Shining's Log

by Zulaq

Shining's Log: Sister Sister

It was a quiet day for the library in the castle. Most ponies were outside enjoying the beautiful weather, but there were still a couple of stragglers who were taking advantage of the empty library to get some research done. Shining Armor was not one of those ponies. He was instead moving purposefully through the stacks of books, a grim expression on his face.

Sitting at one of the tables, with four massive piles of books around her was his sister, Twilight Sparkle, who was frantically flipping the pages of the book currently in front of her with her magic. Apparently not finding what she was looking for, she moved the book into one of the piles, and another book flew off a nearby shelf to hover in front of her. Her eyes were bloodshot, her mane was sticking out at random, and she had a slightly crazed look in her eyes.

As soon as he spotted her, Shining’s grim expression deepened a bit, before he marched over to her. “Twily,” he spoke softly.

She didn’t notice him, but her tail swished in agitation.

He reached up a hoof and nudged her. “Twily,” he repeated a bit louder.

Twilight startled, the book in her magical grip fell to the ground. “What is it? I told you, I’m doing research for a project given to me by the Princess, no inter-“ she turned around, and saw her brother, “-uptions. Shining? What are you doing here?”

Shining gave her a gimlet stare. “I think the better question is what are you doing here, Twily. You didn’t come home last night, Mom and Dad are frantic. They’re only a step away from calling the Watch.”

Twilight looked confused. “What? It hasn’t been that long has it?” she asked, “I’ve only been here a couple of hours.”

“A bit longer than that, at least according to Dusty Pages, he said you wandered in around noon yesterday and haven’t budged since.” Shining’s disapproving stare increased in intensity, “He said that every time he tried to get you to move along, you gave him a line about having some ultra-important project assigned personally by the Princess.”

“I do!” Twilight protested, “She said I’m about ready to receive some responsibly, so she was going to entrust the care of the dragon, which hatched the day she took me as a student, to me. So I need to learn as must as I can about dragons right away.” She picked up the book she had dropped with her telekinesis, and brought it up to eye-level before frantically turning the pages. “But I just can’t find what I’m looking for. None of these books deal with dragons under a century old, which is practically useless for me.”

Shining Armor sighed. “Twily, not every answer is in books-“

“-But it has to be here!” Twilight interrupted him, “You were the one who told me that books can tell you how to do anything!”

“Sometimes there can be situations which aren’t covered by books. Authors don’t know everything. But they can provide a good foundation for a person to work out how to deal with a new situation.”

“But I don’t have a foundation for raising a dragon! Nothing in any of my books comes even close to this sort of situation.”

“I’m certain that Princess Celestia wouldn’t assign you an impossible task. She must believe that you already have the needed foundation to deal with Spi-,” Shining abruptly stopped talking, a mildly panicked expression on his face. He quickly rallied, “Besides, you won’t be alone. If you need any help, you just need to ask and I’m sure that Mom and Dad, or Cadence, or even me would jump to help you, little sis.”

Twilight looked despondent. “But Celestia is giving me the responsibly. I can’t ask anypony for help.”

“Part of being responsible is knowing when to ask for help. I’m certain the Princess wouldn’t begrudge you a bit of aid when you truly need it.”

Twilight still looked uncertain. “Even if that’s true, I still should keep researching. Just because I haven’t come across the answer yet doesn’t mean it’s not here.”

Shining groaned and smacked his head with a hoof.

Shining’s Log-Entry: Sisters Are Frustrating
Twily can be so frustrating sometimes. She takes everything so seriously, it’s not right. A filly like her should be having fun with friends and only having to worry about homework. Instead it seems like Twily has no friends, and she feels that she has the weight of the world on her back because she’s Celestia’s student.

I know that this is how things are supposed to work out, but I can’t help but feel like I’m failing her as her older brother. I see more and more of Twilight Sparkle in Twily every day, and it worries me sick. What’s worse is I’m not sure if there’s anything I can do. She’s so determined to impress Princess Celestia, and to learn as much as she can that she just doesn’t realize what she’s missing. Maybe if I had done something different when she was younger then she would not be heading down this self-destructive path.

Twilight Sparkle was a friendless neurotic who only realized that she needed friends through a quirk of fate. I don’t want Twily to be that mare. But I feel helpless to stop that from happening, Twily’s already so enamored with her teacher, and so determined to learn everything under the sun. To take that away from her would destroy her. I could never do that to my sister.

But I can’t keep dragging her out to have some fun away from books. Eventually, I’m going to have another assignment outside of Canterlot, and I won’t be here to keep Twily sane. Mom and Dad might have been able to help, but I think they’re a bit intimidated by the fact Twily’s mentor is the Princess. They support her, but they don’t really do much to reign in her overzealous moments. The only other person pony I can think who might be able to help is Cadence.

I think maybe I need a talk with my marefriend.

Comments

[doctor_n]

*mumble*notenoughwords*grumble*

[The_Machinist]

I thought I faved this. I guess ididnt, it is faved now.

[Blixt]

So glad that this got updated. I love this fic.

[Tulip]

Nothing "humanish" in this Shining armor.

[Boldish42]

It Is ALIVE!! I'm... sorry, I'm just so happy. Excuse me! I have to go... Just to many emotions. No I'm not crying!
...
Shut up!

[Paperbag Wizard]

I wish you would make him more human in this story. I feel the whole appeal of the story was how a human would react if they were not only turned into a magical horse but a magical horse that is the brother of Twilight Sparkle. Sure his "humanness" would fade over time but it's been nearly nonexistent for much of the story.

[the host]

Holy shit, an update! I thought this story was dead and gone.

[the host]

Also, please don't humanize Shining anymore. I'm haveing a fun time watching 'Shining' try to mold Twilight with his limited prescience.

[Jlargent]

IT LIVES!

[Mr Extra]

I am personally very fond of this story and am glad to see it resurface.

Also- to all the grumblers and critics out there- the only reason that i'm still reading this fic is because the author is doing something right.

We all love to try and make things better in our own eyes, I know I've felt that way about some fics (shiver), but this guy just came back and gave us hope regarding a story many of us feared dead. So let's all sit back and let him do what he does best.

Eagerly waiting for you to feed my addiction,
- A simple Extra

[Lord Of Dorkness]

, this story isn't dead! Hurray!

And props for a rather nifty moral dilemma. I'd never dream of ask about something that is so clearly a end-game spoiler, but I'm honestly utterly curious if the previous life cat will ever come out of the bag. Twilight's reaction alone sounds like it be utterly fascinating.

[-Brutus]

4160033 He is a human in Shining Armor's body who have seen the show and knows what of to come. He even almost slipped up on this chapter when he almost said "Spike" which is that baby dragon's name. Also he've been writing in English which is unrecognizable language in land of Equestria to keep things quiet.

[ZeroSpawn]

4160485
that would completely defeat the entire premise to the whole story.