"There he is!" I heard a voice shout.
I got to my hooves and looked in the direction it came from, rushing over to me were a quintet of mares, I could see the one who pointed me out, she was kinda hard to miss though, even if you were trying. She was cerulean blue and her eyes were a brilliant rose but what made her stick out was her mane and tail,both of which were prismatic, the cooler colours resting on her head with the hotter colours hanging in her tail.
The others were just as hard to miss though, as they all surrounded me. I couldn't really back up though, even with a good amount of empty space behind me.
"We've been lookin' everywhere for you sugahcube." The orange earthpony at the front of the group spoke up. Her blonde mane and tail were banded back and a stetson hat sat atop her head. "What in the hay are you doin' here?"
"Yeah... this isn't a very happy place to be." A pink earthpony behind the first one chimed in. "It's all... gloomy and sad and constantly raining."
"O-oh.. I'm sorry.. I-I tried to talk them out of it...." A meek yellow pegasus poked her head from behind the blue one, her long pink mane clinging to her neck because of the rain.
"Oh but darling really... you sneak off here every chance you get, we're just concerned." the fifth mare, a white unicorn, like myself spoke up as she trotted to the front of the group, she was wearing a special saddle with an umbrella fastened to it to stop the rain ruining her curly purple mane and tail.
I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. "Sorry, but I'm fine... I just have somepony to meet here is all."
Almost as if on cue the flapping of wings could be heard shortly before they gave way to the clopping of hooves.
"Shining Armor. Glad to see you're on time...oh.. you brought your friends with you I see." The pink alicorn said flatly as she noticed the five mares hovering around me, two of them literally.
"I didn't bring them, they followed me here without my knowledge." I spoke up before turning to my friends and flashing an apologetic smile. "Sorry girls, the princess and I need some privacy."
They were all still stunned at the appearance of the alicorn, but nonetheless they nodded and moved off.
"Sorry about that Cadence... I thought Spike had them busy enough that they wouldn't follow me." I regarded the alicorn as she trotted up beside me. "Besides they were just concerned about me."
The alicorn smiled softly at me. "It's okay Shining. Sorry but I don't really have time for small talk today. Aunty is making me practice to sing at the next Gala." She took a seat on the cobblestone next to me as we turned our attention to the small patch of land in front of us. "So.. let's get started.."
I nodded silently.
It wasn't long after Cadence left I could feel the eyes of my friends probing me again. I was aware of how bad I probably looked right now. My eyes were red and puffy and I had tear stains marring my fur, which was all disheveled and I just overall looked like a mess.
I kept my head bowed as they slowly trotted up to me.
"Shining... sugah.. are ya'll okay?" The orange mare, Applejack, asked. It was a stupid question, not that I'd ever say that to her. But really I didn't need to.
"Uhh.. Equestria to AJ, did you zone out through all of that?" the blue pegasus blurted out. "Of course he's not okay!"
I wasn't mad at her for saying that, that's just how Rainbow Dash was. She kept up this facade of unflappable coolness, but when something shook her she got... testy.
If what she said bothered Applejack, she didn't let it show. The others stayed silent, just sort of following my gaze. I didn't need to see them to know that.
"Girls." I spoke up finally, my voice was hoarse and cracked slightly from all the crying I had done. "I'm going to tell you a story... it's not really a happy one... but it's one I think you all deserve to hear..."
The other unicorn, Rarity, she held up her hooves. "Dear, I'm sure it can wait until we get back to the castle." She fixed me with a look that, while soft and caring, brooked no argument.
There was a quiet murmur of agreement from the others as they moved about to help me to my hooves as we all made our way out of the cemetery.
It wasn't a long walk back to the castle, and really it was a good idea. It helped me compose myself a bit and we weren't at risk of catching a cold or anything because of it.
"Y-you know you don't h-have to tell us if you don't want to...." the yellow pegasus, Fluttershy, told me.
"Yeah... you said it was a sad story and... well those types of stories aren't really very fun." Pinkie Pie, the pink earthpony, added.
I smiled at them, it was amazing just how much these five mares cared about me. "I'll be fine." I told them before rubbing my chin in thought. "Now then... how to begin... ah yes."
I mentally chuckled as they all leaned in. "It was some twenty years ago, my parents convinced me to take a break from studying for the entrance exam to the royal guard..."
"Hold up sug, do you mean to tell us ya'll were gonna be a guardpony?" Applejack asked, when I nodded she just looked confused. "Well... ah'm sure you'll explain what happened soon enough... maybe a story for another time." She chuckled. "Ah've always wanted to say that."
"Actually, that kind of has to do with the story I'm about to tell." I smiled. "Now as I was saying, my parents convinced me to take a break from studying to accompany them to watch my little sister attempt her entrance exam to the school for gifted unicorns..."
"Question~!" Rarity trilled. "You have a little sister?"
I frowned slightly, that was enough to get Rainbow Dash to wap the back of Rarity's head. "Hey. If we all button our traps then maybe he'll get a chance to tell us!"
"Guess that explains why yer so good at dealin' with the crusaders then." Applejack said softly. "Sorry sug, no more interruptions from us, go ahead."
I nodded again. "Like I said, I was taken along to see my little sisters entrance exam, which involved her having to try and hatch a dragon's egg, Spike's egg... and it went about as well as you'd expect from a four year old filly who'd only been practicing for a couple of months...."
"I'm sorry I wasted your time..."
I watched her head sink down as she admitted defeat. It was heartbreaking. She'd put so much time and effort into studying magic to prepare for this moment, it was almost too much to see it taken away from her. I couldn't bear to look, so I closed my eyes. That's when the boom happened.
I was startled enough that the very first spell I thought to cast was a shield spell, which not only got me my cutie mark, but also saved my life. When I opened my eyes the first thing that struck me was the utter chaos around the room.
A giant dragon was sitting where the egg had been moments before, the observers were all floating in a levitation aura and my parents had been replaced by potted plants. And in the middle of the room, surrounded by a sphere of magic was my little sister, here eyes were glowing white with raw energy.
I turned, hearing the door open and saw Princess Celestia standing there in disbelief. Unfortunately my sister saw her too.. and panicked, a bolt of raw energy flying from her horn and slamming the princess through two walls and out into the sky.
She closed her eyes in shock and curled into a little ball, still floating in the middle of the ball of magic.
My shield was pelted with chairs that were ripped up from ground and flung around like they were caught in a tornado. I was scared. but I managed to will myself to start trotting forward, my shield began cracking as I got closer to the maelstrom's center. It wasn't much longer before it gave out and shattered, I was nearly blown away by the magical winds that were buffeting me but I was within forelegs reach, so I reached out and pulled her close to me.
Her eyes shot open and looked up at me, she was terrified, but I just smiled at her. That was all it took, she wrapped her forelegs around me and hugged me tight as she could, and just like that everything returned to normal... mostly. I looked over at our parents, expecting them to be relieved. Mom was, she was a little disoriented, but just looked happy to be back to normal. Dad however... he stormed out, he looked... angry.. scared. I couldn't tell.
My sister had fallen asleep in my hooves. She was still sleeping when Celestia came back in.
Now I was scared again, scared she was going to take my sister away, have her locked in a lab that looks like a normal house with little siphons around to drain out her magic and keep it at reasonable levels.
"No." My mouth had moved before I could stop it. The princess just looked at me, amusement painted across her face.
"I beg your pardon?" She asked, the slight grin she wore was worrying me.
"You're not taking my sister to use as some lab rat." I told her. I was terrified of defying her, and on some level I knew it was pointless. If she wanted my sister, she'd just order her guards to come knocking at our home and take her. But I was a big brother, it was my only job around the house to make sure she was safe. "And if you're going to send your guards come to take her.. they'll have to go through me."
I watched as mom chose that moment to go looking for dad.
"You care deeply about your sister don't you?" She asked before looking at the test overseers. "Leave. I wish to speak with these two privately."
The three of them bowed and scurried out of the room. I only watched them with my peripheral vision as I never took my eyes off the princess.
"My little pony, what is your name?" She asked me.
"Shining Armor." I answered immediately. "Son of Night Light and Twilight Velvet."
She raised her eyebrow. "Ah, so you're one of the newest class of royal guard hopefuls. And the filly in your hooves?"
I hesitated. "She's my little sister."
"So you're only doing your duty as an older sibling to protect her..." The princess's voice went quiet. "I had no intention of taking your sister from you."
"You...didn't?" I asked her. I was confused. She had been blasted through two walls by a scared little filly and she wasn't going to whisk her away?
She shook her head. "I was going to ask her to become my personal student, with that much raw magic power she's going to need a lot of help to keep it under control and avoid a repeat incident."
"A repeat incident..." I parroted softly before shaking my head. "W-well... it's not my place to decide but seeing as our parents aren't here right now... I think... that would be for the best..."
She smiled, it was a gentle, reassuring smile. It helped calm me down a touch. "That's all I need." She told me. "As a guard trainee your permission and word is all I need, I'll send a letter to your parents letting them know."
"B-But.... our parents... shouldn't they be the one to decide this? I'm only fifteen, I'm still in the screening process, not a trainee." As much as I was relieved, it still didn't feel right.
"You are now trainee." She smiled at me again before turning to trot out, motioning for me to follow, so I did. "I understand your concern for your parents reactions, but you've proved already that your little sister means a lot to you. Enough for you to risk your life trotting into a magical vortex so strong that even a pair of my archmages would have trouble keeping it active. That is something I respect greatly Shining Armor."
"A desire to protect others?" I asked her.
"Yes that too, but a bond between siblings is what I was talking about." She gave me a quizzical look. "How well versed are you in history my little pony?"
"Fairly well up to about five hundred years ago." I told her. "My sister is the family scholar." I shifted slightly to keep her from falling off my back.
"I see. Well it's all myth nowadays, but I have a younger sister myself. The reason she isn't around... well we needed a bit of space..." She gazed sadly at the horizon as she said that. "I don't have the same power as my niece, but I can tell you and your sister have a powerful and pure bond."
I was about to say something when we heard a tired groan.
"B-BBBFF?"
I stopped immediately and moved her into my forelegs to hold her, up ahead I saw Celestia stop as well, turning to her side to watch. "Twily! Are you okay?"
"B-big brother..?" she asked as she slowly opened her eyes, a tired smile gracing her face as she did. "Shining Armor..." she leaned up and hugged me as close and as tight as she could. "I-is everyone okay?"
I nodded before remembering that she couldn't see me with her face pressed against my chest. "Yeah... everypony's fine." I felt the tension in her body fall away at that.
"That's good... where are mom and dad?"
I bit my lip. "I.. I don't know. Dad stormed out and mom went to look for him."
"O-oh..." she yawned, sounding disappointed. "I want to go home and nap..."
"Pardon me." Celestia said softly as she leaned in, I felt my sister grip me closer in fear. "But what is your name my little pony?"
"T-Twilight Sparkle...." She murmured into my chest. "D-daughter of Twilight Velvet and Night Light, younger sister to Shining Armor and twenty third generation house of Starcatcher..." I watched the princess raise an eyebrow at that.
"House of Starcatcher, that makes your family nobles." She looked at us, I thought I saw a trace of confusion flicker across her muzzle. "Neither of you needed to take the exams, you could have requested your enrollment into both the guard and my school and gotten instant admission."
I cleared my throat softly. "Would it have been worth it then your highness?"
"I'm sorry?" She answered my question with one of her own.
"What good is a position in either if a pony doesn't earn it themselves?" I asked her. "We want our spots, but we want to earn them. There's no point in something if you don't earn it."
The princess smiled at me.. us.
"A good question and a great answer, I must admit." She turned her attention back to my sister, I could feel her breathing was getting slower as she got ready to fall back asleep. "Twilight Sparkle, I have no intention of doing anything to you, under the threat of an act of brotherhood." I felt Twilight nuzzle my chest thankfully at that. "I would simply ask that you become my personal student in the field of magic."
I watched Twilight slowly pull away and glance at Celestia, confusion and awe spread across her face. "R-really?"
"Absolutely." The princess smiled gently at her. "You have amazing raw power and talent at your disposal Twilight Sparkle, the likes of which I haven't seen since a young colt came to me for tutelage, his name was Star Swirl. I want to see you harness that power and talent and use it to redefine magic like he did over eight hundred years ago."
Twilight looked at me, there was a small amount of trepidation in her purple eyes. "B-but what about mom and dad... don't they have the final say?"
"The princess has assured me that my permission as your sibling is all she needs." I told her, giving her barrel a gentle nuzzle.
Her face lit up at that, and she quickly turned her head to nod vigorously at Celestia.
"Y-yes... of course I'll be your student." She proclaimed before yawning heavily. "b-but first... I want to take that naaa...." she trailed off before she began snoring lightly.
The others yawned around me, even Spike had curled up in his basket a few minutes ago.
"Maybe we should break for sleep then." I suggested, which was met with a chorus of agreement and good nights as everyone filed out.
"Shining Armor, darling, are you really not coming back to Ponyville with us." Rarity asked the stallion waiting on the platform.
Shining chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll be coming back, just not today. Cadence and I have a few plans so I'll be here for the next day or so."
"Ooooh..." Rarity raised her eyebrows. "Details darling."
"Slow down there filly." Applejack tugged her back as the doors closed. "We'll see ya soon then Shinin', ya'll have fun with yer marefriend."
They all had a good laugh as he blushed and waved as the train pulled away.
We were barely six minutes out when Rainbow Dash yawned in an exaggerated manner and looked at me. "I'm bored. Spike, you know anything about Armor's little sister?"
I could practically feel the glares from the others converge on the pegasus before Applejack spoke up again. "Why don't you tell us a bit about he know's this Cadence gal."
I shrugged. "There's not much I know about that. They've been friends since high school, Cadence was also mom and mine's sitter."
"Your mother dear?" Rarity asked.
"Uh yeah... Shining's sister, she hatched my egg, that means she's my mom... or was." I felt my eyes mist up a bit before wiping my eyes with my claws. "Didn't he tell you all that story last night?"
"He started too, but we all got too tired to keep listening, so he called an intermission and sent us all off to our rooms for sleep." Fluttershy spoke up, quietly.
"Well... why don't you tell us about her?" Dash meekly suggested again.
"Well where did he leave off at?" I asked, stretching my claws up behind my head as I took a deep breath to calm myself down a bit.
"Celestia..." Applejack sighed. "Rainbow, sugah, you just don't quit do you?" she gave me an apologetic smile. "He got up to his sister falling asleep against him after talkin' with the princess."
"Hey. It's not like I'm demanding he tell us." the blue pegasus huffed. "I'm asking, it's still up to him whether he does or not."
I rolled my eyes. "I can't pick up from where Shining left off... but I know about what happened after they got home that day."
"How do you know that dear?" Rarity asked me.
"Uuumm... Celestia said it had something to do with my magic growth spurt rapidly aging my mind to a point where I could think and reason on the same level as a five year old pony, other wise I'd only just be learning to talk and walk now." I scratched my scales.
"Shouldn't you still be like a five year old then?" Dash asked. "Umm... no offense."
"Residual magic." Was my only answer, which got a chuckle from Rarity. "Anyway... Celestia cleared me to go home with mom and Shining... mom and i were still asleep so he carried us all the way there on his back, but... well apparently their parents had gotten home before them after being told that mom and him were with Celestia..."
