//------------------------------// // [Interlude] The Favor // Story: A Scratch On Shining Armor // by BaeroRemedy //------------------------------//         “We secure our friends not by accepting favors but by doing them.”  -Thucydides 4 Years Ago Snow drifted down from heavy gray clouds, coating the streets of Canterlot in a thick layer of ice. Ponies were staying inside, huddled by their fires and sharing time with their loved ones in order to pass the storm outside. It was a perfect winter day for foals and families alike, one of the rare winter storms that brought ponies together.         Even the palace grounds were all but vacated for the day. Staff were off at their homes, getting ready for Hearth’s Warming morning that was merely a day away. The guards were also among the staff that had been given leave, all but the royalty’s personal guard details and two very unlucky trainees that were snowed in at the barracks.         “This sucks,” one of the two trainees lamented, setting his plumed helmet down by the nearby hearth and putting a few logs on inside of the stone enclosure. “Can you believe they literally made us draw straws for this, Soar?” The unicorn took up a match and struck it against the stone, a brilliant flame jumping to life on the tip. “I mean, how clichéed can you get?”         “Yeah…” The pegasus he was speaking to was trudging in through the door, snow covering his armor in a thin layer of powder. The pegasus, Soarin, kicked off his armor piece by piece until all he had left was his helmet. He let that piece fall to the ground as he lowered his head.         “I don’t think I’ve ever seen it this cold or snowy before,” the unicorn, Shining Armor, commented as he put the match to the kindling beneath the logs. The fire caught, spreading to the rest of the kindling in seconds. It would take a few minutes for the logs themselves to catch, but it would be worth it in the end. “Does it ever get this bad in Cloudsdale?” Shining was going to keep trying to engage Soarin, no matter how disinterested and downtrodden the pegasus seemed.         “Not really…” the pegasus grumbled as he wormed his way underneath the covers of his bunk. Shining turned his head back in time to see the stallion’s head poke out from underneath, looking at the growing fire in front of him. “Clouds are sorta below us and whatever…”         Shining turned back to the fire, tending it carefully and helping it grow stronger with a little magical assistance. The unicorn’s face contorted into a worried state over his friend’s melancholy. The pegasus was usually so bubbly and ecstatic, so seeing him so downtrodden was not a very exciting thing.         “Are you alright, Soar?” Shining turned around fully so he could face his friend head-on. “I mean, I know we’re alone here for a few days but I thought since we’re friends that’d make it a bit easier.” Shining didn’t want to see his friend disparaged over the holidays. It was the worst time to be depressed.         “No,” Soarin admitted, laying his ears flat against his head as he spoke. The pale blue stallion buried his muzzle in the crook of his foreleg, muffling his voice. “No, I’m not alright.” Shining stood up from his kneeling position and undid his chilled gold armor. He wasn’t going to speak to Soarin as a guard now, but as a friend.         “Wanna talk about it?” Shining walked the few steps over to his friend’s bed, hopping up on the stiff mattress and putting a hoof on the pegasus’ back. “Because there’s not much else we can really do except talk at the moment.” Shining chuckled nervously, not sure if his attempt at levity would liven his friend’s mood.         Soarin sighed heavily and reached a hoof underneath his mattress. He rummaged around a bit until he found what he was looking for. A small greeting card was produced from underneath the bed, one that had a very large, but happy family all in Hearth’s Warming attire smiling to the camera. Shining took the offered photograph and studied it.         Eight similarly-colored pegasi were in front of a festively decorated fireplace, each of them wearing red hearth’s warming caps. The oldest pegasi were in the back, easily in their mid forties, the rest looked like they ranged between less than a year old to their late teens. Shining couldn’t help but notice that there was a spot open in the back, where somepony was missing from this picture.         “Your family?” The unicorn guard asked quietly. Shining could see why Soarin would be upset, being away from family during the holidays was rough. Even he missed his folks and little sister right about now.         “Yeah…” Soarin replied, taking the picture back and resting his hoof on it delicately. “The youngest, the twins, it’s their first Hearth’s Warming. I was always there for the others, y’know?” Shining could see tears start to form in the pegasus’ eyes. “I’ve been around for every other hearth’s warming except this one…”         “I’m sorry.” What else could Shining say? He knew what it was like to care about family so much that it hurt to let them down. Right now Twilight was probably eagerly waiting at the door for her big brother to come home so they could open presents together in the morning. That hurt Shining more than he thought possible.         Silence washed over the room for a few minutes. The stallions both brooded over their missing family time and shirked personal responsibilities. It was a heavy silence, permeated by the crackling of the nearby fire.         “I think I might be able to cheer you up.” Shining spoke up, his horn flaring to life in an instant. “Maybe not all the way, but at least a little.” A small box came out from underneath his own bunk across the room and levitated over to the pair. “I was going to wait until morning, but I figured now is just as good as then.” He held out the wrapped box to the pegasus. “Happy Hearth’s Warming, Soar.”         “You didn’t have to do this, Sha,” Soarin said as he took the gift in his hooves. Shining waved the sentiment off, urging Soarin to unwrap his gift. The pegasus obliged, tearing the colorful paper free from the box and flipping the lid off of the rather plain box. His eyes lit up once he saw what was inside. “No way!”         “Yep.” Shining smiled as Soarin pulled out the brilliant blue hoodie, a gold lightning bolt streaked its way down the side of the garment leading directly to Soarin’s cutie mark. The topper was that Soarin’s name was emblazoned on the back in bold letters. “One custom Wonderbolts hoodie, like you said you wanted.”         “Dude, do you know how much these cost?” Soarin asked, his eyes still wide as he studied the hooded sweatshirt. He was particularly fascinated with his name and cutie mark, running his hooves over them several times. “I-I can’t accept this.”         “Well alright, I guess I’ll just give it to another Soarin with the same cutie mark.” Shining lobbed the words at his friend sarcastically. “C’mon Soar, it’s no big deal. It’s not like I was using the bits for anything. I live at home, for Celestia’s sake.”         “I-I didn’t get you anything,” Soarin rebutted, pulling the hoodie over his body. Shining waited until his pale head poked through the hood until he spoke again.         “You don’t have to. That’s what the season is about, right? Giving without expecting anything in return?” Before he could add a friendly smile or any more words, he was enveloped in a warm hug.         “Thank you, Shining,” Soarin said, squeezing Shining a little harder as he did. The stallion pulled away from the unicorn. “You’re way too nice for your own good, you know that?”         “I’ve been told that a few times, yeah.” Shining grinned and put a hoof on his friend’s back. “So let me be a little nicer, huh?” Soarin cocked his head to the side, a confused expression crossing his visage. “Go home, see your family.” Shining was going to regret that one way or another, and he knew it.         “What? J-just abandon my post and leave you here alone? I couldn’t do that.” Soarin was standing on his bed now, looking down at Shining. “I can’t do that.” Okay, sure, it was against every rule in the guard’s handbook, but some matters went beyond the scope of the handbook and rules. Some things had to be dealt with by following your heart, not rules.         “You can, and you should,” Shining replied. “I’ll be fine here, it’s not like I don’t have the military history exam to study for. And hey, when the CO comes in tomorrow afternoon and you aren’t back, I’ll tell him you were out on patrol.” Shining stood up and gestured towards the door. “C’mon, I’m sure the twins are dying to see their big brother on Hearth’s Warming Eve.”         “You’re sure about this…?”         “One-hundred and ten percent, Soar.” Shining nodded and smiled. “Now go on, it’s not a long flight to your house, but the storm might slow you down.”         “Thank you.” Shining was pulled into another hug. “I owe you one, like a big one for this.” A small kiss was placed upon his cheek, something that caught the unicorn guard off. “Yeah, I owe you for that too. Just had to, sorry.”         “It’s alright, just get going.” Shining let the hug end and gave Soarin a gentle push towards the door. “Oh, and trust me, I’ll cash in that favor someday.” Shining went over to the fireplace and put another log onto the only source of warmth in the barracks.         “It better be one hell of a favor, I mean a big one!” Soarin shouted as he sped past the rows of beds.         “Oh it will be.” Shining hollered back as the door slammed shut, leaving him truly alone on Hearth’s Warming.         “Worth it.” Shining said to himself as he adjusted the log so it would catch a bit faster. “Totally worth it.” ----         “So yeah, he owed me a favor.” Twinkle and Vinyl were packing suitcases in Vinyl’s apartment, Glory standing at the doorway waiting for them. “I had really just been waiting to cash it in, now seemed like a good opportunity.         “So you’ve always been a goody-four-shoes, huh Twinkle?” Vinyl responded with a chuckle. “And a colt cuddler on the side to boot. Color me surprised.” Vinyl saw the little blush erupt on Shining’s face. She was going to capitalize on the opportunity to rib on him a little, but they were on a timetable.         “Shut up, Scratch,” replied the very flustered Shining Armor. “Now hurry up, we have a train to catch.”