The day was going perfectly, at least so far. Twilight was approaching the brilliant crystal doors of the palace, the sun shining and the weather just good in general. She'd enjoyed her day out in town, and, more importantly, she'd enjoyed the company she'd been in. Smiling, she looked to her right and saw, walking alongside her, her colt-friend, Flash. He glanced back down at her and gave his own smile as they walked together. Officially, he'd been chosen by her as her personal escort as she travelled around town. Unofficially though, this was merely a way for her to be close to him without having to wait until the end of his shift.

She afforded herself a brief chuckle as she contemplated this small abuse of her power for personal gain.

"Sometimes, it's good to be a princess." She muttered.

Flash turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

"Hmmm?" He replied.

Twilight giggled nervously before looking up at him.

"It's nothing."

Flash would normally have inquired further, but he trusted her enough to believe her when she said that. And so, the two of them made their way through the crystal doors of the palace, being saluted by the door's guards as they entered. Once inside, they made their way through the palace's grand entrance hall, and they waited until the doors behind them were closed until they finally stopped and turned to face each other, both bearing rather loving looks as they stared at each other. Twilight spoke first.

"I had a good time today." She said.

Flash smiled before answering.

"Me too."

He then looked over his shoulder and noticed something. Twilight looked over to where he was glancing, only to notice a group of guards moving from one area of the palace to the other. She looked on as Flash turned to face her once more, his expression now one of uncertainty. He looked as though he needed to say something to her but had trouble getting the words out. But Twilight had known him long enough to know what must have been on his mind. She raised her hoof and gently placed it on his shoulder.

"It's okay. I understand. You need to get back to your patrols. You've been more than good to me just by being with me already today. Go."

Flash sighed with relief before smiling again. Without saying anything, it was clear just how much he appreciated what Twilight had done. His work and his dedication to his guard duties had always been important to him, and throughout their relationship Twilight had never asked him to outright violate those duties. Leaning forward, Flash planted a brief kiss on Twilight's cheek, causing her to blush a little. He then gave her a salute, as was expected of a guard when royalty was concerned, before making an about-face and walking off to join his fellow guards.

She watched him leave, still smiling, until she could not longer see him. Now alone, Twilight considered what she should do next. After all, Flash was now back on his duties and her friends were off enjoying themselves in many separate locales in the Empire. She then cast her mind back to the first time she came to this place, and remembered that there was a very impressive library in town that she'd love to have studied more. Realising this, she began to turn and make her way towards the door again, eager to see that brilliant collection of books once more.

But once she turned, she caught a glimpse of a pony approaching her. She focused her attention on the figure and saw that it was her brother, Shining. Under normal circumstances, she would have been happy to see her beloved sibling, given that his responsibilities as prince often kept him occupied. But one look at his face faded whatever smile Twilight had on her own. For his expression was one of uttermost seriousness. It was not a look she'd often seen him wear, and those few times he had were never pleasant. So she stayed put until he was within a few feet of her. Silence fell between them and Twilight looked upon her brother with concern. But eventually, Shining spoke.

"Twilight.......we need to talk."

The tone of his voice was serious enough, but what made it worse was that he referred to her by her full name. For most of their lives together, he'd always resorted to her childhood nickname, "Twily". To have him not use that name now made it clear that something big was on his mind. Her brother turned, gesturing behind him, making it clear that he wanted her to accompany him somewhere. Saying nothing, Twilight simply nodded and allowed Shining to walk off with her trailing along behind.

They walked together through several hallways until they finally reached their destination. Twilight recognised it immediately as Shining's private office. The elder stallion opened it and, with a gesture, invited her in. Twilight, rather apprehensively, entered the room, not turning to see Shining close the door behind her. Although this situation was different, it called to mind the time in the human world where she was sent to the office of Princess Luna's counterpart to be accused of something she had no part in. Those same nervous feelings now reared their ugly head once more.

Shining walked in front of her, his expression one of concern. He opened his mouth to speak, but clearly struggled to get the words out. Twilight waited patiently until he finally managed to get his thoughts in order.

"Twilight. Is there something you need to tell me?"

The young alicorn gained a look of confusion at that remark. Needless to say, it was not something she'd been expecting her brother to day to her. But he just kept staring at her, waiting for her to respond to his question. The longer the silence persisted, the more uncomfortable things became between the two siblings. Twilight tried hard, wracking her brain for something she might not have told Shining. Something that might lead him to be behaving this way. But she couldn't think of anything. Seeing this confusion in his sister, Shining sighed deeply before speaking up again.

"I mean is there anything you need to tell me about your time through the crystal mirror?"

Twilight's ears pricked up at that, though her confusion remained. That what he wanted to know about? Her time in the human world? It made little sense to her that he'd ask for such a thing. She'd already told him everything that happened there, so she couldn't figure out what about the whole thing could have led him to bring her here. Shining was still looking incredibly disturbed by this whole situation and decided to just come out and say what was on his mind.

"Twilight.......I know."

His sister raised an eyebrow at that, prompting him to elaborate.

"I know.......about the other Flash."

With those words, Twilight's face became pale with shock. The sheer impact of realising just what it was Shining wanted to talk to her about was enough to briefly render her speechless. He knew about the other Flash. The HUMAN Flash. But how, she asked herself. She'd never told anypony except her friends. It was a truth that was given to them in trust, and she knew them well enough to know that none of them would have gone behind her back to tell her brother. Nor could it have been Flash himself, for the only time Shining had spoken to him at length about their relationship was months ago, and if he'd spoken of it then, then she and Shining would have had this discussion far earlier than this.

Twilight looked up at her brother and spoke, her voice still somewhat shocked.

"How.......how could you possibly know?" She asked.

Shining sighed before answering her.

"Once I had all the pieces together it was easy enough to figure out."

His expression then became more stern.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Twilight looked away, somewhat ashamed over all this. In truth, she knew she should have trusted her brother with this knowledge. After all, the two of them had been far closer than many siblings, and had shared many secrets with each other over the years. And this was by far a very important thing that had happened to her. But her relationship to the human Flash had only been prevalent in her mind after her return to Equestria because of her budding relationship to his pony counterpart. And she knew her brother well enough to know that if he knew that, it would have been even harder for him to have accepted her being with this world's Flash.

She looked up at him, her expression one of sadness.

"I know. I should have told you. But if you knew.......you would have been afraid that I was with this Flash for the wrong reasons."

Shining looked away from her, thinking over what she'd just said to him. Twilight just watched him, looking at his face as he was clearly trying to work through all of this. Eventually, without turning to look at her again, he spoke.

"The other Flash, the human one. You and he were.......close?"

It was only after asking that question that Shining turned his eyes on her. But Twilight did not reply, merely turning her own face away from her brother. Shining didn't need her to answer him to realise the meaning behind that gesture. Twilight was smart enough to know that her brother had figured it all out, that she and the human Flash had indeed been close during her time in the other world. Shining would not have called her here if he'd suspected anything less. She heard her brother give a long sigh before speaking again.

"I see. And is that why you did it? Why you went to the pony Flash in the first place? Because you wanted to be with the one you knew before?"

Twilight's head shot towards her brother again, her eyes wide with shock over such a question. She could not blame him for coming to such an assumption of course. After all, in his position she might have reached the same conclusion, that she had only tried getting together with this Flash as a means of holding onto the bonds she'd forged with the human one. But that was an issue she'd long solved for herself. Something she was sure to tell Shining.

"No! I mean......things might have started out that way, with me trying to see if this Flash was like the other. But I promise you, I didn't just get together with him because I could be with the human one."

She was not lying to him. Her conflicted feelings between the human and pony Flash had plagued her relationship with the latter for much of their early days together. She'd gone back and forth with herself over why she was doing this, or if it was for the right reasons. But, during her time with this Flash, she'd managed to fall in love with him, and through that her feelings for the other one were no longer present in her mind,. even though she still appreciated the time she'd spent with him. however, looking at her brother, she could tell that he was not so convinced.

"Twilight......are you certain of this? I mean, what if you really are doing this for the wrong reasons?"

Twilight looked rather indignant at that remark. She was doing her best to explain things to her brother, to make him see that she'd chosen to be with Flash for the right reasons. But it really seemed to her now that he was just being over-protective. That he wanted to involve himself in a matter that, in her mind, he had no business being a part of. The way he was talking to her made it very clear to her that he was not going to be dropping this matter anytime soon, and that, needless to say, was not something she was comfortable with.

"Shining, I'm telling you the truth. The other Flash has nothing to do with this anymore. And for that matter, you don't have anything to do with this either!"

Before Twilight could get another word out, Shining stepped forward, his face one of anger, as he spoke up in a very loud tone.

"I CAN'T SEE YOU GET HURT AGAIN!!!"

The silence that followed her brother's bellowing was almost deafening. The two simply stared at each other, neither quite grasping what had just happened. Shining's face, which was filled with anger and hostility during his shout, was now drained of all of it, replaced by a look that Twilight recognised immediately as shame. Her brother turned away from her, moving to the window of his office and began to stare out of it. Twilight, still somewhat dumbfounded over all of this, finally spoke up.

"What.......what are you talking about?"

Shining's head motioned as though he was about to turn, but his focused once again on the view outside his window. Frowning, Twilight moved close to him, looking at him from the side.

"Brother, there's something else going on with you. Something you're not telling me."

Shining's eyes darted to her for a brief moment before returning to their previous position. The silence between the two siblings persisted until, finally, Shining's head lowered and he began to speak.

"I.....I made a terrible mistake once."

Twilight looked confused when she heard that, and it was here that Shining finally turned his head to look at her.

"A mistake I'm sure you remember. Before my wedding, you came to me and tried to tell me something important. But I didn't listen. Instead, I turned against you. I said things I should never have said. And......I failed in my duties as your brother. You needed me and I wasn't there for you."

Shining's expression became a pained one, as did Twilight's. Both of them recalled that terrible day with great clarity. Chrysalis, the Queen of the changelings, had disguised herself as Cadence. Through that act, she'd convinced everypony, Shining included, that Twilight was wrong and, because of that, nearly everypony had shunned her because of it. Her brother's rejection of her had hit her especially hard, as the two had been so close throughout their lives. It was perhaps their darkest moment together, and one that neither was fond of bringing up again.

But Twilight was still confused. What did this have to do with her and Flash? Seeing the lack of understanding in her face, Shining continued.

"When all was said and done, the day saved and Chrysalis vanquished, it only then sunk in just what I had done to you. I'd hurt you in a way that I should never have done. I.......I broke your heart."

Twilight saw that her brother was struggling with having to say all of this, to the point where she could see tears start to form in his eyes. The sight of him like this made her just as wistful as he was, but he kept speaking regardless.

"Realising what I'd done, I made a promise to myself. A promise that I would do anything and everything in my power to make sure you were never hurt like that again. And it is because of that promise that I've been pressing this matter of you and Flash."

Twilight raised her eyebrow at that, and upon seeing it, Shining explained.

"I know that you think you're doing this for the right reasons, that you love him. But......what if it ISN'T the right reasons? What if things between you and him don't go the way you planned? What if you realise one day that things between you aren't what you hoped? I cannot bear to see you saddened by this. To see you brought low, like what I did to you before my wedding."

He looked away from her, his expression still pained like before.

"And I couldn't bear that your pain would have happened because I was careless. Because I didn't ask the right questions, or make sure that what you were doing was right. I would have failed as you older brother......just like I failed before."

Twilight looked upon her brother. The way he looked down at the ground, so broken and defeated, made it all-too clear to her now why he had been doing this. It wasn't because he was jealous of the time she and Flash were spending with each other. It wasn't because he didn't trust him, or her. And it wasn't because he just plain didn't want her being romantically involved with somepony. What he was doing, he was doing to protect her. Protecting her from reliving the pain and rejection she'd felt so long ago. He'd done it out of love for her.

The young alicorn, her eyes continuing to well up, understood now just how strong the bond between them was. For a long time she had feared that the connection between her and her brother had been weakened, both by their recent distance from each other and due to their recent involvement with other ponies, like Cadence and Flash. But now she saw the truth, that Shining loved her, as much, or perhaps even more, than he had always done. And, realising this, she began to smile softly. She stepped forward and gently placed her hoof on his side, catching his attention.

"Brother.......even after all these years......you're still looking out for me."

The pain in Shining's face faded a little as Twilight spoke again.

"And believe me, I appreciate that. More than I can ever say. But you have to realise that I know what I'm doing. I love Flash, truly. I'm, happy with him, and I know he's happy with me."

Twilight's smile widened a little as the discomfort that had hung over this little scene began to disappear between the two siblings.

"I know you're only doing what you felt was best for me. But you have to trust me."

Shining opened his mouth to speak, maybe to say something that would have carried on his reasons for doing this. But one look at his sister, at the earnestness in her eyes, completely wiped away whatever objections he might have had about all of this. Instead, he exhaled deeply, the pain now gone from his face. Like his sister, Shining now allowed himself to smile, a look that comforted his sister to no end. The two didn't need to say a word to each other, and simply moved closer, embracing each other in a warm hug.

They stayed like this for some time, allowing the stress of what they had just been through to vanish. Twilight knew in her heart that Shining only had her best interests at heart, something for which she would always be grateful, but she took solace that he'd now accepted her decision to be with Flash, and that it was for the right reasons. Shining meanwhile was now realising that, despite his best intentions, he had come perilously close to causing the very pain in Twilight that he'd been trying to avoid. Smiling, he silently praised just how much his sister had grown as a person, far wiser than he was, and able to make her own choices.

The two eventually broke apart, their faces still wet from the tears that had been flowing due to this ordeal.

"I'm sorry Twily. I guess......nopony ever grows out of being a big brother."

Twilight chuckled at that before answering.

"Maybe. But......."

She smiled softly, her heart lifted by the sound of Shining using her old nickname once more.

".......but you'll always be a big brother to me.......BBBFF".