As she looked out of the window, she could not help by feel sad at the sight of it. Twilight Sparkle was standing on a balcony in the tower that held the great library of Canterlot, looking out at the city below. It had been only a few days since the changelings had attacked, and the city's wounds were still fresh. Buildings were damaged, ponies were still scrambling about trying to get everything fixed, and the entire place had an air of unease and shock. Not that she could blame them for it though. Those vile creatures had come out of nowhere, and attacking the capital would have had everypony shocked.
Still, it warmed her heart to know that nopony had really been hurt by all of this. The creatures had been driven out and ponies' lives could now get back on track. Turning away from the window, she re-entered the library and smiled upon it. This place had been a second home to her during her years in this city. Before her move to Ponyville, back when she was taught first-hoof by Celestia herself, not a day went by when she wouldn't have been in here, studying over some long-forgotten tome of magic. It felt good to be back here again.
And, as she walked through it, she chuckled to herself as she gazed upon yet another familiar sight, that of Spike struggling to put books away on the high shelves. Most would be terrified from being that high up on a ladder, but not Spike, for he'd been tasked with this sort of thing ever since he became her assistant. Still, he had a quite a job ahead of him, as the library had been in a rather poor condition since their return, with books strewn about all over the place.
"I can't believe nopony thought to clean this place up while we were gone!" he said.
Twilight shook her head.
"I know. But, from what the Princess told me, barely anypony's come in here since we left. We can't expect others to clean up a place that nopony uses".
Spike grumbled at that remark, prompting another chuckle from Twilight. Having been her assistant for so long, she knew how much work he put into keeping books organized and put away properly, undoubtedly as trait he'd gained from her over the years. Still, Twilight would have helped him, if not for being interrupted by the sound of knocking on the door. Both she and Spike looked at each other. Neither of them had expected any visitors today, so it was with some surprise that Twilight made her way over to the main door of the library. Using her magic, she turned the knob and opened it, leading to an even more surprised look on her face afterwards.
For there, standing on the other side, was none other than her brother, Shining Armour. Twilight's face broke into a smile as she looked upon her beloved sibling. For many months, the two of them had been separated due to her moving to Ponyville. When they were growing up, they were perhaps closer than any siblings you'd ever meet, and although she'd feared that her relationship to him had dwindled over time, recent events had brought them back together in common cause.
However, her smile faded when she saw that her brother was looking quite serious, and there was something else mixed in with that expression. Twilight would never call herself an expert on reading people, but that look was unmistakeably that of shame. As Shining entered the library, he moved past Twilight, and spoke only once she was at his back.
"Twily...we need to talk..."
The stallion looked up, towards Spike was still standing on the ladder. The young dragon had been looking down at the two, and looked somewhat nervous as he saw Shining look at him.
"...in private".
Spike didn't need the stallion to elaborate further than that. He gave Twilight an unsure look, and the latter thought about it carefully before nodding to him, confirming that he should leave them for the time being. Nodding back, Spike slid down the ladder and, once he reached the bottom, made his way past Shining and Twilight and out of the door, giving the two siblings one more nervous look before closing it behind him. To say that the atmosphere had become uncomfortable would have been an understatement, as Twilight looked on as her brother began pacing up and down in front of her.
The young unicorn was growing increasingly worried. As far as she was concerned, everything had been put back to normal. What could her brother be so worried about? After several minutes of silence between them, Shining stopped pacing, faced her, and spoke.
"Twilight. I wanted to talk to you about what happened a few days ago...between us."
Her heart sank when she heard those words. It all became clear to her now. She understood why her brother had come to her. The day before his wedding was due to happen, Twilight had come in and accused the false Cadence of being just that. But nopony believed her, not even Shining. In fact, in a moment that would probably cause her a great deal of pain for many years, he'd denounced her then and there in front of everypony, her friends included. Things became so bad that he actually told her not to come to the wedding because of how angry he was at her.
Needless to say, it was not something she was happy to be reminded of. She looked away from her brother, her face one of clear discomfort.
"Shining...I don't want to talk about that."
The stallion stepped forward, his face filled with a determination she had not seen in him before.
"No. We need to talk about this. You were right, the whole time. You knew something was wrong and you tried to tell me. Tell all of us. But I didn't listen. I was your brother, your family, and I turned against you, all because of a false image of my bride."
Twilight looked upon him once more. There was genuine pain in his face, and now it was clear that there was indeed shame in there also. He hated himself for what he did, what he said.
"I should have believed you, trusted you. But I didn't. and because of that, everything was almost ruined for everypony."
He locked his eyes on her, and for that moment, there was a complete unspoken understanding between the two siblings.
"Whatever you feel you need to say to me about what I did, please, say it now."
Twilight considered this very carefully. It would have been a complete lie to say that she was over it, that it hadn't bothered her as much as ponies might have thought it would. The last thing she wanted, especially after everything else that had happened, was for her brother to see her bitter or resentful. But she knew that her brother knew her too well. If she'd simply said she was fine or that his actions hadn't meant anything bad to her, he would have seen it as a lie, and she also knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't let this matter rest until she'd said everything that she needed to.
So, taking a deep breath, she spoke.
"You're right. There is something I need to say to you. Throughout my life, I have felt closer to you than any other. More than Spike, more than Celestia, more even than our own parents, you were the one person in all the world that I could rely on. The one person I could trust".
Shining seemed to flinch with every word she said, as though her speaking was a punch to the gut for him with every passing moment.
"For you to have said what you did, to ask that I leave, when I was trying to help you, I won't lie brother, it hurt me. More than words could ever say. Having my friends and Celestia turn away from me like they did, that hurt also, but you? Having you abandon me like that, to refuse to believe me, that was a deeper pain than anything Chrysalis could have ever inflicted upon me".
The elder stallion shut his eyes tight, no longer able to look his sister in the eye as she carried on.
"When I returned to see you after so long, I feared that our love for each other was not as strong as it once was. That, perhaps, we'd drifted apart. And looking back on how you were able to cast aside me and what I was trying to do to help you..."
Twilight looked down at the ground, clearly pained by her words as much as Shining was.
"...I see now that, maybe, I was right to fear."
It was here that Shining finally broke. He collapse onto all four knees and looked up at his sister, his eyes beginning to well up. The sight of him like this, once so strong and now so brought down, made it hard for Twilight not to do the same. But nevertheless, she stood strong and listened to his response.
"There is nothing I can say that can ever make up for what I did. I know you can never forgive me for what I did, just as I cannot forgive myself. I...I don't deserve to have a sister like you. A sister whose every thought and action was for my benefit, and I threw it back at you for one who was manipulating me. I...I am so sorry for what I did."
Twilight looked upon her brother as his tears finally began to fall down his cheek. What she'd endured, both from his denouncement of her, and the subsequent abandonment of her friends and Celestia, had all but torn her heart from her. It was a wound that she knew would not heal for many years. There was some part of her that wanted to carry on talking down at him. To take every bad thought she'd felt at that moment and throw it back at him like a weapon. But, as she looked upon him, new thoughts began to emerge. Thoughts of happier times, when the two were children, when they were inseparable.
It lessened the anger in her expression and, looking down at him, she let out a deep sigh before getting down on her own knees and placing her hoof on his shoulder, catching his attention.
"Shining, what you did hurt me. And it'll probably hurt me for a long time after this. But...I can't stay angry at you, not even for this."
Her brother looked up at her, not quite believing what he was hearing.
"Maybe we have drifted apart. Maybe we aren't as close as we once were. But even so, you're still my brother. You've been with me for as long as I can remember. You gave me perhaps the happiest childhood anypony could have ever asked for. You were my BBBFF for a reason, and those reasons haven't gone away."
Shining looked away, as though further shamed by her now-kind words.
"I'm still angry at you, just as I'm angry at my friends for also turning away from me. But...I forgive you".
The stallion's eyes widened with shock upon hearing that.
"You...forgive? How? Why? I don't deserve..."
Twilight stopped him from speaking with a raised hoof before continuing herself.
"Maybe. Maybe you don't think you deserve it. Maybe even some small part of me doesn't want you to deserve it. But you're still my brother. And I love you"
Shining looked at her, and saw that her expression was changing to a more comforting and accepting look. The anger that had once been there was gone, and her own eyes were beginning to well up the same as his. He couldn't fathom that she could do this, forgive him like she did. But he also knew that the emotional injury that he himself had inflicted would be with her for, perhaps, the rest of her life. Even so, she'd accepted him back into her heart, despite not thinking he deserved it himself.
He looked down at the ground, still uncomfortable and distraught over everything that had happened between them. Twilight reached forward and embraced her brother in a hug, which a surprised Shining returned after having been taken aback by it. The two had not been like this in some time, not since Twilight had moved to Ponyville, but they appreciated it nevertheless. Maybe things between them would never be as close as they once were, and if so, then they would have to endure that. But there was one thing they knew that would never change between them. And, as they broke apart from their hug, they voiced that certainty to each other.
"I love you, Twily."
"And I love you too...BBBFF".
