Public Relations
"I am very pleased to present the grand opening of the..." Shining Armor had to pause in order to re-read the name of the building. "Dusty Page Public Library."
There were a few scattered hoof beats of applause. Shining looked up to survey the sparse crowd of ponies gathered in front of the sleek looking new library just behind him. He supposed the draw wasn't too surprising, there might have been a larger crowd if he was cutting the ribbon of an amusement park.
Once the applause was finished he cleared his throat, ready to start again. He really wasn't particularly skilled at these sort of speeches. "Literature and reading is very important to any city or nation. The Dusty Pages Library will serve for many years as a place for students and book lovers alike who wish to read. I know that if my own sister, Twilight, were here, she'd probably be the first in line." Shining looked up at what he had hoped would be laughter, or at least smiles, from the crowd but received none. Apparently crowds did not 'get' personal references.
He didn't think of himself as much of a speech writer and the small gathering of ponies watching evidently agreed. Not that it was entirely his fault, he'd written the speech this morning. Cadence was the one scheduled for the dedication but had begged off on him to do it. She'd been curiously withdrawn in general for the last day or two, actually.
Anyway, speeches needed to be read and contemplating why his wife was acting funny could wait.
"I've been told that this library has over ten thousand books already, with many generous donations on the part of ponies from all around the city. I'm sure over time that number will grow until the building is just about to explode." Shining had to flip the paper on his speech and winced a little at how little a response he was getting from the crowd. Usually ponies were willing to give encouragement out of pity if nothing else.
"Then I suppose we'll just have to build a new one when it does." He joked, going a bit off script. "So I look forward to seeing all of you again in a few ye-"
"Are you going to take more of our money to build that one too!?" Came a shout from far back in the crowd, cutting Shining off.
"I...What?" 'what' had been said under his breath, mostly in shock. Was he being heckled? In his entire life, including standing guard during many of Princess Celestia's speeches, he'd never seen a pony heckle another. Then again, perhaps they were more afraid of Princess Celestia than him. But really, this was taking rudeness to a new level.
The loudmouth in the back wasn't the only one with something to say either. A different one shouted "I wanted to buy a new pool next month but now I don't think I'll be able! We're not the ones out of money!"
Shining had stopped speaking altogether and was at least a little comforted by the disgruntled looks of the audience being shot towards the hecklers. There were even a few boos and attempts to shush them but the hecklers would not be dissuaded.
"Now hold on," trying to get some control back, Shining frowned. He wasn't exactly emotionally invested in the library, but instantly knew what the hecklers were making noise about: the budget. All of a sudden he was very much glad that Cadence wasn't here, she'd been torn up about raising taxes and being reminded like this would have probably hurt her feelings terribly. "We all have to pitch in a little. Maybe you don't like the library but I bet you like your roads maintained or having a post office."
"We had those before and we didn't have taxes! Things were going great. Why now?" Came the shouted reply from the back.
Shining Armor took in a deep breath. "Things were not going..." Then it struck him that these ponies shouldn't reasonably have known any of this. Also it was probably a bad idea to waste time arguing with ponies who were doing it more for the benefit of the crowd.
While the minutes of any cabinet meetings were recorded, kept in the archives and open to the public, it wasn't something most ponies concerned themselves about to any great degree. The new budget also wasn't finalized just yet. There were half a dozen different proposals which both Cadence and he were reviewing. All in all they hoped they'd be able to make the direct contribution from their subjects negligible while simply raising some of the costs of services.
Maybe there was one pony with an axe to grind, but two? They were both feeding off of each other, they had to be here for a reason. Shining sincerely doubted they'd both decided to start making noise spontaneously while listening to him talk about a library. While he had his suspicions about the why there wasn't anything he could do about them.
"This isn't the time or place for any of that." He began, the crowd had done a fairly decent job of hushing the hecklers but Shining could see a few ponies with looks of concern directed his way. "But I can answer. It is very important for us to maintain an effective government. If you want a library you need to pay for a librarian. If you want a train you need a conductor. We don't all use a library, or the train station, but we collectively want these things. I shouldn't have to remind all of you about the importance of harmony, we all live as a community. Without a community we'd just be out in a field chewing on grass."
That at least had seemed to do the trick of shaming the hecklers, and those looking a bit disgruntled, into silence. Even the last part of what he'd said had managed to draw something of a chuckle from them. Better to wrap things up though, considering how far off the script and over time Shining had just managed to go.
"But we don't have to live like ancient caveponies. Places like the Dusty Pages library show just how great a place the Crystal Empire is to live. I am proud to be here and to have helped, in my own way, contribute to the libraries construction. As I'm sure you're all proud of your own contributions. We all take part and we're all in this together."
He'd surprised even himself with how nice that had all sounded. The gathered crystal ponies had broken out in genuine applause and Shining Armor smiled down at them from his podium. Then came the ribbon cutting, which wasn't all too difficult. The large scissors did the trick and then the ceremony was concluded. Not in the mood to make small talk with anyone, Shining instead excused himself towards the exit where his detail of personal guards stood.
Rock Steady was probably the most paranoid pony that Shining Armor had ever met. Being a former guard captain himself, Shining Armor had thought he'd be ready being on the receiving end of protection. Instead he found himself in awe of the lengths his head of security was willing to go. Neither Cadence or he were to go anywhere unaccompanied if the taciturn stallion could help it.
Which was why Rock Steady had given both of them an earful at Cadence's impromptu flight and solo tour of the city. That had been actually fairly amusing, the two leaders of the Crystal Empire being yelled at like naughty children by one of their employees. But now the consequence was that their head of security was on a protection binge and insisted on personally accompanying Shining out for his speech.
Said grey, sparkling, crystal stallion gave Shining a nod of respect and then motioned for the other two guards he'd brought along to fan out while they walked back towards the palace. It had been far too nice a day to justify going in a carriage, which had been Rock Steady's suggestion, but Shining Armor had overruled him.
"I thought that went well." Shining commented, seeing as how none of his security detail appeared very interested in speaking up.
Rock Steady had been looking around, apparently for assassins, and only turned to look his way when it became obvious he was being spoken to. "Yes sir, though I didn't like the surprise."
Apparently he really hadn't liked the hecklers by the way he frowned at speaking about it. Shining had had his moments of anger on behalf of those he protected, not that anyone had ever tried to heckle Princess Celestia. But he had been forced to summarily eject a few ponies who had tried to crash a party or two. It was fairly easy to take things that happened to your charges personally.
"Did you know who they were?" Shining asked, remembering the suspicious circumstances of what they'd been yelling out.
The crystal guard considered that for a long moment and then gave a nod. "Yes sir, I remember them from the state dinner awhile ago. They were...." He paused. "guests of the Prime Minister, I believe, and sat at his table."
That certainly caught Shining's attention and raised some very serious questions in his mind. Not questions for Rock Steady of course, it wasn't his job. Cadence would want to hear about it though. More than a few journalists had been present for the unveiling and had started to write furiously after the first shouted heckles. Evidently Acumen was not intending to let the matter over the budget drop.
This could be a problem and the day had only really begun.
"Princess Cadence hasn't emerged from your bedroom, your highness." Amicus Brief was shuffling paperwork in a rather bored fashion at her desk. All around was the bustling energy of bureaucracy. Paperwork, discussions and ponies moving all around trying to do their jobs were on the order of the day.
It was actually quite noisy, but for all of the apparent chaos they hadn't had any problems so there wasn't any hurry to instill a sense of decorum. They weren't soldiers, after all, and Shining couldn't very well bark commands as he might have done on the parade field. A more 'subtle touch' was needed was what he would remind himself on occasion.
But concerns about Cadence were always paramount and politeness could burn if something was wrong. Shining Armor couldn't help but feel some level of worry, something that Amicus obviously didn't share. Staying inside the residence all day wasn't like Cadence at all. "You're sure? Is she sick?"
The lawyer-aide paused at that, she'd been scribbling on some arcane looking legal paperwork and appeared more thoughtful. "I don't believe so. She told me not to worry and that nothing was wrong. Just that she wouldn't be working today."
Sighing, he rubbed at his face. "We're still scheduled to see the play tonight, right?"
At that she nodded. "Yes your highness. I've arranged for a carriage to take both you and the Princess to the theater. They'll be expecting you but it shouldn't be anything overly fancy. The flowers and chocolate you requested will also be there."
At least one thing was going well. His anniversary surprise would hopefully help cheer Cadence up out of whatever it was that was bothering her. "Well I'll be checking up on Cadence if you need me" he said, turning and walking off to the sounds of 'of course your highness.' from his wife's aide.
The trip up to the residence was a quick one. Before too long Shining was standing in front of the very much closed door leading into his, their, personal bedroom. When he turned the knob he was surprised to find it locked. "Cadence?" he raised his voice as he spoke to the door. "Honey?"
There was a shuffling sound, followed by hoofsteps, towards him. "Oh uh...hi Shining. Did the speech go well?" Cadence's muffled voice sounded through the door. She sounded strained, even through the door Shining Armor could tell something was off.
"It went okay...Cadence are you alright? Why is the door locked? Can I come in?"
"I'd love for you too" there was a clear pause and what sounded to him like a strained cough. "Come in, I mean. But you can't. I look terrible."
Well that wasn't suspicious at all. "You know it doesn't bother me if you don't exactly look your best. I still think you look beautiful, even without your mane all brushed or makeup on."
She wasn't mad at him, it seemed, because he heard her laugh softly. "I know you do. But what I mean is that the...room looks terrible. Its really messy. I started to reorganize it and decided to move a dresser in front of the door."
"Then why is the door locked?"
There was a long pause at that. Shining was more confused than anything else; mostly about why Cadence was doing such a poor job at lying as well as why she was lying in the first place. She must be hiding something. He didn't think he had to be a genius to figure that much out. Exactly what she might be hiding was more difficult to say.
"Shining," Cadence said at last, still not having opened the door. "Don't be worried. I just can't come out and work today. Its best if at least one of us does, though, so that things keep going smoothly."
"Well okay," he said slowly. "It's our anniversary though. We were going to go see that play I had told you about before, remember?"
Shining was actually a little taken aback by the clearly surprised, and annoyed, groan from the other side of the door.
"Are you sure we can't maybe just skip that? I'd be fine spending our anniversary in private. You know, just us." Cadence said, now sounding like she was practically on the other side of the door, yet not opening it even a crack.
He actually wasn't quite sure how to take that. Most of the time he'd have jumped at the chance, since it was usually her dragging him to things. But it was so unusual to hear her asking to skip that made him pause. For the life of him he couldn't figure it out. "Well we have spots reserved and they're expecting us..." not to mention the chocolates and flowers that were suppose to show how much he cared. Cadence couldn't get mad that they didn't do anything if she was the one who didn't want to go, or at least he didn't think so. You never could tell with some mares and no length of time as a husband would give him complete certainty.
"Grr." There was an actual growl in response to that from Cadence. "You're right, you're right. Okay, I'll get ready by then."
By now Shining Armor was mostly staring at the door in disbelief. This was very much not like Cadence and, in a more paranoid moment, worried that Chrysalis might have returned in some way. "Cadence are you sure everything is okay?"
This had been the second time he'd asked if she was okay and now Cadence sounded outright exasperated. "Yes, Shining Armor, I am absolutely fine. I'd just prefer if one of us was seen doing things and it can't be me. The speech was important but you've got other things to do. I'll tell you what's the matter after we go out and see the play or whatever it is you've set up."
"If you could just tell me what the matter is, I wouldn't worry..." Shining knew he sounded put out, mainly because he felt put out.
There didn't seem to be a lot of give from Cadence on the matter, though. "Sorry...but I can't. There's nothing to worry about, just trust me. "She did sound less annoyed and more apologetic when she next spoke at least.
With a sigh he gave up trying to figure it out for the moment. "Alright then, have a good day? Love you."
Now it sounded like Cadence had her face pressed onto the door from the muffled. "I will, love you too."
With that he was away and off to go find something else to do. He'd deliberately set his schedule to be light today for the purpose of essentially 'hanging out' with Cadence but that plan had gone up in smoke. Shining Armor was left standing in the halls of the Crystal Empire's humming bureaucracy. With nothing to do he stood and watched ponies scurrying about completing their work. Busy ponies moved past him, sparing him various degrees of confused looks at his idle presence.
The only thing he could think of to pass the time, besides wander around the palace and get even more strange looks, was a formal troop inspection being conducted on the Second Crystal Guard Regiment. The First under his careful auspices had finally managed to shape up to his high standards. Of course nobody was expecting a need for the guards beyond ceremonial roles, but it was far better to be safe than sorry in his mind.
Being the only (in his opinion) decently trained soldier in the entire empire meant that the First had needed intense supervision. However he'd also wanted to see what his officers were made of. After training in the First was finished he'd promoted the highest performers and stand outs. They were now commanding the training of the Second and doing a fairly good job of it. Trying to micromanage every little thing, as his sister was prone to doing on occasion, was a surefire method towards burning out.
But it was also important to conduct check ups, how else could he make corrections? Nodding to himself, Shining began to trot towards the proper exit. But before he made a dozen paces he suddenly stopped short. Shining tensed, eyes narrowed, and growled at seeing Prime Minister Acumen conversing with two other members of the cabinet. The circumstances surrounding his morning speech came back in stark detail and successfully changed his mind about what he wanted to do.
A number of regular government workers got out of Shining's way in a hurry when he began to march over to the Prime Minister. Evidently he was letting his anger show enough to make them want to be anywhere but in his way. That suited him just fine, standing now behind Acumen. He towered over the other male and waited until he was noticed, glowering all the while at the businesspony turned politician.
The two other members of the cabinet, transportation and education if Shining remembered correctly, had been facing his way and so saw him first. Their eyes widened and stooped in a deferential bow. This was more than enough to catch Acumen's attention, but only enough for him to turn and look evenly at Shining.
Seconds passed, with more than a few stopping to look at the rising tension. Normally Shining didn't care much if a pony bowed or not. He wasn't entirely sure of his own position in royalty, whether he should be correctly called 'prince', but here Acumen's obvious lack of respect was grating.
That he hadn't just been startled and possibly had forgotten his manners was shown clearly by the arch of an eyebrow and a sarcastic "Yes?"
If this had been a private or other lower ranking guard they'd have been in for the chewing out of their life. Shining liked to think of himself as fairly mild mannered but could yell with the best of them when needed. Any self respecting military commander needed to know how. But again things weren't so easy. subtle touch he reminded himself again and let out a exhale.
"Prime Minister" he began with barely masked anger. "Perhaps you'd like to have a word with me in private?" His meaning couldn't be any more clear that what he'd said wasn't so much a question as a order.
Things had gotten deathly quiet now and Shining was acutely aware that all eyes were on them. Acumen had the gall to chuckle, evidently not intimidated by the show of anger and nodded easily.
"Of course, your highness" which was said in affected amusement. "We'll continue our conversation at a later date." he nodded to his fellow ministers and the two were off.
Just looking at the bystanders was enough to kick them back into work. Both Shining and Acumen found a quiet alcove where they were unlikely to be overheard. Acumen was the first to speak while Shining restrained himself from yelling outright.
"As far as making scenes go I'd give you an eight. Office gossip is going to be talking about that little stunt for weeks," Acumen couldn't help smirking with his glib remark..
If the Prime Minister was trying to goad him into getting angry it was working. "Cut the shit" Shining swore, pointing a hoof at the crystal pony. "Cadence was meant to give the speech today and your little toadies weren't meant for me."
Acumen glanced down at his hoof and didn't flinch at the vulgar language. "Oh yes, I heard about that little incident. A pair of concerned citizens expressing their grievances within the earshot of the press. Now the papers will carry it and the issue they've raised will go out to many others."
"I. Don't. Care" Shining said, his anger causing his voice to rise above what he'd intended. "The idea of asking more from the Crystal Empire has been hard on Cadence. Your dirty trick was intended to hurt her." That was the crux of his fury, he took threats to his wife very seriously.
Apparently he'd succeeded in provoking a bit of emotion from Acumen as well, his reply was far more heated than the bland inoffensive passivity it had been. "Hard or not, its what she ended up picking. If you don't like politics then get out of the business."
"That was not politics" Shining countered. "That was dirty, she is the Princess and she made her dec-"
Acumen cut him off with a point of his own hoof, anger showing clearly on his own face. "And I am the Prime Minister. A lot more ponies than some foreign head of state thought I was deserving of a say in how they live their lives. Princess Cadence" there was quite a bit of venom dripping from when he'd said her name "made her decision and so I am using my only recourse."
"You don't get a recourse." Shining shot back, surprised at how quickly things had escalated. Acumen had always seemed to think himself important but had been more mild mannered in his approach before. "Your role is to advise and help run things, not make decisions."
"I suppose you would be the expert on that, Shining Armor. I imagine you decided to speak with me all alone, intimidate the Prime Minister, very impressive. Have you figured out something you're officially suppose to do besides keep the Princess' bed warm and play with toy soldiers?" the business pony countered, looking smug.
Lets not cause an incident by decking the Prime Minister right in his prick face. Shining cautioned himself, steadying his anger. Acumen was probably just trying to rile him up to do just that, able to play the victim. That the royals officially and physically 'oppressing' him.
It still struck closer to some of his private thoughts; but he would never show it, especially to the crystal pony in front of him. "If you'd like to see just how much 'advising' I do all it would take is for me to say the word and you're gone" Shining slapped his hoof on the polished marble floor to make the necessary quick, sharp sound. "Just like that."
The threat failed, or at least failed to show, that it had any effect on Acumen. "I own my district and they would reelect me in a heartbeat. All you'd do is raise the issue even more. The ponies of the Crystal Empire deserve to know why their taxes will go up and ways that it can be avoided. I know budgets and this wouldn't be the last time, not if you want to see improvements in the Empire keep happening. Besides, you're both far too nice to throw out the other oh so competent and nice ponies on the cabinet who have done nothing wrong, which you'd have to do for an election."
Unfortunately Acumen was right on at least two points. Shining Armor may not have had a cutiemark in politics but having to continuously throw a reelected Acumen out and grinding government to a stop would be an embarrassment at the very least. It also wouldn't be a guarantee that the cabinet would look the same, minus Acumen, if they did throw the 'government' out. It might even end up being worse, Acumen might try and fill the cabinet with his friends and allies.
"You won't be Prime Minister after a new election, that's our choice and we can do our best to get the rest of the cabinet reelected." was his answer. "Sooner or later the ponies will see that you're the one causing problems." Shining only wished that he could be more sure when he said that.
"You're welcome to try," the Prime Minister glanced at his hoof casually, though he didn't all too pleased by the chance of a fight. "But you really should leave politics to those who know what they're doing."
Then Acumen took a long, deep breath and shook his head slightly. His next words were said with far more control, lacking in their earlier anger. " I am doing nothing illegal, my method may be unorthodox but are perfectly allowable. You believe strongly in what you believe and so do I. I intend to convince the greater part of the Crystal Empire to my way of seeing things. You are both wrong about there being a severe reaction from Celestia."
Not using Celestia's formal title as Princess was another source of ire for Shining. Princess Celestia may have been a foreign leader now but Shining Armor, like any native Equestrian, loved her with a deep abiding respect.
Acumen continued on regardless. "If she were to do the awful things you both believe her capable in response to a new banking haven, she would bring great suffering on the Crystal Empire. Even if she would I'm now ready for that possibility. I've formed contacts throughout Equestria in these last few months; major newspaper outlets from Los Pegasus to Manehatten. Let her cut us off from food, trade and fuel and they'll do feature pages every day of the sort of economic hardship inflicted on a struggling city-state in the frozen north."
Apparently the revelation of his plan was more than Acumen could hold back, cantering off a step or two and getting worked up enough to monologue. That he was talking to Shining, who he had just been insulting moments ago, didn't impact his desire to reveal his intended masterstroke. Shining Armor didn't stop him as he was now morbidly interested in what sounded very much like a villain speech.
"Its a long term game, a little discomfort for amazing gain. We can make an exception in the Crystal Empire from lending if it really bothers your delicate sensibilities that much. Think of the size of Equestria, business ponies far and wide will wish to deposit or seek loans they could not get elsewhere. We'll become an economic powerhouse when Celestia relents. She wouldn't dare starve us to death, let alone invade over this. Her own good nature will work against her and, without a desire to introduce banking in response, we'll have a monopoly."
There was a pause, Acumen turned around and straightened his tie. He even looked to be starting to sweat, having become quite excited about his plan. "If you could only get behind this the Crystal Empire would benefit greatly" he said, sounding earnest. "Princess Cadence won't listen to me but...if you were to suggest it."
Shining Armor frowned for a moment before actually starting to laugh, he just couldn't hold back any longer. "I was waiting for the part where you talked about building a doomsday device to take over the planet. As far as evil speeches go I'll give that a two. I've heard better."
There was a moment of honest disbelief written on Acumen's face at hearing his own words shot back at him. He recovered quickly, though. "You can't seriously believe I'm 'evil' I'm-"
"You want to use the Crystal Empire as a massive pawn in your scheme to get rich and powerful. As long as Cadence and I are in charge that isn't going to happen."
Shining Armor narrowed his eyes, getting serious, and stepped forward. Thankfully a pony like Acumen wore a suit jacket complete with tie so Shining had something to grab when he reached up and held tightly onto the knot just below his neck. Acumen gave a startled sound, a moment of surprise and fear as Shining tugged him just a bit off balance. Now they were almost touching their noses, Shining Armor tall enough to tower over the Prime Minister.
"You can keep your little power grabbing fantasies to yourself. The real reason I wanted to talk to you is to let you know that you will not mess with my wife. The next time you try and pull a stunt like this morning the Crystal Empire is going have a new prime minister one way or the other. Understood?"
Unfortunately threatening gestures like this only seemed to work in stories because, after a few seconds of traded glares, Acumen did not look overly intimidated anymore. He was frowning heavily, though, and finally said "Let go of me, your highness," then swiped at the hoof holding tightly to his tie.
Shining Armor was far, far stronger than the businesspony; to the point where the swipe did little more than display that difference. Just to make the point he held on a little longer until he finally released Acumen. The Prime Minister's suit was now rather wrinkled and his tie would need to be straightened. His message given though, Shining didn't wait for him to get a last word and instead deliberately walked off.
He had a military inspection that he still wanted to go to, even if he was going to be a little late now. It seemed a great deal more important; though that was probably just a sense of cautiousness born out of experience with tense situations. It was difficult to imagine but he had to admit that the Crystal Guard might find themselves needed for more than just ceremonial work. Best that they were as ready as Shining Armor could possibly make them.
"Regiment! Attention!" Was the command as Shining Armor walked onto the parade field.
The parade field was the cities stadium at the moment. The training fields were far enough away to make it impractical for something as mundane as an inspection. The one thousand ponies assembled in their sparkling armor quite literally glittered in the sunlight. It was impressive in its own way and Shining couldn't help but grin at the clear discipline demonstrated by the ponies all standing completely still and waiting for orders.
Initially Shining Armor had been very skeptical of the value of crystal ponies as potential soldiers; they lacked the magic of unicorns, strength of earth ponies or flight of the pegasi but did have their own particular skill. What set crystal ponies apart was their amazing talent with metals and minerals. The armor that the entire regiment wore, along with being very sparkly, was also of incredible quality. Though seen only in dire emergency; the weaponry they possessed was also very good, enough to earn Shining Armor's respect. He had every confidence that if push came to shove they'd be able to do their jobs as well as any guard unit in Equestria.
The commander of the Second Crystal Regiment saluted when Shining was directly in front of him. "Thank you for joining us this afternoon, Sir."
Shining Armor returned the salute, nodding seriously. "Iron Cross, how are they?"
"As good as the first and probably even better" Iron Cross responded with his usual gravitas.
That was certainly a bold statement, and Shining readily approved of. He wanted his commanders confident in their soldiers abilities and taking their work seriously. There was always the possibility of dangerous monsters, threats and catastrophe that might threaten the general sense of peace that the majority of all ponies everywhere felt. In the Equestrian Royal Guard it was regarded as something of a sacred duty to secure that peace. Shining Armor was happy to learn that a similar regard was in the Crystal Empire Royal Guard.
Looking over the assembled regiment in front of him Shining Armor gave a nod, mostly to himself. "Alright, begin the inspection. I want to look over the first battalion myself."
Just those few words were all that it took to get a great many ponies moving, nearly in unison, on their specific tasks.
Shining Armor briskly started towards the first battalion. Like the first regiment the one thousand pony guards were divided down in the usual military manner. From a regiment to two battalions to four companies and then the platoons and squads. There were a lot of ponies here, now half of the current Crystal Empire guard. It was liable to be the extent of their military for the foreseeable future. Shining couldn't see them needing another regiment, or even managing to make another one outside of an emergency. It was already a bit of a task to recruit this many. Volunteers tended to have special talents already related to the military. Getting ponies with regular cutie marks resulted in less effective soldiers and general dissension at being drafted in the first place.
The First Battalion commander saluted much like Iron Cross, who had followed Shining when he'd moved. The silvery mare in charge of the battalion might as well have been carved out of stone for all of her seriousness. "Sir, First Battalion ready for inspection."
Shining returned the salute while giving her uniform a once over and then grinned. "What's your name, major?"
"Silver Star, Sir" still very much serious, the major barely seemed to blink at alll. Her eyes straight ahead and looking past Shining Armor at some distant point.
Shining Armor didn't say anything further right away. The entire guard was somewhat new and with that came a certain stiffness. Once the command got to know one another, and him, there would be a bit more ease with how they interacted.
"We're going to start doing training in a few weeks, are your ponies ready Silver Star?" he asked finally, noting that Silver Star was immaculate in her appearance.
Silver Star didn't so much as hesitate before answering. "Absolutely sir, we'll be ready for anything you can throw at us. We've got the cold weather equipment prepared for when it begins."
Shining Armor nodded in approval, glancing behind Silver Star to those she commanded. While they were holding discipline well he could read them easily enough. A few were now frowning, the idea of trampling around out in the cold wasn't any of their ideas of fun. Not that it was meant to be fun.
It was time to get moving though. Chit-chat with just the battalion commander would cause the inspection to drag on for quite awhile. Shining Armor didn't mind if these ponies particularly disliked their upcoming training but he did mind if they particularly disliked him for making them stand still for hours. He drew his face into a professional grimace, nodded quickly and moved on towards the first group of ponies far on his right.
Like Iron Cross, who continued to follow behind Shining Armor, Silver Star in turn followed dutifully next to her commanders for the ongoing inspection. Each pony on down the line he was inspecting proved to be as well kept and presentable as the last. Names and faces began to blur in the haze of quick words, compliments or comments and then a shuffling to his left for the next guard.
Finally, finally, Shining realized he was on the second to last pony. It was a good thing as he had to admit he was getting more than a little hungry. Unfortunately he'd likely be having his lunch alone if Cadence was still holed up inside her room. Once she got out of whatever it was that was bothering her he'd make sure to ask had been the issue.
First things first, though, he looked at the pony in front of him's chest. Curiously the guard in question looked new, judging by how young he was and the lack of any decorations.
"How long have you been in the guard?" Shining asked, curious.
The colt looked terrified that his commander-in-chief was directly speaking to him. It was actually pretty funny but Shining Armor was nice enough not to laugh at the poor guy.
"Er, I've been in the guard for...three months now, sir. I mean, three months after my training...so I guess almost a year?" he stammered by way of reply.
There were snickers behind them further up in the ranks. Shining was pretty sure Silver Star was going to facehoof at any moment; but held on to her own personal composure and stared fixedly at the pony Shining had inspected two ponies previously. Iron Cross looked more amused than anything.
Shining nodded sagely, ignoring the other reactions. "So you must have heard we're going to have our first real training exercise in a few weeks. How ready do you feel?"
The young crystal guard in question swallowed nervously and glanced towards Silver Star for support. Thankfully (for the guard) he hadn't done it enough that Shining Armor could call him out for it.
"Yes sir, absolutely" was the firm reply after a few seconds hesitation.
But with the snickers, and the inspection nearly over, Shining wasn't inclined to let things rest. There had been too much build up to not indulge in a bit of gentle ribbing. "Its going to be out in the tundra. Make sure to pay attention to your training about taking care of yourself. We don't want any injuries from frostbite. You don't want your legs hacked off do you?"
Somewhere a few rows behind was a particularly loud snicker which was quickly mastered before the culprit could be yelled at. Shining could see out of the corner of his eyes that the last pony at the end of the formation, who appeared to be veteran, was trying not to grin at his younger peer's questioning.
The young guard's eyes had gone fairly wide. "That can happen?" he'd said quickly, then seemed to remember proper courtesy "Sir?"
Shining Armor nodded with all of the seriousness that he could muster. "There's always one or two who don't pay attention. I suppose the medics need practice, so really it all works out in the end. I'm not sure if the guard covers injuries received during training under pensions. Do they?" Shining turned to look at Iron Cross, mostly to hide his grin.
Iron Cross answered first with a shrug. "I think we do Sir, though we'd find out for sure when we do the paperwork."
"There, you see?" Shining said, having straightened his smile out and looking back at the nameless guard who looked appropriately mortified. "Better take the training seriously or we'll be talking about you to the next newbie right before training."
The hapless recruit could only nod in complete agreement. As much fun as it was to mess with him Shining's words had carried a modicum of truth. Outside of extreme cases of rampant stupidity, training accidents were very unlikely to occur. But good training habits would help avoid problems if the guard ever actually needed to go out into the cold for extended periods.
The minor hazing mixed with a valuable lesson over, Shining moved on to the final guard of the inspection. Everything checked out well enough and Shining excused himself from the inspection not long after. Satisfied that the guard was well on its way to being a perfect fighting force, if only for the sake of tradition, he made his way back to the palace.
He couldn't help but be a little disappointed, and more worried, when he learned that Cadence was still hold up in their room and refused to leave. It was lunchtime and, looking into her office, she had a small mountain of paperwork piled up onto her desk which was completely untouched. The office itself was kept neat and tidy besides the paperwork, some of it had drifted its way onto the floor.
Cadence's personal office wasn't nearly as grand as the throne room, and she'd went out of her way to decorate it with her own touches. Previously the theme had been based around crystals, just like everything else in this place. Cadence had seen fit to change it into something a little more warm when she'd had the chance. There was a great deal more pink now and decorative hearts were set here and there. She also had a number of photographs of the two of them in various places and at different times. All of them were from happy memories in their long relationship together. The most prominent one was their wedding photo.
Shining levitated that particular photo, having walked behind Cadence's desk and looked around, and thought back to the general craziness of that day. He'd been brainwashed at the time and so had very little recollection up until Cadence had broken the spell over him. After the battle things had been a great deal more pleasant.
There was a knock at the frame of the door, jerking Shining Armor out of his thoughts.
"Princess Cadence, its good to see you out of your ro- Oh I'm sorry your highness." Amicus Brief had been carrying another stack of papers when she'd walked into the office. The crystal pony was struggling to balance them with one hoof while still walking. Shining quickly helped take some of the papers and stacked them onto the desk.
"Its alright. All of this is for Cadence?" he asked, rubbing the side of his head as he looked it all over. Glancing at it he could tell that most of it was 'fan mail' and well wishes for their anniversary from the various subjects of the Crystal Empire. Though, he saw a fair bit concerning aspects of government which needed to be addressed. Without some help Cadence was liable to be grumpy when she had to go through it all.
Amicus was straightening the towering papers into neat piles and then scooped to pick up the pieces on the floor. "Most of it, she could detail some of this to the other departments but her highness likes to have a look at everything important that comes through first."
"Huh" Shining replied, looking at the papers he could see without touching them.
His wife's aide had nearly walked out the door when she stopped. Turning back around Amicus gave Shining Armor a look of consideration for a second. "Do you need anything?"
Looking up, Shining was about to tell her that he was fine and then head off to lunch himself when he had another idea.
"Actually, would you mind bringing me something to eat? I'm going to stay here and see if I can't get some of this paperwork done."
For the first time that he could recall, Amicus Brief smiled. "Of course, your highness, I'm sure the Princess will appreciate that."
Shining grinned at his own moment of brilliance. If the night out ended up being a bust, possible with whatever was bothering Cadence, this little gesture could easily be a backup. Not that Shining usually found himself in the doghouse but he was a fan of having insurance. It also had the added benefit of needing to be done.
Glancing at the clock he cracked his neck, stretched, and then took the first piece of paper on the highest stack. Would it be the first outbreak of a deadly infectious disease at Crystal Medical? Were outposts along the northern tundra reporting the return of the dreaded Wendigos? A critical shortage of food? Surely he, Shining Armor, former Captain of the Royal Guard and number two in the Crystal Empire could handle any and all of these things.
It was a letter congratulating the royal couple on their anniversary.
Shining Armor sighed and put it to the side, Cadence would want to write thank you notes herself. It was silly to imagine that anything of such seriousness would be put on a single piece of paper and left on a desk. But if this entire stack was made up of well wishers his thoughtful gesture wasn't going to work out as well as he'd hoped.
It turned out that the entire stack was not made up of well wishers, only half. The work demanding attention was mostly performance evaluations of the various government departments. Shining was thankful that the evaluations were almost universally good ones, it meant they didn't have to go about hiring more ponies. Shuddering at the very prospect of that he flipped over to a report which dealt with the current and future state of the empire.
His jaw tightened at seeing the signature of the Prime Minister. More frustrating was just how detailed the report was, with suggestions in dozens of areas for how the Crystal Empire might best grow. From investments into businesses, to farming expansion; it was clear that the Empire would be doing a great deal more than merely exist. Most ambitious was a plan to create new magical temperate zones, the type that housed the city. The arctic north was vast and barren; but Acumen wanted to create a network of towns. The Prime Minister may have been cutthroat and ambitious but he was a very capable bureaucrat, and apparently something of a visionary.
"If he had magical powers we'd probably have more trouble than we already do..." Shining said aloud, breaking the silence that had hung for likely over half an hour or more.
Having lost his focus, he suddenly realized that a sandwich had mysteriously appeared on the desk. Shining blinked at it and then looked towards the door to the office, which was still closed. He'd been so involved in the paperwork that he'd failed to even notice or register that a pony had come in, deposited his lunch, and then closed the door.
It wasn't the first time something like that had happened. Shining tended to lose himself completely when working with paperwork, otherwise he'd dawdle or goof off and get nothing done. A multitasker he wasn't.
However he did have the ability to eat his lunch and work at the same time. He'd signed off that he'd read the report from the Prime Minister and then took up a much different sort of report. It was from a pony named Map Maker, which sounded vaguely familiar to him.
Shining started to look around the desk for some sort of possible 'cheat sheet' for who did what in the government. Apparently Cadence had already memorized such a list, or at least knew who everyone was. Usually a important report carried the seal of whichever department the pony was from, but not this one. This letter was, along with looking like it'd been dropped in water or snow, addressed personally.
Giving up trying to figure out who Map Maker was for the moment, he started to read. Curiously enough Map Maker didn't seem to think it necessary to give any background information other than that the 'expedition' was going well. Whatever expedition it was had made it out to the White Hills, wherever that was, and had started to prospect.
Prospecting probably meant that they were connected to the natural resources department but Shining knew that they hadn't signed off on any. If they had Shining would have detailed at least a squad of his best guard to accompany them. Map Maker proved exactly why that was a good idea when she mentioned how the team was growing nervous at the occasional sightings of large, strange, upright creatures far in the distance of their camp.
Shining sighed in annoyance at the revelation, not liking the idea of ponies being in potential danger if it could be helped. The letter was sent two days ago so there was no telling what might have happened in the meantime. Why Cadence was getting updates for an unofficial expedition off into the tundra Shining had no idea. Something must have happened that his wife had neglected to mention.
Had she deliberately hidden something like this from him? There wasn't a lot of background information to go on and Shining did not want to think the worse of her on simple suspicion. If she had approved something like this there must have been a good reason. He had to tell himself that, anyway, as he continued to read. Map Maker was at least very enthusiastic about what they were finding, though she wouldn't say it outright. They'd uncovered an ancient mine or some structure that was making their work easier.
This was probably something Cadence would want to see herself and Shining made a point of putting it in a place he was sure she'd find it whenever she returned to work. He made a mental note to ask her about it this evening if he got the chance, they did have all evening together after all.
Work continued in a much more tedious manner after lunch, not every bit of information to arrive at the Crystal Princess' desk was going to be interesting. There were memos, reports and even a summary of the training the guard was about to undertake that Shining had written himself. He chuckled at the idea of approving something he'd written but held off. Cadence and he were suppose to share power and the surest way to have a fight was to overstep his bounds and act like the guard was solely his domain.
The stack of paper was noticeably smaller when Shining next checked the time. He might even have been able to have finished it outright if he'd wanted to spend another hour on it, but then he'd have effectively skipped his anniversary present. Hopefully Cadence was feeling better by now, or else he might have to cancel the evening regardless.
Sitting still for so long made walking out of the office a little more difficult, his legs felt stiff. He'd been given a new appreciation for how much work Cadence had taken on if that was her usual workload. Maybe it wasn't so crazy that she'd locked herself in her room for a day after all.
The door to the bedroom was still closed when he got to the royal residence but this time Cadence was on the other side of it. She was wearing a rather ornate dress adorned with a large number of glittering gemstones. Despite her outfit she actually looked a little frazzled. Not in her hair or posture so much, but the focus of her eyes seemed a little too...intense when she saw him.
Shining was still very happy to see her, walking up and smiling. "You're looking good," He complimented, leaning in for a quick peck on the cheek and a hug.
What he got instead was a full on kiss, Cadence moving her head and embracing him rather fiercely. Then she seemed to think better of it, just when it was getting good, and pulled back.
"Uh..." he said intelligently. "Hello to you too."
On taking a full breath he realized that his wife was wearing an almost obscene amount of fragrant perfume. Enough that he coughed and took a step back. Cadence simply returned the smile, though a strained one, and acted like nothing was the matter.
"How was the rest of your day?" she asked.
Shining gave an experimental sniff, trying to fight off a building sneeze. "It went alright, I took care of some of the paperwork that was building up on your desk."
"Aw, that's very sweet of you Shining."
"I try, uhm..." Shining wasn't sure if he should comment on the perfume, or anything else concerning how weird she'd been today.
While she'd said she would tell him later –and it was later by a number of hours– it didn't feel quite appropriate to demand an answer out of her. He'd already asked rather insistently, and if Cadence felt confident she could handle it on her own he should probably respect it.
"Actually, I suppose I should go get ready" He said finally, instead of addressing the issue.
Cadence smiled, nodded and gestured towards the door. "I'll just wait here then until you're ready. I laid your uniform out on the bed."
Shining waited until he was inside the room by himself to shake his head. They may have been soul mates, best friends and perhaps even star crossed lovers; but this was likely to be something he'd never understand. He wasn't surprised at this point that their bedroom was as neat and organized as it'd ever been instead of the mess Cadence had claimed it was before. Walking up to the bed, complete with his perfectly displayed uniform laid out, he noted that the sheets might have actually been freshly cleaned.
He busied himself with putting the red wool jacket on rather than think about it too hard. It was getting dark outside, the sun nearly down over the horizon at this point. Shining finished buttoning up, straightening everything out and was ready to go within a minute. He fitfully tugged at the tight collar for a few seconds. No tailor in the world had ever gotten it quite right and that tightness always made him feel like he was being slowly choked to death. But it looked nice and he resigned himself to being on the edge of feeling truly uncomfortable.
"Well, lets go get this over with," Shining said aloud with a shrug. Certainly not the best attitude to take for an outing with your wife on your anniversary, but all of the strangeness and avoidance had managed to put him off his usually cheery self. Hopefully things would pick up when they got there.
Surprisingly, things did pick up as soon as they'd made it into the carriage. This was accomplished mainly by Cadence snuggling up next to him the moment the door was closed. He could have done without the smell of her perfume, but he wasn't about to start complaining. Nuzzled up together, Shining could have sworn the cabin felt just a touch warmer.
Cadence was idly poking at a brass button on his uniform. "I really missed you today Shiny, I hope that didn't ruin our anniversary."
"Of course not," Shining was sure he sounded a touch strained at the moment. "I think its going pretty well, don't you?"
Cadence didn't answer so much as attack his neck with a kiss. "Mhm."
This was putting Shining in a precarious position. He'd never have imagined that there would be a time that he wouldn't enthusiastically take an opportunity to get a little randy but, looking up, he remembered just where they were. With a great deal of regret he placed hooves on Cadence's shoulders and pressed lightly to get her attention. "Er, honey, the carriage has windows and we're in the middle of the city. Also what happens when we get there and the driver opens the door for us?"
"Nopony is looking right now though, a little danger is fun. " A very persuasive argument, but Shining wasn't entirely convinced it was a good idea.
I must be getting old. Responsibility sucks. He groused internally as he shook his head. "Down, girl. There'll be plenty of time for that tonight. Don't you want to see the play?"
The look on Cadence's face very clearly said 'not even a little bit', but she did end up pulling back and gave a huff of annoyance. "You're right, you're right. Sorry, just got a little carried away." She retreated to the other side of the carriage and busied herself with straightening her dress.
Shining sunk into the seat and took a deep breath to steady himself. "So...the play itself is suppose to be really good," he said, trying to change the topic.
"I'm sure it is." Cadence appeared to be pouting just a little, with her lower lip out and scowling at nothing.
Shining found that hilariously adorable and ended up snickering, which caught her attention.
"Whats so funny?" her eyes had narrowed dangerously, not quite as amused as he was.
"You," Shining knew he shouldn't be laughing at her but it was still pretty funny. "I think we secretly switched places last night."
He was getting the death glare now which would normally have him cowering and apologizing profusely, regardless of his guilt. On this occasion he knew it was harmless though. It wasn't like he was going to end up on the couch tonight.
"Its not funny. I've spent all day being miserable because I thought it was better for some work to get done and you're laughing at me."
"And why have you been miserable and couldn't work today?" The reason had to be pretty good if it was being built up this much.
Cadence had been just about to answer when she suddenly shut her mouth. "Not telling."
Shining couldn't help but stare at her in utter disbelief. "Still? I've been wondering about this all day, you've got to tell me."
She shook her head. "Not if you actually want to go to the play. If you haven't figured it out by now I'll be a good girl and wait patiently."
"Yeah well now I'm going to have trouble being patient." He stuck his tongue at her for good measure which made Cadence smile and stick her tongue back at him.
Shining felt more relaxed now, a comfortable silence falling over them while the carriage jostled along the cobblestone road. It was clear they were getting near the theater by the increased volume of ponies in fancy dress. The sun gone, over horizon and the buildings made out of crystal –which was pretty much all of them– were still glittering in the darkening night. Shining thought the city now rather resembled the starry night sky itself actually, as close as he usually got to being poetic.
The carriage slowed to a halt and the side door was opened for them. Shining didn't get much of a chance to see what was out there because of the sudden blinding flash of near continuous photography. The paparazzi were rather excited at the appearance of their rulers; Shining could even hear shouted questions directed their way. While the play was suppose to be fairly popular on its own he was sure the theater was happy for the extra attention.
A thought struck him as he exited the carriage, turned around, and helped Cadence step down onto the red carpet. If there were going to be any more 'surprises' involving hecklers then the journalists were going to have more than the play to write about. There was a better than average chance that Cadence would end up pardoning him, and murder was certainly an effective way to replace a Prime Minister.
"Oh my beloved, I do not know how much longer I can maintain this barrier that holds our foe at bay," 'Cadence' said, a glittering crystal pony, pink coated with a horn and wings attached, who was pantomiming a swoon.
Of course right at the moment that 'Cadence' was about to fall over she was caught by 'Shining Armor', who was grey instead of white. "You must be strong, my dear wife. Soon the Elements of Harmony shall save us all and restore the Crystal Empire to what it once was. They must, or else we will all be cast in shadows."
Shining Armor was bored, very bored. The box seats were so high that he could only barely make out what was happening on stage. That was probably a good thing judging by the lines. Even the 'action' had been terrible in his opinion. 'His' big moment, the battle with Sombra, had lacked the sort of dazzling pyrotechnics he'd hoped for. Clearly the playwright had other ideas about what made for exciting drama.
"Curses that my magic is sealed away. If I could but help you for one second, my love, it would be a balm on my soul that might stretch throughout the ages." 'Shining Armor' had wandered off a few paces and put a hoof over his eyes while proclaiming his grief.
Shining Armor leaned towards Cadence, exasperated at the dialogue. "It might also help with the crisis. Though I'm pretty sure I could have helped for a little longer than a second."
Cadence was staring down at the stage, looking engrossed in the action. "Uhuh..."
That wasn't quite the reaction he was expecting. Surely she wasn't fooled by the melodramatic lines and declarations of love? "Er, do you actually think this is good?" His question didn't even get a response this time. Slowly he reached out a hoof and gently prodded his wife in the side.
That got a reaction, Cadence gave a loud squeak and physically jolted at his touch. She quickly covered her mouth up, a bright blush on her face while looking his way finally. "What was that for?!" she had her voice lowered in an angry sounding whisper. Some of the heads down in the audience had turned at the squeak, but were settled back by no further distractions while the play continued on uninterrupted.
"Sorry," Shining apologized quickly, though still confused. "I was just curious what you thought about the play."
Cadence blinked, her cheeks still scarlet. "Oh, uh. I wasn't really paying attention."
It was more of that 'thing she wouldn't tell him about', no doubt. Forgetting the play, Shining turned in his seat and made ready for a long conversation. "You know, Cadence, if you just wanted to skip the play I wouldn't mind."
Obviously she was going to answer with something amounting to 'But ponies will see us leave early, the theater might be offended.' To which his counter was going to be that they could easily just excuse themselves with the needs of official business. Or they could say that their Princess wasn't feeling well, which might actually be true.
But, Cadence paused and appeared to think on what he'd said for a few seconds and then nodded. "Hmm. You're right. Okay, lets get out of here."
"Well we've already been seen, spoken to a few reporters. I'm sure they won't mind if we leave and say th-. What was that?" Shining boggled, only processing what she'd actually said at a delayed rate.
"I said...lets skip and go back home." Cadence was actually up and out of her chair now. She beckoned for a guard to come over and requested they get their carriage ready. "Though I may just go to the palace by myself if you take too long."
Still playing catch up, Shining remained seated. "I thought you really wanted to come out tonight to see this."
Cadence was back over next to him, looking a little impatient. "And I thought you wanted to leave early."
"W-well I do, I'm just not sure why you changed your mind so quickly."
His wife rolled her eyes, quickly turning towards the door. She'd done it so quickly, as a matter of fact, that her tail ended up smacking him along the muzzle. Surprised at that, he'd jerked back and took a breath. On the inhale Shining paused, blinking as he suddenly figured everything out. Now he needed no more encouragement, he all but vaulted out of his seat and towards the door.
"You should have told me," he said to Cadence while they increasingly picked up their walking pace down the many steps out towards the door.
At this point Cadence had her wings out, though she wasn't using them just yet to propel herself forward. "And I would be absolutely right that nothing would have gotten done. Patience is a virtue."
Shining couldn't help but snort at that. "I don't feel like being very virtuous right now."
"I don't either. Do you really want to wait for a carriage?" By now they were in the cool, crisp nighttime air. The only ponies present were their honor guard, now hurrying around and trying to bring their ride around. It looked like they needed some work on unexpected changes. Shining would deal with it later, way later.
Cadence shook her head, now giving an experimental flap of her wings. Her dress had been fortunately designed to give them air, like most outfits made for a pegasus. "No way, but I don't want to have to wait for your slow behind either."
Now that challenge was on, Shining loosened his collar with a burst of magic. "Says the mare whose lucky her wings work at all at the moment. Don't worry, I'll make sure to leave the window open for you."
As it turned out they both reached the palace only seconds apart. The same could not be said for their security detail, who had great difficulty keeping up with their rulers. The chewing out they both received the next day by Rock Steady had left even the staff wincing. All in all it was still one of the best anniversaries Shining could remember.
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It lives! ...says the guy who can't get one of his own stories back on the rails after months of hiatus (my excuse is a bit more personal, though: it's a bit hard to write while in mourning and then I just got distracted by other things).
Anyway, a few typos:
(Not really a typo but a request for clarification) perhaps even star crossed lovers
I didn't know fate was fighting as hard as it could to keep them apart...Especially after they got married.
He fitfully tugged at the tight color for a few seconds.
you mean collar?
Shining found that hilarious adorable
hilariously adorable, perhaps?
3842022
The typos have been fixed, there always seems to be a few no matter how hard I scour the text for them.
And I admit that I may have misused the phrase. To be fair they've been attacked on two separate occasions by ancient evil forces. One of which actively was trying to screw up their wedding.
Sorry to hear you've hit a slump in your own writing. Hope everything's been going alright for you, mourning sounds rather ungood.
Hmmm I think Acumen may just be the ponification of Petyr Baelish. If he wants gold so badly we ought to give it to him, we'll make him live and breathe gold and eat gold until he can't no more.
In all seriousness, I'm sure the paparazzi would appreciate some tips on their Prime Minister's whereabouts, and it only takes one mistimed monologue to spill the beans to the rest of the realm.
If Shining and Cadance have a Baelish, they need a Varys or Tyrion who's loyalty is solely to the realm, and as the realm is tied to harmony I'm quite certain they'd be safe from their own Varys' or Tyrion's machinations.
Found a typo- the only one!
"the major barely seemed to blink atl."
at all*
calling it now that Cadence is pregnant. A bit miffed if that's the case....because it's kinda expected....but still amusing.
3843096
Fortunately ponies are a little nicer than the characters in game of thrones. I was actually trying to make Acumen appear more sympathetic. He's not entirely wrong about his plan, it might even work. His plan is to make the Crystal Empire an actual power, screw harmony. Cadence and Shining are loyal to Celestia. While they might not feel like they aren't, they basically would appear like puppets to Celestia and Equestria. The crystal ponies don't have the benefit of a millennium of Pax Equstriana so their perspective is unlikely to view Celestia in the perfect light that her subjects do. Yay moral ambiguity.
3843176
Typo fixed, thanks.
Also what an interesting guess. In all fairness there is hardly another direction that a story like this could go, if it was the way I wanted to take it. I've hardly seen a story that even includes that. But have no fear, there's no Princess Skyla on the horizon. But really, how else are Shining and Cadence going to continue the royal rule over CE? They're not immortal after all.
3843281
No prob =)
It was the kind of plot thing that I'd expect- but true.....it WOULD need to be on the horizon.
3843284
You know I was almost expecting something like that being revealed in today's episode.
Though it would almost be cruel to write about them having a kid. A poor child like that having to deal with six godmothers. I should tag this as a darkfic.
3843294
I haven't seen the episode yet 0_0 (going to watch it this evening)
that....would be horrifying.
3852988
I've actually given it thought that it would be silly to think of what is essentially a city state as an empire. Now obviously its just naming convention for what the show creators/ Hasbro thought sounded good. But if you want to do advanced word building or headcanoning, and we all do, then I had a reasonable sounding solution. Something I even started to imply with the latest chapter. Specifically that the Crystal Empire was not just its capital city.
The only reason they even have a city up that far north is because of the magical barrier. They presumably built it themselves, unless you want to suggest that there was always some massive magical monolith structure that projected a bubble. It probably involves crystals as well. Crystal ponies appear to be especially talented at building things, the high speed train thing in the last episode seems to suggest that. So pre-Sombra there was most likely a whole network of Crystal Empire towns and cities spread throughout the arctic north. Once the main city went down they would probably go down as well, the crystal ponies forced into heading south to avoid freezing to death. Over 1000 years of exile would remove all trace of the towns and the ponies. Like they never existed, even if you wanted to assume being crystal was genetic and not magic.
That's just my idea anyway. I doubt the crystal ponies would want to keep a name that their Pony Hitler came up with so it is most likely the original name. As for why there aren't large history dump lessons in this story specifically...well, I didn't originally intend for Affairs of State to be more than cutesy slice-of-life tales. But I also happen to have another headcanon that is a bit more of a stretch about why crystal ponies don't talk about the past.
Anyway, I hope that all doesn't come off as insane ramblings. Thank you for the favorite and the interest in the story!
Everyone goes for the esoteric government stuff, what is Acumen up to,is a city state an Empire. Lets go for the important stuff.
1 Cadence snappy
2. large amounts of perfume
3. jumpy, blushing
conclusion. one of two 1 .pregnant 2. the one with my vote (in heat.)
I don't need an answer will wait for next chapter. Also faved. And up vote
Acumen seems more villainous to me than anything. His only concern seems to be how he can make himself very rich and powerful, and if the Crystal Empire might get more wealth and power at the same time then that just makes his argument look better.
Acumen cares for himself alone. A have decent pony would not use heckling to try and get his point across. Hell Sombra was prime minister once.
5445666
Pretty much what I was going for. Naturally he's a bad guy and pretty clearly does come across as a bad guy. Though I did want to make him at least a bit sympathetic in his goal.
He's a visionary, even a selfish one. He would really believe his plan would work and the important thing is it would. He'd turn the crystal empire into a financial super power assuming Celestia didn't squash them (and she probably wouldn't). The question is about the direction they'd want to take and Cadance and Shining sticking with Celestia.
Ironically I acquired a job at a major bank in between starting the story and now. So I'm well aware of the evilness prevalent in banking institutions. It does do ugly things to people and causes misery to people who lack the ability to avoid instant gratification.
5445666
I see him like the typical government official, actually. Judging by the paperworks he submitted, he seems genuinely patriotic and wants to elevate Crystal Empire into a world stage player instead of some backwater satellite country, but he has that "I want to make the country rich enough so I can write my name in the annals of history and maybe skim a few pennies from the top for my hard work" attitude that's prevalent in politicians.
He's the type of person that's very hard to get rid of in a democratic institution, because the people will keep re-electing them for their short-term gratifications and promises, and genuinely competent enough that the few percent of the total income that he'll definitely steal would be seen by the common populace as "well, , what's a few dollars for all the good things he'd done?".