"There he is!" I heard a voice shout.

I got to my hooves and looked in the direction it came from, rushing over to me were a quintet of mares, I could see the one who pointed me out, she was kinda hard to miss though, even if you were trying. She was cerulean blue and her eyes were a brilliant rose but what made her stick out was her mane and tail,both of which were prismatic, the cooler colours resting on her head with the hotter colours hanging in her tail.

The others were just as hard to miss though, as they all surrounded me. I couldn't really back up though, even with a good amount of empty space behind me.

"We've been lookin' everywhere for you sugahcube." The orange earthpony at the front of the group spoke up. Her blonde mane and tail were banded back and a stetson hat sat atop her head. "What in the hay are you doin' here?"

"Yeah... this isn't a very happy place to be." A pink earthpony behind the first one chimed in. "It's all... gloomy and sad and constantly raining."

"O-oh.. I'm sorry.. I-I tried to talk them out of it...." A meek yellow pegasus poked her head from behind the blue one, her long pink mane clinging to her neck because of the rain.

"Oh but darling really... you sneak off here every chance you get, we're just concerned." the fifth mare, a white unicorn, like myself spoke up as she trotted to the front of the group, she was wearing a special saddle with an umbrella fastened to it to stop the rain ruining her curly purple mane and tail.

I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. "Sorry, but I'm fine... I just have somepony to meet here is all."

Almost as if on cue the flapping of wings could be heard shortly before they gave way to the clopping of hooves.

"Shining Armor. Glad to see you're on time...oh.. you brought your friends with you I see." The pink alicorn said flatly as she noticed the five mares hovering around me, two of them literally.

"I didn't bring them, they followed me here without my knowledge." I spoke up before turning to my friends and flashing an apologetic smile. "Sorry girls, the princess and I need some privacy."

They were all still stunned at the appearance of the alicorn, but nonetheless they nodded and moved off.

"Sorry about that Cadence... I thought Spike had them busy enough that they wouldn't follow me." I regarded the alicorn as she trotted up beside me. "Besides they were just concerned about me."

The alicorn smiled softly at me. "It's okay Shining. Sorry but I don't really have time for small talk today. Aunty is making me practice to sing at the next Gala." She took a seat on the cobblestone next to me as we turned our attention to the small patch of land in front of us. "So.. let's get started.."

I nodded silently.

---

It wasn't long after Cadence left I could feel the eyes of my friends probing me again. I was aware of how bad I probably looked right now. My eyes were red and puffy and I had tear stains marring my fur, which was all disheveled and I just overall looked like a mess.

I kept my head bowed as they slowly trotted up to me.

"Shining... sugah.. are ya'll okay?" The orange mare, Applejack, asked. It was a stupid question, not that I'd ever say that to her. But really I didn't need to.

"Uhh.. Equestria to AJ, did you zone out through all of that?" the blue pegasus  blurted out. "Of course he's not okay!"

I wasn't mad at her for saying that, that's just how Rainbow Dash was. She kept up this facade of unflappable coolness, but when something shook her she got... testy.

If what she said bothered Applejack, she didn't let it show. The others stayed silent, just sort of following my gaze. I didn't need to see them to know that.

"Girls." I spoke up finally, my voice was hoarse and cracked slightly from all the crying I had done. "I'm going to tell you a story... it's not really a happy one... but it's one I think you all deserve to hear..."

The other unicorn, Rarity, she held up her hooves. "Dear, I'm sure it can wait until we get back to the castle." She fixed me with a look that, while soft and caring, brooked no argument.

There was a quiet murmur of agreement from the others as they moved about to help me to my hooves as we all made our way out of the cemetery.

---

It wasn't a long walk back to the castle, and really it was a good idea. It helped me compose myself a bit and we weren't at risk of catching a cold or anything because of it.

"Y-you know you don't h-have to tell us if you don't want to...." the yellow pegasus, Fluttershy, told me.

"Yeah... you said it was a sad story and... well those types of stories aren't really very fun." Pinkie Pie, the pink earthpony, added.

I smiled at them, it was amazing just how much these five mares cared about me. "I'll be fine." I told them before rubbing my chin in thought. "Now then... how to begin... ah yes."

I mentally chuckled as they all leaned in. "It was some twenty years ago, my parents convinced me to take a break from studying for the entrance exam to the royal guard..."

"Hold up sug, do you mean to tell us ya'll were gonna be a guardpony?" Applejack asked, when I nodded she just looked confused. "Well... ah'm sure you'll explain what happened soon enough... maybe a story for another time." She chuckled. "Ah've always wanted to say that."

"Actually, that kind of has to do with the story I'm about to tell." I smiled. "Now as I was saying, my parents convinced me to take a break from studying to accompany them to watch my little sister attempt her entrance exam to the school for gifted unicorns..."

"Question~!" Rarity trilled. "You have a little sister?"

I frowned slightly, that was enough to get Rainbow Dash to wap the back of Rarity's head. "Hey. If we all button our traps then maybe he'll get a chance to tell us!"

"Guess that explains why yer so good at dealin' with the crusaders then." Applejack said softly. "Sorry sug, no more interruptions from us, go ahead."

I nodded again. "Like I said, I was taken along to see my little sisters entrance exam, which involved her having to try and hatch a dragon's egg, Spike's egg... and it went about as well as you'd expect from a four year old filly who'd only been practicing for a couple of months...."