A Canterlot Divorce

by democritus

What You Want

Twilight knew by heart where the Royal Guard Captain's office was. Her uncle and then her brother were usually stationed there. And the Royal Guard knew when a situation was hopeless. They offered Twilight no resistance as she charged towards the door.

Twilight kicked open the door. If she weren't so pissed she would've felt deja vu again. "Shining Armor, what the hell is this about!?" She screamed to the room's sole occupant.

"T-Twily! What a surprise!! ...W-what are you doing here?" Shining Armor said, sitting at his desk, with an obviously fake smile.

"You know damn well why I'm here!" Twilight said with a stomp. "What's this about a divorce!?"

"Dammit, damn that Celestia!" He hit his hoof on his desk. "Why the hell did she have to announce it?"

"And what the hell does that mean?" Twilight looked ready to lunge at his throat.

"Twily I- it's Cadance and I, we- I- it turns out that I- we're just not... working out together. It's because- I don't really know, myself. I just... don't feel the old magic we used to."

Twilight relaxed from her aggressive stance. "Shining Armor, it's not even been a month since you blew away that evil changeling queen and her nasty minions!"

Shining Armor twitched. "I-I guess we thought we had that much more in common than we actually did! You know how love can be, We felt like we'd be happy together and actually living together wasn't really all that!"

"But you repelled them with your love! How could love that strong not last?"

"I just don't get it either, Twily. Maybe it was the idea of being in love?"

"But how could that repel that heartless monster?"

"Don't-" Shining Armor caught himself leaning over his desk and relaxed, sighing. "Look, I don't know why this is happening either, just that I don't love her anymore. And it's not like I am enjoying finding this out either. I wanted this to be private as it is between me and Cadance, no need to involve you or Mom or anypony else!

"Speaking of her, since she'll try to kill me for this, I need to look up shield spells that could actually reflect Mom when she's angry!"

The silence persisted for a few moments.

"A-anyway, Twily, the reason I wanted it private was because there's no reason to involve all of you in something so sordid." Shining Armor had a tiny, but sincere smile on his face. "This is just something that happens to adults, and we leap before we look... Still, I need to stay here, because regardless of my marital status I'm still captain of the Royal Guard. I'll still be your brother and Cadance will still be your friend, alright?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Twilight said, still somber. "Sorry for breaking in so loudly. It's just how Celestia was treating the whole thing..."

"Ugh, tell me about it. Some days she's so grim you'd be certain we're all gonna die, and other days she seems to not have a care in the world. Anyway, I need to get to work, so see you around... Sis."

"Yeah, bye..." Twilight said, walking out of the room, ears down and head low.

Shining Armor, seeing his sister had left, rubbed his hooves on his temple and muttered to himself, "Damn that Celestia, I was hoping this would go a little smoother, that I'd have more time... Guess it's now or never, then..."

---

One part of Twilight was relieved; at least her brother wasn't completely crazy and some of the things he said made sense, but the whole situation still seemed too strange to believe. She felt there had to be more to this, something she didn't understand, something she doesn't know.

Twilight guessed the problem might be the that her only sources were a very disinterested princess and a pony talking to his little sister, so she decided to get a wider view of the situation by seeking a different perspective. If there was anyone to ask, it'd be the other party, Princess Cadance.

"Excuse me, sir, may I speak to Princess Cadance?" Twilight asked the guardpony.

"Sorry, Twilight Sparkle. No visitors, no exceptions," he replied curtly.

"Not even a concerned sister-in-law?" Twilight pleaded, leaning in.

"Sorry, but she specified absolutely no one, not even family. I'd even have to tell Princesses Celestia and Luna this."

The guard blinked. "Which would make for a very strange conflict of interest if they demanded to enter. I've chosen to not think about it too much. I suggest you do the same. Move along, please."

Twilight almost raised a protest, but living with a royal guard had taught her how stubborn they could be. She turned around to notice two snooty ponies across the hall. Twilight recognized them from the kind of parties her parents attended she had to be dragged to as a fiily and were boring, where rich people stand around and talk about how rich they are. They were... Jet Set and Upper Crust?

Jet Set approached Twilight. "Oh my, you're... Princess Cadance's sister-in-law, aren't you? She's rejecting family, too?"

"The way Shining Armor won't comment on her," said Upper Crust, "I imagine something must be up with the two lovebirds."

"Oh, I can only guess at what it could be!" replied Jet Set. "Has someone stolen one of their hearts? Was he caught with another mare?"

"Well, she was the first princess to marry in who knows how long, perhaps she was pressured into the marriage and didn't like it?"

"Then I can't imagine how the mother-in-law must feel!" Jet Set turned back to Twilight. "How does your mother feel?"

Twilight leaned away. "I... really don't know, I haven't talked to her yet. But she's one of the nicest ponies I know so perhaps..."

"Hah, you're cute, kid." Jet Set said, patting her on the head. "You don't see naivety like that in Canterlot very much. But trust me, I've dealt with Sparkle before, and she's ruthless. Anyway, we must be off. Princess and her knight or no, we still have an event to attend."

Twilight wanted desperately to disregard their words, but she couldn't help but consider them, which only made her more confused than ever. Betrayal and Shining Armor were the furthest concepts apart to her. What could be going on? She suddenly felt tired, and decided to go to her parents' house. Talk to mom and find a bed. Two birds with one stone.

---

The sun was setting as Twilight returned to her old home. Same old house, Twilight thought. It hadn't been too long ago she lived here, but her time in Ponyville was so fraught with excitement it felt like years. And yet, it didn't seem as bright as usual. She knocked on the door. "Mom, Dad, it's me, Twilight!"

Her mother practically threw open the door. "Twilight, Deary, come on in!" she said with a smile. "Your father's out for a bit, so I'm just here with half a court archive." The moment the door closed behind them, the smile vanished. "Is your brother still an idiot?"

"If you mean he's still going through with the divorce, yes."

"Well fuck him then! If he's going to try and throw his perfect dream marriage to a princess away for stupid reasons then we'll have to stop him."

Twilight shook her head slightly. "Mom, It probably is silly, but it's his life, he can do wh—"

"Deary, it's not just his life, it's ours!" She yelled so loud the chandelier started shaking. "We're in-laws to royalty! We are the royal family! We are Equestria! Don't you see it?"

"I had considered it but—"

"No buts!" She shouted, cutting her daughter off again. "No one can say 'but' to us now. We have unlimited power, the only shackles are the laws of the universe! We can have anything and everything our hearts desire, no 'if' only 'when.' Deary don't you see?" She paced towards Twilight like a lion about to pounce. "This is the dream of generations of Sparkles, and I am not letting one idiot ruin it just because he gets cold hooves!" Her disposition became sunny suddenly "Hey, you're closer to Celestia than I am, being her personal student and all, have you pulled any favors recently?"

Twilight glanced left then right, before just going with the flow. "Well, no, Mom, but she didn't seem too interested in the whole situation and I doubt I could convince her. She's pretty stubborn sometimes."

"I noticed that too, when I... more or less yelled at her to stop my dumbass son. Hey, Luna might listen to you! I can't stand how archaic she is sometimes, but apparently you get along well! Just be emotional enough and hope she doesn't ask too many questions!"

"Mom I haven't quite agreed to this and—"

"Now now, I'm busy going through Equestrian court history for precedents I like." Twilight's mother said as she pushed her daughter out the door. "Have fun, Deary!" She said, punctuating her sentence by slamming the door.

Some part of Twilight wanted to curl up and wait it out, but she still knew something had to be up. Maybe Luna could help, and she could pretend to be helping so her mom wouldn't kill her, and she could find a bed.

One of the very few win-win situations today.

Comments

[NocturneD85]

looks like the power went to the parents head

[Capacitor]

Speaking of her, since she'll try to kill me for this, I need to look up shield spells that could actually reflect Mom when she's angry!

Fool! There are no such spells. Nothing can stop the wrath of a mother!

[Razzy]

Well, that's considerably less enchanted.

Cya
Raziel-chan

[LegendaryGodzilla14]

4051230
There is one thing. The Wrath of another Mother. In which I doubt there is one angry enough and on Shining's side to repel Twilight and Shining's mother.