The situation had grown worse than anypony had ever expected. Just days before, Shining Armor had been overseeing the installation of several new security boundaries to the New Crystal Palace. Now he was trotting through Ponyville toward the looming crystalline palace built at the center of the thriving city.

He had received word of the situation from the dragon Spike. Spike had long-since relocated himself to a distant mountain range for advanced training under his mentor, Crimsonflame, but he apparently still stopped into Ponyville from time to time. He had certainly been there during the funeral, but that had been over six months ago.

It had been bad when they had lost Rainbow Dash. Shining Armor had been there that, and watched what it did to Twilight. It had nearly crushed her. Now, just nine years later, Applejack had left them. Having two friends die in their prime would be hard enough for anypony- -but it had destroyed Twilight. She was locked in a section of her palace, and nopony would reach her. Her remaining friends and Spike had called out to the only pony that they thought could reach her: to Shining Armor.

Shining Armor cursed under his breath. He had been so busy that he had somehow managed to completely ignore one of the ponies that he loved most in all of Equestria. He had known Twilight was in pain, but had assumed that she would heal in time. Instead of helping her, he had focused on his own work, and he hated himself for what he perceived as abandoning his sister in her time of need.

In his anger, he engaged a spell, wrapping magic around himself. Space distorted in a burst of light, and the world around him shifted. He collapsed onto the floor, panting. Teleportation was an exceedingly difficult spell, especially for him. His general specialty, as far as anypony knew, was shield spells. He had not even known he could use a teleportation spell until he had been literally forced to during the Choggoth War.

He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the scar that would never heal completely, and stood up. The crystal door before him was inscribed with Twilight’s cutie mark; he only assumed that it was her room.

Shining Armor knocked against the door.

“Twily?” he called. “It’s me, Shining Armor.” There was no response, so Shining Armor knocked again. “Twily? Are you in there? I really hope this is your room.” There was still no response.

Shining Armor took a breath. “Alright, Twilight. If you want me to, I can teleport past this door. Or I can knock it down. Easily. But I’m not going to.” He sat on the floor. “Because if you’re not ready to talk, then you aren’t. But I’m going to wait here until you open this door.”

So he waited. He recalled having done this at least one time before, back when they were much younger. They had been children, and he had damaged her favorite toy. He had felt terrible, but Twilight had locked herself in her room, refusing to speak to him- -so he had done exactly what he was doing now, waiting outside until she opened the door and gave him a chance to apologize.

Of course, things were different now. Twilight was an alicorn. She could, in theory, outlive Shining Armor by centuries while he waited. Or she could teleport anywhere else, perhaps into a guest room or something.

As he thought about this, the door eventually opened, if only by a crack. A bloodshot purple eye peeked out.

“Shining?” said Twilight. She sounded terrible, as if her throat was raw from crying for the entire six months.

“Yeah,” he said, standing. “Can I come in?”

Twilight said nothing for a moment, but then the eye bobbed as she nodded and the door swung open. Shining Armor paused, and then stepped inside.

The first thing he noticed was the smell. It was not intrinsically bad, or like what one would expect from a pony who had not left her room in so long. One thing he had learned from living with an alicorn was that some things worked differently for them, even certain strange and common things. Smell was one of them. Alicorns did not smell like normal ponies. If Cadence did not bathe- -which was rare, but could happen, especially if she was ill- -she did not smell sweaty or bad, but her natural alicorn smell increased. It was a difficult smell to place, but the closest thing that Shining Armor could relate it to was dust, or perhaps some kind of must that was not particularly offensive. It was not normally possible to detect it, but Twilight’s room reeked of it.

Twilight herself also looked terrible. Her mane was unkempt and long, as was her tail. Her wings were unpreened, and violet feathers littered the floor- -all of them aligned into neat rows. Her face was puffy and her eyes barely opened. As soon as Shining Armor entered, the door closed behind him, cloaking the room in darkness.

Shining Armor produced an illumination spell. It was not a particularly powerful one; Twilight’s room was surprisingly understated for that of a Princess.

“Why are you wearing armor?” muttered Twilight as she crossed the room to her bed.

Shining Armor stiffened slightly. In his experience, most ponies were smart- -but altogether far too trusting. They rarely questioned anything, especially if it was said with a smile. Most ponies did not even bother to wonder why he wore full armor most of the time. Even those that knew who he was just assumed from his name that wearing armor was part of his special talent. It was not, of course- -his special talent was for magic applied to warfare- -but it was good enough for most.

“Sorry,” he said, smiling. “It’s kind of our dress code now. You know, after the Choggoth War. It makes the citizens feel safe to see their leaders in armor, and increases national pride. Even Cadence does it too.”

He felt terrible lying to her. What he said was technically true, but it was not why he wore armor. He wore it to hide the scars from the modifications.

“It looks good,” said Twilight halfheartedly. “But why are you here?”

“Well,” said Shining Armor. “Your friends sent me a letter. Said you were…unwell.”

“There is nothing you can do for me.”

Shining Armor looked around the room, and noticed that something was conspicuously absent.

“Twily…have you been eating anything?”

Twilight shook her head. “Alicorns don’t need to eat. We don’t need to drink. We don’t even need to sleep. Not that I can. Every time I do, I see…I see their faces…”

Tears started to run down her eyes, and she pulled a tear-stained framed photograph from her nightstand. It was a picture of her and her friends, smiling happy, not realizing just how much pain that photograph would eventually cause Twilight.

“Twily,” said Shining Armor, crossing the room and trying to put his foreleg around his sister- -only for her to recoil. “I know she was your friend, but there isn’t anything that could have been done.”

Twilight’s eyes suddenly narrowed, and Shining Armor was pushed back by a blast of pink light, the same color as his own magic. His several shield seals absorbed most of the impact, but he realized that if he had been a normal pony he would have been thrown against one of the many bookshelves that lined the walls.

“You don’t know that!” she screamed. “If- -oh Celestia.” She broke down into sobbing that Shining Armor realized she had been trying to contain this whole time. “If I had just been smarter! If I had just been faster! If I wasn’t such an idiot!”

“Twily- -”

Twilight jumped up from her bed and threw a pile or papers onto the floor. They were stained in ink and messy writing, but Shining Armor was able to interpret the types of spells written on them.

“What is this?” he asked, picking several of them up.

“A cure spell,” said Twilight. “One that I think could have saved here- -but I was- -I was too late!”

Shining Armor looked at the notes. It was, indeed, a cure spell intended for cancer, and as was characteristic of his sister it was creative and brilliant- -but she was wrong. There was no way to know that this would have cured Applejack’s cancer, not without extensive and potentially dangerous testing.

“Twily- -you can’t blame yourself for this!”

“Yes I can!” cried Twilight. “The cancer, do you know what caused it?”

Shining Armor did not. “Sometimes things don’t have- -”

“Don’t have reasons? Is that what you want to tell me? Well, I did the tests. Her bones were saturated with elements that don’t even occur in Equestria!”

“How did those- -Twilight, what does that even have to do with this?”

“The Gloame,” she said, as if it were obvious- -and as if this train of thought had cycled through her head countless times, but with nopony to explain it to. “Her body is saturated with radioactive Gloame fallout. So tell me, Shining, who do you think exposed Applejack to that?”

“It’s Order fallout,” he said. “You were all exposed to it when Nil was defeated. We have problems in the Crystal Empire to this day- -”

“No. It isn’t. I’ve checked and rechecked hundreds of times. It was when we went into the Gloame- -when I brought her there.”

“Twilight, you were under orders from Celestia.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that I opened the portal! That I practically put a gun to her head and pulled the trigger! Shining, you weren’t there. Not when she was sick. She, she…” Twilight started crying again. “She was so small, so weak. She couldn’t even walk because her legs were broken. The chemo didn’t do a thing. Do you know what it was like to have to look Applebloom and Big Mac and Granny Smith in the eye and know that I DID THAT TO HER?”

Shining Armor could not help but feel a twinge of sympathy. Even after the things he had done to so many ponies, the thought of that image was simply too cruel. Taking an earth pony’s legs was like taking a Pegasus’ wings, or a unicorn’s horn- -and knowing Applejack, it must have been even worse.

“Twily, did you know about the dangers when you went in there?”

“No,” she admitted. “But I should have. I should have read more, studied more. I should have known what the Gloame did to ponies- -I mean, we were hardly the first ponies there. The others didn’t get sick, not in the same way, so there must have been a way- -and I should have seen it!” She paused, her sharp mind clearly focusing itself inward. “And if I had…if I had just stayed a little longer- -I could have saved Celestia too…”

“Celestia is fine,” said Shining Armor. “You just saw her at the funeral.”

“But she hasn’t been the same since that thing nearly killed her! And if- -if he hadn’t done it, he would have never given me that cube- -I would never have seen those horrible things- -”

Shining Armor did not allow her to continue. He rushed her, and wrapped her in a hug. She tried to resist, believing herself a monster not worthy of love or comfort- -but eventually gave in and started to sob on his shoulder.

“Shining!” she wailed. “I miss them- -I miss them so much! I would- -do anything- -just to see them again!”

“I know, Twily,” he said. “I know.”

She continued to cry. She said some things, but eventually they all became incomprehensible through her tears. Eventually, however, she began to slow.

“It’s going to be okay,” said Shining Armor, running his hoof over her back. Like Cadence- -and presumably like Celestia and Luna- -Twilight’s body was completely hairless, aside from her mane and tail. Her coat had fallen out years ago. Naked pony skin felt strange, but Shining Armor had grown accustomed to it.

He released Twilight slightly and positioned his light source so that his eyes would not accidentally demonstrate their newly acquired reflectiveness. He saw that although her face was covered in tears, Twilight was smiling, if only slightly.

“Hey,” he said, “if you think it would help, I have some good news.”

“I think…I think I could use some good news right now.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, Shining. I’m sure.”

Shining Armor smiled. “You’re going to be an aunt.”

Twilight’s smile faded, and she blinked. Shining Armor could almost see the thoughts moving through her mind.

“Who- -who did you get pregnant?” she asked, accusingly.

“Cadence,” growled Shining Armor, trying to suppress his sudden surge of inexplicable anger. Of course, he understood that Twilight had simply leapt to the most logical conclusion.

“But Cadence can’t get pregnant,” said Twilight rapidly. “Alicorns…we’re sterile.”

Shining Armor shook his head, smiling. “No. I discovered a new spell, a way to fix it. It took years of experimentation, and, well, trials, but it finally worked. Cadence is going to have a foal!”

Twilight finally smiled, this time broadly, giving the reaction that Shining Armor had expected.

“You’re going to be a father?” she said, excitedly jumping off her bed. All the energy that had drained from her over the months seemed to be returning rapidly. “And Cadence- -Cadence is going to be a mother?”

“Yes!” said Shining Armor excitedly. “A colt!”

“A colt!” cried Twilight, jumping with the same excitement that Shining Armor was feeling. “Did you- -did you already pick a name?”

Shining Armor nodded vigorously. “Yes. He is going to be named Blackened Shield.”

“Blackened Shield?” asked Twilight, her smile just momentarily flickering. Twilight was intelligent- -far more intelligent than Shining Armor ever would be. He knew this, and knew that she recognized the origin of the name. Still, it barely seemed to dampen her excitement. “She- -how far along is she?”

“Almost two months.”

“And I- -I didn’t notice? What- -what have I been doing?” She looked around the dark room, and drew the shades. Shining Armor recoiled from the sudden surge of light, but Twilight did not seem to notice. “We- -has there been a foal shower yet? Did I miss that?”

“No,” said Shining Armor. “Actually, you are one of the first to know. We were planning the official announcement soon, but I wanted you to know first.”

“Me?”

“Well, of course. I still have to tell mom and dad, though, I’ve just been…busy.”

“Busy? Busy?” Twilight took him by the shoulders and shook him. She clearly did not intend to cause him any harm, but she was taller than him and somewhat stronger. He was jostled slightly in his armor.

“Oops,” said Twilight, setting him down. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” said Shining Armor, straightening his armor. “You should have seen how Cadence reacted.”

“I can imagine!” said Twilight, looking out her window at her growing kingdom. She smiled, the thoughts and implications running through her mind. For a moment, though, Shining Armor caught a sight of a peculiar expression over her face. It left almost instantly, but Shining Armor knew what it meant.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

“Twily. Come on. I know you better than that.”

Twilight sighed, and stepped back from the window. She looked at her brother.

“The spell you used. I’m curious…”

“It is very complicated,” said Shining Armor. “It would take me days to explain, and my notes are- -”

“I understand,” said Twilight. “It’s not that. It’s just…would it work on any alicorn?”

“What are you implying?”

Twilight looked away. “Would it work on…would it work on me too?”

“Yes,” lied Shining Armor. “Sure.” He smiled playfully. “That is, of course, if you can manage to actually find a special somepony.”

“Hey!” said Twilight, blushing. “I mean- -I’m trying. I date!”

“No, no you don’t.”

“Well, I went out a few times with Flash Sentry,” she noted hesitantly. “We went to the new Equestria History Museum, and I took him to the Exmoor dig. But I haven’t heard from him in almost a year.”

“Yeah,” said Shining Armor. “Probably best to give up on that one. I heard he ran off with some bat pony.”
` “Bat pony…” said Twilight, looking dejected once again- -but almost seeming to have already identified exactly which bat pony had stolen her ex-coltfriend.

“Besides,” said Shining Armor, hunching over and compressing his brow. In a winded-sounding, artificially deep voice, he imitated an old stallion. “A pretty filly like you should marry a nice unicorn colt! A Pegasus ‘ll just fly away, and an earth pony ‘ll be too dumb and wander off!”

Twilight’s mood immediately shifted as she burst out laughing at Shining Armor’s impression of their grandfather- -even if he had been a bit of a racist.

“But grandpa, what if I marry a bat pony?” she wheezed.

“Then I’ll throw you into Tartarus myself!”

It was funny because Vortex Sparkle actually could open portals to Tartarus.

Twilight suddenly cringed. “It’s- -it’s actually sad,” she whispered to herself. “If you think about what we actually are…”

“Then don’t think about it,” said Shining Armor. “Come on. Rarity’s in her Ponyville branch right now, and Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy never left. They’re all concerned about you. Why don’t we go find them and get some icecream or something.”

“With lots of oats?”

“Sure. I’m buying.”

Twilight smiled, and joined Shining Armor as he led her back into her life. Something concerned him, though, something that only he would be able to notice. That which had darkened her laughter was only a glimpse of something far deeper, something that continually existed within her. Something had changed Twilight. Losing her friends was part of it, but it went back before that, as far as the Choggoth War. Her obsession with the extinct Exmoori, her sudden coldness toward Celestia, and the way she would look so sad sometimes when she thought she was alone. She had seen something in that war, something that had changed her.

Or, Shining Armor realized, it was also possible that she was just perceptive. Perhaps on some level, she knew what Shining Armor was attempting, and the things he had done. Perhaps she smelled the scent that was becoming increasingly difficult to wipe away. There was a chance that on some levels he knew.

Shining Armor dismissed this, though. Even if she did find out, he would simply need to explain why he was doing it. He was simply doing what was necessary, for Cadence and for his sister.