Your job wasn’t glamorous — running messages between Canterlot and the Crystal Empire, often in weather that made flight goggles useless and saddlebags feel like anvils. But you were fast, reliable, and you never lost a letter.

The first time you arrived in the Crystal Empire dripping snow, Cadence insisted on bringing you inside to warm up. Just a normal kindness.

But after the third or fourth visit, she began greeting you before the guards even announced you. She asked if you were eating well during training. If the Canterlot barracks were treating you fairly. If you were getting enough rest between runs.

You told her she didn’t need to worry.

“I know,” she said, “but I want to.”

Soon, the guards knew your usual arrival time. Shining Armor started waving you over to check the sports page with him. Palace staff saved extra pastries “in case the messenger shows up early.”

You weren’t royal staff. Weren’t a guard yet. But somehow you’d become part of the castle’s heartbeat — the familiar face Cadence always brightened at when you stepped through the door.