My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition

by SuperPinkBrony12

Chapter 57: Sombra Awakens

Cadence and Shining Armor quickly made their way to the train station in Canterlot, and waiting for Shining Armor on the platform were all his friends from Ponyville, as well as his sister, and of course Spike. They were all going to The Crystal Empire as well, and many of them were incredibly excited (Rarity could barely contain her excitement).

"You didn't really think you could go on this mission without us, did you?" Big Macintosh asked.

"If there's one thing you should know about us by now, Shining Armor, it's that we never miss a chance to help one of our friends!" Braeburn added.

"I must say, an empire made entirely of crystal sounds devine. The funny thing is, I used to believe it was just a legend, but it seems the stories were true after all." Fancy Pants chimed in.

"This is going to be just like old times!" Thunderlane smiled "Here we are, about to embark on another journey to save Equestria."

"It'll be a great opportunity to see a place that nopony has seen in 1,000 years. Won't that be nice?" Soarin asked Shining Armor.

"Sure, I guess," Shining Armor replied flatly "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. We need to remember what's at stake. We're traveling to the empire per the orders of Princess Celestia. First and foremost, our duty is to protect the empire from falling into the wrong hooves. All of you may accompany me if you wish, but don't forget what's at stake."

"Shining Armor is right," Twilight spoke up "We musn't let ourselves get distracted with sight seeing. There's no telling what lies in store for us, or what sort of traps King Sombra might have left behind."

"But that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun, right?" Pinkie Pie asked "A little fun never hurt anypony."

"Pinkie Pie's right," Rainbow Dash replied "There's no reason why we can't enjoy ourselves a little while we're busy learning more about those crystal ponies. Who knows, maybe we'll learn something from them?"

"Anythin's possible." Applejack nodded.

"Well, you can all snoop around and see what there is to see when we arrive," Shining Armor told his friends "But for Cadence and I, we're going to focus on the mission given to us by Princess Celestia. And that means, we must be ready to jump into action at a moment's notice. That leaves no time for fun and games!"

"We didn't mean to imply your assignment wasn't important," Fluttershy apologized, as everyone boarded the train bound for The Frozen North "Twilight's actually been given an assignment as well. Princess Celestia wants her to gather information about the crystal ponies, to see what they might remember from before Sombra's time."

"And she's clearly taking this assignment one hundred percent seriously," Rarity said with a nod "However, something tells me we're all going to be needed to complete both tasks. And despite the circumstances, it doesn't do us any good to be overly concerned. I know from experience that too much stress is never healthy for anypony, no matter how well they might handle it."

"I know that, and I'm grateful you're all coming with me," Shining Armor replied, as the doors closed and the train departed from the station "But I don't want any of you putting yourselves in harm's way just to help me. If you did, and any of you were hurt, I'd never forgive myself. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to discuss with Cadence what we're going to do once we reach the empire. First and foremost, we'll need some sort of protective barrier to keep Sombra out." And with that, he left for another car.

"Just what was that all about?" Spike wondered outloud "I haven't seen Shining Armor this worked up since just after Discord was defeated."

"It's like he's shut himself off from everything but the mission to protect The Crystal Empire," Thunderlane commented "But why would he do that? He's always been so level headed and collected, but he's never been so aloof and distant."

To everyone's surprise, Soarin spoke up and said with a frown "I've seen this kind of behavior before. I'm no pyschologist, but what Shining Armor's going through is something that happens to everyone at some point. When you've been through a really tramuatic experience, particularly one you barely got out of, the mind tends to take a while to recover. It shuts itself down and retreats to a safe space, while it tries to figure out how to not let the experience repeat itself a second time."

"And how do you know so much about this?" Rarity asked.

"Because I've been where Shining Armor's been," Soarin admitted "Spitfire went through it shortly after I joined The Wonderbolts. It was a routine survilence mission in The Griffon Kingdom. We were keeping tabs on a smuggling ring run by a group of pirates, but they caught onto us, and Spitfire and I were lucky to escape the cove unharmed. The others weren't so lucky, Wind Ryder in particularly got hurt pretty badly, and Spitfire blamed herself. It didn't matter what anypony told her, she kept thinking it was her fault we almost didn't make it out alive. It wasn't until Wind Ryder set off on his own to get even with the pirates, that Spitfire snapped out of it. And even then, she didn't fully return to normal until the pirate captain was captured and arrested by Gleaming Shield."

"Whoa! I know The Wonderbolts have been involved in more than just aerial acrobatics, but I never knew they'd had a brush with death before." Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Spitfire doesn't like to talk about it much," Soarin replied "But from the day forward I could sense something was different about her. She became a lot more determined and driven, and she really started dialing up the drill sergeant routine around the academy. I sense that part of her still feels it was her fault what happened. And Shining Armor's going through a lot of the same signs."

"If that's true, how do we get him to snap out of it?" Braeburn wondered.

Soarin shook his head "There's no way we can force him to do so. It's something he has to recover from on his own terms, and nothing we say or do can change that."

"But then, what can we do?" Thunderlane asked "We can't just let him mope around."

"All we can do, is do our best to keep Shining Armor from doing anything he'll regret later," Soarin replied "The rest is up to Shining Armor."

---

The rest of the train ride passed in uncomfortable silence for all involved. Shining Armor's friends (as well as Twilight and Spike) all agreed Shining Armor was still struggling with his guilt for the royal wedding invasion. But none knew how to best approach the subject, and help him work through it.

As for Shining Armor, all he could focus on was making sure he didn't allow himself to make the same mistakes he'd made with Discord and Chrysalis. "This time will be different," he thought to himself "King Sombra will never get his hooves on The Crystal Empire as long as I have anything to say about it!"

At last, the train came to a stop at a small junction in the loneliest part of the arctic wasteland known as The Frozen North. The only sound that could be heard admist the barren snow covered landscape, was the harsh roar of the blitzering cold winds, as snowflakes swooshed through the air.

"This is where we get off," Princess Cadence explained "There is no train station in The Crystal Empire, King Sombra destroyed it and all methods of transporation into or out of the empire soon after he took over the throne."

"Well, it's a good thing I had the foresight to pack an entire suitcase of extra scarves," Rarity smiled, as she opened up said suitcase and gave a scarf to each of her friends, beginning with Spike "Better bundle up, temperatures are probably going to be below freezing."

"Just great, Princess Celestia gave us an assignment in the coldest ice slab in all of Equestria!" Rainbow Dash complained "We'll freeze our butts off for sure!"

"Not if we stay focused, and keep moving," Shining Armor explained "The empire isn't too far from here. But we'd better hurry and make it before nightfall."

"What's so bad about nightfall?" Fluttershy asked.

"There are a LOT of dangerous creatures that call this place home, and most of them only come out after dark," Twilight explained "I've read about some of them, and what little information I picked up wasn't pleasant."

"Then there's no time to lose!" Applejack shouted "Let's stop talkin', and start trottin'!" And with that, the group set off for The Crystal Empire. The going was difficult right from the start. The wind not only blew snowflakes around in a blinding fashion that dropped visibility to almost zero, but also nipped at the hats, coats, and scarves that everypony was wearing.

---

After what seemed like an hour long trek through the snow and ice, the dazzling glow of The Crystal Empire commanded attention, as Shining Armor, Cadence, and the others drew close to the outskirts.

"Almost there, just a little further!" Princess Cadence encouraged.

"Just think warm thoughts everypony, we're going to make it!" Pinkie Pie shouted eagerly.

But just then, there came a tremendous roar from afar. A roar that, even amongst the hollowing wind, could be heard as clear as day. Everyone turned around, and gasped at what they saw.

"No! It can't be!" Shining Armor thought, but he knew there was no use denying it. A looming black wall of smoke and shadow was creeping up from the horizon, drawing closer and closer with each passing second. And if one looked closely, they could see a familiar pair of eyes and a dark red horn poking out.

"It's Sombra!" Princess Cadence exclaimed "He has returned!"

"Right you are, princess!" King Sombra replied with a fiendish laugh "You didn't think it was going to be that easy to steal my throne, did you?"

"What are we gonna do?!" Thunderlane asked nervously.

"Run for it!" Soarin shouted, and everyone did so. They ran as fast as their legs would let them, all the while King Sombra gave chase! Everytime anypony turned to look, Sombra seemed to draw closer and closer, even as The Crystal Empire and safety seemed to be within reach.

Suddenly, Shining Armor stopped running. He halted right where he was, and turned around to face Sombra.

"What are you doin'?!" Big Macintosh asked.

"He's getting too close!" Shining Armor shouted above the wind "Stay the others and make sure they reach the empire safely, I'm going to see if I can't slow Sombra down!"

"Are you absolutely nuts?! He'll kill you!" Big Macintosh bellowed.

"That wasn't a request, that was an order!" Shining Armor barked "Now go! I'll be fine, I promise!" And before anyone could stop him, he took off at a speed that would make Rainbow Dash jealous.

"B.B.B.F.F! Come back!" Twilight pleaded.

"Forget it, Twilight," Spike told her "He's on his own now. We can't let his scarifice be in vain, we've got to get going!"

"But, but-" Twilight stuttered.

"No buts!" Princess Cadence interrupted, taking charge of the situation "I don't like it anymore than you do, Twilight. But we've got to trust Shining Armor. At least if we reach The Crystal Empire, we can hopefully whip up something to keep King Sombra out. Then we can worry about Shining Armor."

Reluctantly, everyone else took off running, and refused to look back. Now Shining Armor was alone.

---

"Come on, King Sombra!" Shining Armor shouted, shooting off beams of magic from his horn "Afraid to face me one on one?!"

"Hardly! Prepare to meet your doom!" King Sombra replied, effortlessly dodging the beams with little difficulty.

"You don't scare me, Sombra." Shining Armor said heroically, as he fired off another beam from his horn. Only for Sombra to dodge it, and then disappear into seemingly nowhere.

But then, just as quickly as he had disappeared, King Sombra reappeared, and quickly closed in on Shining Armor. "That's because I haven't tried yet," he said in a sinister tone of voice "But mark my words, young Shining Armor. You WILL know the true meaning of fear, and suffering will be your teacher."

Shining Armor didn't realize until too late what was happening, but he tried his best to be brave, as he was surrounded by the darkness. "Do your worst, Sombra!" he said defiantly.

King Sombra chuckled fiendishly "Let the lesson begin." And those were the last words Shining Armor heard, before his whole world went dark.

Author's Note:

I decided to add more context to Shining Armor's fight with Sombra, since in the original episode there's not much that really explains why he suddenly runs forward and attacks Sombra.

Sombra's speech towards the end borrows some inspiration from the speech Fire Lord Oazi gives to Prince Zuko in a flashback in "The Storm".

Comments

[Yoshifan30]

To everyone's surprise, Soarin spoke up and said with a frown "I've seen this kind of behavior before. I'm no pyschologist, but what Shining Armor's going through is something that happens to everyone at some point. When you've been through a really tramuatic experience, particularly one you barely got out of, the mind tends to take a while to recover. It shuts itself down and retreats to a safe space, while it tries to figure out how to not let the experience repeat itself a second time."

Basically he has PTSD