//------------------------------// // Trial of Kindness Part 1: Dodging Trouble // Story: My Mortal Big Brother // by Dash Attack //------------------------------// After travelling all morning along Hayseed road, Shining and Shadow finally caught a glimpse of Dodge City. It was still about three miles off, as they made their way trotting along the dirt road, but  they could feel nothing but relief. They stopped for a moment to catch their breaths. Shining turned to his head towards Shadow and smiled. “Man, after that encounter with that weird changeling last night, it’s a miracle I got any sleep at all.” Shadow panted a bit before replying. “We’re both very lucky, Captain,” replied the exhausted thestral. “As you two fought, I could see the fire in his eyes. He’s a born fighter that one is. I could tell just by looking at him that he had a strong passion for combat. If half of my troops had passion l like that, Equestria would be the most feared nation on Equis.” Shining shook his head. “That wouldn’t be a good thing.” he said with a hint of disappointment. “Our kingdom and it’s provinces should be a symbol of hope to other nations.” Shadow laughed.          “I agree captain, but as you know Equestria has many enemies. If we are to preserve our way of life, we need soldiers with a stomach for  battle.”          “But fear should not be a priority.” Shining rebutted. “I got a better look at his eyes than you did. That changeling wasn’t just passionate about fighting, he was enthralled by it. And while soldiers of peace should not be afraid of conflict, they should not seek enjoyment from it either. Back when I was a private, I too loved fighting, and was eager to take part in battle. However, I learned early on that one should not take pride in conflict.”          “When did you realize that?”          Shining closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. “I don’t wanna talk about it now. Maybe I’ll tell you later tonight. Right now, we should just get to Dodge City.”          “I’m sorry if I upset you Captain.”          Shining turned to face Shadow and smiled. Even though he had become one with the Spirit of Honesty, Shadow could tell that he was trying to mask how he really felt.          “I’m fine.” he said reassuringly “If you’re curious I’ll tell you about it some other time. Oh, and for the trillionth time, please get in the habit of calling me Shining.”          “I’m working on it Ca... Shining. I’m just really not used to talking to peers without acknowledging chain of command. You already told me you didn’t want to be acknowledged as royalty, so my mind jumps back to your rank as captain. I hate to say this, but this is one habit that I don’t think I can break.”          Shining let out a genuine laugh and smiled. “Well, at least you're trying. I think we wasted enough time chatting. Dodge is only a mile away. We shouldn’t waste anymore time.”          With that, Shadow took to the sky and to sped off towards their destinations. When they were about two minutes away from the city, Shadow stopped flying and began to hover in place. Shining looked up to notice Shadow was flying in place.          “Shadow!” he called out. “What's wrong? What do you see?” “Huh? I wonder what’s going on over their?” Shining muttered as he trotted. “There’s a large crowd gathering in the town by some rocks. I can’t tell from here, but I think that it might be the Dodge City Mine.” “Huh? I hope nothing bad has happened. You should fly on ahead and check it out. I’ll catch up to you using some short distance teleportation.” “Wait,” Shadow said in annoyance. “Why didn’t you teleport to keep up with me before.”          “Teleportation spells take up a decent amount of energy depending on distance and use.  That’s why you don’t see unicorns phasing in and out of everywhere they go.”          Shadow nodded his head.          “My apologies. I’ll see you in town.”          A large gust of wind blew across Shining’s mane as he watched Shadow Wing zoom past him.          ------- As Shadow landed just outside the city limits he tucked his wings in. He looked to make sure nopony was around before walking. He debated waiting for the captain to get back with their robes, but remembered that he was counting on him. Ponyfeathers, I hate being so exposed. I’ve never had to travel this far without the company of other threstrals. With so many ponies ignorant of our existence, how can they not be frightened? It’s only natural for them be afraid of that which they don’t understand. Shadow shook his head in order to clear his mind of all anxiety.          No. I am keeper of the peace, and captain of Princess Luna’s personal guard. So long as I remember that, nothing these ponies think even matters. Still, I should keep my wings tucked beside my armor so as not to draw attention. It’s a good thing they blend so well together.          With a newfound resolve, Shadow trotted into town.          As he looked around, the first thing he noticed was that the town was a complete mess.  The streets were riddled with cracks, and some of the buildings looked like they were on the verge of collapse. At first, he thought that the damage was caused by an earthquake, but had there been one, he and Shining would have felt it on their way there.          The second thing he noticed was the unusual amount of Celestial Guards. Why in Equestria would there be this many? This doesn't make any sense. The Royal Guard wouldn’t show up for such a small earthquake, especially one that looks like it happened not too long ago. The timing doesn’t add up. Unless...? A disturbing thought dawned on him, one that he prayed was false. Unless they were already here, looking for somepony. Just then, Shadow saw that the large crowd of ponies turned their attention to a circle of guards. “That’s as far as you go, Prince Shining Armor. You're under arrested for desertion and directly assaulting a member of the guard.”          ------ What the hell just happened! thought Shining. One minute he was in the crowd asking about a supposed cave-in, the next he was being surrounded by guards. Shining gazed in bewilderment as ponies that had once worked and took orders from him held weapons by his throat. “This is totally outrageous. I recognize most of you. I thought I trained you all better than this.”          “We're sorry Captain Armor, we are just following orders. You are wanted for the crime of desertion and assault of an-”          “For starters, private,” Shining said with angry sarcasm. “You know I would never lay a hoof on any of you, especially since I’m no longer your commanding officer. Secondly, I am the Prince of Crystal Empire. I’m allowed to go on vacation for, how long has it been? Three days!  Lastly, I doubt you have any evidence that I am guilty of any of this.”          The guards murmured amongst themselves before one of them spoke up.          “Prince Blueblood himself has issued a warrant against you under these charges. If you are innocent Captain, you can prove it in court.”          “So, Prince Blueballs is behind all this. Can you say ‘Worst brother-in-law ever’?”          Shining glared at the guard that just spoke.          “Your name is Soaring Justice, if memory serves.”          The guard nodded.          “That is correct, your highness.”          “Tell me, what I told you all about gut instinct.”          Justice gulped. “You told me that if our instincts go against what we know, that we should continue questioning until all doubt is terminated.”          “Now, are you absolutely certain that I am guilty of the crimes my brother-in-law has accused me of, or do I need to send you back to boot camp?”          Justice just ignored him and looked the other way.          “I am talking to you, private!” screamed Shining. “Or do you need to get your head examined for short term memory loss?”          Justice turned his head back to his former commanding officer. “No, Sir. My head is fine, Sir.”          Shining pointed his hoof and the remaining guards. “What about the rest of you? There are ponies trapped in that mine, and you're going just sit on your flanks and do nothing? If any of them die down there, I will make sure all of you are held responsible.”          As the guards ran off to help the ponies, Soaring Justice stood there and looked at Shining.          “Stay here until the crisis is over... um, your majesty. Also, it’s good to see you again.”          He trotted over and started whispering in Shining’s ear.          “I won’t tell anypony we saw you, just please don’t get caught again. Blueblood knew you were heading here so it’s likely he’s spying on you. Also, rumor has it your sister is pressing Blueblood for that evidence. If he doesn’t turn it over soon, this whole thing is going to blow up in his face. Just stay under the radar until that happens.”          Justice took a few steps back and started shouting.          Shining watched as Justice flew off towards the rest of his platoon. Shadow fluttered beside him.          “I heard the whole thing, Captain.” said Shadow in amazement. “How did you do it?”          “Since I trained that group, i figured that they still considered me their captain. To be honest, I really didn’t think it would work.”          “But why were they after you in the first place? I didn’t hear that part?”          “I’ll explain later. Right now I wanna see if there’s a way we can help those ponies who are trapped down there.”          Shining ran around to the mine entrance where everypony was gathered until he reached the the right side of the rock formation. Shadow watched curiously, as he saw Shining activate his horn, eyes focused on the rock wall.          “What are you trying to do?” “I’m trying to find a hollow spot.” he replied, his eyes stayed fixed on the the rock wall as he spoke. “With guards looking for me, I can’t take any chances that one of them won’t arrest me on the spot. So, if we are to have any hope of saving these ponies, we must make our own entrance without causing another cave-in.”         “But shouldn’t we just leave?” ask Shadow Wing. “I’m sure the guards can save those ponies.  I did see some more unicorns in the bunch. We should leave it to them and leave while we still have the chance.” Again, Shining continued to examine the wall, not once looking back at Shadow. “It’s not an option. I can’t let those ponies die knowing that their was something I could have done to save them.” Suddenly his face lit up. “Aha!” he cried. “I found a spot. Now let’s see if I can remember that spell.” A purple beam shot out from Shining’s horn onto the rock. Shadow watched as a wooden door began to form around where the beam hit. He smiled at the bat pony as he opened the the door to reveal an entrance. “Piece of cake.” he said proudly. “Now let’s go save those ponies. Once we’re done, we’ll leave the city and go back to searching for the gems.” Shadow nodded. “You're going to need my help. I can see in the dark as clear as you can see in the light. Also, you know how bats are able to find their prey using sound waves? We threstrals have that in common too. Watch this.” Shining watched as Shadow opened his mouth as if he were screeching. To Shining, it looked as if Shadow had lost his voice. After watching him repeat the same process a couple of times, Shadow turned to look at Shinning. “I have an idea where they are, but we're going to have to go deep.”          “Lead the way.”          Shining lit up his horn and followed Shadow into the dark mine. As they walked through the darkness, Shining could see that Shadow was still doing that thing with his mouth.          “What exactly are you doing Shadow?” asked Shining.          Shadow chuckled. “It’s called echolocation. Your ears aren’t strong enough to hear, but I’m actually emitting a sound that’s vibrating across these cavern walls. Using my ears I’m able to hear the vibration my screeches make. I can tell when a vibration bounces off a living thing when it moves.”          “I think I remember Twilight telling me something about this when she was nine. Does that mean you're relying entirely on sound right now?”          “Normally that’s how a bat would navigate, but I also have low light vision. Though if I wanted to I could close my eyes and navigate, but I prefer to have all my senses available.  It’s funny though, flying through caves blindfolded is actually one of my training exercises for new recruits.          Shadow’s head drooped down a bit.            “What few I get anyway.” he said sadly.          Even in the dark, Shining could tell Shadow was upset. It must really suck being part of a dying race.          “Hey, Shadow, I promise when all this is over, I’ll give your kind full access to the Crystal Archives. There are tons of lost knowledge stored away in there. Maybe there will be a book about how to make that potion your people are working on? The one that turns willing pegasi into thestrals. I’ll even ask Twilly if she could lend you a hoof. That girl has been begging me to let her into the archives ever since Cadence and I came into power.”          Shadow let out another hearty laugh. “Looks like generosity won’t be your hardest trial.”          “I hope so. I almost botched the last one though. I hope the rest are easier, but I don’t think I’m going to be that lucky.”          Shadow stretched out his right wing to halt Shining.          “Hold up, I think we're close. Let me just make sure.          Shining watched Shadow do his echolocation screeches two more times before the bat pony turned to him and smiled.          “There, down this shaft. About four or five of them. I can’t be sure, but one of them isn’t moving.”          Shining looked down the shaft and then back at Shadow.          “Is it safe to jump.”          “Well, it looks like this part of the mine has flooded because there's a large body of water down there. I can try and carry you down if you're afraid of the fall. It will probably be a lot safer.          “Good idea, hoist me up when you're ready.”          Shadow wrapped his forehooves across Shinings chest and flapped his wings. Despite being able to get airborne, Shadow was struggling to maintain a set altitude.          “By Luna’s mane, what have they been feeding you up at the north? Cake and ice cream?” “Um, Shadow.” Shining said sarcastically. “I”m not sure if you noticed, but I’m a lot taller than most stallions.” “Still, you shouldn't be this heavy,” he said as he tried to lower himself without being getting dragged down by Shining’s weight. The two of them started to plunge downward before Shadow slowed down their descent. “What the hell, Shadow,” shouted Shining. “That scared the buck out of me.” “Captain, I’m sorry, but you’re too heavy. If I don’t let you go you're going to drag us both into that water.” “Just let me count to three first.” Shining said nervously. “Ok, here it goes. 1... 2... 3!!!!” Shadow let go of Shining and and he landed safely in the water. He struggled a bit, but he was able to reach land safely. Shadow landed next to him. “I...am...never carrying you again,” Shadow said, as he panted.           “Have you come to save us?” Shining and Shadow turned their attention to a group of four earth ponies in mining uniforms. They were all sitting by a burning lamp before getting up from their flanks and running towards the newcomers, all looking relieved and cheerful that help had finally come to their rescue. A blue stallion with with a short back, bird walked to greet his saviors. “Oh praise Celestia,” he cried. “Have you come to save us?” The two captains nodded in response. “You don’t know how happy I am. I was beginning to fear for our lives. I thought I was going to be leaving my wife a widow. Thanks to you, I can now have a few more years to love and protect my family.” His words touched Shining, for they reminded him of himself.          “Maybe,” he muttered.          Maybe I am doing the right thing after all.          He stretched out his right hoof and smiled.          “Shining Armor, at your service.” he said humbly. “And this here is Captain Shadow Wing of the Lunar Guard.”          Shadow backed away and hid his face in the darkness. His wings were tucked against his armor. Shining withdrew his hoof for a moment and placed it onto Shadow.          “You know, for a captain,” whispered the prince “you really are shy. I don’t know what experiences you might have had in the past, but at some point you're going to have to realize that not all ponies are the same. How can they give you a chance if you're not willing to give it back?”          Shadow sighed. “You’re right...Shining.”          Shining laughed happily as he realized Shadow had taken the time to call him by his name and not by a title.          Filled with vigor by his friend’s words, Shadow cantered into the light and spread out his wings.          “Well I’ll be damned.” stated one of the minors. “I ain't neva seen a pony like ya before.”          “Do not be alarmed by my appearance,” he said proudly. “For had I not been born a thestral we may never have found you. My nocturnal senses guided me and Shining through the darkness, so that you ponies may see the light of Celestia again.”          Three out of the four miners clapped their hooves, while one waited in silence.          “I think it’s too early to celebrate,” replied the miner with a light green coat. “You see, you're not the first pony who came here trying to save us.”          He pointed a hoof towards a fifth earth pony lying on the the ground. He was laying on a small blanket, with a bandage circling his forehead. A large stetson had lay next to where he rested on the ground. What alarmed Shining and Shadow the most is that he didn’t seem to be breathing.          “Is he dead?” ask Shining with concern.          “We're not sure? He’s been like this for about fifteen minutes now. His heart is still beating, but his body feels stiff.”          “How did this happen?” inquired Shadow.          The blue earth pony from before walked up to them with a small object between his teeth. He set it down for everypony to see.          “It happened when he said something to this.”          Shining gasped as his eyes took in the shape and color of the butterfly shaped object before him.          “That’s one of the harmony gems!”          ------- 20 minutes earlier Braeburn slowly opened his eyes, only to find that the world had become a blurry mess. As he tried desperately to clear his head, it felt like the Buffalo chieftain had thrust his horn into his scowl.          “He’s waking up.” replied a voice.          When his vision had finally cleared up, he lifted his aching body and looked at the four stallions huddled over a lamp.          “You took quite a nasty fall there,” replied a stallion with blue coat. “We’ve lost track of time down here, but you’ve been asleep for a least an hour or two I reckon. Good thing I remembered the first aid kit before I came down here today. Your head was bleeding pretty bad.”          “Thank you, sir,” Barburn said quietly.          “Unfortunately the elevator was swept away when the earthquake flooded this part of the mine. I’m afraid you're trapped here just like the rest of us.”          “What’s your name son?” asked a green-coated stallion. “I take it you’re not from around here?”          “It’s Braeburn, sir.” he replied. “I was on my way to pick up some cherry seeds when the earthquake started. I came rushing in here after I heard this young philly shouting about her father being down here. I’d take it that is one of you.          “Was her mother a unicorn?” asked the blue stallion.          “Yes.”          “Than that would be my little philly Sunny. Now, I might never see her smiling face again. We should have never touched that stupid gem.”          “What do you mean?”          One of the other miners pointed to a small purple rock lying in the corner.          “See that there stone that looks like butterfly? Well, we found it embedded in a some kind of wall that was buried under all this rock. For some reason, our equipment can’t seem to put a dent in it. We’ve been slowly unearthing this wall for days, but only found the gem today.”          “Unfortunately that’s all we were able to find besides a bunch of writing and some pretty pictures,” snorted the green one with disdain. “I told you we should have chiseled more of this wall off before we took the gem. You dopes didn’t even bother to read the one damn thing that was in English.”          “And if you actually looked at it.” rebutted another miner. “It says nothing about causing an earthquake if you take it.”          Braeburn walked over to the group and picked up the gem with his mouth. He then rested it in the center of one of his hooves.          “What are you doing?” grunted the green stallion. “No pony said you could touch it! Drop it.”          “Relax, partner,” replied Braeburn with a smile. “I’m just wanna try something I read in one of them Daring Doo books. Maybe if you read what’s on wall out loud with the gem in hoof, a genie will come out.”          “That’s stupid.” said the green stallion.          “Well, have you tried it?” asked Barburn.          “Uh... No. Because that’s not how it bucking works?”          “Well, we won’t know till we try. Now I’m guessing this right here is the wall.”          Braeburn looked at a wall filled with strange carvings with pictures of ponies. At the top, was a very large pony with three smaller one’s right below him. From the way they were drawn, he assumed the really big one was a stallion, and the other three were mares. The mares circled a small space where he assumed the gem had once been. Braeburn was so caught up in the beauty of the mural, that he forgot all about what he was doing. “What your looking for is at the very bottom?” said the blue stallion said. Braeburn shook his head and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry ya’ll, it’s just that this artwork reminds me of the way they make those fancy stain glass windows in canterlot. My cousin Applejack is in two of them, you know.”          He peered down just below the space where the gem used to be. There was writing in several different languages, most of which were alien to Braeburn except for the one in the Buffalo and the one in English.          “Funny, the one in English says the same thing as the one in Buffalo. Guess whoever made this wall wrote the same phrase in every language they knew.”          Suddenly, Braeburn felt as if the wall was instructing him what to do. He subconsciously closed his eyes and focused on the the phrase with the gem held in his palm.          “Spirit of Harmony, lend me your compassion,” said Braeburn.          The miners watched as in horror as Barburn clasped to the ground.          --------- “He’s been like this ever since.” continued the blue-coated stallion. Shining stared at Barburn with concern while a never ending stream of questions raced in his head. Did he fail the trial? Has the Spirit imprisoned his soul in that realm? Was my body like this when I was in that place with Truth? However, one question stood out among all the others in his head. Can I save him? “Shadow!” ordered Shining. “Find a way back to the surface and tell everypony the miners are alive. See if there’s anything they can do on the other side now that we’ve found them.” “But what about you Captain?” asked Shadow.         “I’m going to cross over into the spirit world and pass this next trial. But more importantly, I’m going to try and save this poor stallion’s soul. He had no idea what this gem was. It isn’t fair that he should pay for something he knew nothing about.” “If this pony’s soul has been taken, what makes you think the spirit will let it free?” “I don’t know. I’m going to just have hope the spirit is as generous as she is kind.” Shining turned to his three miners. “I’m going to try and save this pony’s life right now. But to do that, I’m going to repeat his actions. If I don’t wake by the time Shadow comes back with help, I need somepony to go right to Princess Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire. Tell them of my sacrifice, and that I hope to see them again at the end of eternity. Tell them that even if their love and memory of me fades from their hearts, I will be watching them from wherever I end up.” The blue stallion nodded. “I thought your name was familiar. It was an honor to have met you, your majesty. I promise to follow your instructions to the letter.” “Thank you,” replied Shining with a tear in his eye. His horn lit up as he focused on the gem. He gently placed it on to the palm of his hooves and closed his eyes. “Spirit of Harmony, lend me your compassion.” Like the stallion before him, his body fell upon the gravel. ------- When Shining opened his eyes, he was surprised at the beauty surrounding him. He was in some kind of forest with trees that stretched all the way to the sky. The ground was covered with rich green grass, and had a variety of flowers growing out of it. He could hear the sounds of humming, as a squirrel and a fawn ran right past him. Everywhere he looked, he saw either a new animal or a new flower. It was like something out of a story his mother Twilight Velvet might have read to him as a foal. Shining was mesmerized by the serenity this place emitted. “Were you expecting an empty platform surrounded by spears,” giggled the soft voice of a mare. Shining turned around and saw a light pink mare with a yellow mane walking towards him.  Her voice sounded just exactly like Twilight's friend Fluttershy. Even her mane style was identical that of the pegasus. Yet the mare before him was an earth pony, but the resemblance was uncanny to say the least. “My brother Truth told me you were on your way. Sorry if I didn’t give you any warning before dragging you here. I might not be as timid has Fluttershy, but even I get nervous when there's a large group of mortals watching me.” “So I’m guessing you're the Spirit of Kindness.” asked Shining. “Indeed I am, brave adventurer.” she replied in her soft and gentle voice. “My name is Grace. I am the spirit that resides in Fluttershy. She really is such a sweet mare, and really glad to be a part of her. Out of all the bearers I’ve resided in, I think she might be my favorite.” Her eyes opened wide as if she had seen a ghost. She ran towards Shining Armor and wrapped her hooves around his neck. “Please don’t tell the former bearers I said that.” she pleaded franticly “I know most of them are already in heaven and already know how I feel, but Celestia doesn’t know. Oh, if her or the Creator ever found out... Wait, the Creator’s omnipotent. That means he already knows how I feel. Well, it’s good he hasn’t gone all fire and brimstone on me, but I bet he feels really bad I like Fluttershy more than his own flesh and blood.” Shining patted the mare on the back with his hoof to try and calm her down. When she finally let go of him he laughed.          “Wow, and here I thought all the spirits were going to be ultra serious like Truth was.” “Don’t be fooled by him.” she said cheerfully, “He might be the embodiment of honesty, but he’s not as serious as he makes himself out to be. Last year when all us element siblings went to Valhalla for a vacation, he got so drunk that he started shouting the secrets of the universe to everypony. I told Friendship not let him go hog wild with the cider.”          “Wait, they have bars and vacation resorts in the Spirit world?”          Grace gave Shining a confused look. “Are we not supposed too?”          Shining tried to form a rebuttal, but then he remembered he wasn’t the only mortal here.          “I guess I can’t really argue, but I need your help. A pony named Braeburn recited your chant and now his body is without a soul. If you have taken it, could you please give it back?”          She laughed.          “Oh don’t worry, I haven’t taken his soul. Not yet anyway. He’s over there, by the pond, waiting for us. I told him we couldn’t start until you showed up. We probably shouldn’t keep him waiting. Follow me.”          As Grace trotted merrily towards past some trees, Shining Armor tired to makes sence of See, everything is fine. She didn't take his soul... Not yet, anyway. I feel so much better now. Seriously, what is with these spirits?