My Brave Pony: The Knight Who Fell From Space

by Scipio Smith

Little Sister

Little Sister

When Twilight woke up the next day she found that not only was the light of the sun already drifting in through the crack in the curtains, but Lightning Dawn was gone. He had slept on the floor of the lower level, refusing Twilight’s offer to take the bed – apparently it would have dishonoured him, for reasons that Twilight didn’t quite understand – and so she only found out that he was gone when she trotted downstairs to wish him a good morning.

He had taken off his armour and left it behind, stacked neatly in a sturdy-looking pile in the space between two bookshelves, and he had also left Krysta behind, sleeping on a water bed that Twilight had borrowed from Pinkie – there was only one, and again Lightning had refused to share it with his little sister – and covered in both the spare blankets that Twilight had got out for both her guests. Had he only given her the second as he left, or had she always had both and Lightning had slept both on the hard floor and uncovered?

In any case, she was still asleep, her little arms spread out but still barely touching the edges of the water bed, snoring under the sheets. Twilight decided not to wake her.

She soon found that Lightning had left her a note on the table, one corner slipped under the bust of the unicorn so that it didn’t slip away anywhere. As she levitated it up to get a better look at it Twilight was rather astonished to see how appalling Lightning’s writing was: he wrote in block capitals as though he were trying to chip stone, and at more than one point he had driven his pencil through the paper and into the table beneath, marking it and scratching through the veneer. It wasn’t a big deal by any means, but… well, perhaps Twilight was just being a terrible snob about this but she would have expected a prince to have a more elegant style of writing.

She remembered how impressed he had been by the simple telekinesis of Rarity and herself, how he had explained that he didn’t have the dexterity to move small objects with his magic; that was a little strange, since even though many unicorns did not have Rarity’s finesse when it came to magic moving small objects one at a time was literally the first thing that any unicorn learned when it came to magic - at least in Equestria. However, as unusual as it was it did suggest that he must have written this note with his mouth, something that he was perhaps unfamiliar with doing. Although if he didn’t usually write with either his magic or his mouth then what did he use?

Regardless, block capitals or no he had left her this note not so that she could critique his style but so that she would know where he had gone, so Twilight thought that she really ought to stop judging him – for that, at least; she still felt quite comfortable judging him for the way in which he lapsed into judging her friends – and read it.

DEAR MISS TWILIGHT,

I HAVE GONE TO CALL ON MISS FLUTTERSHY AND BEGIN WORK ON HER DAM AS I PROMISED. AFTERWARDS I WILL COMPLETE MY OTHER PROMISE AND APOLOGISE TO APPLEJACK. I WOULD WELCOME YOUR COMPANY FOR THAT TO SMOOTH THE WAY.

PLEASE HAVE SOMEONE WATCH KRYSTA AND KEEP HER OUT OF TROUBLE. SHE WILL NOT WISH TO COME TO THE FARM AND I DO NOT WISH IT EITHER.

ONCE THAT IS DONE, AND IF THERE IS YET NO REPLY FROM PRINCESS CELESTIA, I SHOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS OUR VISITING HER DIRECTLY.

YOURS,

PRINCE LIGHTNING DAWN.

Twilight set down the note, and wondered how long it had been since Lightning had written that and set out for Fluttershy’s cottage. Surely it could not have been so long; the sun had not been up for a very long time, and he would not have left before the dawn; or would he?

Regardless, he had been clear about where he was going and, remembering the way in which Krysta had acted at the mention of Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight supposed that Lightning was probably right that she wouldn’t want to go there.

Twilight went back upstairs, and felt a twinge of guilt as she nudged Spike awake with one gently prodding hoof.

Spike grunted, snuffled, and rolled over, clutching his blanket a little tighter around him.

“Spike,” Twilight whispered, prodding him again.

Spike rolled back over and opened up one eye. “I guess it’s important, then?” he asked.

Twilight smiled apologetically. “I’m afraid so,” she said. “I’m going down to Fluttershy’s to see how Lightning is getting on there, can you keep an eye on Krysta and let her know where we’ve gone. Lightning left a note as well which she can read if she likes.”

Spike blinked. “He left already?”

“So it seems,” Twilight said. “I guess he wanted to get started.”

Spike climbed out of his basket and stretched his tiny limbs. “And what about you? You’re heading out too?”

“He asked me to join him,” Twilight said. “He wants me there when he heads over to Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Because Applejack is so scary that he needs you there to protect him?” Spike asked.

“He was kind of rude to her,” Twilight said. “I suppose he’s worried about how she’ll react to him just showing up on her farm by himself.”

“I guess,” Spike said. “Although he still doesn’t think much of her, does he?”

Twilight thought about the note on the table, and the way in which Applejack was still, resolutely, Applejack while Twilight and Fluttershy were Miss Twilight and Miss Fluttershy respectively. That kind of attitude wouldn’t likely get him very far with Applejack herself. “Perhaps not,” she admitted. “But at least he’s trying.” She hoped that that would make a difference, at least. “Anyway, I should go.”

“You’re not even going to have breakfast first?” Spike said.

“No,” Twilight said. “Maybe, if it goes well, we can pick something up at Applejack’s, or there’s always Sugarcube Corner.”

“How long do you think you’ll be gone?”

“I’m not sure, but in the meantime keep an eye on Krysta, okay,” Twilight said. “I’ll see you later,” she added, as she trotted down the stairs and quietly opened the door, heading out into Ponyville in the early morning.

The town was quiet, with very few ponies stirring so early as Twilight trotted through the streets and out of the town, heading towards Fluttershy’s cottage. She passed the river, still swollen and overflowing its banks, although thankfully there had been no rain yesterday or last night to cause its level to rise any higher. She made her way along the side of the overflowing stream until she came to Fluttershy’s, the house still threatened by the rising water levels which, if they hadn’t risen, had not dropped down any further from her front door either.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight called as she approached. “Fluttershy, are you in there?”

“Yes,” Fluttershy replied, her voice echoing out of the open door. “Come in, Twilight.”

Twilight walked up to the doorway, but when she looked inside she saw that actually entering would be difficult as the house – the large open living room at least – was crammed with animals, even more so than usual; they filled the room so completely that Twilight could barely see the floor, while the birds were resorting to sitting on the larger animals for want of anywhere else to go.

“Uh, coming in might be a little tricky,” Twilight said.

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said, squeezing out of the gap between a bear and a goat. “I’d offer you a cup of tea but there isn’t much room to move around at the moment.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Twilight said. “So they’re all staying with you until the dam gets fixed?”

“Until the river level drops and they can back to their own homes, yes,” Fluttershy said. “Hopefully it won’t take much longer. There’s already a bit of friction starting to develop.” She glanced at Angel, of all the animals the one which came closest to being her pet, who was glowering furiously at a hog sitting in some spot which, Twilight guessed, belonged more usually to Angel. The hog seemed to be taking no notice whatsoever.

Fluttershy walked towards Twilight, who backed away to let Fluttershy come out of the door. “That’s why I’m glad you’re new friend came by so early to start work.”

“Yes, that’s why I came too,” Twilight said. “I woke up and found that he’d left me a note saying that he was coming here.”

“I’ll take you to him,” Fluttershy said, although it wouldn’t have taken a pony of Twilight’s intellect to have known to follow the stream until she came to the dam. Nevertheless she was glad of Fluttershy’s company as the two of them walked, side by side, down the waterway. “So, did you find out a little more about him?” Fluttershy asked.

“He told me plenty,” Twilight said. “I just… I don’t know how much of it to believe.”

“You mean you think he’s lying?” Fluttershy asked uncertainly.

“No,” Twilight said. “I mean, I don’t think he’s lying. That’s what makes all of this so confusing. If I thought that he was just spinning me a yarn then, well, it still wouldn’t make any sense how he got here but it would be something that I could understand. But I think, I’m not living lie detector or anything but I really believe that he believes what he’s saying. Which makes it all the stranger that it seems… unbelievable.”

Fluttershy frowned. “I’m afraid I don’t really understand.”

“Sorry, perhaps I should have told you the story first,” Twilight said. “Except that it is quite a long story.” She sighed. “Fluttershy, what would you do if you found out that the world was so different from what you imagined?”

“How so?”

“Like… like somepony that you thought you knew had a side to them that you’d never even imagined before, or the history that you thought you knew had gaping holes in it,” Twilight said. “Or even that your understanding of what kind of world you lived in was completely inadequate and had to be radically rethought. If everything that Lightning Dawn says is true then… then I feel like I’m in filly kindergarten again.”

“I can see how that might be worrying for you,” Fluttershy said, and it was a testament to Fluttershy’s even tone that she managed to make something that sounded sarcastic passing any other lips sound sincere. “But, for me, the only one that would really bother me would be the first one.”

Twilight looked at her. “Really?”

“If I found out that the people I knew… if I found out that Rarity or Rainbow Dash or you… everything else, I suppose that I’d just have to live with it, and I’d like to think that I could so long as I had all of you girls to help me.” She hesitated. “But how could Lightning Dawn know anything about anypony that you know? Isn’t he a stranger here?”

“He is,” Twilight said. “But he knows, or says he knows, something about Princess Celestia. Could you ever imagine her being in love?”

Fluttershy paused a moment before she said, “I’m afraid I couldn’t say; I don’t know her like you do.”

“I’m starting to wonder if I knew her like I thought I did,” Twilight said. “Like I said: a whole other part of her that I never saw, that I never even knew was there.”

“If she kept something like that from you then I’m sure she had a good reason for it,” Fluttershy said. “But just because the princess has secrets doesn’t mean that you don’t know her at all, or that she doesn’t care about you.”

Twilight looked at her friend, and smiled softly. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

“What for?” Fluttershy asked guilelessly. “So, what are Lightning and Krysta doing here?”

“Looking for a magical treasure to protect their kingdom, apparently.”

“That sounds important,” Fluttershy said. “Does Lightning really have time to help me in that case?”

“I… wouldn’t necessarily have thought so,” Twilight said. “But if he disagrees then who am I to say otherwise.”

“I suppose,” Fluttershy said. “When I asked him how he’d found Ponyville he said that it was lovely… but he seemed very sad when he said it.”

Twilight hesitated, wondering how kindly or otherwise Lightning would take to her revealing his secrets. “He... I’m afraid that you’d have to ask him about that,” she said.

“Of course,” Fluttershy said gently. “We’re almost here.”

She led Twilight down to the dam, which Twilight could see had collapsed in the mid-section, allowing water to pour through the breach and raise the level of the stream. What she could not see, at first, was Lightning Dawn himself, until as they got closer still Twilight saw his head and shoulders emerge from the water, to take a deep breath.

He twisted in the water, catching sight of the pair of them. “Miss Fluttershy, hello again,” he said. “And good morning, Miss Twilight. I see that you were able to read my note.”

“Your writing isn’t that bad,” Twilight said, feeling a little guilty for having thought about it in that way now that Lightning had made clear that he was aware of the issue himself.

“It is comprehensible, at best,” Lightning replied. “Fortunately comprehensible is all that I require it to be.”

“I was surprised to find you up and having come down here so early,” Twilight said.

“I did not wish to prolong the distress of Miss Fluttershy’s wards longer than necessary,” Lightning replied. “Especially since I had a hoof in some of that distress myself.”

“But it wasn’t you who broke the dam,” Fluttershy said. “So it’s very kind of you to come down here and do this.”

“It is no trouble, Miss Fluttershy, but a pleasure,” Lightning said. “There is something wholesome about physical labour, I find. Being able to see the results of your work at the end and knowing that it will last… it is satisfying, in a way that few other things are.” He swam over to the bank of the stream, where a pile of wooden sticks were waiting for him, and picked up a few in his mouth. He swam back over to the centre of the dam, and dived once more beneath the water which, the two of them standing now so close to it, was clear enough for Twilight and Fluttershy to watch as he built them into the dam that he was rebuilding before he rose once more to the surface for air.

“Do you want any help?” Twilight asked, levitating a couple of sticks with her magic to show what he meant.

“I can manage,” Lightning said.

“I’m sure you can, but that’s not what I asked,” Twilight said. “Would you like any help?”

Lightning swam over to the bank again. “You are very kind and generous to offer, Miss Twilight, but for all your deftness with magic I hardly think that this is any kind of work for you.”

Twilight’s eyebrows rose. “Meaning what, exactly?”

“That it is not for the student of the arcane arts, the apprentice of a princess, to do such work as this.”

“Aren’t you a prince?” Twilight asked.

Lightning hesitated. “You… you catch me very well upon the point, Miss Twilight. That being so, this prince would be most honoured and grateful for your assistance.”

Twilight smiled as she splashed into the stream beside him, feeling the cool water lap around and over her, soaking her coat. “Now, I’ve never done anything like this before, so you’ll have to let me know where to- wait, how do you know how to do this?”

“I was not always a prince,” Lightning said. “Nor did I go from Hippolytus to New Olympia in a single move. Krysta and I wandered for some time, from place to place, sometimes even from world to world when we found a naturally occurring portal. When I could I paid our way by doing odd jobs, manual work, that sort of thing. I dug ditches, I chopped wood, I mended roofs and I have built a little dam or too like this upon occasion. As I said, there’s something immensely satisfying about making something like this. Nothing else that I did for our keep ever refreshed me the way that this did.”

“The satisfaction of completing something,” Twilight said, thinking of the feeling of accomplishment she got when all her studies paid off, when she learnt a spell or completed a project and could just step back and admire her own hoof-work.

“Indeed,” Lightning said.

Together, the two of them set to work, with Lightning gesturing to let Twilight know where to place the sticks in the dam; they settled into a good working rhythm, with Lightning handling the larger pieces of wood with his mouth while Twilight, with her ability to manipulate the smaller pieces more deftly, wove them into the gaps to plug up any holes that might otherwise have lingered there or been harder for Lightning alone to stop up. Together they found that they were able to work swiftly, and it seemed as though hardly any time at all had passed before they were done, the dam rising above the level of the water even as said water, its flow reduced to the level allowed by the small gap that Lightning and Twilight had purposefully left in the construction, began to build up once again behind it.

“That should do it,” Lightning said. “Although it may take a little while for all the water already here to dry up and reduce to the level it was at before.”

“I understand,” Fluttershy said. “Still, everyone will be so glad to get back to normal. Thank you both for all your help.”

“We’re just glad that there was something that we could do,” Twilight said, only realising once she’d said it that it was somewhat presumptuous of her to speak for Lightning thus.

“Indeed,” he said, emerging from the water dripping wet. Somehow it seemed to exaggerate not only his muscular form, but also the strange marbled pattern that crossed his coat. Twilight stared at it for a moment, and would have been ashamed of herself for staring – and more than a little embarrassed in case she got caught staring by either Fluttershy or Lightning himself – but it wasn’t just the way that the water exaggerated his rock-hard muscles, his powerful frame, or even the alluringly unusual pattern that defined his appearance, it was also something that she hadn’t quite been able to make out – or at least had been able to tell herself that it was a trick of the water – in the stream. It was the fact that Lightning’s body was not only covered by the various shades of grey that, like marble, mottled his white coat; his body was also covered with scars too. Some of them, Twilight might even say – and this troubled her – most of them were masked by the fact that Lightning’s coat was not a single colour, and the darker shades masked the ugly red of the old injuries so that Twilight had to guess at what the lines really were; it was only where his coat was its base white that she could say with certain that he had red lines upon it, marks where he had been cut, or even cut open judging by how long some of them were. Some, down his legs and across his back, where so long it looked as though he had been sliced open, that all his skin could have been peeled back and then sewn up again if desired.

She couldn’t take her eyes off them, no matter her awareness of how rude it was for her to stare. Who had done this to him? And why? How many scars did he have, and how long had it taken them for him to get them?

Even after all that he had told her did she still not understand the life he led.

Twilight glanced at Fluttershy, and saw that she didn’t seem so surprised; of course, Lightning had been here for a while before Twilight arrived so she had probably seen the scars already. She wondered if Fluttershy had already asked him where and how he come by the wounds, or if she had been too nervous of giving offence to do so.

Lightning glanced at her, but seemed not to notice that she had been staring. “Miss Twilight, would you… would you come with me to Sweet Apple Acres now, where I hope I can make amends for my behaviour. Miss Fluttershy, I will not trespass on you any further.”

“It’s alright,” Fluttershy. “I mean, if you want to go then I won’t keep you, but I’m sure that everyone would like to thank you for your help just as much as I would.”

Lightning bowed his head. “I thank you, Miss Fluttershy, but your own gratitude is quite sufficient.”

Twilight climbed out of the water, and shook a little more of it off herself. “Are you ready to go, then?”

“I am, Miss Twilight.”

“Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “It was good to see you.”

“You too, Twilight,” Fluttershy said. “Come again soon.”

Twilight smiled at her, and then began to lead Lightning across the open country that separated Fluttershy’s cottage from Sweet Apple Acres. Fluttershy stood beside her still swollen stream, watching them go until she became too small to properly make out.

When they had gone so far that they had put a distance between Fluttershy and themselves, and yet were still some way from Sweet Apple Acres, Lightning said, “So, you are curious about my scars, Miss Twilight?”

Twilight let out a squeak of embarrassment. “You, uh, you noticed that, huh?”

“You were not subtle, Miss Twilight, I’m afraid.”

Twilight chuckled nervously. “Well, um, it wasn’t the first thing I noticed…” she felt a flush rising to her cheeks. “But they are very noticeable.”

“Yes,” Lightning said softly. “I suppose they are.”

Twilight waited a moment to see if he would say more, until it became clear that he would not. “Are they… battle scars?”

“Some, but not as many as you might think,” Lightning said, as the two of them kept walking. “My armour keeps me well protected most of the time. It has been pierced once or twice and… you can see the markings on my skin, but… no, most of these were not taken in battle.”

“Then… how-“

“Some come from when I was young,” Lightning said. “During mine and Krysta’s wanderings. Some folk would allow me to earn a little money by doing honest work, odd jobs here and there; we were never welcome for too long, two vagrants as we were and Krysta a fae, but the kindest people, people not unlike those that can be found here in your town, would give us a chance to rest our legs. Others were less kind, and gave me tokens of their esteem before they drove us out.”

Twilight recalled what Krysta had said about Ponyville seeming like the kind of place she and Lightning had been run out of in the past. “I’m sorry,” she murmured.

“It is of little consequence, in the scheme of things,” Lightning replied. “It is… all in the past now. Krysta is safe and we have a home and… so much has changed, since then. I would not want you to think that I wallow in self-pity, Miss Twilight; the truth is that what you may perceive as the worst of these scars, the longest and most visible of them, were done to me with my consent in one of my father’s facilities.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “You… your father did this to you? And you were okay with that?”

“His Majesty did not perform the surgeries himself,” Lightning corrected her. “His servants did that.”

“Surgeries?” Twilight repeated. “Were you sick?”

“I was weak,” Lightning replied. “I wished to be stronger, to serve my father as a knight. His Majesty, my father the king, bestowed these wings upon me out of his power, but there is more to becoming one of the elite of New Olympia and a paladin of the light than simply gaining wings or a horn or both although that is part of it and the greatest honour in the process.”

“Process?” Twilight said. “There is a process?”

“A process of strengthening,” Lightning said. “Of improvement, of… modification,” Lightning said. “My… I don’t know how much of the science you will understand, Miss Twilight, not because I think that you lack the intelligence to understand but… our science has advanced so much more rapidly than yours has that I’m not sure you have the base knowledge to comprehend. But I am a changed pony, transformed by that same science and by all the technological fruits said science has yielded. My bones are stronger, my muscles are tougher, I can run faster, strike harder; and onto my strengthened bones have been grafted metal braces to increase my strength and speed, my ability to take hits without suffering fractures; those are the scars you see on my legs and back.”

“It sounds… did it hurt?” Twilight said.

“Very much so,” Lightning admitted. “I cried out in pain. But at the same time… I knew that it would all be worthwhile because at the end of it all, out of the pain, I would gain the power to protect Krysta, to protect my new home and my new family.” He paused. “Some of the procedure can only be done at a very young age; those who give their children to the Star Legion do so from that young age, honoured to send their colts and fillies to be trained to join the elite.”

“What if the children themselves don’t want it?” Twilight asked.

“No one forces them to become knights,” Lightning said. “At the end of their training they can walk away, if they wish. None will… no, that is not quite true, many will think less of them but, nevertheless, it is a choice available to them.”

Do something you don’t want or be shamed throughout the whole world, Twilight thought. Some choice.

“I was almost too old to venture on that road,” Lightning said. “At my age there was a risk I could have… become seriously ill from it, a risk that increases the older you become. My father was not sure to risk me, but I cried at the thought of being denied more than I ever did from any of the procedures until he relented, and agreed to let me take the risk.”

“Why?” Twilight asked. “Why would you risk yourself like that, put yourself through so much?”

“Because I have something that I would die to protect,” Lightning said. He shook his head. “Those are words easily said, but even if they are meant… what does dying do to protect the things that you hold dear? How long will they last once you have died if you dying accomplishes nothing actually protect them. There are things that I would die to protect, but that being so why should I not run the risk of death in order to gain the power to actually protect them, to keep them safe, to triumph over those who would do harm to that which is precious to me?”

“Krysta?” Twilight ventured.

“Amongst other things, and of all things the most precious to my heart,” Lightning agreed. “I… I confess it bothers me sometimes that she doesn’t seem to appreciate that.”

“Appreciate that,” Twilight said. “Or appreciate the sacrifices that you’ve made for her?”

Lightning was silent for a moment. “Put like that it seems very selfish.”

“I’m sure that she appreciates everything that you’ve done for her,” Twilight said. “And everything that you do.”

“Perhaps,” Lightning murmured. “So why do I feel as though I’m never doing enough?”

He didn’t say anything else for the rest of the journey to Sweet Apple Acres, as the two of them walked along the edge of the Apple Family property until they came to the front gate, and then followed the path through the orchards towards the farm itself. Lightning didn’t seem very comfortable; to the extent that he had seemed at ease around Fluttershy, and on the journey here, he seemed to lose that comfort on the dirt track through the apple orchards, seeming more and more tense the closer they got to the barn and farmhouse.

Twilight would have asked him what was wrong, but before she could Applejack emerged from out of said farmhouse and began to approach them at a brisk pace.

“Howdy there, Twilight,” she said. “Good to see you.” Her eyes narrowed a little as she looked at Lightning. “On the other hoof, I’m surprised to see you here, your highness. I thought a place like this was a little too boring for you.”

Lightning, to his credit in Twilight’s opinion, seemed abashed by her criticism. “Yes, well, I… I owe you an apology for the way that I behaved yesterday. It was condescending of me, and discourteous. I should have… I should have been more polite about my desire not to come anywhere near this place with Krysta.”

Possibly you could have phrased that worse but I’m not entirely sure how, Twilight thought.

Applejack pushed her hat back on her head for a moment. “Nice of you to come all the way down here to tell me that you don’t want to be here, I suppose,” she said bitingly.

Lightning scowled. “I… that was not very well said, either. I… I know that you must think that I am nought but a proud and haughty snob, but…Krysta and I have good reasons for not liking places like this. We… do not have very many good memories associated with them.”

“Really?” Applejack asked. “I don’t see why that should have any bearing on me and mine, but… I guess these things ain’t always rational. You could have just told me that you didn’t like farms very much instead of getting all high and mighty on me like I was just dirt under your hoof.”

“That is why I came to apologise,” Lightning said. “Miss Twilight assures me that you are a mare of many virtues, and your work is vital and… and I have no doubt that you are a true salt of the earth mare and a pillar of this place. I am sorry for having suggested otherwise. Please forgive me.”

Twilight noted that he did not bow his head to her, as he had to Fluttershy, but Applejack seemed not to notice, or at least to be prepared to overlook, the classism in the way in which he treated her differently to the rest of Twilight’s friends. She just looked him up and down for a moment. “Well, I guess it is good of you to come down here and say that to my face, even if I guess that Twilight had something to do with it, ain’t that right sugarcube?”

Twilight turned away as Lightning muttered. “Miss Twilight… did press me a little on this point.”

“I thought so,” Applejack said, with a degree of amusement in her rich, southern voice. “Anyway, thank you kindly. Now, if you don’t mind I’ve got some work to do and I guess you don’t really want to stick around here anyway.”

“Not particularly,” Lightning said.

“Then we understand each other pretty well, I think,” Applejack said. “Twilight, you’re always welcome, you know that.”

“Of course,” Twilight said, deciding not to ask about staying for breakfast since Applejack was clearly busy and Lightning was clearly still uncomfortable. As Applejack turned away she said, instead, “So, would you like to get something to eat at Sugarcube Corner? Pinkie does some mean waffles.”

Lightning considered it for a moment. “That… that sounds delightful, but I couldn’t ask you to keep-“

“It’s no trouble about the bits,” Twilight said. “Come on, it’s not that much. I wouldn’t offer if it was too much for me.”

Lightning hesitated. “Then… thank you, Miss Twilight.”

As they turned to go, heading back up the path towards the exit from the farm, Twilight said, “So… you don’t like farms.”

“I… as I said, Miss Twilight, Krysta and I were not always treated with kindness by those we came across in our wanderings,” Lightning said. “I confess that, sometimes, I would steal from their fields in order to feed us, but only when I could not earn any money to come by food honestly. The farmers rarely appreciated the distinction. We were chased by dogs, set upon…” Lightning fell silent, for a little while at least. “I tried to take the brunt of it; I would rarely allow Krysta to come with me to raid fields or orchards in case we were caught but, on one occasion, a particularly irate and vicious farmer did catch us, he tied me up and… and he began to beat Krysta.”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said. “But Applejack isn’t like that, not at all. None of the Apples are. They’re the most welcoming and warm-hearted ponies you could ever hope to meet.”

“Even to those that try to steal from them?”

“I think that if Applejack found a young homeless pony trying to take apples to feed himself and his sister because they had nowhere else to go then they would invite them inside and give them a meal and a place by the fire,” Twilight said. “That’s just the kind of pony that Applejack is.”

“Then I am truly sorry for having traduced her so,” Lightning said. “But in my experience very few farmers are so welcoming or so free with their resources. I thought he was going to kill Krysta. In my nightmares… I hear her cries for help ringing in my ears while I, bound, am powerless to aid her.”

“But he didn’t,” Twilight said. “He didn’t kill her.”

“No,” Lightning growled. “No, he didn’t. I…” his horn, his golden horn that was so unlike the rest of him, began to glow brighter; Lightning noticed this, and scowled, and seemed to be making an effort to master his magic because, after a moment, the glow faded. “I apologise,” he said. “That happens when I… I normally keep it under control.”

“Why do I get the feeling that there is something that you’re not telling me?” Twilight said.

“Because I have not reached the end of the story,” Lightning admitted. “I… what you just saw was the stirrings of the solaforce, the fire of heaven, a magic both exceedingly rare and exceedingly powerful, destructive… a gift I was unaware of until that brute hog-tied me and forced me to watch as he threatened the only person in the world, in all the worlds I had seen whom I… I didn’t even know what I was doing but in my desire to protect her, in my inability to do anything else and, yes, in my desire to punish him for his brutality I unleashed that power. I turned him to ash before my very eyes.”

Twilight’s eyes were very wide on hearing this. “You… you killed him?”

“His Majesty found us not long after,” Lightning said. “Apparently my use of the solaforce was like a beacon to him.”

“You killed him?” Twilight repeated. “You just… you killed someone?”

“You knew that I was a warrior,” Lightning said. “Did you think that I had no lives upon my conscience?”

“I… that’s not the same thing!” Twilight cried, although it was a thing about which she had preferred not to think. “You’re not talking about fighting on the battlefield, you’re talking about murder.”

“Murder?” Lightning responded, with a touch of outrage in his voice which soon ebbed away like the tide. “Perhaps,” he conceded. “Perhaps I am, but… I do not regret it. I would do it all again for Krysta’s sake. I would do… anything for her.”

Twilight stared at him silently, unsure of what to say. Assuming that he was telling the truth – and she thought he was – then she could hardly say that he had acted wrongly, exactly, in protecting his sister but at the same time… to kill someone, to burn them alive until there was nothing left… surely it was wrong to talk so calmly about that, to not even show a sliver of regret for having done it.

She had no idea what to say. She had no idea even of what to think about what Lightning had just told her. Twilight had no idea what she was supposed to say next.

Fortunately she was spared having to work out just what she ought to say next by the arrival of Rainbow Dash, who descended out of the sky to land in front of them.

“Twilight,” she said. “Fluttershy said that I might find the two of you here. Some guy just arrived on the train from Canterlot looking for… well, looking for both of you actually.”

“Did Princess Celestia send them?” Twilight asked.

“Maybe, I don’t know,” Rainbow said. “I told him that I’d find you and tell you about him. He says he’s your brother?”

---

Spike was dusting the library, wearing his pink apron as he waved his feather duster around the place, banishing all signs of dust from immediate view, when a stirring in the middle of the room alerted him to the fact that Krysta was waking up.

He turned around as she stirred, stretching her arms out on either side as she fluttered her bright blue eyes and rolled off the water bed. The blanket fell on top of her, covering her head as she moved around underneath it like some kind of creature emerging from a swamp. She moved. She stopped. She lay down on the floor as if she was considering going back to sleep. She moved again. She emerged from underneath the blanket slowly, like a butterfly coming out of the cocoon.

“That was surprisingly comfortable,” Krysta said, as much to herself as anyone else. She caught sight of Spike. “Morning Spike,” she said. Her eyes lingered upon his apron, but she didn’t comment on it. Instead she looked around the library. “Where’s Lightning?” she asked, her voice a mixture of slight nervousness and a degree of irritation.

“He went out early, before me or Twilight woke up,” Spike said. “I think he went down to Fluttershy’s place. Twilight went out after him not too long ago. There’s a note he left for you over there.” He pointed with one clawed hand to the table.

Krysta got up, yawning and stretching as she did so, and fluttered her gossamer wings gently behind her as she made her way over to the table, where Lightning’s letter waited on the table.

She picked it up, her eyes flickering back and forth as she scanned the contents.

“Keep me out of trouble!” she yelled. “Keep me out of trouble, what am I, six years old? Seriously, he treats me like I’m a child! I’m fourteen years old, I can take care of myself!” she scrunched the letter up into a ball and flung it onto the ground. “One of these days, I… one of these days I am going to totally save his life and then he’s going to have to get down on his knees and admit that I was totally awesome all along and he just couldn’t see it. That’ll show him.”

“Sure it will,” Spike said evenly, as he picked up the ball of paper and put it tidily in the waist paper basket. “Do you want anything to eat? I was thinking about taking a break to make breakfast anyway.”

“Taking a break… to make me a meal?” Krysta said.

“I’m going to have some too,” Spike said.

“Right, but still…” Krysta said. “Do you know when Lightning and Twilight are going to get back?”

“No, sorry,” Spike said. “Twilight doesn’t tell me a lot of stuff like that. She goes off on adventures and I get to stay here and-“

“Worry,” Krysta finished for him. She smiled sympathetically. “I totally-“ She was interrupted by a rumbling in her stomach, causing her to laugh nervously. “You know, maybe breakfast wouldn’t be a bad idea after all.”

Spike grinned. “What would you like? Waffles or pancakes?”

“Uh, you’re making it, so you decide,” Krysta said.

Spike thought about it for a moment. “Okay then, pancakes.”

He waddled into the kitchen and set to work, with Krysta following behind him. She sat down in a stool in the corner and watched him get the flour down out of the cupboard. “I’d offer to help, but… I think I’d just get in your way.”

“It’s okay,” Spike said, breaking an egg and dropping into the pan. “I’ve done this lots of times.”

“Right,” Krysta said. “So… do you do all the cooking and cleaning up around here?”

“Yup,” Spike said. “Well, saying that I do all the cooking… a lot of the time we go out to eat, either at a restaurant or to Applejack’s or Sugarcube Corner, or sometimes Rarity invites us round, and last week Fluttershy-“

“But Twilight never does it,” Krysta said.

Spike hesitated. “No,” he said, after a moment’s thought. “Twilight doesn’t cook.”

“And you do all the cleaning up?” Krysta said.

“Yeah. This isn’t a huge place,” Spike said. He measured out one half-tablespoon of baking powder and two tablespoons of caster sugar. “Why? Are you surprised?”

“A little, I guess,” Krysta said. “Where I come from we have a helot who does all of our cleaning up around the place. And in the palace, Lightning dines with the King and his guests in the great hall, where more helots do all the cooking; he gets them to bring stuff up for me as well, and sometimes he eats with me, like he used to.”

Spike blinked. He had never heard the word ‘helot’ before. “What’s a helot?”

“Someone who works for the King, Lightning’s father,” Krysta said. “And he puts them to work for… anyone he likes.”

“So… servants?”

“Yeah,” Krysta said. “Only they don’t work for the people they work for, they work for the King; he just sends them to work for other people as… kind of a reward.”

“Why don’t they just get their own servants?”

“They do,” Krysta said. “But having the King give you some helots… it shows you’re a big shot and his majesty cares about you. That’s why he gave his son a helot to take care of our room.”

Spike… kind of got it, but he supposed that every place had its own idiosyncratic local customs, a fact that he was sure Twilight would be happy to expound upon for him at length if he ever had trouble sleeping. But he got the main point, which was that Krysta and Lightning had a servant to take care of them which meant that they didn’t have to trouble themselves with things like the cooking and the cleaning. “I’m not Twilight’s servant,” he said defensively.

“I never said you were,” Krysta said, as guileless as Spike had been defensive. “Although I’m kind of surprised that you don’t have a servant, what with Twilight being the princess’ student and all.”

“Twilight doesn’t need a servant because she’s got…” Spike trailed off.

Krysta leaned forward, resting her chin on the palms of her hands. “Because she’s got you, right?”

Spike nodded. “Twilight… Twilight was there when I hatched.” He turned away from the in-progress pancakes – he hadn’t actually started cooking yet, so they’d be fine – and clutched his claws together. “I don’t know where I came from, or how Princess Celestia ended up with my egg.”

“Did you ever ask her?”

“No,” Spike said. “I don’t… I don’t want Twilight to think that I…”

“She’s the only sister you need, right?” Krysta said. “The only family you need.”

“Well, there is her brother,” Spike said. “He’s pretty cool. And then her Mom and Dad, too; and Princess Celestia was like another mother to both of us. But… yeah, I get what you’re saying. I’d hate for Twilight to think that I don’t think of her as my family because she totally is. She takes care of me, and she always has. And so… the reason I do all the work around here is because I like to… to take care of her a little bit too.”

Krysta nodded. “I get it,” she said. “I totally get it.”

“You do?”

“Sure,” Krysta said. “You want to be useful, right?”

“I don’t know how useful I am,” Spike said. “Twilight saved the world the first night we came here, and all I do is clean up.”

“At least you’re doing something,” Krysta said. “At least you get to do something. This is the first time that Lightning has ever let me come on a mission with him.”

“It is?”

“Yeah,” Krysta said. “Before he’s always said that it’s too dangerous, that he can’t be distracted by having me around, that I wouldn’t be able to take things seriously enough. When we were kids we were always together, but ever since we came to live in New Olympia it’s like… it’s like we’re drifting farther and farther apart. He became a knight, he serves the King, and he’s always going off to fight on some distant planet or be part of some diplomatic mission and I… I get left behind every time.”

“I know what that feels like,” Spike murmured.

“But at least you get to clean up to take your mind off things,” Krysta said. “I can’t even do that because we have a servant doing all the work! That’s why I begged Lightning to let me come with him on this trip, I didn’t care how dangerous it was, we went through plenty of dangerous stuff when we were little. I just want to be with him, to face things alongside him because he’s… he’s all I’ve got. And so I wanted this to be the two of us, against the world the way it used to be.” She sighed dispiritedly.

“He’ll be back,” Spike said. “I’m sure he and Twilight will be back from Fluttershy’s any minute now.”

“Yeah,” Krysta said. “Maybe. Hey, Spike?”

“Yeah?”

“This seems like a pretty nice place,” Krysta said.

“It totally is,” Spike said. “It’s one of the nicest places in Equestria. Although I haven’t actually lived in that many places in Equestria, so I don’t know if that’s really true or if I just think it is.”

Krysta grinned. “Well, it seems plenty nice to me.” She hesitated for a moment. “If… if something happened and we couldn’t go home, do you think Twilight would let us stay with you guys?”

Spike stared at her. “Why wouldn’t you be able to go home?”

“I don’t know,” Krysta said. “Stuff happens, it’s magic. It breaks all the time.”

That wasn’t particularly the case in Spike’s experience, but he decided to go with it nonetheless. “I guess… certainly Twilight would never throw you with no place to go, but whether you could stay forever… I don’t know; would you even want to?”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Krysta said. “We could go travelling, like we used; I bet there are a lot of places out there to see.”

“There sure are,” Spike said. “There’s Canterlot and Manehattan, Baltimare, Fillydelphia, if you keep going south you’ll reach Saddle Arabia and the zebra country… hey, Krysta?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you not want to go home?”

Krysta was silent for a moment. “My home is wherever Lightning Dawn is,” she said after a moment. “As to what if we couldn’t go back to his home… that wouldn’t be so bad. Provided that he could get over it.”

“But… aren’t you a princess back where you come from?”

Krysta laughed bitterly. “No,” she said. “No, Lightning is a prince, but I’m not a princess.”

“Even though you’re his sister?”

“That… okay, here’s how it works,” Krysta said. “Lightning and I are brother and sister of the spirit. We’ve been through a lot together, we’ve shared stuff that… he is my other half, and I couldn’t leave him even if I wanted to. But… there’s nothing formal there. We’re not part of the same family on a piece of paper or anything like that. And he was adopted by the King of Kings, I wasn’t; I’m just a ward of the court, so I live in the palace but I’m not part of the royal family. And everybody knows it, too.”

Spike thought back to something that Krysta had said. “Is that why you don’t eat in the dining hall?”

“Got it in one, Spike, you’re pretty smart,” Krysta said. “I eat in my room so that I won’t embarrass anybody with my presence. Lightning… he’s the only one in that whole place who puts up with me. The only one who actually… who actually wants me around. For now, anyway.”

“I’m sorry,” Spike said, feeling as though the words were inadequate as soon as they left his mouth. “I… I don’t really know what to say about that except… except that if Lightning really cares about you then… then he won’t ever stop wanting you. Twilight would be able to say that so much better, because she always knows just what to say, but I think that the point would be that your friends never stop being your friends just because people around you try to tell you that shouldn’t be friends any more. And I bet that goes for family too.”

Krysta stared at him for a moment. “You might not have said that the best, but thanks, Spike. That… I’d like to believe that. I just wish that we could be together more often. Lightning thinks that what he’s doing is important, fighting for the light against the darkness, but if it is then why can’t I help him out with it?”

Spike frowned. “If you don’t fight then why do you have a sword?”

“Because I’m hoping that Lightning will change his mind one day,” Krysta said. “I’m kinda hoping that he’ll change his mind about a lot of things, to be honest.”

Spike was quiet for a moment. “I… I don’t what to say. I can’t really help with any of this stuff. All I can do is… make breakfast.”

Krysta smiled. “And I’m sure that it will taste really great.”

There was a knock at the door.

“Right after you get that,” Krysta said.

Spike made his way to the door, and opened it. He was surprised to find Shining Armour standing there, wearing the armour of the Captain of the Royal Guard.

“Hey there, Spike,” he said. “Is Twilight around? And is her new visitor here as well?”

---

Twilight and Lightning arrived back at the library to find Shining Armour, dressed in all his panoply of office as Captain of the Royal Guard - but also wearing a pair of saddlebags across his back - had preceded them there and was waiting, along with Spike and Krysta.

“Twily!” he said, turning at the sound of their hoofsteps upon the library floor. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You too,” Twilight said, as she approached her big brother for a hug. His leg was warm, but his armour was cold and hard against her coat, and the embrace did not last long. “But I don’t understand what you’re doing here.”

“I wish I could say that it was a social call to you and Spike,” Shining Armour said. “But unfortunately that’s not the case. This is official business.”

“At the risk of sounding incredibly presumptuous,” Lightning murmured, as he closed the library door behind him. “I would guess that that official business concerns Krysta and myself.”

“Hi, by the way,” Krysta said, the sarcasm of her tone matching that of her wave to Lightning. “Good morning, bro. I have to say that because it’s the first time I’ve seen you since I woke up seeing as how you got up and went off without me!”

“Krysta, not now,” Lightning said, not taking his eyes off Shining Armour.

“Yes now! You always do this and it always-“

“I said not now,” Lightning said, with steel in his tone, his voice a cudgel that would brook neither opposition nor dissent. And still his golden eyes remained fixed on Shining Armour. There was a kind of fire in them that made Twilight want to get out of the way of that gaze.

Krysta fell silent; she pursed her lips together, making them look thinner. She glanced from Lightning to Shining Armour, and began to move away from the flatter.

“Krysta, come over here,” Lightning said, and it was only at that point – as Krysta began to move towards her own brother – that Twilight understand what it was that she was seeing in Lightning’s behaviour: wariness.

For his part, Shining Armour seemed a little stiffer than normal as well. Twilight looked from one to the other, both sets of eyes locked upon one another, sparing not a glance for her.

“I think you’re probably right,” Shining Armour said. “If you are Lightning Dawn then yes, my visit here concerns you.”

“Prince Lightning Dawn, if it please you sir,” he said, in a tone of brittle courtesy. “My sister you appear to have met already.”

“She was here when I arrived,” Shining Armour said. “It was only natural to check Twilight’s home first when looking for her and her guests.”

“Naturally,” Lightning said softly. “And yet – beyond knowing that you are Miss Twilight’s brother – it has left you with an advantage over me.”

“Shining Armour,” Shining Armour said, approaching Lightning – walking past Twilight as he did so – and extending one hoof.

Lightning glanced at the hoof, but did not take it. Rather he bowed his head respectfully. “A pleasure to meet you. Your sister is charming, courteous and very helpful to a pair of travellers, somewhat lost and confused in a strange place.”

“Twilight is all that and much more,” Shining Armour said. “We’re all very fond of her.”

“Trust me, sir, as a fellow elder brother I know exactly what you’re saying,” Lightning said, to which Twilight could only wish that she knew what her BBBFF – Big Brother Best Friend Forever - was saying. “I can only assure you that my intentions, to your sister as to this world, are as peaceful and innocent as a newborn lamb.”

“Is that right?” Shining Armour murmured.

Lightning did not reply for a moment. Rather, instead he glanced Shining Armour – all clad in his purple armour – up and down. “Permit me to presume once again and, by your dress, guess you to be a soldier.”

“I’m the Captain of the Royal Guard,” Shining Armour said. He glanced at Lightning’s own armour, stacked up by the wall. “But this is a peaceful land, and I’m not sure that what we do is what you would call soldiering.”

Lightning smiled thinly. “In my own home there are those who play at soldiering; they wear armour, or at least something in the fashion of a uniform, and in that garb they swagger about seeking acclaim for the valour they have never displayed and the skill they have never acquired. You, captain, do not stand as they do. I think that you are not a stranger to combat. And you have no need to try and make me underestimate you, as I told you my intentions are innocent.”

“Shining Armour,” Twilight said. “What’s going on?”

“Princess Celestia sent me,” Shining Armour, and though he might have been talking to Twilight his attentions remained fixed upon Lightning Dawn.

“Why didn’t she just reply to my letter?” Twilight asked.

“There’s a lot that can be missed in an exchange of letters,” Shining Armour said softly.

“If Princess Celestia wishes to speak with me then she need only send the word,” Lightning Dawn. His voice acquired a touch of reverence as he added, “I would be honoured to stand in her presence.”

“For now, Princess Celestia would prefer you to talk to me,” Shining Armour said.

Lightning looked a little affronted to hear that, but as Twilight watched his face she could see the look disappearing as either he mastered his discontent or at least pushed it down where it could no longer be seen. “Very well,” he said.

Shining Armour took a step backwards. “What are you doing here?”

Lightning glanced past Shining Armour to look at Twilight. “You did not tell Princess Celestia of our quest for the Prism Stone?”

“No, I put that in my letter,” Twilight said.

Lightning’s eyes narrowed. “Then what else is there to say upon the matter?”

“Humour me,” Shining Armour said. “Please.”

Lightning’s mouth tightened. “You may tell Princess Celestia that if she considers her own student a liar then she not only maligns her own judgement but a true and honest maid, ill-deserving to be slandered so. Since I, after a mere day’s acquaintance, can glimpse Miss Twilight’s quality then I must confess myself astonished that Princess Celestia, far-famed for her peerless wisdom, cannot see it after a far longer acquaintance. And though you are her brother it sits ill with me to see her honour impugned so.”

Twilight felt one corner of her lip twitching upwards, almost in spite of itself, at Lightning’s fulsome praise of her. It… she found it warmed her more than she had thought it would.

“Princess Celestia trusts Twilight completely,” Shining Armour said, the emphasis he placed upon his sister’s name giving no doubt as to what he meant. “And we don’t need a stranger to tell us of the quality that we recognise already.”

“In which case, if Princess Celestia wishes to call me a liar then I would thank her to do so in person,” Lightning replied. “I am a prince, and not in the habit of having my integrity and sacred honour questioned by mere functionaries.”

Shining Armour was silent for a moment. “So you’ve got nothing else to say about that?”

“Not to you, captain,” Lightning said. “Is there anything else?”

“A few things,” Shining Armour said. “The way that you came here, can it be used again?”

“A reverse portal will be opened in six days time,” Lightning said. “It will allow Krysta and I to return home.”

“Why in six days time?”

“These things must be set in advance, they cannot be activated upon a whim,” Lightning said. “Or rather they could be, but with no way of communicating with my home how would they know when the right time was to activate it? Thus, these things are planned ahead of time so that there is no danger of the rendezvous being missed.”

“And once you go home,” Shining Armour said. “Will you be able to come back?”

Lightning glanced at Twilight. “I should like to, but… not via portal, if that is what you mean. I have no idea where this world is, cosmically speaking, and without the signature of a Prism Stone to latch onto there is no way of opening a portal here. I would need to find this world from the outside, as it were, and even then there remains the question of the defences of the Shield World that would prevent our landing. It is the great quest of my people to find this world but… although I have found it, I have not done so in such a way that will let me lead us back here.” He bowed his head, and Twilight thought that he did so not out of respect but out of shame at himself for not meeting the standards that he demanded of himself.

Judging by the way that Krysta placed a hand upon his marbled shoulder and started rubbing it, she seemed to think so as well.

Once again, Shining Armour held his peace a moment. “I… I see,” he said softly. His horn glowed, as with his magic he opened up his saddlebag and produced a familiar pair of golden tickets. “There is a party being held the day after tomorrow, in Canterlot, called the Grand Galloping Gala. Twilight and all her friends are already going. These are your tickets, to get you in. During the party, Princess Celestia will see you both – and you, Twilight – in private.”

“Princess Celestia does not wish our arrival to be noticed so she will have us come during the party where we will be masked by the other guests,” Lightning said.

“Mhmm,” Shining Armour murmured. “For that reason it would be best if you could dress appropriately.” He glanced at Krysta. “And if you were… discreet.”

Krysta sighed. “Discreet. Great. Because I just love discretion.”

“Krysta, would you get those tickets,” Lightning said softly.

Krysta snatched the tickets from the grip of Shining Armour’s telekinesis.

“What of our quest for the Prism Stone?” Lightning asked.

“Princess Celestia will discuss that with you at the gala,” Shining Armour said.

“By the time of this gala I will be on the fourth of my seven days here,” Lightning protested.

“Princess Celestia told me to tell you not to worry,” Shining Armour said. “Once you meet with her everything will become clear, and you will have nothing to worry about.”

Lightning frowned. His eyes narrowed. “I must confess I do not see the need for the secrecy that Princess Celestia is employing,” he said. “Nor do I appreciate it. Nevertheless, recognising that she is Princess Celestia, whose renown has spread beyond the stars, I will obey her will in this. Tell the princess that she shall find me at the gala, most eager to stand in her presence.”

“I’m sure she’ll be glad to hear that,” Shining Armour said, in a neutral tone. “That’s my mission completed. Twilight, would you mind walking with me back to the train station?”

“Uh, sure,” Twilight said, as Lightning and Krysta got out of the way for the pair of them. Twilight’s horn flared briefly as she opened the door and she and her brother – he leading and she going after, as the doorway was too narrow for both of them, especially with Shining Armour in his, well, armour – made their way out and into Ponyville in the sunshine.

Twilight shut the door behind her. Only then did she ask, “What was that about?”

“I was doing my job, Twily,” Shining Armour said as they made their way in the direction of the railway station.

“I didn’t know interrogation had become a part of your job.”

“My job is whatever Princess Celestia says my job is,” Shining Armour said. “I go where she tells me and I do what she tells me.” He glanced at her. “And that was hardly an interrogation.”

“It certainly wasn’t a friendly conversation,” Twilight replied.

“No,” Shining Armour admitted. “I guess it wasn’t.”

They walked in silence for a moment or two. “So what’s going on?”

“I don’t know.”

“Come on, Shining Armour,” Twilight said. “Princess Celestia doesn’t send you down here every time she gets a letter from me. Why not just send me a reply? Why not write to me and tell me that she was sending you? And why did you need to give Lightning Dawn the once over like that?”

“I don’t know,” Shining Armour replied. “And that’s not me being coy, Twilight, that’s me being honest with my little sister. All I know is what she told me: go to Ponyville, talk to this Lightning Dawn guy, ask these questions, get the measure of him.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “Is that really all you know?”

Shining Armour was silent.

“Shining-“

“Okay,” Shining Armour said. He shook his head. “I was in the throne room when she got your letter. I was supervising shift change. I don’t know if you know this, and don’t let it go to your head, but when Princess Celestia gets a letter from you her face lights up. It doesn’t matter what she’s doing, how bored or busy she is – and I know all this because the guys tell me so, they think it’s kind of funny – she gets this look when she gets one of your letters, like hearing from you the highlight of her day.” He smiled at her. “Maybe it is. Neither I nor the princess needs Prince Lightning Dawn to tell us how special you are, you know that, right?”

Twilight tried – but didn’t quite manage – to hide the blush on her cheeks. “What’s your point?”

“The point is that when she actually read that letter… it was like someone had died. I was worried that something had happened to you, I couldn’t help but ask the princess if something was wrong. She told me that it was nothing, but she had this look… a grey look, like all the colour was gone. Then she announced that she was retiring to her room, had Princess Luna summoned there, and ordered that she was not to be disturbed by anyone else. I spoke to the guards on the door, they told me that before Princess Luna arrived they could hear Princess Celestia pacing up and down, muttering to herself; and after Princess Luna arrived… apparently they spent the whole afternoon and the whole of the night talking. Neither of them was seen by anypony until the next morning.”

“Because of what I wrote?” Twilight asked. “Because of Lightning Dawn?”

Shining Armour nodded gravely. “I think that Princess Celestia is worried, Twily. I don’t know what she’s worried about but I’d bet a year’s salary on it.”

Worried? Worried by what? Twilight had never known Princess Celestia to be worried about anything. Admittedly the kind of behaviour that Shining Armour had just described did sound as though it fit the word ‘worried’ but at the same time… this was Princess Celestia, she was always calm and always composed and she always had an answer even if she didn’t necessarily share it with you.

This doesn’t sound like the behaviour of somepony who just found out that the love of their life has been searching for them all this time.

But it doesn’t sound any more like Celestia than that did.

“And for what it’s worth,” Shining Armour said. “I’m a little worried too.”

“Why?” Twilight asked.

“Because what he said is right,” Shining Armour said. “You can tell the difference between a dilettante dressing up and a professional. And he… he’s a warrior, Twilight, I can see it in the way he bears himself, the way he stands.”

“I’ve seen the scars, I have eyes.”

“It’s more than just the scars,” Shining Armour. “He’s given as good as he’s gotten or I’ll be amazed.”

“I know what he is,” Twilight said. “He told me he was a warrior.”

“And that doesn’t scare you?” Shining Armour said. “It scares me, having someone like that so close to you, sleeping in the same house as you.”

“You think he’s dangerous.”

“I think he could be.”

“Well I don’t,” Twilight said. “He’s been… he’s been rude at times, certainly, but never violent. He may be a soldier of some kind, a knight as he calls himself, but I haven’t seen anything from him that suggests that he has the capacity to do what you’re implying. He’s been quite… courteous.”

“You just said he was rude.”

“He’s been rude to other ponies,” Twilight clarified. “Which is far from ideal, but to me he’s always been quite polite. I’m afraid to say that I think it’s a class thing.”

“I got that impression,” Shining Armour said. “Just… be careful, okay, Twily. I don’t want to see you get hurt. Nopony wants to see you get hurt.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“I know,” Shining Armour said, rubbing her head with one hoof. “But I worry about you anyway. Probably always will.”

Twilight smiled as she got away from his hoof. “So what are you going to tell Celestia?”

“I’m going to tell her what happened, and what he said,” Shining Armour said. “I don’t know what she’ll make of it, and that’s not up to me.” He smiled. “It was good to see you, Twilight.”

“You’ve barely seen me, and I’ve barely seen you,” Twilight said. “Are you sure that you can’t stick around?”

“Sorry,” Shining Armour said. “Celestia told me to complete my mission and report back as soon as possible. She must have suspected that we might stop and catch up otherwise.”

“She does see a lot of things coming,” Twilight said. “It is nice to see you, if only for a few minutes.”

“Next time we’ll try and make it longer, I promise,” Shining Armour said. “Twily, you’re happy here, right?”

“I’ve never been happier,” Twilight said. “No offence.”

Shining Armour chuckled. “None taken,” he said. “I’m glad you’ve found your place. It’s good to know that you know where you belong.”

Twilight walked him back to the station, watched him board the next train back to Canterlot, and then waved to him as the train carried him away towards the capital, until it was so far away that he couldn’t possibly still see her.

And as she watched, and as the train disappeared from view, one single question was upmost in the mind of Twilight Sparkle: just what in Equestria was going on that she wasn’t being told about?