//------------------------------//
// Coming Clean 
// Story: Equestria Boys 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

Shining Armor ran! To where he didn't know but he knew he needed to be alone. He eventually found himself in front of the statue beneath which lay the portal back to Equestria. "How can it be so? To come so far, only to fail," He moped to himself. "Where did I go wrong?"

"I suppose going back to my plan is out of the question?" Spike proposed as he poked his head up from the backpack.

"If Vice Principal Luna is suspicious of me now, trying to steal back my crown would only make them worse," Shining lamented. "Sunset's won. We'll have to go back to Equestria and tell everypony the bad news: I couldn't capture Sunset Shimmer and I couldn't retrieve the Element of Magic."

Spike wasn't sure what came over him, but he knew that he was angry seeing Shining Armor just mope around and feel sorry for himself. So it was that he suddenly brought a paw to Shining's face, smacking him rather hard on the cheek. "Come on, man! You're not seriously telling me you're going to throw in the towel now, are you?! Things have looked bleak before and you've always found a way to prevail."

Shining wasn't persuaded. "In Equestria, perhaps. But this isn't Equestria. Nothing is really the same even if it may look the same. You were right all along, Spike."

Spike only growled and groaned. "That's just crazy talk! Against all the odds, you brought the whole school together to stand up to Sunset Shimmer. No one in this world's had the courage to do this in who knows who long? Are you going to just throw all that away now?"

"I have to face the facts, Spike," The disguised prince glumly replied as he hung his head. "Time's not on our side. There's no way to keep the portal open, even just for another day or two. So we either stay in this world until the portal opens again with no way for our friends and loved ones on the other side to keep in touch with us, or we go back to Equestria empty handed... er empty hoofed. There is no other option."

"Yes there is!" Spike pointed out! "We've made friends in this world, friends who've been willing to risk everything to help us. And they can do it again," He firmly declared. "It's time we told them the truth about who we are and why we're here. With their help I'm sure we can think of something."

Shining could only shake his head. "Even assuming they believe me, they'll just turn on me for keeping a secret from them. They'd have every right to be mad with me because I wasn't honest with them upfront."

"You don't know that," Spike protested as he growled some more. "They've already helped us so much, so why not ask for their help again? Even if they're not the friends we know back in Equestria, they're still our friends in this world and we still owe a lot to them. I can't let you give up on yourself!"

Reluctantly, the disguised prince slowly lifted his head as he sighed. "I guess you have a point, Spike."

Spike smiled. "I haven't been hanging around you and Twilight all my life for nothing, you know."

"Well then, I guess we need to quickly round up the gang and confess," Shining realized as he stood up. His new mission giving him renewed vigor. "I just hope they don't think I'm crazy, or worse."





Shining Armor returned to the grounds of Canterlot High just in time for the lunch recess to end and for classes to resume. He didn't get a chance to see his new friends again for several hours, by which point news of the Fall Formal's postponement had already spread to every classroom courtesy of a special speaker system linked directly to the principal's office.

It was Soarin who was the first to bump into Shining once classes were done for the day (or rather the weekend, which for many students now looked to be quite dreary without the Fall Formal to look forward to). "Oh, there you are! Thank the stars!" He exclaimed with relief. "The last anyone heard was that you got called to the vice principal's office. And when Vice Principal Luna wants to speak to you it's usually not for a good reason."

"Well as you can see, I'm still here and still in one piece," Shining declared as he then explained. "Sunset Shimmer tried to make me take the fall for her lackeys sabotaging the gymnasium. Lucky for me, Flash Sentry came through and produced evidence of my innocence."

Soarin smiled. "Am I glad to hear that!" Then his smile faded. "Of course you know what the bad news is: The Fall Formal's gonna have to be pushed back while the gym gets cleaned up. Saw it briefly on my way to class, it didn't look pretty at all."

"I'm already well aware of that, I was the first to be told by Vice Principal Luna after all," Shining pointed out. "In fact, that's kind of why I need to talk to you, and the rest of our friends."

At that Soarin stepped back and blinked. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on there, buddy! Saying that we're friends is a bit of a stretch considering many of us have just met, isn't it?"

Shining just insisted. "Well it's clear to me that you and the other members of our group all had a connection one way or another. Some of you knew each other personally, others through family or associates."

"But we still don't really know you. There's still some things you're keeping to yourself, it's not hard to notice." Soarin pointed out.

Shining Armor merely instructed to Soarin. "Well, just bring the others to some place where we can talk without being overheard."

At that Soarin grinned. "Well you're in luck. One of the fashion club members actually has a small boutique that she works at from time to time: Carousel Boutique. But they're currently closed for renovations. However, Fancy Pants happens to know the girl who works there: Rarity. I'm sure he can use his connections to let us use the empty boutique for the meeting."





So it was that the vacant Carousel Boutique came to be used as the grounds for Shining Armor to disclose the truth about his identity to the human versions of his friends. To say he was nervous about the whole thing was an understatement, even now he was starting to have second thoughts about what he was about to do and what he was about to go through.

"You've come this far, you might as well see it through to the end," Spike encouraged Shining as he climbed out of the backpack and stood beside him for support. "No matter what, the two of us are in this together! You can count on it."

Shining sighed and took a deep breath. "Thank you, Spike. This time I really needed the encouragement. I can see why you're Twilight's number one assistant. Without you, I imagine she'd have driven herself crazy long ago."

"I guess some things just run in the family. You have your own bouts of craziness," Spike pointed out. "Now come on, there's no need to drag this out any longer. Let's just rip the bandage off and go from there!"

And so it was that, steadying himself and summoning as much willpower as he could muster up, the disguised prince stepped forward to talk to the five assembled humans. He cleared his throat. "It's time you all knew the truth about me, about why I've sought you all out and recruited you. What I'm about to tell you may sound crazy and unbelievable, but I promise you that I am telling the truth."

"You ain't really a transfer student from Crystal Prep, are ya?" Braeburn guessed. "Even Sunset Shimmer couldn't have gotten away with comin' from a place like that."

Shining shook his head. "No. Although my name is Shining Armor, in truth I am not a transfer student. In fact, I'm not really a student at all," Without hesitation he dropped the bombshell. "I am Prince Shining Armor: Captain of Equestria's Royal Guard and co-ruler of the Crystal Empire alongside my wife, Princess Cadence. I traveled to this world of yours in pursuit of a dangerous criminal who has made herself at home here: Sunset Shimmer. She has stolen my crown, which contains an Element of Harmony vital to the defense of Equestria. And the only way back to Equestria is through a magic portal that only stays open for three days and nights, before becoming inactive for an extremely long period of time."

"And guess what?" Spike pointed out with a grin as he freely spoke up. "Back in Equestria, not only is Shining Armor a full blown alicorn, but I'm a fire breathing dragon!" He decided to leave out the part about him being a "baby" dragon.

A series of collective gasps befell the five humans as they heard all of this! Fancy Pants was the first to find his voice. "The dog talks?! It actually talks?! Please tell me I'm just hearing things!"

"Eenope, we're all hearin' it loud and clear," Big Macintosh commented in disbelief. "We've got a talkin' dog who's apparently a dragon, and someone who's apparently a 'pony'."

"Technically, I'm an alicorn. An alicorn prince to boot," Shining tried to explain. "It means I have both the horn of a unicorn and the wings of a pegasus. I'm actually the first ever alicorn prince, long story really."

"And I suppose Sunset Shimmer is a 'pony' as well?" Thunderlane questioned.

Shining nodded his head. "She used to be the student of Princess Celestia, the ruler of Equestria. But she ran away several years ago, and has no doubt been hiding out in this world ever since," Then he apologized to the humans. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you all this sooner. I didn't anticipate being in this world of yours long enough to forge lasting connections. Running for Fall Formal wasn't even part of the plan, it was a spur of the moment decision when I found out what my crown was being used for. The real crown from your world was left in my world when Sunset stole my crown."

"So, what, if you don't get your crown back and return to Equestria by midnight tomorrow night you'll be stuck here for months, or even years?" Soarin concluded. "And you expect us to believe all of this? If this is your idea of a joke then let me tell you, it's not funny!"

"You don't have to believe me. Quite frankly, if I were in your... er... 'shoes' as I believe the saying goes in your world, I probably wouldn't believe me either," Shining Armor pointed out. "For the record, my 'dragon' is actually my sister's and his name is Spike. It was Spike's idea to have me talk to you all and confess. I would've rather not have it come to this, but the changing circumstances have made me realize I had no other choice."





After that there was a long, tense and awkward silence throughout the whole boutique. No one spoke a word or did anything other than just stand there. Everyone blinked, unsure of what to say or what to do.

At long last it was Big Macintosh who broke the silence as he approached Shining Armor. He eyed him firmly in the eyes, but remained silent for a little bit until finally he declared. "I don't know how it is that I know, but I know you ain't lyin'. Somehow, someway, what you're sayin' is sincere even if I wish it weren't."

"It's probably because the five of you happen to be the counterparts to the five friends I know back in Equestria," Shining pointed out. "Like you, they all come from different walks of life and yet we were all able to befriend each other. In fact, it's because of your counterparts that I've been able to successfully defend Equestria so many times. I even owe my wings to them. In Equestria, friendship is truly magical. Perhaps the greatest magic of all."

"Then I guess it's that 'Magic of Friendship' that's at work here," Soarin concluded. "Sure wish you'd have told us this from the start, buddy. I mean, I don't have too much of a problem with it so long as Sunset Shimmer goes down. But I know I can't speak for everyone here. I imagine some of them would've rather known the truth up front."

Fancy Pants then commented. "Not that this isn't important, but what exactly are we supposed to do now that we know about your extremely tight deadline? The Fall Formal can't be held until the gymnasium is restored or a suitable alternative venue is located. And good look finding a place to hold a big school dance at the last minute, let alone getting the school to approve of it and parents to say they're okay moving the event off school grounds."

Suddenly, Shining Armor seemed to know what to do! "If we can't move the Fall Formal elsewhere, we'll have to convince the school to hold it tomorrow night. And that means there's only one thing to do! We're going to fix everything that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon destroyed. Then when Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna learn the gym's back to normal, they'll have to let the Fall Formal proceed as planned."

Spike smiled. "Now there's the kind of bold thinking I've come to expect from you, Shining!"

"But what about the rest of you?" Shining proposed as he looked at the five boys. "Now that you all know what you know, it isn't right that I force you to keep working with me. Your help would be appreciated but it is not requested."

However, one by one the five boys reaffirmed their support for Shining Armor. "Even if you're from another world, you're still determined to defeat Sunset Shimmer. You've given us the first opportunity we've had in a long time to experience hope," Soarin declared. "So for however much longer this lasts, we're with you!"

"Great!" Shining ecstatically smiled! "What are we waiting for, then? The gym's not gonna clean itself up, you know."





So the group went back to Canterlot High and began to work on getting the gymnasium back to where it had been at the start of the day. Work was slow at first, but they didn't give up. And as luck would have it there were still some students left on campus who, feeling inspired by what Shining and his friends were doing, quickly rushed to join in!

Word soon got out, and even students who had gone home came back to the school to help out however they could. As more and more people joined in it soon became possible to witness real progress. Eventually, all the traces of Diamond and Silver's sabotage from earlier in the day disappeared, almost as if the entire event had never occurred at all.

When Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna learned of the effort and saw it for themselves, they could hardly believe their eyes! In all their years at Canterlot High nothing like this had ever occurred. Nothing had ever brought the entire student body together like this. It was almost too good to be true.

At last the work was done. Bright new stands replaced the old ones that had been vandalized, colorful banners and balloons once again decorated every corner of the gymnasium and there were streamers and confetti as far as the eye could see.

Principal Celestia's face broke out into a rather massive smile as she declared in front of all the students. "Well, everybody, it looks like the Fall Formal will go on as planned after all."

Vice Principal Luna seemed to be smiling too, even though she didn't outwardly express this. She instead left briefly, and returned with a large, wooden box as she instructed. "Which means it's now time to vote for who will win the Fall Formal Crown," She declared. "Remember, you may only cast one vote."

Several students could be heard saying. "I know who I'm voting for, and it's definitely not gonna be Sunset Shimmer!" It seemed as if Shining had yet again snatched victory from the jaws of defeat!





Sunset Shimmer was watching the whole thing from the shelter of a janitor's supply closet along with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. She was most definitely not pleased at how things were unfolding, and she took her anger out on her underlings. "Can't you imbeciles do anything right?!" She yelled at them, taking care not to shout too loudly and give herself away. "You promised me you'd get the job done and ensure Shining Armor would take the fall for it."

Diamond and Silver both gulped as Diamond profusely apologized. "W-we're sorry, Sunset. Honest."

"Yeah," Silver added. "Di was the one who was supposed to ensure all the security cameras were off-line while we trashed the gym."

Diamond argued back. "You were the one who said we covered our tracks so well no one would ever know, Silvy."

Sunset just groaned in frustration. "This is twice now in one day you two have let me down. Seriously, how hard is it for you two to do what I say and carry out as intended?" Then she sighed as her face began to contort itself in a rather sinister smile. She wasn't beaten yet, not by a long shot. She had just gotten a rather nasty idea. "Oh well, I guess that's what I get for sending you two to do my work. I'll be calling the shots from now on, so there'll be no way for you bumbling blockheads to screw things up."

"But the Fall Formal's tomorrow, and tampering with the votes is an automatic disqualification!" Silver protested.

The teenaged girl with fiery locks only replied as her smile grew wider. "I know that, and I'm not going to do anything to the votes. Shining Armor needs to learn that this is a contact sport, and I'd say it's time we went on offense for a change. So, here's what we're gonna do," And she whispered the plan. "We'll do it tomorrow night during the Fall Formal when everybody is distracted. And that big hearted fool will play right into my hands!" Turning her attention to the one that had caused her so much trouble over the past two days, she thought to herself. "I refuse to let you drag me back to Equestria, prince! This is my world, and it's time you paid the price for interfering with my work."