Checking and Getting Answers
Shining Armor got off the train as it finally arrived in Ponyville. He’d been left in charge of the Crystal Empire for the duration of Cadance’s absence to the Canterlot Friendship Festival. He’d wanted to be a part of the festivities, but someone had to stay behind to watch over the Crystal Empire. Then Cadance had finally gotten back after four days, which was much longer than it should have been. That had all been because of the Storm King’s invasion of Canterlot. Shining Armor had found out about this whole ordeal from Cadance when she returned and told him about what transpired. How she, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had all been turned to stone by Tempest, a pony working with the Storm King.
Of all the Princesses, only Shining’s little sister Twilight Sparkle had escaped the attack on Canterlot. She’d managed to defeat the Storm King and save Cadance and the other princesses as well as the rest of Equestria. But Shining Armor had heard some distressing rumors of what happened in between, that his sister had been kidnapped by Tempest and brought back to Canterlot in a cage. This had been the darkest moment for many captive ponies in Canterlot, seeing the pony that always ended up saving the day in a cage.
Shining Armor had to see his sister, and make sure she was alright. As well as have some words with her friends. They’d made a promise to him back at his wedding. After he’d defeated Queen Chrysalis with Cadance and then apologized to his sister for the way he’d treated her at the rehearsal, he’d allowed her friends to keep their positions as bridesmaids on the condition that they kept his sister safe. Yet, according to what Shining Armor had heard, her friends had abandoned her and left her easy prey for Tempest to capture.
Shining Armor needed to find out the whole story from the pony who knew it for sure. He walked all the way to his sister’s castle and knocked. For a while there was no answer, then Shining opened the door with his magic. He hated to just barge in, but it was a big castle. If Twilight didn’t happen to be close enough, she wouldn’t hear the knock.
Walking inside, he called out “Twiley! It's your BBBFF!”
“Shiney?” Twilight’s voice called as she appeared from a hallway to the left.
“Oh, Twiley!” Shining Armor galloped up to her.
“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked even as she hugged him.
“I had to come check on you!” he said. “I heard what happened in Canterlot, Cadance and the other princesses got turned to stone, ponies were enslaved, and you were kidnapped and put in a cage! Is all that true?”
Twilight hesitated. “Uh… yeah.”
“Oh Celestia!” Shining exclaimed. “What happened? Please tell me you’re alright!”
“I’m fine, don’t worry Shiney. I mean… sure… it was scary being put into a cage and taken onto a ship. But I was more worried that I’d lost all my friends when they left me.”
“Left you?” Shining Armor repeated. “So, it’s true they left you?”
“Yes but-“
“Where are they?” he growled.
***
Twilight led her brother to the Hayburger where she and her friends had planned on having lunch. They were already waiting for her, but were surprised when they saw her brother with her.
“Well, howdy there Shining Armor!” Applejack said. “Wasn’t expecting to see-
Shining Armor slammed his hooves on the table, causing the five mares to jump.
“You let my sister get CAPTURED!” he screamed. “I heard all about what happened! You left her and she got kidnapped by that Tempest Shadow!”
They were silent for a moment.
“Cadance and I let you remain bridesmaids at our wedding when you promised you would stay by her side!” Shining Armor shouted. “When I kicked her out of the wedding, and you lot left her, Chrysalis sent her down to the caves, remember?”
“How could we ever forget that horrible incident?” Rarity exclaimed.
“Well, you should have remembered it before you abandoned her!” Shining Armor gestured to Twilight who shook. “She could have been killed! Her life was in danger again because you left her! Why I ought to-“
“Hey, we were really worried when we heard she was captured!” Rainbow Dash said.
“Yeah, Spike came and told us that Tempest grabbed her and we were all super-duper worried!” Pinkie concurred.
“We never wanted her to be kidnapped,” Fluttershy said. “If we’d known that was going to happen, we would have stayed with her.”
“Why didn’t you?” Shining Armor asked. “There’d be a better a good reason for it.”
The lavender alicorn stepped forward.
“There is, BBBFF.”
Shining Armor looked at his sister with a deep frown.
Twilight sighed and recounted the events of Seaquestria.
“We found Queen Nova underwater with the Sea Ponies, or Hippogriffs, whatever they are called. I tried to persuade Queen Nova to give us her pearl so we could use it to defeat the Storm King, but she refused. I decided to… to trick my friends into putting on a party to try and convince them to join us while I… stole the pearl.”
Shining Armor’s frown turned to a look of disbelief.
“You… tricked your friends? And tried to steal? But… why Twiley?”
“I thought it was the only way to save Equestria,” Twilight said.
“She was desperate and really stressed out,” Applejack said.
“Yeah, she was really focused on saving Equestria. More than any of us,” Rainbow Dash said.
“We were all just having fun and treating it almost like it was a vacation when it wasn’t!” Pinkie said. “We made ourselves a few friends while we were out there, like Princess Skystar.”
“Capper the Cat,” Rarity added.
“The pirates,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Yes, and they all helped save me!” Twilight told her brother. “I was so focused on saving Equestria, I forgot about the magic of friendship… and nearly lost all my friends because of it.”
Shining Armor looked at his sister and sighed. “Being a leader comes with the responsibility of making hard decisions, especially when your nation is at risk. But extreme measures like stealing something should only be used as a last resort, Twiley.”
“I know Shiney,” Twilight said. “Queen Nova was actually about to change her mind and let us take the pearl to save Equestria until I was caught trying to steal it. If I’d just considered that maybe the party would have actually worked, I wouldn’t have been captured or gotten my friends mad at me. Before Tempest grabbed me, I thought I’d lost them forever… just like… just like I thought I lost you at the wedding rehearsal.” Her voice broke as she recalled that horrible time.
Shining Armor leaned forward and nuzzled her as he too recalled that greatest moment of regret in his life. “I know Twiley… but that didn’t happen. You didn’t lose me… and you never will. I would have forgiven you. Not a day goes by I wish I could go back in time to undo that.”
“It was my fault this time though,” Twilight said. “I made the biggest mistake in tricking my friends! Just like I accused Chrysalis without any real proof when she was disguised as Cadance!”
“Yeah, you were on the faultier side on this one. But we aren’t completely clean ourselves. If we’d taken our job to save Equestria more seriously you might not have been so stressed out. Even so, we shouldn’t have left you,” Applejack said.
“It's just like the wedding all over again!” Rarity said.
Shining Armor sighed. “Alright, I guess I can forgive since Twilight says this one was on her. But you’re lucky I don’t hit mares. If you were stallions of the Royal Guard, I’d give each of you a slap and probation for abandoning my sister.”
Author's Note
Well, I'd thought about making a little sequel involving Shining Armor going to check on Twilight after hearing she got captured, he'd probably be pretty worried and maybe mad at her friends, but I'm sure he'd forgive them once he heard an explanation of what happened.
