Prologue
As we made our way back to the carriage where her parents were waiting to take her away from me, I noticed the cold look her father was giving us. I decided to pay it no attention. These were my last moments with the filly I loved with all of my heart. I had only known her a fraction of the time that Twilight had, so I couldn't imagine how badly Twilight was hurting over this. She had been a recluse at the beginning of this summer, but all it took was a filly named Cadence (who also happened to be a Princess) to open her up to actually enjoying the company of other ponies. It was nothing short of a miracle.
"Wow, Cadence, your carriages are amazing! They're like... white instead of gold, and shiny with purple jewels, and even the guards have different armor!" Twilight exclaimed galloping over to where we had stopped.
"I thought you'd like them." Cadence said as she rustled Twilight's mane with her hoof. I could only marvel at how close she had become with my sister in such a short time. And how she had stolen my heart in an even shorter time.
Twilight then spoke as if she could feel my heart asking the same question to which I already knew the answer.
"Do you have to go now, Cady?" Twilight asked, looking up at Cadence in a way that I will never forget. There was genuine hurt and sadness in her eyes and in her voice as she asked her foal sitter this simple yet meaningful question.
I could only comfort Cadence in this moment because I knew she was still in pain both physically and emotionally from her illness that I still knew deep down I had caused. I gently nuzzled her as she sighed, readying herself to answer my little sister's question.
"It seems like it." She forced out through a sigh.
"I'm gonna miss you." Twilight mumbled, cuddling up to Cadence's leg. Cadence knelt down and leaned her head against Twilight's back, wrapping her wings around her. I couldn't help but feel my heart skip at the sight of this. Her wings made her look even more beautiful, if that was even possible.
"I'll miss you too. You'll always be my favorite little filly." Cadence softly spoke as a single tear ran down her cheek. Seeing this was almost too much, as I felt myself tearing up. But I couldn't lose my composure. She needed me to be strong right now. Seeing her with Twilight like that only intensified my desire to be with her and possibly marry her one day. The thought of starting a family with her also began running through my mind. Her nurturing nature and kindness made her the perfect filly.
Princess Celestia and Cadence's mother, Little Bell, had been both conversing and catching up, while observing the goodbyes. But I knew what was going to happen and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I didn't want to believe it. It just wasn't fair that she had to leave.
"One last time for good luck, OK?" I snapped out of my trance as I heard Cadence speak to Twilight. I knew what was coming next as I watched Cadence kneel down to get eye level with Twilight. As their eyes met, Twilight's got big and bright again. Seeing how she was able to make my sister light up like that brought a smile to my face as they crouched down to start the little song and dance they had come up with together over this summer.
"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" As always, they both fell over laughing with Cadence catching Twilight in her hooves and cuddling her as they both giggled. I just couldn't hold it together any longer and I felt a few tears escape my eyes and drop to the ground. This was the moment Cadence decided to look over at me. I must have looked absolutely ridiculous standing there with that goofy smile on my face and tears in my eyes. But she just gave me the same smile she had the first time we met. Except this time, she wasn't blushing. Her face radiated the same love I felt for her with all of my soul. It was in this moment that I was able to calm myself and regain my composure. It was amazing how just looking at her melted my heart and made me fall in love with her all over again.
"Cadenza, it's time to go." As if right on cue, I heard the statement I was praying would never come. Cadence flinched at the sound of her father's voice, and stood up as Twilight rolled off of her.
"I guess this is it." She barely said without stammering. I could see her shaking on her hooves a little bit. I approached her carefully and pulled her close to me.
"Be strong, Cadence." I told her, feeling those tears pricking my eye lids. She felt weak as if she had felt too many strong emotions, but at the sound of my words she seemed to calm down and gain some strength. I watched her start to walk toward the carriage where her mother and father were waiting. Her mother gently put a hoof on her shoulder as she climbed into the carriage, leaving Cadence to say her final goodbyes to Twilight and I. I motioned for Twilight to come with me. I was going to need her there to support me even if she didn't know she was.
"Goodbye Shining Armor, goodbye Twilight." Cadence said while fighting back her tears.
"Bye bye, Cady." Twilight smiled while waving her hoof.
"Goodbye Cadence. Get better, okay?" I said while pulling her in and hugging her around her neck, tears pricking my eye lids again.
"I will." She told me while giving me that entrancing smile. It made me more confident that I would see her again, which made me feel less sad and more determined to improve myself as much as I possibly could in the time we would be apart.
"And you keep training to be the best Royal Guard you can be, my knight in shining armor." She added with that same smile never leaving her face. I felt the corners of my mouth turn up into a grin that I'm sure made me look like a foal that had just talked to his first crush. She then turned and climbed up into the carriage, closing the door behind her. On the other side of the carriage, I could hear Princess Celestia and Cadence's parents exchanging their goodbyes while Cadence sat in the carriage looking out the window of the door she had just closed. The pegasus captain then called for his crew to begin their last minute pre-flight checks. It wasn't long before the pegasi gave the "All clear" to their captain and he gave the order to begin take off.
As the royal carriage began travelling down the street, I quickly scooped up Twilight with my magic and set her on my back. After giving her the instruction to hold on tight, I galloped to catch up to the carriage as fast as my hooves could carry me. I was able to catch up surprisingly quick as the carriage was just starting to leave the ground. I must have looked like a total fool to someone spectating. I pushed that out of my mind. I didn't care if all of Canterlot could see me. And I certainly didn't care what they thought either. Twilight had let go of me to wave both hooves at Cadence as we all shouted our last goodbyes to each other as the carriage gained altitude.
Once the carriage was out of vocal range, I slowed down to a trot and then a stop. I was tired from running so long and so quickly. But the slight pain in my side didn't bother me. I needed the exercise anyway. As I caught my breath and slowed my heart rate, I felt the sting of heartache come back as I came to the reality of what had just happened. She was gone. I knew it wasn't for good but then again, I had no idea how long our time apart would be. I felt myself tear up, and quickly wiped my eyes with a hoof trying to play it off like I was wiping the sweat from my forehead. Twilight had jumped down from my back and had seen this and wasn't buying it, apparently.
"Why are you crying, B.B.B.F.F.?" She asked me with a look of concern on her little face.
"I'm not crying, Twiley." I answered as patiently as I could. "I'm just sad that Cadence had to leave." I added with a lame grin that even she would know was fake. But I still hoped she would leave it alone and that my answer would be enough.
"Well, I'm not sad. I know I'll see her again. And I know you two are going to get married and have a castle together and stuff with all kinds of shiny jewels and crowns!" As she said this, she had the biggest smile on her face. I always thought it was adorable when she went on her little rants. I sighed with relief, thinking that she had gotten off the subject of me "crying".
"Oh, and by the way. You're sad that she had to leave and you have tears in your eyes. I'm pretty sure that means you're crying." She finished curtly with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Celestia help me, she's too smart for her own good sometimes.
"OK, you got me this time. You'll understand one day why I feel the way I do right now, Twiley. But if you tell Mom or Dad about this, I won't teach you any more teleportation spells or levitation spells until you start dating. Do we have a deal?" I asked as I held out my hoof in as businesslike a manner as I could muster. She eyed me skeptically and took my hoof to shake it but I had other plans. I grabbed her and began rustling her mane with my hoof, which just resulted in her giggling as I wrestled with her. This seemed to be what was needed to drop the subject for now, much to my relief.
We stopped wrestling and just sat on the grass by the park where Twiley and Cadence had gone to have most of their fun. The day was starting to creep from afternoon into early evening, and I knew that the sun would be setting soon.
"So what are you going to do now, big brother?" She asked, looking up at me with those big eyes of hers. I just smiled and pulled her closer. It was beginning to cool off and the Canterlot nights could get chilly at times. It was looking like this was going to be one of those nights.
"I'm going to make sure you know just how much I love you, Twiley. I spent a lot of time with Cadence and at times we couldn't take you with us. I feel it wasn't fair to exclude you from some of those days. But I promise we'll make up for lost time, okay?" I finished and gave her a smile, praying my offer was good enough. I knew my offer was accepted and she pounced on me giggling, once again instigating another wrestling match that ended with me letting her win. She deserved that much from me. I held her in my hooves as the afternoon drug on, and I became lost in thought. I knew what the next step was, but was I actually ready for it? While I had been training to become a Royal Guard, it wasn't the actual thing. It was more of a preparation course that taught us the basic information we would need to know. We were also taught the basic skills such as advanced teleportation and levitation. I wanted more. I wanted to join the ranks full time. The only problem was my age. I needed to wait another 2 years before I could actually attend full blown Guard Training. Plenty of time to immerse myself in studies of the Honor Code, Creeds, history and physical training the guard would put me through.
I was completely lost in thought and forgot where I was and who I was with. The only reason I was dragged out of my own head was the feeling of Twilight shivering slightly at the chilly breeze that was starting to pick up as the afternoon continued to fade. I looked down at the filly I was holding in my hooves, and felt the sting of reality. I didn't have much time left with her.
This whole summer had been an adventure. Although it felt like everything was winding down, my thoughts were running at a pace that would make even the Wonderbolts blush. Could I handle the decision I was about to make? It would mean leaving Twilight to face the world alone for Celestia knows long....but even I knew I couldn't be there for her forever. She would eventually need to make friends of her own without my help or anypony else's help for that matter.
I took a deep breath in and picked her up in a field of my magic and closed my eyes to concentrate. We were a little far from home and I was admittedly still exhausted from running earlier and wrestling around with Twilight at the park. I decided to try out a new spell I had read about in my guard booklets. I focused my remaining energy on the front door of our house and charged my horn. I had practiced with some of Twilight's stuffed animals at home and could go from room to room. I had never tried to go this far before. But I felt I could do it. In a flash, we disappeared from the playground, and appeared on the front lawn of our home. I couldn't help but curse under my breath a bit at the slight miscalculation. I did manage to allow myself a smile when I checked Twilight only to see that she was unharmed and still sleeping.
I opened the front door and immediately pressed a hoof to my mouth to signal my parents to be quiet as I levitated Twilight in front of me. I took her to her room and set her in her bed. As I was tucking her in, she stirred and opened her eyes for a minute. I leaned down, kissed her forehead, and told her goodnight and she sunk into her pillow and quickly drifted off to sleep. I looked down at her as she slept, thinking of how different she was. Her and I had always been close but she had never shown such affection to me before. I was so happy that she was opening up, yet saddened that I wouldn't be here much longer to enjoy her growing up and learning new spells.
I retired to my own bedroom after saying goodnight to my parents and letting them know that Twilight was tucked in with Smarty Pants right beside her. My mind was still racing but seemed to have more purpose. I had a long day ahead of me and I needed all the rest I could get. My time was coming and I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I had all the motivation I needed to succeed in making the cut.
