//------------------------------// // A Brother's Plan // Story: The Ties that Bind // by the7Saviors //------------------------------// Shining Armor sat in the dining hall across from the dark green pegasus mare that was supposedly taking care of him that day. Really though, the mare's actual task was just to make sure the colt didn't go anywhere he wasn't supposed to, and Shining knew it. Still, at the very least, Frigid Gale had allowed him to roam about the underground bunker outside of his new room -- albeit with several restrictions and an assigned caretaker. He had had a few caretakers in the past few days and none of them had been particularly pleasant to be around -- though this particular mare seemed to be somewhat different. Where most ponies and griffons he met here didn't bother to do more than put up with the colt, this mare seemed somewhat more open and friendly -- a welcome relief as far as Shining was concerned. Though he did enjoy the mare's company -- especially when compared to the others -- he also couldn't help but feel that there was something... off about her, though he couldn't figure out what. The pegasus just radiated... something that made Shining uneasy. Regardless, he pushed past the uncomfortable feeling and tried to befriend the mare if for no other reason than to get more information about Frigid Gale and the rest of his captors. He may have been free to roam about and talk to the others, and he may have offered to help in the thestral's endeavors, but he was still a prisoner, and he didn't forget that. So it was that the two sat across from each other and spoke over a hot meal in the hall. The mare had introduced herself as Fell Wind and they had been getting to know one another up until this point. "So what's your deal, kid?" the mare asked, swallowing a mouthful of steamed vegetable soup, "why the long face?" "I'm being held against my will and being called 'kid' by every single pony and griffon I meet doesn't help either," Shining responded flatly. Fell Wind laughed and shook her head. "Yeah, I guess that does suck," she said with a chuckle, "still though, you'll get used to it, kid." Shining snorted and roughly bit into his hayburger. The great quality of the food was actually another thing the colt found odd, but this was a mystery he was content to let go for now. The pegasus mare shook her somewhat messy black mane out of her face and eyed Shining curiously. "You know," she began, "you should lighten up a bit more. It isn't all that bad here." "Really?" Shining asked -- his tone dripping with skepticism, "you all more or less live in a hole in the ground and the default expression around here seems to be a permanent scowl, so I'm sorry if I don't believe you." "Okay so ya got me there," the mare said with a shrug, "but the whole perma-frown thing that a lotta folks got going on here is more because of what they've gone through." "What do you mean?" the colt asked curiously. "What I mean," Fell Wind began quietly, "is that directly or indirectly, many of the ponies and griffons here have had their lives bucked over in one way or another by our Eternal Sun Goddess." She leaned back in her chair and swept her gaze over the several other ponies and griffons in the hall as she spoke. "Needless to say, none of them are too happy, and the boss lady promised them a chance to do something about it." "So let me get this straight," Shining responded incredulously after a moment, "everypony here is willing to throw everything away and attempt to stage some kind of... coup against Princess Celestia -- a Goddess who can control the Sun and moon -- all because some mare showed up and promised them a better life?" Fell Wind turned back to Shining with a frown that made the colt flinch involuntarily. "She didn't just 'show up', kid," the mare said grimly. She turned away and a shadow pass across her face, "she's gone out of her way and nearly killed herself to save a lot of us here from some bad stuff -- stuff I don't even want to think about." "And... what about you?" Shining pressed, "were you one of the ones she saved?" Fell Wind hesitated a moment before giving a slow nod. "She... she pulled me and Red Storm out of a pretty bad spot awhile back," she said, turning away with a far off look, "wouldn't be here eatin' the best veggie soup I ever had if it weren't for her." Shining was quiet for a moment as he thought about her words. The first impression Shining had gotten about the thestral mare wasn't exactly a good one. She seemed friendly and easygoing on the surface -- but like with Fell Wind herself -- she had this air of wrongness about her that put the colt on edge. He could clearly tell that Frigid Gale had been through something terrible -- he had seen it in her eyes when they had met. But at the same time she seemed... too aloof, as though she was trying to distance herself from everypony. And yet here Fell Wind was, talking about her as if she was some sort of savior. It didn't make any sense to Shining. If she was truly as caring as they said, why hadn't she come to see him when they first brought him here? Why was he made to suffer alone in an empty room with his only the memory of his parent's violent deaths to keep him company? Another thing he had been noticing the longer he was here, was how distracted she seemed -- as though she always had something else on her mind and couldn't be bothered to deal with what was in front of her. Shining already had a pretty good idea of what was always on the thestral's mind just from the few interactions they had with each other. It was also something else he could see in her eyes whenever somepony mention the Princess. She was obsessed with Celestia. He wasn't sure what the Princess had done to her, but whatever it was, the thestral mare had it out for her. He hadn't dared to ask Frigid Gale herself what had happened -- mostly because whenever he tried to ask somepony else, he was either pointedly ignored or threatened with violence should he ask again. With all of this in mind, Shining could only come to one conclusion. Frigid Gale was not a good leader. Sure, she had charisma, but that wasn't enough. With what he was able to discern about the mare, everything she did just seemed to come off as her working towards an agenda -- revenge if Shining was putting the clues together properly. With that kind of motivation, Frigid Gale could never truly be a good leader and she was bound to get somepony killed further down the road if she hadn't already. If Fell Wind's word were to be believed, a lot of the ponies and griffons under Frigid Gale seemed to be fairly loyal. Fell Wind herself almost seemed to revere the thestral mare with the way she talked about her. But was the same true for everypony? There was a difference between a loyalty to the cause and a loyalty to the leader. How many were actually loyal to Frigid Gale herself? Shining knew there was good in the mare, but it was buried under all of her obsessive hatred for Celestia. He looked at Fell Wind with a contemplative frown, idly tapping his hoof on the table. If Frigid Gale could get past her hatred, Shining had no doubt she could be a great leader. She had the charisma, she could inspire ponies like Fell Wind to action through her own actions, and while he hadn't seen her command any actual forces, she did seem to have a good head on her shoulders. Shining Armor was by no means a military genius -- and even if he was, he had no experience. He hadn't even finished a full year in the Junior Reserve Captain's Training Corps. yet, but he had done enough independent study on the Equestrian Military and military tactics in general to give his sister a run for her bits. On top of all of that, he had his own ideas about what made a good leader, and the first step in good leadership was building trust. Through trust came loyalty -- the kind of loyalty that would have your squad follow you to Tartarus and back no matter how bad things got. Shining didn't believe for a minute that a pony with Frigid Gale's motivations and attitude could garner that kind of loyalty from every single pony and griffon here. She had some loyalty, sure, but he doubted she had the trust of everpony. But maybe... "Hey, kid, I got something on my face or what? What's with all the staring?" Shining snapped out his thoughts and only just now realized he hadn't taken his eyes off the pegasus mare this entire time. "Oh, uh..." Shining rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly, "sorry about that. I... just had something on my mind." "Huh..." the mare eyed him for a moment before shrugging, "ah well, whatever. Hey you gonna finish that?" she asked pointing to the almost untouched hayburger in front of the colt. Shining looked over to her bowl to see that it had been completely drained of soup and wordlessly pushed his own plate over to Fell Wind. "Nice!" she cried grabbing the burger, "was dying for one of these." "Then why didn't you just grab one at the counter?" The mare's only response was to shrug and take a massive bite out of the burger. Shining Armor just shook his head and looked away. After a minute, he glanced back at the pegasus and sighed. "Um... Miss Wind?" "Ugh," Fell Wind replied making a face, "do me a favor and never call me that again, alright, kid?" "Sorry," Shining said with a slight blush, "Fell Wind then?" The mare nodded and he continued. "I was wondering," he hesitated for a moment, "do you know when I'd be able to see Frigid Gale again?" The pegasus mare tapped her chin and hummed to herself in thought. "Weeellll..." she muttered, "she's gonna be pretty busy for the next couple of days, but you could probably catch her during lunch tomorrow if you're quick. Why? Did you need to ask her somethin'?" "Yeah, kind of," Shining answered with a nod, "it's nothing too important, I just had a few things I wanted to discuss about helping out with... whatever you guys are doing." "What?" Fell Wind asked, tilting her head in confusion, "didn't she tell you?" "Not really," Shining said with a small shake of his head, "she said she was going to, but she never got around to it, so I'm still kind of in the dark." "That's weird," Fell Wind muttered before looking back to Shining Armor with an easy grin, "well like I said, she does come in here for lunch every so often so you can try to catch her then." Shining nodded and thanked the mare before hopping down from his seat. "I'm going back to my room for the day," he said trotting to the dining hall entrance, "I've got some things to think about." He turned and yelped in surprise as the dark green pegasus landed in front of him. "That's cool and all," she said as she polished off the hayburger, "but I still got a job to do, remember?" "Oh, right," Shining muttered with an irritated scowl, "alright then." The two of them headed out the door and Shining let Fell Wind lead as he trotted behind, lost in thought. Shining knew Frigid Gale was up to something, and though he didn't know what exactly, he was sure his sister was important for whatever it was. Though he did agree to help find her, he wasn't just going to let the mare use her and toss her away like some kind of tool. No. If she was going to find Twilight, Shining was going to make sure she did it because it was the right thing to do, not because she was an important piece of the puzzle. And so he planned. Maybe if he used his not inconsiderable knowledge of all things military, he could get closer to Frigid Gale -- possibly get more chances to talk to the thestral mare. Maybe he could even convince her to abandon her ridiculous revenge scheme altogether -- and if not, then at the very least convince her to pay more attention the ones supporting her. Maybe he could actually make Frigid Gale the leader these ponies and griffons deserved. Before he did anything however, he need answers, and after putting a few pieces together himself, there was one very important question in particular the thestral mare needed to answer.