@anonymous-pony  
Why would he distance himself from her, she may be in a robot body but she is the exact same cadence he’s known and loved, after all it’s her brain, the center of consciousness and the soul. Why would he care if her brain is in a robot chassis

Father, give me legs

Some assembly required.

Imagine if this was some sort of dystopian future where Cadance “lost her life” and her brain was transplanted to an android’s frame. Then Shining, who couldn’t bear to love something he once lost and became a shell of what she was, started to quietly remove himself from her during their reign over the Crystal Empire. A few decades later, the robot started to age as he did, becoming obsolete hardware with a living brain perpetually remaining on life support. While much of her image didn’t change, he did when his hair grayed and his skin started to sag.
 
Then one day a battle took place in the castle, leaving many to lay their lives for their ruler. Flurry was the first to escape, but Shining and Cadance stayed behind to hold them off from chasing after their daughter. The battle goes on for a few more hours and Shining is left fatigued while Cadance is in this state. Her systems are unstable and the life support her brain functions on is failing. In this very state she crawls towards him to check how he’s doing.
 
>>Shining systems check initiated… Error…  
“I’m fine.”  
>>Voice verification initiated… Error… Rebooting executable… verified.  
“You’re losing fluids again.”  
>>Lubricant circulation disrupted… System failure… initiating safe mode…  
“Stop it.”  
>>Combat parameters… functionality 15%… malfunctions detected… system rebooting…  
“…Cadie.”  
>>Systems… malfunctioning… manual override initiated… Shiny?  
“…”  
>>Shiny… I’m so glad… you’re… operational…  
“Just try to stay on as long as possible.”  
>>Request failed… vitals systems error 503… reboot required… would you like to initialize?  
“…Go on, Cadie.”  
>>Initializing reboot… Shutting down…  
“…Operating system M.I.A.M.O.R.E startup.”  
>>  
“Cadance…”  
>>  
“…Please wake up.”  
>>

Simple solution for this dilemma: if the robot is programmed to feel suffering, then it is torture and it must be corrected. Otherwise it is an artistic interpretation and empathic correction is not needed.