>>34784779
>You are Lieutenant  Noble Cause.
>You volunteered for guard duty again today.
>Your superior officer was surprised the first few times you volunteered for extra work, but she stopped being surprised after a few weeks.
>If there's an extra shift to take, you usually go for it.
>Your one true cause is the defense of others, and it's a duty you take very seriously.
>Shining Armour is an inspiration to you and to all guard-colts everywhere, and you have a poster of him in your personal quarters.
>[spoiler]On the ceiling right above your bed.[/spoiler]
>It's not gay, though.
>You just want to see the representation of who you are and what you should aspire to when you wake up and when you go to bed at night.
>It's a reminder that you're just as good as a mare, no matter what society tells you.
>That even a lowly Lieutenant like you can make a difference, if he just tries hard enough.
>Today is Hearts and Hooves day.
>You almost forgot.
>But just because ponies are out there enjoying each other on this holiday, doesn't mean that evil will take the day off.
>So, like you said; you volunteered for guard duty.
>You overheard some of the other guard-colts talking about their plans.
>They've long since booked the day off, and they're all going to do something suitably romantic and mushy and it's going to be the only thing they talk about for WEEKS.
>You know you're an odd colt.
>You never really liked that colty stuff.
>You took after your mom more than you took after your dad.
>You were always roughhousing with the fillies when you were a colt, and you hated hanging out with the other colts.
>You'd call yourself a janefilly, but you're too boring for that.
>Janefillies hang out with their female friends and they're just one of the gals, but you don't really have that many friends outisde the guard to speak of.
>You kind of put ponies off, and you don't really meet the sort of expectations that mares are looking for.
>And you're okay with that.
>Despite what a shameful part of you secretly hoped for, you didn't expect a mare to ask you out for a date on Hearts and Hooves day, so you didn't bother booking it off.
>Despite knowing full well that you wouldn't find any notes from a 'secret admirer' slipped into your locker, or maybe a bouquet of flowers waiting for you outside your sleeping quarters, you still felt antsy about today.
>You hate how disappointed you felt when you reached your post, and it was just another day for you.
>And so here you are, standing guard on the look out for ne'er-do-wells.
>You don't move an inch as pairs and groups of special someponies walk around, playfully chasing and nuzzling each other.
>Morning turns to day.
>Day turns to evening.
>You don't normally feel lonely, but on a day that's meant to celebrate together-ness, you can't help but feel extra-alone right now.
>It's silly...
>Maybe it's the purely stallion part of you that dad encouraged; probably the one colty thing he managed to bring out in you.
>But deep down, you sort of hoped that maybe there was a mare out there for you, and today would be the day she acted on her feelings for you.
>It's stupid.
>It's embarrassing.
>It's downright foalish.
>It's not happening, but you can't help but feel disappointment creeping up your chest, making you blush with shame.
>Just a dumb colt's fantasy.
>Look at you: a Lieutenant who fantasizes about his knight in shining armour to sweep him off his hooves.
>As soon as your shift is over, you're going to go home and crack open a cold cider.
>Then, you're going to think about your patrol duty for tomorr-
>"Noble Cause?"
>Your ears perk up, and your head snaps back up into proper position.
>You didn't even realize you had let it droop.
>Your long-time partner and good friend, Brazen Shield, is flying towards you.
>And in her mouth is a-
>?!?!?
>You feel a blush spread on your cheeks, but it's not out of shame.
>In Brazen Shield's mouth is a rose.
>This can't be for you.
>You feel hope and disbelief wage war against each other.
>Disbelief is backed by experience and a cold sense of realism.
>But Hope has your own stupid nativity fueling it, and that's a damn powerful force.
>You settle on "cautiously optimistic" and leave it at that.
>Like any pony who regularly has to manipulate her environment with her mouth, she's learned to talk around the rose caught between her lips.
>"Your shift ended half an hour ago.  I was wondering if you wanted to maybe..."
>Now, you're not the only pony who's blushing.
>"...go get something to eat?  It's late, so there's bound to be a few restaurants that will have a table for two open."
>You are Noble Cause, and you are a guard.
>You've spent hours being trained not to react, even if a foal is jumping in your face specifically to get a reaction.
>But even now, you can't do anything to stop the shy smile that's worming its way across your lips.
"I.... I'd like that."
>Maybe not being so colty isn't a death sentence for your love life after all.