It was a beautiful Equestrian winter day. Celestia’s golden shone brightly warming the cold bodies of her ponies that traveled the sky and walked on the ground. Normally Shining Armor, Captain of The Royal Guard and co-ruler of the Crystal Empire would be in high spirits, but as he stood in front of the Ponyville hospital his heart was full of sorrow. There were no souls about on the cold winter day other than him just standing in front of the looming building.
“Twilight.” He said to himself as he started to remember hearing the news…
****
“You called for me Princess?” Shining Armor said as he walked into the large throne room.
“I am sorry to call you away from your duties in the Crystal Empire but…I’m afraid I have some terrible news about...Twilight.” The looming figure of Celestia said in a sad voice.
Shining Armor began to worry slightly at the tone of her voice.
“What happened to my little sister?” Shining Armor asked impatiently.
The princess stood still and Shining could see the immense sorrow on her face. Shining Armor had never seen her that upset for as long as he served her and Luna.
“I’m afraid that Twilight…has fallen into a magic induced coma…” Celestia said trying to hold back her tears.
“What are you talking about?” Shining Armor said wanting to hear exactly what happened.
“After her venture into the crystal empire when king Sombra came back, it seems the dark energy affected her in more ways than thought. Her prolonged exposure to the dark crystals warped her magic and the huge influx of dark energy put her in a coma…” Celestia said still trying to keep her composure up.
“But how!? Sombra infected my horn there and I walked away fine!” Shining said getting more confused by the second.
“It…was my fault…Before I sent her to you I…showed her…a bit of dark magic so she was familiar with it. I didn’t think she would have to use it but after hearing the full story from Spike of his quest with Twilight, I heard a certain door leading to the crystal heart had to be opened with…dark magic. At the time I didn’t think she would have to use it and didn’t think she could learn it so quickly… Enough though your horn was infected, your connection to Cadance is what kept you well. My immortal status is what kept me from being corrupted by the magic when I showed her it. Twilight…had nothing to protect her. The corruption had slowly spread through her body and before anything could be done her mind collapsed and she…” Celestia said filling him on the details but couldn’t bear to finish.
“Can’t the crystal heart do anything!? It destroyed the corruption around the empire so it should work for her!” Shining Armor shouted fearing his little sister wouldn’t recover.
“Like I said, the corruption had spread too much for anything to be done. If the heart is used it may do what it did to Sombra and…I’ve sent my best doctors down to Ponyville to keep her alive and see what could happen…”
****
Shining Armor slowly walked through the big door of the hospital. The second he entered a very familiar stench of death filled his nose. He hated hospitals so much even though he had visited on several occasions. During the invasion of the Changlings his royal guard had suffered lots of loses during it and he visited a few of the survivors in the hospitals to wish them a safe recovery. A few of the survivors of that invasion ended up dying with him in the room. He was heartbroken at the loss of his loyal knights and mourned in silence, but he had never felt so low then he was right now. His litter sister, the one who he was supposed to perfect when she needed help, was now lying on a hospital bed while fighting to survive and he couldn’t do anything to help her.
With a huge and stressed sigh he walked up to the nurse’s front desk to check in. Behind the counter he saw a white earth pony with a pink tinge to her fur and a red cross as her cutie. Over the months he learned the names of the doctors around the hospital. The second he stood in sight she saw him.
“Hello prince Armor. Coming to visit her again?” The nurse said in a soft and comforting tone.
“Yes nurse Redheart, and please just call me Shining Armor. Right now I’m just a concerned brother who doesn’t care for his title.
“As you wish Shining Armor. I’ll sign you in and you can head to her room.” She said as she grabbed a pen with her mouth and scribbled his name on the visitors sheets.
With a nod of his head he turned for the hallway and trotted to her room. Shining looked on as sick patients both young and old could be seen from the open doors, lying in beds either sleeping or looking on sadly. As he walked his sight caught hold of Twilight’s friends leaving her room. Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and then Pinkie Pie. All of them looked saddened and very depressed. In fact Pinkie Pie’s hair was flat and her fur was a dull pink color and she was crying. Shining Armor quickly walked up to them to ask how Twilight was doing.
“Anything at all?” Shining said hoping she had shown some sign of movement.
“No…Her vitals are steady but she won’t move at all…” Rarity said as she wiped her tears away with a small white cloth before giving it to Pinkie.
“It’s been almost 2 months since this happened and she still hasn’t woken up…” Applejack spoke up as she walked out of the room.
“We need to be strong girls. Celestia, Luna, and Cadance are working day and night in hopes of find a cure on corruption in her body. We just need to hope and wait.” Shining Armor said to her.
“Wh-what if s-she doesn’t wake up?” Pinkie Pie said trying to not cry but was not succeeding.
“Don’t think like that. We’ll save her! I promise on my life as her brother.” Shining Armor answered back.
“I hope that promise succeeds…or Dash will never recover either….” Applejack said as she peered back into the room.
Shining Armor decided to look in and saw the cyan Pegasus resting her head on Twilight’s lap. Over the months the one who took it the hardest was her. Back then Dash wanted to help find the crystal heart with Twilight but she was told to help keep the fair going. She eventually blamed herself for not helping her look for it. Dash couldn’t forgive herself that the crystal heart was in the highest part of the keep and she didn't even look there in the first place. She kept saying if she would have looked harder, Twilight wouldn't have got corrupted by the magic.
“Come on Twilight…Please get better…You don’t know how much I worry about you.” Dash said as Shining Armor could see a tear running down her cheek and onto the sheets.
Shining Armor thought it was best to let her stay a bit longer before going in.
“H-have they made any progress?” The timid Pegasus named Fluttershy said finally speaking up.
“They're trying their best but all we can do is wait and hope Twilight can continue to fight. The princesses haven’t slept for so many nights as they keep looking through most of the books in the crystal library and even across the whole land in hope of anything.” Shining answered her.
“Darnit! I hate this waiting!” AppleJack said as her voice got a bit angrier.
“We all hate this waiting darling, but like Shining Armor said, all we can do is wait and hope Twilight can stay alive…” Rarity said as she put her white hoof on AppleJack’s shoulder.
Before Shining was about to say more, he saw Dash exiting the room at the corner of his eye. The once proud Pegasus kept her head down in shame.
“Rainbow…it isn’t your fault…” Shining Armor said hoping to help her.
“It is my fault! I should have known better than to let her go off on her own for that crystal heart!! I could have prevented this!” Dash screamed as she turned to him and he could she tears coating her angry face.
Before anyone of them could answer back, Dash galloped down the hall and out the front entrance. All of them went silent as there cyan friend was harboring all the blame. They should have known better as well. A few of them should have been with Twilight the entire time in case something like this did happen.
“I’m going to see if I can calm her down.” AppleJack said as she adjusted her hat and trotted after her.
“I’m going to head back home and start figuring out some way we can help. I can’t let Dash tear herself up over this. Pinkie and Fluttershy, why don’t you come over for the night?”” Rarity said getting tired of doing nothing at all.
Both of her friends nodded and all of them left Shining Armor in front of the door alone. He took a deep breath and entered the room. As he entered he saw the sight he was still not able to get used to. Hooked up to his little sister was an odd machine that was keeping the corruption at bay but not able to stop it fully. The machine itself was built by Celestia’s finest scientists as a way to keep her alive while they tried to figure out a cure for her. From the machine came a long tube that went into Twilight’s mouth and into her body that breathed magical healing energy into her.
Shining Armor quickly took a sit beside his little sister and rested his head on the bed while holding onto her hoof..
“Hey sis…big brother is here to see you. Glad to see that you haven’t given up yet. Everyone wants you to live through this and all 3 of the Princesses, including me, are doing our best to help you get better. As long as you don’t give up, we won’t either…” He said as he held her hoof tight in his.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you sis. After all the times you saved my butt, the one time you needed help and I couldn’t do anything for you. I should have been with you then…I could have prevented this. I’m sorry your brother is nothing but a failure!” He cried as a tear rolled down his cheek at the thought of his own weakness.
“mom and dad are both worried as well about you. They told me that they would come by tomorrow to see you as well…You know how mom is, always worrying about you always going off and saving the world thinking something bad would…happen. Dad is…not taking it well as well but he knows that visiting you is the best thing for both of you. Like I said, everyone wants you to live. You’re a big part of our lives sis, and if we lose you…then we lose everything…” Shining Armor said as he moved his face up to his sisters still expression.
“Don’t leave me Twilight. You’re still the greatest little sister a brother could ask for…” He said as he nuzzled her cheek and gave her a kiss on it as well.
For the next while he waited for any signs of moment from his sister. They only sound that filled his ears were the ticking of the clock and the soft but low breathes from her. Eventually he ended up falling asleep at her side until he was awakened by nurse Redheart.
“Shining Armor. Visiting hours are almost over.” The nurse said quietly to him.
“Please…Can I stay by her side tonight? I don’t want her to be alone…” Shining Armor said not wanting to leave his sister alone on the cold night ahead.
“Very well…I’ll get you a blanket for the night.” The nurse answered back seeing the sorrow in his eyes.
As soon as the nurse left the room Shining Armor put his head on her lap.
“I remember a few of those winter nights back when we were fillies. You would always sneak into my room and share the bed because it was always cold in yours…I promised if you were ever alone on a cold winter night, I would keep you warm and safe…I still want to keep that promise sis.” Shining Armor said as he eyes started to get droozy once again.
By the time the nurse had returned with the blanket, he was already out cold.
“You’re lucky you got lots of friends and family who care for you Twilight. I look forward to the smiles and celebration you’ll get once you make a fully recovery. Keeping fighting girl. You’ll make it I’m sure of it…” The nurse whispered as to not wake Shining Armor back up as she placed the soft blanket over his fur.
Without a word she gave both of them a soft smile and exited the room.
