“Okay so which way now girls?” Shining Armor said as the three trotted across the crystal floor of the caverns. The mine cart had remained intact after they had reached the end of the line with the help of the unicorn’s magic. The tip of his horn glowed in a gentle blue aura, illuminating the cave as they walked through it. Rainbow Dash gazed over to him, still partially airborne as she paused for a moment,
“There aren‘t all that many twists and turns. We should be able to get out of here within the hour.” Shining slowly nodded and looked from Rainbow back to looking ahead of them,
“It‘s petty impressive that you two were able to navigate this place with such little light.” Applejack chuckled as she continued to look around,
“There was a lot of natural light in most parts of the cave. I‘m pretty sure that the darkest part of the cave was the part where ya‘ll were imprisoned.” The three continued walking for a number of minutes, casually conversing and telling the unicorn about what they had been through during the last few weeks, “So you two were statues when this all started…?” Applejack slowly nodded as she looked back to the unicorn,
“Yeah we were… and it was actually through a forced trade that me an‘ Rainbow were freed. Twilight was traveling with Princess Luna for a bit before me an‘ Rainbow.” Shining Armor let out a sigh as he looked down in response,
“I see… So both of the princesses have been taken by Discord and turned to stone. When Discord came into Canterlot the ponies in the town below the castle were already turned to chocolate along with a few of the guards that were in the city. Those that were in the castle were protected by the magical barrier that‘s used to ward off attacks but once Discord had reached the castle… I had to watch my fellow soldiers fall one by one around me.”
Shining Armor growled as he struggled to his feet, the intense blasts of magical energy having knocked him off of his hoofs numerous times. He looked quickly from left to right, his ears drooping as he saw the soldiers around him a mix of chocolate and stone, “Dammit…” Shining‘s eyes then fixed upon the Draconequus, who was casually walking towards him while letting out a dark cackle, “Discord! For this kingdom I have to do all I can to stop you right here!” Discord stopped walking about thirty feet from the unicorn and simply stared him down for a few moments before he folded his arms and lifted his eagle claw to his chin, scratching it before turning his gaze back to him,
“I see… Where is Princess Luna?” Shining Armor got down low as his horn sparked and glowed, shaking his head in defiance of Discord’s question,
“On my honor as Shining Armor, captain of the royal guard, I will never tell you where the Princess is!” Discord slowly nodded as he stared at the unicorn before him before he began to laugh and held out his eagle claw hand,
“Very well then. Let‘s see how quickly a captain falls when fighting for his country!” Shining Armor jumped back as Discord fired a beam of his chaotic magic towards the unicorn, the ground it impacted turning to chocolate along with many other parts of the floor as he continued to avoid the attacks, “Stand still! It‘ll be easier that way!” Shining Armor growled, avoiding another of the blasts before jumping towards Discord with a yell, firing a powerful blast of magic towards him like a laser. Discord dodged to the side, patting his scorched side as he growled, the Elements of Harmony beginning to glow brightly. He folded his arms as Shining prepared for another shot and he threw his claw and paw forward as he released the elements on the unicorn.
Shining Armor’s eyes widened as the Elements of Harmony’s magic was released upon him, an even more powerful blast of magic being fired from his horn. As the two beams of magic impacted the other they suddenly stalemated, pushing back against the other as Discord’s eyes widened, a smirk appearing on his face as he started to walk towards Shining, the stalemated part of their spells shifting back and forth but steadily moved towards Shining’s horn, “You‘ve got quite a lot of power in you.” Discord thrusted his arms forward, the stalemate breaking and an explosion of black smoke engulfed the unicorn, Discord folding his arms with a bit of a chuckle, “Hahaha… but as always, I win--” As the smoke cleared Discord stared at a glowing pink shield surrounding the unicorn, the colt panting hard as his shield shattered around him and he collapsed against the floor. Discord walked over to him with a scowl on his face and picked him up in his eagle claw by the throat, meeting the semi-conscious gaze of the unicorn as they were eye level, “You are more trouble then you‘re worth mister Armor. I think it‘s time for you to go.” The floor slowly opened into a wide pit and Discord dropped him into it, Shining Armor groaning with a grunt as he hit the crystals below him, “Don‘t come back.” The hole then closed, leaving Shining Armor in the darkness of the crystal caverns. He looked to the side seeing a wall of crystal rise up effectively trapping him in walls of crystal.
Shining Armor let out a sigh as he finished, the two mares looking at him in mild shock although Rainbow Dash was the one to speak, “You stalemated the Elements of Harmony?!” Shining looked over to her and paused, slowly shaking his head,
“Well yes and no. You see when Discord reworked the elements of harmony he did so by corrupting them with his own magic. That being said they were unable to retain their purifying magic and are instead only able to turn objects to stone or other chaos-related things. They became a bit less powerful when he took control of them but they are still the most powerful magical objects currently in existence.” Applejack stared up in front of them, raising her hoof and pointing up at a small hole with beams of moonlight being cascaded into the cavern in front of them,
“There‘s our exit. Rainbow we‘re gonna need ya ta lift us up there.” Rainbow nodded with a salute and Applejack was lifted up into the air by the pegasus who flew her up to the hole above them and helped her slip through before she flew down and smiled at Shining Armor,
“Ready to go?” Shining let out a slow breath before nodding to her with a determined smile,
“I‘ve been ready to get out of here for a long time.” Rainbow Dash let out a bit of a grunt as she hoisted the unicorn up and out of the crystal caverns below them.
Once the three were back on solid ground they all trotted back out onto the road and Shining looked around, “So where are we headed?” Applejack smiled a bit and pointed off down the path, the chaotic Ponyville off in the distance. They soon began to trot down the road, Shining Armor letting out a bit of a chuckle as he continued looking onward to Ponyville, “You know… I‘ve been wanting to go into Ponyville for a long time to visit Twilight and meet you all but…” His ears drooped a bit as he looked down with a sigh, “I just wish that it were on my own terms instead of this chaotic mess.”
Written Dreams lied on Twilight’s bed, watching as the unicorn paced around the room again and again with a worried look on her face, “Weren‘t they supposed to be back by now?” Written Dreams let out a sigh and continued to pat the bed with his hoof giving her a worried gaze,
“Come on Twilight the last thing you need is to give yourself more stress. You need to be resting right now. By now I’m sure they found the clue and have already started on their way back to Ponyville.” Twilight turned and stared at him as she stomped her hoof,
“Why didn‘t you just tell us all what the clue was and then we could have continued on from there?!” Written Dreams stopped and fell silent, looking away from her with a bit of a sigh,
“It is because I believe that the journey is more important then the destination, however, because of how close we are and the situation we are all in you are right. I should have done that and I‘ll apologize to Applejack and Rainbow Dash when they return.” Twilight continued to gaze at him after he stopped talking, her ears drooping slightly and he tilted his head, giving her a worried look, “Twilight… are you okay? You really should get back into bed.” Twilight raised her hoof slightly as she opened her mouth to speak but both pony’s ears perked as there was a knock on the door followed by the sound of the crusaders saying ‘Coming!’ all in unison.
Written Dreams trotted to the door with Twilight and opened it, the two of them heading down the stairs with Written Dreams steadying her with his wing occasionally until they reached the bottom. The door soon opened to reveal the two mares and colt. Rainbow Dash and Applejack came inside, Applejack hugging Applebloom as Rainbow flew over and picked up Scootaloo, ruffling her hair as the two chuckled together. Shining Armor trotted slowly through the threshold and looked around expectantly. Shining Armor and Twilight’s eyes met after only a few moments and the colt’s eyes widened as he ran over to her, “Twily!” Twilight broke away from Written Dreams and ran up to Shining, the two ponies embracing each other tightly, their cheeks nuzzling a bit as their eyes closed, “I‘ve been so worried about you little sis…” Twilight gazed up at him with tear-streaked eyes before she closed her eyes once again and gave him another nuzzle,
“I‘m so happy that you‘ve come back Shining! Where have you been?!” Their embrace then ended, Shining Armor taking a step back and laid his hoof on Twilight’s mane, a sigh leaving the colt as he shook his head,
“When Discord took Canterlot Castle I did my best to confront him but in the end I failed. Instead of sealing me in stone he imprisoned me in the crystal caverns beneath Canterlot.” He looked to Applejack and Rainbow Dash who were smiling at him, “If your friends hadn‘t come all the way down there I‘m willing to bet that I would still be there.” Twilight continued to softly smile, a look on her face like a heavy weight had been lifted from her heart,
“I couldn‘t feel happier to see you Shining.”
Shining Armor settled in in another section of the library, making himself a makeshift bed and one by one the ponies in the library had all fallen asleep. Written Dreams fixed the blanket over Twilight’s sleeping form and smiled down at her, his hoof reaching up and very gently stroked her bangs from her face, “I‘m glad things worked out as they did with the cave… tomorrow the hunt for the next clue begins.”
Written Dreams stood in the kitchen the next morning, cooking eggs, toast and other breakfast foods for the ponies in the library. His ear perked as he looked off to the side hearing a yawn and smiled as Shining Armor came into the kitchen rubbing his eyes. He blinked as he looked up at the pegasus with a chuckle, “Aww you beat me to it.” The two colts bumped hoofs and smiled at one another,
“You‘re welcome to help me with breakfast if you‘d like to Shining.” Shining Armor nodded with a chuckle before he trotted over to the counter and began to aid Written Dreams with whatever he asked the unicorn to help with,
“So you‘re Written Dreams if I remember correctly. I didn‘t get the chance to meet you when you stayed at the castle but the princesses spoke very highly of you.” Written Dreams nodded to him as his gaze turned back over to the unicorn and they began to put plates together,
“I‘m really glad that you‘re going to be with us. I had actually been planning to take Twilight with me to find one of the last clues to the Quill of Eternity. Would you want to come with us to look after her..?” Shining Armor paused as he raised an eyebrow while staring at the pegasus,
“I think it would be okay for the two of you to go by yourselves. Rainbow, Applejack, and the three fillies can hold down the fort while you two are gone. It‘s actually a better tactical move for it to be the two of you actually. It would make it easier for you to move undetected during that castle along with companionship to keep your heads in the right place. Also, having both magic and flight at your disposal will help greatly.” Written Dreams nodded and tilted his head slightly as he stared at him,
“Talking like that it sounds like you would be the better choice.” Shining Armor shook his head with a light chuckle,
“From what little I‘ve seen of you and what the princesses have said I believe that you are a better leader for this group then I could be. Also I would personally prefer it that she go along with you opposed to myself. Last night I took it upon myself to examine her state of mind and to be honest, she is more together with you then with anypony else right now. If she stayed here she would have two of the strongest members of this group to worry about and if something happened to both me and you it would be devastating. I don‘t think she could recover from something like that happening so it‘s for her sake that she go with you.” Written Dreams started bringing plates over and setting them on the table one by one before looking back at the unicorn once again,
“I see what you‘re saying Shining. In the event that Discord does discover everyone here I trust that you would be more valuable to have face him then anypony else.” Shining Armor let out a slow breath as he nodded,
“I promised myself that I would make him pay for imprisoning me down there. You have my word that I‘ll do all I can to protect everyone.” Both colts looked off to the exit of the kitchen seeing Twilight yawning with a light smile on her face as she looked at the two of them,
“There‘re my boys… Did you both make breakfast?” Shining Armor chimed in as he trotted over to Twilight and gave her a nuzzle,
“Good morning little sis. Yeah we have breakfast out for the three of us since we didn‘t think anypony else was awake yet.” Twilight nodded with a giggle as she looked over to the table,
“It looks delicious thank you Written, Shining.” The three were seated at the table within the next few minutes and all began on their meals, “So I‘m guessing that the two of you have discussed what our next move is. I went ahead and managed to find out where we‘ll be going. It‘s about two days from here; The Castle of the Changelings.” Written Dreams paused as he brought a hoof to his chin, various thoughts going through his mind,
“Two days? Could be worse. Changelings are one of those species that aren‘t really known about. Shining, can you tell us anything?” Shining Armor slowly nodded as he looked back and forth from the two,
“Well I don‘t know all that much but changelings are creatures that can take on the form of those you hold dear and they feed off of your love for them.” Twilight nodded her head as she finished one of her eggs,
“Are they dangerous though? Feeding off of love sounds like it could have some negative effects…” Shining Armor simply shook his head in response,
“Well at the castle we‘ve gotten a few reports of changeling attacks but apparently no ponies have even been injured in these incidents. I can‘t really say much more.” Written Dreams’ gaze turned back to Twilight and he let out a contented sigh,
“Alright then we have our destination. Shining and I were talking a bit about who will be going and we settled on you and I, as we previously talked about. If we could leave within an hour or so that would give us a good head start.”
“What about Applejack and Rainbow Dash?” Shining Armor paused as he took in Twilight’s question and looked down at her with a smile,
“We‘ll see how they feel about it before you two leave.”
Within the next twenty minutes Rainbow Dash and Applejack had woken up and the five ponies were in the main area of the library. Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood on either side of Shining Armor and Rainbow groaned a bit as she shook her head with a disheartened look on her face, “Aww come on why can‘t we come with you?! I just got better too!” Twilight raised an eyebrow as she tilted her head slightly,
“Well, you two balance each other out when you‘re together and if you both came with us then Shining Armor would be here all by himself with Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom and to be honest only Fluttershy is capable of taking care of all of them at once. So you‘ll be helping him take care of them along with keeping Shining company while we‘re gone.” Shining Armor grinned as he put a hoof around the mare’s shoulders and let out a laugh,
“Don‘t worry Twily, I‘ll do my part to take care of these two and the fillies as well.” Applejack and Rainbow Dash both blushed slightly and Rainbow’s wings sprung upwards before the pegasus cleared her throat and folded her wings,
“Well we‘ll see you guys when you get back from the castle!”
Within the next few minutes Twilight Sparkle and Written Dreams were outside and had begun on their journey towards the Castle of the Changelings, “Twilight I‘m really glad that you decided to come with me on this one. I‘ve really been wanting to spend more time with you.” Twilight let out a happy hum as she looked over at him as they left the chaotic town,
“Me too Written. I‘m really glad you asked me to go. It seems like most of this journey has been spent just trying to find you. How many clues do you think are left before we reach the quill…?” Written Dreams said nothing for a few moments as he brought his hoof to his chin,
“Perhaps one or two… perhaps three. We‘re definitely close though. Hopefully the changelings will be helpful and we won‘t run into anything deadly on our way there…” Twilight blinked and glared at him before rolling her eyes with a sigh,
“Nothing on this journey has been straightforward and easy so a journey to the Castle of the Changelings isn‘t going to be an exception but still… you didn‘t have to jinx us Written.” Written paused as the two of them left town and began to walk down the road out of Ponyville,
“Oh come on Twilight. Anything that we find we can overcome as a team. Neither of us are even close to weak.” Twilight rolled her eyes before nodding with a sigh and opened her saddlebag at her waist and withdrew a map that had a red circle drawn on it far off to the east. As the map levitated in her magical aura her eyes scanned it along with Written Dreams, who trotted alongside her,
“So Written, the eastern Everfree forest is a very dangerous place…”
“We can stay mostly on a straight line given that there is a beaten path through most of the forest.” He laid his hoof on the map as he spoke, “And then we can simply follow this line here and we‘ll be there before we know it.” His hoof slid over to the forest containing the red circle, “And then we‘re done, just like that.” Twilight nodded with an agreeing smile as she returned the map to her bag and the two ponies turned slightly so that they were trotting to the northeast.
Within the Canterlot throne room Discord sat upon his throne, his hoof turned upright on a pillow as Rarity was giving him a hooficure, the unicorn mare occasionally gagging as small bits of dirt flaked off from her work. Discord laid back in his throne with a very relaxed look on his face, a hooded figure standing before him before a feminine voice began to speak, “I was hoping you would reconsider my offer Lord Discord.” The Draconequus stroked his beard with his eagle claw before holding out his bear paw towards the hooded mare,
“You‘re quite adamant about that ever since I took you in.” The mare simply stood there silently before Discord spoke again, “Fine then. I grant your request. Trail Twilight Sparkle and confront her. Do not fail where that Griffon did. Rainbow Dash has fallen but with that unicorn still around, the others may still find some courage and hope. I‘d like you to crush it.” The hooded mare only nodded before she ran from the throne room, her dark grey hooves visible under her billowing cloak.