Facing His Father
Shining Armor stood in front of the mirror inspecting the final touches to how he would be presenting himself at the wedding, the real wedding of him and his bride to be, Princess Cadence. It was however, a wedding that was almost ruined not just because of the Changelings that had invaded Canterlot, but because of his own undoing. Shining Armor had nearly barred the pony who had made his wedding possible to begin with: his own sister, Twilight Sparkle. The young captain of the royal guard was now carrying the burden of his actions deep on his shoulders.
Twilight was all that mattered to Shining Armor, the sister who would always look up to him with great affection while also caring for his own safety. He specifically chose her to be his Best Mare and when did she try to protect him from a devious monster like Queen Chrysalis, how did he repay her? By stripping Twilight of her Best Mare title and barring her from even attending the wedding. Yes, Shining Armor did realize his grave mistake and made amends with Twilight by asking her to be his Best Mare again, but he never told his parents about it, especially Night Light, his father.
However, that was all about to change. As Shining Armor finished getting ready, he heard a knock at the door.
"Shining Armor," called a voice, causing the unicorn to stop adjusting his uncle's heart chestplate. "Are you almost ready? I'd thought I come visit you before the ceremony."
"Um, sure, dad," stuttered Shining Armor. "Just give me a minute."
Adjusting his chestplate, Shining Armor walked away from the mirror and headed over to the door. Opening it, he saw Night Light standing in front of him, wearing a nice white shirt, yellow tie and black jacket. Shining took an enormous gulp as he stood in the prescence of the pony who had raised and taught both him and Twilight to be the ponies that they were today.
"Son, is everything okay?" asked Night Light, raising an eyebrow slightly. "It seems like you are nervous about being married to Cadence. Everypony gets nervous before their wedding, it's perfectly normal. Or is there something else that is on your mind? Something that happened at the rehearsal."
Shining Armor's heart sank when Night Light said the words "Wedding Rehearsal." It seemed that Twilight had already told both him and their mother, Twilight Velvet, what had happened. For a moment, Shining Armor felt like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him to an early demise. But, he knew better than to hide secrets from anypony, especially his parents.
"Look dad," sighed Shining Armor. "I know that what I did was wrong and that I apologized for my actions."
"And I am grateful that you did, son," replied Night Light as Shining Armor let him into the house. "You know how important it is to your mother and me that your sister is your Best Mare. But, this didn't have to happen, you know, Shining Armor. I can't help but wonder why you would do such a thing?"
"I was only trying to be protective of Cadence," replied Shining Armor, trying to defend his actions while also not cracking under the pressure because of his father's prescense. "When Twilight accused her of being evil, I thought that, she disapproved of the wedding. How was I supposed to know that it wasn't really Cadence that I was going to be marrying?"
Night Light and Shining Armor made their way over to a sofa in Shining Armor's living room and sat down at it. The two colts then looked over for a moment with Shining Armor showing eyes of regret and his father showing the eyes of somepony who wanted answers for what happened to his young daughter.
"Chrysalis fooled us, dad," said Shining Armor, lowering his head in shame. "Even Princess Celestia was fooled. When Cadence found out what we had done to Twilight, she warned me that she was going to call the wedding off if Twilight was not my Best Mare. After all is said and done, I was the one who ruined the wedding. Not Twilight, not the Changelings, me."
"I do commend you for owing up to your actions, Shining Armor," said Night Light. "But, as much as I don't want to say it, this all could have been prevented. Your mother and I have never seen you and Twilight ever fight together. At the most profound moment possible, you turned on her. Why didn't you listen to her?"
"I told you dad that I was only trying to protect Cadence," cried Shining Armor. "If it was Cadence that was really there, then I wouldn't have done what I did."
"But you did, son," remarked Night Light, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "I want you to remember what was at stake here. The Changelings invaded Canterlot and you did try to protect us from them, that's admirable. But, turning your sister away is something that I will not tolerate ever again, do you understand me, son? I want you to remember that if Twilight ever has something important to tell you, you will listen to her. Understand?"
Shining Armor took in all that his father had told him and realized the gravity of the situation. After all, he wished greatly that he could all that he said at the Rehearsal back, but he couldn't. This was something that was done and could not be erased, no matter how he would try.
"Son, I've always told you to live and learn from your mistakes," advised Night Light, slight tears forming in his eyes. "But, from now on, from this moment on, that if Twilight or anypony for that matter has something important that they need to tell you, you will listen and not do anything rash like what you did at the rehearsal. Do I make myself clear, Shining Armor?"
"Yes, dad," sighed Shining Armor, seeing the pain in his father's eyes. "I do understand my actions and I can promise you that I will never cause you, mom and especially Twilight the pain that I inflicted upon this family. This was my mistake and I will never, ever doing anything like this ever again. I swear on my life."
At that moment, both father and son came together in a brace that lasted for a few good minutes. Once they had embraced, the time had come for Shining Armor to meet his bride with Twilight standing at his side as his Best Mare.
So, they left and now that it had been aired, the pain of the wedding rehearsal was behind them…