The Foal of an Empire

     Even in a shiny—yet fragile—city like the Crystal Empire, not everything is happy and perfect. That was a lesson that the rest of Equestria would learn the hard way.

              It all began when Twilight Velvet, the mother of Princess Twilight Sparkle, and Shining Armor; Prince Consort to the Crystal Empire and Captain of the Guard, died from an undetected brain aneurysm that suddenly ruptured without warning. This death cast a dark shadow among the residents of the crystal empire, all of whom   mourned the loss of their unicorn prince’s mother.

For his ascended alicorn sister, Twilight herself became downtrodden, and locked herself up in her castle, refusing to come out for anything. And nothing her friends said or did could get her to emerge, her sorrow seemed to have no end.

             For his alicorn wife Princess Cadence, she wasn’t fairing much better. Although she went to great lengths to hide it, the loss of Twilight Velvet saddened her to almost no end. But somepony had to put on a brave face for the Crystal Empire and the royal crystal family. Tending to her alicorn infant daughter certainly helped, but even that couldn’t ease the pain. Time would be the only healer, and it seemed to be moving in slow-motion ever since that tragic event.

One winter afternoon, Shining Armor sat in the royal bedroom with his dirty white coat. His light blue mane and tail were rough and unkempt, he had not slept well for several days as was obvious by the noticeable bags beneath his eyes. He was completely in the dark with the only source of light coming from a dying fire. Alone in the giant stone hearth, his blue eyes once full of light were now dim and seemed to be void of happiness. He starred methodically into the flames as they hissed and cracked amongst the logs, lost completely in thought.

That was when, (her pink royal highness) Princess Cadence opened the door, somewhat surprised to find her husband in his depressed and unclean state. She sighed, “He’s been like this all the time lately, but I need to try to make sure he’s okay” she thought, before she calmly whispered, “Shining, darling?”

    Shining Armor didn’t respond for a few seconds. “I don’t know if I’m relieved you came in or scared…” he thought, but replied in a depressed tone, “Hey, honey. Is Flurry Heart asleep?”

    Princess Cadence answered back with a feeble smile, “She’s doing fine, my love.”

    Shining Armor nodded his head and replied sullenly, “Sorry for not being with you two.”

    Princess Cadance then sat beside him on the bed and said, “Honey, there’s no need to apologize. You need to be alone for a bit, I understand. Flurry Heart misses you though,” Her tone quickly evaporated and she quivered as she asked,” What about the report from the doctor’s visit?”

     Shining Armor looked at his wife and paused for thought, “ Should I just tell her that I’m fine? No, I can’t lie to her not to my wife!” thought, and told her, “The doctors told my sister and I that there is a chance we could get something similar to what our mom had later in our lives. But because Twilight is an Alicorn, he believes that there’s no chance of her receiving such an ailment.”

“What the hay is that supposed to mean?” Princess Cadence thought as she shouted, “ Later?! What do you mean by later?!”

Shining Armor turned back to the flames and continued, “I don’t know, we gave him our blood samples and he’s running tests. It’ll probably be a month before my sister and I get the results back.”

            “Isn’t there a cure? Or something we can do to make sure the same doesn’t happen to you?” Princess Cadence slowly stepped forward, her face looking rather grim.

“We can cut out hay fries, sweets and start eating more vegetables, drinking less alcohol, and get plenty of exercise. Other than that there’s not much more I can do.” Shining Armor replied.

Princess Cadence sat by him on the bed and whispered, “You know I can’t ever lose you.”

Shining Armor let her head fall on his shoulders. “We talked about this before we got married. I was hoping you would understand.”

“That was before we had our daughter! Now that we have a foal, everything’s changed!” Princess Cadence protested.

Shining Armor looked at her and sighed. “I know what you’re feeling right now, and if I could change into an Alicorn for you, I would.”

Despite what she was feeling, Cadence managed to let a small chuckle slip. “Maybe we should send you to Ponyville to learn about friendship. It worked for Twilight.”

Shining Armor also laughed at the remark. “Yeah, but then I’ll have to find five random mares to be friends with.”

Princess Cadence snuggled next to him and whispered, “I wouldn’t mind as long as I’m around.” “Finally I got him to laugh.”she thought to herself.

Shining Armor then nuzzled Cadence’s neck gently. “So what should I learn tonight?”

Princess Cadence kissed him, then they held the embrace as she pressed him onto the bed. “That even when there’s death, there’s still love.”

Shining looked at his wife intensely in her eyes as he said, “ I love you, and nothing changes that.”

Princess Cadence bent low and whispered in his ear, “Show me.”

Shining Armor pulled her down to his level and they both held the kiss for a while. This went on until he said, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Then the two crawled into the bed, and as Princess Cadence snuggled against her husband, another thought crept into her mind. “(‘)What if there was a way to make sure you never leave me? What if there’s a spell that could make you immortal?(’)”

That night, Princess Cadence stayed awake in her bed. Unable to sleep and full of anxiety, while her husband slept soundly next to her. Still thinking about the idea of immortality she slowly got up from the bed, so as to not wake her sleeping husband. Once she was out of the bed, she slowly walked towards the door and out of the room.

Cadence trotted through the almost vacant halls to the imperial library. It was quite grand with two stories full of old tomes and books. She passed by the shelves of books, with covers pertaining to all sorts of things from weather, to history, to magic, to science, and even literary works such as old novels, epics, and poems. She went through the shelves and took out hundreds of books, stacking them on a desk.

Each of the books was either about age spells, alicorn immortality, or soul transfer. Cadence then scoured through each book one by one, and it seemed to her each one she read was all just speculation, magic only powerful alicorns could do. Others just seemed so unlikely that they were probably hoaxes, or spells that were only half finished.

Just as she was going to give up, Princess Cadance noticed a book at the bottom of the pile, it was an old dusty tome with a cover that read: “Myths and Legends of Ancient Empires”. Cadence lifted it with her magic, and found a comfortable sofa to sit down. She then took the book into her lap and skimmed through the table of contents. It was full of stories and tales about ancient battles, myths and legends of gods the ponies worshiped before the alicorns, and of old empires long gone. She skimmed through many of the stories and came across an interesting passage that read, “The Immortal Unicorn.” Princess Cadance’s heart skipped a beat at finding the story. Curiously she flipped through the thousands of pages to the chapter she was looking for and began to read.

There is an old myth about a empire ran by an immortal filly that has been long forgotten and was only discovered in an ancient diary of a former alicorn princess. The story and the events transcribed cannot be proven, and due to Princess Celestia and Luna’s censorship to protect the namesake of their relative and those affected, I cannot record the names of the ponies within this story. But Princess Celestia and Luna have allowed me, for the sake of posterity and the honor of this long dead princess to write down this strange story, and record its place in history.

“Roughly 1700 years ago, there was a powerful unicorn filly known as the “Ever Filly” and her reputation rivals that of King Sombra. Not much is known but from what could be transcribed she was prideful and arrogant, but her ability in magic was beyond powerful, and almost surreal in nature. According to the text, she surpassed all her peers in magic by the age of four and soon outgrew her teachers by age six. Sadly, she saw the death of her mother from a plague that came into the empire. Scared of her own mortality, the filly spent almost an entire year doing nothing but researching a spell to stop herself from aging and from dying. Before her seventh birthday, she discovered her query; a “Fountain of Youth” which stopped her from aging. However, the story didn’t end there. To keep its regenerative power, she crafted canals throughout the empire. She then activated a sealing spell around the empire forcing every pony to her will. She crafted swaddling clothes for foals from that period and made them wear cloth diapers. No pony escaped her strange spell; even the royalty fell to her power, turning the King and Queen into nannies and the prince into a colt. A few she reversed to actual foals but most of the time, Every pony was either a foal, or dressed and acted like foals. From then, all recording of her doings stopped since every pony within the kingdom lost the ability to write.”

“(‘)That can’t be how it ends.(‘)” Cadence thought to herself, Her eyes went wide but at the same time, she couldn’t help but look back down at the book. Wanting to know how the story ended, she read on.

“Ten years passed before a lone crystal pony, with the help of Princess Celestia and Luna, managed to defeat her and save the subjects. The sister shattered the connection to the fountain, and the filly herself vanished and was never seen again. The child’s curses were then revealed within their full magnitude and what was done to the citizens was horrifying. Every pony either was a foal or were dressed as well as acted like foals. The ones that just acted like foals were bathed in the fountain of youth to restart their lives as foals.The fountain stayed within the kingdom as a reminder of the Ever Filly’s defeat but soon—mostly due to accident—more ponies fell into its’ waters and were magically transformed into foals. They were almost exactly one year old and the side effect of the fountain was that they lost all memory of their former life. The tale of the magical fountain spread throughout the land, causing other small empires to want to claim the fountain for their own. As a result, Princesses Celestia and Luna sealed the fountain into a pocket dimension, and all traces of it were destroyed in the process.”

It was then that Cadence noticed a disclaimer at the end of the book, which read: “Final note: All information from this tale are within the diary of the princess (who shall remain unnamed under order of Princess Celestia and Luna) and is now within the Canterlot Library’s restricted section. Please be advised that this story is for historical documentation and is meant to be included in the normal study of magic.”

Princess Cadence stopped reading. She sat in the dark library and thought,’This could be the solution I've been looking for…’

“Of course I’ll need to find a way to get to ‘this’ diary first and see if I can have some other pony who’s good in magic open the dimension.” She began to pace back and forth.

“Granted, it could be just a tale and I could be doing all this for nothing. But for my daughter’s sake, I have to try! I won’t let her go through her life without her father!”

She came close to nearly shouting the words in reality. “I’m sure I can find a way to counter the fountain’s side effects and keep Shining Armor from regressing too far. I can’t tell him yet, though, at least not without a plan, so who else can I trust?” And with that, she put one of her hooves to her chin.

Sunburst was in his study, copying notes from ancient scrolls into a large tome on his desk. His light orange coat was covered by his starry cloak, and his mane and tail drooped around him. His eyes were drooping from the lack of sleep with his round rim glasses slipping down his nose constantly. With only a small candle melting in it’s holder the room was was dim and quiet. It was just the way that he liked it. He didn’t want to be disturbed unless it was important business.

Then a knock broke the silence making Sunburst jumped in his chair.  His glasses launched off of his body as he fell backwards. As he stood up and slipped them back onto his face a voice called out, “Sunburst it’s me, Princess Cadence.”

Sunburst said, “You can come in, your highness. The door’s unlocked.”

Princess Cadence entered the study and coughed from the dust that flew from the room. Sunburst trembled slightly as he got up from his chair and bowed towards his ruler. “Princess Cadence, So how can I be of service?”

Princess Cadence looked around the room then whispered into his ear, “Can you keep a secret?”

Sunburst looked up and swallowed. “Uh... a secret?”

Princess Cadence took a deep breath. “Sunburst. as you know Prince Shining Armor’s mother passed away a few days ago and it’s been gnawing at the back of mind how mortal he is. I know it will be at least another eighty years before it’s time but I can’t shake the feeling of my daughter going through that same pain.”

Sunburst tilted his head in confusion and asked, “Well, how do you plan on solving his mortality?”

Princess Cadence blushed and gently wiped the ground with her left foreleg. “Well… have you ever heard of the legend of the Immortal Unicorn?”

Sunburst pushed his glasses back onto his face and replied, “Yes, I've read the tale. But I was always told it was just a story for foals.”

Cadence rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Please. I know my aunt Celestia. She’s very good at hiding secrets. It wouldn’t exactly be the first legend proven to be true.”

“I’m sorry, your highness, but even if it is true there’s a few reasons why pursuing this fountain is impossible. First, we’d have to break into the heavily guarded restricted section of Canterlot’s library. Second, we have no idea how complicated opening a dimension is and I doubt any pony in this era can pull it off. Thirdly, even if we can open the portal, the fountain will erase your husband’s memories, making it impossible for him to ever have a true relationship with his daughter. Not only that, but we’ll have broken about a dozen Equestrian laws, and we will eventually have to tell Celestia and Luna what happened to Shining. We can’t keep such a secret from them forever.”

    Princess Cadence replied, “That’s why I’ll take all the blame, and say that I forced you into helping me find a way to have Shining Armor keep his memories, and open a portal to the pocket dimension.”

Sunburst jumped back his glasses nearly tumbled off of his again. As he readjusted them, he asked, “Wait, you want me to help him retain his memories and open the portal?”

Princess Cadence then said, “I was just thinking if there’s any pony in the Crystal Empire that can find a way to have him keep his memories and open a portal to another dimension, I was sure it was you.”

Sunburst smiled and blushed from the compliment as he took a number of books from the shelves and stuffed them into his nearby saddlebags. Once that was done, he slipped the bags onto his back and said, “Alright, Princess. I accept the challenge.”

Princess Cadence came around his desk and hugged him vigorously.“Thank you! You have no idea what this means to me!”

Sunburst’s face turned blue as he choked for air. “You’re welcome.”

Princess Cadence broke the embrace and Sunburst slowly collected his breath. “I’ll resarch mind spells and dimension spells as well and see if there’s anything useful.”

   As she left, she looked back at him and said, “Seriously though, thank you, Sunburst.”

Sunburst bowed his head again. “It’s my honor, Princess Cadence.”

She nods back and trots out the door. “I’ll see you soon. Oh, and just Cadence is fine.”

The following week, Cadence sat with Twilight Sparkle in the main parlor of her castle. They were sitting in comfortable purple sofas with a hearth on each side, and cups of tea in their hooves. Twilight was the first to speak, “So you think that finding this Fountain of Youth will save my brother?”

Princess Cadence exhaled and took another sip of her tea. “I know it’s a lot to take in but let’s face it. You and I are going to live for a long time and we both know that he’s not immortal like us.”

Twilight cracked her own little smile and said, “It’s funny, really. my brain is telling me this is a bad idea while my heart is screaming to say yes.”

“Besides that how are you holding up?” Cadence slowly reached out to Twilight.

Twilight hung her head as the words hit her hard. “I’m fine. I cried out everything at her funeral. I think I've finally accepted her passing.”

Princess Cadence did a simple one-note hum and said, “ Did you get the results of those tests?”

Twilight nodded and replied, “My doctor confirmed that me getting a brain aneurysm is 99.99% improbable. In fact he said I can’t even get sick. My body will age a bit more but when I hit my late twenties, I’ll stop aging completely and my body will stay like that for a long time.”

“My doctor who helped me for Flurry Heart’s birth said the same thing to me as well. But I think they’re just going by the medical tests Celestia and Luna had. Heck I don’t even know if I’ll age anymore.”

Princess Twilight’s eyebrows elevated and she unintentionally fiddled with her hooves as a feeling of dread crept onto her face. “So what did Shining’s tests say?”

“There’s a 5%-30% chance of him getting one before he reaches seventy. After that his chances grow almost to 80%,” Cadence explained.

Princess Twilight drunk more of her tea and continued, “That’s why you want to do this right now?”

Princess Cadence nodded silently. “So how is he doing right now? I haven't had the chance to speak with him since the funeral.”

Princess Cadence replied happily, “He’s been doing great. He’s been with Flurry Heart more than I expected and I think the two of them get together like a house on fire. Soon, he’ll helping her use the potty more often.”

“That’s good.” Twilight put the cup of tea back down on the saucer and walked up to her. “A foal needs all of the love and support they can get from their parents—even if those parents have a lot of royal business to attend to as well.”

Princess Cadence nodded. “I agree, Twilight. With all of the stuff we’ve had to go through since her birth, I’m surprised that the two of us haven’t passed out from exhaustion yet.”

Twilight merely laughed at that sentence.

“Do you need me to give you some time to think it over?” Cadence asked once Twilight had calmed down.

“No, no. I made my decision…” She paused and gave Cadence a small hug. “It’s yes. I’m not gonna lose my BBBFF.”

Princess Cadence returned the hug. “Thank you.”

“So you’re going to need help with a spell to retain his memories, and help making a portal to this pocket dimension.” Twilight pulled out a blank scroll, a quill, and a pot of ink from the nearby shelf and jotted down a checklist. “Not to mention a way to then seal it back off if the other effects spring to life all of a sudden. Do you have someone helping you with that?”

Princess Cadence nodded.“Sunburst is doing his best, but he’s struggling. I finally confronted him with the fact we were going to need your help.”

Twilight laughed again and replied, “I’m sure he didn’t want to agree to your plan in the first place.”

“It took some convincing but he couldn’t deny a challenge to his intellect.” Cadence smirked.

   “Alright, but first we’re going to need that diary.” Twilight added it to the list. “I must say, the legend of the Immortal Unicorn is a fascinating tale, Cadence. I’m surprised that you couldn’t get access to Canterlot Library’s restricted section with you being a princess.”

     Cadence walked up to Twilight as she continued to write on the scroll. “That’s also why I’m here. You’re the only other pony who has access to the library, and I’m pretty sure that Celestia and Luna won’t let me in without good reason.”

   Twilight pulled her head from the squares she was making. “Pinkie Pie told you about that?” She almost raised an eyebrow before she looked back at the list. “Yeah, I know how to get into the restricted section alright. But we are gonna breaking a few rules and I need you to follow everything I say.”

“Alright. So when should we pull our little heist?” Cadence asked as Twilight rolled up the list and put it away neatly.

“First, I’ll make arrangements with Spike for him to take care of things here, then I’ll tell my friends that I’m helping Sunburst with a project.” Twilight walked back up to Cadence. “I won’t tell them the full truth. It’ll be just enough to keep them from asking questions. But that means I’ll be pretty busy today, so let’s do this tomorrow.”

Princess Cadence let her gaze fall to the floor as Twilight walked off to attend to other matters. “I actually didn’t expect you to agree so readily.”

Twilight levitated the empty teacups and saucers with her as she walked towards the door. “You’re not the only one who has been thinking of a way to give immortality to non-alicorns. If this Fountain of Youth works and we can pull this off, I was thinking of convincing my friends to do the same.”

Princess Cadence smiled at Twilight’s sentence, but then thought, Let’s hope this works and not just be a fool’s errand.

It was midnight over Canterlot and everything seemed to be at peace. A single cloud passed overhead with the moon shining down on the ground below. Cadence and Twilight were flying overhead wearing black jumpsuits and black masks that only revealed their eyes. They flew towards the palace and silently landed in some nearby bushes.

Twilight peaked through the leaves to look around, and saw no-one else in the current area. She and Cadence were all alone. They moved stealthily through the garden, transitioning through multiple bushes in case one of the castle guards came through. They took turns looking out of the shrubs to make sure that they stayed alone. They went past the center of the garden, identifying the fountain that served as an homage to the four princesses.

It was at this moment that Twilight and Cadence saw a few guards chatting as a gardener was trimming a bush. They carefully tiptoed through the foliage, trying to make as little noise as possible. Things were going well, but all of a sudden, Twilight stepped on a twig, making it snap. She froze up as she noticed the ponies start to look in her direction. She and Cadence immediately darted for cover. The old earth pony with the gardening apron muttered, “Damn raccoons...” before he went back to work.

One guard replied, “ It sounded like it was something bigger, I’m going to check it out.”

As he approached the bush, Princess Cadence threw a twig and it hit the bushes on her left. The guard turned back to his business as well, and the two alicorns crawled carefully behind the foliage. They soon came upon the doors leading to the ballroom. Seeing the entrance was clear, they quickly snuck up to the giant double doors and Twilight used her horn to pick the lock.

After successfully opening it, they carefully sneaked down the hallways towards the library. She saw two guards around the corner and wait until they left. Once they did, she walked up to the heavy doors and magically unlocked the door. She heard a clicking noise, and the door slowly opened up.

Cadence was the first one to go through the opening followed by Twilight to find themselves among the enumerable bookshelves. They quickly passed by them without so much as a glance. They came to the back and arrived at another set of doors with a sign that read, “Restricted section: authorized ponies only.” Princess Twilight of course ignored the sign and started to work the lock on the next set of doors. This time, it was more complicated, and she cursed every time she heard it readjust when she messed up. Eventually, the doors open and she cheers, “Yes I did it!” She threw her left hoof into the air in triumph.

“Hey Twilight!” A voice responded to her mild victory.

Twilight flew into the air as Cadence hid behind a bookshelf. Once she landed again, she saw Flash Sentry with his dark orange coat and dark blue eyes. He was wearing the classic gold armor of the royal guard with a spear in his left front hoof.

“Flash what are you doing here?” she raised a brow. “I thought the night guard handled security at this time…”

Flash Sentry surprised replied back, “Celestia left me in charge of guarding the restricted section of the library after that security breach in Restaurant Row. What are you doing here?”

Twilight walked up to him and laid her hoof on his shoulder. “‘Flash, you can’t tell any-pony I was here. You can’t tell Princess Celestia if she found out she’ll…”

Flash Sentry blushed and patted her back. “Twilight. I’m not going to tell anypony. You’re a princess. I’m sure you have your reasons.”

“Yeah. uh… l... thank you,” Twilight had trouble getting the words out of her mouth.

Flash Sentry’s face was now beet red as he started to brush the carpet with his right hoof and as he started to shake all over he stuttered, “How about... next time I’m in Ponyville, we go out, maybe?”

“C’mon Flash. Just say what you have to say.” Twilight walked up closer and almost got in his face. “I won’t mind.

“HowaboutItakeyououtonalunchdate,” Flash rapidly blurted out.

Twilight drooped her neck and shook her head. “That’s a very nice offer, Flash, but I’m afraid I have to decline. I’ll be at the Crystal Empire for the next few months.”

Flash Sentry’s face lit up at that response. “That’s even better! I’ll be transferring there in a few weeks, so we’ll have plenty of time to hang out.” Then he put on a sheepish grin. “As long as your brother doesn’t mind.”

   “Well he can’t dictate who I can and can’t date.” Twilight crossed her front hooves.

     Twilight realized that she just got angry at her brother so she face-hoofed before she looked at Flash again.

“So is that a yes?” Flash asked.

Twilight then realized that by the time Flash Sentry would be in the Crystal Empire, Shining would be a foal. She giggled at the thought of Shining as a foal in a giant puffy diaper clinging to her to try to stop her from dating. When she broke out of her thought she replied, “No. Not yet. I’ll talk to him and make sure he doesn’t have any problems.”

   Flash Sentry perked up a bit more, “Alright. When I arrive, you pick the place we’ll eat at and I’ll pay for everything else.”

   Twilight looked back into his eyes and softly cuddled him. “It’s a date.”

     Flash Sentry stared at her for a while as she comforted him. He returned the favor and said, “I guess I’ll let you go.”

   Twilight Sparkle let go of him and she shook hooves with him before he walked off. A single tear escaped her eye. “Thank you, Flash…”

As he trots away with a skip in his step Princess Cadence came out of hiding and giggled. “I just got the cutest images in my head of Shining in a diaper,”

“Come on, let’s just get that diary.” Twilight smiled as she turned towards the door and led the way.

Twilight and Sunburst were with Princess Cadence. The three of them stood before Shining Armor, who was sitting on the side of the bed, rubbing his head. It had been three months since Twilight and Cadence had found the spells needed to open up the portal, keep the stallion’s memories, and to make sure that everything stayed under control in case the magic started to corrupt the other Crystal Empire ponies.

“So let me get this straight? You’re going to open a portal to another dimension then bathe me in a fountain of youth and turn me into a foal!?” Shining Armor lurched backwards against the wall. “No way. Nuh-uh. Absolutely not. There’s no way I’m being turned into a foal.”

    Princess Cadence coyly winked at him. “Come on. It can’t be that bad?”

“You can’t be serious!? This is a joke right!?” Shining Armor was completely dumbfounded at what he was hearing.

“My prince, please listen to your wife and sister before you make your final decision.” Sunburst stepped forward and raised a hoof between the two royals.

Shining Armor sat back down on the bed and sighed, slumping his hooves to his side. “Fine. I’ll listen to what you two have to say but I’m not making any promises.”

“Do you remember after your mother died how we talked about you dying the same way?” Cadence crossed her front hooves and raised her brows. “Well, what about the results from your blood test? It could happen sooner than we think, and right now I’m thinking of our daughter Flurry Heart and what will happen to her if she had to watch you die before she grew up?“

“That’s life, dear. I’m going to die one day. We discussed this more than once.” Shining Armor rebutted.

“That was before we learned about this brain aneurysm. If we let the doctors work on a cure while you’re a foal, we could turn you back to normal again!” Cadence slowly raised her voice, almost sounding desperate.

“So what? Then who will protect you and Flurry Heart while I’m a baby?” Shining was beginning to argue with her.

     “You think we need protection?! After we defeated King Sombra together you think i’m some helpless maiden who can’t do anything?!” Cadence stomped her foot on the ground as hard as she could

“No! I mean that if i’m a foal, then who else is gonna save you?!” Shining Armor roared. He was not going to lose this fight. “My mom’s dead. Yes. But I’m not just gonna stand idly by while you turn me into a newborn and potentially risk dooming the Crystal Empire!”

“Brother! Calm down!” Twilight threw herself in between the two arguing ponies to break them up. ”You still have me and my friends, don’t you?” she said. “We’ll keep Equestria and the Crystal Empire safe.”

Sunburst fixed his glasses again. “My prince. I’ll be by your wife and daughter‘s side. The thing is if you died when Flurry Heart is older, who will protect her then?”

“But I’ll lose all my memories if I become a foal!” he cried, trying to persuade the others not to go through with the idea.

“Sunburst and I have been working on a memory spell that will have you retain all of your memories when you bathe into the fountain.” Twilight pulled out the first book from the orange pony’s saddlebags.

“What about my duties as prince? How will I be able to perform those if I’m back in diapers?” he had less confidence in his voice this time.

          Sunburst again bowed before him. “I'll act as regent in your stead. Then when you come of age, you can resume your role as prince.”

        Shining Armor let out an exasperated huff and wrapped his hoof around Sunburst’s body. “Sunburst, you’re a capable mage and one of my most trusted advisors. But there’s no way you can handle everything by yourself.”

        He has been doing a lot and has proved himself time and time again.” Cadence gave Sunburst a few pats on the back. “He helped our daughter during the Crystalling, remember? He doesn’t have anything against her. He’s proved his loyalty and his ability to keep calm even under the most delicate of situations. I’m sure he’ll be able to handle all of your work just fine.”

        “What about Flurry? You think our daughter will like it that her mother turned her dad into a foal?”

“At least you’ll be alive.” Cadence’s voice had almost no weight behind it as she sunk her head into one of her arms.

Shining Armor now seeing his wife in pain relaxed a bit and whispered, “Honey, my cutie mark represents me as a protector and it’s the reason i’m concerned for everypony’s life here in the Crystal Empire.”

Princess Cadence wiped the tears from her face and raised her head from the floor and in a whispered, “Yet it does matter. If you die, who else can protect the Crystal Empire?” Shining Armor bowing his head without a rebuttal he realized “(‘)Maybe she’s right. Dead, the crystal empire is vulnerable forever. As a foal it'll  only vulnerable until i’m in my teens again. Wait a second what if…(’)”

He turned to Sunburst and asked, “Why can’t you just turn me into a teen again or a colt? Does it have to be a foal?”

Sunburst readjusted his glasses as he replied, “I also researched many possible ways of altering the fountain’s properties to change you into teen or at least a colt. However, I ran into a problem, it seems (at least from the diary) Princess Celestia and Luna tested the power of the fountain and they realized that nothing they did could alter the magical properties of the fountain… You can read the diary yourself if you don’t believe me.”

        Shining Armor smiled at his friend and replied, “I believe you.” He then turned towards Twilight. “Sis? why do you want to turn me into a foal?”

“Have you thought of Dad? He’s already seen mom die.” Twilight was slowly started to tear up. “If we lost you as well, it would be even worse for him. I haven't told him yet because I don’t know how he’ll take what we're trying to do as your are now. But would you rather have him mad at us? Or risk the chance of him seeing his only son die before he does? No pony wants to lose you, Shining and if we risk waiting, it could be too late...”  She started choking down sobs as she leaned in towards him and gave him a big hug. “I’m not ready to lose my BBBFF...”

Shining Armor’s head fell to the floor as all of the thoughts ran through his head. With a remorseful gaze, he saw both Twilight and Cadence were slowly starting to cry. He watched both of them weep for quite some time before he stood up from the bed and brought both of them into a hug. “I’ll do it.”

Cadence stopped crying and looked up at him. “You will?”

“The curse of love I guess,” he let out a pitiful chuckle. “I told you I would do anything for you and my daughter. I guess that even means turning into a foal.”

Twilight continued to cry, but a smile started to appear on her face. She was so relieved to have Shining Armor agree to being turned back into a baby. She and Cadence both gave him a few kisses as their tears started to subside at long last.