It wasn't long before a big red barn came into view, and next to it rested a farmhouse that looked to be in surprisingly good shape.
Big Macintosh brought the pick up truck to a halt as it crawled up what appeared to be a longer and wider sidewalk, and then stopped. With a little bit of jingling from the keys he was able to turn the whole thing off. "Well, here we are: Home, sweet home," He told his guest as he got out. "I know it ain't much, but I assure you it's more than big enough for my whole family. Can't really imagine bein' anywhere else."
Shining nodded his head. "I know that feeling. You get so used to things being a certain way and then you can't imagine doing them any other way," Then he remembered something he had meant to ask sooner (and probably should've asked). "By the way, nop... er nobody in your house is allergic to dogs, are they?"
Big Macintosh shook his head. "Eenope. In fact, we've got our own farm dog: Winona. Makes for a good herder if the sheep ever get loose. And she's mighty friendly with other people and other dogs too."
"Well that's good, Spike will really appreciate having a place where he can run free." Shining declared as he opened his backpack and let Spike out once again.
"Just make sure you keep an eye on him and clean up after him," Big Mac warned, and then led Shining into the farmhouse proper. A short time later, he was bringing his new friend upstairs to one of the guest bedrooms that resided at the end of a long hallway. The room wasn't anything too fancy: Just a plain old bed near a window, and a small desktop. "Since it's a school night, you're gonna wanna get to bed pretty soon. Gotta be up bright and early for school. Bus even sometimes comes before the sun is up, though my sisters and I are usually one of the last stops."
Shining Armor smiled, sincerely grateful for this human's hospitality. "I hope I'm not sounding like a broken record when I say thank you so much for doing this. You really didn't have to."
"Just a bit of that Apple family hospitality," Big Macintosh explained, before adding. "Cousin Braeburn's on his way, and I was able to get Fancy Pants to swing by so you can talk to him. He said he'll be here tomorrow."
The new delighted Shining so much that he nearly leaped up and hugged Big Mac right then and there! "Fantastic! I don't believe it, everything's going according to plan!"
"Plan? What plan?" Big Mac questioned upon overhearing. "There something you ain't tellin' me, mister?"
Stammering, the undercover prince quickly corrected himself. "The plan to defeat Sunset Shimmer in the Fall Formal of course. Every bit helps."
After staring Shining in the face for a moment, Big Mac relented as he appeared content with the answer. "Well alrighty then. But don't get your hopes up, you ain't won yet. Still got a whole two days, more than enough time for Sunset to deploy her dirty tricks."
"Whatever she has planned won't work!" Shining firmly vowed.
"I sure hope you're right, mister," Big Macintosh warned as he left the room. "Goodnight."
Shining Armor woke up the next morning, and made sure to let Spike out back. "Feel free to keep yourself busy until it's time to go to school," He told the dog. "I'm about to hopefully get this world's Braeburn and Fancy Pants on our side."
"And what about Soarin?" Spike questioned. "If you're really trying to gather up the gang, Soarin feels like an odd omission."
"I'll get to him once I take care of the others. I already know he's part of the soccer team," Shining replied as he rested his hands on his shoulders. "I know what I'm doing. Everything will work out just fine." Then he left Spike and re-entered the farm house.
A familiar looking human with a noticeable brown colored ten gallon hat was waiting for Shining at the kitchen table when Shining Armor re-entered. He appeared to be the same age as Big Macintosh, perhaps a bit younger, and had skin light gold in color, brilliant light green eyes and long, flowing locks of orange and amber. On his brown shirt was a big red apple. "Howdy there!" The teenager greeted Shining with a bright smile! "I'm Braeburn! I'm from Appleloosa! Or at least, that's what I call my home town. It doesn't really have a name if I'm bein' honest."
"Pleasure to meet you, Braeburn. I'm Shining Armor, the transfer student from Crystal Prep who's looking to take down Sunset Shimmer and become Fall Formal Prince," Shining introduced himself. "I trust I can count on your support?"
"Not sure why you'd need my help when I just got into town," Braeburn pondered as he put a hand to his chin. "I kind of promised my folks I wouldn't get tangled up with the wrong crowd, and I heard it ain't wise to get the wrong side of Sunset Shimmer and her posse."
"Trust me, Braeburn, your help is going to be needed! The more people I have onboard, the easier it's going to be," Shining pleaded with Braeburn. "Surely, you've heard from your cousins here in the city about how bad Sunset Shimmer is. Don't you wanna put an end to it so you won't have to deal with it too?"
Braeburn was quick to consider the suggestion. "I guess when you put it like that, sidin' with you ain't such a bad thing. Count me in!" And upon agreeing he asked his new friend. "So, what's your strategy? You gotta have one if you're gonna run against Sunset Shimmer."
"My strategy is simple. I'm going to define myself before Sunset has the chance to do so. Get out ahead of her and make sure she can't turn the school against me." Shining declared.
But at that moment, a human appearing to be older than either Braeburn or Big Macintosh (probably even older than Thunderlane if Shining had to guess) appeared. He sported a glass monocle over his left eye (with both of his eyes being a very light blue in color), had the most beautiful looking light blue hair and skin almost as white as snow. He wore a rather lavish black dress with buttons even on the sleeves, though a symbol of three golden crowns with purple jewels inside of them still stood out. "A brilliant if simplistic plan, but I'm afraid it simply won't work."
The voice left no doubt in Shining Armor's mind about who this person was. "And why not, Fancy Pants?"
Fancy Pants blinked in surprise very briefly. "You have a very peculiar way of getting my attention, especially for a student who just transferred from Crystal Prep. If not for the fact that my parents don't trust Cinch, rest assured that I would be attending it and not Canterlot High," He then regained his composure as he showed off something on a strange, brick like object that had a screen. "Regardless, it may be time to change up your tactics. Sunset Shimmer has already made the first move. And I can assure this is only the beginning of the many dirty tricks she undoubtedly has up her sleeve."
On the screen, a projection of some sort began to play. It was made up entirely of footage of Shining Armor when he was in the school library the day prior, most noticeably him trying to figure out how to work a computer. A mocking narration could be heard saying: "Shining Armor only just transferred from Crystal Prep, and it's clear he has a lot to learn. Yet somehow he thinks he can run for Fall Formal, even if he'd be a prince and a princess if he won. Regardless of what he thinks though, do we really need some hotshot transfer student from out of town making us look bad? His whole 'sweet and caring' persona is probably just an act to make us all forget where he came from."
The projection ended as Fancy Pants shook his head. "This video's already circulated and been shared so many times I've lost count! It wouldn't surprise me if the whole school has seen this by now," And he then asked. "Do you still intend to press on after this? It only gets harder from here on out. And once bad publicity like this gets out it can be very hard to correct."
Big Macintosh came into the room as well, and he was quick to make his opinion known. "I'd say you should quit now before the goin' really gets tough. Take it from the last guy who tried to stand up to Sunset Shimmer, you ain't gettin' far with a reputation like this. And your reputation may soon be the least of your worries."
Braeburn argued back. "He hasn't gotten a chance to defend himself. He seems to believe that we can help him fight back and win. I'll be darned if we just give up on our first real hope in months!"
Fancy Pants wasn't so convinced. "Why does he care so much about us when we know so little about him? The video does make a fair point about him being from Crystal Prep. Don't forget that Crystal Prep has humiliated us time and time again even more than Sunset Shimmer has. Are we to believe that a naive transfer student from our rival school is supposed to be the one who puts Sunset in her place?"
"He may have stood up for Thunderlane against Sunset Shimmer, but that was before he knew who she was," Big Mac commented. "And why is runnin' for Fall Formal so important to him anyways? I feel like we're puttin' an awful lot of trust expectations into someone we just met."
Even Braeburn began to admit. "You know, those are valid questions and concerns. We know even less about him than we do Sunset Shimmer. For all we know he could be worse, even if I don't think that's the case."
But just when it looked like Shining might have to reveal his secret identity, Apple Bloom came bursting into the kitchen! She had heard everything! "Y'all are lettin' Sunset get to you! I once heard you all gather here in secret with others to discuss how much Sunset Shimmer made ya sick."
"But even you must admit Shining Armor's interest in us and the Fall Formal is quite concerning," Fancy Pants argued. "This is not unlike a chess game. And don't forget that I was once president of the school chess club. It's never a good idea to send out a pawn to capture a king."
Apple Bloom only shook her head and groaned. "Nobody at the school's ever had the guts to stand up to Sunset Shimmer and her enforcers ever since they took over! I for one am sick of it, and I thought you all were too! Shinin' didn't need to care about what's goin' on here, he could easily use his Crystal Prep connections if he wanted to."
"Actually, I couldn't-" Shining began, only to be cut off.
"If y'all are lookin' for someone to counter that video Sunset made of you, look no further than the Crusaders and I!" Apple Bloom vowed, not willing to let Shining Armor finish his sentence. "Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and I still owe ya for what you did for Rumble. It's high time we put our talents to use for somethin' that won't have everyone laughin' at us! And if we all band together, we can beat Sunset Shimmer and give Canterlot High hope again. We won't need to be divided."
"Trust me, I would never allow that to stand," Shining Armor firmly commented as he said to the other boys. "Think about it: Do you really think Sunset Shimmer would go to all the trouble of keeping you apart just to break your spirits and rub salt in your wounds? She keeps you all divided because that way she knows she can control you. If you all come together and help the school to do the same, Sunset won't be able to stop you. And you can be sure she knows this," He paused before adding. "And rest assured, I do still have a plan, though it will need some adjusting."
Big Macintosh let out a sigh. "It involves talkin' to Soarin, doesn't it? You seem convinced that he can help you, and that havin' him work with Thunderlane, Fancy Pants, Braeburn and myself is gonna work."
The disguised prince firmly nodded. "It's important that I have people from all different kinds of groups and social status involved with this. It'll make my message much stronger," Then he told Apple Bloom. "You and your friends are gonna be a big help too."
Apple Bloom gave a salute. "Say no more, we're on it! We'll make sure the school knows the true you!"
And Big Mac reluctantly agreed to Shining's terms. "Fine, we can try to recruit Soarin. But I'm lettin' you do the talkin' since this is your plan. Good luck tryin' to convince Soarin to care, I doubt he'll be interested."
"If he's anything like the rest of you, I think I stand a chance." Shining replied with a smile, though deep down he wasn't so sure. "Soarin isn't absolutely vital to the plan, but he'll be of great help. Without him my whole plan is going to be a lot harder to pull off," He thought to himself. "And it's clear that I can't underestimate Sunset Shimmer. She's definitely not like the other threats I've faced. She's a threat on an entirely different level."