Shining Armor walked out of the mess hall. He had had to put up with Spitfire a full day so far and he was ready to pull every hair of his tail out. How would he survive a northern excursion?

"Hey! Wait up!"

Shining groaned inwardly as he stopped, allowing Spitfire to catch up. She trotted up to his side and they began walking towards the castle.

Spitfire smiled as she admired the spires of the castle. "Nice place isn't it? But it can't compare to a nice comfy cloud."

Shining glanced at her. "A comfy cloud?"

Spitfire chuckled. "Right. Unicorn. Trust me on this one. Whatever four poster bed Celestia sleeps in can't be nearly as comfortable as a fresh, white cloud. If you ever get the chance, take a nap on one. You won't regret it."

Shining smiled. This was the first time that Spitfire had something that wasn't annoying. He pictured himself lying on a cloud, napping. Could it really be that good?

A crash jolted Shining back to reality. The two ponies were stopped in front of the main office of the Guard. Shining turned towards the building. "What the hay?"

The office door opened as a pegasus backed out. "Sorry about that. I'll go find my bunk." The pegasus took off running and didn't look back.

Shining and Spitfire stared after the stallion. Shining shook his head. "Rookies."

Spitfire continued watching the pegasus. "He sure is cute though."

Shining rolled his eyes. "Do you have to hit on every stallion you see?"

Shining led the way into the office to see what had happened. What they found was a flood of paper covering the floor. An officer was slowly gathering the papers, sorting them as he went.

He looked up at Shining and Spitfire. "You can start by picking up that half of the-" The stallion paused as he spotted the insignia on Shining's uniform. "Oh...sorry lieutenant."

Shining smiled. "It's okay. What happened in here?"

The officer motioned around the room. "That clumsy pegasus. He's a new recruit and came in for his assignment. Next thing I know, the file cabinets have toppled over and my alphabetic system is in shambles."

Shining looked to Spitfire and nodded to the floor. They both began to pick up papers and hand them to the other officer for sorting. Shining was picking up around the desk when he noticed a folder sitting open. The picture clipped to the front of the file told him it was the same pegasus he had seen only minutes ago. He paused in his cleanup and read the front page.

NAME: Soarin

GENDER: Stallion (Pegasus)

NOTES: Third Application for Basic. Average intelligence. WP: 13.4

Shining didn't bother with the rest as it went into medical history and other nonsense that he could care less about. He looked over to Spitfire. "Hey. Come look at this." Spitfire put her pile of papers down and walked over to the desk. Shining pointed down at the file and she looked it over.

She let out a low whistle. "Third time trying for Basic? This stallion's crazy. Cute, but crazy."

Shining pointed to the notes. "13.4 wing power. He must be pretty fast." Spitfire nodded in agreement. At this point, shining had a thought. It was insane, but he had a good feeling about it. "Come on." They exited the office, paying no mind to the remaining officer. The officer hadn't even noticed them as he was so engulfed in his special system.

Shining led Spitfire back across the post. Spitfire sighed. "Where are we going?"

Shining looked at her and grinned. "To see your crush, Soarin." The look Spitfire gave him made him laugh.

Spitfire shook her head. "Why are we going to see the klutz?"

Shining continued to smile. "I think he might be good for our mission."

That made Spitfire stop in her tracks. "What?! Did you hit your head back in the office?"

Shining stopped and looked back at her. "I've got a good feeling about him. Besides, I am not going on a mission with nothing but mares."

Spitfire glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Shining rolled his eyes. "If it was just me and the princess, that would be fine. If it was me, the princess, and you, my sanity would hang by a thread. If it were me and three mares, I'll go crazy."

Spitfire muttered under her breath. "Sexist."

Shining slammed a hoof on the ground. "I am not! I've just been around too many silly mares in the past. I joined the Guard to serve my country and get away from distractions for a while."

Spitfire huffed a sigh and began walking. She paused next to Shining and looked at him. He did his best to ignore her flirtatious gaze. She smiled. "Don't tempt me Shining. I might take it as a challenge to break you." She winked and trotted off towards the barracks. Shining grimaced and turned to follow her.

They arrived at the barracks to find Soarin unpacking a small bag. Shining cleared his throat. Soarin looked up and stared wide-eyed at Shining and Spitfire. He straightened up and saluted. "Sorry. I didn't notice you there."

Shining saluted back while Spitfire gave off the sexiest smile she could. Soarin debated between standing at ease and melting like putty. "Can...can I do something with you...FOR YOU! That's what I meant. For you. Not with you. I wouldn't even no what to do with you-"

Shining held up a hoof and Soarin closed his mouth. Shining approached the stallion and held out a hoof. "Lieutenant Shining Armor. That's Lieutenant Spitfire."

Soarin looked at Spitfire again. "I knew I recognized you from somewhere! You're one of the best fliers for the Wonderbolts."

Spitfire smiled again. "I see my reputation follows me everywhere. You heard that, right Armor? One of the best?"

Shining sighed and turned Soarin's eyes away from the mare. "I'd like to see what you can do. Why don't you follow us to the training field."

Soarin looked surprised. "Okay."

Shining led the way to the training field. He made sure that he was walking between Soarin and Spitfire. When they arrived, Shining ordered Soarin to perform some basic maneuvers. Soarin began to go though the motions. It was apparent that he had gone through some training before. Spitfire asked him to show off his flight skills and Soarin obliged with a grin. Shining watched as the pegasus flew through the air with the grace of a bluebird and the speed of a hawk.

Spitfire glanced at Shining and nodded her approval. "Not bad. Could use some work, but still."

Shining nodded and called Soarin back. Soarin landed in front of them and shook out his wings.

Shining sat down. "This is your third time trying for the Royal Guard. Why?"

Soarin lowered his head in embarrassment. Spitfire put a hoof on his shoulder and he looked up. "I just want to be important, you know? I've done nothing with my life so far. I just thought I might be able to make something of myself in the Guard. But I never made it past day one because..."

Soarin trailed off and Spitfire patted his shoulder. "Because you're clumsy?"

Shining glared at her, but Soarin nodded. "Yeah. My hooves are used to clouds, not earth."

Shining smiled and stood up. "Soarin, I'd like to give you a chance to show you're Guard material. We've been looking for a third member of an escort for Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. How would you like to join us?"

Soarin's jaw dropped. "Me?! Escort a princess? I couldn't!"

Spitfire smiled. "We need the extra hooves and we can train you along the way."

Spitfire glanced at Shining and he nodded his approval. Perhaps all Soarin needed was a different approach to his training.

Soarin stood up straight and nodded. "If you think I'm good enough, I'll do it."

Shining shook his hoof. "Then lets go and introduce the princess to her new escort."

Next Chapter: The Princess Estimated time remaining: 11 Minutes