//------------------------------//
// FFF VI 
// Story: Final Filly Fantasy 
// by Amereep 
//------------------------------//




Prelude

The encounter with a second creature of pure magic, has left the ponies concerned for what may lie ahead for them.  But Shining Armor intends to face it head on.

With the weight of Equestria resting on his back, he is determined to reclaim Equestria's magic with utmost haste.

His duty is his resolve.  His family is his drive.  And his team is his strength.  And yet...




"Tempest," a little of Shining's exasperation escapes him through a sigh, he can read the pleading look in Tempest's eyes, an expression that's comparable to his daughter when he was weaning her off of bottles, "you can't keep pushing the bigger problems away by exhorting to the little ones."

Tempest is dumbstruck.

"Is it a hindrance, yes, will it make things difficult, without a doubt, but we can't dwell and attend to our losses if we have any hope of achieving the main objective.  We have to look past ourselves and focus on others with their own problems.  Equestria is depending on us, and attending to our personal burdens first will only hinder everyone's faith for change."

Tempest maintains her stature, passing a moment in it, feeling the words rooting inside her, and ends it with her glowering at the stallion, "...then I guess we're splitting up from here."  Tempest pivots on her hindlegs, "I'll deal with this by myself," and stomps the forelegs in the direction of the cactus.

Shining Armor now bears the dumbstruck look, quickly catching up to a glare that matches with the mare that's marching away, "You're not to break from the group!"

"All of us would be better off if I did."

"That's an order!"

Tempest ignores Armor.

"It's too early for this," Shining mumbles his irritation, "Wind, follow Tempest and provide any assistance she needs."

"I don't need or want the rookie's help!" Tempest yells.

The pique expression on Wind's face tells that Shadow might as well throw him under the chariot while she's at it.

"Well I'm enforcing it regardless. You obviously feel that you're incapable without your necklace, so I'm going to assign backup for that sullen envision you have for yourself."

Tempest pauses. She twinges as she suppresses her scorn, but it escapes as a furious growl at Shining, "FINE!!!  At least he'll be following somepony who won't lead them by optimistic ignorance!"  She turns to look at Second Wind as he approaches, getting him to stop with the unwanting look on her face.  She displays her fury once more in a groan and continues towards the cactus with Wind following at a safe distance behind her.

Shining displays a humph before turning around to march on with the mission.  "Let's get going," he commands Flash.

"Are you sure this is wise?" his lieutenant asks, "Splitting up the team over a little offtracking?"

"If she doesn't want to put in the effort to try, then let her wallow in her world until she's ready to face it."

"But think about what you're doing here.  The team will have half the horse power through this action."

"And think about Equestria's future for a moment.  Take into consideration the current struggles everyone is facing back home.  Earth ponies and Yaks can't use their strength, Pegasi and Griffins can't take to the air, Unicorn and Changelings are defenseless. and Alicorns and Dragons lost a good chunk of all three of those from their lives.  With so much taken from everybody, so many creatures that are wishing to escape their shambled lives, what do you think they're going to do if nothing changes?"

Sentry's eyes drift with a melancholy look to them, "...they accept it."

"Perhaps some, but a good majority of them are going to take action, making drastic decisions that could force others to pay a price.  I'm talking sudden bursts of aggression over little things, rebellious movements to take matters into their own control, hoarding and stealing to maintain what keeps them going.  This is a time where everyone needs to make sacrifices and try to support one another, keeping that chaos from happening for as long as possible.  We should follow that example as well, but Tempest..." Armor snorts his anger, "You know, I tried to understand, showed some patience, and attempted to reassure her, but she STILL has to defy my orders.  I'm making an attempt, why can't she?"

"It's likely because you two approach things from opposite corners."

"Opposites," his tone expresses his unamusement, "a soldier trained in offensiveness and a guard trained in defensiveness.  Heh heh heh, very funny."

"I'm serious.  You see things going right, but she sees them going wrong.  You act off the cuff while she thinks on the fly.  You deal with the problems head-on while she confronts them indirectly."

Shining Armor leers at Flash's observation, "If I didn't know any better, I would assume that you're implying that I'm leading by 'optimistic ignorance'."

"While you know your limits, you do tend to act off of your emotions more than anything else.  It often leads to some oversight in your decisions."

"Oh pish posh, since when has that ever happened?"

"Well you did just order the pony carrying all of our supplies to follow her."

Shining nearly replies to the remark, but he suddenly realizes the troubling situation his actions have led them to, "...let's just focus on the mission."

Sentry shifts the halberd on his back while maintaining a sigh, leaving the argument to linger in air as he follows his captain towards their destination.





Stopping on the grass blades that reside just before the cliff, Shining Armor and Flash Sentry arrive at a viewpoint of the valley below them.  The wind hits them as they peer down to see a morning fog that's cloaking the valley.  There's no signs that there's a bottom, leaving much to the imagination of what to expect down there.  Still, there's some majesty being mixed with the mystery to this landscape, yet they'll need to traverse through it regardless.

They need to get down there somehow.  The thought of Flash flying them down crosses Shining's mind, but with the last command he made still fresh in his mind, he reconsiders his options for something less brash.  Shining looks about, "I'm not seeing any slopes or trails that lead into the valley.  Maybe an aerial view will lead to better results?"  He turns to Flash, but the message seems to have fallen on deaf ears as his officer is mesmerized by the valley's appearance, "Flash?" he snaps some magic sparks from his horn to break the trance.

Flash flusters subtly through in swift jerk towards Armor, "Sorry, I was just thinking about something.  It's irrelevant."

Armor doesn't fathom, "I don't recall you ever spacing out like that over something trivial before.  What was it about?"

He rubs the back of his neck, directing his sights on the valley, "It's silly, but I was wondering if this scenery was something Silver Star saw everyday."

"And who's that?"

"Just some fictional character from a book," his fixation begins to get the better of him, "He often climbed up a hill to stare at a monument of a fallen hero, having dreams of becoming a Dragonmaster and rebranding his life that he found unfulfilling." the appeal he gets from the sight turns triste, "...that story ...really spoke to me."

For a moment. Shining sees a little bit of his sister's love for literature in Flash, but he shakes the thought, "Let's get back to the matter at hoof.  Would you do a quick flight around for a safe pathway into the valley?"

Stabbing his halberd into the dirt, Flash follows his orders and dives into the valley, catching the wind to lift himself back up and begins to scout for a route.

Shining Armor taps his hoof impatiently before long, staring at the mountain range further into the distance.  His eyes roll to the sky, noticing an airship far off from the general direction they came from.  Armor makes a sigh, illuminating his horn and directing magic to his throat as turns towards Flash, "Well?" Shining's magic amplifies his voice to be heard, "Any luck?"

As he prepares to yell back, Flash's breath falters from a bizarre sight.  He points a hoof in the direction of his captain, and before Armor can even question the response, Shining's ears swerve to the sound of crunching grass and metallic thuds.

Shining Armor views over his shoulder at something rolling towards him.  It's roughly on the shorter side of a pony's height with a dark-steel coloring to it, but the shape of this thing looks exactly like a polyhedron of at least twenty sides.  The odd geometric object bounces off its corners periodically upon the ground, making clunking noises against its iron plates as it approaches faster at the unicorn.

Armor maintains his position while shifting the control of his magic to levitate his shield within a light-rose aura.  Positioning the equipment nonchalantly between him and the rolling object, he blocks the object and springs it back.  Shining keeps illuminating his horn as the polyhedron rolls back, slowly coming to a halt and slowly continues to roll at the pony.

"Alright then," Armor levitates his shield behind the polyhedron and pulls it closer, only to step aside and push the object over the cliff.  He watches the shape fall into the valley, vanishing into the gray fog.  Shining spins his shield ostentatiously, "And there we ha-" a light-rose glow suddenly shines within the fog.

The polyhedron levitates itself out of the fog, encasing itself in a faint magical aura to make it possible.

Shining Armor steps back and narrowly blocks the enchanted object swooping at him with his shield.  Caught in a shoving match, Armor sees Flash flying back to help him out, yet Shining hoof gestures to hold back.  He'll admit that he's putting in more effort than he was a moment ago, but this is nothing more than an irritation.

Shining Armor pulls back and lets the polyhedron to flyby him.  He takes this chance to catch it in his magic, effortlessly succeeding a little bit too well as the object doesn't fight to break out.  Armor tries to use his magic to move it, but he's finding his Equestrian magic unresponsive to that command.

As Shining struggles, the polyhedron's surface begins to emit heat and distorts the air around it, with a few of its sides suddenly go aflame.  Perhaps it's the mirage being formed from the gas, but Armor can swear that he's seeing a devilish face appearing on this object.

Flash is getting antsy from simply spectating, "Perhaps it be best if I he-"

"I got this!" Shining persists as he takes a different approach.  He charges up his horn, "I won't be bested by an oversized dice!" and shoots a magic bullet from it.

The shot hits the polyhedron, but it isn't pushed back or unfazed, it greatly expands in size.  Three times of what it was before.

Shining Armor feels a twist in his stomach.  It finally dawns on him that this thing has been absorbing his magic this entire time, and judging by the way it's vibrating, it's planning to return it in some way.

Shining casts 'Protect' over himself and covers behind his shield for what may come, Flash disobeys his order and makes an attempt to rescue his captain, and the polyhedron suddenly flickers a light and forms an explosion of magic in a self-destructing move.

The force of the blast blows Flash's halberd off the cliff in one direction and throws Shining Armor over the edge as well in another direction.  Flash suddenly gets rammed by Shining and he struggles to maintain control as the two of them fall into the fog within the valley.

Both ponies cry during the fall as they smack against rocks and bounce off the ground.  Shining grunts and growls in his tumble, the result of receiving minimum injuries thanks to the 'Protect' spell over him, but basing off the screams and yells Flash is making...

Shining's fur gets wet as he slides on the morning dew of wet grass until he slows down to a complete stop.  His eyes adjust to the foggy environment.  He gently pushes himself up and tries to identify the location more clearly, but at best, Shining can only make out a sea of grass with the short range of visibility.

"FLASH?" Armor yells for his absent comrade.

The grass tips tickle Shining's ankles to the strolling wind.

Shining turns his ears up, picking up any sound as he gently moves about, "SENTRY, TALK TO ME."

As he walks about, Shining Armor lays a hoof on nothing and suddenly begins to topple down a tor formation.  He hits even ground, scaring the field mice and grasshoppers off into the mist.

Shining sits up, and soon does his ears.  He hears the faint sounds of babbling in one direction and starts heading there.  A soft sound of a metallic bang emits below Shining, as well as his hoof meeting resistance.  Taking a step back, he discovers his shield at his hooves.  Shining illuminates his horn and lifts up his weapon within his light-rose aura.  He sees the glowing magic clearly through the fog, sparking an idea and begins to levitate the shield along the grass, using it as a lantern to see where he's going.

The babbling gets a little louder the closer Shining gets, only to arrive at the source to discover a stream of water.  It's making a calm sound as it flows, but a loud groan suddenly breaks the gentle atmosphere.

Shining spins his shield in the direction of the new sound and shines light on Flash Sentry, limping as he struggles to push himself off the ground.

Relief and concern washes over Shining as he rushes over.  He wraps Flash's wing around his back for leverage, but the moment he touches the wing, Flash lets out a painful cry, leaving Shining Armor to imagine the worst.





Dunking a dented helmet into the stream, Shining Armor pulls it up and uses his magic to carry the water over to Flash Sentry.  The helmet of water settles near the pegasus that's laying by the outcrop, but he's too caught up in his pain to really care.

Shining takes another look at the state of his subordinate before turning his gaze away, berating himself through silent means for bringing Flash to this point.  Two of his legs have fractured bones with at least one more fracture in his right wing, and who knows how many internal injuries there are.  Just because Flash wasn't cast with 'Protect'.

Armor tries to clear his mind as he takes off his own helmet and dunks it to pitch some water for himself.  He levitates it to his mouth, but to his disappointment, the content drains through the opening of where his horn goes through.

A melancholy expression falls on Shining as he watches the water pour out of his helmet, finding it comparable to his life.  No medical supplies, no helpful assistance, no clue of where they stand.  Flash is going to be down for a few weeks and is in need of something more than just water to make a full recovery, but moving him around too much wouldn't be a good idea in his weakened strength.

Nothing is going to change at this pace, it's likely to get worse unless some kind of action is taken soon, but the likelihood of fixing everything doesn't seem possible in this case.  Shining's thoughts waver between Flash's health and Equestria's state, "..."

Sentry studies Armor's posture, "Thinking of leaving me behind?" he makes light of the offer.

"..."

"I'd understand if you decided to go through with that."

"..."

"...if you don't, the nation will lose hope."

Shining whips his head around, feeling like he's reliving a moment of his life.  The last time he felt like this was during King Sombra's attack on the Crystal Empire, when he had to leave his wife to meet up with Twilight and her friends.  He recalls the fatigue look she had as she maintained a barrier for the empire, seeing it replay through Flash's weakened state with Equestria's fate in the balance, "...I'm going to search around the area for a while.  Food, herbs, anything that could be helpful right now.  There just has to be something we can use."

There's a malaise look on Flash's face, "Don't fool yourself.  You won't find anything that'll be helpful around here.  Just focus on fulfilling the mission."

Armor levitates his shield over to Flash, "With your halberd lost, you'll be needing something else to protect yourself with until I return."

Sentry huffs, "I guess we're both asking for the impossible," and accepts the shield in his good wing.

Shining notes the sound of the stream as he looks into the sky.  The sun will likely clear this fog the longer the day goes by, but until then, he'll use the stream as a landmark to find his way back.  He takes in a breath of fresh air, lights up his horn, "Stay safe," and gallops off into the fog.





An hour passes since Shining Armor began this search.  His endeavor hasn't produced anything fruitful so far, but it has been growing the anxiety inside of him.

The clouded atmosphere still poses as the biggest obstacle.  It's beginning to feel like he's running through his own mind, searching for an answer that isn't taking form.  No clues, no hints, nothing that provides any idea of where to go.  Every direction he takes just keeps resulting in a setback or more fog.

Armor stomps his hoof and rips the air with a roar.  The sounds of his exasperation echoes the land, slowly fading like his withering drive to continue this hopeless ordeal.  Releasing the rest of his frustration through a sigh, Shining Armor eventually encounters an outcrop to lean his weight on for a moment.

Shining takes a moment to collect himself.  It seems as of late that every action Armor's decided upon has resulted with them getting farther and farther away from the main objective to their journey.  His hold on everything is slowly slipping out of his grip with nothing gained from it.  The only times where they seemed to make any progress would be when Tempest was in charge, "...optimistic ignorance, huh?" Armor reflects upon the experience he had that night Equestria's magic was stolen.  Recalling the torturing feeling he felt for not being there with them, repainting the frightened expressions his imagination made of his family, reconstructing the worst scenarios that led to a tragic fate for everyone involved, "..."

Shining Armor stares into the dull environment, seeing nothing but fog, but something suddenly flies over his head.  Long and white, a small ferret leaps from the top of the tor he lays against and lands onto his level.  It dashes into the fog and quickly vanishes from Shining Armor's sight.

Steadily pushing off the tor, Shining soon finds the need to get low to the ground upon feeling it start to rumble.  A giant figure suddenly leaps over him and shakes the surface as it lands.  It leaves little time for Armor to register its features as it vanishes in the direction of the ferret.

Shining slowly stands up.  It looked like he had a close encounter with a bulky creature, one that could flatten him with a body slam.  Being cautious, Armor casts 'Protect' over himself.

The sound of loud crumbling gravel echoes the air, following with the piercing roar that's comparable to a tiger's.

Shining Armor is completely stiff, his brain is telling him to move his legs, but the peril he finds himself in is keeping every muscle locked.  No weapons, in this barren field, within a land of magic nullifying equipment, is a gigantic beast that displays predatory behavior, and it is roaming somewhere in this thick fog.  He's completely helpless, and whatever this thing is, Shining doesn't want to encounter it again.

Another tremendous roar echoes up ahead, and suddenly, Shining sees a giant boulder flying right at him.  Armor reacts instinctively and catches the debris in his magic just before it hits him.  He keeps it encased in his rose colored aura, illuminating it in the foggy environment.  His eyes widen, realizing how he's standing out in this mist and immediately drops the chunk of rock with a thud.

"..."

Shining's ears pick up the heavy beats of an approaching creature.  He shuffles back and quickly enters into a gallop as he tries to lose it in the fog.  His mind begins to race, trying to take in as much information as he can with the limited visibility.  Shining thinks he hears something on his left, but he thought he saw something on his right, it's getting to a point where he's questioning if he's possibly in a never-ending void.

Armor slows down and begins to spin around, trying to figure out where to go.  He hears the distinct sound of snorting and manages to only get a glimpse of a large purple tail, just before it slaps him, sending the pony rocketing through the air.

Shining Armor slams into a tor, results with the formation to crumble apart and tombing him under a pile of boulders.  He feels the weight of the rocks squishing his abused body, and while he may be feeling an aching pain right now, it would've been very severe if he didn't have 'Protect' over himself.  Nevertheless, Shining can still feel the sting from the strike even under the spell.  It might be wise if he refrains from making rash actions for now.

Shining hears heavy stomping and sees a figure approaching through a gaps of the rubble.  He shuts his eyes upon hearing the sound of the beast sniffing Shining's hiding spot, giving him a clear idea on how he was tracked down in this fog.  

"..."

The beast grumbles as the sound of footsteps takes its leave.

Armor looks at the silhouette of the beast through the fading fog.  It's big, almost three times as big as a manticore, and if it's as vicious as one, then Shining wouldn't stand a chance against it.

The beast abruptly halts.  It lifts its head, getting a scent of the area with distinctive sounds of heavy sniffing.  It's tracking something, Shining can't help but sweat to the thought that it was about to charge right back at him.

It draws its attention towards something on its right, approaching this thing in a quadruped-like manner to smell it.

Shining rests easy now that he isn't going to be a victim of this creature again, though he can't help but wonder now, just what is this beast analyzing?  He squints through the fading fog at this thing that has everyone's attention.  He identifies a long pole-like object, sticking out of the ground at a tilted angle.  It's not bent, but there's curves at the base, one on each side.

Armor considers that he's looking at an ax or perhaps a spear, and as he continues to try and match the object with a name, his pupils begin to shrink.  Shining's blood begins to turn cold as he realizes that this object, is Flash's Halberd.  As the beast begins to snarl with its fangs bare, the unicorn begins to feel his veins burning.

Shining Armor's magic explodes the rocks that tomb him, blowing them off and making lots of noise to draw the beast's attention back to the unicorn it took for dead.  The two sizes the other up with glares as the fog clears up.

The creature is a bulky looking beast, one built like a lion, but runs off the strength of its double-muscles.  It has a deep-dark-orchid tone to its skin with black spines going along its backbone.  Untamed garnet hair resides around the two giant horns at the side of its head, lining up in the direction his yellow eyes face.  He sweeps his tail and uses it for balance as he stands on his hindlegs, giving him freedom to swing a pair of devastating claws.  The piercing-sharp teeth that this beast displays tells that he's no herbivore, and going off the feral quirks he's made thus far, he's craving for an intense fight with the stallion before him.

Shining firms his stance upon noticing the many scars visible all over this beast's bare body, feeling more confident than he was a moment ago.  With no signs of any weapons, body armor, or accessories on this beast, Shining's magic will actually be effective against this creature.

The beast makes a threatening roar which Shining takes as a sign that he's about to attack.  He swings a claw into the ground and launches himself at Armor with his other claw raising overhead.  Shining Armor produces a barrier around himself as the beast throws his claw down, slamming into the conjured dome of magic with a reverberating sound of the impact before his claw shatters through Shining's defense.

Armor staggers back, just inches away from the beast clawing him.  Shining feels a pit in his stomach from how easily this beast overpowered him, too focused on the fact to see the other claw swinging at him from the side.

The beast strikes Shining Armor, launching the pony far across the valley.

Shining bounces and tumbles through the grass until he manages to skid to a complete stop.  Though this beast may be defended against with magic, his ferocious strength makes up the difference to overpower it.  Shining works his way back to his hooves, bearing the pain that not even his 'Protect' spell can fully withstand.

The beast makes a blaring roar to which Shining bares his teeth at the charging beast, this time with his horns as the assaulting threat.  Shining Armor illuminates his own horn and shoots a few magic bullets at him, the result only makes the beast twitch at best.  Armor makes an attempt to restrain the beast by taking it by the horns, using his own horn to grab them in his aura and pushes to slow the charging beast down.

Horn-locked, the two fight for control.  Armor is beginning to strain himself, just to keep the beast to a strolling speed, until a wave of force shoves him back.  The beast is using his claws to dig into the ground and uses the earth as a leverage to pull forward.  Each burst of pressure nearly causes Shining to lose his grip on the horns, and each time, a little closer to him.

With a feral grunt, the beast makes a mighty shove to slip out of the magical hold.  Shining reinforces 'Protect' just in time as the beast rams him, but it does little against the stinging sensation.  Armor feels his hooves leaving the ground as the beast whips him across the field.

Shining Armor slams into a boulder, cursing his luck as he plops to the ground.  For once when his magic can be used against an opponent, he finds that he just can't muster enough to match such brutal strength.  He knows that he isn't going to win this fight, an escape might be his only chance at surviving, but the beast's next likely target would be..

Shining struggles to his hooves, leaning on the boulder for support.  The ferocious roaring the beast makes gets a growl out of him, irritated by their persistence.  Illuminating his horn, Armor attempts to use his magic again.  If he had his shield, then maybe he could use his magic to indirectly attack the beast with a blunt object.

Shining Armor shifts his rear against the boulder to face the charging beast.

Only yards away with eyes locked on the unicorn, the beast sees the boulder behind Shining glow in a light-rose aura.

Shining swings the boulder overhead at the beast, and to the pony's surprise, the beast gets on his hindlegs and catches the boulder in their forepaws.

Pulling, pushing, jerking, and yanking, Shining isn't having any luck at reclaiming the boulder the beast's grip.  It's the only weapon he has, the only tool he possesses to defend himself with, Shining is desperate to get it back.  He places all of his strength into pulling it in one direction despite of all the strain he's placed on his horn already.

The boulder slowly slides over the beast's forepaws, until finally, Shining Armor collapses.  He just can't muster enough strength under the seething pain his horn is giving him.

With victory now within his paws, the beast lifts the boulder over his head with a mighty roar.  Shining grunts, hearing that roar is really driving on his nerves, up to the point where he wants to silence it.

The beast scowls down at a glaring Shining Armor, aiming the boulder at the pony with the dimly lit horn and a tightness in his chest.

The beast pulls back the boulder as a light-pink aura covers Armor's throat.

The beast makes his move and Shining rips out a thunderous roar, magically enhanced to make it much louder than what any creature his size should be capable of.

Shining's voice surprises the beast, startling him to lose his grip on the boulder.  With a loud thud, the boulder drops on the beast's head.  It rolls off to the side of the beast's head as they just stand there.

Shining sees a trail of blood rolling down the side of the beast's head, and while he believes that now would be a good time to act upon something, he hesitates upon hearing the beast... chuckling.

The beast lets out a bellowing laugh, "That was quite a crafty decision, Traveler," the beast spoke to Armor, "There have been very few who've been capable of breaking me from my berserk state," his laughter softens down, "Inform me, what's your job?"

It's bothersome to Shining on how he's acting so neighborly after the many attempts of killing him, but if he wants to bury the hatchet, it would be best to do the same, else he picks up where he left off, "I'm... I'm the Captain of the Royal Guard."

"A guardian," the news impresses the beast, "one that not only serves royalty, but also leads others like him!  With a stature like that, it's no wonder how you could handle my strikes."

Shining turns his attention, fighting off the desire to clench his sore body, "..."

"You're well suited for the title."

The aches quickly fade off.  Hearing those words given to him aloud, there's a weight on his mind that's beginning to become too insufferable to bare, "...no."

The beast slants his head.

"You couldn't be more wrong.  I couldn't get there for my family when they were in trouble, I should've lost a quarter of our savings to a reckless gamble, I would've delivered us as fish food for being completely clueless, I've failed to keep my team together because of a personal disagreement, and my last teammate is now crippled because of my arrogance."  Shining forms a sigh, "I'm not suited for that title.  I'm not fit to be called, 'Captain'."

"You were accepted by royalty to be their guardian, they must've seen something in you to invoke that choice."

"And I could've sworn that I saw it too.  A depiction of a strong stallion that could meet any expectations that's needed for the many roles he plays.  Son, brother, husband, prince, father, but a palace guard...  Everything of late has been showing me that when I'm outside those walls, I'm not a shining example of perfection.

The beast bellows another roaring laugh, "A perfect guard is just a false notion, there will always be a flaw in one's defense."

"That's probably what drove me into being a captain in the first place," Shining admits, "I often find myself reflecting on my loved ones at almost every given moment, and the thought of something happening to them begins to stir inside of me to the point where I feel that if I don't keep up on what I'm doing, I'm going to lose them.  I try emptying my mind of all thought and focus on the task at hoof, pretty much until my body goes into auto drive."

"Appears to me that you suffer from your own berserk state as well."

"The real kick in the face is that having control out of my hooves and placing my faith in the leadership of others ...it frightens me.  One too many times has my nation been saved by my sister, one of the rulers that I've been sworn to protect, one of the ponies in my life that I'm deeply concerned about, is often the one that does all the protecting as she stands in the forefront of the cavalry.  If they fail, then I blame myself, because maybe I could've changed things if I were in control.  And if I fail, then I know who's really at fault."

The beast makes a low growl, closing his eyes as he ponders, "..." he looks at Shining, "'A strong guard is one that finds strength from those that they protect, but a mighty guard can also use that strength to reinforce them in turn.' That was a quote once given by an ancient king.  It was his way to describe the flow of energy we share with others and how our strength is still protecting them, regardless of our presence or roles."

Shining reflects on the words of wisdom, "That... that isn't helpful at all.  I don't have problems with finding strength, my problem is that I keep failing at being a captain."

He scratches near the cut on his head, "I suppose going off of intuition was a bad choice this time."

Shining sulks for a brief moment, letting his mind wander in the process, "...tell me, did that ancient king ever dealt with a series of difficult choices?"

"Hard to say, given that his time was eons ago.  He was considered to be a wise miracle worker, if that gives you any ideas."

"Miracle?"

"Stuff like bilocation and astral projecting."

"Sounds a lot like Twilight with her teleporting and her long distance conversions by music box figurine."  Armor muses the comparison of those miracles to magic, "..." and something dawns on him, "'...finds strength from those that they protect...'" he reflects on the king's quote for a moment.  Shining peers up at the cut on the beast's head, giving the wound a hesitant look, "...would you bend down for a moment?"

The beast willingly complies with the request and Shining places his forelegs up on the beast.  He follows the trail of blood, arriving at the gash that was made by the boulder, "'...use that strength to reinforce them...'" Shining Armor illuminates his horn and forms a light rose aura over the wound.

Now placing his idea into motion, Shining begins to recall the times he spent with his family, remembering the feelings he had during those moments.  Bold, hopeful, responsible, the rush of vigor is rejuvenating his spirits once more.

The beast experiences a salubrious sensation flowing over his wound, and before long, the injury repairs itself to form a healed layer of skin.

Shining Armor stumbles back, too transfixed at the very sight of achieving such a feat.

The beast touches the spot and hardly believes it as well, but upon looking at Shining, "You seem more surprised than I, pray tell."

"...I wasn't expecting it to work," Shining confesses, "Nopony back home has ever been able to cast healing magic before, but upon reflecting on that quote... I was conflicted on going through with the idea, it could've ended up like all of my other decisions and made it worse, but somehow, I lucked out by pursuing my intuition."

“Who knows what is good and what is bad?” the beast shakes his head with an amuse look, "Placing a quick end to stories with a label of it being good or bad and you'll likely to miss opportune moments such as these.  I guess that unsuitable quote really was just the cure you needed."

A blank stare befalls Shining for a moment before beaming at the thought, "Yeah, it's just the 'Cure' I needed for someone."





Slowly opening his eyes, seeing his left wing wrapped around himself, Flash Sentry gradually wakes up from his slumber.  He stretches his wings, hearing the right one cracking.

"Careful, I just fixed that."

Flash turns his head to Shining Armor, who's casting 'Cure' on Flash's hind leg, "Oh, sorry."  Flash gives a yawn, then wraps himself up with his left and right wi-

Flash jerks up.  He begins to analyze his once-broken wing.

"I found your weapon as well," Shining makes small talk.

Flash looks back at the leg that's currently being healed, quickly connecting the dots, "A unicorn that can cast healing spells from their horn?  ...I would've considered it an old wives' tale if I wasn't already proven wrong."

"I wasn't aware of performing such skills either, let alone from me," Shining releases his magic, allowing Flash time to adjust to his healed leg, "but my intuition is telling me that there's going to be a lot more self-discoveries like this throughout the course of the mission."

The conversation ends when a layer of shade slides over them.  As the two stallions look up, they stare from within a shadow of an airship flying by as it makes its way over the valley.