Chapter 2: Helping Hooves

Shining Armor's Point of View

'Feels good to be out at last' Shining thought. He glanced to the side at his sister. She was busy looking all around in such a way that it seemed as if she had been locked away somewhere underground for a long time and hasn't seen the world since. The thought made Shining laugh. Twilight was eyeing everything.

After a while shining asked, "Twily what's wrong?" His sister snapped her head to him in surprise. "Uhh, nothing! It's just... so... big." Shining laughed. "Is that it?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, I have about a million more question. I just don't know if I can ask all of them."

Shining looked to the side. "Well, maybe you can ask me some major question then. You know, the ones your most curious about." He turned his eyes on her.

"Okay big brother." She then remained silent for a bit to think before speaking. "Why are there so many ponies here?" She asked.

Shining looked around. There were a lot of ponies. And all over the place. It explained why his sister was pressing so close to his side. Shining guessed she didn't like the crowd. "Other ponies are busy too, you know. Some have very important jobs to get to. And on days like today there's no exceptions. Does that answer your question?"

Twilight regarded that, then nodded. "Okay, here's another question. Why are there pony statues wearing clothes behind those windows?"

Shining glanced towards were Twilight gestured. 'They do look kinda weird.' He thought.

He came up with an answer reasonable enough to convince his sister. "Those could be for just displaying things you know. In this case, do you know what a fashion designer is?" He said. Twilight nodded. 'She does?'

Not sure of the fact that she does know he questioned her. "Oh ya, what is it?" He said, giving her a raised eyebrow.

Twilight gave him a stare that seemed to say: are you stupid big brother. Outwardly she said "simple. It's a profession in which you stitch and make fancy clothes. Right?"

Shining kind of felt as if he wanted to smack her for making him feel like an idiot. It was annoying having a younger sibling that's always smarter than you. "Uh, ya that's it. Anyways, as I was saying, that's a store where you can get fancy clothes so it's obvious that fashion designers work in there. And sometimes, when they create a new item and if it's good enough they just display them like that on a window so ponies outside can see them. You know, to attract them if there interested. Does that make sense?" He glanced at his sister and took a breath of relief when she nodded.

'Oh, good.'

"But I have one more question." Twilight's voice shattered his three-second bliss.

Shining smacked a hoof on his face. "Of course you do," he grumbled. "But this will be the last one okay? I mean, it's not like I know everything."

She raised an eyebrow at him. Looking slightly disappointed. In the end, she relented with a BIG but SUPER cute pouty face. "Fine."

'Aww, she's so cute!' He thought. "Alright then. Ask away, Twily!"

She opened her mouth to speak but then snapped it shut and folded into herself at the sound of a loud crash. Shining whipped his head towards the direction of the sound.

Up ahead was what looked like a thick branch. It's side looked rough which meant that it snapped of the tree that stood just off to the side. Behind the branch was a filly who looked about Twilight's age. She clumsily moved to get up.

Shining kept watching and nearly had a heart attack when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to find his sister looking at him. "Do you think we should help her?" She asked.

Shining's eyes went wide when he realized that he hadn't thought of that. "Uhh, sure, let's go." That being said, the siblings moved up to help the filly. As they got closer, Shining noticed that the filly was an earth pony. Scattered nearby was a scooter and a small saddle-bag.

Shining decided to speak first. "Hey, are you okay?" The filly looked up when she noticed the duo. She sighed. "Ya, I'm fine." She said.

Shining and Twilight exchanged a glance. Shining gave the filly a wary look. "Are you sure about that? I mean, you don't look okay. And your shoulder is... bleeding. If you didn't notice."

The filly's eyes snapped open. "Seriously!?" She turned her head to her shoulder to see the red dripping slowly down her side. "Ugh, it must be the broken chip of my dumb scooter." She said, giving the scooter a scowl.

Shining scratched his head. "How do we help her?" He whispered to Twilight. Twilight only blinked back with a look that said: how do you think we're supposed to help her? Big brother.

Shining felt utterly helpless. Twilight's look almost seemed mocking. As if he were the worlds biggest, psychotic idiot.

Twilight shifted to search for something in her saddle-bag. She shuffled around for a bit before pulling out a bandage. She held it out. "She can use this. I packed some in case we might need them." Shining felt all the more worthless.

He glanced to the side. 'Honestly. Where did this pony get her brain from? She's even more mature than me for some reason.' Looking back at his sister, his eyes widened. Only then did his brain realize that she was waiting for his approval. "Uhh, ya! I think that sounds good. You can given it to her. Good thinking, Twily!"

Twilight smiled at him. "Thanks." She said before moving up and nudging the earth pony filly to get her attention. She looked up at Twilight. "Here," Twilight said, holding out the bandage to the other filly. She took it with a smile. "Thanks."

"What's your name?" Shining asked.

While in the middle of putting the bandage on, the filly answered. "Eh, my name is Marigold. You can just call me Mary if you like."

Shining blinked. "Uhh, okay... Mary. Wait, how did you end like this anyways? Something bad happened? You said your scooter is bad. Does that have to do with it?"

Mary stood up with a roll of her eye. "Duuhh. My scooter sucks. I've even asked my parents like a dozen times if I could get a new one. This one..." She gave the scooter a kick. "Is like centuries old." Mary's eyes shifted over to Twilight. They widened slightly. "Wow, your hair is all glittery. Did you dye it?" She asked.

Twilight eyes her mane. "Uhh, no. It's just like that." She said quietly. "Does it look bad?"

Mary gawked at her. "Bad? No! It looks so cool! I wish my hair was like that." She said with a dreamy look.

Shining raised an eyebrow at Mary. "Really?" He deadpanned. 'I don't want glitter in my hair. It would look so weird. Or are little girls just like that?'

Shining fidgeted weirdly. "So! You were going to explain how you ended up like this?" Shining said loudly, while waving a hoof in Mary's face to snap her out of her daydreaming. Effectively, Mary straightened and faced Shining. "Oh, right! Basically. I was heading to school and decided to ride my scooter there. It was kinda fine at first but then I accidently missed stepped because obviously, my scooter sucks. So I came crashing down and fell right on the chipped side. And then that branch fell on me." She finished.

Shining nodded with understanding. "Alright, makes sense." He glanced to the side. A short while passed when he felt Twilight nudge him. "Shining, we're going to be late. Let's go." She urged.

Shining's head shot up. "Horse apples, I forgot! Come on Twily. Sorry Mary. I'd like to talk but we have to go. So I'm... See ya?" He said with an unsettling grin.

Mary waved back. "Okay, bye. And thanks for helping me!" She yelled as Shining and Twilight trotted away.

Shining fought to catch his breath as he slowed his pace. Finally. They were here. At the most boring place in the universe where all the teachers do is cram your head with things and give you a headache. What a place to get up for every morning. If Shining had an option, he wouldn't even think about getting up.

"Good." He heaved. "We're here. On time. And we're not late. And mom won't kick my flank." Shining moved to the side and flopped down on the grass to breathe. Twilight watched him with curious eyes, but remained standing.

Shining raised an eyebrow. "What? Aren't you tired after all that running?" Twilight nodded. "Yes I am. I've never exactly been this far out of home before." She said quietly while gazing at some daisies. Shining stared in confusion. 'You don't look tired.' He thought but then decided he didn't want to think too much before school started.

Twilight silently moved to inspect a insect on the ground. Moments later, her ear twitched. She looked up to the source of the crunching sound and suddenly smiled. Feeling curious about what she had seen, Shining followed her gaze to whatever had made her smile. And then his heart leaped.

From the distance approached the most beautiful thing Shining had ever seen. Well, it was actually a pony. A female. She was pink. Her mane had lovely shades of a deep pink, warm purple, and light goldish, yellow. It seemed to look even more nice tied up with the blue tie. Her eyes were comforting amethysts. Though not as magical and vivid as his sister's. They were gorgeous all the same. And to top it all of, she was an alicorn.

Twilight grinned from ear to ear. "Cadence!" She cried. And trotted over to her. As soon as Cadence noticed Twilight, she beamed brightly and welcomed the filly in an embrace. "Oh just look at my favorite filly! Is she ready for her first day at school?" Cadence asked with a wink.

Twilight nodded timidly. "Ya... I guess." Her smile fell. Cadence was quick to notice. "Oh dear, what's the matter? Are you not excited for your first day?" Cadence lowered her head to be leveled with Twilight's.

Twilight shook her head. "Not too much." She admitted. " I'm really nervous. And kind of scared. I mean, I don't want to make mistakes." She said in a voice so low, that Shining barely heard it.

Nodding understandingly, Cadence gently tilted Twilight's head up. "Come on, Twilight. That's okay. Every foal feels nervous on there first day. I'll admit I was. And you know it's fine if you make mistake. It's not like anypony is perfect. All of us make mistakes. But if you want to make me happy, you promise me that you'll give it your best shot! Okay?" She said.

Twilight nodded slowly. "Okay. I promise. Thank you Cadence." She said.

Cadence smiled warmly. "Of course! Any time for my favorite filly!" She and Twilight than moved to be side be side as they came forward. It took Shining all of his willpower to not fidget as Cadence got closer. Her eyes widened a little bit as her gaze locked on Shining's. "Oh! Hi Shining! Your here too!"

At this, Shining smacked a hoof on his face. "Of course I am." He said flatly. "Twily couldn't have come alone. My parents aren't that dumb." Cadence giggled and Shining's stomache filled with butterflies.

Once settled, Cadence spoke. "So, your just waiting for school to open?" Shining nodded. "What else?" He gave a look of boredom.

Twilight grazed her hoof on the ground. "Do you think I'll make friends?" Her almost silent voice carried through the summer breeze. Cadence beamed at her. "Of course you will! I just know it!" To which Twilight gave a heartfelt grin. "You always say that you know." The filly said. Cadence simply rolled her eyes. "Trust me, Twilight."

Shining blinked. And then gave an ENORMOUSLY, exaggerated, totally not fake yawn that startled both girls out of there moment. "Don't you think this is a bit boring?" He asked matter-of-factly. Cadence gave him a blunt stare. Twilight gave him one he didn't even want to make sense of. Thankfully, Cadence relented.

"He is a bit right, Twilight. Perhaps we can wait at that playground over there. You guys still have some time, so let's go!" The pink alicorn went on ahead with the unicorns following close behind.

Author's Note

I suppose this was just a little slice of life moment I wanted to write. It was honestly pleasant. I have just one more chapter before Twi and Shining get to school.