Chapter 95: New Castle, New Mission
The six stallions took off, traveling all across Equestria and occasionally splitting off as needed. For example, Braeburn went off alone to Appleloosa, in order to give the earth ponies there their magic. And Soarin and Thunderlane went to Cloudsdale to give most of the pegasi there, their magic.
Before long, there was only one place left to stop to return all the magic, the city of Canterlot. The princesses had been freed from Tartarus, but they were still without magic. To say nothing of the few royal guards that had remained in the city even after losing their magic.
At last, all the magic in Equestria was back where it belonged, and the six stallions returned to Ponyville as their new forms wore off.
“Whew, what a trip!” Braeburn happily exclaimed. “I guess those new forms of ours are gonna be our new last line of defense. Just hope we can figure out how to call on ‘em again.”
“I hope so too,” Soarin added, then frowned a bit. “But you know, that was a little too close for comfort. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that we stopped Tirek and all. But think about it, if that necklace had been anything else, we wouldn’t be standing here, having this conversation right now.”
“Oddly enough, I had the same feeling as you, Soarin,” Fancy Pants nodded in agreement. “We were really flying by the seat of our pants back there. I mean for those of us wearing pants, but my point still stands. Even if Discord had sent Tirek back to Tartarus right away, how do we know for sure things would’ve worked out okay? This time I think we really got lucky, more lucky than we did with any other threat before.”
“Which is why I think we need to develop some kind of back-up plan, in case we can’t call on those rainbow forms. We trusted perhaps too much to luck this time around, and it bit us in the flanks in a major way. It was only by a major miracle that trusting so much to luck didn’t doom us all!” Soarin commented. “Who knows what could’ve happened had any of the events played out even a little bit differently?”
“Well, I’ll see if any of the princesses know anything about those rainbow forms,” Shining commented with a sigh. “And perhaps, Twily might be interested in studying those forms, assuming we can call upon them at will. But for right now, those plans will have to be on hold.”
“What do you mea-oh!” Thunderlane realized all of a sudden. “You’re talking about the library, aren’t you?”
Shining nodded, a few tears forming in his eyes. “For Twily, it was practically home. And for me, it was a home away from home. And now it’s gone, thanks to Tirek. A shame too, we were finally going to set aside an appointment to make the place feel more like the home of royalty. But now, I guess Twilight and Spike will have to move into the Crystal Empire with Cadence and I, at least until a new home can be built here,” Then he added. “Even if time travel spells weren’t forbidden, there’s no way I could go back in time and stop the Golden Oak Library from being destroyed. The rules of time travel make it very clear you’re not supposed to go back to any time you already existed, doing so could lead to a time paradox that could destroy all of existence. I suppose it couldn’t be helped though, seems like every major victory has come at a high price for me.”
“But, you’ll still come back to Ponyville just to visit us, right?” Big Macintosh asked Shining.
“Hopefully, yes,” Shining replied, wiping away his tears. “Poor Twily though, her friends are gonna really miss not seeing her around every day. And I’m gonna miss them too,” Turning around he sadly added. “Guess I’d better go inform her of the arrangements, and start clearing things up with Cadence. I know she’ll be glad to be living with Twily.”
But just as Shining was about to trot off, the ground began to shake and rumble! Shining turned around, worried that Tirek might have escaped again. However, what he saw instead, nearly made his eyes pop out from widening in surprise! A gigantic castle made of crystal, and in the shape of a tree, rose up from out of the ground! In a lot of ways, it looked like the Tree of Harmony itself had transformed into a castle, and a rather magnificent one at that!
“Is that a mirage?” Braeburn commented, rubbing his eyes.
“Looks as real as real can be if you ask me,” Fancy Pants replied and turned to Shining Armor. “You think it’s meant for you?”
“Perhaps, there’s only one way to know for sure though,” Shining said firmly, as he raced ahead. “Come on, let’s check it out.”
The six stallions approached the magnificent crystal structure, amazed at how much more attractive and appealing it was up close. “It’s a castle fit for royalty!” Thunderlane exclaimed.
“Indeed, and I doubt anypony could dispute who it’s meant for.” Princess Celestia commented, touching down on the ground in front of the castle, alongside Princess Luna and Princess Cadence.
“You really think it’s intended for me?” Shining asked Princess Celestia.
Celestia nodded. “Not just for you, but for your sister, and for Spike as well. I can sense that this castle is a gift from the Tree of Harmony.”
“No doubt a reward for all your hard work,” Princess Luna concluded. “You should feel priveleged, I was most surprised to find that upon my return, the old castle my sister and I ruled in the Everfree Forest was nomore. Instead, Equestria’s capital had been moved to Canterlot, and the plans for a new castle that been discussed just prior to my banishment, had been made a reality.”
“At least you had a castle to call your own, Auntie Luna,” Princess Cadence remarked. “When I first became a princess, my entire empire was still gone and had yet to return. Someponies said I wasn’t a real princess, since I had no throne or kingdom to call my own.”
Just then, Twilight came rushing up to the castle, with Spike following close behind. She took one look at the crystal castle, and immediately hung her head as she complained. “It’s all wrong! It’s so bright and shiny, it looks nothing like the Golden Oak Library!”
Shining immediately trotted over and hugged his sister. “I know, I know. But we can’t make it like the Golden Oak Library, not even if we wanted to. The Golden Oak Library is gone and never coming back. So that just means we’ll have to do the best to make this new castle feel like a home,” And with a smile he added. “And I think your friends can help us with that.”
“Well, that’ll have to wait, at least until we’ve settled in to the new castle.” Twilight replied, feeling slightly more cheerful now.
“Speaking of which, what are you all waiting for?!” Discord spoke up, appearing before the group in a flash of light. “Come on, let’s go inside! I wanna see if the new castle’s bigger on the inside!”
Everyone in the group made their way through the front doors of the castle, soon amazed at just how vast it was. Long hallways filled with red carpeting, and similarly looking doors greeted the sights of the group. They explored up and down quite a bit, finding that the castle contained a great deal of rooms, including the usual bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, and dinning room. But what really caught the eye of everyone, was a room that lay on the other side of a door, at the far left end of the hallway.
Six large thrones (and a seventh smaller one) stood around a gigantic circle, each designated with the cutie mark of one of the elemental bearers (with the exception of the smaller throne, which displayed three thick green scales. Shining concluded that throne represented Spike).
Upon looking at the thrones, Celestia smiled, and turned to Shining Armor as she said to him. “Cadence told me that you’ve been wondering what you’re meant to do as a prince. Do you know now, Prince Shining Armor?”
Shining Armor nodded. “No doubt about it, I see now that as prince, I am to spread the magic of friendship across all of Equestria. It’s not just the role I’m meant to have, it’s the role I choose to have!” Turning to his friends, he added. “But I didn't defeat Tirek on my own – it took all six of us to unlock that chest!”
Celestia nodded. “Then it is unlikely you are meant to take on this great task alone. It is with great pride that I hereby dub you, Shining Armor, the prince of friendship! And what would the prince of friendship be without his friends?”
“So then, we’re officially his royal advisors?” Fancy Pants asked Celestia.
“Not just that, your role is far greater,” Celestia explained. “All of you will aid Shining Armor on his mission to spread friendship across the land, wherever that may take you.”
“But, I could see no better fitting fate for you all,” Luna added with a smile. “You were the ones who taught Shining Armor about the magic of friendship to begin with. And it was with his help that you freed me from being Nightmare Moon, and defeated Discord.”
“Not to mention the help you provided when Twilight saw through Queen Chrysalis’ trap at my royal wedding,” Cadence commented. “Or your assistance in aiding the crystal ponies during King Sombra’s return.”
“And of course, without you, I doubt Shining Armor would’ve become an alicorn prince in the first place, or would’ve saved the Tree of Harmony,” Celestia finished. “Fate brought you all together for a reason, and now your destinies are intertwined with that of Shining Armor’s. From this day forward, ponies and even nonponies will look to you for advice and guidance on all matters of friendship.”
“But what about Discord?” Spike asked, looking at the rather unhappy looking spirit. “Discord played a big role in the defeat of Tirek as well. He was the one who gave Shining Armor the final key. And from what I heard, he even stood up to Tirek when the centaur betrayed him. Shouldn’t he get a throne too?”
However, Discord shook his head, and glumly sighed. “Alas, despite my reasons, I still betrayed you all to Tirek. My magic has returned, but I sense that few ponies will ever truly trust me again, not that I blame them,” He snapped his paws, and a series of suitcases appeared. “I’ll come back, some day. But for right now, I just..... want to be alone, with my thoughts, and my reality warping powers.” And with that, the depressed spirit vanished before anyone could stop him.
“Poor Discord,” Thunderlane commented. “Tirek had him wrapped around his little paw the whole time, and he never even knew it.”
“Yes, but it was I who chose to send him off alone to face Tirek,” Celestia replied, as she turned to depart. “Perhaps it is for the best that the six of you have been brought together. I can sense that Luna and I are no longer meant to tackle the big threats when they first appear. We are to be Equestria’s last line of defense, not its first option.”
“We shall remain as we have been since my return, rulers of Equestria,” Luna commented. “And if our help should be required, you know how to reach us.”
“This may be the end of an era, or it may just be the beginning of a new chapter in said era,” Cadence added. “Either way, things won’t be the same anymore. You’ve all been tasked with a big responsibility, and I trust you will not abuse the powers associated with your positions.”
“No sir, we won’t! That, you can be sure of!” Shining replied firmly.
“Good, now we must be off,” Celestia smiled. “But, be sure to call us back for the house warming party.” And then she, Luna, and Cadence, all departed from the castle.
“Well, what now?” Big Macintosh asked, looking across to Shining Armor. “Where do we go from here?”
“Wherever we must, wherever we are called,” Shining replied. “In a sense, we are not unlike that mythical king and his knights of that famous round table.”
“Perhaps we should call ourselves ‘The Knights of Friendship’?” Braeburn teased, and everyone laughed.
But while he was laughing, Shining Armor couldn’t help but think. “I don’t know what the future has in store for me, or for my friends. But I know now, that I will never be alone! Wherever the magic of friendship may guide me, I sense that more challenges and threats will surely follow. I just hope that my friends and I will be ready, for what may lay ahead.”
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Nice reference to my story.
Hey there. Thanks for getting this next chapter up AND for liking another piece of my dialogue idea enough to use it. Both are really appreciated. Excellent work on the exchanges and characterizations in the epilogue.
And, yeah, I can definitely understand and respect skipping the two episodes you mentioned.
Of course, I'm going to be curious as to the alterations on the Cutie Map missions (most likely a different location in at least one case [since none of the stallions would have the past connection to Gilda that Rainbow and Pinkie do and Shiny and Big Mac are the only two who have abilities that could be helpful in recovering that lost Griffonstone treasure {Shining's alicorn abilities and Big Mac's strength} and THAT would be MUCH too easy]), but I know THAT's for later.
And, of course, "Slice of Life" would probably get only a passing mention (since the canon Mane Six [with the possible exceptions of Applejack and Rainbow, who I could EASILY see trying to assist Shiny and the other stallions against the Bugbear] would be free to help plan and organize the wedding in that episode in THIS continuity and Cadance would be the one heading up the ceremony anyway)
And "The One In Which Pinkie Pie Knows" could be replaced by a VERY short chapter that had Cadance explaining to Shiny and/or Twilight that she's pregnant.
Oops. Sorry about that. Got carried away.
At any rate, I'll definitely be looking forward to more, but will quite understand if real world concerns have to come first.
I still can't tell you how much I enjoyed this arc in your series. As much as I enjoy the original, yours is alot more interesting in alot of ways. But maybe that's because you have a clearer understanding of things that alot of folks don't have. The way you depict the stallion six - especially Shining Armor - is really something to admire, and i'm more than happy to be following this series. Thank you for such a wonderful experience. And for making it feel as though it could be a legitimate, alternate version of Friendship is Magic.:)
On a smaller note, I guess Tirek WASN'T the original distributor of the Plunder Seeds. Otherwise, he might've mentioned it to either Discord, or the ponies at some point. Which means someone ELSE must have been responsible. Now the only question that remains unanswered is: Who could it have possibly been?
“Even if time travel spells weren’t forbidden, there’s no way I could go back in time and stop the Golden Oak Library from being destroyed. The rules of time travel make it very clear you’re not supposed to go back to any time you already existed, doing so could lead to a time paradox that could destroy all of existence. I suppose it couldn’t be helped though, seems like every major victory has come at a high price for me.”
Yeah about that you gonna have to wait until season 5 finale because oh boy You're gonna have fun with this shining armor 😅
I'm sure they will 😊
Man that was awesome but I feel bad for discord He really did felt generally sorry for what hes done I hope he does come back hopefully a better creature And hopefully the others will trust him again but anyway it is time to onwards to season 5 Now that question is is starlight going to be the same role or sunburst will take the role like the six Stallions