Virtues of Harmony: A Canterlot Wedding

by SFF

Part 1

"I'm disappointed in you, Twiley."

Is what Shining Armor WANTED to say. He had been meaning to speak to his sister, Twilight Sparkle, about her behavior during the wedding planning for some time now. Ever since she and her five friends first arrived in Canterlot to help prepare the wedding between him and Cadance, Twilight has been acting...well, for lack of a better world, childish.

Everything Cadance did was an issue to Twilight. She complained about how Cadance wanted Applejack's food to be top notch. She complained when Cadance was giving pointers to Rainbow Dash on her Sonic Rainboom. She complained when Cadance said that Fluttershy's bird orchestra "needed work". She complained when Cadance criticized Pinkie Pie's decorations. And she complained when Cadance asked for modifications to the wedding dresses Rarity had prepared.

This string of childish behavior bothered Shining Armor immensely. Twilight absolutely ADORED Cadance back when she was babysat by her, but now everything she did was an issue. Why couldn't Twilight understand that Cadance was under a lot of stress wanting to ensure her special day went as well as it could? Shining Armor intended to talk to Twilight after the wedding rehearsal the night before the actual wedding, to try to get to the bottom of her odd and frankly embarrassing behavior.

But then, Twilight did the one thing nopony ever thought she was capable of. In the middle of the rehearsal, Twilight suddenly burst into the room, ranting and raving about Cadance being "evil", all the while viciously spewing insults at her. This drove Cadance to tears, leading to her running off.

The room was deathly silent. Shining Armor wanted to tell Twilight she had made a HUGE mistake. He wanted to tell her how disappointed he was that Twilight chose to do things this way instead of talking things over. Most of all, he wanted answers. He wanted to know exactly WHAT drove Twilight to do such an unthinkable thing. That's what he WANTED to say to her, but what came out of his mouth was...not that.

"Well...I guess all your childish idiocy just wasn't enough, was it? You just HAD to go the extra mile, DIDN'T you?"

Wait...WHAT?!

The harsh words caught Shining Armor off guard just as much as it did Twilight, her friends and Celestia, "B-Big brother...?" Twilight said, wide eyed, "W-Wait, Twilight! What I mean is-"

Is what he WANTED to say, but again, his words were not his own, "You just couldn't accept that I was moving on from you, could you? You HAD to get the last word in. Well guess what, 'Twiley'? The world does NOT revolve around you!" No...NO! This is wrong! Yes, he was mad at her, but he would NEVER say such hateful things to her little sister, best friend forever!

"Er...S-Sir Shining Armor...?" Fluttershy stammered as Shining Armor advanced on Twilight, who stepped back in growing confusion and fear.

"Honestly, I knew you were being a pest, but I never thought you would do something THIS low!"

"A PEST?!" Dash cried with a growing glare.

"You heard me." Shining Armor spat, "A PEST. Throughout this entire week Twilight, you have done nothing but whine, complain, and fuss over every little thing Cadance has done. Did it EVER occur to you that maybe, just MAYBE, she's just stressed over her wedding?!"

"B-But..." Twilight whimpers, "I-I was just t-trying to..."

A sudden hoof stamp from Celestia cut her off, "Sir Shining Armor, that is ENOUGH!"

"NO!" Shining Armor yelled, even as his mind desperately pleaded, *No, stop! This isn't what I want! I don't want to hurt my little sister!* Shining Armor glared at his sister darkly, "It's ALWAYS about you, Twilight! Ever since we were little, it's ALWAYS been about you! And the one time its about ME, and MY wedding, YOU chose to ruin EVERYTHING!!"

Twilight gasped as her eyes watered, but not everypony was going to take this lying down, "Now listen here, you varmint!" Applejack said, defensively standing between him and Twilight, "I'll admit, Twilight screwed up with this, and she REALLY shouldn't have done that, but you're taking this WAY too far!"

"Agreed!" Rarity says, "She only has your best interests at heart!"

"You actually BELIEVE that, don't you?" Shining Armor says with a bitter laugh, "You actually believe that she insulted my bride to be out of concern, don't you? Not out of petty jealously and her inability to accept that I can't ALWAYS be in her life?!"

"Stop it!" Pinkie yelled, getting angry, "Maybe if you give her a chance to explain herself-"

"I've given her MORE than enough chances already!" Shining Armor said sternly, "I chose to ignore her idiocy this entire week, but NO MORE!" He glared darkly, "Twilight, you have crossed the line! I thought your years with Celestia and at Ponyville would mature you, but this proves that you're just as possessive and selfish as you've ever been! I do NOT need a petty, selfish pony like you as my best mare!"

This got a gasp out of everypony, "B...But...I-I..." Twilight whimpered before falling on her legs, sobbing.

*T...Twily, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! Something...Something's controlling me! I love you, little sister! Please! Let me be heard!!* Shining Armor's mind frantically tried to reassert control, but it was no use. Whatever enchantment was affecting him had complete control over his body and vocal cords. This force made his body stand up straight and glare at the other ponies, "Now...if you all will excuse me, I need to tend to my bride to be, and ensure she has not been traumatized by this...this sickening display."

Celestia rarely ever got angry. The closest she ever got was when Twilight nearly destroyed Ponyville in her obsession to write a friendship report. So it came to a shock to not just the others, but herself, when she glared at Shining Armor, opened her mouth...and yelled.

"SIR SHINING ARMOR!!" She bellowed in the Royal Canterlot Voice, "Your actions are UNACCEPTABLE!"

*I KNOW! This isn't me, Princess! Please, help me!* Shining Armor's mind raced, but his body simply turned away, "...With all due respect Princess, you may have been able to defend Twilight in the past...but this time, there is no excuse." As he stormed off, his mind desperately tried to stop himself, *No...NO! This can't be happening! Twiley, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Please, forgive me! TWILLLLLLYYYYY!!!*

The room was almost silent. Almost, as Twilight's soft sobbing was very audible. This quickly became accompanied by Dash's deep, furious growl, "That...no good...SON OF A-"

"Rainbow!" Applejack says, putting a calming hoof on her shoulder, "Now's not the time...." "..."

Dash gave a final growl before turning to Twilight, who was still sobbing as Celestia sat next to her, drapping her wing over her, "...Everypony." Celestia finally says, "I wish to speak to Twilight. Alone."

"Are...Are you sure?" Fluttershy asks as the Sun Princess nods, "Please." The other ponies looked at eachother hesitantly, but finally nodded before turning to leave.

Dash stopped to turn her head, "Twi...I just want you to know, I got your back." Twilight gave no answer other than another sob. Dash sighed deeply before joining the others outside.

"Twilight..." Celestia says soothingly as her student sobbed.

"He's right...I messed up...I burst in here without proof, and now my big brother hates me, and I've hurt my favorite foalsitter!"

"Twilight, listen to me." Celestia says, "I am certain Shining Armor does not hate you. He was...simply acting under the pressure." She frowns, "And while I would NOT have said it so...spitefully, he DID have a point. Your words to Cadance were...shocking."

Twilight nods as she sniffles, "I...I know that now. I wasn't thinking clearly."

"Shh..." Celestia says with a smile, "I forgive you. Your friends forgive you. And I'm certain that, once he has cooled down, your brother will forgive you as well."

"You...You really think so?"

Celestia nods, "I do."

Twilight managed a small smile, "P-Princess...thank you." She stood up, wiping her tears, "There's...one thing I need to do, though. I need to find Cadance and apologize to her."

Celestia nods, "Of course. I will be outside if you need me." She gave her student a reassuring smile before standing and leaving.

Unbeknownst to them, however, Cadance had watched the entire thing. Once Celestia left, Cadance exited the shadows, wiping her tear, "...T-Twilight..."

Twilight turned to her, frowning, "Cadance, I...I'm so sorry."

Cadance nods, looking down, "...I am sorry too, Twilight."

"Huh?" This caught Twilight by surprise, "YOU'RE sorry? For what?"

"...For what I must now do." Cadance says as she looks up to her, her eyes suddenly turning green as a greenish circle formed around Twilight.

"Wh-What the?!"

"Forgive me, Twilight Sparkle..." Cadance said apologetically, "But you have seen and heard too much, and I cannot afford to let anything hinder my plan." She sighed deeply, "I take no pleasure in this...but I must do whatever it takes."

The circle glowed as Twilight looked at her, aghast, "C-Cadance?!"

"...Teleport." Cadance said simply. The circle glowed brightly, and before she could react, Twilight vanished, whisked off to wherever the teleportation spell sent her. "Cadance" then pulled out something from her mane; a locket. She opened it, looking at the picture within, "...Whatever it takes." She said to herself solemnly before turning and leaving.

*****

"Uuugh..." Twilight moaned as she slowly came too, blinking at the darkness, "Wh...Where...?" She said before lighting her horn. She looked around, noticing the crystals around her. There was no doubt about it in her mind.

She was in a cave. The question was...where was it?

To be continued....

Author's Note:

This is the first part of a prequel sidestory of sorts to "Virtues of Harmony", of which I am the co-author.

I want to make one thing perfectly clear. This is not, not, not, NOT an anti-Shining Armor fic. The reason he is so nasty in this chapter is because his body and voice are being controlled by Chrysalis' spell, a fact I hope I was able to make clear. Once the spell is broken, Shining will be back to his old, nice self, albeit VERY repentant over what the spell forced him to say.

As for why I felt it necessary to write this, well...let's just say that the Chrysalis of VoH is VASTLY different from the canon Chrysalis. You'll see. :P

Comments

[MrThumbsup]

Oh, now this is fascinating. Most Canterlot Wedding Fiasco fics like this tend to have Chysalis attempting to slander Twilight's name, but I've never seen one where Shining was made to be perceived as the villain. Definitely looking forward to this, and definitely reading the fic this is a prequel to.