Common Ground

by LunasCaptain

Warrior Prince

"You really don't need to do this, Prince."

Shining Armor resisted the urge to sigh in exasperation. The three ponies in front of him--Captain Claymore, Frost Damage, head of the wall guard, and Endgame, head of the night shift--were staring at him with tentative hostility. They didn't want him here. They thought that he had no idea what he was doing. Didn't they remember that he had been trained as a soldier?

"It will make me feel better," he explained. It was true, even though he knew it sounded weak. Twilight and Cadance, the two most important ponies in his life, were in this city. He couldn't stand just going to sleep--he had to protect them.

"If you say so, lad--er, Prince," Frost Damage grunted, turning away. She was a grizzled, one-eyed pegasus mare, and Shining had the oddest feeling that, out of the three, she liked him the most. Which was still just shy of outright contempt, but still.

"We'll honor your request, Prince." Claymore stepped forward. "You'll be with me first."

Shining followed the captain down out of the observation tower, which had become the meeting place of the higher-ranking guards in light of the renewed Changeling threat. The other unicorn was completely silent, except for his hoofsteps, which were much louder than those of his prince.

Claymore didn't speak until they had reached the Hall of Equestria. "It isn't ordinary for us to go out ourselves, instead of just supervising the ponies under us."

"But you feel better patrolling," Shining finished. It was a feeling he was familiar with, and not just recently. He had gone on patrol himself for months after the whole Nightmare Moon thing.

"I suppose that's one way to put it," Claymore agreed.

Shining examined the Hall. The history Halls of the palace were more for show than actual use, so he didn't come here very often. It was wide enough for eight stallions in full armor to walk comfortably side-by-side. Unlike in Celestia's castle, there were no stained-glass windows--the walls were transparent enough here that windows were a redundancy. Instead, ornate tapestries hung every few feet.

Here was a young, pink-haired Celestia raising the sun. Here was a filly Luna flying among the stars. Here was the first defeat of Discord, the emergence and banishment of Nightmare Moon, the six mares that were the Elements of Harmony battling her in the ruins of the old castle. Shining smiled at the depiction of Twilight.

Claymore stopped suddenly. Shining almost bumped into him.

"Something's wrong," the captain said. He was looking out towards the city, dark beneath the cloud cover that hid the moon. Shining followed his gaze, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"What?"

"I don't know." Claymore started walking again, though he kept looking through the wall.

"Changelings?"

"No."

The way he said that sent a chill up Shining's spine. Everything that used to scare him as a colt came rushing back--windigoes, zombie ponies, Nightmare Moon--and he did his best to shove it away. To remain strong.

"How do you--"

Suddenly, a red flash came from between two distant buildings, followed by a shower of sparks in the same color.

"Endgame," Shining said, shocked more by how calm his voice was than the fact that the other stallion was in trouble. And then he took off.

They ran. Claymore was in the lead most of the time, horn ignited and boots impossibly loud against the floor. Numerous denizens of the palace flung their doors open as he passed, eyes tired and terrified at the same time.

An old, dignified unicorn in a frilly nightgown grabbed the end of Shining's tail with her magic. "Young stallion, what in the world is going on?"

"Everything's under control," he replied automatically. Which turned out to be the perfect thing to say if he had wanted to incite a panic.

Once outside and away from the impending stampede, Claymore glanced up to where a pegasus crouched on a ledge on either side of the door. The younger of the two was surveying the city with all the zeal of a rookie, and the older was fast asleep.

"Hawkeye! Cannonbolt!" Claymore yelled. The sleeping pegasus started awake, and almost fell off his ledge. "We have an enemy engagement in the market district. Wake up barracks eight and ten and report to the scene as soon as you can!"

"Yes, sir, Captain Claymore, sir!" the rookie yelled, saluting smartly. "You can count on us, sir, we..."

Her voice faded as they moved deeper into the almost-deserted city.

"Nice kid," Shining panted. Claymore didn't say anything.

Two very different sets of wingbeats echoed overhead, one feathered and one leathery. Shining glanced up to see Frost Damage swooping towards them, followed by a young kirin mare. The face of the former was thunderous.

"The griffon king decided to pay us a visit in the middle of the night without any warnin' whatserever," she spat in her thick island accent. "Booking fool is gettin' his plot kicked halfway to the moon right now, Endgame and his lads're tryin' to help."

"Did you see what attacked him?" Claymore asked.

"Oh, aye, Cap'n. It's nae like Celestia made me fer seein' in the daylight or anything. Nae even Pulse here can make it oot." She jerked her towards the kirin behind her. "Hope you like surprises, Cap."

Once again, Claymore was silent, which seemed to be his fallback reaction. Frost shifted her attention to Shining.

"Och, Prince, action on yer first night," she grinned, more savagely than kindly. "Lot of rookies'd kill fer that."

"Well, to be honest, Frost, I'd rather have been bored all night," he panted. His exhaustion worried him. Was he really that out of shape?

Shining lit up his horn when they reached the "market district", as Claymore had called it. He was practically dead on his hooves by then, cannons and flanks burning, but physical exhaustion rarely affected magic.

"Medic!" somepony roared from about ten feet away.

Claymore walked forward to examine whoever was wounded, an amber light glittering from the tip of his horn and lighting up his armor, while Shining stayed at the head of the narrow alley they were in to stand guard. It was amazing how easily he fell back into the old patterns. He remembered a very similar situation, years ago in Canterlot, when his unit had been after a highly dangerous unicorn maniac...

"Medic?" Frost repeated, touching down behind him. He shook himself out of his memories as she elbowed Pulse. "That's you, lass. Go on, then."

Pulse swallowed hard and trotted past Shining. He could see her cutie mark through her armor--a caduceus with a pair of serpent-like dragons twining around it.

"What did this?" he heard her murmur from the shadows.

"How the buck should I know?" the injured guard replied, voice thin with pain. "It was darker than Tartarus, I didn't get a good look at it."

"Damage! Prince!" Claymore called from further back in the alley. "Come take a look at this."

Armor and horn glowing magenta, Shining led the way into the darkness, towards the guttering amber silhouette that marked the position of the captain. The empty wooden stalls on either side of the alley unnerved him for some reason. Frost kicked an errant board into one, making it shake, and he almost jumped out of his armor.

Claymore and Endgame were standing over a prone griffon. Endgame had pulled his visor down, hiding his face.

Frost nudged the griffon, a regal-looking male, with one booted hoof. "Oot cold," she observed.

"Shouldn't we take him to the infirmary or something?" Shining asked.

"In due time, Prince, in due time," Endgame wheezed. It sounded like he had been kicked in the stomach. "But first--"

It was around that time that something horrible landed on top of Frost Damage.

"Bloody hay!" she shouted, rearing up and flapping her wings.

Shining shared the sentiment, but he didn't take the time to express it. He turned and kicked, hooves making contact with something solid but light. The thing flew off of Frost's back, smacking against the transparent wall of the alley.

He spun around, intending to charge the thing and immobilize it. But the impact hadn't stunned it at all--it skittered behind one of the stalls.

"Thanks, laddie," Frost said shakily. Shining was about to respond, but he noticed a dark trickle running down her breastplate.

"Frost, you're bleeding."

She pressed a wing awkwardly to the neck joint of her armor, where her helmet met her joined pauldrons. The pale feathers came away red.

She stared at the blood for a moment. "Booking thing bit me." Then she collapsed.

"Medic!" Claymore roared. The only response he got was for the thing behind the stall to scuttle out--and gallop full-tilt into the darkness beyond the double-circle of unicorn light. "Get it! Somepony, get it!"

Shining responded the second the creature reappeared. He bolted after it, leaping over Frost and the griffon. He fired a rapid bolt of magic that ricocheted off the walls after the target dodged. The strobing light was just enough for him to see it try to duck behind another stall.

"Oh, no you don't!" He grabbed its hindhooves with his magic, dragging it back out. Then he jumped, pinning it to the ground and counteracting its every effort to squirm away. "You--"

He faltered.

Oh my goddesses, it has the eyes of a pony.

The thing blinked up at him, horrifyingly equine. He frantically tried to shift it back into his perception of a monster, and failed.

This isn't a Changeling.

It was something new.

And for some reason, Shining Armor lifted his hooves and let it run off.

Hoofsteps echoed loudly behind him. Endgame and Claymore appeared.

"It got away," Shining said faintly.

"I'll put out an alert come morning," Claymore said grimly.

"I'll wake the princess," Endgame gasped, just as out of breath as before.

"No." Shining vehemently shook his head. "Let her sleep."

"Are you sure, Prince?"

"Yes."

Endgame flipped up his visor and nodded his assent. His eyes looked silver in the light of Claymore's horn.

A/N: As you may recall, I warned you about the possibility of gore.

And as you may be able to tell, I have no idea how to write a Scottish accent. And the internet isn't helping.

Comments

[CanterlotGuardian]

oh my god... it has pony eyes. you have renewed my already-incredibly strong interest in this story. please continue soon.

[LunasCaptain]

1310547
Thanks for the encouragement! I'm glad this chapter didn't come off as too weird.

[CanterlotGuardian]

1310558
no, not at all. it was very engaging.

[LunasCaptain]

1310640
What fun is there in making sense?

I'm sorry. The opportunity just couldn't be missed.

[Arcane Howitzer]

Something ghoulish and foul, with a venomous bite... there is dark magic ahoof.

[JazzyWaffles]

Oh my goddesses, it has the eyes of a pony.

The thing blinked up at him, horrifyingly equine. He frantically tried to shift it back into his perception of a monster, and failed.

This isn't a Changeling.

Gimme an R!
Gimme an A!
Gimme a CIST!

No seriously, something needing to have "pony eyes" to qualify as "not a monster" to Shining just makes me feel like he's even more racist than I previously thought.