Shining Armor ran for his life.
The white coated stallion was clad in tattered battle armor which bore the crest of the royal Crystal Empire. It clanked and clattered against the ground and his worn body as he hurriedly galloped through the dark forest, his only illumination the glow of his horn and the aura of the same color around the object he carried close.
It was small and orb shaped, as well as blue in color with four small stars of a darker shade of blue inside it. This object was a Dragon Ball, and it was one of seven like it. This collection of magical orbs was Shining's last chance of achieving his goal, and he was about to lose this one...as well as his life.
They had come out of nowhere, those freaks; ragged, beady eyed and filthy creatures that bore the shapes of ponies. Damned cannibals. He'd read in one of his little sister's Daring Doo books that the Forbidden Jungle outside the Badlands was home to these monsters masquerading as equines, but he thought with his party of brave soldiers and the powerful magic inherent to his family, he needn't worry about such lowly beasts.
How wrong he had been.
The trek had started with five of them; each one a soldier of legendary merit, Flash Sentry among them for his deeds during the war with Prince Sapphic. They'd found the Dragon Ball in a small cave they thought must've belonged to a bear or something of the like. Instead, as soon as Flash had grabbed the orb, he had been jumped by several of them. They were fast as well as strong. They wasted no time in ripping apart his armor with their bare hooves and teeth, and then sinking into his flesh next.
Shining blasted them away, but it was far too late to save the young officer; he was bleeding far too profusely and missing chunks of his body. The other three of the entourage fought back as Shining retrieved the Dragon Ball and sounded the retreat. They hadn't gotten too far before being caught up to.
These ponies had reflexes like felines, and the quickness to boot. They overtook two of the others, and the last soldier died trying to fight back.
Now Shining was on his own, Dragon Ball in tow, and they were right on his heels. Within smelling distance.
That rank stench of years without bathing overwhelmed his nostrils as they pounced. He reared back just enough to blast one away with magic, but was tackled by two more. He could feel them like piranhas ripping apart his remaining armor and finally biting into him as well.
He let out a loud cry of pain, and projected a magical shield outward from himself. This got them off him, but they immediately were back to attacking the shield angrily. His focus was not as sharp as it should've been and he looked around for some kind of exit. He found none.
His spell would soon shatter; he could already see the cracks forming in his dome. He looked down at the Dragon Ball, and then up to the jungle canvas covering the night sky.
"Twilight...I'm sorry..." He mumbled closing his eyes and letting his tears come freely.
He dropped down and the shield dispersed. The cannibalistic ponies stampeded instantly onto him. He prepared as best he could for the pain of being eaten alive, hoping it would not last long.
The pain, however, never came.
Shining hesitantly opened his eyes, and saw each of the cannibals seemingly frozen in time. They did not even blink, nor twitch, some held in mid-air suspension. He also noticed the light blue aura around each of them. It was magic...
He looked behind him and saw a figure approaching. At first, he thought it was one of them that had somehow evaded whatever had happened to the others, but as the shadow moved closer and became illuminated by the magical glows all around, Shining saw it was a mare.
Her purple eyes found him and so too did her smile. Her pink coat and purple hair, which he noted had a blue-ish streak through it, was soft looking and inviting. Her horn glowed with the same aura that trapped the cannibals.
"You...you saved me.." Shining more stated than asked.
She laughed a little. "Hello to you too. You know it's very dangerous to be in this part of Equestria, Prince Armor."
"You...you know me?" He asked shakily, getting back to his hooves.
"You're royalty, big guy. Who doesn't know you?" She answered.
She looked around at her trapped victims thoughtfully. As she did this, Shining noticed that her left ear had a long earring attached to it's lower half which swayed as she moved her head side to side. He swore he'd seen it before somewhere, but decided it didn't matter, nor did the curiosity as to why she only wore one.
"Well, thank you, Miss...uh..."
"Glimmer." She finished for him. "Starlight Glimmer."
He nodded. "Thank you, Miss Glimmer. You really saved my skin."
Starlight shrugged. "I'm not partial to watching well-known ponies get gobbled up. Speaking of that.."
The unicorn blink and in a blinding flash, all the cannibals had disappeared. Shining looked around in amazement. Had she just teleported all of them away...or had she vaporized them. He figured he didn't want to know.
She walked over to him and examined the Dragon Ball in his magical grip. Instinctively, he pulled it back a bit, which she smirked at.
"I'm guessing that's what you took from them to get their attention." She stated. "Those cannibals sure are distracted by shiny things. So simple minded."
"I don't know if it was theirs...but yes, it's what got me into this mess." He looked down at it for a long moment before continuing. "But, even as much as I've lost getting it, it will all be worth it in the end..."
"Must be an important wish if you think losing all your men is worth it..." She commented.
Shining looked down in shame at that; they had been good men who had wanted to help him and Princess Twilight...Flash especially. Oh, Celestia, what was he going to tell Twilight when she asked about Flash..? Was there a limit to how many times one could be wished back from the dead?
He suddenly realized something. "You said wish...you know about the Dragon Balls?"
"Of course."
"But how? I don't remember you being any where in Ponyville or Canterlot..."
"I...like to keep a low profile. I'm not usually the social type, or at least I didn't used to be." She explained, looking away into the distance.
It looked to Shining as though she were remembering something, but her eyes returned from space just as quickly as they'd gone.
"But the main reason I know of them is because..." She pulled something out of her bag attached to her back by rope; it was the one star Dragon Ball. "...I'm also looking for them."
Shining Armor's eyes went wide at the sight. Starlight did indeed have a Dragon Ball. He considered taking it from her right now and running, but then figured Twilight wouldn't want him to heal her by using dirty means like that...
"Do you think...I might be able to trade you something for it?" He tried.
Starlight looked as though she were thinking. "Hmmm, I don't know what you could have on you that's of worth to me right now. Seems you've been torn up quite a bit."
"You already know I'm prince of the Crystal Empire." Shining offered. "I could easily give you thousands upon thousands of bits, or even a mansion should you want that. Anything, but I really need the Dragon Ball!"
"Anything?"
"Anything!"
Starlight once more appeared to be thinking, but to Shining, she was just doing this to tease him. It angered him slightly, but he kept a cool head, hoping she'd agree to some kind of settlement.
Before too long, she spoke again. "Tell you what, Prince Armor. If I help you find the rest of these Dragon Balls, I would like to see Ponyville. A full tour."
Shining shook his head. "That's...that's it..?"
She nodded happily.
That certainly was a strange and easily doable thing. "You know you can always just go and see it yourself?"
"I know, but I'd like somepony who knows it to show me around. I'm sure you know some ponies."
"Well, yes I do but.."
"That's all I'll need." She interrupted, placing the Dragon Ball back in her bag. "Now...where is it."
From that same sack she pulled a large wooden staff that branched off into two prongs at the end. Shining's jaw dropped at having seen that huge staff come out of that small bag. It must have some kind of expansion spell or something on it.
"This staff is something I created shortly after the Dragon Balls were made. I call it my Dragon Staff."
"Dragon Staff? What doe sit do?"
She smiled proudly. "This staff allows me to know where the next nearest Dragon Ball is located. It's how I found mine and yours."
"Woah.."
"So, shall we get started?"