Shine Bright

“Honey... I think I’m bi-sexual...”

The room was dark. Cold. But not empty. A lone stallion sat on the edge of his bed, murmuring to himself. His white coat almost glowed in the dark, and his cutie mark--a shining shield--stood out against his flank.

Shining Armor rubbed his hooves together nervously as he sat on the bed, waiting, practicing what he was going to say over and over. Tonight was the night. Tonight he’d tell her everything, he’d tell Cadance everything he’d been feeling, the stuff he’d found out about himself--every little detail he could. He owed her that much.

In the years following Twilight’s ascension as official Princess of all Equestria, he and Cadance had taken a step back from their royal duties, focusing more on themselves and raising Flurry Heart into a young mare. Cadance had opened a fertility clinic, finally using her old college doctorate, and he had returned to the Royal Guard, working as a trainer and instructor for the recruits. Some of the guard who remembered him still called him captain, though.

His forty fifth birthday was right around the corner, just a couple of Saturdays away, and for the past two months, he’d been... struggling. Certain things just seemed more appealing to him now. He found himself looking more at his fellow stallions in the streets, and at the gym he had to fight to hide his arousal once in the locker room. He never went back there.

He thought he liked mares, after all he’d been married to Cadance for... nineteen years now. And since they were in high school, they’d always been paired up together. He thought she was what he wanted, that how he felt around and about her was ‘it’. But something had changed. After a night out to celebrate his returning to the guard, a particularly attractive stallion had flirted with him, and it... excited him. He’d had an awakening, and now, with his royal duties reduced and his job... he’d been thinking, his mind had begun to wander. Was he still attracted to Cadance? Yes, he was, one hundred percent, but more as a friend now. Did she stir the fire in his heart like the image of an attractive stallion did? Not quite. In fact, he didn’t even know if she had ever given him this feeling before. It was new and exciting. And from the few... late night adventures he’d had out to certain clubs in Canterlot... he’d liked it. He’d really liked it.

Perhaps he liked it so much because of one stallion in particular. A very attractive pegasus with a pale coat, and hair so light it was almost white. And the way they’d spoken and danced and held one another, it felt... for lack of a better word... Right. He winced, wringing his hooves together. The guilt was tearing him up, the confusion, the worry, the fear.

“Fuck... Cadance, I... I’m, uh-” he began, practicing his speech again.

When he heard the door downstairs open, however, he froze. They’d long since moved out of the palace at the Crystal Empire, and returned to a nice townhouse in the Canterlot Upper City, closer to his parents. He waited, holding his breath as he listened to Cadance chat with Flurry, laughing and joking. Their little girl was getting big now. It was almost hard to believe her eighteenth birthday would be in a few months.

“Shit...” he muttered. He wouldn’t just be leaving Cadance if he went through with this, but he’d be breaking up his family. Because what, he suddenly liked stallions? Because he’d always been like this and only just realised it now? He felt tears sting in his eyes again and out his head in his hooves. “Damnit... damnit...”

He could hear Cadance coming up the stairs. Flurry went off to her bedroom, he could tell by her hooves growing quieter, and his wife was approaching fast. This was it. This was it. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Deep breath before the plunge...

The door opened with a creak, spilling out a ray of light onto him from the hallway. Cadance jumped about a foot in the air when she flicked the light on and saw him. “Oh my--Shining!” she gasped with a shaky laugh. “You startled me. Why are you sitting in the dark, honey?”

Shining swallowed. Why does she have to be so loving, he thought. Couldn’t she be cold? Mean? Something so at least he wouldn’t feel so guilty. No. She was the perfect mare. And that made this all the more awful.

“Shiny?” He looked up as she took his hoof in hers, a worried expression on her face. “What’s wrong? Have you been crying?”

He had, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. He didn’t need to, clearly. “Sit down, Cady, I... need to talk to you.” His voice was shaking.

She did, and sat down beside him. Her wings rustled gently behind her back. He had wings, too. Damnit.

“What’s wrong? Talk to me, my darling, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”

Alright. Here goes. His mouth opened.

Except he couldn’t say it. He couldn’t bring himself to say the words he’d been practicing for so long as he looked into her wide, shining eyes. He willed himself to, using all his might, all his stopping power, into saying this one thing, just get it out there, like ripping a band-aid off.

“Cadance... I’m bi-sexual.”

There was nothing that followed afterwards. The dreadful, awful silence filled his ears and his head. He closed his eyes, taking slow, deep breaths, listening to Cadance’s. Her hoof squeezed his tightly, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Oh fuck, what have I done, he thought. She was going to kill him. Shed hate him forever and ever-

“No, Shining,” she said softly. “You’re gay.”

Shining opened his eyes and blinked. He turned to face her. “What?” he murmured.

His darling wife, the Princess of Love, the Third Alicorn, the mare Ponies magazine called the prettiest mare in Equestria for the past three years, smiled at him. “You’re gay, honey. I’ve known for a while now.”

“Wh... what? How?”

Cadance chuckled quietly. “I’m the Princess of Love, Shining. I have a sense for this sort of thing.” She touched his chest gently. “I only wish you’d told me sooner, my love, I’ve hated seeing you struggle so much.”

Shining’s head began to spin. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. They were supposed to argue, have a fight, and he would be thrown out a disgrace and he could slink away into the night. But this was unprecedented... she was nice, understanding. He loved her, very, very much. “I...” he whispered, his voice catching in his throat. “H-How long?”

“I think I've always known, sweetie. Even when we were young I felt... something, like you didn't look at me like any other colt did, but I was so smitten with you I didn't care. If I wasn’t the Princess of Love, I found a couple of your magazines a few months ago--it’s okay-” she quickly adds when she sees his horrified expression and feel him tense up. “It’s okay. Look at me. At first I thought you might have just been experimenting, we all do that at some point in our lives. I did in college, after all. But then I felt it, deep in my heart what you were feeling, what you were discovering about yourself. It’s not your fault, so don’t you even dare think that way.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” he whispered, unable to look her in the eye, his cheeks burning red.

She stroked his cheek and kissed his nose. “I needed you to tell me yourself, my darling. I couldn't make that decision for you.”

Shining’s heart pounded in his chest. She knew. Of course she knew, she knew him better than anypony else, even Twilight. He didn't deserve her.

“Have you met somepony, can I ask?”

He froze. A chill crawled all the way up his body and into his horn. He thought about the pegasus. His smiling face appeared in Shining's mind. His name danced on the end of Shining’s tongue. Could he really tell her? A choked gasp escaped his throat. “Yes.”

Cadance beamed at him and pulled him into a hug. “Then I’m happy you’re happy, my darling.”

“You aren’t mad?” he whispered, his hooves coming up around her. “You don’t hate me?”

“How could I be mad?” she laughed. There are tears in her eyes. He felt them on his shoulder. “You’ve found who you are, Shining. And I could never hate you. Never. I love you, Shining.”

“I love you too, Cadance,” he whispered in reply, feeling the wave of relief wash over him. The pressure he’d been feeling, the guilt, all of it washed away in this one, long, endearing hug she was giving him.

The alicorn smiled at him as they pulled away from one other. She cupped his face in her hooves and kissed his nose again. “If you would like to go tonight, I understand. Really,” she said softly.

Go? He could go? That was an option? He bit his lip. No. Of course he wasn’t going to leave her. “Cady-”

Cadance put her hoof over his lips and shushed him. “I want you to be happy, Shining. More than anything. The love I feel for you is like... something out of a romance novel, or a movie. You’re my soulmate.” Her eyes welled up with tears and her lip quivered as emotion overcame her. He quickly put his hooves around her and hugged her tight. “Gosh, I’m sorry,” she sniffed. “I promised myself I wouldn’t cry-”

“Shhh...” Shining whispered, gently rocking her side to side. “I will always love you, Cadance. Always. And--and nothing’s gonna change with Flurry, I want you to know, I’ll be there, whenever you or she needs me. I’m... I just don’t know how we can explain this to her.”

“You’d better,” the princess laughed, sniffling. She rubbed her nose as they rested their foreheads together. “She’ll understand, honey. Flurry’s a big girl and she loves her dad.”

It didn’t feel real. It felt like some dream he was having, but no. It really was. He’d come out to her, and she still loved him, she accepted him. Shining felt a certain feeling in his chest well up for her as fresh tears pricked at his eyes. “I’ll... pack up tomorrow and find an apartment. Maybe I’ll stay with my parents for a while.”

Cadance nodded at him understandingly. “You don’t want to go tonight? Like I said, I totally understand-”

“No, baby. No, I.. I need to be here tonight. With you.”

“Shining-”

“Please. Let me be here. I can’t leave you. Not yet.”

Cadance felt her heart melt for him. She took his hoof in hers again and raised it to her lips, planting a soft, tender kiss on him. “I love you, Shining Armor.”

“I love you too, Mi Amore Cadenza.”

She let out a small laugh and wiped her eyes, and drew him into another hug. They sat like that for a while. Just sitting, holding one another, taking comfort in each other’s presence.

In the quiet of the night, Shining Armor felt a mix of emotions swirling inside him. The weight of his confession lifted from his shoulders, replaced by a sense of acceptance and understanding from Cadance that he hadn’t dared to hope for. As they sat together in their shared embrace, he couldn’t help but feel grateful for her unwavering love and support.

With each passing moment, the knot of fear and uncertainty that had gripped him began to loosen. He knew there were challenges ahead, conversations to be had, adjustments to be made--but in that moment, none of it seemed insurmountable with Cadance by his side.

As the night drifted on and the moon cast a soft glow through the window, Shining Armor found solace in the simple act of being near his wife. Their bond felt stronger than ever, fortified by honesty and raw vulnerability. And as they held each other close, he knew that no matter what the future held, they would face it. Together—separate, of course… but together, united in love.