EEEEK! A monster!
Today was going to be perfect for the white unicorn with the blue mane. Today was the day he was going to look at the pink alicorn straight in her eyes and tell her all of his feelings. He had it all planned out: the perfect meal, the perfect candlelit setting, the perfect lighting, and when the meal was done, he would break out into the perfect song that would broadcast his love for her across the kingdom and beyond. Yes, today was going to be perfect, with all the perfect things in place,
“SHINING! THERE’S A MONSTER IN MY CLOSET, HELP ME!!” screamed a little lavender unicorn filly from upstairs.
“With the possible exception of the perfect little sister that will be a very dead filly in a few moments,” muttered Shining under his breath. “Don’t worry, Twily, big brother’s coming,” Shining Armor said, running up the stairs to where his little sister laid.
“Shining, thank goodness,” said the little filly, snuggling in bed with her faithful doll at her side, “I was just reading here in my bed when I heard this eerie creaking noise. I took a look at the door and I saw this blue furry thing looking right back at me with his tongue sticking out. I think it’s still there. Could you get...pweese?”
Shining let out a sigh. He loved his sister, he really did, but he wished that she had gone out this night like other fillies her age, and not stayed to read their mom’s books. “Sure, Twily, I’ll check,” he said, turning to the closet and puffing out his chest. A smirk came to him as he swaggered up to the closet, his chest still puffed out, and pulled open the door. “Hear this, you monster of the night! I, Shining Siegfried Armor, am announcing to you that you will not terrorize my little sister anymore. She is guarded by the brave and heroic paladin of the day, myself, and any attempts to hurt her will be seen as an act of war against the Sparkle family. Now leave!” His smirk then changed to a comforting smile as he turned to his sister, “See, Twily? Once the monster knew that he was messing with your big brother, he ran like a little baby.”
“Yay!” Twilight yelled, throwing her hooves into the air as she looked into the empty closet, “Thank you, Shiny. Now I can continue reading.” She then quickly brought up a book and began to read again.
Walking back down the stairs, Shining Armor looked over his romantic feast. He couldn’t help but smile as he thought back to what his friends told him.
“Be Heroic.”
“Be awesome.”
“Be Dashing.”
“Be Strong.”
“Be Romantic.”
“Be-”
“Shining! The monster is back!” Twilight shrieked from upstairs.
“Be sure not to give into temptation and murder your beloved sister who you kept begging your parents to give you. To murder the sister that you held in your little forehooves and swore to protect with all of your might, and to hide the body and evidence,” thought Shining, a murderous intent in his eyes. “Coming, little sister.” He then bravely marched up the stairs, wondering to himself why his parents decided not to take his little sister to the Nightmare Night party. As he threw open the door, he looked down at the trembling filly cowering under the covers.
“Shining! I’m glad you’re here,” Twilight said, hiding under the covers so only her horn and eyes were visible. “The monster hid in the ceiling of the closet so you couldn’t see him, and then he moved and hid beneath the bed. This time I got a good look at him; he has two giant paws that have spiral blade-like claws at the end and a bunch of spikes on his back.”
“Spines and spiral claws, right,” Shining said, rolling his eyes. “Well, let me check.” Puffing out his chest once more, he used his magic to lift up the bed with Twilight on it and looked at the empty floor. “All right, you horrifying creature of the night, since you didn’t get the message the last time, I am going to tell you again! Stop scaring my little sister; she is a very precious gem to me. To harm her is to tick off...” he paused to think of a suitable name for himself, “The GRAND KING OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!”
“Don’t empires get ruled by emperors?” Twilight asked, looking over the edge of the bed.
“Weak guys who rule empires are emperors. I am way too awesome to be a mere emperor. I’m a king,” Shining announced, flipping his mane back.
“Yay! My brother is more awesome than an emperor,” Twily explained to her doll, her eyes opened wide in wonder.
“Now, you don’t scare her anymore, got it!” Shining said as he gently laid the bed back onto the floor. Walking to the side of the bed, he tucked his little sister back in, gave her a book, and kissed her forehead, “And you get back to reading. Cadence will be here any minute and I want to tonight to go perfectly.”
“Are you planning on telling her that you love her and want to marry her and live in a castle and be a brave hero?” Twilight asked quickly.
“Uh, maybe, kind of,” Shining said, his confidence fading quickly and a blush coming over him.
“YAY!” Twilight cheered cutely as she threw her hooves into the air while Shining closed the door behind him.
After closing the door, Shining walked back down the stairs with a confident and happy smile. He knew that today was the big day, that today would be the perfect night and nothing would stop him from getting his lady. Walking around the table with a small skip in his step, he began to imagine his lovely Cadence opening the door and seeing the spread before her.
He began to imagine her eating the meal daintily as she listened to his heroic exploits and his brave deeds in Ogres and Oubliettes. His mind quickly began to think of her hearing his song for her, falling head over heels for it. He then imagined the moment he declared his love for her and her swooning over him. He began to imagine...
“Shining! It’s back!” Twilight screamed.
Putting his hooves around Twilight’s neck, applying the right amount of pressure, and giving her neck a good squeeze. The he would hide the evidence and the body before moving to Zebrica where nopony would ever find him. Shaking his head to remove the thought of killing his little sister, he turned to the stairs. “Coming, Twily!” Shining said as he ran up the stairs to his sister’s bedroom. “OK, where is he this time?”
“Well, apparently he used a magic cloaking spell to hide himself from you when he was hiding under the bed, and then went to the bathroom,” Twilight said, looking straight into the eyes of her big brother. “Then he came back and now he’s hiding behind the curtain! I also got a good look at his face. He had big red scary eyes, horrible black teeth, and a very long snoot like a Snuffleupagus,” she finished saying, looking over to the curtain as she shuddered a little with fear.
Shining put on a comforting smile and sighed, not really wanting to be angry at such an adorable face. Instead, he calmly rubbed the mane of the little filly and walked to the curtain with his puffed out chest. “OK, you big brute, you dare try to scare my little sister, and to insult the honor of Mr. Snuffleupagus, who is one of Twilight’s favorite storybook characters,” Shining smiled as he remembered the stories of the big elephant and his large yellow bird friend that his mother would read to his sister, “and you dare to try to threaten the safety of the fair Cadence, my lady. Well, now you must face me! HAHA!” With a dramatic flourish, he pulled back the cover to reveal nothing but a window. “Guess I scared him away.”
“Yay! Thank you, big brother,” Twilight said, jumping up and down on her bed before leaping to her brother’s chest and giving him a giant hug.
“See, you never have to worry about giant-nosed monsters, not while the brave royal-guard-captain King of the Empire is around to protect you,” Shining said, hugging his sister back.
After tucking her back into bed and giving her her doll, the white stallion walked back to his carefully made dinner table and took one last look around. For him, everything that night had to be perfect, every minute detail had to be planned out in advance, and nothing could go wrong. Taking a quick look back up at the clock, he took note of the time and how much longer it was going to be before the mare of his dreams would walk through the door and become his forever. In his mind he played out the entire scenario to himself.
“Oh, Shining, my love and my world, that declaration of love was beautiful,” Cadence said, throwing her hooves forward dramatically as she fell into Shining’s forelegs.
“Yes it was, my lady, my declaration was only for you. Now I must ask you...” Shining trailed off, looking down into her light pink eyes.
“Yes?”
“Marry me?” Shining asked.
“Oh, yes, Shining! I will, I will marry you! Look, here comes my auntie from above the heavens,” Cadence said, pointing to a majestic Celestia as she descended to the couple, accompanied by a heavenly chorus consisting of his three best friends. “She can instantly marry us, and...”
The rest of the fantasy would never play out, as a high pitched scream was heard from up the stairs. “SHINING!”
Shining’s once perfect mane suddenly became very frazzled, strands shooting off into various directions as his eyes shrunk into pinpricks. Looking around the room with the expression of a deranged killer, he began to scrutinize both the fireplace poker and the sword on the mantelpiece. Instantly, his mind began a list of at least fifty ways he could use the two items together in order to kill his darling little sister and dice up her body. “Tonight’s meal, my dear Cadey, will be essence of Twilight!” he said with a manic smile. He then shook his head, walked quickly up the stairs, and threw the door open. “Yes, Twilight, what is it?”
“Shining, the monster, he’s-” Twilight was immediately interrupted by her brother.
“Look, Twily, this night is very important to me, and I can’t have it ruined by having to run up here every time your imagination runs away with you,” Shining said, walking into the room and closing the door.
“But Shining,” Twilight said, pointing her hoof to the door.
“Twilight, look, you’re a smart kid and all, and you should know better. There are no monsters in your closet or under your bed. They’re all in your mind. It’s just your imagination, kiddo,” Shining said, walking to Twilight.
“But, Shining!” Twilight yelled, pointing her trembling hoof behind him.
“I mean, come on! Mom is a novelist; she could show you all sorts of fake monsters that exist out there. Heck, she’s TOLD you far scarier stories than any monster you’ve imagined in your bed or your closet! You have to learn to face your fears and realize that those things are just in your dreams.” Shining’s lecture was then interrupted by a yell from Twilight.
“BUT, SHINING!!” Twilight screamed.
“WHAT?!” Shining yelled.
“The monster is right behind you,” Twilight whispered.
“Oh, now, that is just plain ridiculou-AHAHAAAAAAHH!” In mid-sentence, Shining had turned around, only to find himself looking at the horrifying face of a giant, blue-furred monster standing behind him.
“Hiiiiii,” the monster said, gravely.
“Hi,” Shining squeaked. Shaking his head, he slammed his forehoof down and ignited his horn. Though his legs shook with a little bit of fear, he was going to stand firm and unwavering, ready to protect his little sister or die trying, “All right, you big giant monster, what do you want?”
“What do I want?” the creature growled. “What do I WANT?” The creature walked a little closer. “WHAT DO I WANT?!”
“Yeah, what do you want?” Twilight asked, trembling.
“I want… a bedtime story,” the monster said. “Miss Velvet tells some of the best stories, and I haven't heard one in a while, and I was wondering if you could tell me one.”
Shining arched an eyebrow in shock before looking back at his smiling sister and letting out a sigh. “All right, you two, into the bed and I’ll tell you both a story.”
“Yay!” the monster and Twilight cheered as the monster leapt into the bed alongside Twilight.
About ten minutes later, a young, pink, winged unicorn walked up to the Sparkle residence and knocked on the door, only to find it unlocked. Watching the door slowly open before her, the mare walked in. “Shining? I’m here to help you with that assignment? Shining? Hello?” Cadence called out as she looked around, trying to see if she could find her friend. “Hello?” As she walked further into the house, she could hear the sounds of several voices coming from upstairs. Her curiosity piqued, she walked slowly up the stairs and to the room the sound was coming from. Opening the door slowly, she smiled in surprise as she watched the full-grown stallion inside act out the story he was telling.
“So, the brave mage, the heroic knight, the gentle druid, the magnificent rogue, the bard, the barbarian, and their faithful companion stood before the nightmare queen. They were not afraid of her; after all, they had already faced their worst nightmares, and most importantly, the six valiant companions had each other. Taking down the queen of nightmares after all that they had been through would be a cakewalk,” Shining said, a staff and sword at his side for re-enactment purposes.
Cadence leaned on the door frame, unable to find it in her heart to distract the storyteller from his task. Instead, she let out a soft giggle and leaned against the side of the doorframe, watching as Shining told the story to the attentive Monsty, the monster in the closet, and to Twilight, who had fallen asleep halfway through the story and was now curled up in the bed, snoring peacefully.
Sometimes… the best monster slayers are a big brother and a warm blanket.