//------------------------------// // Planning // Story: Shining Dash // by Ianpiersonjdavis //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash felt like a filly again, waiting for the okay from Twilight on how she felt about the idea of her dating Shining Armor-it was like back when she would ask her father if she could hang out with one of her friends for a few hours and have to wait for him to mull it over. Then there was Shining Armor himself, what would be the right way to act around him without ticking Twilight off? With everyone seemingly meeting at meals now, it would be nearly impossible to avoid contact with him entirely. Of course, even if she did get Twilight’s approval, that didn’t necessarily mean Shining would feel the same way-at least, if that happened, her friendship with Twilight could still be salvaged. Dash stopped in the middle of the hall. ‘I hate all this waiting…’ she then looked back at her wings. ‘I need to clear my head…maybe I should go flying again?’ “Hey, Dash!” a familiar voice greeted, causing her to turn around to see Shining Armor from the end of the hall. “Uh, h-hey!” she replied, trying to sound cool. “Where did you come from?” “Ugh, just came back from interrogating the Changelings we captured in the dungeon.” He sighed, approaching her. “And then just when I thought we were done, they brought in another Changeling who was impersonating someone on the castle staff…the whole thing’s just been a huge headache.” “Find anything out?” “Not much, just that their Queen doesn’t sound like she has any intention of compromising, most of their military seems to be as sociopathic as she is, so it doesn’t look like we’re going to be able to resolve this peacefully.” “So, what’s going to happen if we have to fight them?” “Well, the best course of action would be to evacuate Canterlot in order to avoid civilian casualties if the city is going to turn into a full-fledged war zone, which seems likely at this point.” Shining Armor sighed. “Celestia will probably try to reason with the Queen, but if personal experience with some of the nobles in this city has taught me anything; pride usually takes precedence to reason with the kind of individual she sounds like, listening to the Changelings we’ve captured.” “Do you think we can beat them? Without the Elements, I mean?” Dash asked. When they fought Nightmare Moon and Discord, they only had to deal with a single individual and had the Elements of Harmony to compete with their vast magical prowess. These Changelings just seemed to keep crawling out of the woodwork and there would be no telling if anyone actually was who they appeared to be in the middle of combat. Their Queen must also have a considerable amount of power if she believed that she could take on Princess Celestia. “Honestly?” Shining replied. “I think we can-but, it won’t be easy…from what I understand, the Elements of Harmony only work if you girls are all in agreement with whatever you’re using them for-which, was why Discord tried to break your friendships apart. I think we can win without them, but we will only be able to succeed if we trust each other.” “What do you mean?” Dash asked, cocking her head to the side. “I don’t think the Changelings were just after Cadance, I think they were also trying to get us to distrust each other in order to make it more difficult for us to effectively work together.” He elaborated. “Whether the infiltrators themselves realized or not, I think that is part of their Queen’s plan…so, I’m heading to the throne room to speak with Celestia about this-want to come with me?” “Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” Dash asked. “I mean, for all you know I could be another Changeling in disguise.” Shining Armor began leading the way down the hall as she slowly began to follow. “If you are, then you’d better reveal yourself now.” He warned. “I’m normally a pretty patient guy, but I’m getting sick of all these mind games-and if you’re responsible for hurting one of my friends, I won’t be willing to stand up for you. Nor, will Celestia or Twilight and I’m pretty sure that Sunset would be more than happy to punish any imposters.” “You still sound pretty sure that I’m me, though.” Dash noted, listening to the tone of his voice. “But, we don’t even know each other that well to begin with.” “That’s right,” he agreed. “I could be a Changeling for all you know, but you didn’t seem very suspicious when I showed up…which, actually makes me feel all the more guilty…” “’Guilty’?” Dash repeated, muscles tensing as she prepared herself for a fight. Shining Armor slowed down to make sure was matching his lope, once she regained her composure before continuing. “I’ve been lying to you.” He admitted. “About what?” Dash pressed, suspiciously. “Remember what I told you about how Cadance and I got together?” He asked. “Yeah…” “Well, I kind of…made it up.” He replied, averting his gaze. “Okay, now I’m really confused…you mean you and Cadance were never actually together?” “No, we were together-but, we didn’t get together the way I told you we did before-I was never actually a ‘geek’ and…Cadance and I knew each since she began sitting for Twilight and we did like each other back then but, it didn’t really get serious until after I joined the guard and worked my way up through the ranks.” He confessed. “Which really didn’t help with rumors that I only got my position through nepotism with Twilight being the top student studying under Celestia and the belief that I asked Cadance call in a favor for me to get where I am.” “Um, okay…but, why would you lie about that?” Dash pressed. “I mean, the story you made up was…kind of pathetic, I mean it’s like one of those boring romance stories Rarity reads all the time-except, a lot of them are exactly the same. Some guy is kind of a loser, but a really good guy deep down, so the hot girl ends up liking him over the other jerk that was trying to get her attention. It’s the same kind of story I’ve heard her talk about, like a million times.” “Yeah, it was a pretty stupid thing to do-especially with all of these other lies and Changelings around.” Shining admitted. “I really am sorry that I lied to you…I just thought that with those other guys who showed up in Ponyville and me being the Captain of the Guard…I guess I was worried that you’d think I was the same kind of jerk. Since, it already sounds like you’re familiar with the stereotypical jerk alpha male.” “So, you made up some boring story that sounded like it was ripped-off from one of Rarity’s favorite novels?” “You didn’t think it was so boring when you thought I was a ‘geek’.” He reminded her. “Yeah, but that’s because of how ridiculous it sounded with you being one of those guys…I mean look at you!” she replied, gesturing to his chest and forelegs. “You know, not all geeks fit into that stereotype.” He reminded her. “In fact, I think Flash is actually really into comic books and he managed give some of the other guys a run for the money in training.” “Yeah, but that stuff you said sounded really convincing…how did you make up something that fast anyway?” Dash pressed. “I mean, it was still boring like the other stories that sound just like it, but in the future if you’re going to lie to me, could you at least make it more interesting?” “I think what you’re trying to say is that the story sounded too cliché.” Shining corrected. “And as for how I was able to make up so much of the story on the spot; I had friends who were into a lot of that kind of stuff and I’m not sure if Twilight or I have mentioned this yet, but our mother is a writer. Even if that’s not my special talent, I guess I have a little bit of skill in storytelling-it helped me cover for some other recruits a while back. I knew them pretty well and I found out they were being framed for theft by another guard and we needed to buy time to find the evidence to prove it-which, we did. Anyway it won’t get any best-sellers published and it’s not something I enjoy doing and it’s something that I try not to make a habit of, but it has unfortunately become necessary from time to time.” “Well, you’re pretty good at it.” Dash complimented. “Not sure that’s something to be proud of, but thanks…it’s helped me make up bedtime stories for Twiley whenever mom was sick, too.” He then let out a sigh of relief. “Now that I’ve got that off my chest, it would be best to let Princess Celestia know what is going on with the Changelings.” --- “I see.” Celestia replied, upon the conclusion of Shining Armor’s report. Seeing her upon her throne, regarding him in such a calm, collected manner in spite of the urgency of the situation at hand was something Shining Armor had always admired about her as a leader. In fact, the only time he could think of her ever being shaken up in a crisis was when Discord had been released from his stone prison. While trying to retain a strong exterior for those under his command, he felt shaken to his very core at the prospect of dealing with a creature that even Celestia had been worried about. Her calm demeanor now filling him with confidence in this regard. “I have a few ideas on how to deal with the situation, however I would appreciate your own input on the matter.” She continued. “Well, I believe that evacuation should be our first priority, obviously.” Shining Armor replied. “With all due respect to your skill as a negotiator, there have been a few notable exceptions in the past that were well beyond the point of reason and any damage done to the city may be costly, but not irreparable-such as the loss of civilian life would be.” “Of course, once our business is concluded here, you are authorized to take a portion of the guard to begin evacuating Canterlot’s citizens until this matter has been resolved.” Celestia confirmed. “The safety of Equestria’s citizens always comes first and foremost.” “The other issue I wanted to bring up is the use of the Elements of Harmony,” Shining Armor continued. “While, I understand your hesitation to use them in light of what Sunset Shimmer has revealed in regards to their ability to assimilate ponies into their collective hive mind and alter their anatomy to reflect as such along with the unpredictability of the Elements themselves, I think you should reconsider…” “Aside from the obvious, do you have reasons to support this action?” Luna spoke up from beside Celestia’s throne. “I do.” He confirmed. “The Elements of Harmony are typically utilized to restore order and balance, when uh…” he glanced to aside awkwardly to avoid eye contact with Luna. “When Nightmare Moon returned, the Elements were able to purify her and restore Princess Luna to her old self…albeit, in a weakened state, not only did they return Discord to his stone prison, but they also reversed all of the damage his chaos had caused across Equestria.” “When the Elements of Harmony were first utilized against Nightmare Moon, she was sealed with the moon for one-thousand years, instead of being purified by them-which only happened upon her return and once the Elements found new bearers entirely, this unpredictability is why we fear they may unintentionally cause a genocide.” Luna reminded him. “But, there has never any record of the Elements actually ending anyone’s life.” Shining pointed out. “Besides, even if they can’t be reverted back to their original selves, wouldn’t it be preferable to keep them in an isolated state where they can’t harm anyone or have any inflicted on them by a society that may be wary of them and still consider them a threat if we can get them away from their Queen’s control?” “Sister?” Luna prompted, turning to Celestia. “The young Captain is making quite a few valid points, perhaps it would be wise to use the Elements, which shouldn’t be much of a problem now that all of the bearers are here at the castle. These Changelings also feed on emotion for power-much like the Windigos of old, if they have found an abundance of love or have accumulated a vast amount, it would certainly explain their growing boldness.” “Then, why have the ones who showed up so far been so easy to take down?” Dash cut in. “Perhaps, they have reserved those energies for their Queen and he strongest warriors, while sending in her weaker drones to infiltrate, either to give us a sense of overconfidence or simply to make it easier to overpower us.” Luna replied. “Very well.” Celestia conceded. “I will allow Twilight and her friends to use the Elements of Harmony, but only if and when negotiations with the Queen fall through. I do not want other countries believing that the Changelings who attacked Canterlot last week were merely a rogue faction and that we responded towards the entire species violently in response-that is not the kind of reputation I want Equestria to have.” “With that said, the Elements will remain locked away until I am to speak with the Queen.” She the directed her gaze towards Rainbow Dash. “While I trust you and your friends, I don’t want to run the unnecessary risk of any of the Elements being stolen by another Changeling infiltrator when we need them, especially if the Queen turns out to be as powerful as we fear.” “Got it.” Dash replied, “Should I tell them about this stuff or are you going to do it?” “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could you inform them about what we’ve discussed?” Celestia asked. “I would do it myself, but given how stubborn this Queen sounds, I would like to focus on crafting a convincing argument on why it would be in her best interest to release her thralls and coexist with us peacefully.” “’Do it, or we’ll blast ya’ might not work?” Dash asked earnestly. “Sadly, it hasn’t in the past.” Celestia replied with a small chuckle. “Besides, I would prefer not to resort to threats or force unless absolutely necessary.”