Broken Minds and Healing Hearts

Carriage heading for Canterlot

The Princess of Love shifted anxiously inside her personal carriage as it flew over the land of Equestria and towards the Castle. Next to her, inside the carriage was her husband Shining Armor. His white fur was now flecked with silvery gray and his mane had started to dull a few years back. Shining Armor, despite being well over a hundred and fifty years old, had only just started to appear to be in his mid-fifties to early sixties.

For reasons they weren’t entirely sure of, Shining Armor’s aging had slowed, not stopped, but slowed significantly. There were a few theories, of course, but nothing that could be proven and replicated. Princess Cadance was certain Twilight could’ve done it had she been free.

One theory was that Shining Armor had extended his life by defeating the dark specter of Sombra. Another was that Princess Cadance, as an immortal alicorn, by marrying him she had extended his life. Then there was one that said that it was her love for him that kept him alive (the crystal ponies were fond of that one). The final mainstream theory was that his aging had slowed due to them sharing magic during the changeling invasion before their wedding.

Cadance was of the opinion that only the first theory had any merit and even that was up for debate. The rest implied she had either knowingly or unknowingly done something unnatural to keep Shining alive and as she knew she hadn’t intentionally done anything, that left unknowingly and it didn’t sit well with her.

The problem was that there were no references to Luna or Celestia ever being married. Therefore there was no evidence to draw on one way or another and Cadance wasn’t exactly on speaking terms with the two eldest princesses to ask.

Outside the carriage flew a young dragon just on the cusp of adulthood with purple scales and a green underbelly as well as bright green dragon eyes. Once upon a time he had been a small baby dragon that served as Twilight’s number one assistant and best friend. He had grown quite a bit since then. Not so small now, he barely fit inside the average pony’s home and he now sported large impressive wings that easily kept him aloft and with pace of the carriage.

It was a long journey from the Crystal Empire and they had been flying since they had received the second letter, the first having marked the preparations for their travel. The Pegasus that pulled the carriage had been flying most of the night and now, just as dawn was creeping its way over the horizon the city of Canterlot was coming into view.

Twilight

Despite being asleep for so much of the day, It rested. It liked the warm whatever that It had drank. The whatever reminded It of- something. The white one hadn’t been angry with It either for leaving It’s room. In fact the white one had given It- It strained to remember the word, for there was a word that belonged to what It had been given. The word went along with the foreign feeling It had. That too had a name. Though tired It felt-a missing word again.

There was a time It knew what lots of words were but right now they all were nowhere to be found. It felt-sad. There was a brief moment of joy when It remembered the word and it’s purpose but the feeling did not last. It was, It pushed for the word It so desperately wanted, broken. It remembered that word. It knew that word. It knew that better than broken was fixed. It would need to be fixed. It would have to fix Itself.