• Member Since 9th May, 2013
  • offline last seen Aug 12th, 2023

HoofAndQuill


E

Shining Armor was proud of his little sister and her accomplishments. Her coronation day was nothing short of spectacular, but it only served to remind him that he would never be able to keep up.

Princess Twilight was amazing, and nothing he could ever do could ever compare.

Chapters (1)
Comments ( 36 )

Shining? Jealous... nah. Though a wonderful juxtaposition with Luna's own feelings.

As for the Savoir of the Crystal Empire part. Keep in mind Twilight didn't save the Empire. In the end it was a combination of Spike, Shining, and Cadence's efforts which saved the Crystal Heart. He also now a Prince. That is not a bad place to end up.

Also, the Mane6 may have beaten the first wave of Changelings but were captured by the second.

I don't see Shining being jealous. But - assuming jealousy ever does take hold - I can certainly see the recognition in Princess Luna's eyes. Besides, he's family so I'm sure he's got other benefits coming like what Seether00 said.

Interesting juxtaposition between Shining and Luna! I think in his waking hours, Shining would remember that Twilight didn't get where she is by accident, but by ridiculous amounts of study. She trained just as hard as he did, probably harder, just in a different way.

2662549
To be fair, Twilight did 90% of the work in recovering the crystal heart. Spike deserves kudos for stepping up when needed, and Shining and Cadance deserve a great deal of credit for holding back Sombra as long as they could and rescuing Spike, and then the Crystal Ponies themselves delivered the final blow. Those involved would know that Twilight deserves a major amount of the credit privately, even if others were made the heroes publicly.

This feels like the prologue to a bigger story. Is it really meant to be Complete?

2662549
Shining Armor's the husband of a princess, the brother of another princess and the royal guard of two more princesses.
If Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle become royalty in Season 4, I called it. :rainbowwild:

2662549
The horrible thing about jealousy, is that it can go back and recolor memories to prove itself right. Just because the public story says they all helped, he knows that they would have been able to do nothing if not for Twilight, and that's even before the mental poisoning can start.

Interesting, makes a certain amount of sense as to how this could be affecting Shining, and the inclusion of Luna brings up a great comparison. I assume that was Luna performing her own particular royal duties and not just a random difference?

Interesting little read. Could have been longer, would like to see Shining talk about this with someone.

Still , liked it.

Next time, Shiny, roll a mage!

Just kidding. This was really well done, with the tie-in to Luna. :pinkiehappy:

Sequel with Shining, feeling even more jealous of Twilight and feeling mortified, since Cadance is immortal he will die when of old age... he gets into contact with a dark entity becoming an alicorn but losing his will gradually (like the Venom in Spider Man)

2662549

He may be a prince, but has Shining ever actually done anything in that role? For that matter is he actually a prince even taking his marriage into consideration? The last time we saw him he was...well, playing little league coach or something during Games Ponies Play, while Cadence is the only one being regarded as actual royalty. The implications of that are STAGGERING.

2698735

Not exactly the way the Symbiote works, but close enough, I guess.

2699393

Well Miss Peach Bottom did refer to him as a Prince and Blueblood is a Prince through some sort of implied relation to Celestia.

Keep in mind Shining was coaching the Empire's Olympic team so that does sound important.

But on the other hand Equestria is kinda implied to be a Matriarchy.

2699762

Or the equivalent to an olympic team, I guess. But again, remember this is a guy who is supposed to have been the captain of the equestrian royal guard. Even though he's coaching a sports team for a major sporting event, that's still a considerable downgrade. And just because someone is called a prince doesn't mean he's actually treated that way. Shining Armor has done nothing of any true value in the long run that he can call his own. The whole thing with Sombra has him losing his horn and not really doing anything to stop him, and sure he fastballed Cadence to the Crystal Heart, but he did nothing besides that.

I really enjoyed this one-shot, far too many people try down-playing the unfortunate implications of various scenes and try to paint characters as saints, the truth is that anyone can become jealous, better people than Shining Armor have felt inconsolable jealousy and even envy at far less than this. I love the comparison of Shining and Luna, each overshadowed by their respective sibling despite their own accomplishments, it felt very... right, and better than that it felt human. I can't help but feel bad for Shining Armor though, consider his age and rank, his talent must be incredible, his dedication immense, and his work ethic downright Puritanical, but in the end he still gets overshadowed by his miracle of a little sister (and she is a miracle, mind-numbing amounts of raw power, endless potential, exceptional talent, a genius-level intellect, I could go on about how she pretty much won the genetic lottery); it's not that I think he isn't grateful for what he has, who wouldn't be in his position? The problem, I think, is that he could have so much more, but he can't, and he won't, and he knows that, he lives with it every single day.

2700042
I agree with most of what you're saying but you make it sound like Twilight just got lucky a bunch of times, which is kinda bullocks.

All those great qualities that Twilight has wouldn't be worth much of anything unless she knew how to use them, meaning training. She's proved her dedication countless times and her work ethic has always been seen as too much most of the time.

I'm not saying you're wrong to say she was born with such things, it's just wrong to assume that means it was easy for her.

2700042>>2702753 And furthermore, Shining seems relatively psychologically stable. Twilight is very severely mentally ill, no matter which way it is sliced. That takes a giant chunk out of anyone's quality of life, no matter how talented they are otherwise.

2702926
.......yeah, maybe you should yourself checked out my friend. Twilight isn't mentally unstable, she had one episode of craziness in Lesson Zero and I don't think it's coincidence that it happened after the whole mess with Discord.

Twilight just doesn't deal with stress well, at all.

2702938 Me? Why? All I mentioned was that Twilight is severely mentally ill. She is.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Textbook case.

2702951
Okay, after a quick look on Wiki, I can agree with you that these two instances make it seem that way.

There's a problem with this though, it's only these two instances.

I don't remember seeing any other symptoms throughout the show. Let's take a look at something from wiki shall we?

Symptoms of the disorder include excessive washing or cleaning; repeated checking; extreme hoarding; preoccupation with sexual, violent or religious thoughts; relationship-related obsessions; aversion to particular numbers; and nervous rituals, such as opening and closing a door a certain number of times before entering or leaving a room.

Repeated checking maybe, and she is somewhat obsessed with Celestia. Celestia is something of a security blanket though, she stopped Twilight's powers from going berserk at least once.

For the whole monitoring everything thing, how often do you get a future version of yourself popping out of nowhere into your house, trying to warn you of an impending disaster while looking like she just went through the Apocalypse.

And then Cerberus! Out of bloody nowhere. You might become a little crazy too.

As for the whole Lesson Zero thing, I think the effects on Discords mind control might have left a mark.

TL,DR Twilight might be a little cookoo at times, but I don't think she can be fairly described as severely mentally ill.

2703053 Firstly, Knight Of Cerebus is a name for a type of character on TV Tropes. Not Cerberus. I do know how to spell, thanks :twistnerd:. Secondly, my online name is not a viable way to gauge my own mental stability, thanks. I could name myself Stanist666 and it wouldn't be an indicator of anything except a very poor understanding of religion and language.

Secondly, her symptoms show up constantly throughout the show. Her one-track mind, her need to hyperanalyze, her desire for order and symmetry count towards the symptoms as well. Asociality and desire to avoid others is also a common symptom. We see other instances of her disorder getting the better of her in Swarm Of The Century, A Canterlot Wedding and The Crystal Empire. While I agree with you Discord had a hand in her most spectacular snap, it is far from the only.

As to what Wikipedia says, the obsessional thoughts are never apparent on the surface. They manifest themselves through compulsions (irrational behaviours, like needing pots of ink to be in an even line or the distribution of cupcake icing to be equal between all of them) and triggers (certain things which cause an unusually extreme emotional response in the sufferer (like Princess Celestia in general, disappointing her friends, being excluded and displaying her magic).

Not to mention the actors and writers themselves have stated she's an OCD.

Like I say, she's probably the most realistically portrayed case of OCD in Western television, and unlike most OCDs, she's portrayed as an inspirational and positive character. This trend is followed by Rarity, a confirmed histrionic; Fluttershy, who shows signs of an anxiety disorder; and Pinkie, who despite being denied as such being by the creators is still blatantly written as a bipolar.

TL;DR I know my shit about this stuff and I like to over analyse little girls' shows when the characters interest me :twilightblush:

I have to agree with both of you on that, it's more than just luck that allowed her to come as far as she has (she's spent so much of her life working at the start of canon that she sees social interaction as an unnecessary distraction), at the same time one has to admit that she has been extraordinarily lucky throughout her life (her exceptional physiology, the rainboom, Celestia herself witnessing her magical meltdown, the effects of said meltdown being relatively harmless, villains constantly underestimating her, the many times she has almost died or almost hurt someone only for everything to turn out fine, etc.). At the same time she does show signs of having a number of deep-rooted psychological issues, though I think it has more to do with feelings of isolation and abandonment than any kind of congenital disorder, I guess it comes down to the age-old argument of nature versus nurture. Personally, I find that the show offers more than few hope spots as she slowly comes to grip with her problems thanks to the steady help of her friends, you can practically see her growing as a person as you watch the show (and not just her either, Fluttershy has made some fantastic progress as well, they all have), it's one of my favorite parts of the show and it makes her eventual ascension all the more triumphant.

Well, there are milder cases of OCD, I myself was diagnosed with it when I was younger and while I have greatly improved since then, compulsions do bubble up every now and again. As someone who suffers from OCD himself I can safely say that large amounts of stress, or sudden changes tend to exacerbate the condition, which may have been what happened to Twilight in those two episodes. Sometimes it might not even be that, everyone has good and bad days.

2703191
.....Really? When I said Cerberus, I meant the three headed watch dog of Tartarus who appears in the episode with time travel. I did not mean to imply that because you written something wrong that you must be an idiot......though this makes me wanna call you touchy, no offense, just me being slightly annoyed.

First, I admit you are correct when you say she is an OCD, or is suffering from something else that brought on those symptoms, it's just that you made it sound like she belongs in a mental institute.

It may be a problem but it doesn't control her life and like the guy below is saying, she is shown to be overcoming her issues.

2704230 the fact that you've applied the labels of "mentally ill" and "touchy" to me in the span of all of three comments says a lot more about your judgement of me and others around you than it does my ability to take criticism. That said, I would agree with you on both claims as I myself am an OCD, much like Background Noise.
2704025 At no point did I say this made her a bad character, an evil person or somehow weak or inferior. On the contrary, I think she's a richer character for her illness and, as I said earlier, an inspirational one as well. I am saying that it is a painful disease to suffer from when it causes breaks at the level Twilight does. While those two instances of blatant attacks are the most noticeable, there are many others that are more subtle but no less painful for her and the fact that she took self-control therapy with Cadance speaks volumes on how much it hurts her internally.

2704260
When I said you should go check yourself out it was a joke, an inappropriate one admittedly but still just a joke. Though maybe I should have taken your comment that Twilight is severely mentally ill in a better fashion, my apologies.

Also I called you touchy because you took an innocent, was also meant to be funny, comment and turned it into an insult saying that you are both ignorant and crazy.

I agree with when you it makes her a richer character, especially when you learn she's trying to help herself. While I cannot say I know what it is like to suffer from something like this, I do understand it can't be easy.

2704352 humor over the internet in an ironic manner is a poor choice. Always. Tone and gesture are 90% of a conversation, and over the internet you want to make sure the 10% you have access to is always clear. In real life I'm much less serious than I am here. And when I'm telling a joke on the internet, emoticons are a must:pinkiehappy::twilightsmile::raritystarry::rainbowlaugh::yay::ajsmug::trollestia::moustache:. Like my joke about knowing how to spell, which had a nerdy emoticon to show you I wasn't being serious.

2704521
Good point, though maybe you shouldn't assume I'm insulting you if the comment is seemingly vague. It can be annoying to do so but when you replied it honestly confused and annoyed me since I hadn't thought it was insulting, maybe not the mentally ill part but the name part yes.

I'm actually glad for once that I've engaged in an internet debate, it was interesting to see Twilight in such a new light and I thank you for it.

Also, I tend to tend to make far more dirty jokes in real life.

2704260
Ah, I misunderstood what you meant, I hope I didn't come off as too defensive. People tend to react to OCD compulsions the same way Twilight's friends did in Lesson Zero, then are horrified at what the person suffering from the condition is willing to do to satisfy the compulsion; very few people have any idea what it's really like to feel that way.

2704595 It is, and I appluad the series for their understanding of our lot in life. Again, Twilight is a great role model to myself and probably many others simply because she is portrayed, warts and all, as a very real OCD.

2704558 I'm glad that your knowledge and appreciation of the characters of this show have been enriched by your meeting me. That is my goal in debating things. And proving how inevitably right I am in every way. :twilightsheepish:

As mentioned, your observation of myself as being too sensitive is spot on. I'm working on it. :scootangel:

All of which is to say that the author's Shining doesn't appreciate that there are parts of his sister's life that would make him gladly take his place as a happy, stable, likeable second fiddle.

This needs a follow up chapter!!!!!:pinkiehappy:

There are a lot of places this could go if it were continued.
- Seeing Shining give in to the Nightmare, as Luna seems to fear he will.
- Having him and Luna reach an understanding through the night, and sparking a forbidden romance; how far will he betray those he loves for someone who knows how he feels?
- simply making up, and Shining finding out his sister has worked so hard to be able to protect him, and repay him for all the times he looked out for her.

From romance, tragedy, comedy .... A lot can be done with this. Really, this would make a good subject for the show proper, even though they already did a "jealousy" episode.
Good work

Blazing Spear anyone? I don't know. The ending bit obviously refers to Nightmare Moon and Luna. So I thought, not Shining but Blazing in rage and righteous glory. Spear because Armor is a type of shield. It's his dumb cutie mark for Pete's sake! :facehoof:

Oh, very good! Short, to the point and meaningful too.

It never occurred to me that Shining might be jealous of Twilight (when watching the episode I mean), but you make a good point. I can imagine him feeling a lot of that, subconsciously at least. And Luna understanding and empathising with those feelings was a clever touch.

I know it's complete, but I could see this concept going places. Maybe a secret friendship blossoming between Luna and Shining? Or maybe a more dramatic direction, as 2729808 suggested...

- Having him and Luna reach an understanding through the night, and sparking a forbidden romance; how far will he betray those he loves for someone who knows how he feels?

Personally, I think that would make for a very cool story :pinkiehappy: Do you think you'll try writing a sequel at some point, HoofAndQuill?

I wrote a review of this story; it can be found here.

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