//------------------------------//
// Why Shining Armor Cries at Weddings 
// Story: Why Shining Armor Cries at Weddings 
// by twilightsparkle3562 
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"Why Shining Armor Cries at Weddings"

By TwilightSparkle3562

"Cadence, do I have to do this?" whined Shining Armor as he followed his wife to the office of Sweetheart, Canterlot's therapist. "I feel perfectly fine."

"It's for your own good, Shining Armor," replied the princess of the Crystal Empire. "You were crying before the wedding in Ponyville and usually it's not until the wedding starts."

Cadence was referring to the wedding of Cranky Doodle Donkey and his new wife, Matilda that also included her aunts, Princesses Celestia and Luna as well. Twilight and her friends had been battling another escapee from Tartarus called the Bugbear and thus, were unable to attend until the last minute when Derpy had slammed the door in their faces before the wedding would start.

"I don't see the big deal, Cadence," said Shining Armor as they walked into the office. "I know I get emotional, but you never complained about it in the past."

Cadence turned and gave Shining Armor a hard stare, the kind of stare she would give when somepony would lie to her, like Spike at the recent Equestrian Summit in Canterlot. The stare caused Shining Armor to squench slightly as he hated that look Cadence would give.

"All right," he said. "Maybe I did get a little emotional, but if you could just hear me out…"

"You need to tell that to Sweetheart," interrupted Cadence. "She must need to hear that from you and the more you hold it in, the bigger your emotions will become."

Shining Armor was not in the mood for another one of his wife's lectures, but in a sense she knew that the time for him to reveal his feelings was now. Cadence could tell that Shining Armor was in pain and was hiding it deep inside of him. The past few months had been a nightmare scenario for him with the Changeling Invasion on his intended wedding day to Cadence; the attempted takeover of the Crystal Empire by King Sombra and the worst one of all, having his magic drained by Tirek and learning of Cadence's banishment to Tartarus.

A little while later, Cadence and Shining Armor sat in the waiting room of Sweetheart's office, but didn't wait for her for very long as the doors to her office opened and she peeked out to see the rulers of the Crystal Empire sitting across from her.

"Princess Cadence, it's good to see you again," remarked Sweetheart warmly as she led them into her office. "How is Princess Luna?"

Sweetheart was of course referring to their last visit when they tried to get Luna to open up about her feelings of guilt to Celestia.

"She seems to be doing fine, it's a day by day process for her," replied Cadence. "We told her that what is important is that she realizes that there are ponies who care about her in the present, not in the past."

"That's good news to hear," said Sweetheart, who then turned her attention to Shining Armor, still sitting in the waiting room chair. "It seems that there is something you wish to tell me."

Shining Armor stayed silent, but his wife's death glares and body language told him that he needed to come clean. Crying loudly at Cranky and Matilda's wedding was embarrassing to say the least, but there was much more than that.

"Why don't you come into my office and we'll talk about it?" asked Sweetheart, holding the door to her office to let Shining Armor and Cadence in. Once inside, Shining Armor felt a sudden gulp in his throat as he realized that there was no turning back now.

"Now then," she began. "Princess Cadence told me everything about what had happened at the wedding in Ponyville. She told me that you always cried at weddings, but not before the wedding starts."

Shining Armor started to grow uncomfortable and as a result, he felt his mind telling him that he needed to tell a lie when in reality, he needed to tell the truth.

"I was having a rough morning," he said. "Several of my new recruits were hurt and I had to…"

Cadence did another of her raised eyebrows and caught Shining Armor about to tell a lie in the process.

"There were no new recruits that got hurt," replied Cadence, firmly. "You can't blame unimportant events for your current behavior, Shining Armor. I know that you can be an emotional pony to be around and it's okay to show it. But, it is not okay to use those feelings to hide the truth from it."

Taking a deep breath, Shining Armor slowly began to tell the reasons why he was such a crying mess at Cranky and Matilda's wedding.

"You both want to know why I did what I did?" he said, quietly as both Sweetheart and Cadence listened in. "Well, ever since the Changeling Invasion, weddings and high functioning events make me emotional. I want to attend and enjoy what we do, Cadence, but I just can't. My instincts always tell me if we ever attend a formal event, I fear that there would be just another attack from the Changelings somewhere in the near future."

Cadence couldn't help but think of what Shining Armor was talking about. There was indeed a Changeling at Cranky and Matilda's wedding, but it looked to show no harm at all. In fact, it seemed like it came in peace. Shining Armor in a sense, was too blind to see it.

"If you don't mind my asking," suggested Sweetheart. "Cadence has told me about the fact that seem to hesitate when it comes to formal events. In fact, there was a summit in Canterlot not too long ago that you didn't want to attend."

"Because I was afraid," cried Shining Armor, throwing a sharp look at Sweetheart, who didn't flinch. "They are a trigger point for me and I seem to react in a different manner when it comes to them."

"A manner that shows that you think something is going to happen?" asked Sweetheart, looking down at her notes that she had been writing. "Hmm, it seems to me that you are one of the few ponies that have what we call is a premonition of fear or fear of the unknown. You seem to be taking your new role as prince of the Crystal Empire a little too seriously."

"Why do you think I am taking it too seriously?" asked Shining Armor, his voice slightly raised. "I think I do a good job at running the empire with you Cadence."

But, instead of responding right away, Cadence nodded her head sideways, meaning that Shining Armor was not telling the truth.

"You do, Shining Armor," replied Cadence. "But, I think the problem is that ever since our wedding, there is a different side to you that bothers me greatly. You put so much stress on yourself to the point that you get yourself upset."

Shining Armor wanted to protest, but Sweetheart raised her hoof and stopped him from saying another word.

"Let her finish," she advised.

"Yes, I know you are a dedicated prince and Captain to the Crystal Empire," continued Cadence. But you are not going to always win every battle. If you do get beat in battle, which you have a string of recently, say to yourself that I am stronger than my enemies and will not be deferred. Don't you see? The guests at the wedding the other day were both saddened and surprised that the brother of a princess, the wife of a princess and an entire empire would cry like a foal. You are showing them that you are a failure when in reality, you are not."

The sounds of Cadence's words at that point began to resonate within Shining Armor's mind. She was right, he was beating himself for his own failures and he needed to let them go. Shining Armor couldn't erase the past and he knew it. The earlier events with Lock Down and General Kuwaga were an early example of that.

"If you hold on to the past," said Sweetheart. "Then it becomes much worse for you, Shining Armor. Its like what I did with Princess Luna when I told her she needed to let go of the past."

Shining Armor sighed to himself and realized fully what was being said to him. Maybe it was because he was somewhat being too hard on himself or something.

"All right, all right," he said, feeling his emotions coming out. "I'll tell you! I'll tell you both! I get emotional at weddings, all right? I've had enough guilt in the world to last me a lifetime and there are times I wanted to release my emotions before the wedding of those donkeys, but I couldn't because I fear I might upset you!"

Shining Armor at that moment lowered his head and begun to cry his heart out while Cadence came over and consoled him. It seemed at that moment that Shining Armor was no longer the pony who would hide his feelings, but somepony who like Luna, would be willing to open up and reveal what was on his mind.

"It's all right, Shining Armor," cooed Cadence. "Let it all out. It's time to move forward from the past."

"And we are not mad at you at all for being this way," added Sweetheart. "I teach ponies to better themselves every day and you are not alone in this journey. In fact, you can be a source of inspiration to other ponies who have had the same issue as you."

So, that was what Shining Armor did from that day forward. He dedicated himself to being a better pony who would open up to others that care about him, making sure that he would never make the same mistake again.