Chapter 4 - Early Morning
A nurse walked through the quiet corridor of the castle hospital, the only sounds outside of her hoofsteps those of the night as she went through her rounds. The pale moonlight shone through the few skylights set in the ceiling, further illuminating the dimly lit hall. One by one, she went and checked on the rooms and ensured nothing was out of place.
As she came to the last room to be checked for the night, a faint snore reached her ears. Slowly opening the door, the sight that greeted her caused a smile to leap unbidden to her face. On the patient's bed lay the small filly that was the sole survivor of what the papers had coined the Highmount Massacre. Although her body was still heavily bandaged, seeing the young stallion next to the bed that, even in sleep, held one of her forehooves with his was a heartwarming thing to see.
She spared a moment or two to examine the rest of the room, noting that nothing was out of place. Her gaze went back to lingering on the brother and sister. Twilight shifted in her sleep, her other forehoof moving to hold onto Shining's. The nurse quietly backed out of the room and closed the door, forever burning that image within the room into her mind as she finished her rounds.
Shining blearily blinked the crud out of his eyes and stretched the kinks out of his neck. He was fighting off the lingering sleepiness, and was in the midst of fighting to remove his hoof from between Twilight's, as she refused to let go even in sleep. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of being a comfort to her, even if she wasn't aware of it, but his stomach had other plans as it let out a rebellious growl.
Finally freeing his hoof from Twilight's grasp, he carefully stepped down from the chair, feeling stiff all over from his choice of bedding. Shining had managed to convince the nurse to let him stay the night, and if he had his way he'd be next to Twilight until she was discharged. He cast one more glance at her before leaving the room, leaving the door cracked.
Shaking off the last of the morning daze, Shining navigated his way to the small dining area in the hospital. The attendant wearily smiled and waved, then went to work quickly putting together a tray of food. Shining took a seat and waited for the food to be prepared, letting his mind wander.
Although he was still unsure about the future with the death of his parents, Celestia had gone a long way in easing the fears he held. After the lunch, he and Cadance had gone back to Twilight's room and spent the remainder of the day just talking. The clattering of the tray being set down brought his focus to it just in time to see the film of magic disappearing from it.
Shining wasted no time in eating, going at a speed that would have made even the quickest recruit at basic envious. Bringing his tray back to the counter, he thanked the unicorn for the food, even though it was the standard hospital-quality fair. Arriving back at Twilight's room, he opened the door and saw her in the bed, still asleep.
Retaking his position in the now cold chair, he held her hoof once more and thought on the day before.
A very nervous Shining Armor opened the door for Cadance, the lunch with Celestia still fresh on his mind. She had, luckily, approved of their new relation, although they couldn't let it be known to anypony outside of immediate family. That basically meant only Twilight and Blueblood could be told. Shining shivered at the thought of the colt; according to Cadance he was already quite the terror, and was the same age as his precious Twilight.
"Shiny, calm down, please? I'll admit that was... odd, to say the least. But, she approves of us and we won't have to tiptoe around. On top of it, you and Twilight will be fine, even with..." Cadance trailed off as she left the obvious unsaid, wrapping a wing around him after moving to his side.
"I know, Cady, but I just can't help it..." He leaned into her, hesitantly nuzzling her neck. "I mean, I can still go and be a guard, and you'll be here for Twily when I can't be, but... it almost seems too good to be true, honestly." He shrugged his shoulders as he looked at Twilight lovingly.
"I think I understand what you mean, but still. I mean, it's a bit odd for Auntie to take such an interest in anypony like this, it's pretty obvious why she took in me and Bluey when our parents passed away last year, with the whole..." she trailed off, simply motioning a hoof at her horn and then wings. "I mean, it's been nice and all, living in the castle, but until recently every waking moment seemed to be an etiquette class, history of Equestria, or something else a princess should know." she paused a moment, a slightly annoyed look crossing her face. "It's almost like she's been grooming me for something."
Shining scratched under his horn with a hoof, thinking on what Cadance had just said. "So, she was... using you or something?" he asked, indecision in his tone.
Cadance hummed as she thought how to best phrase her reply. "Not quite using, I'd say. Auntie is nice enough, although she's always been a bit... distant? She does care about us, but it's always seemed like there's been a wall between us. Does that make sense?"
"I think so?" Shining thought a moment before shaking his head, clearing his mind. "I suppose I really shouldn't look too much into it. Twilight will have ponies looking out for her when I'm not here. I know Princess Celestia said that school and the training would take at least four years, but... I'm going to do it as quickly as I can so that I can keep Twily safe." He carefully shrugged himself from underneath Cadance's wing and walked to Twilight's bedside, resting his forehooves on the mattress.
Cadance walked up and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry, Shiny. I'll do my best to look out for her. She'll be safe, I promise."
Shining couldn't help but chuckle, dropping his hooves back to the ground and hugging Cadance. "You can try to keep her safe, Cady. She just loves finding her way into all sorts of trouble. I don't think it's something she'll outgrow either." He laughed quietly, being mindful of Twilight. "But, if things get too hectic, you can always just pull out a book. It's really the only way to keep her from causing chaos at times."
They met each other's eyes, staring into the vivid pools of color. Slowly, their muzzles inched closer together, their lips mere inches apart from one another. Then, –
"Shiny? That you?" A hoarse voice called out, followed by even hoarser coughing. Shining raised his head, eyes nearly bulging from their sockets.
"Twily!"
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Ok, this chapter is pretty good.
I was about to suggest removing the italics to keep as it's own chapter, then I saw the ending.
I must say, that was quite a good execution of it.
Not much to say outside of that.
~Skeeter The Lurker
Yay, best pone is finally awake!
This is quite the charming little fic. A surprising amount of world-building depth, too, with the gryphons.
As for constructive criticism... well, there's a couple of unnecessary parts, like:
The bits in bold don't really add anything. They just kinda state what's already been implied. There's probably more bits like this, but I can't remember where they were.
damn you, what a jip! all that, she finally wakes up and you cut us off
that is SO cruel
loving this story! waiting for more
3041245
Flashbacks. Letting you pass the time.
3041257
Quite possibly, only skimmed over this after just waking up, and I wrote this from 1:30a - 3:00a last night at work. I'll go back through it once I get some food and caffeine in the system and am awake. Thanks for the feedback, as always.
Glad you're enjoying it as well, it's fun writing it, and I've got some hopefully nice plans laid out to reflect Canon situations adapted to this. More specifically, her magic entrance exam. That should be fun.
3041277
Glad you're enjoying it.
I was going to start with her waking up, but then my brain was all like "No, you're going to write this, right here and right now. Go sit in the corner until you do!" So I went and did what my brain told me to do...
Nice update.
Just started reading this today and loved it. Couldn't wait for an update... Then two hours later, there was one!
Best day ever.
Aw man! A cliffhanger? Damn - guess I'll have to keep my eye out for the next update.
/ 5
Well written and a good storyline thusfar, looking forward to where you go with it.
From the way Blueblood was mentioned, I'm assuming he's just straight up Cadance's brother? Interesting that we have a pre-existing set of orphans, seems like a dangerous world to be parents in.
And
for Twilight waking up.
Aaawww cliffhanger
nice update
Were, were good! I truly enjoy this fic, you bland the darkness in the story white the utterly loving interactions of the characters flawlessly, and that's not easy to do. I await the next installment white hi anticipation my good man!
PS: Next chapter is coming soon I pray, in the mean time, have a good one!
Now to see what mental scars she shows now and which ones she shows later.
Damnit Twilight, now I'll never know what kind of perverted things Shining and Cadance did in front of you whilst you were unconscious.
Hmm ... Will Blueblood be The Rightful Heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Douchbags?
or will he be the noble and kind pony that I have seen in at least a few stories?
in any event please keep it up! This story is amazing
Huzzah, Best Pony is finally waking up! Love this story and this chapter, I can't wait to see where it goes from here. Keep up the good work.
Good chapter even if it was short, keep up the good work.
Great chapter.
Keep up the good work.
And to think, it only cost the lives of almost everyone you hold dear. I know the death of their parents isn't the emphasis in this story, but it practically just happened. Let their deaths not be in vain.
My my, you do like your flashbacks. While I can't argue with the effectiveness -- and the ability to tell the same story from multiple spots at the "same time" is nice -- it seems to be cropping up a lot. Considering the number of characters we're looking at being main focuses, it may be necessary. I urge you against relying on it too much; timelines can get choppy or hard to follow if flashbacks are very prominent.
Other than that, freaking brilliant. Of course the evil bastard in me can't wait to see how you handle young PTSD and it's impact on the future. I'm a bad person!
3044439
Yeah, I'll admit I am using it a lot, considering how little words this story has at the moment. Not certain if you've read BOWTN, but I ended up leaning on them in there too. There's something nice about them. However, I will be trying to avoid using them too much. I do love them, but they shouldn't be too necessary moving forward now.
As for the PTSD, I've got stuff in mind. It might rustle some jimmies until I show WHY I go that route, but it should be pretty awesome once it comes to light.
3041327
Thanks, glad you liked it.
3041549
Lol, glad to help make your day. Hopefully I can keep it to a chap a week or so.
3041589
Thanks for the kind words, hopefully it's not too long. Writing a chapter of FeMale Perspective at the moment, then probably another of this or a concept I've got in my head.
3041631
Yup, siblings. I'll explain it later, but I'm going with that general impression of it.
3042238
Yup, now comes the fun spot, where I can easily sink the story if I'm not careful... No pressure!
3042617
We shall see. I've already stated I'm keeping it close to canon, so for example the Gala scene with Rarity will still happen. However, his early years... Anything is possible.
3043863
Nah, I don't plan on being an ass to them. It's just that everything is simply falling into place with no action on his end, and he's still in shock to a degree. I don't really plan on dumping on them that much, truthfully. Their parents death should be the largest negative thing that occurs.
3044546 You know, there's something about the sincerity of your statement that makes me think I'll enjoy your writing
3044546 Nope none at all not even a little bit. Not even slight pressure. Not even story ending pressure yep no pressure at all
Too short!
More chapter please! 
3047941
Yeah, it was a small aside more than anything. I'll be starting on the next chapter within the next few days, most likely.
3047994
Something to look forward to! 
Sweet!
TWILIGHT HAS AWOKEN.
Now the fun stuff really begins! Or perhaps, the sad, angsty and angry stuff, since I doubt Twily will be all that happy about a certain few things...
Awesome story, spacecowboy. I'm loving all of the characters here, and can't wait to see how Twilight reacts to being made Celestia's ward. Keep up the great work!
HA! Leave it to filly Twilight to ruin a moment like that even if she's out cold in a hospital! That why I love this filly so much^^ She makes for the most awesome of moments^^
4 chapters in and Twilight has so-far done nothing but sleep... I was almost beginning to think that she would be comatose for at least another 2 more chapters.
This was nice, and I'm glad twi woke, even if just at the end. Makes me glad I started reading it now and not when it first came out so there's more to read
D'aaaaawwwww
