Phoenix Down

by GJT_Productions

Fading

"Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor? She is ready to be seen now."

"Thank you, ma'am. I promise this won't take long."

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The Lieutenant Captain in his dress uniform rousts from his position in the waiting area of Canterlot General's emergency room and marches slowly into the hospital itself, passing staff that stop just for a moment to stare - something Shining privately wished they wouldn't do considering all the recent events.

The withdrawal of the "prosecuting" Lieutenant Troilus from involvement in the board of inquiry had thrown the latter effort into confusion, prompting temporary restoration of him in active duty despite some protests from the pegasi population in Canterlot. He had also heard a rumor Princess Celestia intended to cancel it by decree, but privately Captain of the Guard Gibraltar told Shining that the rumor wasn't true - it would simply remain suspended until the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala (which Shining would not be attending) had come and gone.

On the final turn to his destination, Shining Armor notices a familiar stallion - Lead Wingpony Soarin' of the Wonderbolts - standing as if posted on Guard duty! This puzzles Shining for a moment, but the name plaque on the door leading into his destination room - "Wonderbolt Captain Spitfire" - enlightens him enough to figure out what he should do next.

"At ease." Shining says to Soarin', as if talking to a subordinate. This prompts the latter to relax a bit from his at-attention stance.

"How often have you been doing this? Don't you have your own set of responsibilities to the rest of the Wonderbolts?" Shining next asks the Wonderbolt second.

"All we can do is practices and paperwork, sir, and Fleetfoot is fine enough as Acting Captain for that." Soarin' explains. "Spitfire wants me here standing guard as often as I can, and the hospital staff hasn't objected to me being here, so here I am staying."

"Fair enough. I've been too busy with other things to get a status update on how she's doing, so I came here for one." Shining explains in return.

Soarin' took a sighing breath, then plunged straight in, beginning to mist up as he does so: "She was bleeding terribly when we got her to the hospital. They put her in operation immediately, tried to remove the foal she was pregnant with - she made it, the foal did not. Too premature to survive outside..."

"Goodness. I'm terribly sorry to hear that happened. I'm assuming you had to tell the other Wonderbolts about the foal?" Shining asks, and the silent nod given by Soarin' more than adequately answers the question. Shining can see Soarin' on the verge of tears and a wince forming on his face - he didn't doubt the announcement would've been one of the hardest Soarin' had ever had to give as a Wonderbolt.

What strikes Shining the most is not the pain he sees, but the sense of utter helplessness in the expression he sees in Soarin'. At least after Operation Whirlwind the Wonderbolts could claim they were victims of a shameless, ruthless liar and deceiver. This time, they couldn't even do that, seeming to simply be victims of a reckless hate, a hate their own past mistakes appeared to mark them as targets for. And when Shining was honest with himself, he realized he couldn't do much to change things this time around.

"Do you want to come in with me?" Shining finally asks the pegasus stallion in front of him. Soarin' just silently nods, and slips in behind Shining as the two enter through the doorway into Spitfire's hospital room...

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The Wonderbolt Captain Spitfire weakly turns to look over from her bed confinement as Shining Armor and Soarin' slowly walked in to the bedroom. Forced to remain on her back in the bed, she gives a weak cough and then a low moan. Shining can see her blushing intensely, doubtless from a mixture of embarrassment and helplessness.

"Maybe I shouldn't be surprised you're here, but I am..." Spitfire weakly comments, looking away from Shining as she speaks.

"You've been through things no good mare should have to endure. I don't know what..." Shining begins, but is interrupted when Spitfire speaks again.

"I am not a good mare. I don't think I'm fooling anypony any more about that." Spitfire all but moans out in reply. "My future is fading. Yours will only grow brighter. You will aid in the rise and fall of kings and queens. My only hope is to work for the future, so that I will rise instead of drop..."

"What is she talking about?" Shining asks Soarin', not realizing that the Wonderbolt Captain was speaking more prophetically than she ever would've known at the time.

"In the old times, pegasi wouldn't bury their dead, like earth ponies did." Soarin' begins explaining. "Instead, they would take their dead to ground level and cremate the body on a pyre to release the trapped soul within. What happened to the soul depended on how heavily it was weighed by the sins of life. If light enough, the soul would rise back to the clouds to become incarnated as a pegasus again, or become a spirit of wind or stars if it was valiant enough. Souls weighed down too heavily would stay at ground level and be put into the body of an earth pony or unicorn, to allow the chance to work out their sins in the next life. If the soul has too much sin, it will become a non-pony creature, or sink all the way to Tartarus in the worst cases. Like Aten deserves to be."

"Do you really believe that?" Shining Armor naturally asks in response to the explanation.

"That is what we are taught as foals up in Cloudsdale. I don't really know what else to believe." Soarin replies with a shrugging motion, looking over at the weary Spitfire as he does so.

"The Gala is in a few days - I should..." Spitfire tries to speak, before giving up in a cough again.

"Not if you keep trying to push yourself, Captain. Just rest up, like the doctor wants you to do." Soarin gently reminds his superior officer.

"I need to meet her, the Loyalty Bearer. We won't have a future without her. We must not push her away." Spitfire tries again, a single tear streaking down her face as she speaks. In that tear was not just her quiet hopes, but her all too obvious fears. And Shining Armor knew that Rainbow Dash - the "Loyalty Bearer" Spitfire mentioned - would be the only one that could calm those fears of the future.

Silence again falls briefly in the hospital room, Soarin' looking out the window at the city outside. He speaks, his tone lacking confidence and mirroring Spitfire's own fear: "I don't know what will become of us once the Gala comes and goes. I am afraid, sir. We all are. And none of us know what to do to fight this fear."

"The only thing I can tell you, Soarin', is what I tell myself when I don't know what else to do." Shining Armor answers as honestly as he can. "We must stand on the beliefs of Equestria. The belief that love and friendship is greater than hate, the belief that order is greater than chaos, the belief that serving others is greater than serving ourselves and our selfish desires. We must stand, and we must stand together, or we will fall separately."

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MEANWHILE, IN THE OFFICES OF THE EQUESTRIA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION...

"I have heard you have some very good news, Neighsay?" Lieutenant Troilus in his dress uniform was asking, Guard Upper Class Lyacon beside him also in dress uniform.

"Indeed I do." the Acting Chancellor answers, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. "The last alternative candidate for the Chancellorship has withdrawn their bid, meaning Princess Celestia will have no choice but to confirm me into the position. Your assassin does good work, but I'll have to be more careful who I hate on from this point forward. Maybe I'll start picking on the griffons instead..."

"Sounds reasonable to me, sir." Troilus comments with a shrug. "Did I tell you about the campaign?"

"Yes, you did. Sadly, I will not be able to join you on your endeavour, but I wish you and your followers the best of luck." Neighsay answers again. "Those pegasi deserve to be strung up with their wings cut clean off."

"Agreed. I am confident the Grand Galloping Gala will provide the cover for the moving out of our campaign." Troilus explains. "The setup is complete, and our followers will be ready. All that is needed is patience."

"And faith?" Neighsay adds.

"And faith. Because we are the truly righteous ones, and our righteousness will protect us from all danger and obstruction." Troilus answers, his confident smile obscuring the untruth of his words.

With Shining Armor's influence temporarily neutralized, hope for pegasi being fairly treated fading fast, and the only other unicorn able to push aside the rising tide of hate critically and unwittingly compromised, the seeds of future disasters had been sown. The first of these would be triggered in the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala, after the deception of several important figures was revealed to have succeeded...

Author's Note:

"Our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become." - Unknown

"Nothing truly valuable arises from ambition or from a mere sense of duty; it stems rather from love and devotion towards men and towards objective things." - Albert Einstein