Tugged on his Heartstrings

by FlimFlamBros.

His Heart's Desire

“Well?” his old captain’s voice seemed to ring in his head again. “Do you love her?”

“Hey, excuse me…”

“I love you…” mumbled Shining, not fully awake from his daydream.

“That’s great pal, but you need to leave.”

Shining Armour blinked twice before realizing that he was still sitting in the donut shop. He had actually been thinking for over two hours straight, and the sun was starting to go down. “Oh…”

“Yeah, you’ve been sitting there for Celestia know how long,” grumbled Donut Joe. “What in Equestria had you in such a trance?”

“Nothing…” said Armour quickly, as he got up from the table and headed out the door. “The Flowers!” he gulped, realizing that he had wasted the entire day thinking of Lyra, and had therefore forgotten to pick up the roses for Cadence. “She’s going to kill me…”

He quickly ran down the streets, trying desperately to get to the florist before it closed.

“Please don’t be closed, please don’t be closed, please don’t be—” he begged as he ran into the sight of the dark flower shop, the store owner had shut its doors almost thirty minutes ago. “…closed.”

He sighed his head in defeat as he turned around and slowly started to walk home. How was he ever going to explain this screw up to Cadence? She had asked him to do one thing and he screwed it up! He felt like a terrible husband, always preoccupied with his guard duties. He had originally taken time off for this, but the threat… What was the threat? No one really knew, not even him or the princess. For all he knew, it was just a rumor or a practical joke that was blown out of proportion.

There were lights on at the house; Cadence must have been home. With a deep breath, he approached the door, slowly opening it up. His fiancé was sitting in the kitchen, filling out some paperwork, for the wedding most likely

“Cadence, I’m back!” he called out.

“It’s about time! What took you so long?” she demanded, not looking up from her paper work.

“Sorry I got a little—“

“Whatever, I don’t care,” she mumbled. “Did you get the roses?”

“Yeah, about that…” said Shining, laughing nervously.

“What?” asked Cadence, looking away from her papers. “Oh, don’t you dare tell me you forgot.”

“I’m sorry, I tried to get there before it closed…”

“Do you have rocks for brains?!” the alicorn yelled, getting up from the table and marching up to Armour. “Or did you just take stupid pills as a foal?!”

“Well, I ran into Lyra and just sort of ran out of time,” explained the guard pony.

“Don’t even mention that name,” groaned Cadence. “I’ve had enough of her today.”

“Did you two get in a fight?” wondered Shining, hoping she said no.

“I can’t believe the nerve of that mare,” the alicorn growled. “I do the nice thing and ask her to be my bridesmaid and she has the nerve to tell me that I’m stressing out! IT’S MY WEDDING, LYRA! OF COURSE I WANT IT TO BE PERFECT!” she roared.

“Honey, I think she was just trying to help. You have been under a lot of stress lately,” Shining placed a caring hoof on Cadence’s shoulder. “She’s worried about you, heck I’m worried about you. All we want is to see you happy.”

“Happy?” asked Cadence, as she threw on a huge smile. “I’ll tell you what would make me happy: Not having a wedding to plan by myself, not having a bridesmaid with an attitude, and not having a husband who is a complete moron!” she barked, the word ‘moron’ going straight into Shining’s face, catching a few strays bits of spit and a breath of pure anger.

“I’m sorry, is there anything I can do to help?”

“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!” the raging mare screamed, butting her future out of their home, and onto the curb outside. “And don’t come back until you actually want to make this work!”

She slammed the door shut, leaving Shining Armour all alone on the curb.

“Well, that went as well as expected,” he sighed. What had happened to them? They use to be friends, they use to be in love… They were in love, right? He had asked her to marry him three months ago, a classy proposal. They had been celebrating their second year anniversary. He had taken her to Midnight Sky, the fanciest restaurant in Canterlot. He had asked her then and there before the dessert was served, and when he popped open that little box with the ring she said yes.

So why was she like this now?

After she had said yes, Cadence had gone to the bathroom and then they left. It was a few days later that she had started to act the way she had been. Was she really this way? She certainty wasn’t like this when they were younger, why change now? Was it really all stress, or was there something else?

There was no point debating it in the cold night, he needed to find a hotel or something to sleep at for the night.

“Ponylodge, room seven,” Lyra had said, “Drop by anytime, my door is always open to an old friend!”

The thought crept up into his head, but he quickly shook it away. His recent feeling left him feeling odd about the green mare, feelings he had thought were gone. But here he was thinking about her again, and that night a few years ago… And it had cost him dearly.

“Why Lyra…” sighed Shining. “Why did you do this to me? Why do I feel this way about you and not Cadence? I mean, she’s going to be my wife soon!” he shouted into the night. “Do I even love her anymore? Have I ever even loved her? What did you do to me!?”

That settled it; he needed some answers, now. The white stallion quickly rushed down into town, looking for the Ponylodge. “At the very least, I can get this off my chest.”

The Ponylodge wasn’t nearly as far as he had expected. The large white and purple building stood illuminated in the dark night. Ponies were walking in and out either going to enjoy the Canterlot nightlife or retire for the evening. The stallion quickly walked into the door, and walking up to the reception.

“Excuse me, but can you point me towards room seven?” he asked, the mare at the front desk pointed towards the left hallway and Shining took off. “One, three, five, seven!” he said, counting of the doors until he found the one he was looking for and knocked on it.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

“Coming!” Lyra called from the other side, opening up. “Oh, hey Shiny! What’s up?”

“We need to talk.”

“Oh,” said Lyra her smile slowly disappearing as she let Shining into the hotel room. “Is something wrong?”

“Kind of…” sighed Shining, taking a seat on the bed, “Remember how I said things weren’t going so well with me and Cadence recently?”

“Yeah, and you were right Shining,” muttered the green mare, taking a seat next to her. “Cadence has totally changed, it was like she was a completely different pony.”

“Tell me about it. She was pretty upset with you… Yelled at me a lot.”

“Oh dear, I didn’t make things worse?” worried Lyra. “Did I?”

“No, she was more upset about me for not getting the flowers in for the wedding… Again.”

“Really?” asked Lyra. “You know, you shouldn’t have to stand for that. It’s your wedding too, remember.”

“I don’t even care anymore…” he grumbled. “That’s sort of why I’m here.”

“Shining, don’t tell me you’re getting cold hooves!” she gasped.

“Well…”

“You are?!” Lyra screamed. “Has it really gotten that bad?”

“It’s like you said, she’s become a different pony completely. And it wasn’t a slow change that happened over time, it was almost immediate!” explained the white stallion. “I thought it was just a bit of a rough spot, that maybe she was a little stressed and would get passed it. But it’s been three months Lyra…”

“So you… So you don’t love her anymore?”

“Lyra…” gasped Shining. “I don’t think I ever loved her.”

“What?”

“I know what love feels like, and when I started dating Cadence, I thought I may have felt it, but I didn’t really know. As time went on, I still didn’t feel it, so I started to convince myself that I did, because I wanted that feeling again.”

“And this feeling…” gulped Lyra. “What does it feel like?”

“It’s odd, like a warm fire in your stomach,” he said. “And your heart starts to beat faster and faster, getting warmer as it speeds up. I lose my breath and my words, and it feels like my heart is about to explode. I like this feeling. It’s a strange one, but I like it and I wish I could have felt that way about Cadence, I really do.”

“Oh goddess…”

“I wanted to feel it for her with all of my every being, but I can’t kid myself any longer. Even if Cadence hasn’t gotten so…irritable, I don’t think I could live a lie forever…” Shining took a deep breath, his heart beating madly. “Truth be told, I’ve only ever felt that way about one mare in my life,” he looked at Lyra, staring into her wide golden eyes. “With you, Lyra.”

“It’s not real,” she said quickly.

“Excuse me?”

“I what you’re feeling, it’s not real!” she cried, salty tears dripping down her face. “I knew it was a bad idea to come here. What was I thinking?!”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s all my fault!” Lyra sobbed, her weeping increasing as her light green cheeks were dampened by her waterworks. “You don’t love me… It’s all just an illusion.”

“What?”

“Magic…” she wept. “Remember how I told you about my cutie mark?”

“Yeah, but I don’t see what you being a great harpist has anything to do with it.”

“That’s not what my cutie mark means…” mumbled the mint green pony. “That’s what most ponies assume… I never told you how I got my cutie mark, did I Shining?”

“Well, no.”

“I was a filly, not any older than six years old at the time,” said Lyra as she began her tale, “and I was living in Vanhoover with my family. I had a friend named Caramel. We use to do everything together: We went to the same school, played with the same game, even got in trouble together. They were some of my more happy memories…”

Shining looked confused, but continued to listen patiently.

“One day, when him and I were practicing spells. Well, I practiced, he watched and read from the book. He came across a sort of obsessive spell. Are you familiar with the ‘Want it, need it’ spell?”

“Yeah, my sister had casted it on her doll once,” said Shining.

“I think I remember that. That was Twilight?” wondered Lyra, before shrugging it off. “Anyways, we thought that it would be fun to goof around and enchant some objects with it, so I tried to cast the spell…”

“And…”

“It worked…sort of.”

“What do you mean by sort of?” Shining asked.

“It was a very advance spell,” she said. “I was too young to handle it. I was able to cast it, but there was a mishap. I had forgotten to choose a target while casting, so the spell targeted me…”

“You?”

“I was consumed by the magic. I started to scream, Caramel started to scream, I thought for a moment I was going to evaporate into magic dust. The spell did stop, and I was mostly unharmed, but I had changed.”

“How?”

“I was the target of the spell, so its magic was absorbed into my very being. I became a part of the spell,” she sighed. “After that, things started to change. I got my cutie mark, but what really changed was the way someponies would treat me. Ponies that I had crushes on started to treat me nicer, giving me gifts and compliments, doing stupid things to try and impress me. I was confused at first, but I was too stupid to realize it, I was just enjoying the attention. But things changed when Caramel kissed me on the cheek.”

Shining Armour’s eyes widened as he started to understand what Lyra was telling him.

“He said that he had a strange sensation in his heart, like it was going to rip out of his body to be with me… My best friend at the time,” a tear rolled down Lyra’s cheek. “I was curious, but I liked him too, and things were great for about two weeks and then…”

“And then what?”

“It all stopped,” she said. “All the gifts and attention, it just disappeared. Someponies couldn’t even remember my name, and Caramel…”

“What about him?” gulped Shining.

“He didn’t actually love me!” she cried. “Don’t you see Shining, it’s how the spell works! I start to feel for ponies, and they instantly fall in love with me! And it’s always great for a week or two, but they all end the same way for me: with heartbreak!”

“That’s… that’s terrible Lyra,” said the white stallion, placing a hoof around her. “I’m so sorry.”

“All I know is fake love followed by rejection,” she sniffed. “Do you know what it is like to love somepony, and not know if they love you back or if it’s this stupid curse?!”

“Isn’t there a way to reverse the spell? Almost all spells have a counter spell.”

“I’ve tried that, nothing’s worked,” wept Lyra. “Spells, potions, and nothing has worked. It’s become a part of me, and I have to live with it forte rest of my life, and I’m sorry that I’ve ruined yours as well.”

“Lyra,” said Shining. “You haven’t ruined my life.”

“Yes I have…” she whimpered. “You think that you’re in love with me, but all those years ago it was just the spell, Shining! And now you’re going to mess up your marriage over something you can’t control. It’s why I left Canterlot, it’s why you think you love me, and it’s why you should hate me!”

There was a long pause, only the sound of Lyra’s bitter tears and sniffling could be heard. Shining Armour thought about what she had said to him. It was a spell that had him obsessed with her… Or was it?

“Lyra, how long did you say the spell last?” the stallion asked, looking down at the crying mare in his hooves.

“Anywhere between one week to a month,” she sniffled. “And they always end the same way…”

Shining Armour started to grin. “Then why have I been in love with you since that night?”

“You… What?” asked the green pony.

“I have been in love with you ever since I laid eyes on you,” he said. “I’ve tried to convince myself that it was just a spell or trick, but if what you said was true, then how come I still feel the same way that I did two years ago?”

“I—I”

“It’s because I love you Lyra, I really love you.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “The spell could be affecting you right now…”

“Do you love me?”

“What did you say?”

“I said…” Shining Armour smiled, gently raising her chin up with the tip of his hoof so he could look into her glimmering golden eyes. To him, her beauty was unparalleled, her features, flawless, his love for her, true as the sun and the moon. “Do you love me back?”

“This is so wrong…” gasped Lyra, staring right back into Shining’s brilliant blue eyes. “What about Cadence?”

“I’m not sure if I ever loved her, to be honest…” he admitted, still awestruck by Lyra’s attractiveness. “I think I started dating her to get over you…”

“But she loves you…”

“And I love you Lyra,” he said. “So please, tell me. Do you love me back?”

There was no hesitation, they both knew the answer. Their lips met in a fiery passion as they wrapped around each other in a romantic embrace. They had both waited too long for this. Shining fell backwards on the bed, his green love handing on top of him, her yellow eyes burned with lust and desire.

“I’ve waited so long for this,” she sighed, leaning in to Shining. “I’ve dreamt of this very moment for as long as I could remember.”

“Lyra…”

“Yes, my knight Shining Armour?”

“Will you be mine tonight?”

The green pony smiled, planting a small kiss on the tip of Shining’s nose. “Tonight and forever after…” she said, as her horn lit up with green magic and shut off the lights, leaving the two lovers in the darkness.

"Oh, Shining Armour!"

Comments

[the other sans]

I what you’re feeling, it’s not real!
It was a very advance spell
and I have to live with it forte rest of my life

1. I know what.
2. Advanced.
3. For the.

I would bang my head against the table, but that would hurt me more than my heart... wait... that doesn't even make sense!

[Adenbadens]

1663445 Eeeyup.

[alexanderhunt88]

They did it.