cloud Busters again,” Apple Bloom said.

“What’s Cloud Busters?” Shining Armor asked. “I’ve never played that game before.”

“Trust me, you don’t want to,” Sweetie Belle whispered, “at least not with Scootaloo; she always wins.”
Scootaloo crossed her forelegs and pouted

“Well if you’ve got a better idea I’d love to hear it.”

Sweetie didn’t need to think about what she wanted to do.

“We should sing campfire songs.” Sweetie Belle sat up, and cleared her throat, but just before she could belt her first note, Apple Bloom covered her mouth with a hoof.

“Maybe we should do somethin’ a little quieter,” Apple Blooom said, “No offense, Sweetie Belle, but last time you sang around the campfire, Big Mac had to come down from the house to ask you to keep it down.”

Sweetie Belle’s ears drooped, as she looked down at the ground, and poked at the dirt with a hoof.

“Yeah, I know,” she sighed, “but it’s just so much fun to sing really loud.”

“What about you, Gleamin’ Shield,” Apple Bloom said, “what would you like to do?”

Shining Armor didn’t need to be asked twice; when he and his friends used to get together for sleepovers, there was always one thing that they enjoyed doing more than anything else:

“We should tell scary stories,” he said, an enthusiastic smile spreading across his face.

“That’s a great idea,” Apple Bloom said.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Sweetie Belle agreed.

“Uh, yeah,” Scootaloo said, with noticeably less enthusiasm, “a-awesome idea.”

“Alrighty then,” Shining Armor said, “who wants to start?”

The other three little ponies looked at each other.

“Why don’t you go first, Gleamin’ Shield,” Apple Bloom said, “it was your idea after all.”

Shining Armor thought for a moment.

“Alright, I guess I can go first.” Shining Armor got up from his seat and walked around the fire so that he was looking at the Crusaders through the dancing flames. “But I have to warn you three, this story is really scary.”

The three little ponies just sat, huddled together, silently waiting for Shining Armor to begin.

“This is the story of The Faceless Mare.”

…

On a night, just like this one, two unicorn siblings, a filly, and a colt were on a camping trip with their parents, just on the edge of the Everfree Forest. Now these ponies were from a distant town, and had never heard of the forest, nor did they have any idea what dangers lurked there in the darkness, so when they reached the border of the trees and found a beautiful crystal clear lake not far from the edge of the forest, they had decided to make camp.

The family had spent the whole day setting up their campsite, and swimming in the lake, laughing, and enjoying themselves until the sun began to set. While the parents worked on preparing dinner, the two foals began to grow restless; these two little ponies had been curious about the forest that they had been camping near, and they had wanted to explore it ever since they got there. Seeing as their parents were preoccupied with dinner, they decided to satisfy their curiosity and go on a little adventure into the woods.

Everything seemed fine. At first.

The two foals laughed, and played tag, chasing each other deeper, and deeper into the woods, until they could no longer see the way back. Darkness began to set, and a mysterious fog began to rise from the forest floor. Unfortunately the ponies were too busy playing, that neither of them noticed the change in their surroundings. It wasn’t until they heard the blood-curdling howl of a timberwolf in the distance that they realized that they had gone too far from the campsite. Out of instinct, they both lit up their horns, but the little lights did nothing against the thick wall of fog closing in around them. With nowhere to go, the foals sat down, and huddled close for comfort, and warmth against the cool, dank forest.

That’s when they saw it.

Not far off, there was a break in the canopy above them, where bright, silvery moonlight pierced through the dark fog, illuminating what looked to the foals to be a giant mountain rising out of the middle of the forest. Deciding it would be better to take shelter somewhere near the foot of the mountain (instead of staying out in the open where any sort of creature could find them), the foals quickly got up off the ground and started trotting towards it. It wasn’t until they reached the large, stone structure that they realized that it wasn’t a mountain, but the ruins of a giant castle.

The foals became less sure about wanting to take refuge in such a spooky place, but a second, much closer howl, followed by the distinct sounds of some creature stomping around somewhere in the fog made them jump, and dash into the decrepit castle.

As soon as they passed through the entrance of the castle, the foals quickly wished they were back at the campsite, sitting by a warm fire with their parents; other than the moonlight coming in through the high windows, and the lights from the foals’ horns, the entrance hall was completely dark, and it stunk of mold, and musty air from long ago. Still, they felt like they were much safer in the castle instead of outside, so they decided to pass the time by exploring. They walked through the entrance hall, up a set of stairs to the left, and up a hallway, occasionally checking the open doors, but only finding the other rooms as empty as the rest of the castle that they had seen so far.

At the end of the hall, they found a spiral staircase that led up to one of the castle’s tall towers. They were just about to turn back, when they heard what sounded like a the mournful cry of a mare, echoing down from the tower. It would have been enough to send the two foals running out of the castle, and into the darkness of the forest, but something drew them to the sound. Slowly, they climbed the tower, the sounds of their hearts pounding in their chests, barely masking the cries from above.

It wasn’t long before the two ponies were standing on the landing at the top of the tower, the cries coming, louder than ever, from the other side of the closed, wooden door.

“I’m sorry,” said an eerie voice from inside the room. “I’m so sorry.”

The two ponies felt their hearts stop when they heard the voice. They wanted to turn and run, but some unnatural force was pulling them closer to the source of the crying. Without realizing it, the colt found that his hoof was slowly rising, until it was firmly on the door, the ancient wood bending, and creaking under his weight. Then he pushed, and the door opened with a loud “Creeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaak,” and the hall was filled with a blinding, white light.

“I’m sorry,” the voice said again. “I’m so sorry.”

In the middle of the room, the colt and filly could just make out the shape of a large pony hunched over, with it’s back towards the door.

“Um, excuse me?” the colt asked. “Could you help us?”

Again the pony said “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Please,” said the filly, “We got lost in the forest, and we really need to get back to our mommy and daddy.”

The figure suddenly stopped crying, got up, and slowly turned to face the little ponies. As it did, the light began to fade away, back into its body, reveling a terrifying sight: the pony was completely white, and very thin, almost as if it was just a skeleton with skin stretched tightly over the bones. It had a deep black mane, that grew in a tangled mess from its head to the floor, where it mixed with its tail in a pool of black hair. What frightened the ponies even more was that the thing didn’t have a face, just empty sockets where the eyes should have been, and blood streaming from them like tears.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

The foals tried to scream, but they couldn’t; it was as if something had stolen their voices.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

The thing started to move towards them. They tried to run, but their trembling legs refused to move.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

The voice grew louder, and sadder as the faceless mare got closer and closer. Finally, the colt found the courage to move again, and he grabbed hold of his sister and started down the stairs. He looked back, and breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed that the thing wasn’t following them.

When the foals reached the bottom of the stairs, the colt let go of his sister so they could both run down the hall more easily. Both ponies were tired from running from the specter, and they wanted nothing more than to rest, but they knew they couldn’t stop until they had safely left the castle far behind them. As they ran, the filly could have sworn that she saw the faceless mare standing in one of the empty rooms, but she didn’t stop to check, she just kept running behind her brother.

They were almost near the exit; a few more steps and they would be safely outside. Unfortunately they never made it out; just as they reached the front door, it slammed shut, trapping them inside. In a fit of frantic desperation, they pounded on the door, trying to get out, but it held firmly in place.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

The foals nearly jumped out of their skins when they heard the voice, just inches away from their ears. They didn’t need to turn around to know that the thing was looming over them.

“Please don’t leave,” the faceless mare whispered, “I’ll be so lonely without you.” The foals suddenly stopped struggling to get out; the thing had them in it’s power. They slowly turned around and looked the thing in it’s soulless face, and they saw what looked like a smile form under the skin on its mouth. “Please stay and play with me.”

The foals felt a pressure surrounding them, crushing them. It was unbearable; they just wanted to scream, but the thing wouldn’t let them.

“Please let us go,” was all the filly was able to get out, before the thing lifted the foals up with some sort of ghostly magic, and started floating them back the way they had run.

“I can’t,” she said, “I don’t want to be alone anymore.”

There was a blinding flash, and they were back in the tower again. Everything was turning white, as if all the color was being sucked out of the room. With all the strength he could muster, the colt looked over to his sister, and saw the look of horror in her eyes, tears running down her cheeks. Suddenly her body started to writhe, and a white light started to emanate from her body…

…

“…and in a flash, floating beside him was a small, white, eyeless, faceless, figure, just like the one standing before them.” Shining Armor started stalking around the fire until he was right behind the Crusaders, who were by now huddled together, trembling with fright. “The thing that had once been his sister turned to look at him, blood red tears streaming down her face, and she whispered the last thing the colt ever heard.” Shining Armor leaned in close, so his mouth was right next to the Crusaders’ ears, and whispered, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!” All three Crusaders screamed together.

“And they were never heard from again.”

“Never?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Never.” Shining Armor walked back around so he was in his original spot beside Scootaloo. “Some ponies say that the foals are still in there with the faceless mare, making sure that she is no longer lonely.”

An eerie silence fell over the campsite as the Crusaders let the effects of the story fade away.

“Whoa, that story was spooooooooooookyyyyyyyyyy.”

All four ponies jumped at the voice that clearly didn’t come from any one of them. They looked to their left, and saw a familiar pink pony sitting beside the fire, her face currently buried in a bucket of popcorn.

“Pinkie Pie,” Apple Bloom said, with a sigh of relief.

“What are you doing here, Pinkie?” Sweetie Belle asked, clutching her chest, trying to keep her heart from leaping out.

“Well,” Pinkie said, when she finally emerged from her popcorn, “as you were buzzing through town earlier, I heard you say something about a slumber party. You know I can’t not go to a party, so I decided I should stop by and hang out with you fillies, make sure you do things right. By the way, did you make s’mores. Oooh, oooh, do you have any marshmallows left so I can make some?”

Apple Bloom shook her head.

“Sorry, Pinkie Pie,” she said, “we already ate them all.”

“Awww, that’s alright.” Pinkie Pie stuck a hoof in her mane, and started fishing around her thick, curly pink locks. Then, to Shining Armor’s (but nopony else’s) surprise, she removed a large white marshmallow. “I never go to a slumber party without one.” She stuck it on the end of one of the discarded sticks and placed it over the fire.

“Wow, Gleaming Shield, you’re an awesome storyteller,” Pinkie said, when she had finished making, and eating her s’more. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a pony could tell a scary story like that. I mean just look at my hair, it’s standing on end. Well, it isn’t anymore; that ooey gooey s’more really calmed me right down. But woooowweeeeeee, that was an awesome, spooky story. I gotta remember that one for the next time I have a slumber party.” When Pinkie finished speaking, she to a few long, deep breaths, then stuck her hoof in her mane again, and withdrew another marshmallow.

“Yeah, Gleamin’ Shield,” Apple Bloom said, “Ah don’t think Ah’ve ever heard a story like that one.”

Scootaloo just laughed.

“C-come on, Apple Bloom,” she said, a hint of a tremble in her voice, “That w-wasn’t a very s-scary story.”

“Yeah, yeah we get it,” Sweetie Belle said, “nothing scares you, Scootaloo.” She gave her friend a playful bump with her hoof. “But I’ve got to agree with Apple Bloom; that was a really scary story.”

Shining Armor smiled, pleased that he had succeeded in scaring the fillies with his story. It had been a while since he had worry about storytelling, but after nights of reading to Twilight, and then making up stories to tell her, when they ran out of books to read, the act of coming up with intricate tales, and telling them had become second nature to him.

“Hey, maybe an awesome story like that earned you your cutie mark,” Apple Bloom suggested. “Quick, check your flank.”

Shining Armor quickly looked at his flank, and still found it blank. He couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief; he wouldn’t have been very happy if something other than his shield appeared on his behind.

“Alright then,” he said, when the ponies settled back in for another story, “who’s next?”

…

“…and they were never heard from again.”

When she finished, Sweetie Belle sat back down, and smiled, proud of the story that she had just told.

“What kind of story was that?” Apple Bloom asked.

“A scary one,” Sweetie Belle said. “Didn’t you listen to it?”

“Yeah, Ah was listenin’, but that story wasn’t scary. Ah mean, what’s so terrifyin’ about Gingerbread ponies chasin’ a family outta their house? If it were me, Ah woulda just ate ‘em.”

“Well you’re story wasn’t any better.”

“Hey, the Headless Horse is a classic, scary story.”

“Yeah it is, but you didn’t tell it right.”

“Ok, girls, that’s enough,” Pinkie Pie said, “Sweetie Belle, I give you four hooves up for originality, and for making me go ‘WHOOOOAAA.’ And Apple Bloom, I also give you four hooves up because you made me laugh with that little dance you did.”

“Ah wasn’t dancin’,” Apple Bloom said, a hint of a blush on her cheeks, “Ah was tryin’ to make my story more lively by actin’ it out a little bit.”

“Well, whatever it was, it was really silly, and awesome.”

Shining Armor had to agree with Pinkie Pie on that one; Apple Bloom’s interpretation of the Headless Horse story had been one of the silliest he had ever seen, or heard. Still, he knew she was trying her hardest to tell a scary story, so he kept himself from laughing, and tried his best to sound startled at the scary parts. It’s important to be polite, he had reminded himself, she’s just a little filly after all.

“Ok, Scootaloo,” he said, once he was sure Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom weren’t going to start up again, “it looks like you’re up.”

“Uh, sure thing,” she said, “let me, uh, let me just think of one first.”

But Scootaloo didn’t get a chance to start; just as everypony was getting ready to listen to her tale, a rustling in the bushes caused them all to jump.

“Howdy y'all,” Applejack said, as she moved closer to the fire, “have you fillies been havin’ a good time?”

“You bet, Applejack,” Apple Bloom said, “we’ve been makin’ s’mores, and tellin’ ghost stories, and havin’ all sorts of fun.”

“Well Ah’m glad y'all have been enjoyin’ your selves, but it’s time for you four to go to sleep.”

“Awwwwwww,” said the little fillies, and Pinkie Pie together.

“But we’re not tired yet,” Scootaloo protested.

“Ah’m sorry, Scootaloo, but you four have school tomorrow, and Ah don’t want you complainin’ ‘bout bein’ tired.” She turned, and started back towards the treehouse. “Oh, Pinkie Pie, since you’re here, would you mind puttin’ out the campfire for me before ya head back to Sugarcube Corner?”

“You got it, Applejack,” Pinkie said, with a quick salute to the farm pony.

“Thanks, Pinkie. Now come on y'all,” Applejack said, turning her attention back to the Crusaders, “it’s time for bed.”

The four little ponies got up from their spots next to the fire with a sigh, and followed Applejack back to the clubhouse.

In the grass, just under the large tree, four little sleeping bags, and pillows had been set up for them, with a couple of lanterns, already glowing with the light of fireflies. The little fillies turned when they heard a loud hissing sound, and saw that the light from their fire had been extinguished.

“Alright, time to hunker down into your sleepin’ bags now.”

Apple Bloom yawned as she climbed into her sleeping bag, starting a chain reaction of yawning little ponies.

“G’night y'all,” Applejack said, smiling at the sleepy Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“G’night, sis,”

“Good night Applejack,” Shining Armor, and Scootaloo said together.

There was a bit of a silence while they waited for Sweetie Belle, but the only sound that came from her sleeping bag was a cute little snore.

Poor thing, Shining Armor thought, as he turned over in his sleeping bag, must have been a lot more tired than she was letting on. Of course Shining Armor wasn’t in any better shape; ever since his transformation, he found himself to be getting tired sooner in the day than he would if he were still a stallion. Tonight was no different; as soon as Shining Armor closed his eyes, he felt himself fall into a deep sleep.

…

It was still dark out when Shining Armor was roused from his slumber. He wasn’t sure what it was that had woken him, but he could sense that there was something wrong when he sat up and noticed something missing. Two things, in fact. First he noticed that one of the two lanterns was gone, and second, after looking over the sleeping crusaders, he found that one of the sleeping bags was empty. Shining Armor looked around the immediate area, but could find neither tail, nor feather of Scootaloo.

Where’s that little filly gotten to, he thought, as he climbed out of his sleeping bag and started scanning the near by trees for the Scootaloo. It only took him a few moments to spot the dim glow of the lantern bobbing up and down in the direction of the pond. Shining Armor grabbed the other lantern, and slowly made his way down from the campsite, towards the pond to see what was important enough for Scootaloo to sneak out of bed for.

Shining Armor found her sitting on the edge of the pond, trading glances between the water and the moon. What is she doing? Shining Armor asked himself as he drew closer to Scootaloo. He was just about to call out to her, but he held his tongue, and froze in place, when he heard Scootaloo start to speak.

“Hello, Princess Luna, are you there?” she asked the moon. “It’s me, Scootaloo. Listen, I know you’re busy and all, making sure all of the ponies in Equestria are sleeping soundly, but I, uh, I kinda had another nightmare, and I was wondering if you could help me.” She paused for a bit, as if she were waiting for the princess of the night to suddenly appear before her. “I know it’s dumb, and that I shouldn’t be afraid of those types of things; you helped me learn that last year. But...I don’t know, I thought I had gotten over my fear of scary stories when I-”

Snap

Scootaloo’s head whipped around when she heard Shining Armor, who had accidentally stepped on a twig when he tried to readjust himself.

“Oh, uh, hey Gleaming Shield,” Scootaloo said with a nervous laugh, “what are you doing up so late?”

Shining Armor closed the distance between him and Scootaloo, and set down his lantern so they could talk.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he said. “Were you just talking to Princess Luna?”

Scootaloo hung her head and sighed.

“You heard that, huh?”

“Just a little.” Shining Armor placed a hoof on the filly’s back. “Scootaloo, I’m sorry, I didn’t know that scary stories gave you nightmares. Why didn’t you tell me when I suggested it?”

Scootaloo just stared at the pond, and started to trace her hoof across its surface.

“Come on Scootaloo, I know we just met, but you can tell me anything.”

The little pegasus looked up at her friend and gave him a weak smile.

“We were on a camping trip last summer with Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash, and every night, Rainbow Dash would tell us these scary stories before we went to bed. I didn’t think I would mind that much, but that was before I realized just how terrifying they were. Of course I couldn’t tell Rainbow Dash any of that; she thought I was tough, and cool just like her, and I liked that, so I hid the truth from her.” At this, Scootaloo turned her attention back to the pond. “I let my fear get the better of me. But it wasn’t fear of the monster’s she told stories about – well, ok it was partly about the stories, but mostly it was because I was afraid that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t think I was cool any more if she found out that I was a scaredy pony.

The longer I put off telling Rainbow Dash, the worse the nightmares got. That is, until one night, Princess Luna came to me in my dreams and helped me to realize that my fears would only get worse unless I stood up and faced them. After that, I came clean to Rainbow Dash, and everything turned out fine. But I guess I’m still not as brave as I thought I was because the story you told tonight gave me another nightmare.”

Shining Armor gave her a sympathetic look.

“I’m sorry, Scootaloo, I really am. If I had had known, I would have never suggested it. But again, I have to ask, why didn’t you stop me before I started?”

“Because…Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle don’t know about any of this. Actually, Princess Luna, Rainbow Dash, and now you are the only ones that I’ve told. I mean, we never tell scary stories, so I never thought I’d have to worry about telling them.”

“So that’s why you were out here tonight; you were trying to talk to Princess Luna.”

Scootaloo nodded.

“I thought that maybe if I could talk to her, even if she didn’t appear, it might help me get over my fear of the Faceless Mare, so I could go back to sleep.”

“Hey, you’ve got me to talk to.”

Scootaloo giggled, and gave Shining Armor a playful punch in the foreleg.

“Thanks, Gleaming Shield.”

Shining Armor smiled, and then thought for a moment. I wish there was something I could say to make her...wait I know...

“I think I know something that might make you feel better,” he said.

Scootaloo cocked her head and gave him a curious look.

“What is it?”

“The story I told you, the one about the faceless mare, it was a true story.”

Shining Armor watched as the smile faded from Scootaloo’s face.

“How in Equestria is that supposed to make me feel better; that just makes it even more scary.”

Shining Armor just smiled.

“Well ok, I might have changed things a little bit to make it more scary, but the basic idea was the same.” He took another moment to think before continuing. “The story wasn’t about two foals, it was about two guards – my, uh, cousin, Shining Armor, and a friend of his to be exact – who had gone into the Everfree Forest for survival training. The castle they had come to was actually castle that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna ruled from, before Luna was banished. Inside, we – I mean, they – found a mare crying because she had been separated from her sister, and was now lost in the woods. They stayed in the castle all night, promising to protect her from whatever evil that might have been lurking outside, and then when day came, they safely escorted her out of the forest, and back to Canterlot.”

When Shining Armor finished his tale, he looked up and saw that Scootaloo was smiling again.

“So, did that make you feel better about the story I told earlier?” he asked.

Scootaloo nodded.

“Oh yeah, that story is a lot less scary than the other one.”

“I’m glad you think so.” Shining Armor got up, and helped Scootaloo to her hooves. “Now come on, we’ve gotta get up early for school tomorrow; I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be caught sleeping in class, especially after what happened at school today.”

Scootaloo nodded, and they both picked up their lanterns and slowly made their way back to the campsite, where Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom were still sleeping soundly.

Shining Armor crawled back into his sleeping bag, and was about to turn back over, when he heard a soft dragging sound. He looked up and saw that Scootaloo had brought her sleeping bag and pillow next to his.

“Is it ok if I sleep closer to you?” she asked as she slipped under her covers. “I think it would help me sleep better if somepony who knew my secret was closer to me.”

Shining Armor smiled and nodded.

“Sure thing, Scootaloo,” he said. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Gleaming Shield.” Scootaloo yawned. “Hey, Gleaming Shield, could you not tell Apple Bloom, or Sweetie Belle about what we talked about tonight; I don’t want them knowing about my nightmares...not yet.”

“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.”

“Thanks.” With another yawn, Scootaloo's eyelids began to flutter, before finally sinking as the little filly drifted off to sleep.

Shining Armor watched her for a few minutes to make sure that she was actually sleeping peacefully. When it looked like she wasn’t going to be waking up soon, Shining Armor rolled onto his back and stared up at the sky. He was pretty proud of the way he had handled helping Scootaloo get over her fears, at least for the evening; just one more thing I won’t have to worry about being good at when I have I foal of my own, he thought.

As he lay there, the story that he had told Scootaloo ran through his mind. He had felt a bit guilty for not having told Scootaloo the full truth about what had happened that night, but he couldn’t tell her; he had sworn to Princess Celestia that he would keep it a secret. Everything about the survival training, getting lost, and finding the castle had been true, but that was about it. The mare that they had found, crying in the tower had been none other than Princess Celestia herself, who had been going to the old castle once a year to mourn the loss of her sister, who was at the time, still in exile on the moon.

After that night, she thanked them for keeping her company and for listening to her story, then she forbade them from ever telling anypony the truth about what had happened. Don’t worry Princess Celestia, he thought, your secret’s still safe with me. With that final thought, Shining Armor felt exhaustion overtake him, and soon he was following Scootaloo back into the world of sleep.