In a split second, everything changed.
Today was supposed to be a fun day. Shining was chasing the rascal of a filly through the house. From the bedroom, to the living room, and finally, to the kitchen. Twilight giggled joyfully as she hopped onto the kitchen counter, out of reach of the Unicorn. He was just about to ignite his horn, to hopefully grab the out-of-control filly, when suddenly, Twilight stepped on a dirty knife that had been left by the sink.
It slipped off of the counter, rotating through the air like a deadly blade, and sliced Shining's wrist.
Blood smudged across the floor like a piece of abstract artwork. Twilight stopped running, staring down at her brother, her stomach suddenly turning with disgust, fear, and horror. She instinctively took a few steps back as Shining held his hoof, staining his other hoof's white fur a deep red as it dripped.
Twilight sputtered, her bottom lip quivering as Shining turned his hoof over, looking at the gash. Today was the day that would change everything. Like the blood on Shining's coat, it would stain Twilight's memory forever.
"First of all, that was close." Despite the unraveling situation, Shining looked surprisingly okay with the immense loss of blood pouring from his wound. "Second of all, ouch, and third-"
"Imsosorry!" Twilight shouted over him. Shining jumped in fright at the loud volume coming from the filly, looking up at her still perched on the counter. "I-I didn't mean to, Shiny! I-I'm sorry!" She panicked, her breathing increasing tenfold as the words poured out of her mouth quicker than she could keep up.
Shining simply sighed.
"Twilight, I'm fine. It was just a little scratch-"
"I-I'll be back!" She yelled suddenly, launching herself off of the countertops and gliding through the kitchen archway. Just like that, her foalhood had been forever tainted by the near-death experience of her big brother, caused by nopony else but herself. It was something she would have to bear for the rest of her life, and something she would never forgive herself for.
She could barely find the door to her room, tears staining her eyes as she fiddled with the doorknob. Knowing that her brother was bleeding out downstairs made the fumbling feel like it took forever. And when forever finally passed, she burst into her room.
Other foals her age would be doing foalish things, like hanging out with friends, or crying for attention. Instead, the three year old had impressively managed to begin reading already, and her parents had encouraged her unexpected talent by buying her a bookshelf. Although the bookshelf wasn't very tall and sparsely decorated with books made for pre-schoolers, it was still an obvious achievement for a foal her age.
Cadence was nearby, resting in her bed, a book spread across her lap. She flinched at the sudden unexpected Pegasus, looking up from her book. Twilight didn't seem to even notice her, thumping her wings and flying towards the bookshelf on her side of the room.
"Who died?" Cadence asked jokingly. She was immediately taken aback by Twilight's disgruntled and shook face, her eyes red and puffy as she turned to look at Cadence.
"Shiny!" Twilight shouted, turning back to the bookshelf. Her hooves quickly flittered through the books. Most of them were simple in concept, like the basics of numbers, or how to remember the ABC's. Thankfully, however, not only had Cadence supplied her own books to the shelf, but her parents had tried to test Twilight's knowledge by gifting her books that, in all honesty, should've been above her head. One of those were a first-aid book, and the one she was trying her hardest to find.
"Wait, what?" Cadence asked, putting the book to her side and on the bed as she started standing up. "What do you mean? Is he okay?"
"I h-hurt him!" Twilight's eyes darted through the shelf. Finally, she saw the heavy college-level textbook. She plucked the book from it's captivity. "Shiny's hurt!" She said, sailing past Cadence quicker than a Wonderbolt.
It took mere moments, much quicker than any other Pegasus, to get back into the kitchen. Shining had barely moved from his spot on the ground, not really having much time to anyhow with how quick Twilight was. He was standing up, the blood from his wrist now flowing down and dripping onto the floor. His white fur was becoming paler by the moment.
Twilight came to a skidding stop, smashing the tome on the ground with a loud gunshot sound. Papers and napkins around the kitchen flew from their resting spot as Twilight's wings came to a halt.
"B-Book!" Twilight could barely said, ripping it open.
"Twilight... I'm fine. I was barely even cut."
"Okay-okay-" Twilight used her feather tips to flip quickly though the pages. Eventually, she landed on one with a large heading. "Lacerations!" She read.
"Twilight, I'm totally-"
"Sit!" She commanded, leaping over the textbook and grabbing him by the withers. With much more force than expected from a filly her size, she pushed him down into, not sitting, but laying down on the ground. She leapt back to the textbook, reading once more. "Shallow? Deep?" Her eyes glanced to Shining's wound. Her stomach clenched. "Defiantly deep..." She gagged. "Stay still, okay? I-I need to get something to-" Twilight didn't even finish her sentence before she dashed away once more, the same papers already blown off the counters gaining air once more.
There was a moment of still.
A moment of peace, perhaps.
Then, Cadence casually trotted into the kitchen.
They both locked eyes. Her eyes continued to traveled down to Shining's hoof, seeing the razer-thin papercut that barely bled. On the ground was a tiny dollop of blood, perhaps smaller than a bit. Next to that was the discarded knife.
Cadence let out a sigh.
"Twilight's Twilight-ing again?" She asked.
"Yup. I think Mom and Dad should get her checked for panic attacks." Shining nodded casually. He looked down at his hoof. "To be fair, I don't know if she's ever seen anypony bleed before." He looked back up at Cadence. "It would feel better if you kissed it."
"Shining-" Cadence groaned, rolling her eyes, looking at Shining with the most dead face she could muster. "No. You're too young."
"Too- That's what you say every time!" Shining complained, sitting up from the kitchen floor. "I'm eleven! That's more than old enough!"
"And I'm thirteen." She mustered a harsh smile, one that surely cut Shining's soul in addition to the slash on his hoof. "Sorry, not sorry."
"Aw, come on!" Shining complained. Despite Cadence's words, she still took his hoof and rolled it around in her own, looking at the wound. "That's totally old enough! There has to be another reason!"
"Trust me, Shining. There isn't another reason." Her eyes refused to meet his. Whether this was due to her looking at the wound closely, or for some other reason, he didn't know.
"Is it my mane?" He used his free hoof to try and flatten out his blue hair. "I can change my mane if it's not-"
"It's not your mane." Cadence crudely cut him off, dropping his injured hoof.
"Oh, so there is a reason?" He argued back. "I'm just trying to be nice, Cadence!"
"And I don't want to date, Shining! No means no!" Cadence raised her voice. Shining shut his mouth, scootching away from the Pegasus. She sighed, looking away. "Look- It's not your fault. It really isn't. It's not even that you're younger than me. It's..." She sighed again. "It's just... Pegasus stuff, you know?"
"Coming through!" The conversation was suddenly interrupted by a Bat-pony out of Tartarus. Twilight made her dramatic appearance by skidding across the tiles, her hooves not able to gain any friction at all, and ending up in her pile-driving directly into a wooden table set. It all collapsed around her with a mighty bang.
"Oh my gosh- Twilight, are you okay?" Cadence asked, standing up quickly.
"M-good!" The voice returned from the wooden pile. She recovered surprisingly quick, scrambling out of her wooden tomb. "He's not, though! We need to save him before he passes out!" She pointed at Shining.
"Twilight, I'm really okay." He tried to argue. Cadence looked at Shining. And Shining looked back at her. She felt bad for him, really. A hopeless romantic, trying desperately to get a date with the pink Pegasus. But she couldn't. At least, not now. And not for a while.
"Whatever you say, Doctor Sparkle." Cadence said with a smirk. The fun thing about hopeless romantics, however, was their tolerance levels for their lovers. Shining gave a small glare at Cadence, which seemed to go completely unnoticed by Twilight, who was now holding a roll of toilet paper she had found.
"What are you gonna do with that?" Shining asked.
"Book says I need to wrap the wound." She explained, trotting towards the Unicorn. Shining slowly stood up, carefully beginning to back away from her. Cadence followed behind Twilight, now genuinely smiling as she watched Shining develop a fear for his sister.
"With toilet paper?" He asked.
"I would listen to the Doctor, Shining." Cadence said from behind Twilight.
"This just... isn't funny, guys!" He laughed nervously, his flank hitting the oven. "Last time you guys played pretend, I ended up covered in paint! I don't even want to know what Twilight has planned!"
"I'm just following the book!" Twilight said. "Now, stay still!"
Without warning, she leapt forwards, roll of toilet paper in hoof, and a wicked grin on her face. With Twilight's incredible speed, and Cadence for support, Shining didn't stand a chance.
The house devolved into screams.