I Will Wait

by lLoveRainbowDash


Chapter 4 - More Bad News

"Time to do some investigating..."


Twilight made her way throughout the palace, trying her best to remember where Princess Cadance's room was.

"Maybe it was this way," she whispered to herself, turning left down a narrow corridor. Twilight was walking as quietly as she could on the crystal floor, though there was still the slight clatter of her hooves.

Soon, she came up to a cross section that split off into four different directions, including her own.

This place can definitely benefit from having a few signs, she thought to herself.

Twilight made a left, the hallway seemed to be wider than the others. It had a raised ceiling and more details. There was doors lining the full length of the corridor. Each door frame had a golden-green shine in appearance, along with the golden handles. As for the walls, they were a purple-pink mixture with a deep shine. The ceiling had chandeliers hanging with each candle lit with a small flame that glistened against the crystals.

As Twilight made her way down the hallway, she spotted a door that stood out the most. The door frame, rather than being a golden-green, was a pale white with a slight hint of pink. The door was wooden, as opposed to the crystal ones, and had the same golden handle.

Twilight held her breath as she grabbed the door handle and opened it, slowly. The door pushed open with a gentle breeze pushing past.

Twilight didn't know what to do. There was a princess sleeping right in front of her.

Maybe I should have gone to sleep and waited until morning... She's asleep, I shouldn't bother her, she needs her rest, Twilight thought, stepping out of the room before closing the door behind her.

Before Twilight could do so little as to turn around, her brother walked around the corner, and into the hallway.

"Twilight? What are you doing? You should be in your room, not—"

Twilight interrupted him before he could go farther, "I know, I know. I just wanted to check on her."

"She's sleeping, you shouldn't bother her right now," Shining argued.

"I know, I was just about to head back, sorry." Twilight started to walk down the hallway, but then quickly turned back to her brother. "Aheh, uh... where's my room again?"


Twilight woke up in the room she was led back to by her brother. The sun was being blocked by clouds, which she didn't mind.

For some reason, Twilight didn't want to get up. She wanted to go see how Princess Cadance was holding up, but she didn't want to get out of bed. It wasn't because it was too comfortable, she just didn't want to.

Twilight laid on the bed for minutes, then an hour. She heard a loud knocking at the door.

"Come in," Twilight called out to whoever was behind the door.

Twilight heard the handle being messed with, but no sound of the door opening.

"Um... Twily, can you open it? It's locked," said the muffled voice of Shining Armor.

Twilight groaned as she got out of the bed, now having a reason to. She made her way to the door before opening it. It swung open, revealing her, yet again, annoyed brother.

"Finally. Can't you try and hurry up a bit? Anyways, Cadance is up, and she wants to see you," Shining said, motioning for her to follow.

"Is she doing okay?" Twilight asked, closing her door.

"Well, yes, but no. She is doing fine as of right now, but doctors are saying it will get worse."

"It's getting worse?" Twilight wanted to clarify what she thought her brother said.

Shining hesitantly responded, "Yes."

They made a left into that bigger, and fancy, corridor. They walked in silence to the half opened door.

As Twilight and Shining stepped into the room, Cadance looked up from the book in front of her.

"Hey, Twilight! I missed you!" Cadance exclaimed hoarsely.

"I missed you too. I just wish we could have some time to spend together that doesn't involve a problem," Twilight playfully added.

"I'll go get some breakfast, I'm sure you two are hungry," Shining Armor said, slipping out of the doorway.

As Twilight looked back from the doorway, she asked, "So... Cadance, how has the Crystal Empire been holding up since the crack in the crystal heart?"

"Well, Shining Armor has been doing the best he can, taking up the captain of the guard and filling in some of the duties I have to do. Some of them aren't to—" Princess Cadance was interrupted by a fit of rough coughs.

Twilight winced. It didn't sound healthy. Not at all.

Before I can help her with this type of sickness, I need to do research on the heart. Somehow, that crystal heart being damaged is tied to her health. But that doesn't make sense... If Flurry Heart destroyed it, how come she didn't get sick then? How is it only now that she's sick from it? Is it just a coi—

"Food's here!" Shining called out, disrupting Twilight's train of thought. "Careful, it's hot."

Shining Armor set down a trey with a few plates of food on it. There was two plates stacked with pancakes covered in syrup with a few strawberries on top. There was also two cups of steaming hot chocolate. Shining Armor passed the two ponies the food, along with their drinks.

"Well, I have to get going. The royal guard doesn't command themselves. Goodbye you two," Shining said, hugging Cadance and leaving.

"Ooh, he took the extra step and added marshmallows to the hot chocolate!" Princess Cadance squealed, despite her condition.

"You got marshmallows in yours? Not fair!"


Twilight let out a content sigh. They had a great morning, even with Cadance's condition. They finished their great breakfast, then went on a walk throughout the Crystal Palace, and even played hide-and-seek. Twilight made sure to go easy on Cadance, she had an easy advantage with being healthy.

After their fun, they went into the library, Cadance took a seat and relaxed a little, and Twilight took the time to gather any information on Princess Cadance's strange sickness.

Twilight was seated at a desk. In front of her, sat piles of books and old papers. Across the desk from her, sat Cadance... who was taking a nap... in a very uncomfortable-looking chair.

How does she do that? Twilight wondered to herself. That is the most uncomfortable position to be sleeping in—even I can't sleep like that. And I sleep on books from time to time!

Twilight giggled to herself, breaking the eerie silence. The library was quiet, only with the faint breathing of her sister-in-law, and the sound of a page turning here and there.

Twilight sighed again. Even though she loved reading, she found herself bored. There wasn't much else to do.

As she started to trail off from consciousness from her own boredom, Twilight heard the door to the crystal library open, and soon shut. In front of the door stood Shining Armor.

"Hey, Cadance, I'm ho—Is she sleeping?" Shining asked, now whispering.

Twilight nodded her head in reply.

"What did you two do today? I hope you didn't bore her to death with all of your reading," he teased.

"She is taking a nap because she was tired," Twilight deadpanned. "And I haven't been reading the whole time. We did a bunch of activities actually."

"Oh really, like what?" Shining questioned as he took a seat at the table.

"Well, we talked for a little while after you left, then we went for a little walk around the palace, which later turned into a game of hide-and-seek. After that, she wasn't feeling too well, so we made our way here, to the library."

Shining Armor sat there, looking down at the table for a moment.

"Is something wrong?" Twilight asked.

"It depends... I-I just got word from one of the doctors that have been taking care of Cadance, a-and apparently she is going to need... a lot more help—even more than now. It's not good."

She glanced over at Cadance, who was still in the uncomfortable position, then back at Shining.

What sickness could possibly be this bad?

Both sat in awkward silence. Twilight soon broke it, "D-do you know if there is any cure... or something...?"

"As far as I know, possibly. The doctors keep saying it'll take time though."

"How much time?"

"W-well, depending on how well she is taken care of, months... at the least. M-maybe even years—if it's... that bad..."

Shining Armor trailed off, taking sudden interest in the floor.

"Don't worry, she'll get through this," Twilight comforted.

"I know she will, I just don't want it taking that long!" Shining snapped, making Twilight jump back. "I-I'm sorry Twily, I... I didn't mean—"

"Don't worry, I understand."