In a room in the resort town of Las Pegasus, Shining Armor lay in bed with Princess Cadance, his new wife. He’d had a great honeymoon so far over the last week since they’d gone from Canterlot. First, they’d traveled to Vanhoover and gone swimming in the nearby Luna Bay, now they were concluding their honeymoon with the most famous resort in all of Equestria. It had an epic ride there as well that was famous, and Shining had really enjoyed it… even it did cause him to nearly throw up. He wished he could get over his motion sickness already! Hopefully in a few years.
But despite the joy he was feeling now, he couldn’t help but be haunted by the events at the rehearsal.
Get a grip Shining Armor! He told himself. Twilight forgave you when you apologized! Let it go already!
That was easier said than done though. He’d need time. He pushed the guilty feeling aside and focused on the positivity of today. Riding the coaster with Cadance, her holding his foreleg as she screamed with both joy and fear, not to mention him managing to avoid throwing up on her, or anywhere. If the ride lasted even another minute though he might have. Well, he was happy as he had ever been… but also guiltiest than he’d ever felt.
Shining sighed as it came back after only a few seconds. He’d never expected this. The day he’d dreamed of since he first met Cadance and fallen for her at first sight as a colt. She’d been his first crush, but he’d never had the nerve to ask her for so long. He’d dated other mares in Canterlot a few times but they never made him feel as strongly as he did about Cadance. For so long he felt unworthy of her, since she was a princess and alicorn. Then when he became Captain of the Guard, he’d finally worked up the courage to ask her out and she’d said yes! They’d gone on a
But their wedding… oh the rehearsal. Why did Shining have to say those things to his sister? Had it really been him? Or the result of the queen’s mind control? He didn’t know. The pain his little sister had through, thinking he would never forgive her, then she’d been sent down to the caverns.
Come on already, he thought with a shake of his head. You would have forgiven her just as she forgave you!
He took a breath as he thought of how it might have played if Cadance had really just been under a lot of stress. He’d have found her in her room crying and talked to her. Maybe she would have apologized to them and convinced them to let Twilight back in. Not as Best Mare, but she’d still have been a part of the wedding. Shining took a deep breath. That could have happened if it had been the real Cadance. Though it was far more likely that Cadance and Twilight would have been completely on the same page and enjoying their planning together with Twilight’s friends just as they had in the preparations for the real wedding. If only the Changeling Queen had not decided to attack when the wedding was about to be prepared. Shining snarled. That insect was the real reason behind all this! If not for her Shining Armor could have been there as well and all three of them would enjoy putting things together for the big day! The queen had ruined everything.
Shining Armor remembered how it had really played out.
He didn’t find Cadance in her room as he expected with Celestia and Twilight’s friends.
“She’s not here!” Shining exclaimed as they looked inside.
“We have to find her!” Celestia said.
“I just can’t believe Twilight!” Applejack exclaimed.
“She completely embarrassed us!” Rarity agreed. “Such mean and unjust accusations, and no sympathy at all for the bride’s stress!”
“What a party pooper!” Pinkie snapped. “Never thought she’d become one!”
“And so unkind!” Fluttershy said.
“Hopefully once she’s had some time to think on her actions, she’ll realize her mistakes and apologize,” Celestia said. “I’ve never been so disappointed in her! She should know she can’t accuse somepony without proof, as I recall she told you the same recently Pinkie Pie!”
“Yeah!” Pinkie said. “Just wildly accusing like I did the bakers!”
“And a member of my family no less,” Celestia sighed. “Let’s just find Cadance and comfort her then we can get things back to normal. But I fear Twilight may have ruined the whole thing. She was what brought these two together in the first place. Well, we just have to push forward.”
They all went in various directions. Shining Armor fumed as he thought back to the recent events.
“She is evil!” Twilight pointed her hoof at Cadance, causing him to get in front of his fiancé.
Shining Armor just couldn’t believe his sister had said that. She’d loved Cadance! The way she started bouncing around after he told her that he was marrying her former foalsitter. How could she suddenly change her mind?
“She’s been horrible to my friends!”
Had it really been that bad? To make Twilight start to change her mind. Shining’s anger lessened and was replaced with confusion.
“She’s obviously done something horrible to her bridesmaids. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, I saw her put a spell on my brother that made his eyes go…” Twilight turned to them after backing Cadance into a corner and spun her eyes around.
Twilight didn’t have proof that Cadance did anything, true. But… as Shining Armor thought back to what it might have looked like to somepony who might not be aware of his migraines and the fact that the spell hit him at that moment…
How would he have reacted if he saw somepony doing that to his sister? If he’d thought it had been ‘because’ of the spell? He’d be scared for sure, and angry, he might even attack the pony who cast the spell on her, just like he’d attacked a colt that he saw hitting her when she’d been a filly. She’d come to talk to him the night before and said something about thinking he was making a big mistake. Maybe she’d started to have doubts about Cadance then and wanted some reassurance? But the sight of him being apparently harmed.
Shining Armor sighed. “Maybe I went too far with Twilight.”
He debated, wondering whether to keep looking for Cadance or go back to talk to Twilight. He thought of his sister, she was probably feeling really guilty now! They’d never had a falling out like this, and she had a tendency to overreact to things! She might even think he…didn’t love her anymore!
Shining Armor galloped back to the hall, sprinting past the guards that remained behind at the door. He looked and saw… nopony there!
Where could Twilight have gone? Shining Armor looked at the nearby balcony and a feeling of dread coursed through him. Had Twilight?
He sprinted over and looked at the ground below. No body was on the streets. Thank Celestia. But his sister was still missing. He went over to the guards outside the door.
“Excuse me? Did my sister, the lavender unicorn come out?” he asked.
“No Captain,” they said. “We didn’t see her. We just saw Princess Cadance go back inside after you all left. She came out a few seconds later though.”
Shining’s eyes widened. Cadance had gone back in? Yet Twilight didn’t? His senses told him something was wrong. Could Twilight have actually been right? No, it couldn’t be! But… what if she’d really been brainwashing him? Ha their entire relationship been a spell?
Shining made his way back to Cadance’s room and saw her inside. She touched something on her desk and it lit up as she suddenly ‘changed’. She turned into a tall dark bug like creature. The device she activated revealed similar creatures looking at her.
What was going on?
“Everything is going as planned my minions,” the creature said. “Soon, we changelings will take over Canterlot!”
Changelings? Shining Armor had heard rumors of them from lands outside Equestria. Creatures that could assume the forms of others and feed off love.
“I will marry the captain of the guard, he is quite a handsome stallion. Not to mention to the biggest obstacle,” the lead creature said. “Once the ceremony is over his shield should be weak enough. Be ready by then!”
“We will, our queen!” the changelings in the orb said.
“His sister proved quite a nuisance since she knew the real Cadance,” the queen said. “But she’ll not interfere anymore!”
Shining Armor gritted his teeth. So this changeling had abducted his real fiancé and…TURNED HIM AGAINST HIS LITTLE SISTER!
Any anger Shining felt toward Twilight was gone now. His anger was at himself, and this monster! He snarled and pushed the door open the rest of the way, causing the changeling queen to jump.
“Where are my sister and the real Cadance?” he asked.
She merely grinned after quickly recovering from her surprise. “You won’t have to worry about them!”
Her eyes and horn glowed, Shining Armor tried to put up a shield, but her magic ripped it apart and continued on to hit him. He was a prisoner in his own body now.
Thankfully the queen was gone now, Shining Armor and Cadance had defeated her, thanks to Twilight finding Cadance in the caves. Shining went to sleep as he managed a smirk at that last thought. Hopefully he’d never see the queen anytime soon.
Unfortunately, he did in his dreams.
“Shining Armor! Help me!” A scream sounded as Shining looked around.
He was back in the wedding hall and saw Twilight being held in the queen’s green magic.
“Marry me, Shining Armor!” the queen said. “Or I’ll hurt her!”
“Twilie!” Shining exclaimed.
“Help! Don’t let her hurt me anymore!” she said helplessly.
In his terror, he forgot about her extreme ability to use magic.
“Please don’t hurt her!” he said. “Just let her go!”
She grinned. “Careful what you wish for!”
“Shining Armor!” Twilight screamed as she was thrown out the open door leading to the balcony and fell beyond it and down to the ground far below with a scream. “Aarghh!”
“No!” Shining screamed. “You!”
He looked back at the queen and saw Cadance in her place. She wore her wedding dress
“Just forget about her Shining Armor! Let’s enjoy our special day!” she said with a wicked smile.
Shining Armor glared. But then another Cadance appeared next to the queen.
“Yes, marry me Shining Armor!”
Then another. “I’m the real one!”
And another. “Marry me instead!”
“Who cares about your possessive little sister?”
Then Shining was confronted with his own reflection in a mirror wearing his uniform from the wedding. It lunged out of the glass and grabbed him.
“You failed, as both a husband and brother! You don’t deserve to have Cadance as your bride, and Twilight as your sister!” the reflection said. “Look what you did to Twilight.”
Shining then saw his sister crying. He was on a platform that seemed to be floating in the clouds.
“He’ll never forgive me! I don’t have a brother anymore!” Twilight sobbed.
“Twilie!” Shining yelled trying to run to her.
“Shining Armor!”
Cadance appeared behind him, trapped in a cage, her fur ruffled like it had been when Twilight found her in the caves.
“Help me!” she said with tears.
The queen laughed evilly. “Choose who to save, dear! Your bride… or your sister?”
“I love you Shining Armor!” Cadance looked at him desperately.
“You’re my BBBFF!” Twilight sobbed. “Please don’t leave me again!”
Shining looked between them.
“One mare lives, the other falls!”
Shining couldn’t decide as he continued looking. Then he formed a determined expression.
“I have to save both!” he said.
“Oh, but that is impossible!” the queen said. “You can only save one… or neither!”
She raised her holed hooves and either ends of the platform fell, taking Twilight and the caged Cadance with it.
“No!” Shining yelled as he heard both of them scream.
“Shining Armor!” a new voice called.
Princess Luna appeared now, the face of the evil queen vanishing as she flew in. White light
“Another nightmare?” she asked the captain of the guard.
“Its just a nightmare,” Shining asked before sighing in relief.
“You’ve had quite a few,” Luna said. “The result of guilt no doubt. I know how that is, I too did something terrible to my sister… long ago.”
Shining nodded. “I just… can’t seem to put this behind me.”
“It is in the past now,” Luna said. “There is no undoing it. But the important thing is, your sister forgave you. Just as mine did. My foolish actions as Nightmare Moon would have caused ponies everywhere to eventually die. They would have starved or frozen without the sun to warm them and provide nourishment for their crops. All because I resented the fact my night was scorned.”
“And I was angry at Twilight because she made ‘Cadance’ cry,” Shining said. “But was I really myself?”
“I can’t answer that,” Luna said. “Tell me, have you ever been… wrathful before?”
“Well, I did beat up a colt that hit Twilight when she was on the playground,” Shining said. “I was young and hot headed.”
“You got angry because your loved ones were being hurt,” she stated.
“Maybe it was really me then,” Shining looked down.
“You only saw your little sister being possessive from your point of view. Just as my sister only saw her… our niece having her feelings hurt. You and her are the least to blame I think. I would say that Twilights friends are the most to blame after the queen, of course Twilight is not blameless either. She actually apologized to the ponies of Canterlot before she returned home to Ponyville, admitting she should have gathered proof. All of you made mistakes that day. Just as I did when I became Nightmare Moon. I’ll never forgive myself for that. What I tried to do could have destroyed the entire world. But you are much more forgivable,” Luna put a wing on him.
“Thank you, Princess,” Shining smiled.
She nodded. “Morning is approaching. Goodbye, Shining Armor. I will see you soon.”
He nodded. Then the dream lit up brightly and Shining awoke in the real world.
He looked to see Cadance staring down at him. The crack of dawn filled their room as Celestia raised the sun.
“Are you okay?” Cadance asked. “Did you have another nightmare?”
“Yeah,” Shining told her. “Princess Luna was there again.”
“Many ponies were scared by the invasion,” she reminded him. “I had a nightmare where I was still trapped in the caverns and you were married to the queen.”
Shining shivered. “That would have happened if not for Twilight finding you.”
He sighed and sat up. “I know she forgave me but I can’t seem to let go of this feeling.”
She put a hoof on him. “It will take time. If you really want to make it up to her, even for yourself… why don’t we go and visit her? I’m sure Aunt Celestia won’t mind if we take a couple more days.”
“I think I’d like that,” Shining said. “I haven’t had the chance to really get to know her friends.”
“Let’s do it then,” Cadance agreed.
Shining got up and took a scroll from the desk in their room. He used a quill to write out a quick letter.
Dear Twilie,
I hope you have been faring well over the past week. Cadance and I are enjoying our honeymoon. Though what I did to you is still really haunting me. I need to come and see you. Hope that’s okay for me and Cadance to drop in on our way home.
Love,
Shining Armor.