Unforeseen Consequences - The stubborn captain

“Yeah! You haven’t been in Canterlot in ages bro!”
>Shining Armor let out a chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck “Hah! Yeaaaah… sorry lil’ bro, but I have had a lot of work here, besides… you know… getting ready for a baby isn’t easy”
“Oh man! Speaking of which, how is cousin Cadence doing? When am I going to meet my new niece? Because lemme tell you bro, when she grows up, I want to teach her like, all the magic I know, and tell her all the crazy adventures that I have gotten myself into!”
>Shining Armor placed his hoof on his forehead and let out a heavy sigh “Oh man, not you too…” he then gave you an awkward smile “Doncha want the baby to be a lil’ bro? Somepony to play hoofball with and all that?”
>Sports? Nah, you weren’t a jock… heh, but you better put that in more… ah, polite terms.
“Nah, I’m not that big into sports, I mean… Moonlight and RD take care of giving me enough of that stuff every single morning… Besides, like 95% of my friends are girls, so I really don’t mind if I have a lil’ sis”
>”C’mon dude!” Shining Armor tone became more desperate for some reason “You gotta be on my team, you just gotta! Everypony keeps sayin’ that the baby is gonna be a girl… but I’m sure, ABSOLUTELY SURE, that is going to be a lil’ dude! I even bet a lot of bits with some of the guys that I’m gonna have a boy”
>You raised an eyebrow, taking a little step back
“Bro… how much did you bet?”
>After a brief pause, Shining Armor gave you a stoic look and replied with a monotonous “…Lots of bits”
>Okay… you knew that tone, you knew that look, this was the expression of a man who refuses to accept that he will lose big time… but c’mon, it’s Shining Armor, this dude is super chivalrous, you’re sure that he didn’t made that bet without Cadence knowing and approving of it… but just to be sure, you better ask
“Does cousin Cadence knows about this?”
>Shining Armor groaned and replied with annoyance ”Oh c’mon! Why did you become Twily all of the sudden?!” he then took a deep breath and regained some of his composure “Let’s just drop the subject and never mention it in front of Cadence, alright lil’ bro?”
>… This guy is going to sleep on the couch for the next couple years… you feel bad for him, sure, buuuut…. you simply couldn’t resist giving him a little smug smirk
“Sure bro… it’s just that I think that cousin Cadence would like to know that you are going to lose enough bits to buy one of the Haywaiian islands”
>A scrunched face was Shining Armor’s first replay, followed by an angered ”That’s not gonna happen because the baby it’s gonna be a boy!” he then placed his hoof on his forehead and grumbled “Sheesh! Princess Celestia might not be here, but you sure as heck make it feel like she is”
>D’awwww! You will take that as a compliment
“What do you want me to say? Gotta show that I’m her son”
>Shining Armor’s face became stern, changing his tone for a much more serious one ”Which is good, considering what we are dealing with” Oh yeah… the changelings…
>Awwww, dang… seems like this nice little moment wasn’t to last
“So you guys already got the letter, huh?”
>”Yup…” he nodded “About an hour ago, and lemme guess…” Shining Armor looked at Eris and Aegia “You came with those two, right?”
“Yuuuup! The best of the best that there is”
>Shining Armor straightened his helmet as he eyed at your group ”Hmmmm… so that’s Discord’s daughter, huh? Gotta admit, she’s more beautiful than what the reports says, and the other… What?” He narrowed his eyes and growled “Lil’ bro… What is that secret service pony doing here?”
>Why did he react that way? Why would he- Ooooooh! That’s right! Moonlight once told you that the royal guard and the secret service weren’t on the best of terms…
“Errr… well…”
>Before you could explain to Shining Armor that there was nothing to worry about and that the grudge between the two divisions was the stupidest thing that you have ever seen next to the equestrian glyph system and Twilight’s equations, Eris and Aegia walked towards you.
>”Oh! Captain Armor! It is so nice to see you again!” Aegia exclaimed with fake joy and an emotionless expression
>”So this is the captain? Hmm-hmm-hmm! Not bad! Not bad at all…” Eris said with a sultry smile “I just hope that he doesn’t turn to be like those two weirdos that would be… a disappointment to say the least”
>”Oh Mademoiselle Eris!” Aegia giggled “You are looking at ze intellectual auzor of zat insult known as ze “battle of ze bands””
>”Eewwww! So this guy is the emperor of dorks!” Eris crossed her arms and rolled her eyes “Dude, this place is a serious letdown”
>Oh boy… here we go…
> Just like you expected, Shining Armor angrily barked at them ”Hey! You guys don’t know anything! I did that awesome gig to boost the morale of my guys! That is something important that you two would know if you ever read a book about leadership! Speaking of which…” Shining Armor turned to you and whispered “Later today, me and the guys are having an Ogres n’ Oubliettes tournament, wanna join us and have the ADVENTURE of your life?”
>Ogres and oubliettes? You think that Cherrywood mentioned that game once… yeah… it was like… more or less, when you started working on the drone…. she said that game is what hyper nerds use to kill time by pretending that they are knights and stuff…
>She went on a huge rant about how that game was the worst thing that happened to the study of monsters and the supernatural since it makes everything a silly cartoon, that every monster is a bad guy and act like idiots when there are a lot of intelligent and friendly monsters out there…
>Yeah… you liked fantasy and sci-fi a lot, but based on what Cherrywood told you… that game was a bit too much, even for you…
“Eeeeh… Thanks but, I think that I’ll stick to crush the changelings’ plans…”
>Luckily, Shining Armor just shrugged off your response “Your loss, lil’ bro…” he then looked at Aegia and narrowed his eyes “But seriously bro, please tell me what a secret service pony is doing here. I really don’t trust those guys one bit”
>…Gosh darn it, bro…
>Aegia rolled her eyes and gently shook her head ”Captain Armor, I zink zat I will join Mademoiselle Eris in her disappointment. I know zat you have a busy schedule, but I can’t believe zat you don’t know zat I’m ze prince’s new guarde du corps”
>Shining Armor gasped and replied with a shocked “WHAT?! Since when?! What happened to Moonlight?! Why isn’t she Anon’s bodyguard anymore?!”
>You think that you will join the disappointment club… because knowing your mom, she surely sent a letter to both Twilight and Cadence to let them know about that new…
>But Aegia looked like it was getting more and more annoyed… well, maybe… she still had her emotionless expression ”Oh, Captain Armor! I absolutely agree zat ze General is a very capable and dynamic pony. But you can’t seriously expect zat she will be able to handle ze command of ze Royal and Night Guard, be Princess Luna guarde du corps and fulfill her role as a single mozer while she’s also busy taking care of ze prince’s safety. She already does enough by training him every single morning. It is just natural zat ze Princesses would assign anozer capable pony for ze job of protecting zeir only child while zey are busy”
>Shining Armor groaned ”Yeah, yeah I get that, but c’mon! Why give the job to a pony from the secret service instead of somepony from the Royal Guard?!”
>”Because zere is nopony else in ze entire equestrian forces zat has a curriculum as good as I. It’s as simple as zat. Ze Princesses looked for ze best candidate and that was me. Besides…” Aegia walked to you and gave you a pat on the head “Me and ze young prince became friends during ze chaos carnival, zat is always a plus for zis kind of job”
>…. Gosh darn it, Shining… eeeegh, you better say something before you lose your cool…
 “Yeah, look bro, I know that you’re worried for me, especially with the mess that we have right now, but… just chill out will ya? Aegia is super good at her job and we’re good friends. There’s no reason for you to act this way, let’s… let’s just drop this on focus on what matters, right now alright?”
>Shining Armor kept a few moments of silence before sighing and replying with a defeated tone “Fiiiiine! Just for you lil’ bro I will drop this… Besides, I don’t want to keep Cadence waiting and worry her more than what she is already…” Man… he was as stubborn as his sister…
>But at least he was polite enough as to escort you to the castle’s entrance
>But Aegia quickly called him before he could get inside the castle ”Actually Captain Armor, why don’t you tell moi where ze barracks are?”
>Shining Armor raised an eyebrow, asking with caution and distrust “What? Why?”
>”I know zat is rude to decline an invitation from royalty, but I zink zat it would be a much better idea if I borrow some equipment for our mission while ze young prince and Mademoiselle Eris meets ze Princess, after all when it comes to ze changelings, we cannot waste any time” You have to give it to Aegia, she really remained as calm as possible even when your bro Shining was acting like a knucklehead
>”Hmmmm…” Shining Armor rubbed the back of his head and closed his eyes as he thought hard about Aegia’s plan. He then let out a tired sigh and nodded “Very well, the barracks are this way. Wait, before I forget…” The white stallion looked at you and chuckled “Sorry for not taking you to Cadence myself lil’ bro, but if you just take the stairs, go to the second floor, then go right, go down the hallway, turn left and then walk all the way until you see a big set of pink doors you will be fine”
>…Yeah… that would be for the best…
“A’ight bro! And don’t worry, we’ll be fine!”
>”Coolio!” Shining Armor smiled, but that quickly disappeared the moment he looked back at Aegia “And you, follow me and don’t cause any trouble” he then walked down a street… why were the barracks away from the castle? Moonlight always told you that a castle should always have plenty of guards ready to defend it at any moment
>Aegia offered him a gentle smile ”I wouldn’t dream to do such zing, Captain Armor…” When she was sure that no one could hear her, Aegia then turned to you and whispered “You better keep your eyes open Mon Petit. Analyze ze behavior of every crystal guard and castle staff. Look for any anomaly zat could tell us if ze changelings have already infiltrated ze Crystal Empire, and above everyzing, take care of yourself. I don’t get paid if you get harmed, and if zat happens, zen I will get very angry wiz you, understand?”
>You gulped and immediately gave her a military salute
“Yes, ma’am Aegia! I understand, ma’am Aegia!”
>Aegia patted your head, giggling “Good, it always warms my heart when we understand each ozer, as for you…” Aegia looked at Eris “If you feel any kind of magic like ze one you sensed at ze prison, do not hesitate on using your magic on zem. Capturing any potential spy comes before zan etiquette and restraint”
>Eris gave Aegia an almost malicious grin as she confidently said ”Oh, I know that veeeery well, so don’t worry, if I detect any bug…” As she traced as small circle with one of her paw’s claws, some snow started to fall on you “I will freeze their little plan right there”
“Aaaaah! Cold! Cold! COLD!”
>”Good, good… Since I don’t have anyzing to worry about, I will take my leave before zat stallion starts zinking zat I came here just to sabotage his little concert…” Aegia rolled her eyes before leaving Eris and you alone.
>”Well dork… I guess that’s our cue” Eris sighed “I just hope that this Cadence doesn’t turn out to be like the idiot of her husband… because I swear that if she’s anything like him, then I’m going to turn this city into a gigantic ice cream cone and blame you for it”
“Oh yeah, because I can totally do that, right? Anyways, don’t be so negative. Shining Armor was just… worried, and Cadence is cool, I mean, she’s the Princess of love and all that”
>Well… for the most part, she really acted like a witch the first time you met her… but better not tell that to Eris, she was already on the verge of turning this place into Chaos land.
>”If there’s something that I have learned during my life in Ponyville, is that those titles are a sham. That Twilight is supposed to be the…” Eris made a quotation marks with her paw and talons “”Princess of Friendship” and she’s the most stubborn and paranoid pony that I’ve ever seen, kinda like Captain Boy band, now that I think about it…”
“That’s probably because Shining Armor and Twilight are siblings. But seriously Eris, chill out will ya? They are not our enemy”
>Eris snickered as she started to hover above you ”I suppose that both have stupid genes then… bleh, and to think that I got my hopes up about this place… come on dork, I don’t want to waste any more time in this frozen dumpster” and with that, she zapped to the entrance of the crystal empire’s castle
>But before you follow her…. You feel like you need to take one last glance at the crystal heart as Shining Armor called it.
>And that was mostly because you really don’t know why this artifact made you feel so much inner peace, why it warmed your heart in such way… why you felt so connected to the crystal heart…
>But you couldn’t be here forever, could you? so after you said your “goodbyes” to the crystal heart, Eris and you entered the castle… and man… it was even more beautiful on the inside… but the security was worse than Canterlot’s castle, seriously, you love your bro but he is in dire need of some advice from Moonlight
>Like, yeah there were guards stationed here and there, but there were so few that you wondered why the bothered.
>Not only that but all of them just stayed there like statues, and if there were guards doing actual patrols, you couldn’t see them… you are starting to realize why Aegia had the crystal guard in such a low concept
>But hey, at least they let you and Eris to walk around the castle as you pleased… which in reality, that was a serious security flaw… but let’s give the benefit of the doubt, shall we?
>Hmmmm… maybe… Maybe Cadence and Shining Armor told them that you were coming and that is why no one bothered to stop you… you honestly hoped that was the case… for Cadence and your niece’s sake
>If you had to compliment something though, was that the castle was truly something else. The walls looked and felt like they were made out of real diamonds, and every room and every hallway was decorated spectacularly with banners and paintings that depicted the Empire’s history and the love that the crystal ponies had for both Cadence and Shining Armor and…
>W-Wait a minute… why does Spike appear in some of the banners? Not only that, why is he portrayed like if he was some sort of grandiose hero? Oh heavens… now that you remember, he was also depicted in one of the stained glasses that were placed in Canterlot castle’s throne room…
>No… you refused to accept that the purple cuck was actually a brave hero… but every single thing that you have seen proves that this hypothesis is correct… no… Noooooooooooo! THAT PURPLE LIZARD SAVED THE EMPIRE! You don’t know why, you don’t know how, but every single piece of evidence points at that…
>SCREW YOU SPIKE! YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A LITTLE CUCK!
>Before you started burning down every single banner that depicted spike the great cuck, Eris hovered to your side, speaking with an annoyed tone ”I dunno why you got so angry all of the sudden, but keep yourself together, alright dork?  I already told you that I don’t want to stay here any longer than necessary”
>You did your very best to regain your composure… Eris was right… time was essential, so after a few series of that breathing technique that Twilight taught you, you somewhat managed to quell your anger
“Yeah… yeah… I’ll get Spike another time…”
>”Spike? You mean Twilight’s pet guy? What about hi- OOOOOOOh!” Eris giggled at first… then she started laughing out loud “I see! So the little dork is jealous that Spike is famous over here! AHAHAHAHAHA! That’s rich!”
>…And just like that, your anger came back at full force… but you weren’t going to give Eris the satisfaction of seeing it
“I am not jealous of that little salamander…”
>”Hah! You can deny it all you want dork! But I know you better than almost anypony…” Eris gently placed her talon under your chin as she raised your head “you are jealous that the lil’ Spike has more recognition than the oh-so-mighty prince of harmony.”
>You slapped Eris’ talon away and walked past her… huh, why there were no guards in this hallway?
“Pffft, I mean c’mon! Why would I be jealous of that lizard? I’m intelligent, handsome and like, super good at magic! Plus, I’m a prince! Royalty can’t get jealous! Heck, I even came up the perfect plan to deal with one of the most dangerous threats in Equestria’s history while that guy is stuck in taking out Miss Rarity’s garbage! Nu-uh, there’s no way that I can be jealous of him”
>In a swift move, Eris placed herself in front of you again “And yet…” She said with a teasing smile “That guy has a fairly big statue made after him and is revered like a super hero while you, my little dork, have absolutely nothing like that.”
>A statue… made after that cuck? Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah! Eris now was lying to get on your nerves
“Oh, really? If that statue was so big, then how come that I never saw it?”
>Eris rolled her eyes and chuckled “Because you were busy watching houses and little birds and trailing off like you always do. Seriously, we even passed the statue on our way here”
>NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
“THAT IDIOT HAS A STATUE! But whyyyyyyyyy?!”
>Eris calmly shrugged ”Beats me…” she then teasingly patted your head as she wiggled her eyebrows “But I guess that mopping floors and taking out the garbage all day beats being a prince, eh dork?”
>A guard that happened to pass by approached you. Yeah… so they make patrols here or the guy was on his way for band practice?  ”Actually, the brave and glorious Spike helped a great deal in defeating King Sombra and preventing that we became his slaves again. We shall always be grateful for his heroism”
>The brave and glorious Spike? The brave and glorious Spike?! THE BRAVE AND GLORIOUS SPIKE?!
>”Is… is the prince okay? Should I call a nurse or some-“
>”He’s fine, it’s just that the little prince has been under a lot of stress lately, you know, royalty stuff and all that. Ah-ny-ways, thanks for the info, cute boy…” Eris said as she gently rubbed the guard’s cheek
>The guard blushed at Eris’ touch, but tried to hide it by giving her a military salute “I-I-It was my pleasure, madam. It is our work as guards to help everypony the best way we can!”
>”Oh, that’s soooo nice to hear…” Okay… Eris just cranked her seductive tone to 11 “Maybe we could do something later… just the two of us”
>The poor guard gulped and let out a nervous laugh “R-Really?”
>”Maybe, maybe not...” Eris calmly… and sexily shrugged “it all depends if you are willing to do me another favor, cute boy…”
>The stallion really felt for Eris’ shenanigans… who can blame him… she’s honestly THAT hot ”S-Sure! Juuust ask me anything!”
>”Oh! You like to please… I like it, tee-hee!” Eris then gently scratched the guard’s chin, making him put a goofy smile “Very well… you see, I’m in a big trouble… I’m sooooo thirsty and chaos magic water tastes just awful, soooo I was thinking if you could bring me a glass of the most pure and fresh water? Pretty please?”
>The guard nodded and stood proud as he gave Eris a military salute ”A-At your order ma’am! I’ll even make the other guards to look for it!”
>”I’ll look forward to it... and maybe you can treat me for dinner later…” …” Eris winked at the guard, whose face was now redder than a dying star
>”I-I’ll be right back!” And with that, the guard disappeared in a cloud of dust… poor guy… if only he knew that he just got scammed…
“Eris… what… was that?”
>”Oh, nothing…” Eris rolled her eyes and waved her paw dismissively “I just wanted that guy to stop bothering us, with that said…. Pffft! Ah hah hah hah! I can’t believe how easy it was to fool that nerd! But then again, how could a mere loser like him resist somepony like me…” dang… Eris can get pretty evil at times…
>”Sooooo!” Eris poked your belly and wiggled her eyebrows “The brave and glorious Spike, huh?”
>Okay you know what?! Screw this!
“You know what?! Fine! If that idiot got a statue for dusting a couple drawers, then I don’t care! I don’t care anymore! I’m still more awesome than what he could ever be!”
>Eris raised an eyebrow and gave you a sultry grin ”Tee-hee! And even with all that, you are still jealous”
“I’M NOT JEALOUS!”
>You angrily marched towards Cadence’s room… sheesh that was rich! You being jealous of that little cuck, HAH! If anything, he should be jealous for how awesome you are
>”Whatever you say, my dear “little brother” Tee-hee!” Eris giggled one last time before joining you
>After a few minutes of walking in silence, Eris finally spoke up again “Hey dork…”
“For the last time Eris, I’m not jealous of Spike…”
>”Yes, you are, but that wasn’t what I wanted to say…” Hmmm… Why was Eris speaking with that… seductive tone?
>Whatever, you better be cautious… you don’t want to fall for another one of her teases.
“Then what?”
>”I was just thinking… I don’t like the Crystal Empire, and you can lie to yourself all you want, but after seeing who their favorite hero is, it’s clear that you don’t like it either, soooo” Eris hovered above you and said with excitement “What do you say if we ditch these lame weirdos and look for Thorax on our own? I mean, with your brains and my chaos magic, it can’t possibly be that hard, right?”
“C’mon Eris, we can’t do that and you know it. It would be very stupid from our part if we go after Thorax without any kind of backup.”
>”Pfffft! Pleaaase!” Eris waved her paw in front of you in a proud manner “Reality-bending powers, remember? All I gotta do when we find that Thorax is to trace a circle with my beautiful paw and our bug fugitive will be brought to justice… CHAOS JUSTICE!”
>You slapped your face and let out a groan in annoyance
“Eris… seriously… leave the planning and scheming to me. We don’t want to harm Thorax, based on what Scrappy told me, the guy isn’t evil at all, so we must find him before the changelings do. I’m not going to turn down anyone who seeks friendship and harmony, with that said… we don’t know what’s out there, we don’t know if we will find any changeling that might be looking for him, and we don’t know if the changelings of this dimension can nullify magic like Chrysalis’ throne can, so we need all the help we can get”
>”Egh… it was just a suggestion, you know? No need to get all prince-y on me and- Hey!” Eris stopped on her tracks and pointed at a set of pink doors with a big heart engraved on the center “We finally arrived”
“Seems like it…”
>You walked towards the pink doors, but before you could knock, a familiar voice called you from the other side “No need to knock Anon, I was already expecting you…”
>You and Eris looked at each other, completely surprised by that perfect timing… but ultimately both shrugged it off and stepped into the room.
>And holy crackers! The room was huuuuge! The walls were the same as the rest of the castle, but this crimson carpet was so thick and comfortable that you just wanted to take a nap on it. And to add to this, every single piece of furniture in the room had this vintage style while being super classy and elegant at the same time, just like you like them.
>And dude, it had a balcony too! Why does everyone has a balcony except for you? It honestly made you a little jealous, especially because this one had such a fantastic view of the Crystal Empire and the mountains that surrounded it… you only had a view to the royal guard’s training grounds…
> And comfortably resting on a bench in the balcony drinking some tea as she enjoyed the view, was your cousin Cadance who when she saw you, couldn’t help but to smile and wave at you to come closer “Hi there Anon, I’m so happy to see you again, why don’t you come here and tell what did you think of the Crystal Empire?”
>Of course, you didn’t need more. You immediately ran to meet her
“Cadence! Cadence! This place is beautiful! I can’t believe that the whole empire is made out of crystals! I was like, WOW! But then I saw the crystal heart and felt all sorts of warm and fuzzy feelings when I touched it. B-But tell me, how have you been? How is my niece doing? And… ehhh… how did you know that I was about to knock on the door?”
>”Woah! That’s a lot of questions” Cadence giggled, she didn’t get up of course, she can’t move much right now, but nonetheless, she stretched her right front leg booped your muzzle “I’m really happy that you like the empire, and given what your cutie mark entails and how much love there’s inside you, I just knew that you would have a special bond with the crystal heart. As for your questions…”
>Cadence looked at her belly with a motherly smile and said with a soft voice “Me and the baby are doing great, and just be patient, it won’t take much longer for you to meet her” Cadence closed her eyes a happy smile was drawn on her face “I’m so sure that the two of you will be great friends and I also know in my heart that you will be a great big brother to her…”
>You giggled as Cadence gently rustled your mane with her hoof… wait… she just said that you have a lot of love inside you… and if you remember correctly, Cadence can sense the love that emanates from every single pony
“So, is that how you knew that I was there? You sensed the love that I have?”
>”Yup! And let me tell you Anon, you have so much love inside your little body that I actually knew that you had arrived since before you entered the castle grounds, which… actually brings us to our next topic…” Cadence sighed, her expression becoming sad and grim
“The changelings, right? C’mon Cadence, there’s no need to be so depressed about it. I swear that we are gonna beat them so hard and so efficiently that they won’t even know what happened”
>With an awry smile on her face, Cadence slowly nodded “Yeah… I hope, it’s just that… I wish that I could see my family when Equestria is safe from any danger…”
>Before you could say anything, Eris popped up in front of you and Cadence ”Hah! As the dork said, there’s no need for you to ruin that pretty face, there’s no way that those guys can stand a chance against my chaos magic…” she then gave a reassuring smile to Cadence “And after we deal with our infestation problem, we are throwing a party for the ages!”
>Cadence raised an eyebrow and looked at Eris with a subtle hint of smugness “Ah, so you must be Discord’s daughter… Eris, right?”
>”In the flesh!” Eris nodded proudly
>”I have heard lot about you, and based on Twilight’s and Princess Celestia’s letters, you share your father’s passion for chaos”
>”Of course I do! Chaos is my game!”
>”Well, I also know that you and Twilight aren’t on the best terms, buuuut” Cadence looked at every direction before whispering “Don’t tell this to anypony, but that prank that you did last month, you know… the one with the pies and Twilight’s books… I still laugh from time to time when I think about that…”
>”Oh?” Eris leaned closer to Cadence, seems like your cousin already got Eris’ curiosity “Reaaaally?”
>”Mmhm!” Cadence nodded and leaned a bit forward “And I also knew that you were supposed to be very beautiful, but now that I finally met you, I gotta admit… I just LOVE your mane style! What do you do to keep it like that? You just have to tell me your secret!”
>”You know…” a toothy grin was drawn in Eris’ face “I think that you and I are going to get along, juuuuust fine!”