Limits of the Horizon

by Beware The Carpenter

19 - Shining Armor

Twilight stayed in her room long after breakfast. Her bed was warm and soft, and it didn’t judge her for failing Obtrillion. It was kinder than its inhabitant. A few hours after Fidora brought breakfast, she heard hoofsteps come hesitantly to the door; softer than Fidora's, Obtrillion's. He stood there for nearly a minute, and Twilight braced herself for the inevitable knock that never came. There was a low sigh on the other side of the door, and he walked away.

It gave Twilight hope.

It meant he wanted a relationship with her, but didn’t know where to start or how to proceed; he was as lost as she was. Before they could move forwards, they needed to look backwards to what had happened, really happened, during Twilight’s blackout. What Zomar had said couldn’t have been true, and yet Shining Armor had confessed that she had hated him before her memory was erased.

Excuses tried to argue inside her mind. What if, there’d been a danger to Equestria, and Shining Armor had murdered another mare's husband and stolen another mare's child to save everyone? Would Twilight still have objected; or would she just be grateful that she, and everyone she loved, was alive?

That line of reasoning brought another, more disturbing thought; what if he had done this before? What if murder, foalnap and erased memories were just standard operating procedure so far as Shining Armor was concerned? If he had been able to do this to her, his own sister, what might he do to a stranger if he thought it was in the best interests of Equestria?

What about Celestia?

Twilight’s blackout had begun just months after Luna’s second rebellion; and ever since then, Celestia hadn’t been the same alicorn who’d mentored her; she’d been distant, reclusive, depressed. Most days it was anyone’s guess whether or not she would even show up for court, or whether she would just disappear for days at a time. Even the sun, which had kept unfailing rhythm for a thousand years now sometimes varied in when it rose or set. Twilight had always assumed that this was seeing a thousand years of hopes dashed that had made Celestia this way, but what if it was guilt for something she’d done to her?

No! It couldn’t have been like that; even if Shining Armor had killed Zohan and his family, why put Obtrillion in an orphanage in Timbucktoo? Why not keep him hidden in a loving foster home in Equestria until she’d finished the project and then give him back to her. There had to be another reason; had to because… Twilight needed to take her children home. Obtrillion and Fidora were wanted fugitives in the Zaharren; if she could get them to Equestria, she could protect them, take care of them; be a family.

What about Mute Wind? Twilight had killed one of her brother’s officers, and closest friends. Would Shining Armor punish her, even though it was to save Obtrillion; or would he cover it up so she could come back to Equestria, and secretly live with the guilt of murder for the rest of her life, just like he’d been doing for the last nineteen years? Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn’t; either way, first he would tell her the truth.

One hour after midday; Twilight’s cocient started ringing.

Shining Armor was alone.

When Twilight came barging into the main lounge, Obtrillion was already on his way to meet her, having sensed her excitement. Fidora asked to go with them, but Obtrillion told her that this was something he and his mother needed to do alone. They left the hideout by a different doorway then before; emerging out of a closed bathhouse and into the crowded streets of Timbucktoo.

Shining Armor was in a poor district which Obtrillion told her was more or less deserted, run-down buildings; uninhabited except for street dwellers. When they passed several thin zebras who Obtrillion overheard thinking about news of free meals being given out a few streets from where Shining Armor was, neither of them thought that it was a coincidence.

Twilight marched purposefully through the few back alleys that separated her from truth, as Obtrillion gradually slowed and then stopped one turn away from the house where Shining Armor was. “I’m not sure I can do this.” He whispered, “That’s the stallion that killed my father, took my family and left me to Ragarrock.”

Twilight put a hoof around him, and discovered he was trembling, just barely holding himself together, “I don’t believe what Zomar told us; Shining Armor is my brother, he practically raised me.”

“Zomar was your brother to, you just never knew it!” Obtrillion looked up at a nearby rooftop surrounded by a low wall that overlooked the house, and its caved-in roof, “I’m going to hide up there and listen while you talk to Shining Armor.”

“Why?”

“When Shining Armor erased your memory, he had to have known I existed; but he never tried to save me. He doesn’t want me in your life, if he knows you found me, he might try to kill me and erase your memory again. You say he has an MQ of over eighteen hundred, yours is six-thirty-six mine is nine hundred and five. I’ll be able to watch and listen from behind the roof, if you just tell him that you remember having a baby, and then if he tries to capture you again, I can attack him from behind and together we have a chance to take him down.”

Twilight froze; the idea of fighting Shining Armor had never even occurred to her. She’d just thought about what she would say and… was Obtrillion really thinking that they might have to kill Shining Armor? “My brother’s not like that.”

“He’s in the government; they’re all the same. No one ever gains true authority or wealth for very long without being corrupt.”

In one moment of perfect clarity, the world came into focus and Twilight saw how incredibly selfish she’d been. She needed to learn what had happened to Zohan, but it wasn’t for her own sake, she needed to prove to her son that the world wasn’t all evil, that some ponies really did care about others and the ideals they claimed to have. “Go up on the roof if it makes you feel better. I’ll call you down when it’s time for you to meet your uncle.” Obtrillion nodded, and vanished.

It was time.

Twilight steadied herself, cast a shield over the entrance to the alley to prevent anyone from interrupting and then knocked on the dilapidated door. Shining Armor’s steps quickly answered and Twilight rehearsed for the thousandth time what she was going to say until he opened the door. His shock, horror and even anger at seeing her there were impossible to disguise, and brought all the anger Twilight had felt this last day, week, and seventeen years, to one desperate question; “Did you kill Zohan?!”

Shining Armor stepped back as if she’d hit him with a mace then advanced foreword again, his face set in stone. “… What do you know?”

“Did you kill Zohan?!”

“Twily I can explai-”

“DID, YOU, KILL, ZOHAN?!”

Shining Armor steeled himself, he swallowed and then looking her straight in the eye he said simply, “Yes. I did.”

The universe exploded.

The universe Twilight had lived in, that she had built around her from when she was a filly was gone. The world of comforting lies that her friends would always protect her, that her older brother loved her and would do anything for her, shattered in an instant. She had heard the confession from his own mouth; her ‘Big Brother Best Friend Forever’ had murdered the only stallion she ever loved stole her baby and then locked her emotions of grief and the desire to raise her foal in stasis in her subconscious, giving her a life of misery ever since. “That’s it then.”

‘Twily wai-”

“Don’t call me that! Don’t ever talk to me again like I’m your little sister; you call me Twilight Sparkle!”

“...Twilight-”

“No” she sobbed, turning her face away, “I don’t want to hear it.” Twilight paused, taking a deep breath. "I understand how important the Manehatten project was. If you had done what you did, but the day I finished it had told me the truth, I might have forgiven you... someday; but this? Lying to me for years, knowing how I felt, just for your own peace of mind; nothing you do could ever do could make up for this; ever. Nothing could make up for what Obtrillion has gone through because he didn’t have parents.”

“Obtrillion?”

Twilight spun back to him, her eyes flaring. “Obtrillion! My son! My son who you stole from me! My son Obtrillion!

Shining Armor’s jawline flexed, his ears flattening and eyes narrowing, “…Where is he?”

“It doesn’t matter… I’m leaving. I’m taking my son and we’re leaving together. Please don’t ever try and find me.”

“Wait.”

“No; please don’t make this harder than it already is.”

Shining Armor stared at her for several long moments, disbelief settling into resignation, though without the grief, that she had expected; he must have never cared for her at all. “…Alright” he agreed finally, “Goodbye Twilight… take care.” Twilight turned quickly, feeling a burning need to get out of there before she changed her mind; Shining Armor changed it for her as he added, “But if I ever find your son, I swear I’ll kill him.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Both unicorn siblings stared at each other in shock at what Shining Armor had said; Twily that Shining Armor could possibly be thinking that, and Shining Armor that he had actually said it. He had just been thinking and the words somehow slipped out, and by the time he realized he had said them it was too late.

Twily’s mouth gaped open and then hardened into a snarl as her dismayed confusion shifted into ruthless fury; she couldn- a ray of pure energy shot from Twily’s horn, aimed at his chest. Trained reflex saved him; throwing him to the side and projecting a shield as the wall behind him shattered into rubble.

She was trying to kill him.

Through the magenta lens of his shield; Shining Armor saw for a moment a face he hadn’t seen in eighteen years, and hoped ever since then that he would never see again. That face was swallowed by the calculated, protective, sorrow of a mother who needed to remove a threat to her son’s life.

The information he’d come here for was lost; the meeting had rested on secrecy and that would soon be literally blown sky-high, but this thought barely registered in his mind. Twily would never act like this unless she was being controlled; that meant he’d been tricked, Obtrillion was alive.

He needed to capture Twily, unharmed; but to do that while she was throwing bolts at him would be extremely difficult. His magical and physical stamina far outweighed hers however; he could wear her down – a bolt of dark energy struck his shield from behind. It held for a moment and then shattered; after Shining Armor had teleported to a nearby rooftop, behind where the second blast came from.

There was a dark shape a few paces away from him; a mare, Twily. Shining Armor shot it, having enough experience in the Everfree Forest to know an illusion one. This was different though; now Twily really was here, trying to kill him. Obtrillion avoided his blasts with the alacrity of a snake.

The illusion vanished, and Shining Armor saw Obtrillion; somehow not looking a day older than when Shining Armor had last seen him four years ago. How this could be, soon wouldn’t matter.

Obtrillion lowered his horn, “For Father!” and reciprocated one beam which Shining Armor broke on his shield; unfortunately, when the blast splintered into all directions, some of them went down, slicing through the supports of the roof Shining Armor was standing on.

As Twily’s laser battered into his shield from the other left, Shining Armor let it go and rolled quickly to the middle of the rooftop. Obtrillion disappeared; his warp-scar showing a downward trajectory; Shining Armor teleported to the alley, opposite from Twily, as the rooftop he’d been standing on, exploded from beneath.

Casting a light shield to protect him from falling debris; Shining Armor grabbed all four walls of the building slamming together; wrapping around Obtrillion’s energy shield, pinpointing his location, blocking his teleports and trapping him under an encompassing wave of rock. Obtrillion tried strengthening his shield to push out, but Shining Armor pushed back.

He would end this.

A cry of grief came from his right, followed up by a series of scattered magic missiles, accompanied by large rocks that came in his direction. He diverted some of his energy to blocking Twily’s attacks, and Obtrillion’s shield gained an inch of space. He would lose both slowly if he kept up like this, instead he chose to lose one quickly; and released his hold over the rocks around Obtrillion.

Met with unexpected loss of resistance; Obtrillion’s shield expanded rapidly, sending large chunks of rubble flying out in every direction; trailing dust which filled the air and clouded vision. Shining Armor let the wave of rock pass over his shield as a small cry of pain escaped Twily; and then grabbed several boulders from the opposite side of the expanding dome and brought them back along their trajectory towards Obtrillion who was still reeling from his shield expanding too quickly and, blinded by the dust, didn’t see one of them until it was too late. He struck broadside, knocked off his hooves and winded. Shining Armor charged one final ray of energy, aimed to kill.

It took only a moment to charge his blast, as he did he released a wave of air to clear the dust and his vision, and when it did; Twily was standing between them, facing sadly and silently with a faint cut and the weight of despair on her face. She was protecting both herself and Obtrillion with a flimsy force field, but it wasn’t enough.

If he shot now, he would kill one of the people he loved most, and the one he hated most in the entire world, cutting through them like tissue paper. He tried canceling his spell but it was too late; the energy had already built to critical levels and his attempt to reabsorb it proved disastrous. Pain roared through his skull, cracked his horn, and his world was lost in an outburst of blinding, crippling light.

Author's Note:

Celestia's Smartypants.

Not many ponies knew it, but Celestia had made every Smartypants doll in Equestria for almost a thousand years...

Comments

[tranhdxrbntd]

good chapter

[StormyVenture]

Well. That was rather revealing. Dude really needs to get off his high horse. (hahaha...) He's not doing the "right thing" in any way shape or form. You'd think he'd have learned that lesson before. Way to destroy any relationship with your sister. I don't see how murdering someone's lover and family are justified here... I have to wonder how much everyone else, including Cadence, knows about all this. I find it hard to believe that Cadence could condone the deeds he's committed, if she knew, but perhaps she became less flimsy after the last story.

Never occurred to him that it would probably come to this, has it? It seems ironic considering how bothered he was in Storm of Secrets by warped versions of Silent Storm's memories. Storm killed his sister by accident, at some level, in a fit of fear/fury/rage? and Shining Armor is going in cold and calculated... Who's the better stallion now, hmm?

I though the scene there with Twilight and Shining's initial reaction was pretty good. As I said above, though, Shining Armor has issues. He would do anything to save his wife to be and their children but apparently he'd sacrifice anyone his sister loved for convenience. Not much of a best friend there. If he'd explained why he might have had a chance of gaining something, but now he's on a path to losing all kinds of things.

[Beware The Carpenter]

5333676

Conclusions conclusions

[the other sans]

It was kinder than it’s inhabitant
she heard hoofsteps come hesitantly to the door; softer than Fidoras, Obtrillions
Obtrillionwas already
Shining Armor teleported the alley, opposite Twily
knocked of his hooves and winded

1. Its.
2. Fidora's, Obtrillion's.
3. Forgot your spacing.
4. Shining Armor teleported to the alley opposite of Twily.
5. Off.

Well. One has to wonder how many times things can keep escalating and actually find a roof for it. But so far, we can't. Not with the additional universe stories (which I should by goddamn read) piling up to making out how complicated this universe can be.

[Beware The Carpenter]

5339284

Mistakes fixed

Most of my side stories arn't that big (yet) and all five of the satellite stories would only be about 20k words total; but they are loaded with extra clues and are going to keep piling up.