My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition

by SuperPinkBrony12

Chapter 2: Change of Plans

Shining Armor wasted no time and left the tower where his sister resided. He raced quickly through the streets of Canterlot, attracting quite the odd looks from its residents. But Shining Armor didn't care what others thought of him right now, he had more important things on his mind.

"I really hope Spike's right and Nightmare Moon is just a legend." Shining Armor thought to himself "If that book is to believed no one could stand up to her, not even Princess Celestia."

After only a few minutes Shining Armor arrived at the barracks just outside the royal castle that housed the royal guards. The instant he set hoof on the property he was greated by spears pointed directly at him.

"Halt!" a royal guard called out "Who goes there?! Identify yourself!"

Shining Armor gulped but shrugged off the spears in his face and said "It's me, Lieutenant Shining Armor."

"What brings you here Lieutenant Armor?!" another guard snapped "You're not suppose to be on duty today."

"I know that." Shining Armor said "But I have important news! I must speak with Princess Celestia! It is urgent!"

"Define urgent!" a guard said "It better be good!"

"It is!" Shining Armor said "It has come to my attention that Equestria is in danger."

"Danger?" the royal guards asked.

"Yes." Shining Armor said "For I have reason to believe that The Mare in The Moon is indeed fact Nightmare Moon. And that she is about to escape and bring about everlasting night. It is of the utmost importance that this information be passed on to Princess Celestia."

There was a long silence. No one said anything. Then one by one all the guards started bursting out laughing "You've been reading too many fairy tales!" one guard chuckled "Everypony knows Nightmare Moon is just a myth!"

"That's like saying Discord is going to break free!" another guard chimed in "It's absurd and it's never going to happen!"

"But I'm serious!" Shining Armor said "Nightmare Moon IS real!"

"Yeah right!" A third guard said "I knew Princess Celestia made a mistake when she recruited you! You're a disgrace to us all! You should just go back to being a night guard, it'll save you and it'll save us the embarassment of having to listen to your silly stories!"

"They're not silly!" Shining Armor said.

"They ARE silly and so are you!" the first guard said "Just listen to yourself!" The royal guards then started teasing Shining Armor, calling him names, and laughing in his face until he couldn't stand it anymore. Shining Armor wanted nothing more then to hide his face, which was blushing bright red with embarassment.

"Alright, that's it!" came a booming voice. Everyone gulped, they knew who that. "This has gone far enough! You're acting like a bunch of school yard colts! Well I've got news for you, you're all fully grown stallions and it's time you started acting like them!" A few moments later a unicorn with a light pink coat, white mane and tail, amber eyes, and a cutie mark consisting of a golden shield stepped into view. The unicorn's name was Gleaming Shield and she was Captain of the Royal Guard. She'd served in the post for several decades and had established a reputation for being a no nonsense mare.

"Captain Shield Ma-am!" a guard said "What are you doing here?!"

"I think the better question is what do you guys thing you're doing?!" Gleaming Shield snapped "I want answers!"

"Lieutenant Armor over here was just telling us that Nightmare Moon was real." Another guard explained. "And we were just taking the time to tell him how wrong he was."

"And since when did I give you permission to do that?" Gleaming Shield said "In case you've forgotten I'm in charge here!"

The other guards knew it was no use arguing with Gleaming Shield. "We're sorry ma-am." they said.

"You should be!" Gleaming Shield said sternly "Now all of you get back to your posts right now! Except you Lietuenant Armor. You and I are going to have a little talk."

Shining Armor gulped. "Right now?" he asked.

"Yes." Gleaming Shield said "Follow me." A few moments later Shining Armor found hismelf sitting in Gleaming Shield's office. The thick wooden walls and red carpet gave off a vibe that usually felt friendly, but that wasn't the case now. "Now then," Gleaming Shield said, sitting at her desk "Tell me what was so important that you came back from your day off. It had better be good, for your sake."

Realizing he had no choice Shining Armor carefully explained what he had told the guards at the barracks. Surprisingly enough Gleaming Shield seemed at the very least intrested in what he had to say.

"So let me get this straight." Gleaming Shield said when Shining Armor had finished "You believe that Nightmare Moon is going to return during the Summer Sun Celebration, and that if we do not take immediate action all of Equestria will be plunged into eternal nighttime. And you want me to inform Princess Celestia?"

"Yes." Shining Armor said "I know this sounds absurd, and I really want to believe it's not true. But something tells me that the threat is real, and we must act quickly, otherwise it will be too late. Trust me when I say I wouldn't have come back here if I didn't think this was something to be concerned about."

"Well, I don't know." Gleaming Shield said "You've only recently been promoted, and you don't really have any sort of track record for these types of situations. Plus it's only your word against everyone else's."

"I know that." Shining Armor said "But you have to trust me. The fate of Equestria could very well be at stake if we don't do something." Gleaming Shield didn't seem convinced. "Ask yourself, what would Princess Celestia do if she were in your horseshoes?" Shining Armor pleaded.

Gleaming Shield was silent for a moment, the stern look on her face never fading. Then she spoke up. "I suppose I could arrange to send this warning to Princess Celestia. But don't expect me to lie to cover your own flank if I get into trouble. I'll make sure she knows who told me about this, and it will be up to her to decide what to do." she explained.

"Oh thank you ma-am!" Shining Armor said happily.

"Settle down youngster I'm not promising anything. Like I said it will be up to Princess Celestia to determine if a threat exists." Gleaming Shield said.

"But you promise you'll speak to her right?" Shining Armor asked.

"Yes." Gleaming Shield said "That is all, you are dismissed."

After he left Gleaming Shield's office Shining Armor quickly left the barracks, intent on spending the rest of his day off. Or at least trying to, for despite his best efforts his thoughts kept turning back to Nightmare Moon. Surely Princess Celestia was aware of the stories. She wouldn't leave the safety of her throne if she felt she or Equestria was in danger, right?

Time seemed to pass slowly for Shining Armor as he tried to no avail to forget about Nightmare Moon and the so called "Elements of Harmony". He just couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to the old stories then most ponies thought.

Finally, after what seemed like hours a voice called out "There he is!". Shining Armor looked up in time to see a silver pegasus stallion descend from above, along with a few members of the royal guard. It was Commander Silverbolt, the de-facto leader of the royal guard's pegasus unit, and Gleaming Shield's righthoof stallion.

"What do you want from me?" Shining Armor asked nervously, he dreaded the outcome.

"We have a message for you from Princess Celestia, she specifically requested that we deliver it you ourselves." Silverbolt said. He then pulled out a scroll that had until seconds ago had been tucked under his wing.

Shining Armor used his magic to pick it up and read it.

Dear Lieutenant Shining Armor,

I appreciate your concern, and I am glad to see you take your job seriously. I knew I made the right choice in hiring you.

However, I assure you that there is no reason to be alarmed. Everything is under control, the Summer Sun Celebration will proceed as planned.

But, if it will make you happy Gleaming Shield and I have agreed to send a unit of the royal guard to provide extra security. Normally I would have Gleaming Shield tag along, but we both believe that your youthfulness and enthusiasm will be a greater asset to us. So you will take Gleaming Shield's place as the official security overseer for the Summer Sun Celebration.

Speaking of which the celebration is being held in Ponyville this year. I have made arrangements for you to stay until the Celebration is over. And Spike will be reassinged to you so that I may contact you with any new information. Please be ready to go, the carriage will arrive in about two hours.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

P.S. In addition to providing security, while you are in Ponyville I want you to make some new friends. I know you already have a few, but I believe you have yet to discover all that friendship has to offer.

Author's Note:

Yes I know Gleaming Shield is the name of Rule 63 Shining Armor.

Comments

[Night--Mist]

HOW CAN YOU SEND SPIKE WITHOUT TWILIGHT SPARKLE!? HE'S HER #1 ASSISTANT! HOW DARE YOU SEPARATE SPIKE FROM THE MARE WHO RAISED HIM!

*I use Cadence's breathing technique.*

Sorry had to get that out of my system. All in all, it was a great chapter. and that part with the guards and then with the Captain of the Royal Guard, classic. I'll bet those two guards get demoted if not discharged from the Royal Guard. Got to read the next chapter, this is getting good.

[Barbara]

Why use Gleaming Sheild?

[ShadowLDrago]

Oh those two guards are going to feel soo stupid come Nightmare Moon. As for Spike going with Shining, not quite sure how I feel about that, I know the show wanted someone who was already Twilight's friend and is more level headed and can serve as a straight man to her when she is in her less stable moments, someone to serve better than just Twilight having a spell to send the letters to Celestia, Spike fills the role of both, it's obvious Shining is a fair bit younger than when we see him in Canterlot Wedding, that, or he got promoted a lot more recently than I thought in that timeline, or this is just AU logic, you can shift characters and
Plottlines around, no need to follow the show exactly, it'll be nice to see Shining and the Stallion 6 deal with Zecora, Discord, Sombra, Chrysalis, however that will play out, become an Alicorn during Magical Mustery Cure and lay the beat down on Tirek, though it seems that he and Twilight were more or less equal, she could dodge whatever he could dish out, and he could tank anything she could dish out. All in all, should be fun to see this play out.

[kahnac]

Figures. So even among the ranks, some of the guards are pretentious pricks. And it's worse because Shining's apparently not that popular with them, so they would typically go Diamond Tiara on him. Though at least he has his R63 counterpart IN NAME ONLY to keep them in check. But now it's time to go to ponyville. And see how well he fills in Twilight's shoes. Figuratively speaking, of course.:)

[Truthseeker]

Finally, after what seemed like hours a voice called out "There is he!".

Apparently other Ponies speak 'ye merry olde Equestrian' besides Luna.

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

"I think the better question is what do you guys thing (think) you're doing?!" Gleaming Shield snapped "I want answers!"

[SWEETOLEBOB18]

EVERYONE seems to overlook.
Celestia is the one who banished NMM in the first place
Perhaps she wasn't unduly alarmed by Twilight's "news"
because she knew it 1000 years before Twilight figured it out

[Yoshifan30]

"That's like saying Discord is going to break free!" another guard chimed in "It's absurd and it's never going to happen!"

Yeah about that bro 😅

[Yoshifan30]

Wow ok so Apparently shining armor Does not have a perfect record as the guard Specially those guys being a jerk to him but Gleaming Shield came here And saddled everything down But it looks like princess Celestia doesn't feel like she should be worried even though we all know why But she sending him to ponyville And it looks like hes Going to make new friends cool I can't wait to see who the new friends are

[MLPandMiraculousFanatic]

"I think the better question is what do you guys thing you're doing?!" Gleaming Shield snapped "I want answers!"

This is supposed to be think not thing

[eemoo1o]

"I think the better question is what do you guys thing you're doing?!" Gleaming Shield snapped "I want answers!"

R63 reference, I see