She looked out from the balcony, gazing upon the calm streets below. There were many ponies down there, mares and stallions all simply going about their day, chatting with each other and, on occasion, looking quite excited. Twilight smiled to herself as she regarded them, knowing full well what it was that they were so looking forward to. After all, it was, at the end of the day, what she herself now had to be a part of; her brother's wedding. At this present moment, however, she was not near the palace, where the ceremony was to take place, but rather, in a location she had not been to in a long time; her old home, in the old Canterlot library. She looked around, her mind awash with nostalgic feelings for this place, the many days she would spend studying here. This was, during her time as Celestia's student, her home, after she'd moved away from her family's house. It was the place she lived in when Spike was first given to her to serve as her assistant. And it was here that she left on that day she first arrived in Ponyville. A smile crept onto her face as she allowed this place to take up her thoughts. Although, those memoires were somewhat soured by the fact that nopony seemed to have used this place since she'd left, as evidenced by the layers of dust around. Needless to say, an avid book-lover like Twilight was rather peeved at such disregard for literature as this.

However, that train of thought was interrupted by the arrival of a new voice.

"I had a feeling I'd find you here."

A warm smile returned to her face as she heard that voice, knowing well who it belonged to. Turning from the many book-cases of this place, she looked on as her brother, Shining Armour, entered in through the chamber door, smiling to her as he did so. As the two of them drew closer, Twilight regarded his appearance. As befitting of one about to be married, he was clad in an ornate outfit, in this case, the traditional dress uniform of the royal guard, a bright and blazing red, with his chest adorned with the many medals he'd earned during the course of his career. Upon his shoulders were a pair of golden epaulettes, and all throughout the outfit, there were tiny touches here and there that did not seem to be standard on a uniform such as this. Twilight smiled slightly, having made a pretty good guess who could have made such changes to his uniform, but nevertheless stayed silent as she finally neared him, embracing him slightly before finally speaking up.

"Looking good, BBBFF."

Shining chuckled slightly before answering.

"Thanks. Your friend, Rarity, certainly made this old thing more comfortable to wear."

Twilight smirked slightly while her face was obscured from her brother, silently applauding herself on a correct guess. But, she kept quiet as her brother finally parted from her, after which he raised a hoof and gestured to her.

"Though, I have to say, you're looking pretty good yourself, Twily."

Twilight smiled as she looked down to her own attire; a pink and blue dress, again made by Rarity, complete with a small flower wreath worn atop her head. As she adjusted the latter slightly, she looked on as Shining began to gaze upon their current surroundings.

"Must be strange to be back here after all you've been through."

Twilight nodded at that before looking around the place herself.

"Yeah...but it's still nice to come back to it. It was my home, after all."

The older stallion looked down to her, his expression becoming less jovial over time. When Twilight noticed this, she gained a look of concern, as she patiently waited for her brother to say what he obviously needed to. Eventually, he finally spoke.

"Twilight...I want...to thank you...for saving Cadence."

The young unicorn knew exactly what her brother was talking about, but nevertheless shook a hoof in front of him.

"You don't need to thank me, Shining. I'm just happy it all worked out."

But, Shining merely shook his head.

"But I do need to thank you. If it wasn't for your gift...I shudder to think what that monster would have done to her. I wasn't there to protect her...and I wish I had been. So...I thank you...for saving the love of my life."

Despite her earlier protest, Twilight couldn't help but smile warmly at her brother, and, as one might expect, it wasn't long before the two were hugging once more, this time staying together far longer than before. In time, however, they inevitably parted, though Shining's expression was still somewhat stern. Twilight's mirrored his own at this point, and, without saying a word to one another, they began to move in unison towards the balcony of the tower library. When they finally reached it, they looked down to the streets below. Sure enough, they caught sight of what they knew they'd see down there. It was a small platoon of royal guards, numbering about two dozen, all in a somewhat circular formation. Within the circle was a collection of changeling drones, all bound in chains, being escorted down the main streets. Many of the ponies there got out their way, looking upon the fearsome creatures with worry. But Twilight and Shining merely watched them with intent, as Twilight spoke in a hushed manner.

"That's the last of them?"

Shining nodded.

"Yeah. All of them are en route to that prison now, near the Badlands. Princess Luna herself set out to lead the first few group, and is now waiting there to oversee their sleep spell."

He narrowed his eyes.

"This isn't a permanent solution, sister, you know that. We ponies can't simply watch over them while they sleep for the rest of time."

Twilight nodded.

"I know. But their whole race feeds off love, and were they free...they'd take it from us...willingly or otherwise. For now...this is the best option we have."

She closed her eyes, thinking back to the moment Celestia had made that decision, and the doubt she'd felt. She and her brother were of the same mind on this, that this was no true answer. It would keep them from harming anypony, that much was certain. And yet, the problem remained, and would stay there until a true answer presented itself. Even with all her knowledge and experience of the future, it was one problem for which Twilight had no solution. That is, except, the solution Chrysalis herself had suggested in that cell; to simply end the life of her and her people. But Twilight grimaced at that thought, pushing it from her mind. She was no killer, and neither would she let herself become one. She may have done things that she did not always take pride in, but she knew that, at the very least, that was the one line she would not cross. However, as those thoughts sank into her mind, she put on a smile, turning to her brother and holding his hoof. Although initially taken aback by his sister’s behaviour, Shining nevertheless kept quiet as she spoke to him.

"But let's not talk about that right now. We have happier things to talk about...like the fact that I'm going to have Cadence as a sister-in-law!"

Shining chuckled and rolled his eyes at that.

"It’s great alright. Just don't start acting like Mom and asking when me and her are having kids!"

Twilight giggled upon hearing that, after which she and her brother started moving away from the balcony. As they did so, the stallion turned to her with a soft expression.

"I hear Spike made it over from Ponyville?"

Twilight nodded.

"Yeah. After I told him what happened he was pretty worried about me. He's calmed down now, thankfully. I'm just glad I hadn't brought him here with me that day. Who knows how he might have reacted to seeing all of that."

Shining looked away from her and sighed.

"Given the kinds of stuff that's been happening to you, sister, I can't say I don't share his concerns. Had I known all the danger you'd face...I might never have let you go to Ponyville in the first place."

Twilight looked to him, quite taken aback to hear something like that. And yet, as time passed, a knowing smirk crossed her face.

"You've been wanting to play the "overprotective-big-brother" part for a while now, haven't you?"

Despite the stoic façade he'd tried maintaining, Shining broke out into a dry laugh.

"That obvious, is it?"

And so the two siblings laughed together, with much of the tension and stress of the last few days starting to melt away from them. As they approached the exit of the library, Twilight stopped, giving her brother a look that let him know that she just needed to go back and get something. Smiling at that, Shining gave a single nod before starting to make his way out. Twilight stayed there and watched as he finally left, closing the door behind him. Now alone, her face became one of seriousness as she turned, looking out towards the window and towards the horizon to the north.

"I'm sorry, brother...but you and I aren't out of the woods yet. For soon...we'll have to face an old empire...and its dark king."