Shining Armor trotted out of the castle’s hospital feeling like the lowest pony in Equestria. The headache he now had was much worse than any he had felt over the last few days, but that was nothing compared to the blow to his ego. The doctors had taken nearly an hour to purge the brainwashing toxins the Changeling Queen has pumped into him, even with what his fiancée had done to reverse the process. Each and every one of them were surprised he could even stand, let alone walk.
For the first time in days he could think clearly. He remembered all the times he had disagreed with the false Cadence, only to agree when he got hit with what he thought was a spell to cure headaches. A spell that was often cast on him without warning, he now realized, and one which only seemed to make headaches worse. And the pains they were supposedly curing could have easily been prevented if he had had the other guards contribute their magic to help him with the spell.
It seemed so obvious now, like he was blind before but now could see. Earlier he couldn’t think about those things. Every time he tried focusing on them, the headaches would worsen until his mind drifted elsewhere. He found nothing odd about the fact that his bride-to-be was acting nothing like herself, or that she was blind to their history. Then again, he had been, too. Even trying to remember how he and Cadence met caused him great pain.
But he remembered now. He remembered proposing to her in the castle garden the day after she had gotten back from an important visit to Zebrica for a goodwill mission. She remembered her, or as she told him while in the hospital, the false her, had come to him the next day saying that the last of her men had reported back to her a great threat mounting against Canterlot, and how a shield spell was needed to protect the city. He remembered her early insistence that she allow her to cast anti-headache spells on him, a precautionary measure that seemed to do nothing. He remembered her apologizing for not doing the spell right, and how she insisted on casting it again and again until she performed it correctly, which he now understood meant when he stopped registering that every spell was making him feel worse, not better.
And he remembered his faith and pride in his little sister. Even while he was angry with her, there was a small voice, calling through the pain, begging him to have himself checked out before dismissing Twilight. He wondered how loud the voice would have been had he not been under the faux bride’s influence. Would he have listened? He wanted, so badly, to believe he would have, but it was impossible to say.
He slowed to a near stop as he thought of his sister. She had been right to worry about them drifting apart. In their younger days, she had practically been his shadow at times, following him into all manner of things and idolizing him. He had been protective of her, perhaps too much so. Once she had moved into the castle, she didn’t quite know how to defend herself from the bullies there.
And how long distance had their relationship become? Being Captain of the Guards required him to travel a bit, but he never realized just how much until a year ago. She moved to Ponyville without his input. He hadn’t been there to congratulate her on awakening the Element of Magic. Celestia had intentionally sent him far away from Canterlot and Ponyville, knowing he would have kept Twilight under lock and key during Nightmare Moon’s reign. He hadn’t been there to celebrate her knighthood after defeating Discord, having been out of the country. The previous Hearth’s Warming Eve pageant and her last birthday, he had been out of the country both times and missed her. The other Bearers, friends with whom she shared a deep bond, hadn’t even known he existed. She hadn’t written many letters, nor ever came for a visit whenever she had been in town.
Of course, he was not blameless for leaving her out of major life decisions. He had begun dating Cadence just six months ago. The feelings he had been too shy to tell her about came out, and he confessed his love. She reciprocated, and they fell deep in love so very fast. He never wrote to tell Twilight of his relationship when it started, or when he decided to propose.
Nightmare Moon. Discord. Dragons and an ursa minor. Twilight had faced them all, all threats he should have been stopping but didn’t, he doubted if he even could have. Even his victory over the Changeling Queen had been made possible through her heroics. For someone who ran Equestria’s army he seemed to do remarkably little in the way of dealing threats to Celestia’s subjects. He had to scoff at the irony. Since he was a foal he had dreamed about saving Equestria from terrible creatures, and it had been his sister doing it instead.
As soon as the changelings had been expelled from Canterlot, Twilight immediately began directing orders to the others to get the wedding back up and running in three hours. The others were incredulous that it could be done, but followed without hesitation regardless. No one wanted to doubt her now.
He had desperately wanted to talk to her then, but Celestia hadn’t given him the chance. She moved both him and his future wife to the hospital wing. Cadence hadn’t anything but a slight case of malnutrition and a dirty coat, and after a quick bath was released to the kitchen to sample the Apple Family’s cooking.
Now, finally free of the doctor’s scrutiny, he sought out his sister. To his relief, he found her in the ballroom with Cadence and Pinkie Pie, going over the reception plans. Carefully, so the two mares dancing at the other end of the room couldn’t see him, he got Twilight’s attention.
“Shiny! You’re finally out! Are you okay?”
He smiled half-heartedly. “I can think better than I could have the last five days.”
“Great! I’ll tell Cadence you’re better, she’ll be thrilled that...”
“No, Twilight,” he said quickly, “I...really need to talk to you, now. Before we do anything else.”
The lavender unicorn’s mood changed from happy to nervous quickly. “Okay. What do you want to talk about?”
“Not here, let’s go to my quarters.”
“Sure...”
They walked in silence, though they walked quickly, as Twilight was adamant about not getting too far behind schedule.
They entered Shining Armor’s living space, the elder unicorn shutting the door behind them and locking it.
“Alright, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked, looking at her brother with concern.
“Twilight, I...I want to call off the wedding.”
For the following five seconds, the room became so quiet that the Captain of the Guard could swear he heard the sound of his sister’s eyes stretching to twice their normal size.
“What?” the younger sibling shouted incredulously, not believing what she was hearing. “Wh...how...How can you do this now?”
“Twilight...how can I marry her now? I let that monster imposter act as her for five days! That entire time she was starving in those caves, and I was up here, completely oblivious to her suffering. According to her, she was kidnapped right after I proposed to her. I let it happen right under my nose! I’m not even married to her yet and I already let her down!”
“Shiny...”
“Then I let that fake her waltz in and tell me her sources knew of a potential threat against Canterlot! The details were so vague but I still let her talk me into casting that shield around the city, and to let her zap me with those spells to brainwash me! I just gave that disgusting bug everything she needed to keep me weak and distracted while she fed off of me!
“Shiny...”
“And you! I let you down! I verbally backhoofed you in front of your friends and the princess without even checking what you were saying! I got everypony you care about to walk out on you without a second thought! All those years I promised to protect you and keep you safe, and today I hurt you worse than any of the changelings did!”
“Please, listen...”
“So let’s review: I failed as a husband, a brother, and as Captain of the Guards, all in one fell swoop. The three things I’m supposed to be good at and I couldn’t do any of them. I’m… I’m a fraud. I think… no, I know Cadence can do better than me.”
He dared to look at his sister. She was looking wide eyed in shock, completely flabbergasted by her brother’s choice of words. He sighed. “Look, I know what you’re going to do. You’re going to try and talk me out of this, but I’ve made up my…”
As it turned out, he didn’t know what Twilight was going to do. He clearly had not expected to find himself on the floor with an aching jaw and his sister’s hoof print on the side of his face.
“Aw, jeez, Twilight…”
“You were being an idiot,” she said, coldly and sternly. “You needed that. Now get up and get ready to get married.”
“What? No, Twilight, I can’t do that to Cadence!”
“No, you can’t do this to Cadence! This is the that that you can’t do to Cadence!”
“…What?”
Twilight gave an exasperated sigh. “You can’t back out on this now, you’ll break Cadence’s heart!”
“But...”
“No! You’re not going to ignore me this time! You’re going to listen!”
Shining Armor quieted himself. Bringing up his dismissal of his sister earlier had been quite an effective tactic, even if it did make her feel dirty for doing it.
Twilight sighed as her expression and her tone softened. “You saw how she looked when she came out of that cave, like she hadn’t eaten or slept in days. But when I made her a way out, she went running for the surface…running to you. I heard her cry and sob, praying to Celestia that you were okay. Even after going through Tartarus the past five days, you were on her mind.
“I knew…I knew, seeing that, that she was the mare for you. She loves you, more deeply than anything. I can’t let you get cold hooves now, not after all she suffered through to be with you. She wants you, Shiny. To her, there is no pony better.”
“But,” he began to protest, but she gently put her hoof on his mouth to silence him.
“The changeling’s fooled everypony. If anything, you should be feeling the least guilty here. You spent the last few days brainwashed. You weren’t yourself. I’m willing to bet that if you hadn’t been, you would have seen right through that bug’s disguise, I wouldn’t have had to do anything. And I’m sure the only reason you let her zap you in the first place was because you trusted Cadence enough to let her do that.
“You’re not unworthy of her. She doesn’t think so, and that’s really all that matters. She suffered through a lot this week. If you call off the wedding now, it will kill her. You can’t do that to her.”
Shining Armor looked at his sister, stunned. “Wh… Are you sure?”
Twilight smiled sadly. “Haven’t you learned…” she began, but stopped midway. Her remark wasn’t the best thing right now. “I’m sure. Completely. The Changeling Queen fooled everypony. Even if you hadn’t been brainwashed…” her tone saddened. “Well, I still wouldn’t have blamed you if you hadn’t believed me.”
He was taken aback. She continued.
“My friends...well, they had good reason not to believe me. I made it clear to them I didn’t like that imposter. After listening to my whine about it so much, they had every reason to think I was just jealous. Plus… yeah, I guess I have a tendency to overreact. You see, there was one incident, right after we defeated Discord…”
“You don’t have to tell me,” he assured her. “I… know what happened.”
Twilight blinked. “You do?”
Shining Armor sighed. “Celestia told me. I… asked her to keep me up to speed on anything that happened to you while I was away. It… it made me feel guilty.”
His sister, once again, was shocked. “W-what? How?”
“Twilight...you were right to worry about us drifting apart. I missed you getting the Element of Magic. I missed you defeating Nightmare Moon and bringing Princess Luna home. I missed you defeating Discord...and then I wasn’t there for you to help you through everything afterward. I mean, the Princess told me you weren’t healed by the Elements like everypony else, and if half the things I’ve heard about Discord are true, it must have been horrible.”
“It was...” she said softly, looking away. “I just… I never wanted anything to be out of place again, I just…”
Her older brother sighed, nuzzling the younger pony with sympathies. “I’m a soldier, Twilight. I’ve seen what war can do to a pony. No one blames you for losing your head afterward. But… I blame myself for not being there for you. I should have taken a leave, come to see you…”
“Shiny, no,” she said. “Nothing that happened was your fault. You need to quit apologizing for being flawed like every other pony.”
“I can’t help it. Remember when we were foals? We talked with each other about everything. Every night we talked about how much closer we were getting to our goals. I told you how much stronger I was getting, how much better I was getting at my drills. You told me what you read about that day, how everything worked… it was kind of embarrassing not being able to keep up with a six-year-old on magical theory,” he admitted with a blush. Twilight couldn’t help but smile.
“You remember how mad I got when I couldn’t be there for your entrance exam? I begged Mom and Dad to let me take off school so I could see you get in, but they said no. And I missed you getting your cutie mark…”
“You wouldn’t talk to our parents for a month after that…” she remembered fondly.
“Even after you went to live in the castle, we still visited once a week. We still stayed so close. Then I actually enlisted and had to go away for basic training. That’s when it all started, isn’t it? We saw each other less and less. I was surprised when you just up and moved to Ponyville without even telling me…”
Twilight cringed. “So, I guess I’m to blame for us drifting apart, huh?”
“We both are,” he sighed. “I never even told you I was dating Cadence. It never even occurred to me you would be upset by it.”
Twilight looked away from her brother for a moment. “I’m sorry. I… I guess I really had no right to be that mad at not being told about the wedding directly from you.”
“Maybe not,” he said. “But I don’t blame you. I could never be mad at you for too long.”
There was a long silence. Eventually, she looked at him again. Tears were forming in his eyes. “Look at you.”
She blinked. “What?”
“All this time I’ve been thinking of you as my little sister, that filly who always followed me around, looking up to me with those wide eyes. But look… you grew up. You’ve done more in the last year than most ponies do in a lifetime, and it looks like this is only the beginning of it. I’ve got to say… I’ve never been more proud to be your brother.”
Now Twilight was crying. “Stop…”
“No, you deserve to hear this…”
“No, I don’t!” she yelled.
Shining Armor stopped. She wasn’t crying out of happiness, he realized, but self-loathing.
“I was an idiot. I didn’t even think it was a bad idea to just barge in during the rehearsal and accuse her. I could have just gone to Celestia and told her what I saw like a full grown mare, but no, I had to act like a foal! I… I’m so embarrassed,” he put her hoof to her head, her cheeks flushing.
“Twiley, no, look…”
“No, don’t try to justify me! I acted like an idiot. Everypony had good reason not to believe me… they probably thought I was relapsing again.”
“It… sounds like it’s bothering you,” he noted, feeling like an idiot for not being able to come up with anything more comforting than stating the obvious. “You want to talk about it?”
“It’s… I’m scared. What if I had been wrong?” she sighed. “I… I would have lost everything. You, Cadence, my friends… and Princess Celestia. Everything I worked so hard for would have been gone.” She groaned, sitting down and clutching her stomach. “Just thinking about it makes me sick. Am I really just one mistake away from losing everything?”
“I’m sure it’s not that bad,” he tried to assure her, sitting as well. “I mean… I don’t know how I would have reacted if I had been in my right mind. I probably would have been mad… but I would have forgiven you.” He paused, wondering what to say next. “Are you mad at your friends?”
“…A little,” she admitted, sounding guilty. “I know I shouldn’t be, but…” her tears increased. “They hurt me. I… I don’t know. I mean, they sometimes get on me about overreacting, but…a-am I really… do they really have that little faith in me? Am I that bad?”
Shining Armor sighed. “I really don’t know. That’s a side-effect of us drifting apart, I really don’t know. But here’s what I do know, Princess Celestia trusts you, and she’s very proud of you. I always hear her bragging to visiting emissaries about you, and nearly all of them think you’re her daughter until she corrects them. And today, you proved yourself right. You saved me and Cadence, and the entire kingdom. If that doesn’t earn you some trust, I don’t know what will.”
“If I had been wrong… would they have forgiven me?”
Shining Armor just smiled. “I know they would have. I’ve… I’ve been reading your friendship reports. I know about everything you and your friends have been through together. Believe me, they would have… I would have.”
Twilight looked at the floor. “Are you sure?”
“Are you doubting me?” he said playfully, poking her in the ribs. She giggled, having always been ticklish there. “I’ll tell you what, why don’t you talk to your friends about it? I’m sure that would help.”
“I was planning to tomorrow, when everything’s cooled down. We still have a wedding to plan… you are getting married, right?” she asked, giving him a completely serious look.
“I guess… that depends on one thing.”
“And what’s that?”
“If you’ll be my Best Mare again.”
Twilight smiled, but she gave a sigh that sounded like she was trying to make it exasperated. “Shiny… why are you asking a question you already know the answer to?”
“Because I’d like to hear it out loud,” he said simply.
“Well,” be began, with faux indecisiveness. “I guess I will be. If…”
“If?” Shining Armor asked, genuinely confused that she’d have a hook for such a thing.
“When I get married… you have to be the one to give me away. Deal?”
He gave a smile, faint tears beginning to form. “Now you’re asking questions you know the answer to.” He nuzzled his sister again. “As soon as the honeymoon’s over, I’m coming to visit you in Ponyville.”
“You don’t have to…” she began.
“Yes I do. I’m not making this mistake again. I want to meet your friends, see your life in Ponyville.”
She smiled. “I’ll be sure to set out an extra bed for you and Cadence.”
As it turned out, Twilight didn’t talk to her friends at the earliest possible opportunity. She had been caught off guard by the fact that they felt such guilt, she focused on them. She decided to wait a few more hours before having that talk, though part of her said that was a bad idea. Besides, there really was no time, the reception was starting, and she wasn’t going to miss her chance to sing.
By the end of the night, she was so exhausted she wanted to crawl back to her suite and go to sleep, but Luna had appeared before her with one final task for the evening. The night ended with her curled up next to her mentor, feeling quite relieved that things were back to normal between them.
Shining Armor sat in the carriage as it left the outskirts of Canterlot, his wife curled up at his side, asleep. This was the day he had broken his sister’s heart, the day a large army had swarmed into the capital of Equestria on his watch, the day he had realized he’d allowed the mare he loved to suffer for nearly a week, and the day he had gotten talked down to by his little sister.
Cadence stirred at his side, nuzzling deeper into her husband’s chest. He smiled. Whatever horrors the day may have brought on him, he couldn’t be happier right now.
Ah yes, finally we get to see the events from Twilight's side. It was getting high time for that.
Two notes: you have a redundancy of "in the first place" somewhere halfway through the story, and does Twilight really want to be given away at her wedding by her brother even though her father is still alive? That just doesn't sound right - or she doesn't expect to get married before her father passes away, which I consider unlikely. (Then again, having a woman as your "best man" when you're male yourself is pretty weird too, so perhaps the customs are just different among colourful magical ponies.)
Apart from that, very good chapter, if only because it gives explanations for one of the more nagging questions that has always bothered me since that finale: why haven't we ever seen this fantastic BBBFF, or heard about him? Good explanation, that.
Also, I just noticed: this is fic no. 24001. My first full-length fic on the site is 19001. I love numerical coincidences like that.
Sibling love goes a long way
The feelings he had been too shy to tell her about came out, and he confessed his love. She recuperated, and they fell deep in love so very fast.
*reciprocated,
"Recuperated" means "recovered".
This story highlights the biggest difference between fanfiction and the show. In the fanfiction, the ponies act like adults and have real conversations and problems. In the show, none of this fallout would exist. Thank you for expanding the minds of these ponies and making them so real.
That was awesome. I'm glad you did what I thought you should do and have shining blame himself for his weakness. I was a bit surprised by the fact that it was Twilight who talked him out of this and not Candace, but it worked well. Well, I can't wait for the ending!
Aw, sibling relationships.
Very good chapter. Still a lot of 'everyone' and the like instead of everypony, but it's a minor thing I suppose
Nerhm.
The deep emotions running in this fanfic and the realistic interpretation of each ponies feelings is superb. Though with this chapter I feel we might be drawing near the end already.
Headcanonized. Bang.
What did the hoof say to the face? *SMACK*
Seriously, I really loved the interaction between siblings. I expect that talk the next day is going to be very theraputic.
Can't wait for the finale!
781898
Right back at ya. :D
Though really, thanks for commenting on that and telling me this updated. I really need to fave this story.
I also wish people would shut up about those comments. I get very pissed off and very immature when something I hate is dropped on me out of nowhere. So yeah, those comments are my honest opinion and if you people are going to hate me for it, keep it to yourselves and just shut up.
As for the latest chapter, I loved it and am waiting eagerly for the next chapter.
"I mean"
Seriously... I think I've read that line like fifty times.
It's hard to get me to tear up at a story...
Bronies tend to get me to tear up. This chapter being no exception.
Nice work, once again. Can't wait for the next chapter!
I have no words to describe how great this chapter was...I really don't. Thank you and keep going.
Another excellent chapter!!
Though one tiny nitpick: SA regrets not being there when Twilight moved to Ponyville, but in the BBBFF video, there is one split second scene where SA is sending off Twilight and Spike as the chariot takes off from Canterlot to Ponyville.
781654
Fixed the redundancy. And Twilight's parents seem pretty divorced in their kids lives, given how little we see them. They don't even help plan the wedding. Plus, I've heard of these things happening before...
781680
Yes it does.
781686
Fixed, thanks.
781700, 782195
You're very welcome.
781707
...What am I waiting for?
And to be honest, I thought about romantically pairing up Fluttershy and Iron Will, but I wanted to keep romance to a minimum for now.
781742
I was initially going to use Cadence, but I picked Twilight because I had better ideas for her.
781782
Fixed.
781777, 781829
Indeed.
781793
It's not Twilestia. Celestia loves Twilight like a daughter, and nothing else. Calm down. And if you don't like a pairing, say so like an adult, please.
781898, 782100
Next comment that takes shipping this seriously is getting deleted. I want no shipping wars in my comments.
781990, 782007
Yeah, strait shipping is oddly rare in this fandom, huh?
782041
We are. The next chapter is the last.
782048, 782125, 782267
Excellent. That means I've written this chapter correctly.
782115
Fixed.
782321
I'm just sick of people belittling my opinion, but warning taken.
782317
You commented while I was typing up that big monster up there.
When she left, Twilight thought she was just going for a visit. She stayed there without his input. That's what it meant.
781686 Maybe it was tough love?
Great chapter
I've been waiting for a fimfic to talk about how Shining dealt with the guilt of the sorta abandoning Cadence and this pulls it off nicely
Have a moustache
Well done incorporating the mind control and guilt. Loved when Twilight bitch slapped armor.
One mistake though Kindergarten starts at 4-5 years old not 6.
A decent chapter. Nice reconciliation between the siblings. Granted, I was hoping to see a talk between Shinning and Cadence, but this will do nicely.
I loved this chapter and this whole story. can't wait for the next chapter. only one thing bothered me. in this chapter you said that Shining wasn't there when Twilight left for Ponyville but during the song BBBFF we can clearly see him waving goodbye as she and Spike leave for Ponyville. Don't want to seem nit-picky but that was nagging on my mind.....dont hate me
782559 Actually, that depends where you live. Different countries and such. Also, Where does it say she was in Kindergarten? It merely says he was being Out-magical theoried by a 6 year-old. Presumably, this was AFTER becoming The Princess' Faithful Student, 'cause Kindergarteners probably wouldn't be learning much beyond the bare-bones-basics in magic anyways
782680 Chronically he wouldn't of been telling her about out-smarting him and THEN tell her about missing her entrance exam. People and ponies tend to do things in order.
Lesson Zero references Twilight going BACK to magic kindergarten. And as you may have noticed Twilight was quite advanced, I assume most of her studying was self study, being the Princesses personal protegee. In fact Twilight was shown going through a huge stack of books and that was before her parents decided to enroll her.
And most countries use the same educational system set up.
now this was a very well thought chapter, and thanks to this we can say that Psycho-Sparkle from Lession zero were the Post-Stress Traumatic Syndrome kick in as a result of of the incidents pvrovocked by Discord that left her Mentally scarred and the Changeling Invasion left her worse.
Great Job
Nice chapter, really explains a lot about Twilight and Shining Armor's history
Now onto the finale which will be glorious, of this I am quite sure!
782804 That's my point, they got taken down because they didn't eliminate the threats to their plan out of hubris. Had they just killed the elements or played it smarted they would have won. Why didn't Chrysalis kill Cadance, or had Twilight replaced when she proved to be a problem? Why didn't Discord incinerated them with his mind? Why didn't NMM snap their necks?
782736 *shrug* I suppose. The whole thing about the countries (Heck, states, even) is that here where I live,Kindergarten is around six and anythinbg before that is daycare. Or at least it was when I was a kid. Now, it's Prep (short for preperatory, which basically means it's an easier version of Grade 1, just so kids have a base, in case their parents have stuck them in a cellar or something for their earliest years) and before that Daycare.
782855 6 would be held back or possibly a really inconvenient birthday now a days. Twilight was one smart filly so I suspect they had her in as early as possible. I looked it up when trying to figure out the age gap between Spike and Twilight when I realized that it could actually be cannonly figured out because we knew she was in magic kindergarten meaning she hatched him to get in, so the gap could be derived from the starting age.
782893 I had forgotten my own birthday was fairly Inconveniant ^.^ I refute your claim that hatching Spike's egg was what got her into magic Kindergarten though. We see Diectly After hatching Spikes egg, Celestia says she's going to be taking Twilight as her own personal student. Taking someone as a personal student Doesn't mean dumping them into the care of another, now does it? Also, one can presume that if one is Old enough to be trying out for a School for gifted Unicorns, One has to have gone through Magic Kindergarten. A theory, however, is that Twilight was In Magic Kindergarten for a short time and was simply too good for it. Able to do everything she needed by magic, while other Unicorns her age could barely manage sparks. It'd be frustrating, not only due to a lack of any peers, but also due to teachers trying to actively keep her within the confines of the others. (Yes I KNOW you're able to Read and comprehend Starswirl's Theises, Twilight, but this is Story time and WE"RE all reading the Little Pegasus that could. Yes I know you can Levitate half your classmates, but you need to just stack the blocks. Yes I know you're Powered internally by a magical fire that'd put me and my entire family Combined to shame, but it's nap time) So I assume that she's an early applicant for the school, having eventually proved too intelligent to be stuck in those surrounds
782976 Ah, but i refute your refute for one main reasons. In Ponyville the classes are integrated, I assume the same is true in Canterlot since unity in the three racces is a big thing for the ponies. the only reason for there to be a "magic" kindergarten is if it was a special school for magic like *trumpets play in background* Celestia's School for Magically Gifted Unicorns.
I did like your advanced placement reasoning though.
will the scootaloo side-story ever get fleshed out? because loose ends are almost physically painful for me, and psychosomatic pain is just as bad.
783046 And I refute your refute with this Refute: Ponyville is a Small Town and Canterlot is a City. Ponyville would not have the resources to create an individual Childcare center for each type of Pony, nor the amount of Foals to JUSTIFY such buildings. ALSO! Cheerilee Runs a SCHOOL, not a Kindergarten. Presumably, any Magical Kindergartens would be for Younger children, so they don't accidently go Shooting magic at things randomly. Schools, like that of Cheerilee, would be for those who had already Managed to get their control up to scratch. Evidence for the fact that Poniville is Low on nessesary Training facilities for colts and Fillies: the Cutie mark Crusaders. Sweetie can barely summon a shower of sparks and Scootaloo can't get off the ground. Presumambly, had the been taught when they were younger, they;d be more Competant: Also, it doesn't matter if the ponies were huge on Racial Solidarity, if a Child has different needs to other children, you teach them accordingly. Not only do the three races of ponies have Hugely different abilities, They tend to have different propects waiting for them and, as such, different lifeskills they require. Presumably, in larger Cities, they;d have some sort of early learning center for at LEAST pegasi and Unicorns (possibly earth ponies as well, to get them used to the idea that they;re generally solider than the others,so don;t play too rough and junk) All connected into some sort of Learning facility, where they'd also have a shared lunch/playtime/Whatever that'd let them make freinds of other Ponytypes. After Kindergarten, they'd go to schools where they'd all be put into the same Classes, if they wanted a general sort of knowledge, or into Specific Schools, like Celestia's School for gifted Unicorns, if they exelled or wanted to exell at Species specifc Jobs. Presumably their school system would be hugely different to ours,since each Pony only Needs a very specific set of knowledge once they got their cutie mark. Something like: Sepereate Kindergartens, Combined General Knowledge school for, say, 2 years. Then, they;d split off into groups of Interest, Those who had yet to garned a cutiemark staying in the general Knowledge schools, which would focus increasingly on finding them a cutiemark and those with their cutiemarks going to specific schools to learn more about their Special talents for about 4 more years, then either going into apprenticeships or Jobs. Twilight, then, is the exeption,rather than the rule. She basically Skipped all the Early and middle learning and wentstraigt onto an apprenticeship. All just Guesswork and assumptions, butit makes more sense than a Single Kindergarten, School highschool and college for everypony.
783247 No way in hell I care to read that monster of a wall of text. Well played. It's like Pinkie talking, endless.
782525
Glad I could be of service.
782570
I considered Cadance, but I thought Twilight would work better.
782654
I've already addressed this: when Twilight first left for Ponyville, she assumed it would be a quick visit. She chose to make it a permanent move without discussing it with her brother.
782779
Thanks
782782
Oh, it shall.
782908
Spitfire will have no problems. Soarin isn't a cheater.
783113
Yeah, I really don't hate any non-inscest ships. I dislike Twilestia, Spilight, and any involving Discord, but I hold nothing against anyone that likes them.
783234
Yes, in the sequel
783046, 783247
...I really wasn't expecting that line to get so much debate.
Anyway, in terms of what I had in mind, Lordlyhour pretty much got it right. Twilight went to Magic Kindergarten, then regular school for 2-3 years before taking her entrence exam.
Yay, heartwarming ending!
Eagerly waiting for the next chapter.
A fabulous story my friend. I simply cannot wait until the next chapter.
I am also greatly awaiting the sequel...
"the Princess told me you weren’t healed by the Elements like everypony else"
Say what now?
The elements healed everypony but not Twilight? From what?
And with this, and what I'm sure is going to be a great finale; you have earned both my thumb and a favorite. I love how you've expanded on those two episodes the way I wish the actual animation had. Seriously, A Canterlot Wedding should have been a 2 hour movie that would have at least touched on some of this. Thanks for giving that to the fandom.
Can't wait for the sequel (Part I'm looking forward to is Spike's revelation to Twilight)
GAH!!! This is so good!!! How is every chapter of this so amazing??!?!
All of my feels. Wish there was a super-thumbs-up button for this story.
It is sort of overlooked how Shining Armor basically got emasculated by the events of his own wedding. I mean, damn.
783334
Huzzah! Victory in Double! Victory by concession and Victory by dint of actually being right!
My happiness abounds
783343 Heh, I'll happily write massive reams of text about just about anything, provided I enjoyed the story.
I once wrote about three paragraphs Justifying the use of "a Shiver ran down her flank" as an acceptable alternative to "A shiver ran down her spine", So when I get the chance to expound on something I actually have THEORIES for, well, hot darn, One serving of Huge Brick o' text a'comin' up.
chapter 9 on the cry-cry fest................................ Not bad! I like this!
783343 yah but in the story you said that he wasn't there when she left. but he was!!!
784203
Haha, yeah, I can just see the writers sliding in a joke about that, like how they did for the regular hospital doubling as a MENTAL hospital, or randomly sneaking in a funeral scene during a bubbly happy song of all things. Iron Will will be hosting a seminar the main 6 pass by when suddenly a white unicorn stallion in the background notices them and vacates the premises posthaste!
782838
Well, Discord ain't a bad chap, we only see one instance of him about to go totally apeshit and that's from being Fluttertroll'd. Hurting ponies directly just doesn't seem to be his style. Otherwise, he'd be Nurgle, or Samael! (Oh wait, we already did those crossovers! I hope we all remember how those turned out! ) As for Cadence, I figure Chrysalis realised she would be a great inextinguishable source of 'food' due to her special ability, but she needed to get the rest of Canterlot out of the way first, if she just kidnapped Cadence and left nothing in her place, the guards would go running around the nation searching for her until they found the hive and mounted an invasion. The wedding ploy would remove all possible The more glaring error is not sticky-hoofing the Elements of Harmony. Sure, they had to make it Twilight because it was 'her' day just as much as it was Cadence's and Shining's, but it could just as easily have been an Applebuck (perhaps even a Raribuck ) or Sonic Rainboom that fired her across the Everfree forest.
NMM is really the only G1-esque super-level villain, and she was basically overconfident from the moment she broke out so no chance of her hurting anypony because she didn't think anypony could hurt her, as evidenced by simply snatching the elements of harmony and smashing them. Maybe that was part of Celestia's master plan, if Twilight was seen to be undertaking a training montage to wield them NMM would be all NUH-UH Honey, we ain't having none of that, and teleport in and fight Twilight directly. Instead Twiilght ran in without really understanding how they worked and wound up beating her.
783247
Heh, yep. In fact with the red wood layout it seems they are trying to drive home the point it's the ONLY school in their community, akin to old American farming communities, or well, any below 500 pop village.
783046
No reason there can't be both. Maybe Twilight feels such a kinship with Star Swirl because Celestia pulled her out of first grade and started teaching her at an 8th or 9th grade level.