(Shining Armor’s P.O.V.)
Constellations. That was all I saw. Everywhere I looked I could see a beautiful image in the nighttime sky. Centaurus, Pisces, Orion, they were all too recognizable. How did I know so much about them? Twiley would always beg me to go stargazing with her when we were younger. There were times when I didn’t feel like going, but whenever I told her that, she would always look so sad. It broke my heart. I loved my little sister more than anything at the time, and if I even did one thing to make her upset, I probably would never live it down. So, I’d always end up saying I would go with her, and that put the biggest smile on her face, something that always made up for any bad day I had.
There was a particular mountainside that was Twiley’s favorite spot for stargazing. She’d always have me carry her telescope and she’d carry her books on astronomy. Whenever she’d find a certain constellation through her telescope, she’d have me look at it, then she’d tell me its name and everything about it. It was amazing seeing how smart she was, not only in astronomy, but in many other subjects. I remembered hearing that Princess Celestia had referred to Twiley as a protégé, and that statement was as far as it could be from being incorrect. Her knowledge stunned me. I always secretly questioned why Twiley was never certified as a genius, but I don’t think it would have mattered whether she was or not.
My concentration on the night sky was broken as I saw what seemed to be a messenger pony running toward the front door of the castle. I was on the balcony above it, and I quickly went back inside so I could greet him, but I had forgotten that Cadance was already on the ground floor, and by the time I had gotten downstairs, I spotted my wife reading a letter. She was smiling cheerfully. “Hey, what’s going on?” I asked her.
“Well, Shining,” she replied, “Let’s just say you’ve got to be the luckiest stallion in all of Equestria!”
“I know I am.” I trotted closer to her and wrapped a foreleg around her neck. “I have the most beautiful mare of all as my wife. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I then kissed her on the lips.
“Well, that’s not quite what I was getting at, but thank you, honey.” She hugged me back.
“Oh, it was something else?”
“Yeah. Read this.” She allowed me to take the note she had just received in my magic, and I began to read it out loud.
“Princess Celestia cordially invites you to the coronation of…” my eyes went wide as I saw whose name was on the piece of parchment. “Princess...Twilight Sparkle?!? Tomorrow morning at 10?!? What?!?” I was flabbergasted.
“Isn’t this great?” Cadance continued, “I was trying to say that you were lucky because you have two princesses in your immediate family!”
I couldn’t speak. I was too shocked. Was this really happening? I had always thought of Twiley as my sister, but as a princess? Did she really make it this far? Did Celestia really teach her all she could? I could only imagine how Twiley was feeling right now. I wasn’t expecting this, and surely she may not have been either.
“Shining?” my wife continued, waving a hoof in front of my eyes.
I put the letter on a nearby table and then said, “I-I’m sorry. I think I need a minute.” I then went back upstairs and eventually settled on the balcony again. I looked back up at the nighttime sky. Never did I think anything like this would happen. I mean, I was expecting Twiley to graduate the school for gifted unicorns sometime soon, but in this grand fashion? Not in a million moons! As shocked as I was, I couldn’t help but feel as proud of my sister as I could ever remember. After a few minutes, everything slowly sunk in and began to make sense. Twiley had done so much since she moved to Ponyville. Not only had she saved my wedding, but she had also saved the Crystal Empire, defeated Nightmare Moon, and recently helped lead the Crystal Empire to become the host city for the upcoming Equestria Games. Plus, she had made tons of friends. Whenever I spent time with her, she seldom brought up anything social that was outside of hers and my relationship. She had friends, but didn’t spend as much time with them as me or my parents would have thought. She even told me about a party thrown by one of her friends that she had to skip because she wanted to spend time studying, and that was shortly before she moved to Ponyville. It seemed that education was more important to her than friendship. The more I thought about it, the more the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
As I stared at the stars above me, one of them beamed at me for a brief moment. That immediately made me think of one of the greatest days of my life.
“Where is he?” I kept asking myself. My parents had gone to the hospital several hours ago after my mom said she was in a lot of pain. I had been left with my usual foalsitter, Meteor Shower, and my dad said he’d be home once the baby had arrived. I was only 9 at the time, and my curiosity had been at its highest for the past year. Still, I didn’t know what was taking my parents so long. Surely mom had had her foal by now. Was something wrong? There was no way for me to know.
“Hey, Shining,” Meteor Shower began to ask, “Is everything alright?”
“Why hasn’t dad come home yet?” I asked him, “Is mom okay?”
“Don’t worry, kid,” he replied, “Everything’s alright. I think that if there was anything wrong, we would’ve heard about it by now. I think you might just be overexcited.” I figured he had a point. Ever since my parents left, I had felt more energetic and anxious as the hours went by.
“Maybe you’re right, Meteor,” I said after several seconds.
“Now c’mon. I’ve got dinner ready for the two of us.”
All this adrenaline running through my body had made me pretty hungry. “Great!” I exclaimed.
…
After Meteor Shower and I had finished eating, I told him that I was headed up to my room for a little bit, and he let me venture up there while he cleaned the dishes. Once I was in my room, I looked up at the sky. The sun had set over the horizon about 30 minutes ago, and the sky was slowly turning a deep blue that I knew would soon fade to a pitch black. I looked higher and higher until I saw the first star of the night. I stared at it for a few seconds, and as I did, it beamed at me brightly. For some unexplainable reason, right at that moment, I felt happy. I felt like something great had just happened, like I had just gotten the greatest present for Hearth’s Warming Morning, or maybe even like I had just been accepted into knights’ school, something I had dreamed about since I was 5.
I went back downstairs soon afterwards, and to my surprise, Meteor Shower had set up the dartboard he had brought with him. I always loved it when we would get to play darts together. Sometimes I considered trying to get my parents out of the house for no apparent reason just so they’d have to get Meteor Shower to come and watch me, and then we’d get to play with his darts.
After about 45 minutes and several exciting rounds, it was my turn, and I threw my first dart, hitting the bulls-eye with pinpoint precision. “Bulls-eye!” I screamed, “Yes!”
“Great shot, kid!” Meteor said, equally as excited, “You know, just think how great it could be once you teach darts to your new brother or sister!” Hearing him say that made me pause. It got me thinking of something that had been on my mind for quite some time. “Shining, what’s wrong?” Meteor asked.
I sighed before replying, “Nothing, really. I just wish I knew what mom was having. I wish they hadn’t opted to wait until he or she was born to find out if it was a filly or a colt.”
“Do you want one more than the other?”
“I’d really like a brother, but I’m willing to take whatever I get.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that, kid,” Meteor replied, giving me a pat on the back.
“Thanks.”
“Why do you want a brother more than a sister?”
“Well, I spend all my time with you when my parents are out, and, well, I feel like I’m ready for a brother.”
“That makes sense.”
“Plus, you feel like a big brother to me, so if I have my own little brother, I can be just like you.”
Meteor paused for a few seconds. “Wow, kid. Thanks. I never knew I meant that much to you. Still, you can still be the same even if you have a sister.”
“Yeah, but…” I trailed off, looking away from him slightly.
“I understand, Shining,” he replied. Just then, I heard the front door creak open. I darted towards it.
“Dad!” I exclaimed in delight. “You’re back!” I immediately hugged him.
“I sure am!” he replied, “Ready to go to the hospital?”
“Yeah!”
My dad levitated Meteor his pay for the evening with his magic, thanking him as he did. Right after that, Meteor was on his way home while my dad and I trotted to the hospital, which was only a few blocks away. I could hardly contain my joy at this point.
…
My dad led me to a room near the end of a long hallway. He opened the door for me and I immediately saw my mom. “Mom!” Just then, I shoved a hoof into my mouth, suddenly remembering that there was a foal in the room that I was sure was sleeping. “I mean…” I began again, whispering this time, “Mom…!” I trotted briskly over to the bed.
“Hi, Shining!” she replied as I climbed onto the bed and hugged her, my dad following me to the bed pretty much immediately. It was then I saw the foal. “Shining,” my mom began again after a few seconds, “Meet your new sister, Twilight Sparkle.” It was a filly. A slight bit of me was disappointed, but I was still elated. She was beautiful. Her name seemed to fit her perfectly. Her lavender fur and purple mane were reminiscent of the nighttime sky, something that was clearly visible outside the window. My mind instantly thought of that moment earlier that evening in my room. That star I saw was clearly a twilight sparkle itself.
“Wow,” I began, “She’s…really cute.” I knew I sounded less than excited, but I was truly at a loss for words. I knew this was the beginning of something amazing. “She’s gonna have a great time with us. This family is perfect for her!”
“I agree with you 100%, son,” my dad said to me, rubbing my head. My parents and I then went quiet and turned our attention to the newest addition to our family, my little sister, Twiley.
“Shining,” my wife spoke, breaking my train of thought.
I shook my head in surprise. “Oh, yeah, what?” I said, looking back at her.
“You should get packed. We have to take an overnight train to Canterlot.”
“Oh, right,” I replied, remembering that we had a ceremony to go to in the morning. I went into the Crystal Castle’s master suite and started packing for the journey to Canterlot, not knowing if we’d be gone for more than one night. I packed my best suit, which was my red royal guard’s uniform, the same thing I had worn to my wedding. I packed a few other necessities alongside it, and pretty soon, Cadance and I were out of the castle and bound for the train station at the edge of town.
“Shining,” my wife began, “Are you okay? You didn’t seem well after reading that note.”
“Oh, trust me, I’m fine,” I replied, “This just kinda came to me as a shock. Did you know anything about this before today?”
“Celestia told me once or twice that Twilight was nearly finished with her studies, but she never mentioned anything like this to me. She probably either kept it to herself or between her and Luna. Believe me, I’m as surprised as you are.”
“Oh.” I then looked upwards, somehow getting the attention of my wife once again.
“Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”
“Yes, I am. I guess I’m just, well, really happy for Twiley. To be honest, I’ve never felt like this before. I felt fortunate beyond belief when you, a princess, said you’d marry me, but knowing that my sister’s one now, too, I really don’t know how to feel right now.”
“I’m thrilled as well, but you’ve known Twilight much longer than I have. I can see why you’d be this happy.”
“Yeah.” That was all I could think to say at that point. We were only a block from the train station and I could see our special train waiting for us. Once we had boarded, the train slowly pulled southward. Cadance and I settled into our personal bedroom accommodation within a matter of minutes.
“Hmmm…” Cadance began, “It’s a little warm in here.”
“Want me to open a window?” I asked.
“That’d be great. Thanks!” I went ahead and opened the window about a quarter of the way. The cool night air instantly flew into the train car, cooling it down. But, right as the gust of air hit my body, I immediately thought of a certain windy day that was very special.
“This looks like a good spot, Twiley,” I said to my sister as we arrived near a hillside, the wind speed perfect for kite-flying. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah!” she replied, her excitement for learning new things clearly shining through.
“Alright, then! Let’s do this!” I held one end of a spool in my mouth while I extended the string with my magic. Once it was a decent length, I let go of the string and took the spool in my magic. “It’s really simple,” I told Twiley, “Once the string is long enough and the wind is strong, you just run back like this,” I said as I began to run away from her, causing the kite on the ground to gain altitude quickly.
After several seconds, our kite was flying high in the air. Twiley ran over to me in excitement. “Wow, Shining!” she said, gleefully, “That looks like fun! Let me try!”
“Alright, can you take it in your magic like I’m doing right now?”
“I think so. Hang on.” Twiley activated her magic and seemed to focus solely on the spool. I felt that she had a decent grip on it, so I let her take control.
“Don’t focus too much on the spool, Twiley,” I told her, “Make sure the kite stays high enough in the air.”
“Got it,” she replied, her focus on the kite overpowering her will to speak a whole lot of words. I looked up at the kite, then back at her. She was doing a wonderful job. This was her first time kite-flying, and, like she did during her first time trying many other things, she was nailing it.
“You’re doing great, Twiley!” I encouraged her, “Keep it up!” She moved the spool in a few different directions, causing the kite to perform a multitude of aerial acrobatics. She seemed to be enjoying herself very well.
Unfortunately, after a few minutes, the wind died down somewhat and Twiley was no longer able to keep the kite in the air. It soon fell to the ground, and I saw Twiley’s look of excitement turn to one of disappointment. “Awww…” she said, sadly as she set the spool on the ground, “I was having so much fun…”
“Don’t worry, Twiley,” I said as I wrapped one of my forelegs around her neck, “You did an amazing job, and this is your first time kite-flying! I’m really proud of you.” Her smile quickly returned. “Come on, why don’t we have some lunch while we wait for the wind to pick up again?”
“Sounds great!” she replied. I then opened the picnic basket I had brought and took out the blanket, unfolding it with my magic and setting it on the ground. As I did, Twiley gathered the kite and string and brought them over to the blanket. Once the blanket was smoothly resting on the grass, I unpacked what was in the basket. I had packed Twiley’s favorite, a daffodil and daisy sandwich, while my sandwich was just a plain peanut butter. My sister got a bit overexcited and looked inside the basket as I was taking out the two bottles of water I had packed. “Why is there only one apple?” she asked.
“There was only one left,” I replied, “Don’t worry. Here.” I levitated the apple between the two of us and split it in half with my magic. One half went straight to her mouth, and the other went to mine. I set my half down on a plate next to my sandwich as Twiley took a bite of her half. She then set what was left on her plate.
“You always know how to make things work out, Shining Armor,” she said to me with a heartwarming smile on her face. She then quickly trotted over to me and hugged me, catching me a bit by surprise. “I love you, BBBFF,” she said happily.
I hugged her back as I spoke softly, “I love you, too, sis.”
“Okay, Shining, that’s enough,” my wife said, startling me back to reality.
“Huh?” I replied, still trying to focus.
“There’s plenty of cool air in here. You can close the window now.”
“Oh, sorry,” I said while closing the window.
“There’s no need to apologize, honey. I’m not upset.”
“Yeah, but…” I sighed. “I guess I just got carried away with my own thoughts. That wind made me think of the day I taught Twiley how to fly a kite. A lot of memories of her have just randomly been coming to mind ever since I read that message.” By this point, I was just beginning to climb into bed next to Cadance.
“I can see why,” she continued, “But maybe now you should think about sleeping. You don’t want to fall asleep at your own sister’s coronation, do you?”
“Hmmm… I don’t think so,” I replied comically. The two of us laughed. The candles in the room had already been blown out by the earlier air, so there was nothing left to do but just get comfortable and fall asleep, which is what I did pretty much right away, but not before giving my wife a kiss on the cheek and wrapping a foreleg around her as I watched her drift off to sleep.
…
I awoke to the sound of a hoof knocking on our door. I slowly opened my eyes. It was still dark outside, but the nighttime lights of Canterlot were clearly visible. I could hear Cadance stirring slightly. I assumed she had also been woken up by the knocking. I turned to her. “Honey,” I said softly, “I think we’re here.”
Cadance slowly arose from her sleeping position before letting loose a big yawn. “We are?” she asked. She then looked out the window. “Oh,” she continued, “I guess we are.”
I got out of the bed and trotted over to the door. I opened it to find a crystal guard standing outside it. “Are you two ready?” he asked.
“I think so,” I replied, “What time is it?”
“4 in the morning, prince.” Only recently had I been referred to as the Prince of the Crystal Empire for the first time. I wasn’t too big on being thought of as such, but given what time it was, I could care less.
“Thanks,” I continued, “Just give us a couple of minutes.”
After gathering our things from the bedroom, my wife and I detrained, and as we did, I noticed Princess Luna waiting there to greet us. “Good morning, you two,” she said gently.
I yawned. “Good morning,” I said lethargically before bowing before her. As I did, my tired legs gave out and my face soon met the platform. I could hear the two alicorns giggling above me.
As Cadance reached out a hoof to help me up, the princess of the night said, “Come. You can finish resting at the castle. We must get there quickly.” We were soon off.
…
“Shining…” I could vaguely hear a voice above me. “Shining, wake up.” I opened my eyes to see Cadance’s head right above me. She was already out of bed. I sat up and yawned. “2 hours until the ceremony,” she continued.
“Oh, jeez!” I said frantically, fearing I wouldn’t be ready in time. I began to scramble out of bed.
“Shining, relax!” my wife continued while chuckling. She held a hoof out to stop me. “We’ve got plenty of time to get ready.”
“Oh,” I replied while smiling as if I had done something foolish. I then realized that Cadance had already gotten dressed. She was wearing the same dress she wore when she announced that the Crystal Empire was hosting the next Equestria Games.
“I have to go and get my hair done, honey,” she continued, “I’ll see you at the ceremony.”
“Why?” I asked, “You’re hair looks fine to me.”
“Thanks, but they said it would be better if I had all those crystals put back in it.”
“Alright, then. I’ll see you soon.” We shared a kiss on the lips before my wife exited our bedroom. I soon got out of the bed and went into the en-suite bathroom. After I freshened myself up, I went back into the bedroom and put my red suit on. It immediately took me back to my wedding day, but those thoughts didn’t last long due to what was to come this morning.
Before exiting the bedroom, I decided to look out the window. I looked down and saw a golden ledge with a staircase. It looked very familiar. I knew I’d probably recognize it if I stood on it. So, I soon made my way outside the castle and found myself on the ledge. It all came back to me instantly. “This is where I said goodbye to Twiley before she moved to Ponyville,” I thought to myself. That day was definitely a sad one.
“Well, I guess this is it,” Twiley said to me. She hadn’t looked this sad in quite some time.
“Don’t worry, sis,” I replied comfortingly, “I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time in Ponyville. I’m glad you’re going on this adventure.”
“I still don’t understand why Princess Celestia is sending me there. She said to go and make some friends. I don’t see the point.”
“I do, Twiley.”
“You do? What is it?”
“I’d like you to figure that out for yourself.” My sister groaned in response.
“Come on, Twilight!” I heard Spike say, “Everything’s on the carriage! We’re ready to go!”
“Okay, Spike,” she replied. She then turned to me. “Well, Shining, goodbye,” she said sadly while giving me a hug. I could have sworn I heard a sniffle or two from her.
“Bye, Twiley,” I replied softly as I hugged her back, “I love you.” I kissed her on the cheek.
“I love you, too, Shining.” We then broke our embrace and Twiley slowly trotted over to the carriage and climbed into it. Once she sat down, she turned back to face me. I simply waved at her, and she did the same. At that moment, the pegasi at the front of the carriage started moving, and they were soon in the air, gradually vanishing from view. It took about 2 minutes for them to completely vanish from my sight. Once they were gone, I closed my eyes and lowered my head. I could feel a tear running down my cheek.
For no apparent reason, I glanced over at one of the many towers of the castle. It happened to be the clock tower. I noticed that it was 9:40. “Shoot!” I yelled to myself. The ceremony was starting in 20 minutes. I immediately ran back inside the castle. I eventually found my way through the hallways full of stained glass images, some of them containing Twiley and her friends. I soon made it into the room in which Cadance and I had gotten married. She, Celestia, and Luna were not there yet, but I could see some familiar faces in the front row of standees as I made my way to the front. “Mom! Dad!” I exclaimed, remembering that I hadn’t seen them in quite some time.
“Shining! There you are!” my mom exclaimed as she hugged me.
“Hey there, son!” my dad said. I gave him a hug.
“How are you guys feeling?” I asked them.
“It’s hard to say,” my mom continued.
“We’re just so proud of Twilight!” my dad said.
“Me, too,” I replied, “I been feeling like nothing I’ve ever felt before in the past 12 hours.”
“Same here,” my dad said.
“So, have either of you seen Twiley yet?” I asked.
“Nope, not yet,” my dad replied.
“I wish we could have,” said my mom.
“Me, too,” I replied. We chatted for another 10 minutes before they said there was a reserved spot for me across the aisle in the front row. Why they put me over there, I may never know. I soon made my way over to it. It was then that I noticed a small pedestal back in the furthest corner of the altar from me. Sitting on top of it was a pillow with something golden on it. I had a pretty good idea of what it was, and then everything set in once again. This was happening.
Not even a minute after I had taken my spot, trumpets began to sound. I looked behind me and the doors to the hall opened, and Celestia, Luna, and Cadance made their respective ways down the aisle. I could see that Cadance had all those crystals woven back into her hair like she had said. Following them were Twiley’s 5 friends, along with Spike. They were all soon on the altar. Cadance was in front of my parents, and Twiley’s friends were to her right. Princess Celestia was in the center, and Princess Luna was to her left. I had never seen the two of them wear any kind of dress before, so them doing so today really made me realize the complexity of what was happening. I then focused my attention on Princess Celestia as she began to speak. “We are gathered here today in celebration of a momentous occasion.” As she spoke, I heard her say many things about my sister. At the same time, the memories that had appeared in the past 12 hours came back once again, alongside many more random memories. Twiley had always been my sister, and she always would be. Never had I thought of her of anything more than that, other than my best friend. But now, the thought that she would hold authority over me was a bit creepy, but I figured she wouldn’t be THAT kind of ruler. While I was going through all these thoughts, I could have sworn I heard Princess Celestia mention that Twiley had done something today, when I think she actually meant last night. I decided to just brush it off. All that was really going through my head right now was that I felt like I would be meeting my sister for the first time all over again, except she wouldn’t be a unicorn. Soon, it sounded like Princess Celestia was about to finish speaking, so I listened. “Fillies and gentlecolts, may I present for the very first time…” Everypony in the room then turned their heads to face the double doors. I braced myself. “Princess Twilight Sparkle!”
The doors opened. My eyes went wide. “Wow…” I thought to myself as I heard the royal choir start to sing. I was speechless. Never had I pictured Twiley as an alicorn, but she was absolutely gorgeous. Her new set of wings made her look so grand.
Adrenaline was pulsing through my veins. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I had to assume that Twiley had the exact same feeling. My sister was soon on the altar facing Princess Celestia, and then Spike appeared out of nowhere holding that pillow I had seen earlier. At that moment, Twiley turned around and she was officially crowned. At that exact moment, I wanted to cry, but I managed to hold my composure. After my sister took one last glance back in the direction of Princess Luna, everypony on the altar, except my wife, began a procession down the aisle, my new princess leading. I knew they were headed for the balcony.
Once the procession had left the room, a few other ponies exited at random times, but most of them stayed behind. I then trotted back over to Cadance and my parents. My wife had already started to take the crystals out of her hair. I could only imagine the immense weight that they must have put on her skull. I faced the trio in front of me. “I don’t know what to say,” I told them, acting as if I had just witnessed a miracle.
“Neither can I,” my dad replied.
“Me neither,” said my mom.
“Isn’t this wonderful?” Cadance asked.
“It sure is,” I continued, “I mean, getting married was one thing...” I said as I leaned over to my wife, “...but getting a new addition to the monarchy, and having that new addition be your own sister…”
“Or daughter,” my mom jumped in.
“Or sister-in-law,” Cadance mentioned.
“It’s just mind-boggling,” I continued, “It was hard enough when Twiley moved to Ponyville, then it was even harder when I had to move to the Crystal Empire, but now, I can’t explain it. Twiley’s REALLY moving on at this point.” I still had the urge to cry, but I didn’t quite do that just yet. “Time’s just gone by so fast.”
“I agree, Shining,” my wife said, getting the last few crystals out of her mane, “Time does fly pretty fast when you least expect it to.”
“You know,” my dad jumped in, “All I really have to say at this point is that this was one heck of a graduation!” We all had a good laugh at that analogy.
I turned back to Cadance. “Come on, honey,” I began, “Let’s head toward the balcony.”
“Sounds good,” she replied. We were soon out of the room and walking through a small maze of hallways. After a couple of minutes, the balcony was in view. Ponies were still standing behind boundaries on each side of the hallway. I looked ahead and noticed everypony coming back inside. I then saw my sister. “Look, here she comes!” my wife said to me. I didn’t say a word. I began running, Cadance quickly following me.
“Twilight!” I exclaimed. She turned her head towards me. “I’m so proud of you!” I didn’t really give her a hug, but I kind of did by reaching a hoof up to the side of her chin and bringing our heads close. I closed my eyes as I did. At that moment, I could hold back my tears no longer. One of them emerged from my right eye as we moved away from each other.
“Are you crying?” Twiley asked me, seeming sarcastically suspicious.
There was no way I could let my sister embarrass me in front of all these ponies. “Of course not. It’s…it’s liquid pride. Totally different thing,” I told her. After that, I saw Twiley’s friends congratulate her and give her a group hug. Within a matter of minutes, my sister was on a carriage that soon left the castle and went all over town, giving many citizens of Equestria a view of their new princess. After some time, I was on a separate balcony when I noticed somepony flying in a loop and then towards the sun. I squinted to see who it was. Sure enough, it was her. Everypony’s friend. Equestria’s newest princess. My little sister, Twiley.
THE END
