Canterlot - Castle
Shining Armour sat gazing at the sun as it was steadily moved over the horizon, the night sky taking its place as the moon rose. Watching Celestia and Luna exchanging duties as the day ended was always beautiful to behold as the twinkling stars came into view.
Even now, however, he felt a sense of longing. Enjoyable as the feast had been, it still felt wrong to him to be addressed and treated like he was vastly superior to most of the other ponies in the castle. He’d grown up in the streets he could see from the guest room window, a guard in the thick of any action that occurred in the normally peaceful city.
Despite very little action to speak of on his way to becoming Captain of the Guard, the Changeling attack during his wedding and King Sombra's attack on the newly returned Crystal Empire gave him a strange yearning for action. Having the time to settle down with Cadance and sort the Crystal Empire out had been enjoyable and distracted him from the urge, but now there seemed like precious little to do his mind begged him for a good challenge or battle.
“Are you ok, Shining Armour?” Came the familiar voice of his sister from the door. He looked up as she merrily trotted over, as if nothing was wrong.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He said with a slightly forced smile. “It’s nice to be back.”
“It’s always good to have you back, but you look a bit distant.”
“Do I?”
“Yeah, even the Lieutenants commented on it. Is something wrong?”
“No, seriously, there isn’t anything wrong.” Shining replied, though Twilight just scowled at him. “I’m just fed up, that's all.” He sighed after a moment, looking back out of the window at the stars.
“Is there something wrong with you and Cadance?” She asked, looking worried.
“What? No!” He quickly shot back, amazed Twilight would even think of such a thing. “It’s the fact I can’t do anything without everypony making a massive ceremony out of it.”
“It can’t be that bad. I was in Ponyville a few weeks ago and everypony treated me as they did when I lived there.”
“They already knew you as a pony.”
“Seriously Twily, I’m sick of it. I miss being able to just go out for something as simple as a quiet walk.” He sighed.
“Who says we can’t?” Twilight smiled, magically holding up a pair of hooded cloaks.
***
Twilight teleported herself and Shining Armour outside the castle walls into a darkened, empty street.
Now they were out of the castle, Shining Armour felt at ease and more himself. He was just another pony on the street now, spending time with his little sister, even if the fact they were wearing cloaks would likely draw attention. He was almost giddy with the possibility of things to do and places to go, but it seemed Twilight had something else in mind.
“So what’s really bothering you?” She asked, which nearly stopped Shining in his tracks.
“I already told you. I don’t like the pomp and ceremony.”
“Considering you led most of the ‘pomp and ceremony’ here as Captain of the Guard, I can’t see it being a problem now.”
“I wasn’t the focal point then and I could go and laugh about it later. Now I’m at the centre of the darn thing and have to keep up appearances after as well.”
“Come on, that’s not what’s bothering you.”
“Oh alright, it’s the fact I don’t feel challenged any more.”
“Challenged? How so?”
“There’s nothing for me to do. Cadance does most of the governing which is fine, but besides that there’s nothing.”
“What about the Crystal Empire’s army? Hasn’t that kept you busy?”
“The Crystal Empire’s army is pretty straight forward and they’re disciplined perfectly already. Sometimes I wonder if they have any personality at all.”
“Of course they do.”
“Well, I don’t see it.”
“Come on, Shining Armour, you’re being silly.
“You’re probably right.” He sighed. “I think I just need a good challenge to focus on. The Equestria Games were fun and all, but I really wanted to compete, especially in the jousting.”
“I’m surprised you don’t joust with the Crystal Ponies in training.”
“Oh I’ve tried it, but it’s not all that serious.”
“Wait, somepony’s coming.” Twilight pointed out as another pony came towards them.
The two opted to be quiet as they went by a brown bodied, blonde maned unicorn, carrying a barrel of oranges with his magic.
“Lovely evening, isn’t it?” The unicorn commented as he went by.
“It is, yes.” Twilight replied, careful to make sure her face wasn’t seen.
The unicorn paused out of curiosity and leaned over slightly to get a better look at their faces. Shining was about to pull down his hood and ask the unicorn not to say a word about them before he heard a commotion from the next alley.
Both Twilight and the passing unicorn heard it as well and looked over at the alley entrance as several ponies in black coats, each pulling a cart with several odd looking machines hastily stacked on them, ran out and away from them.
“So things have changed a bit since I left?” Shining mused as he moved forwards to get a better look.
As he and Twilight approached, a pony in silver armour with a black cape backed out, standing on his hind legs and holding a mace like weapon with a bladed head awkwardly in his fore legs, from which he fired what looked like red bolts of magic. A moment later, several ponies in similarly styled black armour backed out of the alley, standing on their hind legs while awkwardly handling small devices with their fore legs that seemed to have been heavily modified and spat small bursts of fire.
Shining had never seen such ponies before, but judging by what they wore they appeared to be soldiers of some sort. The symbol on their chests and backs looked like eight red legs, set out like a bodiless spider.
“Stop what you’re doing, right now!” Twilight ordered just before Shining was about to say exactly the same thing, gaining the attention of the silver armoured stallion.
“Locals! Deal with them!” He barked at the soldiers, prompting several of the black armoured ponies to turn their devices on Shining and Twilight.
The sibling unicorns both generated magic shields with their horns as the black armoured ponies’ devices noisily and rapidly spat pieces of metal at them from the small flames their devices, seemingly weapons, generated. Each shot bounced off their shields, some ricocheting off the buildings surrounding the small road.
A sudden yelp of pain caught their attention and the pair looked back to see the unicorn who’d passed them fall to the floor, his barrel of oranges rolling away and spreading its contents across the road. Whatever the devices were firing, one must have managed to hit him.
Suddenly, as if more confusion needed adding to the situation, a blast of fire exploded in the middle of the soldiers, knocking several of them over and setting two of them alight as their silver armoured leader looked in the direction it had come from.
“Retreat!” The silver armoured lead shouted in panic before turning and running away from Shining and Twilight. The rest of the soldiers broke ranks and ran after him.
“Look after him, I’ll get them!” Shining called to his sister as he gave chase, the fleeing ponies continuing to fire their strange weapons in his direction, though not very accurately. He created an energy shield to deflect the projectiles that came his way as he pursued, the ponies seemingly having difficulty running.
It looked like most of their weight was over their front legs and rather than a smooth movement from front to rear, they used their front legs almost as props while they gained their momentum with their rear legs. Whatever the reason, it made them slower than him and Shining quickly caught the closest one.
He used a beam of magic to whip the legs of the nearest soldier out from under him, causing him to crash to the floor and roll to a halt, unconcious. As he focused on his next target, a ball of fire rocketed past him and hit another of the armoured ponies ahead. He looked away from the blast as it sprayed sparks everywhere and when he looked back, another pony in black had appeared.
This unicorn pony was dressed differently. He was at least as big as Shining was and wore black padded armour with a matching cape and goggles, with red flame details around the legs. His head was the only part of him that wasn’t covered, which was black while his mane and tail was bright blonde. Unusually, his horn matched his hair as opposed to his body.
He didn’t know why he was dressed differently, but it could have meant he was either a commander or some sort of special soldier. Thinking this new stallion was likely more powerful than the rest, he sent a blast of energy straight at the new stallion. The blast knocked him into a building, where he fell to the ground after leaving a deep imprint.
The stallion recovered quickly and hurled a ball of fire towards Shining from his hooves, which was again unusual.Shining formed another energy shield that took the hit, but it immediately shattered on impact as a wave of heat washing over him from the disintegrating fireball.
Shining allowed himself to grin, it was exactly the sort of challenge he was looking for.
The stallion threw another blast of flame at Shining, which splashed off another shield before Shining Armour replied with a volley of magic laser fire from his horn, which the fire stallion dived out of the way of, seemingly trying to get into a crouched position but instead rolling over as he lost balance.
With his opponent on the back hoof, Shining produced another energy barrier and sent it towards him to smash the fire stallion against the wall. Despite laying on the floor, the fire stallion managed to aim his front hooves and sent out two jets of flames against the barrier, holding it back and causing it to break after a few moments, prompting Shining to get out of the way of the attack.
Sensing an opportunity to strike from the side, Shining allowed his momentum to circle him around the fire stallion before leaping forwards to deliver his own strike as his opponent turned towards him. The fire pony seemed able to react, quickly scrabbling to his hooves as a ball of fire was readied in his hooves. As Shining flew forwards, charging magic into his hoof to strike, it seemed that both of their attacks would land at the same time. However, something appeared between them and, in a blast of light, hurled the pair apart.
“Stop!” Shouted Twilight, now stood where the two would have collided had she not intervened.
“Twily, what are you doing?” Shining demanded as he got back to his hooves, not taking his eyes off the fire stallion as he did the same.
“This pony was trying to stop those weird ponies.” She explained.
“He just suddenly appeared and ran with them, so far as I saw.”
“I was trying to stop them!” The fire stallion protested in what sounded like a Yorkshire accent as he lifted his goggles, which Shining hadn’t noticed as they blended in with his body colour, to reveal sky blue eyes that glowed faintly and looked annoyed.
“I assume you know who they are?” Shining asked.
“I do, aye. They’re soldiers of a group called Arachnos, who have the usual plans for world domination and holding the population under their boots.” He explained, walking over to the unconscious soldier Shining had taken dwon, considering what to do with him while the siblings exchanged looks.
“So why haven’t we heard of them?” He asked.
“Because they’re not from here.” The fire pony said, turning back to address them. “Long story short, we’re from an alternative reality. Myself and some Vanguard soldiers stumbled upon their hidey hole and they fled here through a portal they were investigating.”
“You came through a mirror?” Twilight asked, knowing the concept he was talking about.
“Not exactly, more a white hole.”
“But it’s a place where things are different yet still the same, right?”
“Well, to some degree, aye.” He explained, assuming they had a vague idea of the concept. Twilight had told her brother about her experiences through the mirror, so he had a pretty good idea. “I’ve no idea what happened here to make this place so different to my world, but we’ll each have our own counterparts in each world and such. More importantly though, I need to find these guys and take them back before they cause serious trouble.”
“What’s your name, by the way?” Twilight figured she’d better ask.
“Black WildFire, or BW for short.” He said. “How about you two.”
“I’m Twilight Sparkle, this is my big brother Shining Armour.”
“Cool. Now, where does that road lead?” BW asked, gesturing up the road.
“It leads out of the city, but I think I’ve got a better idea.” Twilight smiled as she turned to face the soldier Shining had brought down.
“Gonna question someone unconscious?” BW enquired.
“Not quite but give me a moment. I’ve read about this spell that may let me read his mind and learn where they were going.”
The two stallions watched Twilight as she lowered her horn to touch the helmet of the Arachnos soldier. Neither were totally certain what she was doing as they stood in a slightly awkward silence.
“So, what is this place exactly?” BW asked.
“This is Canterlot, capital city of Equestria.” Shining answered, not sure if he should be surprised or not. Looking around, he noticed an omission. “Where did that unicorn go?”
“I teleported him to the hospital.” Twilight answered, looking curious as she searched the soldier’s mind. “There’s a lot of,” She started as she looked for the right word. “Weird stuff in here.”
“Lots of intimidating black metal buildings?” BW asked.
“Yes. What is that place?”
“If there’s an enormous tower with steel webs around it, that’s the island Grandville in the Rogue Isles, where Arachnos’ maniac leader Lord Recluse sits.”
“Looks really unpleasant.”
“It’s worse than that. I’ve been there a few times to try and loosen Arachnos’ grip on the place without much luck.”
“Think you can speed this up a little, Twily?” Shining asked.
“Oh, alright.” Twilight sighed, disappointed she couldn’t find out more about this place. She refocused and looked for a more recent memory and almost immediately found what she needed. “They’re hiding in the main sewer complex under the parade mile.”
“Any idea what they’re doing?”
“There’s a portal there which, according to his, erm, what should I call him?” Twilight asked BW.
“Man.”
“Right, okay. According to this man’s memory, he was security for scientists investigating portals and there’s another under the mile.”
“Another one? Are portals common here?”
“No, not like this. I’m going back to the castle library and look into this more. I'll take him to the jail as well.”
“Right, we’ll go to the mile.” Shining Armour announced before turning to BW. “Ready?”
“Naturally. Let’s get cracking, matey.”