//------------------------------// // Resolution // Story: Sparkle No More // by dastrdlyW //------------------------------// Shining Armor’s mind raced as he bolted through Canterlot. The lights within the city had all but gone out, leaving only the lamp posts to light the path to the castle. He slowed as he reached the courtyard, and cautiously made his way through the gate. Much to his shock, none of the guards made a move to stop him from entering, not even Captain Sterling. He shot Shining a frown, but continued on his patrol. The staff did seem a little confused when they looked at him though. Could it be Celestia never told them why he stormed out? He put that aside as he approached the dining room he left earlier that evening, but hesitated at the door. He had to apologize, he knew that, but seeing Celestia so angry... she scared him. With a snort, he drew himself up and knocked. Whatever came of it, he would apologize. The door opened a moment later to reveal Nightlight, Shining’s father, who smiled and stepped out of the way. Shining glanced around, looking for the Princesses, but did not see them. “The Princesses stepped out quite some time ago,” Nightlight said, as if reading Shining’s mind. “They cited needing to raise the moon and the stars, but they haven’t been back yet. They sent dinner shortly after they left, and we were just finishing up, but there’s some left if you’re hungry.” He waved a hoof to the table where a large covered platter sat in the middle. “It’s been fairly quiet so far, not much real discussion,” Nightlight trailed off, glancing somewhat nervously at the group out the side of his eye, “but watch out for the pink one.” Shining raised an eyebrow, but Nightlight didn’t say anything more before walking back to the table, and taking a seat between Twilight Velvet and Spike. Shining walked over to his seat from earlier, righted the chair he, to his chagrin, must have knocked over during his earlier outburst, and sat down. He wasn’t particularly hungry, but he opened the platter and took a few pieces of fruit to nibble on. “Hi there!” a perky voice said to his right. Shining started, but quickly recovered. A pink earth pony mare stood to his right, bouncing ever so slightly. “I’m Pinkie Pie!” she said. “These are my friends, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy!” she said, pointing them out in a row along his right. Shining stared blankly before clearing his throat. “Hello, everyone. I’m sure my name came up after my outburst,” he said as he looked away briefly, trying to hide his blush, “but I’m Shining Armor.” Pinkie blinked, but otherwise didn’t move. She seemed to be waiting for something. “Nice to meet you?” Shining guessed. “This is going to be great!” Pinkie Pie cheered, and Shining nearly fell off his chair. She wandered off rambling to herself about supplies she would need. Shining glanced to the pony on his right, Rarity, a white mare with long purple hair. “Is she always that... excitable?” “Hm?” Rarity said, glancing over as if she hadn’t noticed. “Ah, yes. You’ll get used to her. She’s Ponyville’s premier party pony, and she seems set on throwing one for you and your parents.” She paused long enough to tilt an ear and listen to Pinkie’s monologue. “It would seem you’re the guests of honor.” “A party,” he deadpanned. “Oh yes, Darling. Cake, punch, decorations; I’m sure you’ve been to at least one before.” “Yeah!” Rainbow Dash called excitedly, doing a quick loop over her chair as she took to the air. “It looks like it’s going to be a big one, too! Kind of like she threw when Twilight-” Rainbow Dash sank down to her seat, a sheepish expression on her face. “Sorry.” Shining shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I’m surprised to hear she went to a party. Twilight wasn’t much of a socialite before.” Spike chuckled softly. “If you call locking herself in her room, trying to sleep while everypony else was having fun, then sure, she went to a party.” “Hey!” Pinkie exclaimed, popping up between the two of them. “She did, too, attend the party! Remember how she tried my signature cupcakes topped with hot sauce?” Shining gagged softly before turning Rarity. “I don’t think I could ever get used to that pony,” Shining said. He caught something out of the corner of his eye, a strange twitch from Pinkie pie. He glanced back at her. She seemed... sad. It definitely wasn’t the same jubilant smile she had when she introduced herself. “No one ever is, Darling.” Rarity said with a smile as she took a small bite of a dessert and then used her telekinesis to dab her lips politely. A soft rumble came from Shining’s left as Nightlight cleared his throat. “Since we’re just about done eating, and everyone is finally here,” he said, glancing at Shining, “perhaps we should get down to the reason we’re here?” A thoughtful silence greeted him as the others all turned their attention inward. “I think we should forgive her,” a soft voice finally said. Fluttershy, the yellow pegasus in the middle, shrank into her chair as all eyes turned towards her. “Just like that?” Spike asked. He stood up on his chair, gouging the table as he clenched it in his claws. “She killed Twilight. That’s not something you can just forgive so easily.” He sat down and crossed his arms, glancing away from the table. “I reckon not,” Applejack said, “But you heard it yourself. Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon aren’t the same pony.” She paused and scratched the back of her head, momentarily upsetting her hat. “Although, I don’t rightly know what Nightmare Moon was.” “A monster,” Pinkie Pie said, uncharacteristically solemn. “Just thinking about what Luna went through... She was an artist, an alicorn, a Princess. And for all her efforts she was ignored.” Pinkie Pie hung her head and shook it slowly. “Then she was taken over and banished to the moon for a millennium; tortured and left, alone, with that... that... thing!” She looked up into the startled silence, as if just noticing the others were there. “She didn’t deserve that,” she said softly, turning in her seat to face away from the group. “Nopony deserves that.” Fluttershy placed a comforting hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder, earning a brief smile in return. Rainbow Dash nodded once, as if confirming something to herself. “She’s right,” Rainbow said softly, but grew in passion as she continued. “She’s right! Princess Luna has gone through so much, we can’t turn our backs on her for what that monster did!” Fluttershy nodded. “The poor dear... She is as much a victim here as Twilight was.” The rest of the Bearers nodded, as did Shining’s parents. Spike didn’t, but he also seemed more relaxed, looking glum rather than defiant. Shining found he couldn’t really blame Princess Luna either. It’s not like she had control over it. Besides, Twilight had forgiven her, and so could he. “What about Celestia?” he said, surprising himself along with the others, and drawing their attention. “I beg your pardon?” Rarity asked. Shining paused as he gathered his thoughts. “She’s the one who sent Twilight, sent all of you, against Nightmare Moon. She manipulated the situation, Twilight... everyone into this confrontation. Doesn’t that make her to blame for it?” “Who else could she send?” Rainbow Dash asked. “It’s not like there were a lot of options here,” she said, glancing at Shining. “So, you’re saying she just sent Twilight off and hoped for the best?” Rainbow Dash shook her head.  “Princess Celestia had no other choice. Remember the scroll? She said she couldn’t control the Elements of Harmony anymore.” Applejack nodded. “She searched for centuries tryin’ to find a way to use them to bring her sister back.” Shining nodded reluctantly. More than anyone, he could definitely understand that. What would he do if there was a way to bring Twilight back? What wouldn’t he do? “Why didn’t she find another way to stop her, then?” Twilight Velvet spoke up. “She’s an alicorn. Why couldn’t she fight Nightmare Moon?” “Because Nightmare Moon had the one thing stopping Celestia from even trying,” Shining said, and let out a long sigh. “As long as Nightmare Moon possessed Luna, Celestia was powerless.” Nightlight nodded to himself.. “Looking at it from that perspective...” he trailed off, turning to face his wife, “it would be like asking Shining to fight Twilight.” “Yeah,” Spike said with a nod, “all she could do is make sure everyone was in the right place at the right time, but she couldn’t have known what would happen. There’s no way she’d hurt Twilight on purpose.”          Twilight Velvet started weeping, and Nightlight held her closely, but they both nodded, acknowledging the truth. The princesses weren’t to blame. “So it’s agreed then?” Shining spoke up. He looked around the room, waiting through the lengthy silence for any sign of disagreement. “Very well, should I have Captain Sterling ask the princesses to return?” After a nod from the group, Shining walked over the door where Captain Sterling was standing and asked him to tell the Princesses that a decision had been reached. It didn’t take long for them to arrive, but Luna hesitated in the doorway as she saw Shining Armor. He cringed a bit, but gave Princess Luna a bow, welcoming her to the room. She took her seat next to Celestia nervously, glancing between Shining and the door, repeatedly, as he took a step forward to address them.  “Your Highnesses, I would first like to apologize,” he said. “Princess Luna, my actions were entirely uncalled for this evening. I didn’t mean what I said. Deep down I knew you weren’t a murderer, and I most certainly shouldn’t have attacked you. For that, and so much more, I am sorry.” He paused briefly as he looked to Celestia. “I know how much Twilight meant to you, Princess Celestia, and I’m deeply sorry for my words.” He bowed his head and sank to his knees before them. “I hope you both can accept my apology.” Celestia and Luna both nodded. With a sigh of relief, Shining bowed once more. “Thank you.” “Captain Sterling tells me that you’ve all made a decision?” Celestia inquired, looking to the rest of the group. The group nodded as one, and turned their gaze, one by one, to Shining. He groaned internally. I should have expected that, I guess. He cleared his throat, and turned to the Princesses. “It seems I’ll be speaking for us on that.” Shining glanced at the group once more, seeking confirmation. A few of the ponies nodded back at him, but no one spoke. Shining took a breath and turned back to Princess Luna. “We forgive you, Your Highness.” “You... do?” Luna asked hesitantly. Shining nodded. “Yes. We all agreed that you weren’t Nightmare Moon. I realized that myself earlier tonight when I was out, but bottom line is I didn’t know if I could forgive you, and no one here really did until we started discussing it. The Nightmare took advantage of you, manipulated you, and ultimately took over your body. Despite your emotions, that was not your fault, and neither is anything done while it was in control.” Luna nodded once, but kept her head lowered. “Thank you... thank you so much!” Shining smiled and nodded back, then turned. “Princess Celestia,” he said, “you also believed you shared some blame for what happened the other night. However, we disagree. “You knew,” he paused and cleared his throat. “You knew what Nightmare Moon was capable of, but you didn’t send Twilight there on a whim, or due to carelessness. You sent the only ones who could defeat her. “Whether or not you could’ve defeated her yourself doesn’t matter. Even if you succeeded, you would have lost your sister permanently.” Shining cringed as those words left his mouth, his head momentarily lowered as he thought of Twilight. “Twilight was one of the Elements of Harmony, and only she and the others could possibly return your sister to you.” Shining’s voice cracked at the end, but he refused to look away. “You didn’t gamble with Twilight’s life, and you certainly didn’t send her there to die. The only gambles were whether or not they’d be successful and if Princess Luna would survive.” Shining swallowed the lump in his throat. “This isn’t easy for me,” he continued, “and part of me is still upset, but I know the blame doesn’t lie on you two. Every way I look at it, Nightmare Moon was the only one who had any control over what happened.” “I-” Celestia said, then hesitated. ”I honestly don’t know what else to say, other than thank you. And while we’re on the topic of apologies, I’d like to offer my own to you for how I reacted earlier today.” Shining sighed and started to nod, but stopped himself and shook his head instead. “You don’t have to apologize for that, Your Highness. I was way out of line.” A silence hung between them for a few moments until finally he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, eyeing her warily. “I just hope I never have to see you that angry again,” he said with a sly smile. Princess Celestia blushed lightly and nodded, then cleared her throat and looked over the group. “You all have been rather quiet. Do any of you have anything you wish to add?” The group exchanged glances amongst themselves. “Seems not,” Applejack said. “We all agreed on what Shining Armor over there said. Nothin’ more to it.” Celestia smiled and nodded once more. “Now, I’m sure you five have had a long journey from Ponyville, and I’ve taken the liberty of having the guest rooms prepared for you, assuming you wish to stay.” Celestia stopped and looked at the time. “Actually, I don’t even know if the trains run this time of night.” “Now that ya mention it, it is rather late,” Applejack said with a yawn. “That’s mighty kind of ya, Princess.” “I’ll have Captain Sterling show you to your rooms, then.” Sterling nodded and gave Celestia a quick bow before turning to the group. “If you’ll follow me, please?” As everyone left the room, Celestia turned back to Shining and his family. “I know I said it earlier, but thank you, again. I doubt it means much, all things considered, but knowing that you all were able to forgive us...” Twilight Velvet shook her head sadly. “It’s okay, Your Highness. If anything, it does help a bit with closure.” Shining nodded. “I... really am going to miss her, though. She always had the biggest grin on her face whenever she learned a new spell.” He chuckled. Nightlight grinned. “Even as she got older, she still jumped around like a filly when she got excited. Always screaming ‘yes’ over and over again.” “Remember how hard she worked at her magic when she was young?” Twilight Velvet smiled fondly. “She’d spend hours staying awake long into the night reading. I can’t tell you how many times we found her asleep and drooling into her latest book.” A soft chuckle came from the other end of the table where Celestia stood next to Luna. “After she came to the academy I found her much the same way many times. Though in most cases, when she woke, she’d be horrified by the damage she’d done to the book.”              “Yeah,” Nightlight said with a smile, “that does sound like Twilight. Speaking of the academy, remember her entrance exam?” “How could I forget?” Celestia laughed. “It’s not every day a simple hatching spell escalates into causing a full grown dragon to tear through the roof. “I can’t help but remember just what it felt like to turn into a cactus. I’d never been so thirsty in all my life!” “There was this one time I’ll never forget,” Shining said. “It was back when Twilight was still a filly, and I had just eaten the last cookie out of the jar. She was so upset she spent the next three hours researching manifestation spells. I assume she wanted to refill the cookie jar herself. Much to her dismay, she never found a way, but watching her repeated attempts is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.” Shining laughed along with them for a time, but then slowly withdrew to the window while the rest of the group shared their memories of Twilight. He glanced out, stargazing as he searched for the constellation of his sister. As soon as he found it, he spotted another shooting star that streaked across the sky above them, and gave it a lopsided smile. With a glance back at the room, he noted the others had moved to sit around the table, still reminiscing, and he rejoined them.  Although he knew no one at this table was completely okay with what happened, he knew that, in the end, things would be okay. They could never return to how they were, but, eventually, it would be okay.