Shining Armor sat quietly in his corner of the chariot, eyes locked on one of the two other passengers riding with him. The chariots themselves were fairly large, designed to seat six ponies comfortably. Made of stained white wood and trimmed in gold, they were quite luxurious looking from the outside, and even more so from the inside, with everything being lined in red silk, and large red pillows for seating. Despite the size and comfort of the chariots, it was decided that, because of the length of the ride to Canterlot, they would split the group between two separate transports, rather than squeezing into one. Because of this, Twilight and the rest of her Element friends rode in one chariot, while Shining and, due to her own insistence, Zecora rode in the other with Manet. The mare in question had spent the entire ride so far just staring listlessly at her forehooves, having said not a word since their take off.
With a tired sigh, Shining turned his attention out the window, to the chariot his sister and her friends were riding in. Although he could not see inside, due to the enchantment that made the walls of the chariot appear to be solid wood from the outside, it was still comforting for him to see them safely flying beside him.
‘I almost lost her today.’ He thought to himself. A quick glance confirmed that Manet was sitting quietly in her seat. ‘If it wasn’t for this new pony, I don’t think we would have made it in time.’
Sighing yet again, Shining let his head thump against the window, attempting to distract himself with the scenery passing by below them. ‘The big brother in me wants to get on my knees and thank her profusely for saving my sister’s life. The guard in me recognizes how dangerous she is, and wants to strip her of her armor and weapons until we can confirm that she isn’t a threat. I hope I’m making the right choice, bringing her before the Princess like this.’
Any further thought on the subject was interrupted by the sound of somepony shifting in their seat, followed by hoofsteps moving across the cabin. Turning his attention back to the mare they were escorting, he saw Zecora take a seat beside Manet, before resting a hoof on her shoulder and speaking.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Shortly after take off, Manet had decided to occupy herself with inspecting her new form, as well as thinking on everything that had happened since her awakening. She had learned during her time adventuring that stopping to think while in the heat of battle tended to get you hurt, so now that she had time to relax safely, she was going to take advantage of it.
Bringing her hands, now forehooves, up to her face, she began thinking on her transformation, as well as the fate of her allies and friend. ‘This is strange... While I am no stranger to transmogrification, this feels different… more permanent. I’ve been Polymorphed and Hexed before, and that always feels like wearing a suite, or a costume of some sort. I could feel the magic layered over myself, and I could still feel my true form underneath. But this… This feels like an actual skin. Like this is how my body has always been, with no trace of my old self underneath.’
Reaching inside herself, she could still feel her magic, and her connection to the spirits. ‘My magic is still here, and I can still feel the spirits, although both feel… different. They came to my aid in battle against those strange creatures, but it feels like they aren’t used to being called upon in such a way.‘
Glancing up, she saw Shining Armor staring out the window at the carriage that flew alongside them, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. ‘And the individuals here, they are strange. Not weak, but definitely not used to large amounts of conflict. Very peaceful, unlike the citizens of Azeroth. This, along with everything else I’ve learned since waking in that crater, seems to point to the fact that I am no longer on Azeroth, and that I may be in an entirely different universe altogether.’
Returning her gaze to her hooves, a frown appeared on Manet’s face. ‘Although my people are no strangers to traveling between dimensions, I have never heard of one that altered our form in any ways, much less making us appear as the locals do.’ Her frown deepened as she continued this line of thought. ‘And if this is a dimension my people are unfamiliar with, will they be able to find me? Will anyone even know where to look for me? I know Moriza will, but what clues could have been left by my sudden departure to even hint at the fact that I fell into another reality. Did she even survive the fight with the Scourge Lord? Did any of them? We were doing so well against him until I got knocked off, but would they be able to survive down a healer.’
Manet’s thought continued to spiral downward until she was broken out of her funk by a hoof resting gently on her shoulder, and the melodic rhymes of Zecora.
“What is this look of gloom about, my friend? You are simply meeting with the Princess, not with your end. Although I have never met her myself, I have heard she is quite friendly. Plus you have saved her prized student, so for you she may offer a reward, maybe.”
Taking a minute to process what was said, Manet gave a gentle smile before responding. “I apologize, I am simply worried about my comrades is all. We were in a fight with the Scourge Lord before I found myself here. I do not doubt their abilities, but being down a healer in the situation I left them in does not bode well for them.”
Shining, previously occupying himself with the scenery, took this opportunity to cut in. “Scourge Lord? Who, or what, exactly is that? Is it something we need to worry about here?”
Manet frowned, thinking for a moment before responding. “The Scourge Lord, or the Lich King as he is also called, is the leader of the Scourge Army, and army of undead whose goal was total annihilation of all life on Azeroth. I was part of a group of heroes, some of the best our respective factions could come up with, whose mission was to ascend to the top of the Lich King’s frozen citadel and slay him. We were in the midst of our battle with him when I was thrown from the tower attempting to save my sister-in-arms. I lost consciousness as I fell from the tower, and woke up in that crater. I barely had time to realize I was no longer in the frozen north, and in an unfamiliar form, before I heard the cries of your sister and her friends and jumped to their aid.”
Shining sat in stunned silence, before a sudden jolt from turbulence shook him out of it. “You didn’t answer my question though, are they a threat here?” Shining almost looked desperate, a touch of fear in his eyes. “Do we have to worry about this ‘Lich King’ here? If your allies fell, will we be next?
Manet sat silently, trying to word her response as best as she could. “I cannot say for sure, although I do not foresee that being a problem here. The event that sent me here did not seem to be intentional. Why would he go through all that trouble, knocking someone off his tower like that, if his goal was to transport them elsewhere? Besides, that isn’t his style. He feeds the souls of his victims to his sword, Frostmourne, or adds them to his undead army of death knights.”
“And what are these ‘death knights’? I thought you said his army was called The Scourge?”
“The Scourge is the collective name for his army, although there are several different types of undead within their ranks.” Manet paused a moment, a dark look crossing her face. “Death Knights are the result of heroes and adventurers, like myself, whose soul was twisted and corrupted by the Lich King’s dark powers, forcing them to fight for him.”
“You seem to have some experience with this.” Shining observed, giving Manet a sympathetic look.
“Yes, my sister.” Manet growled. “We were ambushed by the scourge, and she was taken hostage by them. After a year of searching, I discovered that she had been turned, and then later freed. She was with us during the assault on the Icecrown Citadel.”
Shining buried his face in his forehooves, familiar with the feeling of losing someone in the field. “Well I hope that your friends made it out at least, even if they didn’t succeed in taking him down.”
The somber mood was broken by Zecora, clapping her hooves together to get everypony’s attention. “Enough of this talk, full of doom and gloom. It would not do to be depressed, for we shall arrive soon. Why don’t you take the rest of the trip to tell us about yourself? I can tell from your experience, that of knowledge, you have a wealth.”
“There isn’t a whole lot to tell really, I was born aboard the Exodar, alongside my sister and friend, Moriza. Our mothers were best friends, and we were born only a few days apart, so we ended up spending most of our time together.” Manet smiled, reminiscing. “When we were both of proper age, we chose to follow the path of the Shaman, myself in the arts of Restoration, and Moriza in the arts of Enhancement. Upon reaching adulthood, and passing our final test, we received our final relic and set out to help protect our new home as best we could. We traveled Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms together, and it wasn’t long before the Alliance took note of our skills and requested our presence in Northrend. It’s funny, it has only been two years since we set out from the Exodar, but it seems like it’s been so much longer. We experienced so much in such a short time…” Manet’s smile fell a bit as she stared off, not looking at anything in particular.
The silence was broken when Shining spoke up. “You keep referring to this other pony as your sister, but said you have different mothers. Does that mean you have the same father? Do your people practice herding as well?”
“No,” Manet laughed. “It is nothing like that. We are just so close that we refer to each other as sisters. As for your second question, I am unsure as to what herding is, would you explain?”
“Herding is a bit of a holdover from the pre-unification era,” Shining explained. “ Back then, ponies were more nomadic, and the gender ratio was more skewed than it is now. Because of this, ponies tended to group up in families of one stallion to multiple mares. Nowadays it’s mostly practiced by earth ponies. Large farming families, easier to work the land with more ponies, you know?”
“So they have more children, then force them to work on their farms?”
“Well… yes and no. They have more foals, with the expectation that their talents will be something related to whatever crop they happen to grow, but if they get a talent in something else, they won’t stop them from pursuing it. You see, special talents tend to run in the family, in a way. If you look at the Apple family, Applejack included, all of them seem to have some type of talent related to the growing, harvesting, selling, or even cooking of apples. While no one pony in their family has the same talent, they are all related to apples. The same can be said with my sister and I. We come from a minor unicorn noble family, whose ancestors were known for their superior magical abilities. Our mother, while not a magic talent, is still much more proficient with magic than the average unicorn. I myself received a Cutie Mark in defensive magics, and Twilight?” Shining chuckled. “She hit the jackpot with a talent in magic itself. Hatched an infertile dragon’s egg and turned our parents into potted plants when she discovered her talent. Luckily the Princess was nearby, she fixed the damage caused by my sisters surge and ended up taking her in as her personal student.”
“What do you mean by ‘special talents’?” Manet questioned. “And what are these ‘Cutie Marks’?”
“The two are pretty much one and the same. A Cutie Mark is the mark a pony gets on their flank denoting their special talent. My Cutie Mark, for example,” he explained, motioning to the symbol adorning his armor clad flank. “Is a six pointed star resting on a shield. The six pointed star is the symbol for magic, and it resting on a shield signifies my aptitude for defensive magics and shields. My sister’s is just a six pointed star, surrounded by five stars, signifying her talent with magics of all types.”
“And do all ponies receive these marks?”
“Indeed they do, as you can see.” Zecora turned to show the mark on her flank. “The mark of the sun is what was given to me. Specialising in plants, to grow and pick, I know exactly what to do. It helps with my alchemy, in mixing the perfect brew.”
“Interesting…” Manet mumbled, gaze drifting her her armored rump, deep in thought.
They settled into a comfortable silence for the remainder of the trip, nopony speaking up until the chariot began its descent towards the castle.
“I never got to thank you.” Shining spoke up, breaking the silence.
“What was that?” Manet asked, looking up from the bag she had been digging through.
“I said I never got to thank you, for saving my sister’s life. I joined the guard when I was a colt because I always wanted to be there to protect her, and when I heard those howls when we landing, I thought I had failed to do that.” Shining sat on hard on his flank and looked down at his hooves, attempting to hide the growing moisture in his eyes. “My sister is one of the most important ponies in my life… I don’t know what I’d do if I had lost her like that.”
Standing up, Manet crossed the carriage and put a hoof on his shoulder, giving him a gentle smile. “It is ok, I set out on my journey with the goal of helping any and all in need, and it would be a poor show of conviction if I let something happen to those ponies when I was around to do anything about it.”
Looking up, Shining returned the smile before standing, heading towards the door as the carriage touched down. “Still, I’m in your debt for that, if you ever need help, just ask. As long as it’s within my power, I’ll be there.” As the carriage rolled to a stop, Shining encased the handle of the door with his magic, before turning to address the two ponies riding with him. “From what I’ve seen of you so far, I don’t think you’ll have any problems. Meeting with Princess Celestia is more of a formality at this point. She’ll probably ask you to stay in the castle while we analyze the residual magic left on you from whatever brought you here, but after that she will probably attempt to integrate you into pony society, should we not be able to return you home. Zecora, you are here as a witness of the events that took place prior to our arrival. Once we enter the throne room, please stay with Twily and her friends until you are called upon.”
With a nod of confirmation from both ponies, Shining pushed open the door and stepped off the carriage. Waiting outside was a squadron of royal guards, all of whom saluted before falling in step with their Captain and the ponies he was escorting. As they approached the castle’s rear entrance, they were met by a squadron escorting the Elements. Entering the castle, the two groups merged as the guards spread out to stay in formation around them.
After several minutes of navigating through the ornate halls of the castle, which seemed to twist and turn back on each other, they finally arrived at a massive set of double doors engraved with half a sun on one door, and half a moon on the other. The guards that had been escorting them spread out behind them as Shining turned to address Manet one final time.
“Since you have been so cooperative so far, we will allow you to keep your armor, however I ask that you leave the helm off and turn over any weapons you have on you.”
"Why do you seek to disarm me?" Manet question. "I have saved your sister and her friends, and have been nothing but cooperative the entire way here. Have I not proven myself trustworthy enough?"
Seeing the cautious look Manet gave him, he sighed before continuing. “This is non-negotiable, we can not allow an armed, unknown pony into the throne room with the Princess. I can assure you your weapons will be returned in the same condition we received them in as soon as your meeting is done.”
As Shining Armor finished speaking, two of the unicorn guards that had been escorting her stepped forward, horns glowing as they prepared to take her weapons from her. Seeing this act of aggression, Manet stepped back before balancing on her hind legs, forehooves resting on her weapons. "I would very much prefer keeping my weapons with me, thank you very much."
Not liking the act of defiance, the remainder of the guards readied their weapons and prepared to subdue the Draenei. Before things could escalate further, Shining Armor signaled his guards to stand down and approached Manet.
"Manet, please," Shining pleaded. "I already said I owed you for saving my sister, and I'd like to consider you a friend." Shining's horn started glowing as he spread his hooves and steadied himself in a crouched stance. "But I can not allow you to keep your weapons on you while you're in the throne room. Try and see this from our side of things. First contact with a new species, possibly from a different land, that has proven themselves a deadly combatant is preparing to meet with the ruler of your nation. Would you allow them to enter the throne room armed?"
Manet locked eyes with Shining, searching for any signs of deceit. After several tense seconds Manet closed her eyes and let out a long sigh, slowly removing her weapons from her back. Holding them out in front of her, she locked eyes with Shining again. "You have given me no reason to suspect you, so I will trust you in this one." As the unicorns magic took hold of her weapons, she held them firm as her expression hardened. "Do not make me regret this." Her piece spoken, she let go of her weapons and allowed Shining to hand them off to the waiting guards.
One of the guards opened his mouth to respond to the pseudo-threat, but Shining cut him off. "Thank you, Manet. We will make sure they are returned to you in the same condition we received them in."
Relieved of her weapons, Manet turned to face the door before the clearing of a throat caused her to turn and catch the glare Shining was shooting her way. With a smile and a roll of her eyes she reached into her bag, removing the two single handed axes she had. "I was kind of hoping you had forgotten about these. But if it makes you feel better I guess I can give these up as well." 'Besides, its not like I don't have other weapons stashed in here. As much as I want to trust them, the olive branch they have extended thus far may still be a cover for ill intent.'
Confident that she was properly disarmed, Shining nodded to the guards staioned at the door, signaling them to open them. The doors opened in unison, and as they stepped through, they heard a voice shout. “Announcing Captain Shining Armor, the Elements of Harmony, Zecora of the Everfree, and Man-net of the Exodar, now entering the day court.”