This story is a sequel to The Study of a Winning Pony
Life has been rough for Shining Armor. The changeling invasion has resulted in him losing his position as Captain of the Royal Guard. But that’s only the start of his troubles when he discovers that he’s the father of a daughter he didn’t even know about. Now he’s forced to face the consequences of a night’s indiscretions—such as explaining everything to his new wife Cadance. It isn’t going to be easy get his life back in order before anything else can go wrong.
A Winningverse Story.
Chapters (5)
Yikes poor shining.
Looks like it's time to lower the handlebars into locking position, because we're in for a ride.
So, to review, Dinky's sister is her aunt, her father is a prince, and her mother is probably feeling about as confused about all of this as Shining right now.
Yeah, this one's going to require quite a bit of emotional out-sorting. Sombra may be a welcome distraction by the time he rolls around.
what is wrong with this family bucking hell
Lala... better check my notifications OH MY GOD YES! I have wanted this since the second I finished Study!! Great chapter, glad to see everyone more less getting things over with. Definitely understand Cadence needing some space. Wonder how she’s gonna react to Dinky. It wouldn’t be unfathamable for her to be a little bitter, but honestly, who can be mad at Dinky? :)
8659197
they have Sunbeam Sparkle for their progenitress.
As for the story itself... hmm. I don't about this one. Not much a fan of these slice of life affairs but what the heck. I'm already on site and in the group, so in for the penny in for the pound.
8659219
ya i agree im just waiting for the new midnight shadow story but i will read anything that gets put out
8659228
Hmm... I've not much interest outside of Lunar Rebellion since it correlates with whatever it is I'm doing. After its done, or stops, or I feel inclined, then I'll look into Midnights doings as an adult.
8659212
Don't worry, everyone loves Dinky. Even Tirek was unable to drain her of magic after she gave him the puppy face.
Added to favs for now.
8659243
the lunar rebellion was just recently finished
You know, I would really like to hear Celestia's and/or Luna's explanation for relieving Shining Armor of his position. It seems to me like the height of hypocrisy considering how far they drop the ball during the invasion.
8659262
I am aware, thank you
8659263
he's the sacrificial lamb. Crown needs to remain a source of strength and beacon of hope to the ponies, or at least thats how its framed in order to justify matters. Ain't ponies, ain't the folk who want it. Its the nobles.
Apologies if I/m too chatty here ponibus. I'll stop
8659280
I'm pretty sure that the noble's power have been reduced to a shadow of what it was thanks to the reforms Sunbeam Sparkle pushed through. As far as Equestria is concerned Princess Celestia is judge, jury, and executioner. Sure there might be grumblings about nepotism and the like, but Celestia's influence and power would not be so easily broken by such accusations and would easily recover from any minor wound that decision might cause within a few years.
I've always wondered how this actually played out, nice to see that we'll finally get to see it live.
And for a small author ego boost, I had already tracked this before I even started it for two reasons. One was for the subject matter, as stated previously, and the second was for the author, since you always seem to produce high quality work. Looking forward to seeing where you go with it.
Apples don't fall far from the tree, after all. Twilight Velvet had an affaiir and Shining Armor did something stupid, leading to the births of Scootaloo and Dinky, but neither of 'em are wastes of space. If anything, Dinky has two moms and two dads... I think and she's already so cute that if she was in the same room as Sweetie Belle, a company of battle-hardened, heavily-scarred, war veterans would die from their cuteness. If not that, she prolly has a reserve of magic that is equal or greater than Starlight and can be as smart as a Time Lord. Cadence might actually have a heart attack just from standing in front of her.
Scoot on the other hand, has inherited some of the plot armor that Twilight Sparkle and Shining has and by this sorta logic, might also have magic... but not to Dinky's scale because of her being a pegasus.
Then there's Vinyl. I forgot about her being related in this universe. I'm starting to think that Twilight "I want grandfoals" Velvet either has a side job as a sex worker or is a former one prior to marrying Night Light because of said affair that led to Scootaloo.
I was wondering when this would happen. This will be interesting to say the least.
Same reaction from the siblings too.
8659263
It's not like THEY want him gone. Think about what a ruler is first. While they can make decisions that are final as absolute diarchs, they also must take in the wishes and desires of their subjects and deal with them the only way they can.
If Shining is the guy who stops <bad shit> from happening to everyone, and <bad shit> happens to everyone, not only just happening to them but (visibly) BECAUSE of him, then ponies think he is weak, and not cut out for his job. The people have spoken. Many of them, especially those who lost family to the attack, probably want him executed, or drummed out altogether. The Princesses instead removed him from the Captain position which looks like they're doing what everyone wants, while also not tossing him in the mud.
Shining's family, which has perks but also severe downsides. He's part of the Royal Family, if they blow everyone off and keep him as Captain of the Guard, the survivors and victims are likely going to organize many other 'concerned citizens' into protests or riots or something, but worse, if they do that it can be used as a basis to lose faith in the Crown altogether due to nepotism and ignoring the 'valid concerns of the Equestrian people' because these petty mortals clearly know what's best after living for 30-50 years and never having ruled a thing compared to a several thousand year old monarch who can see a bit of the future and keeps them alive every day who engineered the peace and prosperity they enjoy so much.
8659403
Scootaloo? Did I miss a story somewhere, or did you mean Sparkler?
I hope to see him stay with Vinyl, because I think she'd find this immensely funny.
8659459 No, I really meant Dinky in my last comment. As for why I was talking about Scootaloo, I was reading a fic called Sisters!?! by Darthvalgaav and Scootaloo learns that Twilight's her half-sister because of a lineage spell and Twilight Velvet.
Woohoo! Was looking forward to this for a loooong time.
Ah Shining Armor. Why are your constant, self-inflicted failures and screw-ups with mares so endearing? Perhaps you could win Cadance back with a ballad ... "GURP!"
8659491 No. Just. No.
Oh!! I'm super excited to read this! I love the family connections set up in Study.
IT'S FUCKING HAPPENING.
My peripheral vision isn't too good. First glance, I thought it said "Death smiled at .... & I'm like "WHOA! That's pretty grimdark for this verse
(Might be a good story, though)
Yes & a damn mean one, too.
OH PUH-LEEZE! He was a drunk teenage guy. Stiff dick, limp conscience & the little head does the thinking for the big head
If nothing else, the Guard should have some officer quarters available
8659102
Yes, sometimes it feels like God decided to take a dump & then use your life for toilet paper
Wow... uh.
I get this is a tense situation for everypony, but... I didn't expect Cadance to be so... what's the word? Not jealous... vindictive? Unsympathetic? Uncaring? I don't know. I just always imagine her as being able to survive any obstacle against her love. She knows how much Shining cares for her. She knows he would never do anything to hurt her. And the fact that she can see he's under a lot of mental stress and anguish, and she still jumps to the least charitable interpretation of his confession, lashing out at him in anger... Not my favorite depiction of Cadance, let's say. Not my favorite depiction of Shining Armor, either, but maybe that's just because I'm tired of bumbling doofus male characters...
Even despite all of that, I can't help but be pulled in by your writing style, Ponibius. Hopefully this all turns out okay for our hapless hero.
Ooooo. Either I didn't know that this was coming out, or I totally forgot.
Just you wait!
Yeah, that could have been better, I'm a little surprised Cadance reacted so harshly once she had the details. Hopefully the meeting will go alright.
8659217
The sleeping around is genetic
You know, I can’t help but wonder if Magetrix knows that she sired Velvet’s last foal, and if she knows that said foal is still alive.
If Velvet and Night Light thought it was painful to tell their children about Amethyst, imagine how hard it’ll be telling her biological father...
Super psyched for this. This is the most interesting plot point to come out of the winningverse so far.
Interested in how the new dynamics of these relationships will affect the characters. It's gonna be painful but they will all come out better for it. Hopefully.
I wonder when they'll get around to telling Sparkler and Vinyl about each other?
8660005
I imagine she’ll forgive him once she has a bit to take in the news. Finding out your husband has a kid by another woman right after the wedding is a pretty huge drama bomb.
"So... Shining... you know how you were tricked by the changelings and basically raped for like a month? It turns out it's not the first time. Six years ago you got blackout drunk and some chick screwed you while you were out of it. But she's your sister's friend, so, you know. Play nice."
8659263
I know right. Hell Celestia was warned about Chrysalis from Twilight and was ignored Shiny has the excuse of mind control Celestia doesn't
8660221
I was thinking this very thing as well. Does Magetrix even know?
Is it bad that I think Shining is just a victim of fate here? Yes he made a mistake but he still deserves to have things turn out right.
8660233
Yup. Every "long lost relative" plot in the Winningverse just collided in a multi-character pileup, and Shining just took the entire dramaball to the face.
So, who gets to tell Sparkler that she's actually Dinky's aunt? And that Vinyl is too?
That could have gone so much worse. Shining is lucky that Cadance didn't go into a hissy fit, even if it would have been warranted. Well, at least prior ti getting any explanation.
Hoo boy, more drama ahead. Onwards!
Aha... now this is a story many of us have been waiting for. It’ll be great to finally have all of this history fully incorporated into the larger narrative.
Of course, this initial chapter is largely just an info recap to get the final players up-to-speed on the drama. Perhaps it’s the numbness of shock at the pile-up of information, but so far Shining;s reactions to it all are fairly surface ones... he hasn’t really internalized much. He lost his dream job in essentially a vote of “no confidence” in his ability to keep Equestria safe. He found out that he sired a child with another woman for whom he has done nothing for 6 years. He found out that he has a sister that was completely abandoned by his entire family. I’m not saying that he deserves to feel this way, but it’s enough to question what kind of guard he is, what kind of man he is, what kind of husband he is, and what kind of family he’s from. But initially, at least, he seems to be viewing this all as external problems rather than a shot to his self-worth. I’m not sure if that’s admirable or shallow.
Of course, it remains to be seen as to what kind of story this will be, and inner turmoil may not be on the menu. Regardless of the tone or direction of it all, I’m looking forward to seeing it play out!
8660005
I however a Cadence with some flaws, including jealousy. You may remember how she wasn't exactly happy with Shining's Muse friend either.
Great story; poor Shining, though. That stallion goes through a lot in the show. 😩
8660455
Twilight technically never actually accused Cadence(Chyrsalis) of being a changeling, she just sort of stormed into the middle of a wedding rehearsal and started accusing, who was to everyone else in the room, a princess or family member, of being evil. It’s not hard to understand why people doubted her.
8660448
Not sure if trolling or simply haven’t read the other stories.
8660885
but Twilight hasn't seen Cadance in years and immediately noticed something wrong. yet Celestia you likely saw her everyday or every week didn't notice is telling
8660612
she shouldn't get hissy at all. He did this before they were ever a thing and didn't know about a kid till today.
8660998
While true, it was also extremely irresponsible for Shining to go drinking so much that he didn't remember anything. So that doesn't really help him.
8660993
I find it more likely that Chrysalis just started acting different when Twilight showed up in order to isolate her and eliminate the risk of the Elements. I mean Chrysalis is the queen of a species whose survival depends on their ability to imitate others, and Celestia wasn’t the only one to not notice anything wrong with Cadence. So did Shining and basically everyone else she interacted with. And like I said, Twilight didn’t exactly lay out the most convincing argument.