//------------------------------// // Chapter 17: this day could have been perfect... but because of our mistake, it turned out to be disaster // Story: Twilight sparkle lord of death // by Dark1777 //------------------------------// Castle Canterlot After main five, Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, Spike, and Princess Cadence recounted what happened while Princess Luna was away, the whole room fell into silence, Princess Luna was lost in her thoughts. After hearing what happened to her first friend Twilight Sparkle and how Main five, Spike, Shining Armor, and her sister treated Twilight. Princess Celestia could see her sister's face changing from sorrow to disappointment and finally to anger, she could understand why her sister felt this way 'surely she was feeling so disappointed in me... I let this happen again... Despite my regret after what I let happen to Luna... I failed again and let it repeats with Twilight' Princess Celestia stepped closer to her sister with worry, regret, and sadness showing on her face. "L... Luna... I..." Princess Celestia said nervously, reaching out her hoof to touch her sister's shoulder. "Do not touch me!" Princess Luna yelled in anger and backed away from Celestia, her eyes closed with tears streaming down her angry face. Princess Celestia was taken aback by her sister's hostility, hurt showing on her face in the face of her sister's disgust towards her. "L... Luna... Please... Listen to me explain-..." " explain?... What else are you planning to explain?... After what you've done... After what you put her through... Just like how you did to me a thousand years ago... Is there anything else to explain?..." Princess Luna interrupted Celestia while she tries to explain to her sister. Princess Celestia could only be helpless in the face of her sister's anger and frustration... After all that had happened.... How could she explain her actions? Not only Celestia but also Twilight's friends, Spike, Shining Armor were also silent, without anything they could explain for their actions. "How could you do this, Tia?... How could you do this to her... After all she's done for you, for me, for us and for Esquestria,... How could you turn your back and abandoned her like that?... Without her, I wouldn't be here, without her I would forever be Nightmare Moon , Esquestria will be in the dark forever, you and I won't be able to reunite,... Without her, Esquestria would be engulfed in the chaos of Discord!... After all that. .. How could you turn your back on her like that?!" Princess Luna loudly scolded her sister. "I... I..." Princess Celestia didn't know how to respond, she didn't know what she could say after what she had done. "I've always seen her look up at you with all respect, admiration and trust... Her eyes always sparkle when she looks at you,... She's always been loyal to you. You ask for anything and she will do her best to please you even if you ask her to fight the enemies of Esquestria, she will risk her life to fight and please you ,... She has always trusted that you will always be by her side whenever she needs you, with her, you are not only a teacher, an idol,... But you are also being a second mother... After all her loyalty and faith in you, how could you turn your back and betray her like that, Celestia!?" Princess Luna said in anguish and anger thinking about what happened to her first friend. “Did you learn anything after I became Nightmare Moon, Celestia!?” Princess Luna asked bitterly. "Please don't... Luna... I've suffered a lot for a thousand years after banishing you... Until now I'm still suffering and regretting what happened in a thousand years ago..." Princess Celestia said pleadingly while tears were streaming down her face. "Regrets?... If you really regret... Then why did you let this happen...? If you regret, then why did you abandon Twilight Sparkke?... You could stay by her side and comfort her, all of you can do it... Just be there with her and tell her everything will be okay and you will always by her side no matter what happens you will always believe and support her... Like she did for all of you... Like she did for me... With that alone all of you were able to protect her from whatever was cursing her... But instead, you just abandoned her for a wedding,... Just for your sake... I'm so disappointed in all of you, especially you, Celestia!" Princess Luna said with disappointment. Made every pony in the room except Princess Cadence bow their heads in shame. "And also, how can you hold a wedding when there's a threat to Esquestria, Celestia? Is it because Esquestria has been at peace for so long that you've become soft and stupid?... Even when Discord released out of the stone prison you don't even bother to fight, you just lelf Twilight Sparkle and her friends go and fight with Discord even though you know well how dangerous it is to fight a spirit of chaos without elements of harmony... You have become too weak and dependent on the strength of the elements of harmony that you have lost all the instincts and responsibilities of a leader" Princess Luna coldly gave judgmental words to her sister. Princess Celestia lowered her head in shame, she didn't know when she had become so weak, and she felt ashamed for not realizing it sooner. 'How could I not have noticed that? Since when can I become weak and dependent on such factors? Whenever there is danger to Equestria I always think of the only solution that is to use elements of harmony,... I didn't even make the effort to fight with Discord by myself when he stole the elements... I... I just let Twilight run into danger and fight with Discord... And all I could do then was send Twilight friendship reports and hope that she will succeed... Luna is right, I have become so dependent on the elements, and forgot my responsibility as a leader, Twilight has always solved my problems. A... And this time too... She paid with soul and heart to correct my mistake and save Equestria... again' Princess Luna could see the pain and regret on her sister's face 'I know it hurt her a lot,... And it hurts me just as much to say it with her... But I can't let her continue to be weak, Tia I know is a strong Alicorn, she will face any danger that threatens her kingdom without hesitation, but when the long peace changed her, I thought that after I became Nightmare Moon she would be able to realize her mistake,... But it seems I was wrong. .. I'm sorry, sister... But this is the best for you...' After scolding her older sister, she turned to Shining Armor and walked towards him. Shining Armor knew his turn was coming, he lowered his head, not daring to meet Princess Luna's eyes. "Raise your face and look into my eyes, captain Armor" Princess Luna commanded with a stern face that made Shining Armor unable to disobey orders and reluctantly looked up at her, he could see the glint of anger in her eyes, he knew what he was about to hear would haunt him forever... But there was nothing he could do, because this is what he deserved. Cadence stood beside him, she knew what was coming, she knew her aunt, Princess Luna, took Equestria's safety very seriously, and with what had happened, would be very lucky for her fiancé. if her aunt doesn't decide to banish him to the moon "Look into my eyes and answer me, captain Armor, how could changeling break your shield and enter Canterlot?" Princess Luna asked, when asked Shining Armor stood upright like a soldier reporting to his superiors but shivering under the pressure of princess luna, he looked into her eyes and replied "your majesty, queen changeling disguised as my fiancée, princess Cadence and controlled my mind and ate my love for Cady, weakened me and broke my shield." "Does she always control your mind, captain Armor?", "no, Your Majesty, I guess she just used mind control magic whenever she and I argue about something. ", "and how do you know that", "because every time I was arguing with her a terrible headache came and after she used her magic I no longer felt pain but I don't remember what I argued with her, Your Majesty", "and why don't you feel suspicious about those headaches? And why you thought the magic she had used was to heal for you?", "I thought at the time that maintaining shield magic to protect Canterlot was causing those headaches, and like I said, I thought she was Cady so I didn't suspect anything about her, Your majesty" Shining Armor knows what all those questions mean, he knows his answers all lead to a question that scares him when he thinks of the answer, he sweats as he Try to keep hisself calm and prepare for Princess Luna's next question. Princess Luna still looked at Shining Armor with cold eyes, and it became even colder to hearing those answers, she knew she wouldn't like what Shining Armor was about to answer to her next question."Last question, I hope you think carefully before answering my question, and don't think to lie to me captain Armor, I used to interrogate many spies when Equestria was still in war and chaos. And I can assure you that those who have tried to deceive us have received punishments, and made them regret for daring to deceive us." Shining Armor felt fear before Princess Luna's cold eyes, when he was still studying in the royal military academy, he had been taught the war history of Equestria, and he knew what happened to traitors "yes, Your Majesty" "Good... So I ask you, when Twilight Sparkle accused fake Cadence during your wedding rehearsal, was your mind being manipulated at that time?", "your majesty, I wasn't controlled by any magic, my mind is completely clear", "that means all your words and actions during that rehearsal are entirely up to you, no there's any interference of magic or any coercion in your words and actions, right?" At this point, Princess Luna's surroundings are getting colder and colder, the ponies around even Princess Celestia are starting to worry about what's going to happen to Shining Armor, but she can't help Shining Armor. Her sister is always very strict in military matters and if she tried to help Shining Armor it would only make Luna's anger worse, Cadence felt the same and decided to keep quiet. Shining Armor bowed his head in shame and fear over his next answer, he know all words he said to Twily at that time were his thoughts, he was not controlled or forced to say such words to Twily. Decision to abandoned her was also his own, there was absolutely no magic to control his mind at that time, because he still vividly remembers his anger after hearing Twilight's baseless accusations against fake Cadence. But he kept trying to deny it, he couldn't accept that he said all these horrible things to his sister by his own. But he couldn't lie to Princess Luna that he had been controlled by Queen Chrysalis and forced him to say those words to Twily, his soldier nature did not allow him to deceive his monarch. Shining Armor exhaled and adjusted himself once again raising his head and looking into Princess Luna's eyes, he braced himself for his answer, despite the determination in his eyes, tears began to flow. He could feel his vision blurred with his tears, he replied "yes... Your Majesty... All that I said during the wedding rehearsal it's all my decision,... Absolutely without any compulsion... I'm ready to take any punishment, Your Majesty" after he admitted, he knelt before Princess Luna, preparing spirit for being banished to the moon by Princess Luna... The only thing he regrets is that he wasn't able to see his sister one last time. Cadence looked at Shining Armor with pity, she knew that Shining was wrong, but she can't bear to see her lover deported, she had lost Twilight, she didn't want to lose any more loved ones. "A... Aunt... I know he's wrong... But please give him one more chance... Furthermore... He's Twilight's brother, except aunt Celestia, he's is pony closest to her heart, if we want to save Twilight from the curse that ruined her heart we need him... Please give him a chance to fix his mistake-..." just as Cadence was about to continue begging for Shining Armor, she was cut off by Princess Luna's hoof that were raised in front of her with stern eyes signaling her not to. "Captain Shining Armor, what you did with your own shortsightedness and stupidity has indirectly endangered Canterlot and even Equestria. You are a captain of the royal guard! How can you ignore a threat to the kingdom you are responsible for protecting just because you want your wedding to be perfect, you forgot your oath when you became a guardian? How can you even climb to the rank of captain of the security team when you don't even have an awareness of what a guard should do?Do you know how your actions will affect your subordinates? What if all the guardians acted as selfishly as you?" "Captain Shining Armor! What you have done proves you are just as weak as your leader, my sister" Princess Celestia once again bowed her head in shame "and how can you kick Twilight Sparkle out of your wedding? She is your biological sister! pony just wants to protect you and wishes you the best out of your own wedding, you don't even listen to her explain, you don't even take the time to verify her words. What you've done to her makes me question whether family means anything to you?" Luna said in anger. Shining Armor can only bow his head in shame, grief and regret for what happened, he realize that he could have prevented everything that happened if he had taken the time to listen to his sister and confirm her statement about Cadence's strange behavior... But instead of doing so, he chooses to kick his sister from the wedding in order to have a perfect wedding... But this is the perfect wedding he got from his stupid choice... A perfect disaster. "And how dare you say that our niece acts rude to other ponies because she was stressed from her wedding preparations! Even though we only just met our niece after we got back from Nightmare, but I've never seen her behave rudely or even get annoyed with any pony even when she's stressed, I always see her hiding in her room when stressed because of those times I was always present in her nightmares about the things that put her under pressure. She always made it a priority to help anypony who needed her even when she was in a hurry she always stopped to take care and spend time to talk with sad ponies she meets on the street. How can you assume she behaves rudely just because she's stressed. If i hadn't seen the way you care and concern for her before, i would assume that you only come to her for her status, because the way you say it shows that you don't understand anything about our niece!" "A...aunt" when Cadence tried to help Shining Armor she was again stopped by her aunt Princess Luna, she knew Shining Armor really loved her, she could feel it,... But she also feels hurt when he thinks she will treat other ponies badly when she is stressed. "Captain Shining Armor, you have not only failed as a captain of the royal guard, but also as a fiancé and elder brother. You have proven that you are no longer eligible to continue to be captain of the royal guard and prove that you are still not ready to marry our niece, however I will not banish you because I can see the regret in your eyes and because you have honestly answered all my questions, but that is still not enough for me to forgive all your mistakes, but i will give you time to reflect on your mistakes as well, like giving you a chance to correct those mistakes." Hearing that, Shining Armor felt relieved, he was afraid that he would never have a chance to see Twily again "captain Shining Armor listen to orders" Princess Luna ordered. Shining Armor straightened up to take orders from the preligible. "Since your mistakes have put Equestria in jeopardy, I have decided to remove your captain of the royal guard and temporarily suspend your protection until I feel you have qualified to return to your work, meanwhile I want you to reflect on your mistake, in addition I will let my night guard captain temporarily command your day guard, and she will retrain the entire royal guard in my place. After all that has happened, I feel like the royal guard is getting weaker and weaker, this will cause Equestria's defenses to fail greatly reduced and gives Equestria's enemies more chance of harming Equestria. Do you agree with me, sister?" Princess Luna turned to consult her sister. Princess Celestia knew her sister was right, that if continued like this would put Equestria in great danger in the future, they needed to strengthen their military squad... She had always been too soft-hearted in matters Equestria's military affairs, she had always assumed they were living in peace and allowed herself to lower her guard, she thought that because her kingdom was at peace, she didn't want to force too much of her guardiherc let them have some comfort, but she forgot about the dangers of always pointing at Equestria and waiting for an opportunity to take over Equestria, and the very comfort she had allowed herself to enjoying herself with her soldiers cost her almost Equestria,... And cost her loyal student her heart and soul. In the end, she decided to let Luna do what she was best at, which was to fortify Equestria's military team. "I get it Luna, and I agree with you, my lack of vigilance put Equestria in jeopardy, if it weren't for Twilight I would have lost our kingdom in claws of Chrysalis, and I had lost my student... it will better to let you handle military affairs of Equestria, I'll just deal with the political ones" said Princess Celestia with a hint of sadness and regret in her voice, if she could have realized this sooner perhaps she could have prevented all this from happening. Princess Luna looked at her sister with a small smile on her lips, she was glad that her sister finally understood the problem and tried to correct her mistake. She then turned to Twilight and Spike's friends with a disappointed face, they were the ponys who saved her from Nightmare, she was always grateful for that, and that's also why she felt so sad and disappointed with them. They were the ponys who taught her about friendship, she still remembers their determined eyes when they fought her when she was Nightmare Moon, they defeated Nightmare Moon and freed her from Nightmare's darkness with the strength of their friendship, but now all that's left in their eyes is regret, shame, grief, she didn't expect this to happen to them, she was expecting something bigger and more beautiful from them... "I'm so disappointed in you guys, I was expecting you to be better than that. Have you forgotten what you've been through together? Have you forgotten how you beat Nightmare Moon and Discord? Have you forgotten the faith in truth, loyalty, kindness, generosity and joy that you shared? You were the ponys who taught me that friendship is the magic, the hope, the power that can dispel any darkness.... Have you forgotten all that?" Princess Luna said in a sad and disappointed voice. "N... No... W... We'll always remember them", "so why don't you guys trust her? Why you guys abandon her?" Applejack sadly replied "W... We... We got caught up in the wedding... Hic... we were all very excited to prepare for the wedding,... W... We just want to do the best we can... We've seen the strange behavior of that fake princess Cadence... I saw... But I chose to ignore that fact and continue with the wedding instead of helping Twilight convince every pony." Rainbow Dash continued "when she accused that fake Cadence, we should have sided with her instead of the fake,... A... And we should have stayed with her instead of going comfort the fake,.... Hic... I should have been with her at that time, not the fake" "Where was my kindness when I abandon her?... Huhuhu!" Fluttershy collapsed on the floor and cried "I wasn't even generous enough to stay and comfort her... Hic" Rarity continued to cry "how can i keep smiling and partying for the wedding after abandoning her and making her so sad..." pinkie's mane and tail were still straight, her always cheerful face now filled with. "Cady!", "princess Cadence!", "niece!" Shining Armor caught her and quickly checked her heart rate.... A 'thump' reached his ears, he breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to worried ponys looking at him "it's okay, she's okay. She's just unconscious", "maybe she's very tired but trying to endure for now. Just to be on safe side, we should take her to the hospital to be checked..." Princess Celestia looked at the scratches on her niece's body and long sighs "she's endured so much so far" Princess Luna turned to them and told them "please take her to the hospital, I will go there after notification the situation and what we just discussed with royal guard ponies". "I see sister, see you later" Celestia replied and Luna nodded in response. Then main five, Shining Armor, Spike, Princess Celestia took Cadence out of the throne room and taken to the hospital, as soon as they all left the throne room, Princess Luna informed a guard standing at the door to summon hold an emergency meeting of the royal bodyguards by day and her night guards.