Antecedents

by Dusk Quill

The Captain (Shining Armor)

A sharp series of knocks broke the stillness in the small office. Shining Armor glanced up from the mountain of paperwork in front of him, his quill half-dipped in ink, ready for the next stroke. His eyes turned upward from the door to the clock mounted just above it. A smile crept slowly over his face. There was only one pony he was expecting to come around.

“Come in,” he said aloud, levitating the quill back across the reports as he filled in the remaining blank spaces. The door opened. Shining’s smile grew even wider, breaking across his face from cheek to cheek. “Hey, Twily! You’re right on time—as usual, heh.”

Twilight smiled in return and trotted quickly over to him. She threw her hooves around Shining Armor’s neck in a tight hug, pulling herself close to her older sibling. “I try. I’ve missed you so much, Shining!”

“I’ve missed you too, little sis.” Shining Armor hugged Twilight back, setting his quill down on the desk as he embraced her in earnest. “It’s been waaaay too long since I saw you.”

“Six months, two weeks, and a day, but who’s keeping track?” She giggled lightly. “So, are you ready for our official biannual lunch date, or are you not allowed to take time off to eat now that you’re the super busy Captain of the Guard?”

“I’ll always find time for food,” said Shining with a hearty laugh as the two of them trotted out of his office and down the corridors of Canterlot Castle. “I need to find more time for my family too.”

“Mom and Dad were saying that they don’t see a lot of you anymore,” Twilight noted, observant as ever. She looked up at Shining curiously. “Are you really that busy? Equestria’s always seemed so safe.”

“It’s always seemed that way because I’ve been busy keeping it that way. After all”—he grinned crookedly—“somepony’s gotta do it so you and your friends don’t get pulled away every time there’s a catastrophe.”

“Twice. That was only twice,” Twilight corrected him, making the stallion laugh again, his booming voice echoing down the quiet halls. “Besides, you’ve been to war. Using the Elements of Harmony to defeat evil is one thing, but you’ve actually fought with hooves and guns and… and whatever else.”

Shining Armor was quiet all of a sudden. His eyes had become shadowy, and his gaze was distant—apprehensive. He nodded slowly. “Yeah, you’ve got that right, Twily.”

“Come to think of it, you’ve never told me anything about the war… I’ve only read about it.”

The stallion said nothing. He had suddenly become uncharacteristically taciturn. The way she spoke sounded like she knew something she wasn’t letting on. She was prying for information. Twilight picked up on this in an instant, her wide purple eyes peering up at Shining as they walked across the castle gardens.

“…Shining?”

He looked over at her, the life sparking back into his eyes. “Hmm?”

“Are you okay?”

Shining Armor’s mouth dropped open a slight bit, realizing how much he had spaced out. “Oh… Oh yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, Twily. I was just thinking—“

“About the war?” Twilight interjected.

“Yeah,” he said with a nod.

“What happened over there?”

Shining just shook his head. “Nah, it’s nothing you need to worry yourself over, kiddo.”

Twilight huffed and pouted her lips. “Shining, don’t shut me out. I thought we were above this.”

“We are! We are!” he hastily tried to recover. “It’s just… I don’t wanna make you worry about your big brother or anything.”

“Shining, you’re my big brother best friend forever.” Twilight nuzzled her cheek against Shining’s shoulder affectionately. “I’m always gonna worry about you, no matter where you are or what you’re doing.”

Shining Armor smiled warmly down at his sister as they traipsed across the soft lawns of the castle grounds. He did regret not spending enough time with his family, especially Twilight. Ever since he had deployed for the war and she had moved to Ponyville, it had become more and more difficult to find time to get together. Hopefully he could remedy that.

“Hey, look. It’s Cadence!”

Following Twilight’s beaming gaze, he spotted Cadence sitting amongst a flowerbed with Fleethoof, talking between themselves. Twilight went galloping over to her, leaving Shining to catch up at his own pace. For once, he was actually thankful for a distraction. He laughed as he watched his sister and her old foal sitter greet each other with their special little song and dance, leaving Fleethoof looking very perplexed.

“Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” they both sang out, shaking their flanks playfully with a burst of mirthful laughter.

“Well, that’s new,” Fleethoof remarked with wide eyes and a snicker.

Shining Armor laughed as well, trotting up to his friend and nudging him with his shoulder. “Sorry, Fleet, are we interrupting something?”

“Nothing that’s more important than seeing a good friend,” he said, nudging Shining Armor back. “Good to see you’re getting out from behind the desk to stretch those old legs of yours.”

“Hey, somepony’s gotta do the job. And my legs work just fine, thank you very much. Oh! Introductions!” Shining moved back over to Twilight, waving a hoof to the pegasus. “Twily, this is Fleethoof. He’s a very close friend of mine. Fleet, this is my little sister, Twilight Sparkle.”

Fleethoof smiled and tipped his head, taking Twilight’s hoof and gently shaking it. “Pleased to meet you, Twilight. I’ve heard a lot of good things about you and your friends from the princesses.”

“Likewise, Fleethoof.” Twilight smiled, an inquisitive glint in her eyes. “I take it you work with the princesses?”

“…You could say that.” Fleethoof chuckled under his breath when he saw Shining Armor stifle a laugh behind a cough.

“You’re a Royal Guard?”

“Of sorts. I served with your brother during the war. Now I’m more of a personal guard for Princess Luna.”

Shining Armor felt his chest tighten when Fleethoof mentioned the war. The look in Twilight’s eyes was one of pure intrigue, and he knew which direction this conversation would take very quickly.

“You were in the war with my brother?” That eager look of a ravenous learner burned brighter in her youthful eyes when Fleethoof nodded his head. “What was it like? What did you do?”

Fleethoof opened his mouth as if to reply, and then froze. He cast a bewildered look at Shining, making the stallion suddenly feel very sheepish. “Your brother never told you…?”

Twilight shook her head. Even Cadence looked visibly surprised by this revelation.

“Why not, Shining?” she asked.

“He says he doesn’t want to worry me,” explained Twilight with a pout cast in his direction.

Cadence and Fleethoof exchanged a brief look, the silent conversation between their eyes saying more than enough.

“Cadence—“

“So Twilight, where are you and Shiny going today? Got any big plans?” Cadence asked, casually sauntering around the rows of flowers to surreptitiously lead Twilight away from the stallions.

Fleethoof watched the two mares walk a safe distance away with a crooked smile before turning on Shining Armor. “Don’t want her to worry? Really, Shine? That’s weak, even for you.”

“Hey, you don’t talk about what happened to you,” Shining retorted with a snort. “That’s a bit of a double standard, dont’cha think?”

“I don’t have a sister worrying about me.”

“I don’t want her thinking her big brother’s some sort of killer.”

“Shining, she’s a smart filly. I think she’d be able to know the difference between a cold-blooded murderer and a soldier fighting for his life. She’s Celestia’s personal pupil. She’s the Element of Magic—and she’s not a foal.” Fleethoof motioned with his head over to Twilight and Cadence. “I’ve been opening up to Cadence. You do that for the ponies that matter to you. You should tell your sister your story. She’s your family, Shine. She cares about you more than anypony, and she wants to know about you. I think you might be surprised how well she takes it. You’re her hero. You owe her this, if nothing else.”

Shining raised a brow and gave a sideways glance at his friend. “You’ve been opening up to Cadence, huh?”

“That whole spiel and that’s all you got out of it? You really do have selective hearing, don’t you, horn head?” Shining lightly punched his side with a wry smirk, making Fleethoof give a pained laugh. “Go on, go have a fun day with your sister”—he paused, watching Shining Armor make his way towards the other two across the garden—“and tell her the story!”

“Yeah yeah,” muttered Shining, brushing his friend off. “Come on, Twily! My stomach’s trying to eat itself now.”

“Have fun you two!” Cadence said with a laugh and a farewell wave. Smiling, she turned and trotted back toward Fleethoof, a light-hearted gleam in her eyes while sashaying her way back over to him. “Now, where were we, Captain…?”

“…So Princess Celestia has asked my friends and I to play the lead roles in this year’s Hearth’s Warming Eve pageant in Canterlot! Can you believe it? It’s such a huge honor! I can’t wait to tell my friends!”

Shining Armor gave a hearty laugh, rocking back in his seat a little. “Wow, my little Twily’s all grown up and becoming a professional actress now. What happened to that little foal that could barely turn a page with her magic?”

Both ponies were seated outside one of Canterlot’s many cafés, enjoying the warm summer weather while waiting for their lunch. They had spent a good portion of the walk here reminiscing on old times, and much of their current conversation catching up again.

A blush crept across Twilight’s face as she rolled her eyes at her brother’s display. “That was a long time ago, Shining. Besides, it’s just a holiday play. I’m not going to win a golden trophy or anything for my role as Clover the Clever.”

“Nah, you’re gonna be all kinds of awesome at it, Twily! Just don’t forget to thank your big brother in your acceptance speech” Shining remarked, dramatically clearing his throat and pretending to sort through invisible flash cards. He saw Twilight’s lips quiver in an attempt to fight back the smile at her older sibling’s ridiculous nature. “I’d like to personally thank my brother, Shining Armor, for being the best big brother in the entire history of Equestria, and for not being too bad on the eyes either.”

Twilight laughed out loud, sighing happily, just glad to be around him again. “Shining! That’d sound so creepy if I said that!”

Their waiter arrived then, levitating a silver tray with two plates on it. “All right, I’ve got a daffodil and daisy sandwich”—he placed the plate in front of Twilight—“and a sunflower club. Let me know if you need anything else.”

Shining Armor licked his lips and rubbed his hooves together like an excited foal as he eyed his meal with ravenous hunger. He glanced up across the table and had to stifle another laugh when he saw Twilight already digging into her food. Apparently, she had been as hungry as he was.

“Still love your daff and daisy sandwiches, huh?” All Twilight could do was give a muffled response and nod her head vigorously, her eyes closed in contented bliss. It was enough to make him snicker.

For a few moments, Shining Armor just watched her eat, a whimsical smile on his lips. He hadn’t realized until now just how much he had missed being with Twilight. He had grown so used to having her in his everyday life all the way through high school and Westhoof. Ever since she had moved to Ponyville, those distant memories of their foalhood days seemed to be slipping further and further away. Now here she was, fully grown, talking about spells that made his head spin just listening to them and acting in national plays and carrying on her own life elsewhere in the world.

Twilight must have caught him staring, because he was suddenly jarred back into reality by a hoof kicking him beneath the table. He jumped up in his chair, straightening up abruptly. “Huh? Wha—?”

“Shining, are you okay? You were just sort of… staring.” Twilight waved a hoof in front of his face. “It was pretty weird.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine, Twily. I was just… lost in thought.”

“Oh.” Twilight paused, taking her turn to stare as he took a bite of his sandwich. “What were you thinking about?”

“You, us, growing up, the past, that sorta stuff,” he answered in earnest, wiping the crumbs away from his mouth. “I was just remembering all the nights we’d spend up in the summer, staring up at the stars and just talking about everything under Celestia’s sun, telling each other literally everything. We never had secrets or cares or worries back then.”

A warm, nostalgic smile spread across Twilight’s face as she sipped at her drink. “I remember that.”

“I miss those nights…”

“Yeah, me too…”

Nostalgic silence came between the two for a long while. Shining listened to the clinking of glasses and silverware around them. He stared at his sister seated across from him. She was looking very intensely down at her plate. Neither of them were eating anymore, too lost in their own thoughts.

It was Shining Armor who finally broke the silence. “I was a riflepony. Infantry, 1st Canterlot Company. We sailed out of Baltimare for the Griffon Kingdom before the sun had even risen.”

Twilight’s ears perked up when he had begun speaking. The more he said, the more her head lifted up. In her eyes, Shining could see that thirsty look—that yearning to know more. He had her hooked, and he had only said three sentences.

“It took a long time to sail over there. It was dawn by the time we landed. There was so much fog, I could barely see in front of my face,” he said, dredging up memories he would have been very happy leaving buried. He folded his hooves on the table in front of his face and rested his chin on them. “That’s where I met Fleet. He was sitting right beside me on the boat. Life’s funny that way, putting your best friends right next to you at just the right time…”

“What happened next…?” Twilight asked, leaning over the table with anxious excitement. Her eyes glimmered in a way Shining Armor had only ever seen when she was reading a particularly good book.

“Then the fighting started. We hit the beach and charged the city of Skyfall. I tried to stay with Fleet, but that pegasus couldn’t keep his hooves on the ground. He flew off with some other pegasi and I stormed the city with the rest of the army. We rushed through the streets, shooting anything with a gun. There were a lot of griffons, but I was expecting a lot more. I ran into Fleet during the battle again and we led a team through the houses and stores, flushing out any griffons hiding from us. That was our job.

“There was this one house—I’ll never forget it—where I almost got killed…” He paused when he heard Twilight gasp, debating whether to continue and risk scaring her. He decided it was far too late to go back now. “There was this bunch of griffons waiting to jump us. They killed one of our ponies and tried to get me and Fleet too. This griffon, he had me by the neck up against a wall and was choking the life outta me. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t fight… I dropped my gun in the chaos, and I was sure I was dead. Next thing I know, the griffon’s head is exploding right in front of my face. Pow! Fleet took him out… saved my life that day… I’ll never forget the feelings… My heart was racing, I was sweating bullets… I’ll probably always remember the weight of a loaded gun in my hooves, how tight the trigger is when you shoot at another living thing…”

“Shine…” Twilight drifted off, not exactly sure what to even say.

“We took Skyfall in a day. It became our sort of headquarters where all the plans for the invasion were drawn up. It felt pretty damn good knowing we’d driven our enemy out in just one day. Talk about a morale boost, heh… After that, I got hitched to a squad of ponies with Fleet, and we headed out to war. We had a couple of scares. There was this one village, about the size of Hoofington, and we had to get through it to cross a bridge. Before we could get out, the griffons blew up the bridge and we had to fight our way back the way we came.”

“Why are you telling me this all of a sudden?” asked Twilight, abruptly cutting Shining Armor off. Much to his surprise, her tone wasn’t shaking or anxious. She was as calm and collected as ever, simply absorbing his tale. “What changed your mind?”

“I had a change of heart. You’re my sister, Twilight. If I can’t tell you something like this, how can I expect us to be the same way we were way back when?” Shining Armor smiled—truly, genuinely smiled. “I can stop if it’s too much.”

Twilight shook her head with vigorous force. “No, you can’t stop telling the story now! What happened next? How did you get out of the village? Was anypony hurt?”

“Haha! Okay, easy there, Twily! You eat, I’ll talk.”

Obeying her brother’s command to pacify him, Twilight took a large bite out of her sandwich, chewing it slowly. She maintained eye contact with him all the while, pleading with her gaze for him to keep going. Shining Armor cleared his throat, letting the memories consume him again.

“A couple ponies were killed when we fought through the village. Captain Phalanx—he was our squad leader—promoted Fleet and I to sergeants that day. That was the day of the Summer Sun Celebration.”

“The day we defeated Nightmare Moon and found the Elements of Harmony…” Twilight mumbled under her breath.

“Yeah, I heard about that. It’s funny, over in the Kingdom, we didn’t even notice the difference. A couple hours without the dawn kinda goes unnoticed when you’re dodging bullets and explosions and coming down off a combat high,” he said with a smirk. “Now that I look back on it, I’m kinda glad for the extra hours of sleep.”

“Shining!”

“What? Sleep was hard to get over there!”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “You’re incorrigible, you know that?”

“I don’t know the meaning of the word.” In truth, he honestly didn’t. “Anyway, we spent the next couple days traveling to Midgard. It’s like the griffon equivalent of Manehattan or Fillydelphia. It’s a big city with a river cutting it in half, but when we found it, it was burning. The army had already hit it. We were just the clean up crew. Things were going pretty normally… until we heard gunshots. Friendly gunshots.”

“There were other ponies still in the city?” Twilight looked positively enthralled.

Shining Armor nodded his head. “That’s what we assumed. We went to go check it out. They were on the other side of the river. I went with a couple other ponies to make sure they were okay, and then…”

He hesitated, the sentence dying on his tongue. Twilight tilted her head to the side, hanging on the edge of his words.

“And then what?”

He licked his dry lips, his eyes darkening a little as his gaze met hers. “…Things got out of hoof…”

“It’s a trap!”

BOOM!

Shining Armor had barely heard the other soldier’s shout before he felt the ground beneath his hooves disappear in thin air. He could feel the cobblestones crumble to dust, and the next thing he knew, he was airborne, his body flung through the air. His world spun like he was on a carnival ride. The screams of his teammates rang out loud in both ears. And then he hit something solid and scraped across endless patches of relentless roughness.

A deafening ringing consumed his hearing and sent sharp stabs of pain through his brain. His vision was a cloudy blur of spinning colors that made him want to puke. His head pounded in time with his heartbeat. It was the only thing keeping him assured that he was still somehow alive.

What the hay just happened…? he thought in a dazed delirium. He struggled to get back to his hooves. Every muscle in his body felt like it had been turned to gelatin. As his vision cleared up, he saw his two companions getting up as well. Behind him, the bridge they had crossed was little more than a smoldering pile of ruins and dust. Beyond that, he could still see his squad through the haze of smoke.

“Colts! Colts! You guys all right?”

Shining Armor turned, spotting the group of soldiers they had been coming to rescue coming to their aid now. The irony tasted bitter in his mouth and slightly metallic. Spitting the flavor out on the ground in a patch of red confirmed that irony tasted a lot like blood.

“We’re good,” he replied, shaking off the tremors still stirring in his muscles. “You ponies oka—“

Three distinctive snaps tore through the air near Shining’s head, making him duck out of reflex. He heard the bullets ricochet off the cobblestone paths. They were still under attack, but from where, he couldn’t tell yet.

“Quick! This way! We gotta get out of the open!” the soldier helping him up shouted.

Far being the one to argue that point, Shining Armor took off down the road with the others in tow. More bullets ripped past them. A glance over his shoulder and he saw their assailants. Four griffons were pursuing them down the road, stopping to take potshots at them. Shining skidded to a halt with a blue pony lugging a sniper rifle and returned fire, forcing the griffons to scatter for cover.

“Hug the walls! Duck in the doorways!” Shining shouted, pushing the sniper to safety under the nearest arch.

The troop of ponies threw themselves under archways and into the doorways of stores, using them as crude cover to engage the griffons. Bullet after bullet flew through the air back and forth in a deadly game of precision and chance. Shining slid behind cover alongside another soldier, one from the other team. Both stallions flinched as a piece of debris flew off from their cover, the broken stone cutting across his cheek.

“Where’s your CO?” he asked the pony, popping out to lay down some suppressive fire.

“We don’t have one anymore!” the pony wailed in fright. “He got picked off by the buzzards a bit back! We’re just a recon team sent back for you guys!”

“Buck! Then who’s in charge?!”

“Nopony, Sergeant!”

“Buck that! Just do what I do and stay alive.”

Shining peeked his head out a little to try and spot the enemy fighters. A bullet flew right past the end of his muzzle, sending him tumbling back to his flank. His partner took his place and poked out, firing four rounds after their attackers. Down a little ways, the other soldiers continued to engage the griffons as well. In the open streets, fighting with this limited amount of cover was far from ideal.

“Why can’t we fight them in the store?” the pony asked as he reloaded his weapon, trading spots with Shining Armor.

“I was kinda hoping my teammates would be helping us by now,” he admitted, firing a couple shots blindly down the street. “If we don’t take them down here, they’ll shoot us in the backs when we run.”

“Yeah, well, fat load of good they’re being right now!”

Shining Armor grit his teeth together. Taking a deep breath to steady his quivering hooves, he leaned out of cover again. Much to his fortune, a griffon had done the same thing, but was targeting a different doorway. Shining squeezed the trigger over and over until he saw the griffon’s body spasm and collapse to the cobblestone.

“Hostile down!” he called out, slipping back into safety to reload his weapon.

The engagement continued for a few more moments, followed by another call of, “Enemy down!” Somepony else had taken out another opponent.

Chewing on his lip, Shining Armor recited a mental prayer in his head. Two down, two to go… They could win this. Just as he popped out to fire again, a cacophony of gunshots erupted down the street. He watched in awe as shards of glass flew out from a storefront and the griffons fell under a hailstorm of bullets. From the broken windows, the other ponies from his squad jumped out into view.

“Clear!” Shining shouted back to his squad, leaving cover to rendezvous with the others. He smiled as he spotted Fleethoof stumbling out of the store to check the griffons. He breathed a huge sigh of relief, thankful they had shown up when they did. Better late than never.

Fleethoof looked up at Shining when he approached, a grim look on his dirt-covered face and a fresh dent in his helmet. “Is this everypony that’s left? Who’s in charge of this squad?”

“I am now,” Shining Armor said, glancing back at his squad as they closed the distance. “They’re a recon team from 2nd Company, sent to find us. Their CO was picked off when we heard the shooting way back.”

“The company was heading up towards Asgard,” one of the ponies from 2nd Company spoke up. “There was only a small force here, so the captain thought most of their troops were holed up at the capital.”

Shining Armor looked over every pony standing on the street. Something was wrong here. There was one pony too few. His eyes narrowed as he searched each face, seeking the one that was missing. Then it hit him.

“Where’s Captain Phalanx?” Fleethoof met his gaze, the pegasus’ blue eyes darkening. The grave expression on his face told Shining Armor the whole story. His heart wrenched in his chest and plummeted into his stomach. The captain was gone. “Oh…”

“We have to get out of this city, meet up with 2nd Company,” Fleethoof said aside to him. “But that sniper’s got the city locked down. We can’t get out unless we get rid of him first.”

“I can take care of that.” Shining Armor turned around, surprised to see the smaller blue unicorn he had pushed to cover stepping up to the plate. The pony wore the cockiest grin Shining had ever seen on his face, but the stallion had stood his ground with him to help the others flee. “The name’s Shot, Sharp Shot. Corporal, 2nd Company, and it’d be my pleasure to make that griffon dead.”

Shining Armor had to keep himself from laughing at the sniper’s demeanor. He was acting like he had just volunteered to deliver a letter next door, not hunt down a crack shot griffon. Fleethoof looked downright skeptical.

“That griffon’s a good shot.”

“I’m a better one,” Sharp Shot remarked, waving his rifle in the air.

“We don’t even know where he is.” Fleethoof’s remark troubled Shining. They didn’t know where the sniper was shooting from. He turned his gaze upward, looking around at all the tall buildings in Midgard. The shooter could literally be roosting anywhere. Suddenly, their slim chances of survival felt even slimmer.

“That’s why it’s your job to flush him out. You just start making your way out of the city. When he shoots, I’ll find him, and I’ll get him.”

Shining Armor looked down again just in time to meet Fleethoof’s questioning gaze. He was looking to him for his approval. All he could do was roll his shoulders in a shrug.

“We don’t have much option,” he pointed out.

Fleethoof scowled, clearly displeased with the lack of alternatives. “All right, Sharp Shot. Let’s see what you can do. What do you need us to do?”

“Just start running. I’ll find a good spot and cover you.”

Before either of them could get another word in edgewise, Sharp Shot was already hauling flank down the street. Shining had to admire the smaller pony’s tenacity and courage. That just left him and Fleethoof to determine their own courses of action. Okay, Shining Armor, it’s your time to shine… he thought, psyching himself up. You’ve been waiting for this day your whole life. All your training is gonna pay off now.

“Okay, Fleet. You wanna go one way and we’ll go the other?” he suggested, wearing his confident smile to hopefully drive his assurance home. They were in charge now, and as much as the notion made Shining Armor shake in his horseshoes, he had no choice. It was time to buck up and act like a stallion. “Keep him distracted until he’s gone. We’ll make for the north gate, and you head to the west, where we came in. You can pick up Sharp Shot then, and we’ll all meet up back at Asgard.”

Much to his delight, Fleethoof’s steely eyes narrowed and he nodded once. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Shining breathed a sigh of relief. If Fleethoof agreed with his plan, then he had double assurance that he was making the right call. The academy had prepared him for every eventuality he could possibly end up in, but learning theory was one thing. Putting it into practice was an entirely different story.

“Shining, watch yourself out there,” Fleethoof said suddenly, catching him off guard. “You’ve got a family to go home to.”

Shining Armor looked at the pony standing before him. In his blue eyes, he could see the determination and loyalty of a great leader—but he could also see the worry and concern that took the heart of him. The times they had mutually saved each other’s lives… This could very well be the last time he ever saw his friend.

He acted on pure emotion alone. His hoof shot out, grabbing Fleethoof by his uniform and pulling him into a tight embrace. Shining felt Fleethoof’s hooves wrap around his back, squeezing him gently in return. No words were exchanged. None were needed. He had all the confidence in the world in his friend’s abilities.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m always careful,” he replied once they pulled apart again. He flashed a wide smile to the pegasus. “You take care of yourself, Fleet. You’ve got others to look after now.”

“You do too, my friend. Now go! We’ve got your backs!”

With a curt nod, Shining Armor glanced back at his squad and waved for them to follow him. He took off running down the street bound northward just as thick raindrops began to pelt the earth. The city was deathly silent without the sounds of combat, the unfamiliar quiet making the tight urban streets feel that much more claustrophobic. Other than the soft patter of rain hitting the cobblestone, there was nothing to be heard.

The crack of a gunshot rang out clear as a bell from a ways away. The sniper was firing on Fleethoof’s squad. Shining Armor’s gut twisted into a knot. He ran with all the speed and strength his body possessed, pushing himself to his limits as he led his squad down the long intersecting streets of Midgard. They were in a block of large apartment buildings now, the tall structures providing cover from the sniper.

They took a corner, running down a wide road towards a towering church. They hadn’t been out of the apartment block for more than a minute before he heard another crack, swiftly followed by a sharp snap as the high caliber round flew past his head, shattering a decaying wooden barrel on the side of the street. Shining Armor yelped and stumbled, recovering a few steps later and hustling faster than ever.

“Keep moving! Don’t slow down!” he called back to his squad just as another bullet went wide, missing them entirely.

The squad ducked behind a long building, taking cover from the sniper. Shining took a moment to get his bearings, listening as the sniper fire resumed. He must have been targeting Fleethoof now. Where in the name of Celestia was Sharp Shot? Somepony was bound to get killed sooner or later.

After a quick check of his compass, Shining took off down a road, calling out, “Come on! This way!”

The cold rain started to fall harder, almost creating a solid sheet of water to push through. His uniform was soaked through, dampening his coat and sending a chill through him to the bone. He shook his wet mane out of his eyes, breathing hard with every clop of his hooves against the stone road. His lungs and muscles burned, but he pushed on, leading the squad down several more winding roads and then taking a turn onto a large thoroughfare. Down the way he could see the large gates, opening up to the northern plains of the Griffon Kingdom.

“We’re almost there!” he shouted in encouragement to his soldiers as they ran for the exit. “Just a little further!”

The shooting had become progressively more frequent, but was no longer in their direction at all. They must have been out of the sniper’s sight. Shining swallowed hard. That meant he was focusing all of his attention on Fleethoof.

Please, Great Alicorn, protect them… Save them…

Another shot rang out, followed almost instantly by another—and then silence took the city once more, just as the ponies reached the destroyed gatehouse. Shining paused beneath the massive stone arch, straining his ears against the rain. He had to hear one more shot—just one more to confirm if the sniper was alive or dead.

The minutes slipped by. No more shooting was heard. The sniper was dead.

Please be alive, Fleet… he thought. Turning away from the ruined city, Shining Armor ran out of Midgard and down the road with the rest of his squad.

“Where are we going, Sergeant?” one of the ponies asked.

“To Asgard,” said Shining, shouting above the downpour. “We’ve gotta regroup with the army. We’ve got a war to get back to.”

“But what about the other ponies, sir? They’re still in the city.”

“I know! I know…” Shining Armor did his best to ignore the pang in his heart. “But there’s nothing we can do. They’re halfway across the city by now. By the time we got there, they’d have moved on, and we’d be the ones left behind. There’s more of them then there are of us. They can look after themselves. Besides… they’ve got a very competent leader.”

I’m not betraying them… Shining Armor told himself over and over as they marched down the road toward Asgard. I’m not betraying them…

Asgard was truly a sight to behold. The massive capital city sat like a monument to griffon power and perseverance. But as commanding as the city was, the colossal Equestrian army that dominated the fields just outside the gates proved to be much more impressive. Shining Armor counted himself lucky to be part of such an intimidating force. The sense of unity and strength it gave him to be amongst the mass of soldiers was a far cry better than the alternative. He almost felt bad for the griffons staring down at them from their high walls.

“Okay, Sarge. Let’s try that shield spell of yours again,” one of Shining’s soldiers shouted out.

Shining Armor rolled his eyes even while a smile made its way over his face. When he had regrouped with the other companies, he had learned that many of 2nd Company’s higher ranking officers had either been killed or wounded. Captain Aegis had placed him in charge of his own platoon. The responsibility came with great burden, but the more time he had gotten to spend with the soldiers milling about outside Asgard, the more he realized that it was everything he had ever hoped for.

“All right, all right,” he murmured, rising to his hooves and facing off with his soldier. He rolled his head, stretching out the muscles in his neck and shoulders. “Go easy on me, colts. The arcanate isn’t easy to deal with.”

The group of soldiers burst into a riot of laughter. “Go easy on you, Sarge? I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“That’s the kind of talk I like to hear.” Shining grinned, tensing his stance. “All right, let’s go, Private.”

The unicorn opposite of him charged up a spell, his horn glowing weakly in its diminished state. Shining waited, eyeing the soldier cautiously. He had to time this perfectly…

The pony released the stun spell, a thin bolt of electricity arcing through the air towards him. Shining Armor’s eyes snapped wide open. He strained to activate his magic, feeling an unseen force tugging at his mind as if trying to wrestle him to the ground. He fought past the resistance, his horn glowing with transparent rose light. A force field matching his magic’s aura color surrounded his body, sealing him in a protective bubble. The stun spell glanced off harmlessly, but even the most basic defensive magic made him wince. A sting of pain stabbed through his temples as he struggled to maintain his spell against the draining effects of the arcanate.

Another soldier stepped up, shooting a similar spell at Shining Armor from a different angle. Shining shifted the majority of his focus to his side, deflecting the spell again. Beads of sweat broke out across his forehead. A third soldier drew his sidearm, shooting the bubble shield once. The bullet disintegrated on impact, leaving the caster unscathed. Shining, however, was feeling the effects of prolonged magic use in the aether devoid land. A wave of nausea hit him like a brick wall and an uncomfortable dizziness and unbalance shook him to the core.

“Damn! You’re getting good at that, Sarge!” the soldier commended, tapping on the bubble with a hoof. “I bet that’d be powerful as hay if we weren’t in this Celestia damned place.”

Shining grunted, shouldering the burden as long as he could. He grinned widely, despite the headache threatening to split his skull. “T-Thanks.”

“Let’s give it one more test.”

“Huh?”

Shining looked up in surprise as the soldier began charging his stun spell again. This time, however, he was directing it at another soldier. His mouth dropped open. He didn’t even know if his spell was strong enough to cast around another pony. But he had no choice, not when there was a lightning bolt suddenly streaking towards his ally.

With a grunt and all of his mental prowess, Shining Armor sent the magenta shield wrapping around his comrade. Again, the spell deflected into nothingness, leaving the pony within unharmed. Shining groaned under the stress. His legs nearly buckled beneath him. His spell dissipated into thin air as his magic died out, leaving him panting for breath and his brow damp with sweat. Around him, his soldiers clapped their hooves together, whooping and cheering for their commanding officer.

“That’s incredible, Sergeant!”

“I don’t think anypony could use that much magic out here!”

“You’re one hay of a fighter, Sarge!”

A wide, triumphant grin split Shining Armor’s lips. He could feel hooves patting him on the back and helping tug him back to an upright position. Somepony levitated a canteen to him, which he happily took and drank greedily from. The cool water sloshed down his throat, chilling and refreshing him from the inside. Ever since his ponies had discovered his latent abilities to cast spells under the effects of arcanate, they had been pushing him, challenging him to use it more and more potently. Each time he did, they would shout and encourage him on, and even though he had nearly collapsed twice performing his spell, the bonding it had created between them was worth the price.

“So how can you do that anyway, Sarge?” one of the soldiers in his platoon asked him once during dinner. “How is your magic so powerful?”

At the time, he had just shrugged and said, “I guess it just runs in the family.” Now he was beginning to believe his own excuse.

“Hey! The princesses are coming back!”

That one simple cry from somewhere in the throng of soldiers sent everypony into a frenzy. They rushed to watch the gates, as they had done every day since the ceasefire and negotiations had begun. While it was driving everypony mad, it had given Shining ample time to practice his shield spell and get to know his allies more. He and Private Gladius shared stories about their little siblings; Gladius was the oldest of three colts, and a hero to his younger brothers. At night, he would join Pilum, Centurion, and Blunderbuss for a game of poker. He spent time talking about growing up in Canterlot with stallions and mares from both coasts of Equestria, and listening to their stories of their foalhoods.

When Shining Armor looked around at the excited ponies searching for their princesses, he didn’t just see a mass of uniform soldiers anymore. He saw faces, names, families… Living, breathing ponies he had come to know. They were his ponies. They were his friends.

“See ’em yet, Sentry?” he called up to the orange pegasus flittering overhead.

“They’re coming down the road now, Sergeant Armor!”

Shining Armor squeezed his way through the crowd of his fellow warriors, eager to catch a glimpse of the princesses. It had become something of a ritual to observe their expressions whenever they left the delegations. Very few details had been released to them, but it had become a company routine to try and guess what had happened based off their reactions. Smiles meant progress had been made. Frowns were less encouraging.

On this day, Shining felt what little hope he had for any progress die a slow, painful death. Celestia looked forlorn, unable to look up at the ponies as they passed by in their chariot. Luna’s face was contorted in a furious scowl. Things had obviously reached a melting point up in the fortress.

From the princesses’ procession, Shining Armor caught sight of a couple pegasi flying out over the crowd. One in particular caught his eye. A flash of crimson darted right over his head, making the sergeant do a double take.

“Fleethoof?!”

But the pony was long gone and out of sight. Shining scoured the sky with his eyes again, desperate for one more glimpse. If he had seen his friend…

No. It’s probably just my mind playing tricks on me…

The crowd began to part, allowing Captain Aegis to step in amongst the throng of infantry. Shining Armor approached slowly, noting the way the officer’s tail drooped and his ears lay flat against his head. The look in his eyes didn’t promise the prospect of good news.

“Fillies and gentlecolts… I am sorry to say this, but there is no other way to put it,” he began, pausing to take a breath and let the crowd simmer down. “King Alaric has ended negotiations with the princesses. As of today, the war will resume.”

All around him, cries of disappointment, anger, and frustration rippled through the ranks like a pebble dropped into a still pond. Pockets of similar shouts of disdain broke out across the bulk of the army. The other officers were spreading the bad news too.

“Well, what do we do now?!” somepony shouted out from the crowd.

“We wait until tomorrow,” Captain Aegis explained calmly. “At dawn, we resume fighting. Spread the word to your soldiers, your brothers and sisters… Everypony is to be ready for the worst first thing tomorrow morning.”

The soldiers slowly began to disperse, still muttering and cursing under their breaths while some screamed profanities at the sky. Shining Armor pushed his way through the rabble to Aegis’ side. He had to know more. He couldn’t just accept that was fact and go tell his ponies without more information.

“Captain, what happened up there? Why did it all fall apart?”

Aegis huffed, spitting indignantly on the dusty ground and popping a cigarette in between his lips. “Alaric wants a war. He won’t rest until he’s satisfied. The princesses tried their best, but he’s impossible to deal with. Feathered bastard…”

“Well, what do we do? How are we supposed to fight the griffons when they have a clear advantage over us with those walls?” he asked.

Aegis pulled Shining Armor close, pushing his head down low. He took a swift glance around before lowering his muzzle to his ear. “Listen to me, sonny. You didn’t hear this from me, but Captain Stratagem said she’s been working on this secret plan of hers. I’m gonna get all the details later, but if it works, we’ll have the city by nightfall tomorrow. Just get your ponies ready for a doozy of a fight. Can you do that for me?”

Shining chewed on his lip as he mulled this new information over. He wanted direly to know what this secret plan was, but right now, all he could do was trust the word of his commanding officer. He gave a vigorous nod of his head.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good lad. Now go. Get ’em ready.”

Turning tail, Shining Armor pushed his way back towards where his platoon had set up camp. If they were needed to be ready for combat, he was going to make sure his ponies were the finest in the army. But first, they had some preparing to do…

That night, Shining Armor spent most of his time sitting up in his tent cleaning and oiling his gun for the umpteenth time. He had done it so many times now that his hooves had begun to work on autopilot, polishing each part with practiced strokes. His eyes flickered over the shiny metal, watching the way it glistened in the orange lamp light while his mind replayed the day’s events and agonized over the possibilities of tomorrow.

After he had told his platoon the disheartening news and ordered them to prepare for anything, he set to work on getting himself ready. His eyes darted over to his kit resting on the ground near the tent’s opening. His magazines were filled and ready to go. His sidearm was cleaned, polished, and loaded. He had even gone so far as to procure a couple hoof grenades early, just in case. He was ready.

Outside, his ponies had been busy preparing as well. Weapons were checked, canteens were filled, and letters were written and shipped out. He was proud of the initiative everypony had willingly taken on. Come hell or high water, they would be ready.

Now in the early hours of the dark morning, everything was silent and still. Only Shining Armor remained awake, replacing the final few pieces of his gun and checking the action. Everything slid smoothly together, just waiting to be put to use. Smiling at his handiwork, he set the gun down gently beside his bedroll and lay down across the ground, staring up at the drab green tarp of his tent with blank, distant eyes.

The quiet gave him time to let his mind wander. His thoughts flew far away, back to Equestria. He thought about his family: his parents sleeping soundly in their home in Canterlot, and of his sister, no doubt now settled in at Ponyville. He made a mental note to go visit her once he returned home. He thought about his friends from high school and the academy, the ones that had been lucky enough to become castle sentinels. He wondered if they thought about him, out here fighting a war, and wondered if they were jealous that he was actually seeing some action. The idea made the corners of his mouth curl up in a little smile.

His mind drifted back to high school, before the Royal Guard Academy. He thought about Cadence, and the last time he had seen her. The smile slowly slipped off his face as the memories played in the back of his eyes like a movie. Their graduation day… She had told him about going off to finishing school to become an ambassador for Equestria. He was heading to basic training. He knew in his heart what that meant. It had broken him at the time. All the words left unsaid haunted his mind like ghosts…

He remembered the way she smiled at him, the way her hooves felt tightening around his back as they embraced that one last time. His heart fluttered in his chest, and the smile returned to his face. He could recall the exact way her voice sounded when she had said goodbye… the tone, the inflection, everything. He would have to seek her out once he returned home as well. There was lost time he had to make up for.

Boom!

The ground beneath him shook so violently, Shining Armor sprung to his hooves. What was going on? Was it an earthquake? Did the Griffon Kingdom even get earthquakes? He grabbed his gun, jamming a fresh magazine in with his magic while tossing on his kit and pushed his way out into the cool morning air. The dawn sun was just peeking over the horizon, throwing golden-orange light across the city of Asgard.

That was when Shining Armor realized it wasn’t just the sun illuminating the city. Bright orange flames flickered from the ruins of the large gatehouse as billowing black smoke rose to the heavens. The walls of Asgard, which had once been the very definition of impenetrable, had been blown apart, reduced to little more than an obstacle course of charred stone and twisted metal.

Around him, the rest of his platoon, and the rest of the army, rose quickly to see what had happened. Nopony looked like they knew what had happened. Nopony looked like they really cared about the why. Shouts and cheers of victory rang out loud and proud from every soldier in the army. A wide grin took residence on his lips. They had their opportunity. It was time to take the city.

“Move! Move! Keep your hooves moving!”

Shining Armor’s command was the simplest he could think to give. Stay alive. He clambered over the smoldering debris of what had once been Asgard’s main gate, the powerful, resilient structure now nothing more than charred pieces of stone strewn across the field. He and his platoon rushed into the city behind another company, dipping and dodging gunfire left, right, and center. Many of the griffons at the first tier of the city had been killed in the ensuing explosion, but the survivors made it clear they weren’t going down without a fight.

Shining led his platoon down the road as the company ahead branched off around the district, picking off any survivors brave enough to make a stand. To his surprise, the second gate was obliterated as well, as was the third, and the fourth, and every gate after that! Whoever had sabotaged the city had done an amazing job at leaving the griffons’ defenses in shambles.

“Keep to the sides! Heads down, eyes up!” he shouted above the strident gunfire. Moving as fast as he could along the streets, Shining took cover behind a fruit stand, using it as a makeshift bunker to lay down some suppressive fire for the rest of the platoon as they advanced up. He picked off two griffons in the air, watching as they hit the ground with satisfying thuds. Blunderbuss ran up beside him, helping to pick off the griffon forces as they swooped down over the invading Equestrians, raining bullets down on their heads from above.

He grit his teeth and ducked his head down lower as the overhead gunfire smacked into his cover. Pieces of melons and otter fruits rained down on his head as they absorbed the impact of the bullets. A line of pegasi troops rose from the mass of ponies in response, clashing with the griffons in midair and taking their attention away in. It was enough to buy them some breathing room.

Shining Armor concentrated his fire on the soldiers coming down from the upper levels of the city to engage them, taking time to steady his rifle on the stand. Each shot he took found its mark in another griffon’s chest or head, crumpling them like they were made of straw. Blunderbuss had settled for a more broad spread of shooting, scattering the griffon formations where he could. The rest of the platoon had worked their way up from cover to cover, taking the griffons down as they came closer, each side pushing a little closer together.

“Okay, let’s move up!” Shining said, patting Blunderbuss’ shoulder.

Both stallions leaped over the broken stand and made a mad dash down the street, running past the lines of their hunkered down allies. Another wave of griffon forces made their way down the ramp towards them, forcing Shining Armor to grab Blunderbuss and tumble behind the a nearby wall. Bullets bounced off the ground where they had been standing, chipping the cobblestone streets and edges of the wall. An orange blur landed beside them, and Shining exchanged a nod with Flash Sentry.

“Got a plan, Sergeant?” Flash asked while shoving a new magazine into his rifle.

“Yep. Frag!” he shouted, leaning out from cover to lob a hoof grenade with his magic, the aura carrying the explosive across the distance to land at the feet of the griffon squad. A cloud of smoke consumed them, and as it cleared, only the singed bodies of the birds were left lying in the street. “Move up! Rush the gate!”

There was a lull in the griffon forces as Shining Armor’s platoon led the charge up the ramp, leading the rest of 2nd Company up behind them. A large force of pegasi flew over the walls to the second level, already engaging the griffons there. Shining only stopped when he had a clear shot on a hostile in the air, his teammates helping pick off any enemies in front of their advance. For the bulk of the griffon army, the capital was surprisingly lightly guarded. He had been expecting massive formations of troops to greet their enemy at the gates. As it stood, the fighting was barely worse than Skyfall.

The second level was cleared with speed and ease. 2nd Company pressed ahead to the third level, and then the fourth within a matter of an hour. The fighting began to turn much less traditional and more guerilla. As he had fought in Skyfall, Shining led his platoon through the buildings, killing the griffon snipers and marksmen lying in wait to ambush the rest of the army while the company pushed its way to the higher levels.

Running past the demolished towers on the fifth level to the sixth to rejoin the advancing company, Shining Armor finally saw why there was a predominant lack of griffon resistance. Two large structures lay in ruin, blown to smithereens by powerful explosives. The sickening stench of burning flesh and burned gunpowder hung heavy in the air on this level. These must have been the griffon barracks… he reasoned, noting the piles of charred and disfigured bodies strewn about the wreckage. Whoever did this really took a toll on them…

“By Celestia’s sweet flank…” Centurion muttered, looking over the grim scene with Shining. “The griffons don’t stand a snowball’s chance in Tartarus after this sorta devastation. Hot damn…”

“Yeah, but I think we just won the war,” Shining Armor said, looking up at the citadel towering over the city. “Well, maybe not yet. Come on, we still have a tyrant to deal with!”

A large amount of gunfire erupted up ahead across the expansive military plaza. 2nd Company was trying to push its way up to the final level of Asgard—to Alaric’s stronghold—as a plethora of black-dressed griffon elite soldiers began struggling back. Dense barricades had been set up, and the griffons were fighting tooth and nail to keep the ponies out of the castle. Both sides were suffering considerable losses bottlenecked on the narrow ramp way.

“We gotta fight our way through that?” Blunderbuss pointed at the grisly scene, shaking his head. “Nuh-uh. I ain’t that stupid.”

“Is there any other way?” Flash Sentry questioned.

Shining Armor took a moment to assess the situation, looking around for another solution. The ramp looked like the only way up to the top level—unless they had learned how to fly. Or knew somepony who could.

“Yeah, I got an idea.” Shining pointed up to the wall surrounding the seventh tier. “Flash, can you get up there and toss a rope or something down? We could scale the wall and get the drop on them.”

Flash Sentry looked up at the high wall and nodded, his eyes alight with fire. “You got it, Sergeant!”

Once he and the other pegasi was gone, Shining and the rest of his platoon made their way over to the wall. He paced nervously on the ground, constantly glancing up at the walls. They waited, and waited. Nothing happened.

Come on, Sentry… Come on…

Shining Armor immediately felt regret stab him straight through the heart. What if Flash had been caught? What if he was hurt, or dead? He had just sent his ponies to their deaths. He sucked in a deep breath, holding it in his lungs until they burned for oxygen. No. He had more faith in them than that.

“Heads up!”

Shining Armor looked up just as a coil of rope hit him in the head. He stumbled backwards in shock, looking up at the waving pegasus on the wall with a wide grin. “Well done! Okay everypony, let’s do this!”

He wound the rope tightly around his front hooves, tugging at it to make sure the hold was secure. The snug fit of the coarse rope against his fur felt like a safety net as he put his rear hooves on the wall and began pulling himself up step by step. The process was slow and arduous, and every time he heard the snap of a bullet he was convinced he was going to die suspended in midair. No unicorn should die in the air! he thought, the notion encouraging himself to work faster.

A glance down confirmed that his team was following him—and that he was about halfway up the wall, at least thirty feet in the air. Swallowing back the bile rising in his throat, he turned his gaze back up to the sky. He had to keep going.

Don’t look down, Shining… Don’t look down… Just think happy thoughts… Twily… Cadence… Fleet… Dammit, why couldn’t Fleet be doing this instead of me? He’s the one with wings!

The sound of something hurdling through the air suddenly came whistling down near him. A flaming barrel collided with the wall a short distance away, sending a tremor through the stone as the gunpowder within exploded. Shining clenched his teeth so tight he bit his tongue, his hooves scrabbling at the rope to keep himself held in place as it swayed violently. Below him, he heard a couple of screams. Chunks of stone flew around him, the dust and debris threatening to choke him and send him plummeting to an untimely demise.

“Keep climbing! We’re almost there!” he shouted back, not daring to look behind him for fear of losing his nerve. This job was proving to be more and more dangerous by the minute.

Hoof over hoof, Shining Armor worked his way up and up and up until his hooves finally grasped the edge of the wall. Flash Sentry grabbed his other hoof, hoisting him up to safety on top of the wall. Shining exhaled heavily, breathing deep and slow to combat the spinning vertigo he was suffering. He heard another pony make it to the top, then saw Centurion step past him and vomit. He didn’t like heights either, it seemed. Lending a hoof to Flash, they pulled the rest of the platoon up one by one. Once everypony was up, Shining was able to see three bodies lying at the base of the wall, splattered and smashed against the ground. They had fallen when the wall was attacked.

Shoving his grief down for the time being, he whistled to his ponies and led them down the wall to where the destroyed gatehouse waited, along with the griffon troops. From their elevated perch, they could see the positions the elites had taken behind debris. They were holding back 2nd Company, keeping them in check. Not for long.

“Give it to ’em, colts!” Shining shouted and unloaded on the exposed griffons.

The wall lit up with gunshots from Shining’s platoon. Under the unyielding assault from behind, the griffon forces were cut down rapidly, the remaining survivors quickly becoming overwhelmed by the advancing soldiers from the front. 2nd Company cheered as they stormed the courtyard. Shining Armor watched with pride. In amongst the troops, Captain Aegis looked up at the young stallion with a nod.

“That was one damn fine plan, Sarge,” Centurion complimented him, slapping his back with a hoof. “Just don’t ever make me climb a rope again.”

Shining Armor chuckled and reloaded his rifle. “No promises. Now come on, we’ve got a fight to finish!”

Storming into the grand vestibule of Asgard’s citadel felt surreal, like a dream. Shining Armor gazed around the enormous structure, eyeing the dark stonework and domed ceilings. Stray gunfire echoed down the spacious corridors branching off in either direction, but the foyer itself was quiet. 2nd Company had done a fine job of clearing out any resistance at the entrance with proficiency.

“Sergeant Armor.” Shining turned to face a dirt-covered Captain Aegis addressing him, a cigarette clenched tightly between his teeth as he exhaled a heavy cloud of smoke. “That was some bucking good work out there, sonny.”

Shining Armor saluted his officer. “Thank you, sir.”

“Drop that, son. Celestia damn, you know how many griffons would give their left wings to grease an officer? I bucking swear... What I do need is for you and your platoon to sweep the second floor while I take the rest of the company through the ground level and clean up the rest of this bird crap. Think you can handle that?”

“Yes, sir.”

Aegis tipped his head in a semblance of a nod and tossed his burned-out cigarette to the floor. “Good. I expect to see you back here tonight. I don’t need anymore dead heroes.”

“Don’t worry, sir. I don’t plan on getting killed. Not today at least.”

Aegis uttered a husky laugh and headed down a corridor after a squad of ponies, leaving Shining Armor to his task. He looked back at what remained of his platoon. Twenty-six of the finest ponies he could have asked for, all of them somepony special. He vowed then and there to get them all home.

“Well, you heard the Captain! Second floor! Let’s move, platoon!”

The soldiers chanted a ‘hooah’ and marched up the stairs with their leader, splitting up down the two corridors leading out of the foyer. Shining Armor took half of his soldiers down the right wing, sweeping the hall with practiced movements and rehearsed tactics as they weaved through the castle. Halfway down the corridor, two doors flew open on either side of the squad. Griffon elites swarmed out on either side of them, ambushing the ponies and trapping them between two inescapable fronts.

Shining Armor had just a split second to process the trap. Guns were raised on his surprised ponies. The griffons had them dead to rights.

Dropping to a tensed crouch, Shining focused his magic against the arcanate’s waning pull. His horn sparked to life the moment the griffons pulled their triggers, gunshots erupting like explosions in the cramped corridor. Flash Sentry flinched and covered his face with his hooves. Centurion just closed his eyes, waiting for death to claim him.

Nothing came.

Shining Armor grunted as he struggled to maintain his shield around the dozen ponies, the bullets bursting into clouds of sparkling dust on impact. The griffons recoiled from the sight, taken aback by the sight of the magic barrier.

“Return fire!” commanded Shining, dropping his shield abruptly. The ponies immediately opened fire on the startled griffons, cutting them down in a bloody swath in a matter of seconds.

“That was some fast thinking, Sergeant,” Flash remarked, helping the trembling Shining Armor back to his hooves. “You all right?”

He nodded his head once. “Yeah… Yeah, I’m good. Come on, we need to keep moving.”

The corridor rounded a corner near the edge of the castle, winding around the side of the structure. Tall glass windows overlooked Asgard and the plains down below. Through the thin glass, Shining watched as the Equestrian army swarmed over the city, smashing through what remained of the griffon forces. Most of the city was burning, leaving the enemy no place to hide from them. The sight—a sight Shining had thought would please him—only made his heart ache. So much suffering in so little time… But they had a duty to do.

A door beside him burst outward abruptly, catching Shining Armor off guard. A solid mass collided with him and he grunted, his assailant sending him tumbling backwards straight through a window. He heard and felt the glass shatter against his back, the sharp shards slicing at his uniform and skin as the ground disappeared and gravity took over. Shining reached out with flailing hooves, praying for anything to break his fall. He caught something soft out of blind luck. His sudden rapid descend came to a halt with him dangling in the air high above the cliff face of the Asgardian mountains.

With his heart slamming into his ribcage from within and his lungs inhaling deep drafts of air, Shining Armor took in the danger he was in. He was hanging perilously over certain death, the curtains from around the window clutched in between his scrabbling hooves and clenched teeth. Gunfire had started back in the hall. His squad was fighting something. A weight was holding onto his legs, trying to drag him down. Turning his gaze downward, he saw a griffon with a bandaged wing grasping at his fetlocks. The razor-like talons cut through his fur, scratching into his skin and sending shocks of electric pain up his leg.

Glaring down at his enemy, Shining Armor’s hoof swatted at his hip, aiming for his pistol. The griffon let go of one of Shining’s hooves, drawing a wicked-looking curved knife. Shining saw the steel shine brilliantly in the sunlight and felt his blood run cold. His hoof bumped the edge of his holster, but swung away as the griffon took a swipe at him. He felt the blade cut away a small patch of fur from his flank. Bringing his hoof back for another pass, he managed to grasp his pistol and slide it out of its home, aiming half blindly as the griffon swung his talon at him again.

The gun went off and the bullet struck the griffon in his shoulder, making his squawk in pain. The grip on his hoof loosened, and then vanished entirely. Shining heard the scream and watched as the griffon plunged down the cliff, flapping his crippled wing in a dire attempt to save himself. Time seemed to slow down. He stared at the display until the griffon’s form finally crashed against the rocks, blood splattering messily around his broken corpse.

“Hang on, Sarge! We got you!”

Shining Armor looked up and felt relief wash over him while Centurion and Flash Sentry pulled him back up into the safety of the castle. He spat the musty drapes out of his mouth, coughing and gasping for air. He was half-tempted to kiss the floor, he was so happy to be back on solid ground.

“We’ve got gunfire up ahead!” Gladius called back from further down the hall.

Shaking off the tremors running through his body, Shining Armor gathered himself up off the floor and tore down the hallway like a bat out of hell. Sure enough, following the corridor round another corner, gunshots could be heard coming loud and clear from behind a pair of large doors dead ahead. He charged the doors, his horn illuminating and flinging the doors open as the squad charged into the fray.

The doors opened up to the throne room of the castle. The large chamber was made of the same dark stone as the rest of the citadel, with red carpets covering the floors. An ostentatiously ornate golden throne sat on a pedestal at the other end of the room. Across the space, the rest of the platoon had started engaging the griffon elites holding the throne room. Bodies already lined the floor. They had apparently put up one hell of a fight.

“Hey, it’s the others!”

“Let’s lend ’em a hoof,” Shining said, bringing his rifle to bear and dropping two griffons with a quick burst of gunfire.

The griffons cried out and tried to maneuver behind cover from both fronts. None existed, leaving the failing griffons always exposed on one side or another. In a state of desperation, the griffons began shooting at anything that moved. Bullets snapped past Shining’s head, forcing him to duck behind a colonnade while returning fire.

Although the sounds of combat were deafening, nothing could block Shining Armor’s ears from the wet smack of a bullet striking flesh, followed by the guttural sound of a choking cry. His head snapped over and could feel the blood drain from his face. Gladius was falling backward, a hoof grasping at a hole in his chest. He hit the ground with an audible thud and ceased moving. Gritting his teeth, Shining emptied the rest of the bullets in his magazine to cover his rush over to his fallen comrade.

“Gladius!” He looked down at the wounded pony, grabbing his uniform in his teeth and dragging him back behind cover. “Stay with me, Private. Stay with me!”

Gladius coughed up a mouthful of blood, the viscous red fluid dribbling down his chin. He stared up at Shining Armor, gasping for breath and lifting a quivering hoof to his platoon leader. Shining swallowed back a lump in his throat, taking his friend’s hoof in his and squeezing it. He watched Gladius’ eyes dilate and glaze over, and then his grip on his hoof went slack. The pony died without a word. His aching heart wrenched in his chest.

Clenching his jaw, Shining turned on the griffons, chambering the first new round in his gun and letting his fury fly in a stream of gunfire. One by one the griffons dropped dead until none remained standing. The throne room was torn asunder, blood staining the carpets darker shades of red.

Shining Armor lowered his weapon with a hard exhale and trotted across the floor at his own pace, studying the layout and decor of the room. Each body he passed was studied closely, looking for one casualty in particular. The rest of his platoon began flipping over the face-down bodies for identification.

He scowled, muttering, “Alaric’s not here…”

“How did he get away?” asked Flash Sentry, scratching his head. “There’s no other way out of the city.”

“Not that we know of. He probably had some secret passage or tunnels or something to escape.” Shining Armor tried his best to not let the frustration and disappointment tarnish his mood. “We’ll find him sooner or later. There’s only so far he can run. Besides, we have Asgard now. This war is over.”

“Not yet,” Centurion noted with a hum in his voice.

Shining scrunched his forehead in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“In traditional warfare, a fight isn’t over until the enemy captures the capital.” He pointed with his hoof up at the ceiling. “A capital is considered captured when its flag is taken down.”

Shining Armor followed his friend’s gesture up to the vaulted ceiling. A grin split across his face. He was actually going to capture a city.

“Well, what are we waiting for then? Let’s end this war!”

“There’s some stairs over there behind the throne. I bet they’ll take us to the roof.”

Shining didn’t need to be told twice. In a white blur, the stallion was sprinting across the throne room, leaping over debris and bodies to a spiraling staircase just behind the throne. Taking the steps two at a time, he worked his way up and up, his ears pricking up upon hearing the thundering of hooves right behind him. They were following him. His grin widened. He had successfully led a military assault against the capital of a powerful nation. He was riding the high of battle and triumph.

The tower of stairs came to an apex at a high spire above the citadel. Nothing was in sight, save for the flagpole standing high above the city, and all of the kingdom. The black banner of Alaric’s reign flew nobly in the wind that rushed about the tower. Shining Armor eyes it with rabid dissonance, then walked over to the edge of the tower. From the parapet, he stared down at the tiny figures of the Equestrians overrunning the city. His eyes sparkled with pride and he smiled.

Pegasi began to flutter around the tower, cheering as Shining and his squad surrounded the flag like a gang. A couple began snapping photographs, the flashes bursting brilliant light while Shining grasped the rope with his magic and pulled—slowly. Inch by inch, the flag descended down the pole. The mass of soldiers on the ground far below became a clamor of victorious shouts as the flag disappeared from sight. Once it was within reach, Shining Armor reached up and grasped the material of the flag with his hooves, memorizing the texture of the woven fabric. His eyes narrowed and leered at the family crest, reviling everything it had stood for. He thought about the sacrifices the ponies he knew and cared about had made. He thought of the lives lost and the blood shed. All around him, the other ponies leaned in to lend their hooves, grabbing at whatever parts of the flag they could reach. And then they yanked with all their might.

The flag ripped away from the pole, folding in on itself and crumpling to a mass of cloth on the floor. The shouts below grew more fervent and loud. Standing atop the highest point of the Griffon Kingdom, seeing the world from Alaric’s eyes, Shining Armor watched the morning sun hover in the eastern sky, casting a golden glow across everypony in Asgard. The light that had once blinded the tyrant king now bathed his enemies in the radiant warmth of victory and exuberance.

“We did it, everypony…” Shining Armor sighed happily, the indomitable smile of a champion perched upon his lips, the life burning in his cerulean eyes, and the sunlight making his white coat sparkle with silver highlights. “We won…”

“Sergeant. Hey, Sergeant. Wake up.”

Blackness turned to bright sunlight in an unexpected instant. Shining Armor groaned, rubbing the sleep from his aching eyes. It took a couple rapid blinks to adjust his vision to the daylight, but when his eyes finally settled, he sat up and saw Flash Sentry leaning over him. Shining looked around slowly, analyzing the wooden cart filled with ammunition he was lying in. That was right, he had caught a nap in the weapons cache. The long road from Asgard back to Skyfall had taken its toll on the battle-weary stallion.

“Where are we?” he asked, his tone muddled and groggy as he stretched the tenseness out of every muscle along his back.

“Skyfall, Sergeant. We’re just coming up to the city now,” said Flash, leaning over the edge of the cart as it rambled down an uneven road, swaying and rocking to and fro.

Shining Armor groaned again and rolled over onto his belly, then rose to a sitting position. Sure enough, the familiar walls of Skyfall were coming up fast. Up ahead, the majority of the army filed into the city while they brought up the rear.

“So you’re famous now.”

“Huh?”

“They published your picture in the newspaper, Sergeant Armor.”

Shining Armor was truly perplexed. “What are you talking about?”

Flash Sentry smirked a half-cocked smile and reached over, grabbing a newspaper and passing it to him. He unfolded the thin paper, turning it till he found the front page. The headliner announced the end of the war, with a grainy black and white photograph of him lowering the Asgard flag accompanying it.

“Everypony knows you’re a war hero now, Sergeant.” Flash Sentry smiled a tad wider. “You earned it.”

Shining gave a crooked grin and tossed the paper aside. “We all earned it, Sentry. I’m just ready to get back home. Three months away has made me pretty homesick.”

“I hear ya…” Flash Sentry acceded. “I miss Equestria too.”

“You got somepony to go home to?” Shining threw a sideways glance at his companion, raising a brow curiously.

“Just family and friends. I don’t have a special somepony if that’s what you mean.”

“Don’t have a special somepony yet, you mean,” he corrected the pegasus with a chuckle. “You’re a war hero too. I bet you’ll be getting some attention yourself once you tell a few good stories.”

Flash Sentry made an elaborate gesture of rolling his blue eyes. “Well, it won’t be half the attention you’re going to be getting, Mister Front-Page-News. I bet you could even get a date with royalty now.”

Shining Armor felt his cheeks flush with warm. The faintest traces of a smile turned the corners of his mouth while visions of Cadence flashed before his eyes again.

A wide grin made its way across Flash’s face. “Hey, maybe I could get a princess too.”

Shining laughed and said, “Oh yeah, maybe in an alternate universe. You know, I—”

An inexplicable explosion caught the immediate attention of both stallions. A second explosion rang out ahead within the city, followed by bursts of heavy gunfire. Shining Armor exchanged a look with Flash Sentry. They grabbed their weapons, loaded them, and leaped from the cart, taking off sprinting down the road toward Skyfall. All around them, the other soldiers had followed a similar train of thought, all grabbing guns and running towards the sounds of combat and carnage.

“What the hay is going on?!” Shining demanded to know.

“Sounds like the griffons aren’t giving up without a struggle,” Flash Sentry muttered.

“They must’ve taken the city back when we were heading to Asgard.” A dark thought suddenly dawned on him. “Oh buck… Our boats are still on the shore.”

Flash Sentry looked back, meeting his eyes with a terrified gaze. He understood what that meant too. If the griffons had taken Skyfall back, they probably destroyed or sabotaged their ships too. They’d be trapped in the Griffon Kingdom.

“We’ve gotta get in there, Sergeant!”

“Don’t have to tell me twice. Come on, double time!”

The demolished gates of Skyfall passed by around the two stallions. They hurried as fast as their hooves could carry them across the expansive courtyard of the government district, leaping over the fallen bodies of griffons and ponies alike. Some looked to Shining as if they had been there for a while. How long ago did the griffons take the city back? he pondered briefly.

A majority of the Equestrian army had pushed its way down to the fourth tier. Gunshots and fighting were much more clearly audible up head as he and Flash bolted down the ramp to the next level. Everywhere he looked, the bodies of the black-garbed griffon elite soldiers lay strewn haphazardly around. Realization dawned on Shining Armor. The griffons left fighting weren’t the actual army. They were the diehard loyalists of Alaric’s regime, preferring to eat a bullet than lay down their arms.

When a bullet snapped back Shining Armor’s ear, he was more than happy to oblige that choice. He clenched his jaw and dove into a roll behind a stack of barrels. Leaning out of cover, he let loose a burst of gunfire into a couple griffons perched up on a roof. He motioned to Flash Sentry and the two took off down the road again. A window next to him exploded outward and a griffon was hurled outward onto the street. Before he could get up again, two ponies from within gunned him down without mercy. Shining sidestepped around the body and continued on his way.

The resistance didn’t seem very large by the way the army was advancing so swiftly through the city, but the fighting was no less intense than any he had become used to. What they lacked in numbers, the griffon elites made up for with raw skill. Unfortunately for them, raw skill didn’t stop a bullet. Shining Armor proved this as he put two shots into a griffon’s chest, storming to the next ramp and proceeding to the third level.

Distant explosions rang out all of a sudden, much too far away to be a part of their combat. Shining furrowed his brow, trying to place the sound. The lower gate of Skyfall disappeared in a gigantic eruption, stone and griffon corpses flying everywhere as they came tumbling down. Several structures around the lower levels of the city vanished in clouds of dust as well, crumbling like stale gingerbread houses. He looked fixedly out at the sea, spotting two massive ships floating just off the coast. The Equestrian flag flew proudly from their masts while another volley of cannon fire smashed into the shattered city, routing the griffons right up into the wall of Equestrian troops.

Shining Armor smiled so wide that his cheeks began to ache. Reinforcements had arrived to bring them home. Rowboats were already launching from the sides of the warships and were making their way hastily to the shore. From his vantage point, Shining watched as a group of griffons flew out to engage them and were cut down over the crushing blue waters with ease. The griffons were fighting a losing battle.

“Come on! We’ve got ’em trapped!” Shining shouted above the din of battle. “Push them till they break! Fight your way home, everypony!”

Battle shouts resonated from the weary soldiers, all ready to go home. One more obstacle in their way wasn’t going to stop them. Shining Armor took the lead of the ponies pushing forward, popping two or three rounds into each griffon foolish enough to step out and face them. Above his head, pegasi danced around airborne griffons, the deadly aerial combat sending bodies crashing to the ground all around him. They were halfway across the large third-level market district, and the griffon resistance seemed to be faltering.

Gunshots reverberated from up ahead, yet none of the bullets came their way. The other Equestrian troops… Shining recognized. All the remaining enemy soldiers were now sandwiched between a rock and a hard place: namely, two fronts of one powerful beast of an army. Soldiers swarmed forward ahead of him, rushing through buildings to clear them and end the fight as quickly as it had started.

That was when Shining Armor caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye. He averted his gaze from the fight long enough to see a squad of griffons rushing away down a side street. His eyes narrowed. He would be damned if he let any amount of them get away if he could stop them.

“You four ponies, with me,” he called, pointing out four soldiers and taking them along with Flash Sentry down after the griffons.

The ponies pursued the avians down the narrow streets of Skyfall, weaving between buildings and in and out of alleyways, following whatever glances they could catch of their foes. They seemed to be working their way around the edges of the battle, just barely skirting actual combat. The gunfire had begun to slowly fade away. The fight was coming to a close.

Just when Shining was about to lose hope in his hunt, the squad rounded a corner and he saw the griffons running into a house. The door slammed shut behind them. They had them now.

“Get some guns on that house,” he ordered. “They won’t be getting away this time.”

Shining Armor took cover behind an overturned cart. Flash Sentry came to a crouch beside him. The other soldiers found their own refuge spaced out around the front of the building, their weapons leveled on the windows and door.

“Griffons! By the authority of the Equestrian Royal Guard, I order you to come out and surrender!”

The small plaza was silent for a while. Despite his command, nothing happened. Shining licked his dry lips, tasting faint traces of gunpowder and sweat on his skin and in the air. His nostrils burned with the smell of it.

Then a pane of glass from a window broke outward. Shining saw the barrel of a gun poke out and made the connection before the first shot was even fired. The bullets smacked harmlessly into the dense wood of the cart. He heard his teammates opening fire on the griffon on the first floor, even as more fire came from the house. He poked his head up, resting his rifle on the cart for balance while putting round after round straight through the windows at his opponents.

The gunfight was intense and wild, but was over as fast as it had begun. Not a single thing stirred from within the house. Shining frowned in confusion. He was sure he had counted five griffons going in. They had only seen three in the fight. Where were the others?

“Move up. Breach and clear.”

At his order, Flash Sentry sprinted up to the door, taking position on one side. Once he had made it safely, Shining ran over to join him, followed closely by the others. He gave the nod to the pegasus and he kicked the door in. The soldiers rushed into the cramped little home, sweeping wide across the entryway and living room. Shining Armor paused, hearing a muted thump around the corner that led to the rest of the house.

He held up a hoof, stopping his team and crept towards the corner. His heart beat fast and strong, his hooves flexing against his weapon. Just as his shoulder touched the next doorway, he spun around with lightning-fast speed. The next thing he knew, he had a gun pointed in his face while shoving the barrel of his rifle into the face of a crimson pony. It took Shining Armor’s mind a moment to register everything, and when it did, he became aware that he knew the pony.

“Shining Armor.”

He recognized that voice. He knew that face and those blue eyes and that messy blonde mane.

“Fleethoof?” Shining gave an incredulous chuckle and both ponies lowered their weapons. “I can’t believe it! It’s really you!”

Fleethoof locked just as relieved to see him. “I can’t tell you how good it is to see you again, my friend.” His eyes glanced past Shining Armor. “All of you.”

“I saw you at those summit meetings in Asgard, but I lost you after that,” he said, still beaming with delight. “I thought you’d been lost.”

“I saw you taking down the flag at Asgard. I thought you were gone too!”

Both ponies laughed, and then turned their heads up when gunshots came from upstairs. Shining’s eyes narrowed. There were still griffons alive in the house. His gaze dropped, meeting Fleethoof’s once again. A smirk crossed his lips at the prospect of fighting side-by-side with his best friend again, his practiced hooves loading a fresh magazine into his weapon.

“You got my back?” Shining asked. Fleethoof just grinned and reloaded his gun as well.

“As long as you’ve got mine.”

Both soldiers made their way toward the stairs, marching swiftly up them. The second floor was little more than a narrow hallway and two doors. Shining Armor ran down to the furthest one while Fleethoof took position at the closest. They exchanged a look and nodded.

Shining Armor brought his hoof into the center of the wooden door at the same time as his partner. Both came crashing inward with a shattering of wood. Three griffons occupied the tiny bedroom. Relying solely on reflex and instinct, he brought his rifle to bear, putting two rounds into one griffon, and then the next. The third was running for the window, his wings folding flat to his body as he dove out through the glass. Shining studied the dark feathers and cold onyx eyes as the griffon disappeared into the air.

Alaric… That was Alaric!

“Buck! Alaric got away!” he swore, slamming his hoof into the windowsill.

“Move!”

Shining had only a moment to register his friend’s order before he was out the window, his wings shooting out as he took to the sky. He watched with wide eyes and high hopes as his friend took off after the tyrant king.

“Go get him, Fleet!” he shouted after the pegasus, then turned as the other soldiers came running into the room. “Fleet’s gone after Alaric. We have to follow them. We won’t let this son of a bitch get away this time!”

With nothing short of mad determination, Shining Armor flew down the stairs and back out into the streets of Skyfall. The fighting on the ground had all but ended now, but the war in the air raged on. The pegasi were carving through the griffon troops, yet it was still an unmediated mess of combat. Without cover or direction, each soldier circled and dove around one another, wrestling between life and death. It was a spectacle of beautiful chaos to behold.

Shining Armor ran blindly through the streets, his head and eyes turned skyward to catch any sight of Fleethoof and Alaric. For what felt like eons he just ran and ran, scanning every face and fur color, looking for red. And then, there! A streak of crimson in the sky caught his attention. Fleethoof was grappling with Alaric in midair, the two exchanging blows whilst struggling to get the upper hand in the fight.

He sucked in a deep breath and brought his rifle to bear. The shot was far—possibly the furthest he had ever tried to take. With other pegasi and griffons darting in and out of the way, his aim had to be perfect. If he could get one good shot off on Alaric, he could help Fleethoof put an end to this. His eyes focused, pupils dilating while his hoof flexed against the trigger. An opening passed by for a brief second…

And then Shining saw Alaric claw along the length of Fleethoof’s body with his talons and all of his equipment fell to the earth. In the next moment, Alaric had sent his foe spiraling through the air with a wicked punch and was fleeing out of sight once more with Fleethoof in hot pursuit. Shining spat out a curse for missing his chance and rushed over to where he had seen Fleethoof’s belongings fall. He leaped over a couple of bodies, weaving through an alley and then another alley before stepping onto a smaller road. Fleethoof’s saddlebags hung limply from a store’s sign, most of the contents spilled out across the cobblestone.

The ground was littered with most of what Shining thought was junk. A couple canteens, a map of the Griffon Kingdom, a compass… all basic stuff for a soldier’s kit. He looked back up, scrutinizing the hanging saddlebags with diligent eyes. There was definitely something left in one of the pouches, putting visible weight down in the bag. Biting his lip and straining a little, Shining Armor caught the bags with his magic and brought them down to the ground.

Inside, he found a small, beaten up journal.

“Sergeant Armor!”

At Flash Sentry’s call, Shining Armor turned his head up sharply, and instantly wished he hadn’t. Fleethoof was gliding downward through the air, wobbling unsteadily in the air. Splatters of blood trailed behind him as he fell. From where he stood, Shining saw the entirety of his friend’s descent, and watched as he crashed headfirst through a window into a building. Without a word, he slipped the journal into his own saddlebags and galloped to where he saw Fleethoof go down.

“Sergeant, there’s no use going to help him,” Flash Sentry muttered grimly. “He was coming in too fast, and he was bleeding. A crash without any sort of buffer at those speeds would’ve probably broken his neck or killed him on impact.”

Shining Armor said nothing, though his glare was harsh and biting. Flash recoiled from the intensity of his officer’s glower, biting his lip timidly.

“Fleethoof is one of my best friends. I’m getting him out of here. End of discussion.”

“All right, Sergeant. I’m just telling you not to get your hopes up. Nopony could’ve survived that.”

Shining shook his head. “You don’t know Fleet.”

The structure Fleethoof had crashed into looked like an apartment building. Kicking the front door down with an especially brutal blow, Shining rushed up the stairs three at a time. Four apartments occupied the second floor where he had crashed. He broke down the doors one by one, searching through each to no avail until he came to the last one. Fleethoof had to be inside.

Oh please, please let him be all right…

The apartment was a modest two-room set up. The lounge and kitchen area were immaculate, and the window intact. The bedroom was another story. Pushing through the door, Shining felt his guts turn inside out. Shards of glass were sprayed across the carpet all over the place. A nightstand had been knocked over and bloodstains spattered the floor. The opposite wall from the window had every picture knocked off of it, the photographs lying scattered in disarray. And lying in the debris of what had once been a dresser was an unmoving Fleethoof.

“Fleet!” Shining cried out, dropping by his friend’s side in an instant. He gently lifted the pony’s head, cradling his limp body in his gentle hooves. “Fleet! Can you hear me? Fleet? Fleethoof?”

In a state of panic, he started to check his wounds. The blood was seeping from a gunshot wound in his left wing, his red feathers stained and sticky with his own blood. Shining could see fragments of the white bone jutting out of his injured appendage. He winced, not daring to imagine the pain he must have endured on his way down. The stallion’s entire body was bruised and cut up, a few stray shards of glass still lingering in the lacerations from the crash landing.

But despite his fears, Fleethoof’s chest continued to rise and fall gradually.

“He’s still breathing. Unconscious… just unconscious. His pulse feels okay. Fleet? Wake up, Fleet!” He looked at Flash Sentry over his shoulder. “Go get a medic, now!”

Flash Sentry nodded and bolted out of the apartment again, leaving Shining Armor to care for his fallen friend. He ripped a strip of his uniform sleeve off with his teeth, wrapping the makeshift bandage around the injured wing with care in an attempt to subdue the bleeding.

“Hang on, Fleet. I’m getting you out of here… I’m getting us home…”

Twilight Sparkle stared mouth agape at her brother. Shining had paused, taking a long sip of his drink. The cool liquid and chilling memories sent a shiver down his spine. He returned to the world once the echoes of warfare faded away in his mind, turning to his sister with a sigh. The look in her eyes was a mixture of shock, horror, and fascination that he didn’t know how to decipher.

“Fleet survived… obviously, heh. We all sailed home right after that last fight,” Shining Armor said in conclusion, wrapping up his tale. “We never did find Alaric, but he wasn’t really our concern anymore. He was out of power and his rule had been toppled. He wasn’t a threat.”

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?” she asked, the tone in her voice stinging Shining. She sounded confused and betrayed. “Why did you keep it all such a big secret? I thought we could tell each other anything?”

Shining Armor swallowed hard, accepting his mistake and the raw feeling of guilt it brought with it. She was right. He should have told her. He had no reason to hide it, even if his intentions had been good. He had been wrong.

“I didn’t want you to think I was some sort of cold-blooded killer… And I remember how upset you were when I left for basic training. I didn’t want to get you thinking about how I could’ve been lost again.”

Twilight leaned across the table, capturing one of Shining’s hooves between her own. The soft contact made the stallion look up briskly. Their gazes locked, and Twilight smiled a delicate little smile.

“You’re my B.B.B.F.F., Shiny. You’ll always be my hero, no matter what you do.” She laughed softly, patting his hoof with her own. “Besides, I feel much better knowing my big brother is a capable soldier. Now I don’t have to worry about an incompetent Captain of the Guard.”

Shining Armor rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Twily.”

“You know I’m just teasing! But I really am glad you chose a desk job over marching into battle.”

Shining dropped his gaze a tad and let that thought process in his mind. He had given up a lot when he accepted his prestigious position. He no longer got to see the world, or train with his soldiers like he used to, or go out to the front lines. He had become a bureaucrat, dealing with the paperwork and politics behind the scenes of the army façade. None of it gave him that true rush that being part of the infantry did.

But then he remembered all that he had gained: a decent house in a quiet district of Canterlot, a world-renowned reputation and honor, a chance to lead a normal life while also making a difference in his soldiers’ lives. He thought about Cadence and the relationship they had been rekindling since his return home.

And even though he never marched into foreign lands anymore, the fate of Equestria still rested squarely on his shoulders. His decisions meant everything to the army. His commands and orders were heeded like the gospel. Hell, it was his hoof that redacted the sensitive information Skyfall received and approved their missions. He might not have been in the action anymore, but he was the one that made it happen.

He had come such a long way from those distant nights of laying awake in uncomfortable cots in the academy, worrying and dreaming about an uncertain future. He knew who he was. He had found his place in the world.

A crooked smile tugged at the edges of his lips. “You know, Twily… sometimes I am too.”

Comments

[Spriggs272]

I never really stopped to think about shining armour in the original tale.
Awesome stuff :D

[Veyron]

Thank you for writing this chapter, I was quite curious as to how twilight would take the fact that her brother had seen combat.

[The Mop Is AFK]

That was a great chapter, kinda been wanting to know what happened to Armor since book one. Also like how you threw Flash in there as well, was kinda funny and cool. Can't wait for more

[MariusIoannesP]

I'm glad to see Shining Armor's side of the story from "The Griffin War". It's also nice to see one of the main characters in one of these stories, especially Twilight. I like her relationship with Shining Armor. As an older brother myself, I can appreciate that.

“Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” they both sang out, shaking their flanks playfully with a burst of mirthful laughter.
“Well, that’s new,” Fleethoof remarked with wide eyes and a snicker.

Fleethoof can be quite unflappable sometimes.

Shining raised a brow and gave a sideways glance at his friend. “You’ve been opening up to Cadence, huh?”

Jealous much. He was waxing poetic over the last time he saw Cadance and about the possibility of rekindling a relationship with her. What's going to happen if she grows closer to Fleethoof? This is like Twilight, except better because they can shoot at each other.

“See ’em yet, Sentry?” he called up to the orange pegasus flittering overhead.

An orange blur landed beside them, and Shining exchanged a nod with Flash Sentry.

Flash Sentry! So he served in the Griffin War. I was hoping he'd show up in one of these stories. He could really use the treatment you've given to Shining Armor. I always felt he had a lot of potential. Let's hope he'll make an appearance in the series proper.

A wide grin made its way across Flash’s face. “Hey, maybe I could get a princess too.”
Shining laughed and said, “Oh yeah, maybe in an alternate universe. You know, I—”

Equestria Girls joke!

I'm really enjoying these side stories in the meantime until "Overture" updates. Keep up the good work.

[Dusk Quill]

3603372
I've had a few people ask me what happened to Shining Armor during the war. It seemed like the only logical choice to use as his background story, since the canon and comic books covered the time before and after his enlistment.

3603649
You are very welcome.

3604118
You never really know with me. The beautiful thing is that nothing is finalized, and there are still a lot of shades of gray I need to decide what to do with.

3604567
Shining Armor is one of those characters that I wish had more of a background to them. That's the entire reason I had him as a main character in my stories. When people began asking for his side of the Griffon War, I knew this was the perfect chance. Twilight is my absolute favorite in the show, so she obviously had to make an appearance when it was right. I plan on using her and the others more in the future.

Hmm, maybe they will shoot at each other...

Yep! Flash Sentry has joined the cast. Rest assured, I have a bigger role for him reserved in the future that will explain how he got to his high position in the Crystal Guard.

[MariusIoannesP]

3604777 Can't wait to hear that story about Flash Sentry.

[Dusk Quill]

3617255
Run, Shining, run!

[Treilacl]

So...I liked part of this, but there were a couple of parts that really seemed...errr pretty sub-par for your work.
Firstly I was happy to see Twi meet Fleet...but I'm looking forward to seeing them actually interact a bit more then "Hey, nice to meet you."

Right...so the things that bugged me.
Pretty much the entire scene that goes from Shining practicing magic to the princesses returning from the capital telling the army that the war is continuing.

So lets start with the magic practice: this scene felt so ham-fisted and awkward. The first thought that came to mind was, "he's going to try and use magic later on." It pulled me out of the story and had me looking in on the story instead of submerging myself in it.

This scene was also the beginning of a rather frustrating trend. The use of magic for rather mundane things.
What I'm referring to is someone using magic to pass Shining a canteen or Shining using magic to lower the flag. I believe there were a few other instances of simple magic use. These instances really devalue the arcanate and makes the question; "why don't the unicorns use magic in the war?"
It also makes Shining's whole struggle with casting while fighting against the arcanate feel really weird. If he's a, supposedly, really powerful spell caster then what about the guy casting the multiple offensive spells? It raises more questions about arcanate rather than clarifying what this stuff does.

The other issues I had with this scene was the talk of "princesses" and Luna being around. I found it really odd at how accepting the ponies where that. The army treated Luna as if she'd always been there, but of course she'd been there for...how long? I went back to the chapter in your first story and after rereading that section it still feels really weird. Did the ponies really accept Luna that readily?

...ummm...something else that I literally just thought about was how the heck do Princess Celestia and Princess Luna get out of the Kingdom ahead of Fleet when Skyfall had been recaptured by the griffins before the war had officially started up again? Word of Skyfall's capture hadn't reached the army until after the war had started up again, so the princesses where trapped in the country just as much as the army was. How did they get through the Kingdom's blockade and to Equestira before Fleet and his unit did? And if the Princesses got through before Fleet and his unit did they leave poor Cadance behind trapped in a tower to play damsel in distress?
...and now...now I'm wondering why Princess Cadance was coming to the Kingdom when Celestia and Luna were already there. Having all three of your nations rulers in a hostile nation doesn't seem very wise. Maybe this is just me with hind-sight 20/20 with my knowledge of how the war plays out, and further world building done with you, that makes me wonder why all 3 alicorn princesses where there, however I feel this is something that you might want to remember for future works.

Anyways...overall I did enjoy this chapter. It was nice to see stuff from Shining's POV and to see the Kingdom again. Now that I'm finally done with this semester I'm looking forward to getting my own content of the Kingdom up and underway. I want to explore this world you've created even more now.

[Dusk Quill]

3629573
All valid and good points. Let's begin addressing them one at a time by going back to the original story this chapter is a part of. As for more Twilight and Fleethoof interaction, well... that's not exactly for the side story. That's something more for the plot proper.

Anyway...

So lets start with the magic practice: this scene felt so ham-fisted and awkward.

Can't really address anything with this. I'm going to have to say that this is a matter of perspective on this and that we'll have to agree to disagree on this matter.

The use of magic for rather mundane things... These instances really devalue the arcanate and makes the question; "why don't the unicorns use magic in the war?"

Because that is literally ALL they can do with it. Arcanate doesn't stop magic, it buffers it. Powerful unicorn spellcasters and the members of the Guard that had been enlisted longer have had training around it. I refer you back to Captain Phalanx's expanation:

"...We used to have a training regiment in the Guard that taught unicorns how to focus energy around it. Of course, our spells were much weaker, and were usually only effective to the caster, but we could do it."

It isn't impossible for the ponies to use magic, but it takes a great deal of effort. Next point...

Did the ponies really accept Luna that readily?

I'm just gonna leave this here as my answer.

static3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130106001126/mlp/images/0/09/Princess_Luna_smiling_at_her_sister_S1E02.png

how the heck do Princess Celestia and Princess Luna get out of the Kingdom ahead of Fleet when Skyfall had been recaptured

I refer you back to The Griffon War, Chapter 8:

“So it’s not the princesses?” asked Fleethoof. “How did they get out of the Griffon Kingdom if they didn’t pass through Skyfall?”

“Who knows? They probably teleported, or flew. They can do both, you know. You should keep an eye out for their entourage along the road if they did evacuate—they’ll be able to aid you.”

And if the Princesses got through before Fleet and his unit did they leave poor Cadance behind trapped in a tower to play damsel in distress?

The simple answer is yes. The complicated answer is: two high value individuals and a small band of bodyguards facing a platoon of advanced griffon soldiers. You don't need to be a military strategist to know what would happen if they attempted anything.

I'm wondering why Princess Cadance was coming to the Kingdom when Celestia and Luna were already there.

The Griffon War, Chapter 9:

“We were, until Aunt Celestia asked me to join her at the negotiations,” Cadence said. “She said she needed help spreading love to the griffons. Something about them being possessed with hate.”

Political propaganda all around. That, and a dash of alicorn charm to break Alaric's charismatic hold of hatred. Celestia and Luna appeal to the leader while Cadence uses her abilities to sway the public in favor of the Equestrians peacefully. Also, Cadence isn't a ruler yet. She's an Equestrian ambassador. Celestia and Luna are the only rulers in the diarchy.

In regards to this, thank you for taking the time to write all of this out. It's things like this that help keep me pushing to do better and better. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what you have in store for the griffons in the future. They certainly haven't made their last appearance in my work yet.

[Treilacl]

3629890 I figured there wouldn't be more Twi...just something I'm hoping to see more of her.

And what I meant by the magic practice being ham-fisted was that there was no build up or transition to the moment. Shining was focusing on the city and the up and coming siege when someone called out to him that he should practice his magic. His response is to keep musing about his current situation, as if he hadn't heard. Then he does a 180 and shows that he had heard and had been paying attention to the calls for him to practice magic. It's the disconnect between the dialogue and description that made me go:

But why would the unicorns bother using simple magic? You've described using magic, particularly with pro-longed use, to be painful. You've also described it as making the caster extremely nauseous and dizzy shaking the caster to his core.
This is for a powerful spell, cast be a powerful spell caster. Wouldn't a simple spell simply fissile out, without major concentration, effort, and some pain on the spell casters part, because it wouldn't have the power to punch through the buffer? You set up the arcanate as a major deterrent to use magic, but when you compare the struggle Shining underwent to cast his shield, a spell with the strength to power through the arcanate, to using something small like levitation it seems like the arcanate has no affect on that stuff. But when you wrote me out that sheet about the purity of arcanate and it's affects on spell casters the chart implied that the more arcanate or refined arcanate there was the more powerful the spell caster and her spells would have to be, because without that power they wouldn't be able to punch through the arcanate's buffer. It's just this chapter has me asking more questions. Before I'd felt like I had a good understanding: More power and skill means you're going to punch through the buffer. Less power and less skill and your spells will be hampered, maybe even shut down completely.
However, with small spells being used so nonchalantly arcanate feels like it losses it's effect until something important happens.

As for the Luna bit...I'll see you're picture and raise you an episode: Luna Eclipsed
An entire episode about working to get Luna to make some friends and to not have the entire town quiver in fear of her.
And even if the army was perfectly trusting of Luna...wouldn't they at least be a little curious as to who this new princess is? These soldiers have grown up with Princess Celestia and Princess Cady and no one is curious about the new ruler of the night? ...anyone? ...no?

And thank you for clarifying the return of Celestia to the capital...though I still think having all three of your rulers in a hostile nation is poor planning. Even if Cady isn't a "ruler" she's still a Princess and in my head-cannon if Celestia and Luna were to vanish or be out of commission, my natural reaction would be to turn to Cady and say, "Welp, looks like you're up to bat kid." By having "Prince" or "Princess" in your name it pretty much guaranties that you're next in line...especially when you've wing and a horn.

[Dusk Quill]

3630920
Oh, there will be more of Twi.

I think the easiest way for me to answer this with all the background knowledge I've given you is through a message. I'll send my response right away.

In regards to Luna again, I can only answer that by going back to The Griffon War:

The war was not the only action the world was seeing. News stories of Nightmare Moon's defeat and Princess Luna's return regaled the front pages of newspapers for days.

So it isn't as big of a surprise as you think. Skepticism may have been in the hearts of some, but I can't think of a soul alive that would be unhappy to see someone trying to save their lives. I personally dislike Luna Eclipsed simply for the fact that none of it feels right. I find it very difficult to believe that the ponies that had one regaled her return with celebrations and flowers were suddenly frightened to death of her. I've always personally chalked that up to her swooping in like a bat out of hell (pun intended), dressed like an assassin, screaming at the top of her lungs. I don't believe the citizens of Equestria are truly afraid of her, but were more frightened by her affront nature during a holiday that was centered around her darker side.

You are correct! That is the head canon I hold to as well—at least until Twilight makes a claim to the throne. But in a constitutional monarchy (or diarchy in this case), the senate and congress of Equestria would also have political power, and in my mind would govern Equestria democratically until a suitable adjunct could be placed on the throne. It probably was poor choice to trust the griffons in a time of war, though.

[Treilacl]

3633326
I'm not sure the celebration was really for or even about Luna. She was more or less there, while the Celebration was more about Celestia's return. Luna more or less happened to be there.
Not to mention Luna looks a lot different in Luna Eclipsed compared to the image we see of her in Season 1. Actually Digibrony talks a bit about this in his thorough analyzes of Luna Eclipsed.

Also...I don't mean that the army would necessarily be scared of her...but is no one curious about her or what she's like? She literarily came from the moon. No one is curious about her and wants to ask questions? It's just...Luna's presence already feels common place. But I digress.

[Strythio]

Due to my curiosity, I read this chapter prior to the other ones; I just had to know about what Shining Armour had been up to in the capital!

Well, while I was expecting a Stalingrad take down the bunker CoD style kind of operation, I wasn't disappointed. I can certainly say I feel that Shining earned his stripes, while in the main story I sometimes had to wonder. Course, I'm sure his new desk job is a tad safer (just wait till your wedding bro ) than the front lines.

I think my only critique, really, is when Shining's group had pinned those loyalists in that building. He seriously just shouted for them to surrender, knowing damn well that they would rather "eat a bullet than lay down their arms". At this stage, you would think Shining would be past that ridiculous notion of giving this lot a chance to surrender. He knows, or believes he knows anyways, who/what is left.

They are not going down without a fight, so asking them to surrender seemed either superficial or unnecessarily haughty to me. But other than that, not much else that I could poke too much fun at, though I was a little surprised to see Flash Sentry not just in Skyfall, but also in Asgard. Apologies if that had been mentioned in the original story, but for some reason, I was caught a little off guard. No grievances though, not much is known about Flash anyways in the canon, so some fiction with him not wanting to romp Twilight is not a bad thing.

Good side story, it really cleared up what Shining got promoted for quite nicely.

[ph0enix]

I really hope you decide to continue this, it really adds another dimension to the story and makes it that much more enjoyable.