//------------------------------// // IX~Shining and Cadance's View // Story: Can It Be Us? // by King_Again //------------------------------// Shining and Cadance's View "Twily, c'mon, open up!" "No. Please, just, go away for now. I'll come out when I'm ready." Shining Armor sighed as he walked down the stairs. This had to be one of the most confusing moments of his life right now. Twilight hadn't spoken a word during the ride home and bolted it up to her room when he was about to ask how confessing went. Cadance didn't know what happened either so asking her was out of the window. He mentally slapped himself for not knowing how to get his sister to open her door up. When he reached the living room, he shared a concerned look with Cadance before sitting down and sighing heavily. They wanted to know what was going on with Twilight. They just didn't know to approach this kind of thing was all. She always told them things, why couldn't she tell them whatever was happening? They wouldn't make fun of her for it. It wasn't like them to do so. So why couldn't she tell them? "I'm worried," Shining Armor sighed heavily as he sank down on the couch. "Cadance, I don't think she's ever done this before. She might've when I went off to college, but she's... like a different person." "I know," Cadance agreed. "I'll go try to see if I can get her to open up." "Let me know how it goes." Cadance took a deep breath and walked up the steps. She bite her lip before knocking softly on Twilight's door before opening it slightly to see her on the bed, hugging a pillow tightly to her chest, and her heart twisted at the sight of her little sister-in-law being like this. She never liked it when people suddenly shut themselves away from anyone they loved, and wouldn't speak a word. They were just a shell of their former selves. How could it suddenly happen to Twilight? Cadance sat down on the bed once the door was shut and gently rubbed Twilight's back, humming softly before sucking in a sharp breath. "What's wrong?" She asked softly, gently pushing. "You aren't normally like this." "I don't want to talk about it," Twilight mumbled. "Leave me alone." Cadance frowned. "If you keep it bottled up, you might do something you'll regret. What's going on? I don't like this. I don't like seeing you this way, Twilight. It's not you, and it'll never be you." "Fine." "So, what happened?" Twilight took a huge breath and showed her eyes to Cadance, barely looking at her sister-in-law before shaking quietly at the memory. "You know how I went to the park to meet up with Sunset?" "Oh, yes!" Cadance smiled fondly at the girl's name, clearly not seeing how Twilight winced when she said the name. "How did it go? You were going to confess, right?" Twilight nodded. "And?" "W-Well, I kinda took a big, risky, move without thinking..." "So, you kissed her, alright." Twilight shook more and nodded painfully slowly, remembering how Sugarcoat appeared shortly after the kiss and how she saw the whole thing. Lemon, Indigo, Sunny, and Sour's words echoed next through her mind. Then Sunset's words of staying away from each other until she could forgive her. More so flinching at how the entire school knew the next day. "A-Anyways," Twilight gulped. "She broke away and--" "She returned the feelings?" Shining Armor's voice broke through and the two girls jumped. He chuckled and held up his hands. "I couldn't help it. Look, Twily, I'm sorry for pushing you so hard, but I'm worried. And I wanna help you. So, what happened?" "And, well, Sugarcoat shows up with her friends." Twilight added, and she watched as her brother and Cadance shared a worried look before gazing back. "It's silence for a few moments, but then..." Twilight then told them everything. How she found out Sunset and Sugarcoat had been dating the entire time, and yes, she knew Sunset had been sticking around the Shadowbolts like glue and shared classes with Sugarcoat but she only thought that was because she was new and was friends with them, nothing else. When she was finished, Shining Armor remained silent while Cadance hugged Twilight, who was silently crying at this point. He knew he shouldn't feel mad at Sunset, but he couldn't help it. How could she have lead Twilight on like that? She could've told her flat out! But no, she lead his little sister on! He would be having a word with her. "Don't be mad at her," Twilight whispered to him. "She didn't know." "But she--!" "Had nothing to do with this. I lead her to believe there was nothing but friendship when I was wanting more. She's happy with Sugarcoat, and wouldn't trade her." Shining grumbled and crossed his arms, "She should've told you though!" "Shining," Cadance coughed. "Enough." He couldn't help but feel more angrier than ever, but he would let it go for her. The next day, Cadance saw Sunset holding hands with Sugarcoat, but she looked unhappy. Sugarcoat looked pissed, and wouldn't respond to Sunset whenever the girl tried. Then, when they reached the lockers, they parted ways. Cadance sucked in a breath. Was the relationship strained now? Instead of walking up to Sunset and asking, she stayed silent and watched. It carried on until one day, she couldn't watch anymore and asked if she could talk with Sunset during one of her classes, she lied and said it was about next year's courses and if she could make her way around now. Outside of the class, Cadance placed a hand on Sunset's shoulder. "Is everything alright with Sugarcoat?" Cadance asked flat out. "I notice you two aren't really talking." "We're... having trouble, yeah," Sunset sighed. "She thinks... I might leave her, and won't listen to what I try to to tell her. She's scared, and I know it. We'll be... fine, I know it." "Sunset, I know what happened. Twilight told me." Sunset paled quickly. "Oh great, someone else knows. What? Do you think I hurt her too like Coach Shining Armor? He thinks I hurt her, and won't let me join the football team, not like I wanted too, but he said he wouldn't allow me even if I wanted too. A punishment or something." She was nearly growling by the end of it. "I don't blame you," Cadance smiled. "From what I thought of it, you did nothing wrong. Neither did Twilight. Both of you thought differently about where you two were. She thought you could be something more with her, and you wanted to be friends only." "But... I can't even look at her! Much less talk with her! She... she sent me a text, and I didn't even look. I'm so focused on fixing things with Sugar right now." "Sunset..." "I don't want to be alone again!" Sunset sniffed, wiping her eyes. "But that's where it's leading! I'm going to be all alone again, just like in Canterlot High! Why am I such a fuck up!?" Cadance frowned sternly. "You aren't." She stated. "You're a human who makes mistakes, like everyone else. You're a human who learns from all the mistakes, and you become better. You won't be alone." "Then why do I always end up alone...?" asked Sunset quietly, voice barely above whisper. "Why does everyone end up hating me in the end...?" "No one hates you!" Cadance said, pulling her in for a hug. "You have friends, you aren't alone! No one here hates you, Sunset. You're safe here. No one is ever going to leave you alone for anything, you'll have people you can count on. Stop saying you have no one. Stop saying you'll always end up alone." Sunset shook her head. "I'm always going to be though... Nobody sticks around forever." Cadance tried to reply but the student thanked for the time before heading back into class, and Cadance just stared at the door before sighing deeply. As she walked back to her room, she couldn't help but wonder why Sunset's words had struck her heart. Nobody sticks around forever.