Chapters The Newborn
Shining Armor was so excited he could hardly contain it. There he was, looking through the glass into the maternity ward at a large number of newborn foals. Half of them were wearing pink and half of them were wearing light blue but all of them were unicorns, however Shining Armor was anxiously looking all around the room for one foal in particular.
"Which one is it? Do you see daddy? Is it a colt or a filly? Do I have a brother or sister?"
"Calm down Shining." Granny Sparkle chuckled. "Your father will show you soon enough."
"But grandma i'm just so excited!" Shining added. "Can you believe i'm a big brother? Me! All the teachers at school say i'm going to be a great brother. Even Flash Bang said I would be great and gym teachers never give out compliments. Oh I wish dad would come in and show us which one it is!" He then went right back to scanning the room and soon enough Nightime Sparkle walked into the room.
"There he is! There he is!" Shining started bouncing up and down in excitement when he spotted his father.
"Shining, calm down." Granny Sparkle said but she was almost as excited as he was.
Shining's father walked over to a crib that was near the window and pulled down the blanket to reveal a sleeping purple filly with a single dark purple curl on her forehead. "Shining Armor." He said. "Meet your new baby sister Twilight Sparkle."
At this point any attempt to get Shining to calm down would have been useless as the young colt started jumping and prancing all around, laughing and cheering."I got a sister!! I got a sister!! I got a sister!! Woohoo!!" Granny Sparkle had to hold him in a large hug in order to get him to be still. He looked at her and saw that even though she was smiling she had tears welling up in her eyes. "You're going to be the best brother ever Shining Armor. I just know it."
Later that night at home Twilight Velvet was resting on the sofa while her husband stroked her mane. Granny Sparkle was in the kitchen brewing tea for the adults and making a mug of hot chocolate for Shining while he was sitting by the crib that held his new baby sister.
"You should have seen it mom." Nightlight said to Granny Sparkle. "They thought something was wrong because she didn't yell or scream. Can you believe that?"
Twilight Velvet chuckled. "I was just too happy to feel any pain. Just knowing you were by my side was all i needed. I love you so much." Nightlight bent down and kissed her forehead.
"Well you won't believe who I met on the way to pick up Shining this afternoon." Granny Sparkle said placing a tray of tea on the coffee table and giving the mug of hot cocoa to Shining.
"Who mom?" Nightlight said starting to pour the tea into cups.
"Princess Celestia."
Nightlight nearly dropped the teapot on the floor, Twilight Velvet sat straight up and Shining almost spit out a mouthful of cocoa in surprise!
"Princess Celestia!?" Shining asked standing up. "Really! That is so cool!"
"What did she want?" Twilight Velvet asked laying back down.
"She wanted to congratulate you on your new baby."
"Well that was so nice of her." Nightlight added.
"She also mentioned that her niece, the princess, had started her foalsitting classes if we were thinking about getting one later on." Granny Sparkle continued. "I never met the princess but I hear she is very sweet."
"Princess Cadence?" Shining chimed in. "She's more than sweet. She is the best!"
"You've met her?" Twilight Velvet asked.
"A couple of times at the playground. She always likes to swing and read under the big oak tree. She's really cute."
Granny Sparkle chuckled. "Well it looks like somepony has a little crush on the princess."
Shining started to blush "I just think she's cool. That's all."
Suddenly a small sound came from the crib. All four ponies gathered around it and looked at Twilight as she gave a big yawn and opened her eyes for the first time. Shining was on his hind hooves so he could look over the edge of the crib at his new sister. Twilight looked at her brother and gave him a large grin as she extended a tiny hoof. Shining reached in with his own hoof and lightly touched his sister's which caused her to squeal and laugh with delight. Shining was in tears, he was so happy. Twilight then looked at her parents and grandmother and continued laughing, gave another big yawn and went back to sleep.
"Well look at that." Twilight Velvet said. "She knows her brother."
Looking at his new sister, Shining vowed that he would do whatever it took to be the best brother ever.
Twilight silently crept down the hallway towards the top of the stairs, A play pith helmet on her head and Smartypants on her back. It was Wednesday which meant that Shining Armor was having his weekly school study group and as usual Twilight's mother told her to play upstairs and not disturb them as they studied, but that didn't mean that Twilight couldn't play with her brother in a way he didn't know about.
"After weeks of searching, Daring Do finally stumbled upon the meeting place of the native elders." She whispered to herself. "As much as she wanted to get in close for a better look she knew that so much as giving herself away could prove dangerous as no foreign pony could view the elder's meeting for too long or they would become cursed forever!!"
Twilight had reached the top of the stairs and could hear the voices coming from the living room below.
"OK how about this." Said a voice Twilight recognized as her brother's. "If a pegasus leaves Cloudsdale traveling 100 mph and another pegasus leaves Canterlot traveling 125 mph, how long until they meet in the middle?"
"The elders seem to be plotting against Equestria." Twilight whispered.
"Trick question." Said another voice Twilight recognized as Shining Armor's best buddy(besides her) Crested Plume. "Its impossible to confirm a true distance between Cludsdale and Canterlot because its always moving due to atmospheric winds and air pressure."
Twilight continued her role playing. "Daring knew the dangers of looking upon the elders but the temptation to gaze upon them proved too great. She vowed to allow herself one peek. What harm could one peek do? One peek was all she needed....One peek.
Crested Plume leaned over and whispered into Shining Armor's ear. "Hey Shining. I think you got a stalker after you."
"Huh?"
Crested Plume subtly gestured towards the stairs as a striped purple mane peeked down the stairs.
Shining Armor chuckled to himself and made a "shh" motion with his hoof to his pals. "WELL" He said loudly but not shouting. "IT APPEARS THAT DARING DO HAS FINALLY SPOTTED US! SHE MUST NOT GET AWAY!"
Shining then heard a short "eep!" sound as the purple mane disappeared and the sound of tiny hooves led from the top of the stairs to the nursery.
The group gave a collective laugh before Crested Plume asked."What was that about?"
"Well, mom and dad told her to stay up stairs and not to bother us so she pretends she's Daring Do and we are some mystical group of ponies. last week I was King Archer and you were my knights of the oval table. The trio of friends let out another collective laugh and tried to go back to their homework but the conversation soon drifted away from the work that was in front of them.
"I tell ya Shining." Dream Catcher said. "You are so lucky. My sister is a real pain in the flank. All she does is bug me and get in all my stuff."
"Yah Twilight is really cute." Crested Plume added. "I'll bet she's friends with all the foals in her class."
Shining Armor's face fell. "Actually for some reason she has trouble making friends. Whenever somepony tries to be friends with her she gets scared and retreats behind a book. I think the only friends she has besides me, mom and dad are her doll Smartypants and her foalsitter Princess Cadence."
Everypony stared at Shining Armor with shocked expressions. "Your sister's foalsitter is P-princess Mi Amore C-cadenza!?" Crested Plume asked. "You have to be joking....right?"
"No I'm not." Shining added. "Cadence wanted to take up foalsiting so she could prove that just because she's a princess, she's not a snob like her cousin Prince Blueblood. She came over, played with Twilight and by the time she had to leave they both had a bond. she's less like a foalsitter and more like a sister to her."
"Your sister is the luckiest filly in Equestria." Dream Catcher said.
"Yup. Twilight is the best sister i could ever ask for." Shining said pretending not to notice one of Smartypants's legs hanging over the top stair.
"What the elders didn't know was that Daring Do had returned and heard every word of the meeting." Twilight said to herself . "Maybe the ancient scrolls were wrong and the elders weren't so bad after all."
Once the group had left, Shining went upstairs and found Twilight still asleep at the top of the stairs. Using magic he carefully picked her up, placed her in her bed and tucked her in. Exactly how he does every Wednesday night after study group.
Twilight sat in her room packing up the last of her belongings into her saddlebags as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Up until now this room had been her haven, her sanctuary from all the things in the world that wanted to do her harm, and now she had to leave it all forever.
She was just accepted into Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, she was to become Princess Celestia's protege and she just earned her cutie mark. She should be the happiest pony in all of Equestria, however, being the princess's protege also meant she had to leave home and move into the palace.
Twilight looked around the room and spotted something familiar poking out from beneath her bed. "ohmygosh" she thought. and levitated an old worn out doll into her bags. "I can't believe I almost left without Miss Smartypants!" She thought thinking about the time Shining Armor gave it to her one Hearth Warming's Day.
"Shining Armor"
Another tear crept down her face as she slung her saddlebag on her back. As far back as she could remember he's always been there for her. He stood up to the bullies who were playing keep-away with one of her books, he comforted her through countless thunderstorms and he fixed Smartypants when it was torn apart by a stray dog. But now he was leaving. He was going on a mission to Minotopolis for a whole year! A whole year without her B.B.B.F.F. Twilight felt like crawling under her bed and never coming out again but she knew she had to be brave.
Twilight started walking down the hallway towards the stairs where the royal carriage would take her to the palace and Shining to the military camp. As she passed her brother's room she heard Shining make a strange sound from within. A sound she never heard Shining ever make but a sound she knew all too well. Was her big brother actually crying?
By the time Shining Armor reached the living room the royal carriage had arrived and all of Twilight's luggage was on board. He only had one knapsack (That was all he was allowed). His mother was wiping her eyes with a handkerchief and hugging Twilight. His father walked over and draped his arm over Shining's shoulders. "Now listen son." He hadn't called Shining 'son' in years. " You take care of yourself, you hear me. I want you to come home victorious, okay?...I j-just..." Nightlight hugged his only son. "Just come home son."
"Don't worry dad." Shining said returning the hug. "I will."
"I am so proud of you son." Nightlight said releasing him.
"Thanks dad."
Twilight and Shining waved farewell to their parents as the carriage pulled away from the house and started it's journey to the palace where Twilight would be dropped off. For a few moments the pair sat in silence. Twilight finally broke the silence by saying "You're going to be okay...right?
"Don't worry Twily. I already told you this is going to be a peaceful mission. I've met minotaurs before, they're all show and no action.
"But you'll still be in another country for a whole year. who's going to protect me while your gone?" Twilight asked as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Are you kidding!? Your going to have all those royal guards protecting you. Not to mention Princess Celestia herself! Shining said as he stroked Twilight's mane.
"But none of them will be you!....I've been having this dream lately, more like a premonition and it scares me!"
"What's it about?"
"I'm laying on my back in a giant iron cage, and as I look to my side I see bright flames! I then look up and see...you! Your looking down at me so I reach out to you so you can save me from the flames. Just as we finally reach each other I hear a loud squeal and that's when I wake up sweating. It just scares me so much."
Twilight finished and was about to start crying when Shining gave her a hug.
"Twilight. You never have to fear that dream."
"Why?"
Shining looked her in the eyes. "Because it's not a premonition. It's a memory."
"Huh?"
"That wasn't a large iron cage. It was your crib, and it wasn't on fire, it was next to the living room fireplace. You were remembering the day you were brought home from the hospital."
"Were you really there?"
"Yes. And we did touch hooves."
"And the squeal?"
"That was you. Squealing with delight. It wasn't a nightmare saying that one time I won't be there, It was a memory saying I will always be there for you, even if I'm not physically there."
Twilight gave her brother the biggest hug she could muster as the royal palace came into view and for Twilight it was way too soon.
Twilight had disembarked and all her luggage was being taken up to her new room by the royal servants, but Twilight was still outside watching as the carriage started to pull away.
Shining leaned out the carriage window to wave farewell to his sister, but Twilight wasn't waving. although she had tears streaming down her face, she smiled, stood at attention....
and saluted her big brother.
