Twilight and the Spartan Stallion
Part 22: Spartan Shield vs. Shining Armor

The wooing of Twilight Sparkle took several months, but Spartan was dedicated. The first snow had fallen on Ponyville by the time we catch up to our pair again. Over the weeks, Twilight and Spartan had composed a book together, ‘Greek and Roman Era Canterlot-- A History.’

Twilight was smudged with bits of ink here and there as she examined the book back and forth. Was her hoof-writing perfect? Was the index correct? Did all of the drawings match the footnotes and match the subheadings to the chapters? Was the maroon color maroon enough? She fretted over the master copy they’d spent ages putting together. Spartan’s knowledge of old Canterlot had conjured maps, facts, figures, and even drawings of landmarks. It was a simply beautiful little tome, full of knowledge to share with anypony that looked upon it. “Spartan, I think…” she trailed off, squinting at a page. She was unsure.

“Yes, it is done now, beloved.” He told her firmly, closing the book with a firm hoof. “We may send it to her Shining Immortal Majesty for any corrections on her part,” he paused with a bemused smile. “Then off to the publisher’s with her blessing.” Twilight giggled when he nuzzled her cheek with the roughness of his unshaven cheek. He was a grizzled thing when he forgot to shave. The purple mare nodded, heaving a great sigh and turning about. “Spike!” Spartan Shield called.

“Yeah?” Spike turned from his place on a high ladder where he’d been shelving books.

“We need to send this to Princess Celestia.” He said rather politely, though his voice was still big. “Dost thou mind?” he gestured to it with his hoof.

“A whole book?” Spike flushed just a little, happy at their faith in his skills for sending objects by dragon fire. “Sure thing!” he clambered down and came over, taking it into his claws. Stepping back a little, he heaved a great big breath. Fwoosh! The book burst into ash and then vanished into nothing in a flash of green flame. The cloud of sparkling magic rushed out the window and towards Canterlot. “There y’go!” he said. Spartan nodded his thanks, smiling. Twilight leaned and pecked the top of the baby dragon’s head appreciatively. Spike looked up at Spartan, hoping for praise.

“Thou shalt get no kisses from me.” Spartan said quite seriously. “Twilight hath sworn me to monogamy.” The quick up-turn of his lips said he was joking, but Twilight gave his shoulder a shove.

“What’s monogomy, Twilight?” Spike asked Twilight curiously, looking over at her.

“N-nothing you need to worry about, Spike!” Twilight said quickly, smiling in a nervous way. Spike shrugged, going back to his piles of re-shelving that he had to do. “Oh hey, they should be here soon, I’m going to go get cleaned up.” The unicorn turned and started up the stairs to the bathroom to scrub.

Spartan Shield watched her go, smiling, then turned with a frown to face the front door. They were coming indeed. He did not like it. He did not especially want them here, either. If there were any ponies to challenge his conquest of Twilight Sparkle’s heart, it would be they. He did not like it one bit. Squaring his shoulders and reporting to the bedroom, he donned his chest plate, cape-scarf, and wrappings. Slinging his shield upon his back—he left the spear in the closet. Surely a token gesture was due, since they were coming to be guests. A shield was a less obvious weapon anyway. Not that it comforted him at all, given who was coming. He went back downstairs, nodding to Spike and resting in front of the fireplace. Intense study and polishing the now-complete book had really taken it out of him, mentally. Now this new challenge was coming to his doorstep.

Some ten or fifteen minutes later, there were approaching voices and a knock at the door. Spartan perked his ears, slowly standing. Spike made to climb down his ladder and fetch the door, but the Spartan Stallion stopped him, “Allow me, Spike. I’ll get it.” He said in a serious way. Spike shrugged, returning to his works by gently pushing a thin book into its perfect place. The big-chested stallion stood before the door, glowering at it. Putting on the most neutral and care-free expression he could, he opened the door at last.

“Oh wow, this must be him! Hello there!” Princess Cadence, Shining Armor at her side, stood on the stoop. They were dressed in thick winter wear, huffing steam in the icy cold. “Can we come in? It’s freezing!”

“Er, yes.” He said a little uncomfortably, standing aside. “Welcome.” Spartan shut the door after both ponies had come in. His eyes jumped straight to Shining Armor as they started pulling their coats off, sizing him up. He was decently muscled. A military pony and Captain of the Royal Guard, according to Twilight. Spartan had the very real sense that he was looking at the modern day equivalent of himself. Which, technically, he was. Spartan had been the leader of the Spartan Stallions, who defended Canterlot to the last in his era. Shining Armor was the Captain of the Royal Guard, the leader of the current defense force for the same city. He was white, a shield on his flank, and had a dark streaked-blue mane. His face was pleasant, but broad and virile. As far as looks went, Spartan approved.

“You must be Spartan Shield. Twilight’s told me so much about you in her letters!” Shining Armor said, helping his wife out of the last layer of her winter wear.

“Yes, I am.” The stallion said, turning to the mare now. “Tiz true then. Thou really art a third alicorn.” He’d taken immediately to looking at Princess Cadence now. He leaned very, uncomfortably close and studied her wings. “Are they real, though…?” he mumbled his thoughts, scratching his chin.

Smiling and prepared (thanks to Twilight’s detailed letters) for inspection, Cadance flapped her wings a few times. She lifted off the ground, much to his open-mouthed awe, then landed again. As though to answer his future question, she magicked her scarf from her husband’s hooves to a waiting peg on the wall. There was silence. The husband and wife gave Spartan time to process this. Twilight had sent them some very long, detailed letters telling of how… enthusiastic, Spartan could be when he ran into something that shocked or surprised him. She’d done her best to prepare him for Cadance, but meeting her in person would be a trial for him. There had only ever been two alicorns in all the world in his era. The fact that a third one had popped up so recently was yet another culture shock.

“Twilight Sparkle says thou art a Princess of love?” Spartan said, guiding them to the hearth to warm themselves. Cadance nodded politely. This was going better than she thought. “And thy husband, Twilight’s brother, is thy thrall?” he gestured mildly to the stallion.

Cadance’s face flushed dark, “No! No of course not!”

“What’s a thrall?” Spike asked, coming down to greet their visitors.

“A love zombie. It’s what happens when you force somepony to love you.” Shining Armor said a little angrily. “And no, I’m not a thrall. We’re in love for real.” His eyes narrowed at Spartan Shield a little, lidding in great disapproval at his brazen insult to his lover.

Spartan’s mouth made a little o-shape. “Oh, I see.” He really did want to understand. Twilight had described Cadance’s powers as ‘helping ponies fall in love’, and he’d equivocated it to her creating thralls to do her bidding and warm her bed. He wasn’t sure how Twilight was so calm about her brother being a ‘love zombie’, but he hadn’t questioned it. Perhaps it was something modern, to give one’s brother away as tribute? He’d decided to wait and find out for himself. “Forgive my assumptions.” He said genuinely, cocking his head and clambering up onto a couch. It wasn’t quite symposium, but they would make do and visit.

Cadance and Shining armor sat on a cushy love seat. They looked at each other, coaching one another for patience and cultural understanding. “Er… so you and Twily, huh?” Shining Armor asked, getting right to the point.

“Yes.” Spartan braced a little as he spoke. He knew this part would be coming. Of course big brother would appear to size up the stallion his sister had chosen. Or rather, the one that had chosen her. In Spartan tradition, the father or brother could end a courting pair they did not approve of. He had to impress Shining Armor if he was to continue wooing Twilight Sparkle. He swallowed once, scowling in concentration. “I received Her Shining Immor… Princess Celestia’s blessing to woo her. Perhaps I will receive yours too?” he asked.

Shining Armor was genuinely surprised by this. Cadance looked between the armored stallion and her husband. “Erm, I’m going to go find Twilight. I think I hear her upstairs.” The alicorn rose daintily, smiling politely as she folded her wings and made for the library stairs. “Twili-iiight!” she made a show of calling as she did so. She glanced nervously over her shoulder. The boys clearly needed time to check each other out and sniff each other’s proverbial butts, so she would give it to them. It was only healthy. Shining Armor was very protective of his little sister.

When Cadance was gone, finally there could be stallion-talk. Both of them were military stallions it was easy to see, so Shining Armor could get right to the point. “So what’re your intentions with my little Twily, huh?” he said, dead-serious.

“Intentions?" Spartan blinked a few times. "I intend to woo her, marry her, then have her bear our foals if she wants them.” Spartan was so blunt and forward with his answer that Shining Armor briefly lost track of his eyebrows. The two stallions stared at each other for a long time in silence. Spartan clearly expected more questions, and was blinking at him a little curiously.

“Ugh, I, erm…” Shining Armor face-hoof’d a little, trying not to think about being an uncle just yet. “I mean, erm, how will you support her, huh? You’re not a soldier anymore, right?” he moved quickly to the next big topic. He wouldn’t let Twilight get swept away by some jobless nopony, either.

“I have amassed a fortune in bits, selling off my spare armor, coins, and wrappings to the Canterlot Museum.” Spartan said easily. “And when that money runs out, we have the book that Twilight and I created about ancient Canterlot.” He paused for a moment, then added, “And when that money also runs out, I have a job at Sweet Apple Acres right now to support our house.”

“Doing what?” Shining wanted to know.

“Breaking down dead trees and planting new ones.” Spartan Shield said. (The irony struck him later that he planted trees with love, as the oracle had foretold to him ages ago.)

“Ah.” Shining Armor nodded, rubbing his chin. So, he was financially okay for Twilight at least. That was a healthy sign, if he really was that adaptive and was already working anyway. He didn’t want his sister to end up supporting some lazy retiree, from the distant past era or not.

“Come, let us reason together.” Spartan said, standing and putting another log in the fireplace. He turned, gesturing with a hoof. “Thy worries are justified, but what doth really be on thy mind?”

“I just wanna make sure you’re right for my little Twily.” Shining Armor said very seriously.

“If I understand things correctly, thou and I are roughly the same pony. Just a thousand years apart.” Spartan Shield gestured, then explained about the Spartan Stallions and the current Royal Guard. Shining listened carefully, nodding slowly as he spoke. Both of them, in different eras, held roughly the same station. “Therefore,” Spartan finished. “Thou and I art interchangeable when it comes to providing or protecting dearest Twilight.” He nodded vaguely to the bedroom door, which was cracked open only slightly. “Dost thou agree?”

“I guess so…” Shining Armor said, a little taken aback by the excellent logic. He wasn’t sure if he liked Spartan Shield or not. He seemed a little too prepared to be grilled like this. It unsettled him just a bit. There was a long silence. “So… what kind of name is Spartan Shield, huh?” he said just a little bit playfully.

“A better name than thine.” The stallion stuck his tongue out rather foalishly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Shining Armor snorted, cocking an eyebrow.

“Armor only shines when it’s not been used at all. Battle virgin.” Spartan Shield shifted the conversation to a playful banter of insults Ohh, it was so on.

=-----=-----=-----=-----=

By the time Twilight and Cadance emerged from the upstairs and Spike from the kitchen with cocoa for everypony, Shining Armor and Spartan Shield had each other in a furious headlock. “Give up! I’l just choke you out!” Shining said with a brotherly smirk.

“No, thou!” Spartan said. They weren’t wrestling, exactly, he’d learned not to do that, but—it was a friendly sort of love/hate exchange of strength. Their conversation had turned more and more enthusiastic, until Spartan had hit his nose on a pink bubble of Shining’s shield spell. Then, it was on. After the shield came down, they’d hoof-wrestled, called each other terrible names, compared Cadance and Twilight to various beautiful things, and then tried to choke each other out. Why? Stallion bonding. It transcended time and culture.

“No you!”

“No, thou!”

“No you!”

“No, thou!”

“What’re they doing?” Spike groaned, setting the tray down.

“Bonding.” Twilight said with a pained smile. This had turned out better than she’d hoped. Spartan hadn’t tackled Shining Armor into the fireplace, like scenario 13. Also, Shining hadn’t encased Spartan in one of his shield spheres until he blew his stack, like scenario 19. It turned out to be scenario 7 in Twilight’s predictions of what would happen when the two of them met. Brotherly violence and friendship, excellent bonding rituals.

“Shining,” Cadance said gently, pulling her husband along by the shoulder. She steered him back to the couch, and everypony enjoyed some of Spike’s hot cocoa with marshmallows in it. Both stallions were panting a bit from their efforts, but both seemed in high spirits. Spartan knew his mission was accomplished.

They visited for several hours until dusk was beginning to set in around four in the evening. Spartan was cross-examined a bit more by Shining, but nothing too serious. Twilight could see what he was doing, but she and Cadance knew that was just what stallions did. They both cared about her very much, so they let the two of them converse deeply about this and that.

In the end, though, it was time for the guests to depart.“Welp, we better go. It’s gonna be dark by the time we get home, hun.” Shining Armor smiled affectionately at his wife. “And we can’t stay here all night, I don’t think.” He chuckled. Spartan Shield smiled, nodding a bit and rising to see them to the door.

“Thanks for coming by to visit, big brother.” Twilight reared up so she could hug the tall stallion properly. They nuzzled as loving siblings sometimes do, smiling broadly.

Princess Cadance and Spartan stared at each other a little awkwardly, but eventually he bent into a cautious and shallow bow. “Princess.” He said in his low bronze bell voice. She smiled genuinely, nodding her head and tapping his with her horn. Alicorn magic flowed into him, blessing him with love magic. He shuddered pleasantly. Good luck would follow him around for the next few days, thanks to her.

“Bye for now!” Cadance said, giggling as she turned to go. Shining followed her out when he’d donne his woolen hat to keep his ears warm.

“Worry not, Shining Armor!” Spartan Shield shouted from the doorway. “I shalt take good care of thy sister Twilight Sparkle!” he waved as they were away into the dusky winter night. A carriage with two solar guards was waiting for them. Shining looked over his shoulder and smiled a little.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Twilight said, elbowing him a little.

“We shalt call you with our wedding plans when they arise!” Spartan was still waving as Cadance disappeared into the carriage with a smile. Shining flinched a little, but smiled rather forcefully at the Spartan Stallion. “And worry not for any future foals!” Spartan was belting at the top of his lungs by now.

“Spartan!” Twilight yelped in embarrassment, roughly putting a hoof over his mouth. “Don’t shout stuff like that!” The purple mare was flushed into a lovely shade of scarlet. Shining Armor chuckled a little embarrassedly for his sister.

“SHE HAS EXCELLENT FOAL-BEARING HIPS! I KNOW THIS! I HAVE FELT THEM!” Spartan was announcing this to all of Ponyville now, for Shining Armor had retreated into the carriage before he burst into embarrassed laughter.

“Shut up!” Twilight had him in a headlock now, eyes bugging wildly out of her head.

“PERHAPS VISIT FOR THE BIRTHING!” Spartan roared, already laughing merrily in his mischief. He’d already riled Twilight up, and he loved to prod at her like this when she hit that embarrassed angry sort of mood. It was adorable.

“By Celestia’s TEATS, shut the buck uuuup!” Twilight was dragging the sand-colored stallion, who was roaring with laughter, back into the library. She slammed the door and Spartan hugged her, shaking with uproarious laughter. “I will choke you so hard, Spartan!” she threatened, red-faced as she was tackling the laughing stallion. She was laughing too by the time they hit the floor, though.

THE END