The Queen of Canterlot
Chapter 16
Previous ChapterNext ChapterShining Armor returned to the groom’s suite.
Soon, he knew, he would see Cadence. They would meet at the altar, vows would be read, and he would say, “I do.” And it was very important that he not cry at any point in the process, or that if he did, ponies mistook them for tears of joy, and believed him when he said he always cried at weddings. And so he steeled himself, straightened his spine, and prepared to be there for the pony he loved, even if sometimes she didn’t want him.
He thought he could do it. He was rather good at playing pretend.
An hour before the ceremony, Cadence knocked on the door to the groom’s suite, then let herself in without waiting for a reply. A half-dozen ponies greeted her, including Twilight, but she had eyes only for one.
“I need to talk to my fiance,” she says, in tones of royal command. “Everypony other than Shining Armor, leave. Now.”
Of course, it took a few minutes for everypony to shuffle out. Questions were asked, but Cadence provided no answers, and in fact said almost nothing. Shining stood there with a dumb expression on his face, vaguely confused, vaguely happy. It’s hard to play a character, when you’ve lost the thread of what they do and don’t know, and what they should and shouldn’t be feeling.
“Hey,” he spoke in soft, reassuring tones, resting a hoof on her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
And she said, voice torn: “Shining, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. But I don’t think we can get married.”
“What?” he tilted his head, the blank idiot mask growing progressively stiffer and more vapid. “That’s crazy, why would we not—”
“I cheated on you.”
She told him everything, and by the end of her story, she was sobbing incoherently -- clinging to him, begging his forgiveness. She said she was a bad pony, unworthy of being a princess, and unworthy of his love.
Then he said, “Um. So, I also have something to confess.”
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