Dull Armor

by BluejayCoolman

The Letter

The purple unicorn was in her library, studying a spell that transformed books into small birds. She was just starting to see the beak forming when her loyal assistant, Spike, accidentally bumped into her.

"SPIKE!" exclaimed the frustrated pony, "I was finally getting it down when you... Spike? What's wrong?" Spike was sweating heavily and breathing deeply while holding out a rolled up piece of parchment to her. Realizing he didn't have enough breath to answer, Twilight snatched the letter from his hand and read through it as quickly as she could.

"Dear Twilight," it started,
"I hate to interrupt your studies, but there is an emergency. Your brother, Shining Armor, has become very ill. He has been bedridden for three days now and he only seems to be getting worse. I would have told you sooner but I didn't want to worry you if it was nothing. I don't mean to take you away from your books but you really need to come immediately to Canterlot. I'm afraid he may not last much longer.

Sincerely,
Cadence"

Twilight couldn't stop staring at the words, "may not last much longer". Shining Armor never got sick. And this quickly too? How could this happen? She had just seen him a week ago. How could something that serious come up that fast? A thousand questions were swirling around her head when there was a knock at her door. She slowly walked to the door, and opening it she found her friend Rainbow Dash there.

"Hey Twi," the light blue pegasus entered carrying a copy of Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone, "I came to bring you back the book. You were right, it really is just as good the second time... Twi? What's wrong?" She looked up at the purple mare who had started to cry. Not wanting to speak, Twilight gave her the letter. After quickly reading the letter, the cyan pegasus quickly embraced her distressed friend.

"Are you going to be okay Twi?" she whispered into the light purple mare's ear.

"Only if he lives." she replied quietly.

"When do you plan on leaving?"

"As soon as I can. Do you mind getting a-all the others here while I pack my things so I can say goodbye to them?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Sure Twi. Anything else you need?" Rainbow asked, wanting to make sure her friend didn't need anything else before she left temporarily to tell the other 4.

"Just for my brother to be well." she replied dismally. Not knowing what else to say, Rainbow Dash gave her another quick hug, and left to gather her friends.

---

As she was packing, the lavender unicorn could not stop thinking about the state of her brother. How could something so serious happen so fast? She started pacing around the room and could not stop thinking about Shining Armor. Spike, noticing that she wouldn't get done packing any time soon, decided to do it for her. He didn't want to say anything and interrupt her thinking. He knew how much she loved her brother, and how much this must be effecting her. Twilight hadn't even noticed him until she remembered what she was supposed to be doing.

"Oh, I see you've already packed for me. Thanks Spike."

"Sure thing Twilight. Anything else you need me to do for you?" her faithful pet dragon asked, making sure she didn't use up too much of her energy.

"No, I'm fine. I just need to say goodbye to my friends and I'll be ready to go. I'd love to have you come, but I need you to look after Owlicious for me while I'm gone. I don't know when I'll be getting back, so you might have to take care of things here on your own for a little while. Do you think you'll be able to handle it?" she asked, making sure she wasn't putting too much on her little baby dragon.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. But will you?" before Twilight could answer there was a knock on the door.

"That must be them." she said, assuring herself that everything would be okay with such great friends.

Twilight had hardly opened the door when she was knocked to the ground. As soon as she saw the door moving Pinkie Pie jumped on top of her in a very tight hug.

"Oh Twilight, I am so so so so so so so so sorry to hear about your brother! You must be very sad, and being sad is UNACCEPTABLE when you're friends with me! Is there anything I can do?! Do you need me to look after the library while you're gone? Ooh! Ooh! Or I could watch Owlicious! He and Gummy can have a play date and it will be SO much fun! Oh! And I brought you some 'feel better Twilight' cupcakes for you to eat on your train ride up there!" she exclaimed energetically.

"Thank you Pinkie. But Spike said that he'd take care of everything, so it's all up to him if he needs help. And thank you for the cupcakes!" she took the package from her dear friend's hooves and examined the pink box containing several light purple cupcakes with hot pink sprinkles that looked like her cutie mark.

"They look delicious! I definitely won't have a hard time finishing them." By the time the short conversation was over, all the other friends had come in as well.

"I'm so sorry to hear 'bout what happened sugar cube. I'm sure that since yer such an organized pony an' all you've already gotten everythin' in order, but I just want you to know just in case, I'm always here if ya need me." Said Apple Jack, trying to comfort her friend.

"I'm fine, thank you."

"Alright, if yer sure 'bout it. I sure will miss you Twilight. I sure do hope yer brother gets better soon and that you don't have to be gone all that long." the earth pony said, not wanting her friend to go for too long.

"And I will miss you as well, Twilight. Oh, please don't forget to write. I really wish you didn't have to go, but I understand that it's an emergency. Oh, I do wish you didn't have to leave on such short notice!" The white unicorn said. Even though all of her friends were mostly saying the same thing, knowing that they all cared about her made Twilight feel a little better.

Fluttershy was next. She didn't say anything, but just gave Twilight a hug instead. At this kind gesture, Twilight couldn't help but getting a bit choked up. She started crying silently while in the gentle arms of the kind pegasus. As she let go, Twilight could feel the tears coming even faster now. The yellow pony knew she didn't have to say anything. No words could comfort anypony like a gentle embrace from a close friend. The feeling of safety and security could not be given through any words. Next was Rainbow Dash, who didn't know what to say as she wasn't used to "sappy moments". Noticing this, the still weeping lavender unicorn gave her a quick hug, and stated that she would miss her cyan colored friend. And last of all was Spike.

"Don't forget to take care of things while I'm gone. I ma-made a day-to-day check list for you so you don't miss anything. I'll write every day with a rep-report if I c-can." she ended the good-bye speech in a whisper, hardly being able to keep her voice steady.

"Well, I guess I should be going. The train leaves in only a few minutes." Twilight said, looking out the door. All of her friends started walking to the door with her.

"Would you like us to walk with you the the train station Twilight?" Pinkie asked, making sure there was absolutely nothing more that could be done to make her friend feel better.

"No thanks Pinkie. I'd rather go alone." she replied in a sad tone.

"I'd rather just, be alone, thank you." she stated again, even quieter this time. She walked away, leaving her friends waving "good-bye" behind her.