A Secret in Shining Armour

Shining Armour sat at the dining table, his sister directly across from the him. Reports for the first semester at the Canterlot School of Magic had just arrived . His mother took the paper out of the envelope and listed all the grades: A+, A+, A+, A, A+... After she finished reading, she turned to Twilight Sparkle.

"You did great, darling! We are so proud to raise the smartest mare in all of Equestria!”

Twilight turned away from them, pouting.

"What is wrong?" asked Night Light. "You got straight A's as always! Why do you still look so sad?"

"No, I didn't…"

Shining Armour watched in confusion. "I'm proud of you too, little sister! I can't even get close!"

“You guys are just saying that. You are my family after all. As if you would tell me I did poorly. All you do is lie; that’s all family ever does.”

He watched his sister storm into the library and slam the door as hard as she could. As he finished eating and headed to his bedroom, he couldn't help but wonder, was his sister right?

The following weeks he spent carefully observing his parents, how they smiled at him, praised him; he saw it too now, they were all lies. A false mask worn by every parent, aren’t they all so impressive? Now it was clear, so obvious all along, parents were nothing but liars and tricksters and his were no better.

"You did really well on your math test! I can never be that good!”

Lies…

"You are so good at sword fighting!"

Lies…

"You should be one of the royal guards! You will be the best ever! ”

LIES!

He couldn’t bear it any longer. Shining Armour shut himself away; he ignored his parents any time they spoke, he hid in his room and practised hard, he stopped spending time with his sister. He grew more and more distant from everyone he knew with each passing second, unable to bear their words. That mocking tone hidden behind those masks of kindness; disgusting.

Shining Armour didn’t look at them again. He graduated on his own and finally received the criticism he deserved from his mentors there. Finally, he made it.