Acting Captain Shining Armor's heart pounded in his chest as he raced toward where he knew Princess Luna and Princess Cadance were staying. Although Luna and Cadance had been given separate suites in Canterlot Castle, on this particular day both alicorns were engaging in an extended "sleepover" of sorts.
Shining Armor was quite familiar with what went on in those "sleepovers", something that Celestia had quietly encouraged to build better relations between the two alicorns after the understandably rocky start between them. The stallion himself had not been involved in those "sleepovers", but knew from witnessing the results it involved a lot of movie-watching, hardcore gaming action and sometimes "experimentation" of the cosmetic or cooking variety. Sure, the mess would drive the staff crazy, but Shining always told them to grin and bear it, knowing Celestia wouldn't have had it any other way.
If something had gone wrong here, though, the results could be quite destructive. It had already been a very bizarre day, and the last thing he wanted to be doing was trying to calm down a pair of tempermental alicorns. He knew he should've been in the Captain's office, trying to reorganized a command that was thrown in disarray by the release of "Discord". He also knew that Gibraltar, currently en route for treatment for his broken front legs, would expect no less behavior out of him in this hour of crisis.
But Acting Captain Shining Armor also knew that Princess Celestia would provide no further help to him, or any other fellow subordinate for that matter. At least against "Nightmare Moon", her inaction could be excused, but it surely was not excusable this time, and knowledge of that fact was nothing short of extremely frustrating to the high-ranking Guard officer. There might have been a time and place where keeping the existence of "Discord" a state secret was justifiable, but it was certainly not the case now. And why hadn't Twilight, with all her love of books and knowledge, found out about the existence herself, or asked Celestia about it? Too many questions, not enough answers, and when the answers would surely come it would be to the detriment of the kingdom as a whole...
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Muffled but still loud crashing and breaking sounds coming from the other side of a wall snap Shining out of his thoughts. As he closes on Luna's suite, he sees a pair of the pegasi day staff leaning against the door leading into the suite, as if they were trying to prevent something inside from getting out.
"What is going on here?!" Shining Armor naturally asks the pegasi pushing against the door.
"I don't know, sir, we just heard Princess Cadance yell to keep these doors closed no matter what!" one of the pegasi answers, shortly followed by the door shuddering from an impact coming from the other side.
"Well, Cadance wanted me here, so open it up! That's an order!" Shining Armor barks back in return.
The pegasi staff exchange nervous glances, slowly open the door just enough for Shining to slip through, then slam the door back shut as soon as he's through...
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Shining was not quite sure what he was expecting, but a half-destroyed room greeted his vision as soon as his eyes adjusted to the lower lighting level in the room, which was usually kept dark to make it easier for Luna to sleep during daytime hours. The previous decor of the room, all roughly matching the theme of "Nightmare Night", had all been overturned or smashed on the floor, and Shining quickly realized the suite was going to need a complete overhaul once all this was done.
"SHINING! SHINING ARMOR! OVER HERE!" Cadance's voice is heard calling out, and Shining rapidly pivots to see where it was coming from.
He quickly spots the outline of Cadance's form, holding on for dear life while being tossed about by what could only a bull-shaped cloud of glowing bluish smoke! It phases Shining Armor, but only for a moment before remembering Princess Luna's own shape-shifting powers.
"Shining, do something! She's completely out of control!" Cadance pleads, just before getting tossed off the solid "smoke cloud". She sails past Shining Armor and into a bookcase, books and knick-knacks tumbling to the floor from the impact. The junior alicorn ends up on her back among the scattered books, moaning more out of the indignation she had suffered than any actual physical injury.
The Acting Captain whirls around to see Luna, now more obviously taking on the form of a bull, snorting and pawing the floor with a forehoof as if ready to charge in his general direction. Shining realizes that Luna must've taken the news of Discord's release even worse than he expected.
"WE WILL ONLY GIVE ONE WARNING, LEAVE US ALONE!" Princess Luna blasts out in her Royal Canterlot Voice.
"Luna, Your Highness, please, don't go blaming yourself for this too!" Shining Armor pleads, taking a stab at why Luna was acting so aggressively. "Twily and her friends can still use the Elements, all is not lost!"
"And WHEN are they going to get here, Lieutenant Captain?! Cadance will not say anything to me!" Luna grits out again.
"She doesn't know anything, and neither do I!" Shining shouts back as he slowly helps Cadance back onto her hooves.
"What?! She did not even tell her own adopted niece about him either?!" Luna exclaims in disbelief, which at least has the effect of calming her raging aggression.
"What even is this 'Discord' anyway, Shining? The only thing Aunt Celly's ever told me about 'Discord' is that statue in the statue garden..." Cadance begins to say as Luna shifts back into her standard alicorn shape.
"... A statue that is now living and free to cause chaos. I should know, it's kicked the flanks of everypony that's confronted it, including me." Shining Armor explains. "And Twily doesn't know anything about it either, which means she won't believe any messages Celestia sends to her until it attacks outside Canterlot. At least, that's what Celestia has told me."
"Our sister is being extremely stupid right now. She should be making sure they are on their way to Canterlot already!" Luna exclaims as she sits on haunches and crosses her forelegs in a huffing attitude.
"For once, I am not going to argue against Luna's point." Shining Armor comments, giving a stern glance in Cadance's direction as a warning to not try to object.
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Cadance does speak anyway despite the warning, but not in the objection Shining thought she was going to give: "But none of this is actually helping anything! What exactly are we supposed to do now with this... whatever-it-is loose in the city?"
"If I knew an answer to that question, I would already be doing it." Shining Armor answers. "The only thing I can suggest is that you two will have to work together to help defend the castle from his attack, if need be. Just until Twily and her friends do finally show up and can use the Elements of Harmony against him."
"As usual, Lieutenant Captain, your logical argument has a solid foundation. Do I owe an apology to Cadance?" Luna asks, looking down awkwardly as she does so.
"Apologies won't be necessary, Auntie, just as long as you don't do it again." Cadance replies in a quiet attempt at reassurance, adding in a shy smile as she does so.
"And, Your Highness, Captain Gibraltar is out of commission right now thanks to that 'Discord'! I've been appointed Acting Captain in his place, so I am really needed some other place than here!" Shining Armor quickly adds on.
"Go then, Captain, because the Guard needs you now in the hour of emergency." Princess Luna states, which Shining realizes is as close to a dismissal as he was going to get out of her.
"Yes, Your Highness." Shining Armor answers with a salute before turning to look at the confused Cadance.
"What can I do? What should I do?" Cadance asks, obviously having no clue what she should do next.
"Stay with Luna, keep her calm, prepare to defend the palace from attack if necessary." Shining Armor answers. "Trying to talk to Celestia will do no good, and your love magic won't be of much use against this monster. The best option we have is to try to get things under control as best we can and hold on until the Element Bearers show up from Ponyville."
Cadance's expression turns very thoughtful for a second, then she nods toward Shining, recognizing she didn't have a better idea that what he'd proposed.
"Alright, you be careful out there though." Cadance asks, giving Shining a quick pecking kiss on the side of his face.
Shining blushes a deep red from the display of affection as he turns away and starts back toward the Captain's office, where he would take interim command until the entire situation could be sorted out...