“What do you mean you can’t go see the princess”!? Shining yelled, his words piercing the darkness.
We had been walking for a while now. He seemed very interested in me and had many questions. Normally I would decline any and all questions but this was a special case in two ways. One, he was the captain of Celestia’s guard and had the right to ask me certain questions pertaining to my identity and my intentions. Two, he had bested me and I fell into his trap (albeit I escaped his skill does deserve some recognition). This condition meant he had the right to ask anything of me for a short time, unless of course it would have me break my sworn oath. (Luckily for me shining didn’t know that and wasted most of his jurisdiction on meaningless questions). He did however ask about the story of my ancestors. [1] Which I had not spoken of in quite some time, naturally. It was one of the questions he asked that I didn’t mind answering. But I stopped the fun when he asked me to come with him to the castle.
“Isn’t the night sky beautiful?” I said quietly.
He paused, looked at the sky and said calmly “Please Idhrenion, don’t you think she wants to see you after all this time”.
“If she wanted to see me, she would only have to ask”.
“She can’t possible ask for the appearance of a dead pony now can she”?
“That’s no excuse. I can’t break the rules of my ancestors”.
“What if I told her that you were still alive”?
“If she requests my appearance I will always appear. Do what you feel is right Shining Armor”.
“…”. Shining pondered for a moment and then quickly turned away.
“I ask of you one thing”.
“Yes”? He said with hastiness in his voice.
“I ask that you only tell Celestia, what happened tonight”.
“If that is what you really want then so be it”.
“Thank you”. With those finale words I vanished back into the shadow. The next day I received a summons from Celestia to meet her in the throne room at noon. I was delighted that the princess had summoned me and I made great haste to our meeting place as soon as I received the notice. I was early, very early, but I didn’t mind the wait, not one bit. I watched as the princess preformed her royal duties silently waiting in the shadows till noon. Right before noon I noticed that she called Shining to the throne room and ushered everypony else outside. Right at noon I stepped out of the shadows and made my presence known.
The princess spoke as she sat back down onto her throne “So it would seem Shining Armor was right. How are you Shadowlight”?
“Perfectly fine, your majesty” I said with a bow.
“Good, good we have much to discuss, but first I have to ask. Are you the last Shadowlight”?
“Yes your majesty, the others died long ago”.
“I see, so you must be a very capable unicorn then”.
“Yes, your majesty“.
“Excuse me, but I’m not sure I follow”. Shining interjected.
“I almost forgot you were here Shining”. I said. “What is it that you don’t understand”?
“I don’t get why being a Shadowlight makes you so magically adept. Last night you dispersed my shield with such ease”.
“It is because… well actually, you should tell him Shadowlight it is your tradition after all”. Celestia said.
“Of course, your majesty. Shining do you remember the promise my ancestors made”?
“Yes, they promised to always protect the royalty of Equestria as long as there heritage lives on”.
“Correct, however they were not aware that the princesses would live quite so long. So in order to truly protect the princesses as best they could they made it the tradition to pass their magic on to a Shadowlight of their choice. This, in their eyes, allowed them to serve the princesses beyond death”.
“So since you are the last Shadowlight, you are the most magically adept unicorn alive”! Shining said with his eyes wide open.
“No”. I said with a rather disappointed tone. “Most of the magical properties of my ancestors has faded over time.”
“Oh” shining said looking a bit disappointed as well.
“But I have retained all of their knowledge”. I said gleefully. Sparking Shining’s interest again.
“So you must be like a walking, talking library of magical information. Wow twilight would love you”!
“But you promised not to tell anypony didn’t you”? Celestia said with a commanding yet soft tone.
“It is a secret I will carry to my grave Celestia”. He said with a bow.
“Thank you, again”. I said.
“But if you say you’re not that powerful then how did you break my force field so easily”? Shining said eagerly.
“I simply studied how you created it and cast a counter spell. We talked for just long enough for me to do so. Excellent work by the way, most impressive”.
“Thanks, twilight helped me perfect it”. Shining said with a big grin.
“Speaking of twilight, is she that same filly who caused that massive magic surge and hatched the dragon egg”?
“The very same”. Celestia said.
“She seems to have a lot of magical potential. More than most anyway.” I said.
“Yes, and naturally after that I immediately accepted her as my new student. And she has been a most faithful student at that.” Celestia couldn’t help but smile whenever she spoke about twilight. “Anyway now that we’ve gone over the formalities, let’s get down to business”. Celestia stood as she spoke. “First off I'm relieving you of your duties”
“I couldn’t agree with you more, princess”. I said with a slight smile. “As long as I'm here your services won’t be needed Shining Armor”.
“I wasn’t talking to Shining Armor” Celestia said with almost a grim tone. The harsh words hit me like a brick to the head!
“Wha-“. I suddenly felt faint. Hundreds of years I've done nothing but protect the princess now she fires me! This must be some mistake. “But I… I, oh my… surely, you don’t mean”?
“I'm sorry Idhrenion, but I do”.
I couldn’t take it. I struggled to remain conscious but ultimately, I failed. Most ponies would have just fainted but my body just laid there, silent and lifeless.
[1] The story of my ancestors (optional read)