Broken Armor(Revised)
Shining Armor entered his dimly lit bedroom and collapsed in his bed. The silk bed sheets and feather-filled pillows did little to comfort him.
"Where did it all go wrong...?" Shining Armor asked himself as he burrowed his face into the pillows. He felt his horn brush against the wooden headboard and sighed.
Why did I ever try the heroics? We weren't prepared for another attack. If only I had the time to prepare that spell, I wouldn't be in the predicament I am in now.
Shining Armor pulled his face out of the pillows and looked up at the ceiling. He began to remember that fateful day.
---
Three Days Ago
Shining Armor woke up to the dim sunlight touching his face. He took a look around the room, looking at the well designed surrounding; there were two wooden dressers a few feet away from the foot of the bed, one with golden handles to pull out the cabinets(where most of the clothes were contained) a mirror and tons of different dresses and makeup, and the other simply made with bronze knobs, a doorway that led to a private bathroom for him and Cadance, a window, and a bedside table to his left. Shining looked to his right and saw his darling wife, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza sleeping peacefully with her hooves curled around him. A smile came to his face as he saw the lovely sight.
"Good morning, dear." Shining said quietly as he carefully tried to maneuver his way out of Princess Cadance's grasp, only to be tugged back in.
"Come on, Shiny... let's stay in bed for a bit longer." Princess Cadance said as she planted a gentle kiss on Shining's cheek. "Shiny" was Cadance's affectionate nickname for Shining Armor(which he secretly loved).
"I'd love to, Cadance. But we have to get ready for the meeting with the princess, remember?" Shining Armor said as he affectionately nuzzled his wife.
"I know... I just love you so much." Princess Cadance said as she let go of him.
"I love you too, darling." Shining armor said as he gave her a small peck on the lips as he got up from the bed. He and Cadance left the warm and comfort of their bed and began to prepare for the day. Cadance went into and Shining went over to his dresser.
Hisssss
Shining Armor identified the noise as the hissing of the water from the shower.
I guess Cadance's gonna get in the shower first. Guess I'll have to wait for a moment.
Shining began to take out his regal clothes to wear for today(using his magic of course). He pulled out a red, suit-like shirt with white buttons a light yellow collar, a blue sash that would go around one of his shoulders and under the other, a light yellow stripe above each of his fore-hooves, and a gold waistline at the bottom of the shirt(or like this)
That should be good enough for the meeting.
Shining folded the shirt and put it on top of the dresser for after he gets out of the shower. He trotted over to the bedside table and opened up the small cabinet in the front and pulled out a small book(using his magic again).
Twilight just loves sending me these books. She knows that I don't have enough time to read them, but I like the fact that she's nice enough to do that.
Shining Armor read over the book's front page, examining the cover art. There was a small, foal-like colt with a white coat and a cyan and dark blue striped at the middle of the book cover, crying. There was another pony standing over him, who was visibly older(who had a purple coat and a dark purple mane with a pink striped down the middle) standing above him, seemingly comforting him.
Crumbly Day
Might as well read it while I'm waiting.
Shining opened up the book and looked at the first page, and noticed that there was a small yellow note attached to where there would usually be a blank page.
You'll enjoy this story.
Trust me...
Love, Your Sister, Twilight Sparkle
"I always do..." Shining Armor said with a slight bit of sarcasm as he finished reading the note. He flipped the other page and saw the cover art once again, except this time it was in black and white. Shining Armor flipped through to the next page.
Crumbly Day
By
Ice Star Pony
Hiss-drip
drip
drip
Shining looked over at the bathroom door(where he guessed was the origin of the sound), after a moment or two, Princess Cadance stepped outside with her body and mane covered in a towel, letting a small cloud of steam follow her.
"Alright, I'm out, Shining. Your turn." Princess Cadance said as she went over to her dresser and began to pull out different dresses she could wear to the meeting.
"Ok..." Shining said as he sat the book back into the cabinet and shut the cabinet. He got up from the bed and went into the bathroom.
---
Present Day
Knock
Knock
Knock
The knocking pulled Shining Armor out of his memories.
"Shiny? Can I come in?" Princess Cadance asked for behind the door.
"..." Shining remained silent.
"Look, I know you're upset, but please let me in." Princess Cadance said as she knocked on the door again.
Shining turned away from the door and covered his head with a pillow.
Creakkkk
"Shiny?" Princess Cadance asked as she trotted over to him. She put one of her hooves on his shoulders and sat down beside him on the bed.
"I-I know you're very upset, but let me help you. Please." Princess Cadance said as she rubbed his shoulder.
"Please Cadance, I just want to be alone now..." Shining said, his voice slightly muffled by the pillow.
"W-well... I'm sure we could find a way to get your magic back." Princess Cadance said.
"Cadance, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but you heard what the doctor said. 'You'll be lucky if you're able to pick up something with your unicorn magic again'." Shining said. Cadance became silent. Shining began to recall the rest of that day.
---
Three Days Ago
Shining Armor and Princess Cadance trotted into the meeting room and sat down beside each other. The room was made up of round crystal table and chairs; the only thing in the room to distract them was the ticking of a clock. It was pretty much empty inside the room except for a few guards.
Shining looked up at the clock and noticed the time.
8:30 A.M
Princess Velvet Obsidian will be here soon. I should probably meet her and the subjects she brought with her at the entrance.
Shining got up from the chair and leaned over to Cadance.
"I'm going to go meet them at the gate. I'll be back with them soon." Shining Armor said.
"I'm coming with you. It'd make a good first impression if we did this." Princess Cadance asked.
"Alright. Let's go." Shining said.
---
Present Day
"I-I'm sure Auntie Celestia could do something about it." Princess Cadance said as she tried to pull Shining Armor in for a hug. Shining lightly pushed her away, making sure not to hurt her physically.
"Please, Cadance... just go... you don't need a broken, magic-less unicorn like me..." Shining said as he looked out the window and saw the repercussions of his foolish mistakes. There was crystal debris covering the grounds. Snow rained down from the various storm clouds covering Luna's moon. Dozens of crystal ponies were outside, either grieving because of the attack or trying to clean up the debris.
"Broken? What are you talking about Shiny?" Princess Cadance said. Shining arose from the bed and trotted over to the window.
"Have you seen what's out there?" Shining asked.
"Yes... but-" "That was because I wasn't prepared. My guards weren't prepared. And now all those innocent ponies are paying for my mistakes." Shining interrupted Cadance, his voice very serious.
"I mean, it could've been worse. I could've lost you..." Princess Cadance said as she trotted up beside him.
"I wish you would've..." Shining said as he collapsed back onto the bed.
"Shining! Don't say that!" Princess Cadance said.
"Why? It's true. I'm of no use to you anymore. I mean, I can't protect you because I've lost my magic, I can't protect our kingdom, hay, I can't even help myself. I'm useless... you don't need me to slow you down. I don't deserve you..." Shining said, his voice full of self-loathing and self-pity. Cadance mouth opened as if she was about to speak, but no words would come out.
---
Three Days Ago
"Thank you for your kind acts, Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor" Princess Velvet Obsidian said as she trotted in between Shining, her voice high-pitched and filled with kindness. Her mane was velvet red and her coat was very dark purple.
"Oh, we're only showing you a bit of hospitality! It's only etiquette." Princess Cadance said.
"However, I don't mean to be rude but, I don't see why you brought so many guards." Shining Armor said as he looked back at the waves of guards she had brought. They all had golden armor that covered their ribs and crossed at their chests and they all had a golden helmet. All of there coats were a different shade of purple.
There's got to be at least ten or eleven guards. I don't like this...
"Well, you see, Trottingham is under a lot of... pressure by the Griffonstone government for bits. They even threatened me. So, I needed to up my security if I was going to be able to make this trip." Velvet Obsidian said as the group came within close proximity of the meeting room.
"Ah, I see." Shining Armor said, however his suspicions hadn't been quelled just yet.
There were two guards waiting at the door entrance. The guard closest to the door opened it for the group. But, for some reason, Princess Strawberry Blossom stopped. Princess Cadance entered, but Shining stopped at the door and watched her to see what she was doing.
"I want six of you to stay out and make sure that everything's 'taken care of'. Now, for the rest of you, treat or hosts with 'hospitality' and do anything to make them 'comfortable', ok?" Princess Velvet said quietly. The guards nodded and(just as she had ordered) six guards stayed outside and the rest followed her inside.
"What was the matter?" Shining asked as she let them pass.
"Oh, I was simply telling them to be on there best behavior!" Princess Velvet said, giggling at the end.
I'm still a bit suspicious... but I don't have enough evidence to prove that something's going on. I'm going to keep my eye on her and her subjects.
After Princess Velvet and her subjects had taken a seat, Shining took a seat beside Princess Cadance.
"Alright... first off, I'd like to welcome you all to the Crystal Empire..." Princess Cadance said.
"Why, thank you." Princess Velvet said. Velvet's subjects remained quiet. They didn't even acknowledged Cadance's presence.
"... and second off, I'd like to thank you for coming so far under such... dangerous circumstances." Princess Cadance said.
"You're welcome." Princess Velvet said. Velvet's subjects(once again) did not acknowledge her. Shining was becoming much more suspicious by these actions(or lack there of).
They would've at least nodded or shown respect to her by now...
"Now, let's discuss what we came here for..." Princess Velvet said as she ducked under the desk for a moment. Shining looked over at her, making sure that she wasn't trying to do anything.
"... Imports!" Princess Velvet said happily as she pulled up some charts and other things from a small bag under her chair. Shining let out a sigh of relief.
Jeez... I'm becoming more paranoid by the day. I don't know why I think that she'd do anything to harm us. She seems innocent enough.
Princess Velvet began to look around the room, examining the place, specifically at her subjects and giggled as her eyes passed over them. Shining focused on her again, finding her actions to be a bit suspicious.
"Oh, ok. Well, do you want to negotiate how much of a certain item you got or..." Princess Cadance trailed off.
"Actually, yesss... I'd like more of a specific item." Princess Velvet said, her kind and caring demeanor starting to slowly disappear. Shining looked over at the guards, who all now had a small, maniacal smile plastered across their faces.
Thump
Bang
Thumb
Shining looked over at the door(where the sound originated).
"Cadance..." Shining said as his mind began to enter defensive mode.
"... I'd like your ponies so my subjects may be fed." Princess Velvet said in a threatening tone.
"This meeting is over. Now. Come on, Cadance. We need to go." Shining Armor said as he grab Cadance and tried to pull her up out of her seat. He tried to leave the room, but a guard pushed him as another grabbed Cadance.
"Let me go!" Cadance said as she pulled herself out of the guards grasp.
"Oh, but's not going to happen, dear Mi Amore Cadenza." Velvet said, her voice now dark and distorted.
Shining pulled Cadance close to him and put a protection spell over them both.
"Guards!" Shining called out as Velvet's subjects began to pound against his protection spell, weakening it.
"You're not Princess Velvet!" Cadance said.
"Oh... wasn't it obvious dear?" Velvet said as her figure changed for the innocent princess to an evil queen. Her coat darkened from red to very dark gray and her hair changed from a strawberry pink to a dark cerulean. The guards changed from normal-looking pegasus guards to changelings.
"Queen Chrysalis?!" Shining said as he rushed the door. Once he exited he found that now the changelings were feeding off the two door guards.
"Buck!" Shining said as felt the protection spell become even weaker.
"We need to run! Now!" Cadance said as she began to gallop away from the changelings. Shining followed behind, trying to maintain the protection spell while he could.
"Where's the other guards?!" Cadance asked.
"I don't know! They should be here!" Shining said as the buzzing of changeling wings could be heard approaching behind them.
"We need to get outside! There's got to be some outside!" Shining said as he rushed towards the door outside. Cadance began to fly. They both burst through the door and saw a shocking sight.
The Crystal Empire was being attacked by a large swarm of Changelings.
---
Present Day
"Shining, you can't beat yourself up over this. I don't think any less of you because of this. You did what you could to protect the kingdom." Princess Cadance said.
"And I failed..." Shining said. Princess Cadance got on the bed and snuggled up beside him, trying to comfort him.
"I know how disappointed you are, but you can't blame yourself for what that... beast did to this kingdom. We were outnumbered." Princess Cadance said. Shining turned away from Cadance. Cadance nuzzled him tenderly, trying to comfort him. But not even that would bring him out of this wave of depression and self-loathing/pity he was currently engulfed in.
---
Three Days Ago
Some crystal ponies where being devoured by changelings. Others were being knocked out and taken away to an unknown area.
Shining and Cadance were firing magical beams at the changelings, trying to discourage them and make them retreat. But it seems like for every changeling they shot down, ten more would pop up. And the worst part was that most of the guards had been defeated already.
"They just keep coming!" Cadance said as she shot down another changeling.
"I know! We've need to protect the crystal ponies!" Shining said as he shot a changeling that was trying to sneak up behind Cadance.
Suddenly, the changelings stopped their attacks. Some of them were in the middle of attacking and they allowed themselves to become defenseless. Then, they all looked back at the entrance of the castle.
"Huh?" Shining said.
"What happened?" Cadance asked. Shining looked back at the castle entrance and saw that Queen Chrysalis was standing at the entrance, using her magic to carry an unconscious guard.
"Chrysalis, you will let that guard go!" Cadance said.
"You are to address me as 'Queen Chrysalis'. You will show me respect or your guard will become my subject's next meal." Queen Chrysalis said as she tightened her magical grip on the guard, causing him to emit a low groan. Shining clenched his hooves out of anger.
"Ok Queen Chrysalis. Let the guard go!" Shining said.
"Oh, but why? I mean, a pony like this who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the ones they love would certainly make a great meal for my subjects." Queen Chrysalis said as a two changelings flew up to the pony, stuck their fangs into his ribs, and began to suck the love out of him.
"Stop!" Shining said as he took a step towards her.
"Shining, do not do this... we need to figure out another way." Cadance warned. Shining stopped for a moment. The guard's skin began to turn from a light shade of blue to a darker shade.
"Chrysalis, you will call off your subjects immediately before I make you stop!" Shining Armor said, unable to control his anger any longer.
"It isn't very wise to attack the person who controls the very life of one of your guards? Do you not care about your subjects such as I?" Queen Chrysalis said. The guards skin continued to grow darker.
"Stop this now!" Shining said as he took another step towards Chrysalis.
"Don't you dare-!" Queen Chrysalis was interrupted by a pink beam of magic that was fired towards her, causing her to drop the guards and the changelings to fly to her to check on their fallen queen. Shining looked over to the origin of the beam, which was from from Princess Cadance.
"Grab him!" Cadance yelled. Shining looked away from her and picked up the guard using her magic. When he turned around, he saw his wife being beaten mercilessly many changelings.
"Cadance!" Shining called out as he galloped towards his wife. He sat the guard down away from the changelings and shot a beam of magic towards the changelings, blasting two or three of them off.
"Get off of her, you overgrown bugs!" Shining Armor said as he pulled some of the changelings off of her, trying to get her free. He kept blasting changelings off of her, trying to set her free. After a few more moments of blasting and pulling off the changelings, he saw his wife, battered, bruised, bleeding, and unconscious.
"Cadance!" Shining said as he gently tried to shake her. He didn't use enough force to hurt her, but to wake her up. After a moment, Cadance emitted a groan. Shining let out a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, that feeling of relief immediately turned into pain as he felt something stab into his back and pull him away from Cadance.
"Ah! Let go of me!" Shining said as he looked up and saw two of the changelings stabbing into his back and dragging him towards the castle entrance. He tried to reach up and pull them off, but four more changelings hovered over to him and held his fore-hooves down(two of them holding down each hoof).
"I'm going to hurt you all when I get free!" Shining said as he continued to struggle against the changelings grasp. He then realized how much of his strength he had used, because he could barely put up a struggle against the changelings let alone break free from their grasp.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen..."
Shining looked up and saw Queen Chrysalis standing over him with a condescending glare. There were at least a dozen of changelings standing behind her.
"Let me go! You've proven your point!" Shining said.
"Oh, but I haven't. Not yet..." Queen Chrysalis said. She made a snapping noise with her wings, and the changelings immediately turned Shining towards her. They began to spread his fore-hooves and hind-hooves out, exposing he chest and stomach fully.
"Let's see... subjects, which should I blast first?" Queen Chrysalis asked. Almost suddenly, the changelings began to point at different spots at his body. Some pointed at his chest. Others pointed at her stomach.
"Alright... I will choose." Queen Chrysalis said as she put one of her fore-hooves to her chin as she began to think.
I need to use the expulsion spell... I just hope I have enough strength to summon it myself... I'll be out there soon, Cadance. Please stay safe...
Shining Armor began to load the expulsion spell.
"How about the ribs..." Queen Chrysalis said as she began to focus her magic towards her horn and pointed it towards his ribs. Then she noticed the slight glow emitting from his horn.
"Oh no you don't!" Queen Chrysalis said as she slapped Shining, causing him to lose his focus on creating the spell and making his magic die.
"Wait... you just gave me an idea..." Queen Chrysalis said as a wicked smile spread across her face.
"Subjects, lay him out on the ground. Grab his head and make sure he can't move it." Queen Chrysalis ordered. Almost suddenly, the changelings swarmed him.
Shining Armor felt his back touch the ground and all of his limbs being pushed away from his body, making himself(once again) completely vulnerable to an attack. He felt four changelings land onto his stomach and chest(two for each area) and the changelings on his chest pushed up against his chin, removing most of his ability to move his head down. Two more changelings stood behind the top of his head and held his head in place, keeping his head pointed towards the ceiling.
Tap
Tap
Tap
Queen Chrysalis trotted by his head, trotting back outside into the snowy land. After a moment, she returned with Princess Cadance in her magical grasp. She threw her down beside Shining and she landed with a loud thud.
"Ah..." Cadance groaned in pain.
"Don't harm her, Chrysalis..." Shining said as he tried to move his head to see Cadance, but the changelings pushed his head back to it's prior position.
"Why not? You tried to drive my subjects into starvation by expelling us from our only food source. I think that it'd be fair if there was some sort of punishment for this. I'm going to hit you where it hurt's the most..." Queen Chrysalis said she trotted over to Cadance and was preparing to do something that Shining could not unfortunately see. It scared him to know that.
"Queen Chrysalis, please, do not hurt her!" Shining Armor said as he tried to lift his hooves, but was once again stopped by the changelings.
"You must pay the price for your actions." Queen Chrysalis said as the droning of a magical spell could be hear. This scared Shining even more.
"Stop!" Shining said as he struggled against the changelings. His heart began to pound in his chest.
"You're beginning to annoy me. That isn't good for your wife." Queen Chrysalis said as the magical droning became louder.
"Do something to me! If you're going to hurt somepony, hurt me!" Shining said, desperately trying to save his wife.
"Hm... you're a bit foalish. But, if you want to be hurt, then I won't deny you of that." Queen Chrysalis said as she trotted back over to Shining, the magical droning getting louder as she got closer to him. After her head was above Shining's horn and her body was facing opposite of his.
"I'm going to enjoy this." Queen Chrysalis said as she put the tip of her horn against his. The droning continued for a moment as Shining braced himself for the impact of whatever spell she was loading.
After a moment, a dark green magical beam shot out of Chrysalis' horn and hit Shining's horn. fully engulfing it in an intense burning pain.
"AHHHHHHH!" He screamed out in agony. His muscles convulsed as he tried to focus on something, anything beside the pain. After a moment or two, his body went limp in the changelings arms.
"We've proved our point. Subjects, it's time to leave this place. The rest of my plan will come into volition soon enough." Queen Chrysalis said. Those words along with the buzzing of changeling wings were the last things Shining Armor heard before losing consciousness.
---
Present Day
Shining Armor looked down at Cadance, who was now hugging him and nuzzling him. He was still extremely angry at himself for letting his guard down for a moment and becoming so foalish.
"Please Cadance... just go, please. You deserve better than a useless-" "Stop saying that!" Cadance interrupted as she looked up at him.
"I mean, you are not useless! Stop saying it! I mean, horseapples Shining! You are not bucking useless and you're not a broken unicorn! Look, I love you for you, magic or no magic. I don't love the stallion I'm seeing right now!" Cadance said as she got up from the bed and looked at him with a frustrated glare.
"I fell in love with the pony who was kind and caring, not one filled with self-pity and anger! And if you don't stop this right now, then... then..." Cadance trailed off. Shining eyes widened as he looked at Cadance, a bit surprised.
"... then you'll get your wish, ok?! I-I'll just leave! You'll never have to see this face again!" Cadance said with tears in her eyes, each syllable trying to mask the pain in her words. Shining could tell that it was very hard for her to say it. But, he knew his wife better.
"You're bluffing."
"H... huh?" Cadance asked.
"Y-you wouldn't do that. I know you too well, Cadance..." Shining said.
"I-I'm not! Y-you need to stop this bucking nonsense! I can't watch another moment of you beating yourself up and hating yourself because of Chrysalis' actions! "
"Yes you are, Cadance..."
Cadance let out a few tears and sat down beside him.
"I just don't know what to do anymore, Shining..."
---
Three Days Ago
Shining Armor woke up to his head pounding with something or somepony tugging against his hooves. He tried to pull away from the thing, but seemingly all the strength from his body had been stolen away from him while he was unconscious.
"Shining! Please help him!" The voice sounded feminine, and was a bit fuzzy, but it sounded familiar. He open his eyes and look around, but he only thing she could see is a two big blobs of pink and green.
"I'm doing everything I can, princess! Are you alright?" Another voice said. The voice was more masculine, but was still fuzzy, but this time, Shining didn't recognize the voice. The voices began to echo inside his eardrums.
"I'm fine- w... what's wrong with his horn? Why is it black?!" The feminine voice asked.
"It's seems like his horn's been damaged. Possibly a magical overload. Not good..." The masculine voice said.
"W... where am I? Who are you two? Where Cadance?! Is she alright?!" Shining asked quietly as he tried to pull his right fore-hoof up so he could wipe his eyes, but was unable to.
"Shining, I'm right here! Don't move dear. You're seriously injured!" Cadance said.
"Alright... my vision's blurry... and my head is killing me." Shining advised.
"We're going to take care of that in a moment, prince. We're going to move you outside. I want you to try to keep still. If you feel anything touch your horn or head, let me know so I can move it out of the way." The masculine voice said. Shining used what little energy he had and nodded. He lost consciousness once again as he began to move.
---
Present Day
"L-look, you were right. I didn't mean that earlier..." Cadance said, trying to take back the words. She looked at Shining.
"Look, I'm sorry. I'm just- mmph?!" Shining Armor was interrupted by the feeling of another ponies lips pressing against his and pulling him in for a tender kiss. Cadance had apparently taken the chance to try and comfort him with a kiss. And so far, it was working. Shining closed his eyes and returned the kiss, letting himself relax for what little time he and Cadance would have to do so.
---
Three Days Ago
Shining Armor woke up again in a large room with different beds lined up. The walls were mostly a very pale shade of yellow with there being some scuff marks on the walls. The beds were pretty average; white sheets, white pillows, and a white bed frame. He looked around the room and noticed that almost every bed was filled with crystal ponies of different looks, shapes, and sizes. His head and horn was still hurting and he felt as if he had an concussion.
"Where the hay am I?" Shining asked as he got out of the bed and trotted down the room, looking at the rows of injured ponies.
Jeez... I'm so confused... where's Cadance?
Shining saw a door that had a large, red sized sign that said in large white lettering, "EXIT".
Hopefully Cadance is alright... I have to find her.
Shining trotted towards the door, opened it, and stepped out and was shocked by what he saw.
There were many crystal ponies lying on the ground, either dying or dead. Large chucks of debris from the Crystal Castle covered the grounds. Shining looked over the destruction.
I need to help of them!
Shining rushed over to a crystal pony(a mare with a blue mane and a light gray coat to be specific) trapped under a large chunk of crystal. He tried to pick up the crystal using his magic, but an immense amount of pain came from his horn.
I can't use my magic... it hurts too much.
"Hold on, I'll get you out..." Shining said as he used whatever strength he could muster up and pushed the chunk of crystal off of the pony, who was unconscious. His hooves began to tremble and he collapsed on the ground, all of that strength now gone. He was almost unconscious when a familiar voice spoke up.
"Ok, I need you, you, you, and you to move the debris out of the way of the bridge so it'll be easier for injured ponies to pass through easier. I need you, you, you, you, you, and you to search throughout the village for injured ponies. I'll need you to send a letter to Princess Celestia to let her know of this attack. As for the rest of you, I want you to follow this stallion's orders unless Prince Shining Armor or I tells you to do otherwise."
"Huh..." Shining Armor said as he lifted his head and tried to search for the origin of the voice.
"Yes, your highness." Someponies said collectively as multiple hoofsteps could be heard.
Shining Armor held the chunk of crystal and tried to use it to support himself. He dragged himself up and began to trot towards the staircase(where he heard the voices) on weak hooves.
I need to find Cadance. I need to know that she's ok.
Shining trotted down half the staircase before stumbling and falling down the rest of staircase. He stayed down for a moment before trying to push himself up.
"Prince Shining Armor!" A mare called out from in front of Shining, who was now trying to pull himself up again. The mare rushed over to Shining and tried to help him up.
"I'm... I'm fine." Shining said as he pulled himself up, trying not to show any weakness in front of the citizen. He looked over the mare, analyzing her face. She had a dark gray mane, a light blue coat, and her eyes were navy blue.
Thank goodness that wasn't a changeling...
"You need to lay back down. The medic said that you've had a magical overload." The mare said as she continued to support him.
"Is Cada- Princess Cadance alright?" Shining said, almost forgetting to use formalities. He looked over the hallway, noting that the banners leading towards the throne room had been either torn down or had been blasted by magic. Some of the ceiling had been blasted open, leaving sharp yet small shrapnel of crystal covered the ground.
"She's been hurt, but she seems ok." The mare said.
"Ok... may I ask for your name?" Shining said as he began to trot down the hall again, using the wall to support himself. His head suddenly began to throb in pain(well, in more pain than it already was in).
"Snowy Virtue, your highness. Prince, in all due respect, you really need to go lay down." Snowy Virtue said as she trotted beside him, making sure that he wasn't about to fall.
"I'm fine." Shining said in a slightly harsh tone.
"Yes, your highness." Snowy said quietly as she continued to trot beside him closely in case Shining were to fall(so she could catch him).
After a few moments trotting down the hall, the hall lead into an open room. There were a few ponies passing by them, some of them staring at Shining's face and horn. Shining didn't notice this, mainly because he was too busy looking for Cadance.
"Where's Princess Cadance?" Shining asked.
"She should be around here somewhere..." Snowy said.
"Ah. I think she's in here." Snowy said as she and Shining trotted up to a large crystal door. The door had scuff marks from most likely magical blasts, but was still intact. Shining gently pushed the door open.
"I thought I told the other servant that I-" Princess Cadance turned back towards the door from a small crystal desk with different pieces of paper sprawled on top of it "-Shining?!" Cadance said as she hastily rushed over to Shining and enveloped him in a hug, accidentally causing Shining's head and horn to throb in pain even harder
"Ah- it's good to see you too, Cadance." Shining said as he tried to hide his pain and returned the hug. Cadance released the hug after a moment and backed away with a small smile across her face. But suddenly, the smile turned into a frown as her eyes widened and her ears dropped to her head.
"What's the matter?" Shining asked.
"Uh... Shining, I don't mean to alarm you... but, look at your horn." Cadance said, a bit frightened. Shining looked at his horn, and completely understood why his wife was so frightened.
His horn was completely black from the tip to the base of his head where his horn began.
---
Present Day, In Ponyville
Twilight Sparkle sat down at her desk and read through her notebook, reading over the notes of a recent experiment whilst trying to fight through her sleepiness. She looked up at the window in front of her desk and noted that Luna's moon was overhead, meaning it was somewhere around midnight.
"Oh well... I guess I could stay up for a while longer and see if I can come to a breakthrough." Twilight said as she back down at looked down the notebook.
Poof
Pit
Pat
Pit
"Twilight. Letter from Princess Celestia." Spike said as he entered the room and clumsily threw the letter up to Twilight, too tired to care to read it.
"Thanks Spike. Goodnight." Twilight said as she picked up the letter off the ground and unraveled it.
"Mmhm... you too..." Spike said tiredly as he exited the room. Twilight began to read the letter
Dear my Most Faithful Student,
I have some... urgent news that I have to tell you. I need you and Spike to come to the castle immediately. This news is a bit too serious and sensitive to tell you through a letter. I'm sending a carriage for you post-haste. It should be there anytime within the next half-hour to an hour. Your Mentor and Friend, Princess Celestia
Fear and intrigue struck Twilight as she finished reading the letter.
It must be really serious if she sending a carriage for us at night. She usually would've waited until the day to even send me a letter...
Twilight opened a desk drawer to her left and pulled out a blank piece of paper with a quill and a bottle of ink. She used her magic to pick up the quill and began to write the letter in response to Princess Celestia.
After a few minutes of writing(a bit frantically), Twilight sat the quill back into the bottle of ink and looked over her letter.
Dear Princess Celestia, I'm going to grab Spike and I will await your carriage. Will you please tell me some information about what happened and why it's urgent? Not that I mind coming to Canterlot, but I'm just a bit curious and intrigued. Your Student, Twilight Sparkle
Twilight rolled up the letter and trotted out into the hallway and into her bedroom, where Spike was sleeping in the middle of her bed. She hastily trotted over to him and gently shook him, trying not to hurt him.
"Uh... what is it?" Spike asked as he yawned and stretched his arms and feet.
"We're going to meet Princess Celestia. Something bad has happened there. I need you to send this letter for me." Twilight said. Spike sleepily picked up the letter and blew on it with his magical fire breath, causing it to be transported to Princess Celestia.
"Ok... just let me...-"
Poof
A letter popped up in front of Spike.
"That was fast." Spike said as he picked up the letter and unraveled it. He closed his eyes, cleared his throat as if he was about to do an impression of Princess Celestia, but as his eyes opened and he prepared to read the letter, his jaw dropped and his eyes widened.
"What does it say?" Twilight asked. Spike flipped the letter over and showed it to Twilight, revealing it to be a few simple words.
Dear my Most Faithful Student, It's about your brother, Prince Shining Armor. From, Your Mentor, Princess Celestia
---
Stats
Page generated in 0.017 seconds
Total duration
896 users online
607,830 hits today, 2,724,632 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Published and already on hiatus uhh ?
Yeah that may be an incorrect choice
I mean he accidentally put hiatus instead of incomplete
6092141
6092185
It's on hiatus because I'm going to wait and see if I get enough good feedback to continue. If I don't it will stay as a one-shot. If I do, then it'll turn into a full blown story.
6092197
Its give wrong message, for example I won't even read it because hiatus show that I will probably forget before its gonna be continued
6092254 Ok, I'll set it as incomplete then. I apologize.
I like this and hope you continue.
6094303 Thanks.
It's a certain possibility that it will
It was good.
and bad.
I mean, yeah, the depression was real, at first and he acted like he was destroyed, but the villain was kinda childish and her new motivations were not all that well developed. She suddenly seemed all powerful and sadistically causing brutal mayhem and murdering, then she just leaves because she's proven her point. It's a bit too much trauma to brush off, and very few stable people can keep a following and do things like that. Such actions would prompt Celestia to burn her hive mercilessly with the power of the sun without a second thought. All in all, it makes no sense.
I suggest you either tone her sadism and vengefulness down into a realistic attack that gets beaten off (which only reinforces how incredibly stupid Chrysalis is), or make a different origin of the injury.
This rapid transition from depression to shame, from the point of view of someone who's been through major depression, is almost laughable. You can't snap out of a low like that unless the low wasn't real- or he wasn't really feeling bad about himself in the first place. A truly depressed Shining Armor would have called Cadence's bluff (Yes, a bluff. if she really loved him, she would have been supporting him, not threatening to leave him. That's the last thing a depressed person needs.) and attempted to let her leave him. She, saying that, would have broken his hopes and made him suicidal.