The weeks leading up to Nightmare Night passed quickly, not only for Shining Armor, but also for his friends, his sister Twilight, and her friends. Before long, the faithful night arrived, and everyone was excited.
Well, everyone except for Shining Armor. With Princess Luna scheduled to come down to Ponyville during Nightmare Night and visit him, Shining Armor was determined to prove himself ready to return to active duty.
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Luna's moon shone down brightly on the town of Ponyville, bathing the buildings and streets in its radiant light.
But the Nightmare Night festivities had been called off. An army of unicorns wearing magic proof uniforms had taken over the town, and now patrolled back and forth along the streets. They were guarding a massive steel container that had a timer displayed on its right side, and a control pannel that rested nearby. Said container was close to town hall, but hidden out of plain sight.
"Is everything ready?" one of the uniformed guards asked, as he examined the steel container. Two other guards stood nearby to protect it from intruders.
"Yes sir. Everything is proceeding according to plan." the guard on the left replied.
"Good," the uniformed guard said with a smile, and pressed some of the buttons on the pannel in a random order. The timer quickly displayed of five minutes in red numbers, and began to count down from there "Once this baby goes off, all of Ponyville will be left powerless to stop us. This anti-magic bomb will enable us to march on town hall and take over. Then, it's off to Canterlot to take down Princess Celestia. Equestria will be ours."
"I can't wait." the guard on the right said eagerly.
The uniformed guard left the control pannel and said to the other guards "Stay here and guard the bomb. Remain at your posts no matter what. And if anyone tries to deactivate the bomb, neutralize them at once!"
"No worries, boss. The bomb's as safe as can be with us on the job." the guard on the left replied.
"Good, see that it stays that way!" the uniformed guard said seriously, and set off to check up on the other guards.
Unknown to anypony, a certain white coated stallion had been watching from a distance. He currently stood on the hill overlooking Ponyville, and he could see that the town was heavily guarded. But he wasn't worried at all, he'd been in tougher situations before.
Lighting up his horn, the stallion projected a small screen into the night sky. On the screen appeared the face of Princess Celestia, who seemed rather concerned.
"What do you have to report, Captain Armor?" Princess Celestia asked.
"It's just as you feared, The Shadow Triad has taken control of the town," Shining Armor explained "They plan to detonate an anti-magic bomb so they can take over town hall."
"We can't allow that to happen! That bomb must be deactivated as soon as possible!" Princess Celestia said seriously "I'm authorizing you to neutralize this threat. But I want it done by the book, make sure that no lasting harm comes to the Triad members. We need them to talk."
"Don't worry, Princess Celestia. I won't let you down. I'll contact you again when the mission is complete." Shining Armor replied.
"Be very careful, Captain Armor. Exercise extreme caution, and make sure you don't get captured. We've only got one shot at this!" Princess Celestia warned.
"Right, I understand. Shining Armor, out!" Shining Armor said to Princess Celestia, and turned off the projection. He then slipped into the uniform he would wear for the mission. It was the sort of uniform worn by members of The Shadow Triad. It was a black vest with purple triangles printed onto the sides. A fashionably unattractive uniform, but one that would make it easier to move about without arousing suspicion.
Not long after slipping into the uniform and making his way into Ponyville, Shining Armor was able to sneak up on a guard patrolling by himself near Sugarcube Corner. Reacting quickly, Shining Armor cupped a hoof around the guard's mouth and dragged him into a dark alleyway. "Now, if I apply the right amount of pressure to this area here," Shining Armor thought to himself, as he struck an area just above the stomach, which led to the guard collapsing onto the ground "He goes out like a light. And when he wakes up, he won't remember anything from the past few minutes."
For a little while, everything went smoothly for Shining Armor. He was able to either pick off and knock out guards as they patrolled on their own, or create a distraction to lure them away while he sneaked past.
But, as he approched town hall, Shining Armor found that it was getting harder and harder to remain undercover. By now, word had gotten out that somepony was knocking out guards left and right, and the remaining guards were instructed to stay alert and not leave their posts.
Shining Armor weighed the decisions he could make in his mind. He had two options. He could either try to use his disguise to trick the guards in deactivating the bomb. Or he could snatch one of the guards and extract the information needed to turn off the bomb, after he'd neutralized all other threats.
Both choices were incredibly high risk, high reward. And they ran a high probablity of leading to an all out assult by the remaining Shadow Triad forces. But no better alternatives presented themself to Shining Armor, and time was running out!
"Oh, to heck with it! There's only one thing to do at a time like this!" Shining Armor thought to himself, and made up his mind.
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The guards by the bomb were surprised when they saw a stallion who's face was obscured approaching them.
"Identify yourself, now!" the guard on the left instructed.
"Uh, I'm new here. I haven't been given a proper codename yet," the obscured stallion said nervously "But the boss told me to tell you that there's been a change of plans. We're going to scrap the Ponyville invasion and go right to Canterlot. He wants the bomb deactivated and ready for transfer."
"The boss wants that?" the guard on the right asked.
"Yeah! And I'd do what he says, he sounded really angry when he talked to me," the obscured stallion went on "So hurry up and turn off the bomb!"
"What's the authorization password?!" the guard on the left asked the obscured stallion.
"What password?" the obscured stallion replied, his voice sounding panicked and uncertain.
"It's you! You're the one trying to bring down our operation!" the guard on the left realized.
Realizing his cover was blown, Shining Armor threw off his costume, and delivered a quick punch to the guard on the left that knocked him out.
"We've found the intruder! Send all available stallions to town hall, stat!" the guard on the right shouted, speaking into the radio device he'd been given. Within seconds, dozens of Shadow Triad goons descended on the area.
Rather than try to fight the goons, Shining Armor quickly snatched up the guard that had called for help, and held him firmly with his magic. "All of you stay back!" Shining Armor shouted "Try anything, and I can't gurantee this guy's safety!"
Knowing that would only buy him a small window of time, Shining Armor raced over to the bomb and asked the guard "How do I turn this thing off?! Tell me, and I'll see about getting you a reduced prison sentence!"
"I'll tell you, just don't hurt me!" the guard pleaded.
"The code, now!" Shining Armor ordered.
"Input 8-0-7-1-3-0!" the guard instructed "That's the code the boss used to turn the thing on!"
"It better be, for your sake!" Shining Armor said ominously, as he tossed the guard to the ground and went over to the control pannel. Per the guard's instructions, he punched in the code, pressing each of the numbered buttons with his hoof.
"Input verification code." an electronic voice ordered.
"Verification code?!" Shining Armor said outloud, the guard hadn't said anything about that.
"There he is men, grab him!" shouted one of the goons, and before Shining Armor could do anything, he was tackled to the ground and burried beneath a dogpile of Shadow Triad members. He had failed his mission.
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The world around Shining Armor changed from a moon lit night outside of Ponyville, to the brighty lit interior of the ground floor of The Golden Oaks Library. He sighed a little, as his horn stopped producing its pink glow.
"Gotta say, you did pretty good that time." Spike commented, as he and Twilight studied the results of the simulated mission.
"You were really close that time, B.B.B.F.F." Twilight smiled.
"But this is the twentieth simulation I've run! I should've been able to get it right this time!" Shining Armor replied angrily "I should've known to ask for a verification code! How could I have been so stupid?!"
"You've been making the simulation harder and harder every single time you do it," Spike said to Shining Armor "It's like you want yourself to fail."
"I have to push myself to the limit! If I'm going to prove to Princess Luna that I'm ready to return to active duty, I need to be prepared for any situation! I didn't get into the Royal Guard without learning how to push myself beyond my limits!" Shining Armor said seriously, then he winced slightly in pain and grabbed his head. The strain of producing the simulation had made him weary, he could barely stand up straight.
"You need to relax, Shining Armor." Twilight replied, as she gave her big brother some medicine to bring down his headache. Ever since he started studying more advanceded magic, Shining Armor had been suffering from painful migrains. He'd tried everything he could think of to make them stop, but they wouldn't go away.
"Yeah, Nightmare Night is already in full swing, and you've been spending all your time in the simulation." Spike told Shining Armor, who had only now taken the time to observe his surroundings enough to be aware of the fact.
Spike was currently dressed in a dragon costume, while Twilight was dressed as her third favorite role model (behind Princess Celestia and her brother of course), Star Swirl the Bearded. She even had a pointy wizard hat with gold jingling bells, and a white beard.
"Oh, really?" Shining Armor replied, feeling a little bit embarassed. How had he managed to lose track of the time so easily? He'd only intended to run through the simulation once or twice.
"Yes, really. Though I'm fairly certain Princess Luna will-" Spike began.
"PRINCESS LUNA!" Shining Armor gasped, realizing that she had to be waiting for him by now. "Oh, I hope it's not too late to meet with her!" And without even bothering to throw on a costume, Shining Armor bolted out the door of The Golden Oaks Library.
"-Be more than willing to let it slide," Spike finished, only to realize that Shining Armor was already gone. He sighed and shook his head "I hate it when he does that."
"Come on, Spike, let's go out and enjoy the Nightmare Night activites while we still can." Twilight encouraged.
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It took some time, but Shining Armor eventually managed to find out where Princesss Luna was. It turned out, that coming down to Ponyville on Nightmare Night, came with some "emotional baggage" for Princess Luna.
Case in point, the princess of the night was currently kneeling before a stone statue of Nightmare Moon. Or at least, Shining Armor assumed that the pony he saw was Princess Luna. It was hard to tell.
There was no denying that the pony he saw was an alicorn. It had the horn of a unicorn, and the wings of a pegasus, and its cutie mark was a sliver crescent moon against an inky black background.
But the Princess Luna Shining Armor had seen in The Castle of The Two Sisters had been much smaller, and had a light blue coat with an even lighter blue mane and tail.
Kneeling before the statue of Nightmare Moon, was an alicorn that had a coat was a dark blue in color, just like the night sky. Her mane and tail were blue with faint shimmers of purple around the edge. And although Shining Armor had a hard time seeing it, she seemed to be looking at the statue with regret and shame.
If this was Princess Luna he was looking at, she had changed a lot in the year since Shining Armor had last seen her.
Clearing his throat, Shining Armor said "Princess Luna, I presume?"
The alicorn turned around, and slowly looked at Shining Armor. She seemed to be just as fearful of him, as he was of her. "You are correct, Shining Armor." she replied.
"Uh, sorry to keep you waiting. I was involved in something and I... lost track of the time." Shining Armor apologized, bowing to Princess Luna.
"There is no need for such formalities. Much like my sister, you do not need to bow to me to show your appreciation." Princess Luna replied, her voice sounding unsure and sad.
"Old habbits die hard, but enough small talk," Shining Armor said, clearing his throat "I believe we have the matter of my 'Re-evaluation' to discusss. Or, is now a bad time?"
Princess Luna shook her head "I took it upon myself to come out here on the one night of the year I would rather be anywhere else, I would not want to seem ungrateful by placing my needs ahead of your needs."
"You talk quite formally, I don't think I've heard anypony besides Fancy Pants and Rarity talk as posh as you do," Shining Armor observed "Not that it's a bad thing."
"I am still getting used to the modern Equestrian language. It was only through the help of my sister that I dropped the use of 'The Royal We' and stopped using 'The Royal Canterlot Voice'." Princess Luna explained.
"Royal Canterlot Voice?" Shining Armor asked.
"Indeed. It sounds like this when we talk!" Princess Luna said, demonstrating The Royal Canterlot Voice to Shining Armor, who struggled not to be blown back at the sheer force of Princess Luna's volume.
"So, what's with the change in appearance? You weren't like this last time we met." Shining Armor asked Princess Luna.
Princess Luna sighed "It is a very long and complicated story, young Shining Armor. I am not certain you would like to hear it in its enterity."
"Well, perhaps I have time to hear a shortened version of it." Shining Armor suggested. He could sense Princess Luna was troubled about something, and although he really wanted to get his re-evaluation over with, he hadn't gotten to where he was by putting himself first.
Princess Luna was silent for a moment, then she lit up her horn. Bathing both herself, and Shining Armor in its ghostly blue magic. "I cannot tell you that story, but I can tell you this story." she told Shining Armor.
"Where are we going?" Shining Armor asked Princess Luna.
"The question is not where, Shining Armor, it is when." Princess Luna replied, as she and Shining Armor disappeared in a flash. Shining Armor shut his eyes.
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"Open your eyes, Shining Armor. You will want to see what is going on." Princess Luna encouraged.
Shining Armor reluctantly did so, and his mouth dropped open in shock at the sight that greeted him.
Standing off in the distance, was the same Princess Luna that had brought him back in time. But this Princess Luna did not seem happy at all, a massive frown was displayed on her face.
It was then that Shining Armor noticed, this Princess Luna was looking down at Princess Celestia, who was basking in the waving and cheering of a crowd of ponies.
"Look at them, look at them all," the Princess Luna of the past muttered darkly to herself, and turned and walked away from the balcony "They all adore her 'Precious Light' and cherish it so deeply. Yet, when my night roles around, they all turn around and shun it. Only a few even bother to say much of anything to me."
"Is this-" Shining Armor began.
The Princess Luna of the present nodded "What are you seeing, is indeed my past. Specifically, the day I made that faithful decision that would forever define my legacy. And not in the way I thought it would."
"So then, that means I'm witnessing the start of your downfall?" Shining Armor realized.
The Princess Luna of the present just nodded silently in agreement, before she instructed Shining Armor to be quiet once again.
Suddenly, there was a gust of wind, and into the room came a faint purple mist of some sort. It slowly approached the Princess Luna of the past, who seemed a little concerned at the presence of her guest. "Who art thou, and why has thou come here?!" she asked, raising her tone of voice to The Royal Canterlot voice "Answer me at once!"
The purple mist was silent for a moment, then, much to the surprise of its guest, it began to speak. "You needn't be worried around us, Princess Luna. We are only here to help."
"Who is this 'we' thou speakest of?! I only see one being before my eyes." the Princess Luna of the past said angrily.
The purple mist responded, by splitting into several identical copies of itself, all of which spoke at the same time "Do you see now, Princess? We are a force the likes of which nopony has ever seen before. We are The Nightmare Forces."
"What reason have thou for showing yourselves before me? Why should I not inform my fair sister, and have you all destroyed?!" the Princess Luna of the past replied, stomping her hoof on the ground.
"Don't you wish to see your subjects respect and appreciate the night that you bring forth?" The Nightmare Forces asked "We have come here, because we sensed your unhappiness."
"You can help me?" the Princess Luna of the past asked nervously.
"Of course we can, for a price." The Nightmare Forces replied in a fiendish echo, returning to the concentrated solo form of the purple mist.
If the Princess Luna of the past was at all worried about what the price would be, she did not show it. She stepped forward and said to The Nightmare Forces "I shall gladly accept thy help, if thou promise me that no matter what, thou will not ever recruit other ponies to serve you!"
"As you wish, your majesty," The Nightmare Forces agreed "Now, extend your right front hoof out, and embrace the power that will allow you to emerge from your sister's shadow."
The Princess Luna of the past obeyed, and The Nightmare Forces surged into her body. The princess of the night lightly groaned and struggled for a moment, as the increase in power took some getting used to.
But at last, the pain settled down to a comfortable level, and the Princess Luna of the past was smiling rather fiendishly. "Princess Celestia, your days of tyranny are numbered. Soon, you will face the greatest threat to your life since Discord. And all of Equestria will see you for what you really are." Then, she began to laugh wickedly.
And that was where the memory ended.
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"The Nightmare Forces drained me of most of my energy during my time on the moon," Princess Luna explained, as she and Shining Armor returned to the present "And unfortunately, with my powers having only recently returned, I have been largely unable to revisit any further back into the past. And now you know how Nightmare Moon was born."
Shining Armor said nothing, he was still recovering from traveling back and forth through time, and the strain on his body and mind had been quite taxing. He was panting heavily, and found it hard to stand. Beads of sweat poured down his face, as he drew his breath frequently. He could even feel the onset of a headache (thankfully, not powerful enough to be a migraine).
"I apologize for the condition you are in, Shining Armor," Princcess Luna said with concern "Time travel is a very difficult thing to pull off for non-alicorns. Even somepony as magically gifted as Star Swirl The Bearded could not find a way to ease the burden."
"It's alright, Princess. This is nothing compared to the pain I've endured while training for my re-evaluation." Shining Armor panted, his breath finally returning to normal, and his headache slowly dying down.
"Now that I have answered your question, the time has come for me to see if you are fit to return to active duty." Princess Luna declared, and lit up her horn, producing a ghostly light blue glow. She then bent down to touch Shining Armor's forehead.
Shining Armor was understandably worried, and began to back away "What are you doing to me?" he asked "Are you trying to control me?"
"You have a right to be concerned, Shining Armor. But I do not wish to control you," Princess Luna explained "In order for me to know that there are no traces of Discord's influence, I must probe your mind. But I will only do so if you give me permission. If you decline, I will not press further, and will assume you are fit to return to active duty."
Shining Armor felt incredibly tempted to back off and accept Luna's proposal. Returning to active duty would be nice, and the thought of doing so made him smile.
But, in the wake of his mental breakdown, Shining Armor had come to learn a very hard truth about himself. One that he had found difficult to accept. He was not completely invulernable. As much as he might like to think otherwise, his mind was every bit as vulnerable as the rest of him, perhaps even more so.
There was only one way he could be sure he'd truly recovered from the mental scars Discord had inflicted upon him. With a sigh, he walked towards Princess Luna and said to her "My mind is ready for probing. I won't try to hide anything from you."
Princess Luna did not smile, but she did not frown either. She merely said in reply "Very well, hold still and this should not take long." And in a matter of seconds, her horn touched the tip of Shining Armor's forehead. In a powerful flash, Princess Luna could see everything.
Shining Armor shut his eyes, as the flash grew brighter and brighter. Whatever Princess Luna saw now, was beyond his control.
Seconds passed, but to Shining Armor they felt like minutes. At last, however, the flash died down, and Shining Armor opened his eyes again. Princess Luna appeared to be completely unaffected by the task she had just performed, and maintained her usual serious appearance. Which made Shining Armor wonder just how magic an alicorn could hold.
Princess Luna cleared her throat, and looked Shining Armor in the eyes. She said nothing for a moment, she just looked at with a glance that made Shining Armor feel like a bug under a microscope. But at last, she spoke up and told Shining Armor "Your mind has recovered quicker than I expected. It seems that there is no permanet damage from your battle with Discord, though I can sense your memories of said battle will not likely fade anytime soon."
"Does this mean what I think it means?" Shining Armor asked, even though he was certain of the answer.
Princess Luna nodded "Once I return to Canterlot, I shall see to it that the necessary paperwork is filed to arrange for your return to active duty, as Captain of The Royal Guard. That is, unless you would be interested in resigning your post."
"Why would I want to do that?" Shining Armor asked.
"As Princess of The Night, I have my own Night Guard. Just as my sister has her own solar guard, which is the very guard that you currently serve as Captain of," Princess Luna explained "The Captain of the Solar Guard cannot be Captain of the Night Guard, and the same is true of the Captain of The Night Guard. Since my return from my banishment, my sister has spoken highly of you. And my Night Guard could use a stallion of your skills. The choice is yours, Shining Armor. Whichever guard you serve with, you will serve with dignity and honor."
"Thank you very much for the offer, your majesty," Shining Armor said with a bow "But I've been with the Solar Royal Guard since I was a colt, and I'll always be loyal to them. I'm sure your Night Guard is every bit as impressive though."
"Indeed it is," Princess Luna replied "Very well then, you have made your decision, and it would be wrong of me to force you to change your mind. Now then, seeing as this night is almost over, I shall return to Canterlot to rest. It will take some time for everything to be worked out, so you will likely remain on leave for a couple of weeks, possibly even a month or two. But before I leave, I suggest you heed this warning. Do not live your life without thinking what will happen if you lose control of yourself. The wisest of leaders, are the ones who prepare for a situation where they are the ones causing a problem." And with those words, the alicorn princess of the night took off.
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Shining Armor returned to The Golden Oaks Library, and quickly fell asleep. But all the while, Princess Luna's parting words played over and over in his mind.
Shining Armor knew for certain that he would have to start planning, for the possibility that he might become a threat far worse than the ones he'd sworn to vanquish.