Canterlot
Shining Armor stood idly just outside his parents home, watching the skies as Nightmare Moon sped away from the castle with a sense of urgency.
"Shining?" Twilight Velvet called out to her son. "What are you doing?".
"Both of the tyrants are away, now is the perfect time".
Shining parents exited the house, Velvet walked up to him and placed a tender hoof on his cheek.
"Don't," Velvet pleaded. "It's too risky, I don't want to lose you!"
"What about Cadance? I can't leave her to rot in that dungeon. And what if Twilight is also locked up there, all alone? We know she was in Ponyville when Nightmare Moon and Nightmare Nova first appeared. Besides, she is Celestia's student, remember? Nightmare Moon would have almost certainly imprisoned her," Shining said with a sense of determination, he was completely unaware of his 'sister's' identity.
A tear slid down Velvets cheek as she meekly nodded. "Just... please come home safe".
Shining gave her a warm smile. "I promise".
He gave his mother and father a warm hug before taking off into the darkened streets of Canterlot.
Shining sat in the shadows waiting for the guards to pass by, he had known many of these traitorous guardsman, he had even called many of them friends. He was ashamed to have once called them brothers and sisters in arms.
Once they were gone her quietly sneaked into the decrepit pub sat in a far away corner of the high end district just below the castle, only to be met with a dagger pointed at his throat.
"Shining?" Valiant Heart near shouted, quickly withdrawing the dagger. "My apologies, Captain, I thought you were one of them".
"You are forgiven lieutenant" He said reassuringly.
Before him stood three other ponies, all of them guards he once served alongside. Lieutenant Valiant Heart was a Bat-Pegasi and now former Lunar Guard, there was also Private Healing Touch, a Unicorn mare who had been a medic. Finally there was an Earth-Pony stallion named Lieutenant Dead Bolt, he was a well built stallion with a crossbow strapped to his side.
All three stood to attention as Shining Armor closed the door behind him and walked fully into the room.
"At ease, anything to report?".
"Negative, Captain," Dead Bolt answered. "It's all been quiet here".
"Good, how's our entrance?"
Valiant smirked as he placed hoof on a seemingly random brick on the far wall, said wall rumbled and then slid away leaving behind a gaping dark passageway. Shining Armor being Captain of Celestia's Royal Guard had it's perks, like knowing all of the hidden passageways Celestia had installed in secret in case of an emergency, information he had recently shared with the other three.
"So, Celestia honestly predicted there would be a day where we had to sneak into out own castle?" Healing Touched questioned, slightly amused by the idea.
"Well, the Princess does like to be prepared," Shining shrugged. "Now if I remember correctly this passage should lead directly to the dungeons."
"How convenient for our current mission," Dead Bolt snidely remarked.
"Can it, Lieutenant! Everypony ready?" Shining addressed the group.
"Yes sir!" they all saluted in unison
"Very good, move out!"
The four ponies slide entered the hole where the wall used to be, once they were in they were met with a staircase leading down to a large cave like tunnel, on the wall sat a lone lever which Shining pulled to close the wall back up.
Shining and Healing both lit of their horns to illuminate the dark passage. Slowly they quietly made their way down the tunnel, twisting and turning at several junctions.
"Couldn't she have made the passage a little less creepy?" Healing grumbled.
"Scared, Private?" Valiant chuckled.
"Shut up before I stick that dagger of your where Celestia's sun doesn't shine!" she retorted.
Shining near facehoofed, but just refrained from doing so.
Finally the passage gave way to another set of stairs leading upwards. As they ascended the rock walls gave way to stone brick, the same that lined the castle dungeon. They had arrived.
They reached the top and were met wit a wall and a single lever much like back at the pub. Shining pulled the lever partially down to open the secret door just a fraction. Through the small opening her had a quick look outside, he could see several cells, a few of them occupied. Just off to the side there was a small wooden table where two guards adorning black armor with a symbol of the moon imprinted on the front. They were sitting around the table playing a game of poker, bits were strewn around the table so Shining guessed they were betting actual money on the game, no wonder they were so preoccupied...
"Looks like they're too busy with their game to even notice us..." Shining muttered, rolling his eyes.
"Orders?" Valiant asked.
"There are three of them, Valiant Heart, Dead Bolt and myself will choke them out, Healing Touch you open the door on my signal".
They all nodded and got into their positions.
"OK on three. One... two... three!"
Healing Touch yanked down the lever and the other three rushed into the room, grabbing a guard each before they even had tome to react.
Shining held a struggling Pegasus stallion in his hooves, but soon enough he went limp as he fell into unconsciousness. Looking up he saw the other two guards had also lost conscious.
"Put them in an empty cell," Shining ordered as bewildered prisoners looked on.
One by one the guards were chucked into a cell, which was then locked by Healing Touch who had taken their prison keys. Looking around they could see many eyes staring at them, one cell in particular caught their eye.
Prince Blueblood and Sir Fancy Pants were sharing a cell.
The four ponies rushed down to that cell and Healing opened it with a jingle from the keys.
"I say it's about time somepony rescued us," Blueblood grumbled. "The conditions have been just ghastly, so unbefitting of a Prince such as myself, honestly what took you incompetent fools so long?"
"Oh shut up Blueblood..." Fancy Pants sighed.
Blueblood huffed, but complied. Fancy Pants walked out of the cell to greet his rescuers.
"Captain Shining Armor, a pleasure to see you again dear boy."
"Likewise Fancy, do you know where Cadance and Twilight are being held?"
"Twilight? You mean you don't know?" Fancy seemed a little concerned as he said those words.
"Know? Know what?"
Fancy shook his head. "Perhaps it would be best if you spoke to Princess Cadance on the matter, she's being held in solitary confinement just down that hallway."
"Thank you, head back down that passageway, Dead Bolt go with them, once you reach the other end wait there for us." Shining pointed towards the open wall.
"Thank you Captain. Come, Blueblood, and do try to behave yourself."
After the other three had departed Shining, Healing and Valiant turned to walk towards solitary confinement.
"Hey what about us?" a rough looking stallion on a nearby cell protested.
"Nice try, I seem to remember I was the once to put you in there," Shining remarked as he smirked.
The pony huffed and crossed his hooves in frustration, Shining ignored the pony and continued forwards.
The individual cells gave way to a blank corridor, after a few moments they eventually came up on a few heavy steel, numbered doors.
Shining looked through the shutters on each door to view their occupants, he found what her was looking for in door number five.
He took the keys from Healing Touch and placed them in the door, he opened said door with a loud screech as it scrapped against the floor.
Inside a pink alicorn looked up, Cadance had her wings bound and an enchanted ring around her horn to stop her from using her magic.
"Shining!" she cried out running up to her fiancé.
"Cadance..." he whispered hugging her tightly back. "Are you alright?"
Breaking off the embrace Cadance looked Shining in the eyes. "I'm fine for the most part, I've been fed well enough and treated well, its the loneliness that was the worst part".
"Really? I would have thought Nightmare Moon the type to make your life unbearable during your 'stay' here".
Cadance chuckled meekly. "You're probably right, it was Twilight that made sure I was treated well. I know there is still good in her, if only that good could be brought out in full..."
"Wait... Twilight?"
"Shining? Wait... you don't know do you...?"
"Know what!? First Fancy Pants an now you? What has happened to my sister?!" Shining shouted getting angry.
Cadance flinched back, tears forming in her eyes. "Could you two wait outside, please?" she asked Valiant and Healing Touch.
Valiant and Healing nodded and exited the cell, closing the door behind them and standing at guard near it.
"All right..." Shining muttered trying to calm himself. "What... happened... to.... Twilight?".
"Shining, Twilight was adopted."
"Yes.. I am aware, what of it?"
"Do you know anything about her real parents."
"Real parents? Her real parents are back home, no 'real' parent would abandon their foal in the street!"
"What if she wasn't abandoned Shining... what if something happened... something that left it's mark that she never quite forgot?" Cadance's voice was trembling, she took no joy in what she was about to tell him.
"Cadance?"
"What if she was never actually a foal, and that her last name wasn't even Twinkle"
"Cadance, you're scaring me now..."
"What if... her real name was Twilight Sparkle... and what if I told you that..."
Cadance gave out a light sob as Shining backed away from his fiancé, anticipating her next word.
"...That Twilight Sparkle and Nightmare Nova are one and the same."
Shining Armor fell to the floor, Cadence rushed to his side and giving him the biggest embrace she could muster, tears streamed down her face in gallons now.
Shining Armor's mind went numb, his world shattered.