TMToA: Captain Sparkle · 8:50am May 25th, 2019
Name: Twilight Sparkle
Alias
Captain
Mana Wall
Princess
Story
Long before Nightmare Moon returned to Equestria, two siblings had been enjoying a day in the Canterlot Royal Museum of History. Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor were both children back then, even if Shining was slightly older than Twilight, and had both been equally enthralled by one particular exhibit.
The Royal Guard Exhibit, where the shining history of the personal guardians of Princess Celestia was displayed proudly. The two siblings had been admiring a particular display, one of a pony who had distinguished himself with his ability to throw shield like a frisbee with ridiculous accuracy, so much so he could bounce them off walls, into an enemy, and still manage to make them return to him with nothing but pure physics. A replica of his shield hung from his statue’s hoof.
That was when the terrorist announced his presence, blowing the statue to bits and sending masonry and ponies flying.
In another reality, another world, or maybe another chance, the shield would land next to Shining Armor, who would, upon seeing his sister in the grasp of a second terrorist, use it much like that ancient pony did, neutralizing the terrorist with a well aimed throw of the shield to the throat.
Instead, here, now, the shield landed next to Twilight Sparkle, and it was Shining Armor who was in the grasp of the terrorist. Not caring that she was not as physically fit as her brother, nor caring that she wasn’t really that great at playing frisbee in the first place, Twilight only wanted to save her Big Brother Best Friend Forever.
That day, destiny was rewritten.
With a cry of effort, the shield flew straight and true, but lacked the same power it would have if Shining had thrown it. It hit the terrorist, making him drop her brother, but he was still conscious, and enraged. He directed said rage at Shining, who tried to frantically scramble away, and pressed the button for the bomb he wore. Twilight herself flung herself between her brother and the terrorist, following instincts that had not been there before.
When the blast faded away, when the smoke and dust settled, the remaining ponies in the museum had been dumbfounded to find Shining Armor not only alive, but his little sister floating in the air in front of him, eyes glowing pure white, and the most solid shield of magic any Unicorn had ever seen surrounding them both.
On top of that, Twilight had attained her Cutie Mark. It was a blue shield set in front of a magenta colored six-point star, with another white star behind that one and five more white stars orbiting the shield.
Having discovered a desire to protect ponies after that day, Twilight dedicated herself to becoming a Royal Guard. The day she came of age she enlisted into their forces. Her brother, inversely, had become slightly withdrawn after the terrorist attack and taken up reading books and learning defensive magic. Their therapist described both situations as coping mechanisms. Given proper time and care, they would both settle down.
Many years in the future, the duo would laugh every time they remembered that statement.
Twilight would go on to reinvent the shield-throwing style of the pony whose shield had helped her save her brother’s life, and modifying it so that she could control the shield and direct it with her magic. She had been shocked to have Princess Celestia herself offer to tutor her personally in magic, but declined upon learning that it would be a full-time thing, taking her from her dream of being a Royal Guard.
Shining would continue to learn more and more about defensive magic, quickly becoming the best in the field in his school club, then the school itself, before being recognized as the best with ward spells in the entire city, barring Celestia herself. Being recognized as such had led Shining to developing his Cutie Mark, which had been a mark that nearly exactly mirrored Twilight’s, shield and all, except his lacked the white stars. This also brought Celestia to him, giving him the same offer she gave Twilight. Unlike his sister, he accepted.
The duo had somehow garnered a reputation within the city of Canterlot as the Defensive Duo, as both specialized in defensive techniques. Fighting them separately was interesting. Fighting them together… was an exercise in futility.
On the fateful night when Nightmare Moon was to return, Shining Armor was sent to Ponyville to supervise the Summer Sun Celebration. His sister had been sent, quite willingly, as his personal guard for the trip. Both had seen the way Celestia acted after receiving Shining’s letter regarding the Mare in the Moon, and both were suspicious.
When, that night, Nightmare Moon stepped onto the stage instead of Celestia, Shining and Twilight had both been enraged to discover their Princess had been kidnapped. They had both attacked, utilizing their combined defensive style that few could beat.
Nightmare Moon swatted them aside like they were novices.
The journey from there had them seeking out the Elements of Harmony. Twilight, thanks to her guard training, kept herself mostly aloof around the five mares that insisted on joining them. She failed to make a connection with them beyond acquaintances. Shining, however, lacked that bearing and training, and readily and easily made friends with the five mares, discovering that he had locked himself away from a wonderful thing after the night that both him and Twilight still had nightmares about.
An ancient power slumbering deep within the forest felt that connection and sang in joy. It also however felt the connection that was tied to Magic, and was confused. Why were there two Magic’s? The power eventually decided that it did not matter, so long as it could once more sing.
When the time came for the Elements of Harmony to be awakened, nobody was ready for what happened.
Nightmare Moon had shattered the orbs, but when Shining began his speech about friendship, nobody had expected the shards of the Elements to begin circling Twilight. When Shining finished his speech, a flash exploded outwards.
When everyone could see again, they found an awe inspiring sight. Twilight had entered the forest wearing her Royal Guard armor, carrying a circular shield on her back, and with a sword strapped to her said. She preferred her shield, but there were times a sword was necessary.
Now she wore an entirely different ensemble. Her head was covered by a golden helmet bearing a pink butterfly-shaped gem on the front. A full set of gold armor, simple in design, bearing a purple diamond shaped gem covered her torso. Golden gauntlets covered her back hooves, both displaying an orange apple-shaped gem, while another set of golden gauntlets covered her front hooves, the left one displaying a blue balloon-shaped gem and the right one displaying a red lightning bolt-shaped gem.
Rounding it off were two shields orbiting Twilight. One shield, which looked to be composed of hazy magic, but was just as solid as any steel, bore Shining Armor’s Cutie-Mark. The other shield, this one made of solid gold but just as strong as any steel, bore Twilight Sparkle’s Cutie-Mark.
Twilight got the rematch she had wanted with Nightmare Moon then. She was much more equal to the Alicorn with the Elements empowering her, and eventually was able to utilize both shields to fire a beam of rainbow magic at Nightmare Moon, vanquishing her and restoring Princess Luna.
Afterwards, Shining Armor would go on to remain in Ponyville and study the Elements of Harmony and their power, while Twilight would return to her duties as soon-to-be Captain of the Royal Guard.
The armor that the Elements had become was stored within a secret vault, away from the bearers. Celestia was wary and worried of what would make objects of Harmony become tools most often used for war, so strived to only let the bearers near them in emergencies.
When Discord escaped, Shining found himself being thrust into the position of bearing the Armor of Harmony, as the group of friends had taken to calling it. Twilight herself had been corrupted by Discord and was actively fighting them at every turn. When he donned it, he was shocked to discover himself now wearing light armor made of gold-dyed leather and a mane-band. This was the style of armor the Mages of the Royal Guard used in wartime, he had realized. The shields were the same though, and he used them just as effectively as Twilight did, eventually nailing Discord with the same beam of magic Twilight had hit Nightmare Moon with.
It was after this incident that Twilight revealed how Discord had corrupted her so easily. He had used her fiance against her, one Princess Cadence. Shining Armor had been shocked to discover that his sister was getting married. While he had once carried a torch for Cadence himself, his studies kept him away too much, and Twilight had eventually gotten with her.
Life moved on after that. Twilight started to form connections of friendship with Shining’s friends at his insistence, declaring that it could only be beneficial for everyone involved.
For every threat that appeared, one of the seven friends would find themselves donning the Armor of Harmony whenever it was needed. Applejack wore a massive set of hardy armor that immensely amplified her strength, wielding a massive warhammer. Fluttershy wore a cloak and hood that hid her from sight, a small blunted dagger letting her take out opponents non-lethally. Rarity wore a camouflage cloak and wielded a bow and arrow. Pinkie Pie wore a catsuit and wielded a whip. Rainbow Dash wore a set armor straight from the history books and wielded a sword and shield.
It was when Shining received a mysterious journal from an unknown pony that destiny, once again, was changed. Trying to finish the final spell in the journal, Shining Armor failed and ended up swapping Cutie-Marks with his sister. However, to both their great confusion, they found that they both excelled and felt natural with said Cutie-Marks.
Unfortunately, their friends were in the same boat as them, and were miserable. After discovering how to fix it, Shining and Twilight hesitantly returned each other’s mark, wondering just why it had felt so right to them.
With this sacrifice, Princess Luna approached them and offered an explanation, revealing that she was the one that sent the journal. Twilight and Shining Armor were both destiny bound, but not in the way it normally worked. They had both somehow swapped destinies early on in life. Shining had originally been meant to be the Captain of the Royal Guard, while Twilight was originally meant to be Celestia’s student. Something had happened that changed everything for them. Luna had discovered this fact through her dream walking and acted to give then the opportunity to return things to the way they were originally meant to be.And now they had an opportunity to reset their destinies if they so choose.
It had been a hard decision, the both of them recalling how utterly right it felt to be in each other’s shoes, but in the end they both decided that they had carved their paths this far. There was no point in swapping roads now. Luna’s response to this was to grin as the both of them were engulfed in the power of Harmony. When it was over, Ponyville had two new Alicorns ruling over it.
Luna later explained that their ascension had been triggered not by their talents, but rather by continuing to follow their hearts even when faced with a temptation too great to be true. While there would have been no immediate repercussions had they agreed to switch one last time, it would have forever bound them to the threads of destiny. By keeping their current paths they had snapped what little grip destiny had on them clean off, opening the door for the ascension.
After all, there was no such thing as an Alicorn that was controlled by something else.
Just what is TMToA an acronym of?
Whoa mama. Another great alternate Twilight. The details behind the alteration of Twilight and Shining's roles was great. I especially liked the details of the Armor of Harmony as well as the "ultimate test" that had the payoff of both Twilight AND Shining ascending.
So what led to this idea? Just a plan for one you could never get to work out?