//------------------------------// // Conflict // Story: The Twilight Years // by Kendrick //------------------------------// “Spike, get ready to take a letter to the…” Twilight shouted as she walked into the library, the words dying in her mouth once she actually looked into the room. Shining Armor stood in the center of the space, glaring at her angrily. “Big brother,” she said, puzzled by his appearance in Ponyville. “Don’t call me that!” he shouted. He stepped towards her, his hard steps leaving marks in the oak floor. “You don’t get to call me that.” “Shining Armor, I don’t understand. What’s wrong,” she pleaded. “You don’t understand what’s wrong? You, of everypony, don’t understand what is wrong.” His yelling was so loud that the windows hummed in their frames as he spoke. Twilight could see Spike cowering upstairs and couldn’t blame him. It would never have occurred to her to be afraid of Shining Armor before, but it was hard not to be now. Before she could speak he continued in a lower volume, but no less hostile in his tone. “I am sick and tired of having the ponies I love replaced by impostors!” he spat. “And that it was you that did this hurts most of all! I trusted you more than anypony else.” Understanding came crashing down on Twilight like a load of bricks. She had never thought of how having Cadance replaced might affect how he would feel when he heard the news. The fact that the switch had taken place before Cadance’s probably didn’t help matters either. “That’s why nopony is ever supposed to know,” Twilight explained, fighting to keep her emotions in check. “Did you think about us at all?” he demanded. “Of course I did!” she countered hotly, “I agonized over it. Especially when you showed so much promise serving in the guard. Don’t think I am not fully aware of how unfair this has been to you.” As she spoke she pulled herself up to meet his eye. Anger sparked in the corners of her eyes as she met his stare. As she spoke echoes of her old life stirred to the fore. She could almost feel the crown on her brow as she continued. “But this is not about you, as sad as I am to say. This is about the potential your sister has and the fact that the time for me to retire had long since passed.” “But,” Shining Armor tried to interrupt, only to be overrun by Twilight. “Before me, the longest anypony ever served on the Solar Throne was four-hundred years. I served over three times that long. In all of that time I never once saw a pony with even a fraction of the potential Twilight Sparkle possessed. Not once did I see a pony I thought more capable of doing the job that needs done. So if the fact that she is now the ruler of this land, a land you are sworn to protect I might add, hurts your feelings I am deeply sorry, but your feelings are not the most important consideration.” She stopped there to allow him time to gather his thoughts. If this was going to have a peaceful outcome she couldn’t risk backing him into a corner the way he had done with her. He was silent for several moments. She could see the hurt and betrayal he felt warring with both his sense of duty and, unless she were wrong, his pride in his sister. All she could do was hope that the reminder that his sister was not gone, not a prisoner somewhere, but instead had ascended to the throne he served would take the fire out of him. When he had stopped pacing and came back to face her it was clear that wasn’t entirely the case. “Fine, she was the best pony for the job,” he admitted carefully, “but we are her family. We had a right to know what was happening. And aside from that, I’m captain of the Royal Guard. Shouldn’t I have known something like this was going on?” “No,” Twilight said coldly, “You shouldn’t have. You don’t have the right. The only reason you know now is the fact that your sister was suffering being so close to you and not being able to share anything with you. She is the Princess, after all. It is her right you’re benefiting from now.” Shining Armor acted as though he were going to interrupt, but was stared down by a cold glare perfected by centuries in Canterlot. “We only discovered the spell in the last few days. In the banned magic library I might add,” she continued, “What would happen if ponies knew that the great ruler Celestia wasn’t eternal? What would the fact that there is a succession of power hidden from everypony do to Equestria?” He considered for several minutes. His sharp mind, well suited to the subtleties of Canterlot worked through the inevitable stir in Canterlot’s powerful families. Next would be the inescapable conclusion that if their princess wasn’t an everlasting goddess, perhaps her rule wasn’t divinely ordained. And then sompony would end up deciding that they could do better. Thousands of years of peace and stability set to be ruined by one shared secret. He could see it, that much she could see, but he still wasn’t happy about what had happened. “But why did you have to take my Twily?” he begged, sorrow, not anger now coloring his words. “Because she was the best. I saw that when she was a tiny filly,” Twilight answered softly. “Didn’t it ever strike you as strange that even your distinguished family had a princess as a foalsitter?” She felt a small twinge of regret at sharing this with him now. This was a secret that wasn’t entirely hers to share. “Cadance knows?” he gasped. “Yes. It was her job to protect Twilight when she was little.” He slumped slightly at the revelation. Twilight felt horrible for him. It had to feel as though nothing he knew was true anymore. She thought desperately for a way to brighten the mood. “Is Cadence like Celestia?” he asked before she could speak. The question took her by surprise. In retrospect it was one she should have thought of herself, but she hadn’t been thinking about that side of things. “She was meant to be,” Twilight explained, “but she couldn’t bear the thought of losing a certain somepony she cared about.” He looked at her with the question clear in his eyes so she went ahead and answered before he managed to get the words out. “Yes, Brother,” she began, emphasizing ‘brother,’ “she was born to be an immortal and renounced it so she could marry you.” All of his earlier anger was washed away. He now had a foundation to cling to again, and Twilight was glad that it was Cadance. When she had first heard that her niece had fallen in love with Shining Armor she had been upset. Cadance was meant to be everypony's princess. Somepony that could be loved, not worshiped on high as Celestia and Luna were. But after several lifetimes worth of living alone there was no way she could bring herself to deny that love. “I had no idea,” he sighed. “I know. You weren’t supposed to find out,” she whispered, risking giving him a reassuring hug. He pulled away gently, but firmly. Looking her in the eye he took a deep breath before speaking. “I’m still not sure how I feel about all of this.” “That’s certainly understandable,” Twilight said calmly, resuming her reserved posture. “You could stay; we could talk about this more if you want.” “No,” he declined, shaking his head. “I need to get back to Canterlot. The Princess needs me.” “Very well,” she replied, deeply stung by his words, but refusing to let it show. He walked past her to the door and paused as though he had more to say. Instead he shook his head and opened the door to the fading evening. “Shining Armor,” she called as she stepped through the doorway. He paused, half looking back at her. “Yes?” he asked. “You loved me once as your princess, I hope you can someday love me as your sister.” He stared at her for a moment before letting his head drop. Without saying a word he left, closing the door behind him. All of the stress of the day caught up with her at once and Twilight collapsed onto the floor. Despite her best efforts, tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. Without having heard him come down she found her head lifted onto Spike’s lap as he held her and stroked her mane. “Don’t worry,” he reassured her, “He’ll come around.” Too tired to find words she just let herself cry, taking solace in the small dragon’s affection.