Secret of Five

by Yugimotou

Just Donuts. Absolutely nothing more... right?

Gem stumbled through the stuffy summer night, dodging sweaty nobles left and right.

"I don't see how Goldie likes this place..."

Gem muttered to himself. How was he going to find his brother in this mess of a town? Even Fillydelphia had wider streets than this. His internal bellyaching was cut short by a scream. Looking to where the nobles nearby were pointing, he saw a fireball burst out of one of the towers of the palace. Yep. That was Gold. The eighteen years had taught him that whenever something dramatic was happening, it was happening to Gold or someone close to him.

Gem chuckled to himself, remembering how flustered Gold used to get this stuff happened. When their parents would walk in with the kitchen on fire. "The haynuggets were EVIL! They were ATTACKING ME! IT WAS SELF DEFENSE!". Snapping back to reality, he noticed a two silhouettes. One looked like a falling pony, and one looked like... What was that thing?

His heart speeding up, Gem began to push through the crowd headed for the palace. Within minutes of pushing through the rumbling crowd, he had managed to make his way to the castle gates. He saw a familiar small silhouette slink over the walls and out of sight, despite the fact that there were no guards at the gate. Yep. Definitely Gold.

Gem began to trot towards the silhouette, but lost it when a shrieking voice met his ears.

"DON'T YOU DARE MOVE GOLD RUSH! GET BACK HERE! WHO IN TARTARUS DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"

Gem turned, knocking into an exasperated and fuming mare, sending her to her feet.

"Oh hey, sorry about that!" Gem exclaimed, offering a hoof to the pink, curly heap on the ground in front of him.

The mare looked up, and the two locked eyes. For a moment, Gem could see past the anger and hatred in her eyes, and saw a gentle soul. The mare took his hoof, and he gently helped her to her feet.

"Hey there. What's got you so wound up?"

The mare blinked.

"Relationship issues." she murmured, not wanting anyone else to hear.

"Need a strong shoulder to cry on, by any chance?" Gem teased, raising an eyebrow. The mare paused, and then smiled.

"I'd like that. Call it a date?" She said through her beam.

"I feel like I'm the rebound guy here. But with a mare as pretty as you, I'm not complaining." Gem joked, a half smile forming on his face. "Oh stop it you." Cadence giggled. Patting her suitor playfully on the shoulder.

"Hey, I heard about this great place for donuts from my brother here. Wanna check it out?" Gem asked politely.

"I'd love to."

~

Gold entered the Donut store quietly, scanning the tables for his target. His gaze was met with a familiar pair of cyan blue eyes with their eyebrows raised.

"Glad you could make it." Shining grinned, taking a bite out of a particularly good looking raspberry jelly donut. "Care to explain the explosion I saw as I was leaving the grounds?"

Gold trotted over, and took a seat.

"Here, maybe this'll explain it better than words." Gold said, raising his arm to bring it into view. Shining looked puzzled, as he eyed the fiery orange wing pattern that had engraved itself onto Gold's arm.

"So you got a tattoo. It exploded?" Shining joked.

Gold scoffed, grabbing a donut from the plate. "Knock it off buckethead, You know I'm not the type of guy to get a tattoo. Especially an exploding one." he muttered, shoving at least half the donut into his mouth.

"Alright, Alright. So your tattoo caused an explosion? What happened, exactly?" Shining asked, an eyebrow yet again raised.

Gold explained it all. The searing sensation as he argued with Cadence, the incredible force, his near fatal fall and his strange rescuer.

"So, It went back INTO this mark when guards were coming? So, it's inside you?" Shining inquired, struggling to put the pieces together.

"Yeah. It was weird, but It had a gentleness to it. It wasn't there to hurt anyone, I just don't get where it came from." Gold replied, taking another donut from the plate.

"That certainly is weird. And possibly the only interesting thing that's happened around here in months. You really are something else, Gold. Never a dull moment, huh?" Shining chuckled, meeting Gold's gaze.

"I guess so. As if the situation wasn't complicated enough already, my arm is giving birth to never-before-seen creatures." Gold sighed.

"D'you think It'll get all loose and flappy after it's done it a few times?" Shining said, barely concealing his giggles.

"Dude! Can we NOT?"

The two stallions laughed together for the first time in a long while.

"I missed this." Gold sighed, looking out the window beside him.

"I missed this too. It scared me to death that we might never laugh together again." Shining murmured, a certain conflict to his voice.

"Gold..."

"Yeah...?"

"...Horseapples."

"What did you just say to me?"

Gold looked apprehensively at his friend, as his friend pointed to the door.

"...So, a princess and a big brother walk into a donut store..." Gold tried to joke, but his heart wasn't in it.

~

Cadence glared at the two stallions, and Gem bit his lip. This may have been a less-than-optimal idea. Cadence stormed over to the table, slamming her hooves down, just about smashing the plate of donuts.

"AND WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING HERE? IS THIS WHAT THAT MESSAGE MEANT? SHINING ARMOR, YOU ARE A SACK OF-"

Gold's mark burst out with light. Shining and Gem gasped in disbelief, whilst Cadence decided to try her mareglare on the supernatural force.

Shining grabbed Gold's arm, yelling to him

"You have to stop thi-"

Shining was cut short, as his own arm began to burn. Out of nowhere, a pattern began to etch itself onto his arm, as if responding to Gold.

The pattern took only a short time to complete itself - and It was very clear what it was when it was finished.

It was a head, complete with a beak.

Electricity began to surge from the newly formed mark, as Gold's responded with its own pulsing flame.

Gem took Cadence in his arms, pulling her away from the unfolding events. From the marks emerged a pair of creatures - one orange and Draconic, the other Feathery and white. The two creatures burst from their marks, forming a wall of wings between the surprised mare and the recipients of her rage.

Gold took a good look at the two creatures, now that he had a chance to see not one, but two of them in proper light.

His creature was orange, scaly, with large muscled arms and legs and powerful wings.

Shining's creature was majestic, with feathers like a Valkyrie, and the proud build of an eagle. A very large eagle. The feathers on its head seemed to pulse with electrical current, its tail was nothing but tendons of electricity.

Cadence had had enough.

"THAT'S IT! SHINING ARMOR, I'M DONE WITH YOU! I'M DONE WITH YOUR STUPID GUARD FRIENDS, I'M DONE WITH ALL OF THIS! I WANT TO SETTLE DOWN AND BRING PEACE TO MY EMPIRE, AND ALL YOU WANT TO DO IS GALLOP AROUND DOING WHATEVER YOU WANT!"

Shining was speechless, a frown on his face.

Gold and Gem could only watch the scene unfold.

From her magic, Cadence brought out an opulent looking scroll.

"You see this? It's our wedding pact."

With one motion, Cadence ripped it into two pieces. She threw it onto the floor, and stamped on it.

It was Shining's turn to have had enough.

"Fine. You want to lead a boring life? You want to live not knowing what's out there? You want to protect people by using their resources FOR them? You aren't the only one who's done here. You wanted me so much to be your prince charming, but I'm not. I'm the daring knight in shining armor, and always will be."

Shining pulled out his own copy of the wedding pact. It was equestrian tradition that two sacred documents be created - the marriage is null should both copies be destroyed.

Shining looked Cadence in the eye, and said to her his last words as her husband.

"All the best."

With that, Shining Armor tore the marriage pact in two, letting the pieces fall to the ground.

Cadence looked as if a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders. The rage and hatred faded from her eyes, and she turned to Gem.

"Hey. I'm still up for that date, if you are." She whispered, a smile on her face. She turned and walked from the store, her tail swishing in an arc behind her.

Gem turned to the two stallions. "Hey uh, It may be soon, but do you mind If I score on that?" he asked.

Gold chortled. Shining smiled.

"Yeah bro. Go for it. She's fair game." he replied.

Gem left the store, and the two creatures turned to their masters.

"Yeah. They definitely aren't here to hurt anyone." Shining said through a beam.

"It's like they came to help us out. What are they?" Gold mused.

The two creatures enveloped their masters in their wings. Fading and returning to the marks.

"Hey Gold?"

"Yeah?"

"Is this a date?"

"I... I dunno."

"Let's say it is."

Shining leaned in, Gold was too surprised to react.

And the third unbelievable event took place that night, as the two kissed over a plate of donuts.