Twilight walked off the train and onto the hard ground where she saw two guards there to escort her to the castle. They said nothing as they flew in the gold chariot, and Twilight was very happy about this because she didn't feel like talking at the moment. All she could think about was the state of her brother and any spells she could use to heal him. But all she knew how to cure were coughs and colds. She knew nothing on deadly sicknesses. And she was sure that if there was anything to be done about it, it would have been done by now.
When they got to the castle, Cadence was waiting for there with a desperate look on her face.
"Oh Twilight! Thank goodness you made it here okay! We've tried every spell and brew we could, but nothing seems to be working. He just gets worse. We have heard about the great things your friend Zecora had been able to do in making antidotes. So we called her here as well. She should be coming on the next train. Oh Twilight, why did this have to happen?!" she asked with a look of grief on her face. You could tell that she had been crying a lot from the amount of moisture still soaking her light pink cheeks. Not saying anything, Twilight embraced the kind princess. For some reason, touching the pony who was suffering just as much as her was very comforting. Silently, they both walked into the castle and up a few flights of stairs to Shining Armor's bedroom. Ever since he became sick, he and Princess Cadence have had to sleep in separate rooms in order to keep her from getting sick as well.
As they looked upon the large bed, they saw him there under the thick white blankets. He had a wet towel laying right beneath his mane to keep him from getting too hot, but you could tell by how much he was sweating that it wasn't very effective. He appeared to be sleeping until he weakly asked for water, hardly being able to get the words out. The nurse beside him slowly lifted his head a bit and held a glass up to his lips and slowly tipped it back until he was finished. This was too much for Twilight. Just hearing about him was difficult enough, but seeing it was much worse. But being brave she stepped closer to the nurse.
"Wha-what's going on with him? Do we-do we know what's wrong yet?" she asked, getting choked up saying the words.
"Well, I'm sorry to say but unless we can find an antidote fast, he may only have a few days left."
"How many?" the purple mare asked in return, tears streaming from her face, "How many days?!" she demanded
"I'd guess about three, maybe four if he's lucky." At this Twilight took a step back. How could this happen? She looked at Princess Cadence who was standing at her husband's side, crying silently at the words that had just been spoken.
The silence was broken with a knock on the door. As it opened, the lavender mare could see the striped coat of her friend. Zecora had arrived holding a brown suitcase containing several herbs and medicines. She walked in, went to Shining Armor's side and exclaimed,
"Oh my! This prince's condition is rare. But do not worry, for I'm sure the antidote is in there." she pointed to her suitcase as she spoke the words. Examining him, she let out a gasp. Then turned to Princess Cadence with a solemn expression.
"I am afraid, that he cannot be saved. For the disease he has there is no cure. I'm sorry to say that for this I am sure."
"No, please Zecora! There has to be something!" the alicorn said disbelievingly. Zecora shook her head slowly, and putting her hoof on twilight shoulder softly said,
"I am afraid not my dear Twilight. For once I cannot make everything alright." Seeing that nothing more could be done, she waved goodbye and left the room.
Slightly regaining strength, Shining Armor told his sister to come to him.
"Twiley," he whispered, straining to speak "don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'm sure of it." after saying this he immediately fell asleep. And Twilight knew that when speaking took that much energy, then he probably was going to die.
"I need to get some air." she stated, walking out with her head low. She just wanted to be alone for a little bit. Going outside, she found a short flat rock behind a couple trees that she could sit on without anyone noticing she was there. She didn't want anypony seeing her. She started crying silently as the realization of her brother finally struck her. She knew he was going to, but it hadn't been real to her until now. She knew she had promised her friends that she would write, but she couldn't stomach even thinking about writing them the news. Not to mention actually doing so.
Quietly she sat, weeping tears of sadness for her brother. She would miss him greatly. Even though she hadn't seen him often since she moved to Ponyville, but "he is still my big brother best friend forever. And he always will be. And poor Cadence. She had no idea that "until death do us part" meant that death would come so quickly. They have only been married for about four years now. Why did the end have to come so soon? Why did he have to die now? He couldn't. He'd never leave us behind like that. No. He can't die. He just can't." the lightly colored unicorn thought to herself. He can't.
After reassuring herself that he couldn't die now, Twilight walked back into the castle and into her brother's room where she saw Cadence openly weeping over Shining Armor. Seeing that she needed to be alone, Twilight slowly an silently walked out. She was walking towards some steps when she heard a voice.
"Twilight Sparkle. I am so sorry to hear about your brother." it was Princess Celestia. "I am glad that you had a save journey here." she stated as she embraces her pupil. "Allow me to show you to the room you'll be staying at while you're here." she said, trying to keep things cheery for the clearly upset mare. Twilight followed her to a large room that looked slightly familiar.
"This is the same room your friend Rarity stayed in when she was here last. I'll leave you here to get comfortable." she said, exiting the large room.
Twilight saw her things on the large white rug in the center of the room. Unpacking her neatly placed quills, ink bottles, and parchment paper, she started wondering how she would start her letter. She sat down and dipped one of the feathers in the black ink and pressed it against the paper and began writing.
"Dear Friends,
I've arrived safely in Canterlot, but not all has been going very well otherwise. I learned today that Shining Armor only has a few days left. Not even Zecora could find a cure. I miss all of you very much already, and really hope you all are having a good time there without me. I'll see you all in a few days.
In friendship and love,
Twilight Sparkle"
After proofreading the short, tear stained letter, she performed a magic trick that she had recently learned, sending the letter to her pet dragon. It was starting to get late, so she walked across the room to the large bed, crawled underneath the blue covers, and slowly drifted off to sleep.