Author's Note

Okay everybody, its been a year. i know, and I'm terrible for not have the motivation to update earlier, but i think this is a satisfying conclusion to this strange tale

final

A loud crack and the door flew off the hinges. Shining shot up in bed, looking through hazy, sleep-addled eyes, trying to find the source of the sudden interruption. He was met with two burly unicorn guards barreling towards him, their horns glowing. He was met with two burly unicorn guards barreling towards him, their horns glowing. Before he knew what was happening her was pinned on the ground of the hotel room with the guards strapping his front hooves together with metal shackles, along with a magic-dampening ring around his horn. As shining lay, he saw the pony who had given him his room key earlier that evening standing at the doorway.

As Shining was roughly pulled up on his shaky legs he heard Twilight. She was still on the bed, wrapped in the covers. She was scared and shaking, trying to make out what was happening. When she realized they were going to take her away, she swallowed the lump in her throat and leaped at the stallions.

“Let go of him!” She shouted, rearing up on her hind legs in front of the nearest guard so she could assault his armored chest with a fury of tiny punches. “Let go of my brother!”

She was quickly picked up in a dark golden glow. Floating in the air helpless, she did the only thing she would think of: cry.

“Why are you doing this? Where are we going? Please stop! Let me go!” She lamented through strangled sobs as she was hauled through the abandoned lobby of the hotel. Her calls were mostly ignored by the guards who escorted her and Shining out of the lobby. The siblings were taken out into the cool night air before being led to the back of a law enforcement chariot. It was a horse-drawn carriage with no room for riders, just a large box that locked from the outside.

Shining was roughly thrown into the back of the carriage, sliding to the back wall of the containment area. Twilight was placed near her brother, being abruptly dropped from the magic glow onto her rump. The two doors slammed shut and the click of a lock echoed through the carriage.
“Big brother!” Twilight scooted over to her slumped brother. “Are you okay?”
Shining looked up at the back window across from his current position. The guards were already gone, but he snarled anyway, clenching his teeth to the point his jaw ached. “I’m fine…” He said through his teeth. He took a second to compose himself.
“I’m sorry.” He said, tears starting to well up in his eyes. He brought his head around to encapsulate his sister’s, trying to hold her close without the full use of his hooves. “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise…”
Twilight didn’t respond at first. She pushed back on her brother, getting close to him. “Are we going to be okay?” She finally asked in a whisper.
Shining took a moment. “I don’t know.” He whispered back as the carriage lurched forward, the wooden wheels creaking under them. Shining stood, walking to the doors that held them prisoner. He looked down out the window,. He didn’t have a good view, but could tell that the mechanism holding the doors together was a simple hook around a post with a flattened head.
Shining focused his magic, trying to open the door to make a run for it. The glow flared up around his horn. but nothing happened, the ring around his horn did it’s job.

~

The carriage came to a stop and the two siblings went to the windows to look out and see where they had been taking. From their spot, all they could see was lush, green foliage. He could hear the low murmur of running water somewhere to his right, out of eyesight. The door to the carriage swung open, the guards that had wrestled Shining to the ground now escorted him out of the vehicle. It was dark, around mid-night or so, the only light coming from the full moon. As Shining looked around while being escorted to his destination, wherever that might happen to be, he could make out a garden of some sort.

One of the guards pushed him forward, and Shining knew instantly where he was. The royal castle, home of the princesses of the entire land. Shining’s stomach sank as he tilted his head up, looking at the gigantic spires that tore into the night sky. His hooves planted themselves in the ground as dread overtook him. It stopped the guards for a second before they forced him to keep moving, pushing him more than he was walking.

“S-Shining?” Twilight’s voice came from behind him. “Where are we, what is this place?”
The answer came from the single guard that was escorting her, his voice dark and gruff. Very drull and to the point.
“The royal palace.”
“W-why are we here?” She asked.
“You and your brother will stand trial for your crimes.”
Shining imagined it, the princess herself passing judgement on him. It made his stomach sink even lower, he felt like getting sick. “But, how much do they know?” Shining wondered to himself.

“Your trial will be held first thing in the morning.. For the night, you will be held in the dungeon.”

“Dungeon?” Shining said, as he along with his two ‘escorts’ start their ascent up the carpeted stairs to the castle’s main entrance. The stallion to his left simply nods. Shining doesn’t ask anymore questions, the less he knows about the following chain of events the better.. You can’t worry about what you don’t know what will happen, right?

The siblings are taken through the dead halls of the castle, the only souls those of the night-shift guard.The only sound was the breathing of the five ponies, and steady hoofsteps on the polished marble floors. Twilight was surprisingly quiet throughout the walk.
‘Fear, maybe?’ Shining pondered.

The siblings were taken down a hidden winding staircase into the dark, damp cellar-like dungeon where they would spend the night. Rusted wrought iron bars swung open with a creak when they arrived at the the Sparkle’s accommodation.The guards uncuffed the stallion, but make sure to leave the dampening ring in place. Shining drudged forward into the cell, his hooves scraped against moss-covered cobblestone that made up the floor. The only nice way to describe the cell was quaint. it was small, cold, smelled of mold, and there was a thick wetness in the air that was palpable. there was only a small cot in one corner of the cell.

“Hey wait…” Shining spun around as the door slammed closed, and the key locked him in. Twilight however, was on the other side. “My sister!” He ran up to the bars and grabbed hold of them.

“She will be in the cell next to you.,” the guard said as he opened up the adjacent cell that was just as infested by green lichen as the previous one. They plopped Twilight onto the cobblestone with a ‘thunk’ before locking her in the cell as well.

The guards walked out of the basement without another word, Shining could hear the wooden door at the top of the staircase that led down the dungeon click shut. All they could to do now was wait.

“Shining, what is going to happen to us now?” Twilight asked, walking up to the set of bars that separated them.

“I’m… not sure. My magic doesn’t work and these bars are strong. Even if we escaped, we are in the royal palace, guards are everywhere… And who knows? The Princesses might have magical barriers all over the place, letting them know who walks in or out,. They could have this entire place monitored day and night.” Shining huffed, before leaning against the wall closest to him. He slid down to all fours, and then rolled over to his side, looking up at the ceiling. “I don’t know what to do.”

Twilight just sat there, deep in contemplation, trying desperately to find a solution to a hopeless problem. They sat there, mere feet apart, for several minutes, in utter silence., before Shining spoke, in a hushed whisper. “You should get some sleep.” Twilight had been wired since the disruption, and exhausted from being on the run for so long. Even though the dingy cot did not look cozy, it was better than hard cobblestone. She lazily crawled into the cot, under the singular blanket, and snuggled in.
“Good night, big brother.” Twilight said. She didn’t get a response though, and was asleep in mere minutes.

~

Morning light awoke the sleeping filly, sunbeams breaking through the shoddy stone walls. the same reason the drafty basement was so cold, most likely. Twilight yawned and stretched and reached over in her bed for her brother’s warm body. She felt nothing but air. Her eyes peeled open and the memories of last night came back to her. She huffed and pushed herself out of bed, onto the floor before going up to the bars between her and her brother’s cell, still rubbing her eyes.

“Morning, Shining.” She began before stopping,, Her heart jumped into her throat with what she saw,; or more accurately, didn’t see. Shining was gone,: his cell door ajar. Twilight ran to her cell door and tried to open it. Of course, it was locked tight and didn’t budge at her tiny pushes. She started calling out for her brother, a guard, anyone.

“He is already in the throne room, he asked to be taken there before you woke up.” The guard says as he goes for his set of keys, unlocking Twilight’s cell door. Letting her out, she scampered away, sprinting up the staircase and out the wooden door at the top. She stopped at the blinding light of the palace when she emerged.. After a second to clear her eyes, she still didn’t have her bearings,. So she started to go left, but backpedaled, dashing to the right... but halted again. Twilight doesn't know the palace. Shining could be anywhere.

“This way, through that door.” The guard said, pointing to a large set of doors with another set of guards on either side of the doorway. Twilight booked it over there, and threw herself against the door, barely making it swing open. The two guards gave her a questioning look, then pushed the door open for her. Twilight squeezed through the opening and wasn’t sure what she saw at first.

The room was massive, windows lined each wall, letting radiant sunshine brighten the room naturally. a long capet extended from the foot of the throne to the door of the chamber. There was only one entrance/exit to the room. There were at least a dozen armed royal elite guards on the perimeter of the room, all holding razor sharp spears near their breasts. Shining stood before the throne, at the bottom of the steps that led to the royal seat. Upon that literal seat of power sat the Princess herself. The incandescent embodiment of the sun herself, flawless and emanating light and warm with her very presence. Celestia, goddess of everything the eye could see.

She was studious staring at Shining, her chin resting on her customly tailored horseshoe. She was clearly taking in and digesting what Shining was saying. Twilight remembered the reason she has come and ripped her eyes from the god to focus on her brother. His cheeks were stained with tears, He was sitting on his haunches. His hooves were once again bound, the dampening ring still affixed to his horn. She could finally make out what her brother was saying.

“...That was when we arrived in Canterlot, and quickly exited the train…” He was in the middle of the story of how their lives had been uprooted and in less than a week, Shining was a wanted criminal. It looked like he was spilling everything, not pulling any details. Twilight ran to him.

Shining heard her coming and stopped his retelling to turn around and catch her as she threw herself into her brother’s arms.

“Ahh, this must be Twilight, then?” Celestia’s soothing tone wafted through the air.

“Yes, this is my little sister, the reason why i did all this.” Shining said, nuzzling Twilight.

“I see, go on.” She reclined back into her throne. So Shining continues, regaling her with their epic. As he finished with getting arrested, Celestia put her hooves together, staring at the seam between them. Her brow furrowed, contemplating. Even when she had your life in her hoof, she was still so soft and warm, motherly, even. She stood up, and walked to her right, to the window, before speaking.

“Murder is not a crime we see very often in this land,. In all my years, i have had to deal with this less than ten times. Of course the normal and easiest option is execution.” She said , staring out the window, looking down on the courtyard below. Shining’s stomach sank once again.

“E-execution?” Shining stammered. He saw two guards tighten their grip of their spears tensing up, their eyes fixated on him.

“The last few cases, that is what we came to a consensus on, yes.” Shining just sat wide-eyed. “However, this is a special case. You are young, just a colt budding into a stallion, and it sounds like you did it for your sister… You didn’t have an easy childhood, am i right?”

“Y-yes ma’am, at home I was always afraid… and it wasn’t any better for Twilight, but after that particular night i knew we couldn’t stay...” Shining explained, his breath becoming ragged as his adrenaline started pumping from fear.

“Well, it sounds like you got dealt a bad hand, and you say you did your best to protect your sister.” The sun goddess stopped for a moment. “I don’t believe execution is the correct answer for this situation.”

Shining sighed, relief washing over him. “So, what is, then?”

“I want to see if you are telling the truth.” Celestia’s smiled, turning back around towards the siblings. “I want to offer you… a job.”

“A job?” Shining asked, dumbfounded.

“Yes, a job as a groundskeeper, here in the palace, you will be monitored by the guards and it will be tiring, back-breaking work, but you will be spared.” Celestia says walking up to Shining, towering over him.

Shining just stands there… not sure what to say, he mouths the word ‘groundskeeper’ shiningbut no words actually pass his lips. Celestia suddenly stoops down, right beside Shining’s ear.

“This is where you say ‘thank you Princess, I accept.’” She whispers before standing back up to her full height. “Oh, and i will send some guards for your parents, we will do an investigation of what you claimed to be happening, and bring justice if we find anything.” She says before starting back up to her throne.

“Now, you will start your work as a groundskeeper immediately, go down to the courtyard and find a brown earth pony by the name of Colton. he has a fern cutie mark, he will be your supervisor and tell you what to do. As for you sister… I see she is a unicorn, perhaps we can find something for her to do.. Has she had any formal magic training?”

“Uhh, yeah, she used to have a tutor, her teacher in Canterlot said she was exceptional for her age.” Shining said, relaying memories he had not thought of since this whole ordeal began.

“Interesting…I’ll make arrangements for her to see the royal tudor to test her ability. Now go along, i have many other appointments to attend to today, Shining Armor.” Celestia says.

“Wait, what about my sister?” Shining said, stepping forward.

“As i said, I will call for the tudor. You needn't worry.” She reassured

~

That’s how our new life started, i started working the gardens with Colten and his crew while Twilight went to unicorn school, apparently she astounded the tudor with raw power and was instantly put into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. I’m Glad for her. Twilight and me were given a room to share in the servant’s quarters. It’s cozy, if a bit small to share. Our parents were brought in and charged with multiple offenses, they confessed, about everything. They are still in those dingy cells we called home for a night.

It been about three months since we were taken into custody by those guards. Twilight is happy here, she likes the schooling. I can’t complain either, the work is exhausting, but sometimes, when i am in the palace garden i see this pink mare, she is gorgeous and about my age. But she is some kind of princess heir, she is way out of my league.. but it’s fine to dream, right?