Dreams and Invective (Part 1)
Crystal Prep
Friday 8:37 AM
Shining Armor pulled up to Crystal Prep's campus in his sedan with a tired sigh. Once upon a time, he felt pleasant nostalgia when he paid a visit to the school. A longing for his high school years, when he was the big man on campus.
But today, walking into this place made his stomach fill with a horrible bile. It wasn't just the unpleasant thing he had to do. It was the fact that his ideal views of Crystal Prep had been charred and ground into dust. He looked at the students who blissfully went about their early morning, enjoying their brief period of free time before the beginning of class. Once upon a time, he looked at these students with pride. Now he looked at them with deep scorn. Because of how they actually behaved.
He walked toward the building, stoically ignoring the other students around him with a laser-focused view on front entrance. Once he entered the building, he charged toward the principal's office, again with little joy. He used to love to come to the school and pay a surprise visit to Cadence. But the purpose of the visit wasn't friendly.
He was so focused on the office, he accidentally bumped into some giant mass.
"Sorry," a haughty but polite voice said. Shining ceased his advance, pausing at the familiarity of the voice. He turned his head to see Superintendent Memo.
"Shining, my boy," the rotund man said with a self-congratulatory smile, "how have you been?" he asked, clasping the white-skinned man's shoulder.
"How do you think?" Shining said in a chilly tone that was between a grumble and a growl.
"Oh yes, you are still mourning your loss," Memo said as if suddenly remembering what had (supposedly) happened to Twilight. "I am too. Twilight had so much she could've contributed to this school." Shining's heckles rose at the expression of pseudo-sympathy.
Shining remembered how Memo, when he was the school principal, had always paraded him around school to alumni and potential alumni while clasping his shoulder. He thought the shoulder clasping and compliments were friendly gestures, but now he realized that this man had treated him like a trophy or some well-groomed dog at a pet show. When his parents died, Memo told him he mourned the loss of "generous friends." What he once thought was sincere comfort, Shining realized that Memo was mourning the loss of his parent's donations. Even when Memo was, in his own mind, offering comfort over the loss of his sister, he seemed to only lament the ways Twilight could've enhanced the school's reputation, not lament the death young girl who screamed in her final moments.
All this wore at Shining's already strained nerves, which grew even more erratic when he felt Memo pat him on the back.
"I'm sure they'll be an upturn in your life," he continued, sounding like some third-rate motivational speaker, not the sympathetic family friend Shining once believed him to be.
"Like there was an upturn in your waistline," Shining muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing," Shining said to the gluttonous man. "I'm sorry," Shining said abruptly, "I've got things to do," before storming away from the Superintendent, not wanting to hear any more from the man's lip. With once last deep breath, he strode into the principal's office.
Canterlot Castle
Princess Luna and Princess Twilight sat in a blue dining room, consuming a medium sized-breakfast while Twilight recounted what had happened to her counterpart in the human world.
"So can you use your dream powers to find her?" Twilight asked Princess Luna hopefully. The Princess of the Night wiped her muzzle with a napkin and turned to look at her.
"I'm afraid it is not so simple, Twilight," Princess Luna said with some regret.
"What do you mean?" Twilight said, a hint of worry in her voice.
"My powers only grant me entry whenever there is a nightmare," Princess Luna said. "The only time I can directly infiltrate the psyche of another pony is if she allows me to. Unless there is inner turmoil, I am not allowed to venture into a pony's mind."
"So, do you remember seeing any dreams with, minotaur-monkey things in the last two months?" Twilight asked expectantly.
"No, I cannot say I have." Luna continued solemnly. "Twilight," Princess Luna said, sensing Twilight's inner distress, "do not fret. Remember, there are 5.2 million ponies in all of Equestria. I can only enter the dreams of a few hundred each night. This doesn't mean-",
"I'm scared Luna," Twilight said with a whimper.
"Of what? That this other you is in distress? That she-,"
"Well not just that," Twilight said in a forlorn voice. "It's just...the human version of my friends think that...the other version of me might become an evil villain...or something. And....," Twilight said, biting her lip, "we've so much bad luck. What if it turns out to be true? What if she's out there plotting the destruction of Equestria? What if she's become a serial killer?"
"Twilight, that is not something you can control," Luna said with soothing tone. "Her becoming a malcontent is not your fault."
"But it's my responsibility," Princess Twilight said morosely. "I chose to keep the portal open. Starswirl's notes warned me not too. But...that world has so much to offer ours: technology, systems of government, culture." Twilight's ears flattened on her head in sadness. "But that world also has so much...evil. The tyrants in the human world make King Sombra look like...Pinkie Pie." Luna let out a small chuckle at that. "And the weapons they have...can not only destroy a city, but poison it for years to come." Twilight's hooves were shaking in fear. "What if she's out there, building one of those bombs out of revenge?"
"You know what Starswirl once taught me?" Princess Luna said with an encouraging smile.
"What?"
"That all magic has risk, but fear must never deter advancement," Princess Luna said. "For every discovery, there is always those who misuse it. From Sombra misusing the power of Dark Crystals, to your own protégé who misused her gifts to steal the destinies of other. Should the misuse of magic mean we shouldn't study magic at all?"
"No," Twilight said, her intellectual instincts opposing such stagnation.
"Then this shouldn't deter you from wanting contact with the other world," Princess Luna said. "Perhaps we can learn how well humans can adapt to our world. Perhaps this could be an invaluable opportunity."
"I always wanted other humans to see our world," Twilight said. "I didn't want it like this: without preparation or planning."
"If life were so easy, I wouldn't have spent so many years on the moon," Princess Luna solemnly. Twilight frowned on her behalf. "But as a leader, I've learned that you can never be completely prepared for anything. No matter what you do, your plans may not survive contact. You must approach life with the patience to understand that."
"And what happens if she dies out there?" Twilight asked in a miserable whisper.
"You can't ruminate about this Twilight," Princess Luna scolded, "it does you no good. Even in the worst case scenario, all you can do is learn from your mistakes." An optimistic smile appeared on Luna's face. "Besides, you said this is another version of you. Perhaps she is as resourceful as you."
"Well, she is good with machines and stuff," Twilight said. "Heck, she even managed to capture magic without knowing what is was."
"Well, that's proof that she could easily find her place in this land," Princess Luna said soothingly. "I bet she's out there, learning about how wonderful friendship is."
"Thanks Luna," Princess Twilight said with a grateful smile.
"You restored my faith," Princess Luna said with a warm smile "It is only fair I restore yours".
The Shadowbolts, sans Juniper, marched toward the principal's office with no small amount of trepidation. Cadence had them pulled from their classes, with the only thing they were being told was that they she wanted a word with them. Their anxiety only grew as the walked past the secretary, Miss Thorn, who was looking at them with an unsympathetic smile.
The old women treated the chew outs each student got as a mild form of entertainment, often eavesdropping on them. Her anticipatory glee sent a child down their spines. The door to Cadence's office opened, and the pink woman looked at them with a nervous expression.
"Please come in," Cadence said cryptically. With more than a bit of fear, the five girls walked into the room. What they saw made their fear grow even more.
Shining Armor sitting in the Principal's chair, his face stoic and emotionless. The second the Shadowbolts piled in, his blue eyes almost predatory. In front of him on the desk was some silver bucket.
"Shining Armor wants to have a word with you," Principal Cadence said solemnly,"about… things regarding Twilight." She paused and took a deep breath and walked out of the room, closing the door. The Shadowbolts glanced at the door, before fearfully looking back at the white-skinned man.
"Please sit down," Shining Armor said in a falsely-welcoming voice, gesturing to the leather couch in front of the desk.
"Mr, Armor,'' Indigo said in a panic, "look, we're sorry for what we did!"
"Really," the white-skinned man replied in a sharp tone.
"Yeah," Sour said. "We didn't mean for it to happen. We promise we'll find Twilight " Shining Armor suddenly stood up and marched over to a nearby wall as the five girls kept pleading for forgiveness, showing he was unimpressed with their attempts to talk their way out of trouble.
"W-we just wanted to win," Lemon Zest stammered nervously. "Our school was counting on us-,"
BAM!
Lemon Zest's words trailed off, as she saw Shining Armor's fist embed itself in the plaster wall. Her fellow Shadowbolts looked shocked and horrified. Shining Armor, however, looked as calm as ever, not showing any sign he was in pain. Even as he wrenched his hand out of the wall, revealing his knuckles were red and swollen, his eyes remained firmly on them.
Indigo would've commented on how badass Shining looked if she wasn't so terrified.
"I'm sorry, did I break your concentration?" Shining asked Lemon Zest in a falsely sympathetic tone. "I didn't mean to do that. Please, continue. You were sayin' something about 'how you're school was counting on you'?" Lemon Zest didn't respond. "What's the matter? Oh, y-you were finished? Well, if your finished, I guess you five can sit down," Shining said politely. Shaken, the five girls obeyed the order that was masked as a request. Shining Armor sat down as well, and then stuck his hand in the bucket. The clattering made the Shadowbolts realize there was ice in the bucket. Shining Armor let out a small sigh of relief as the ice cooled his injured hand.
"I'm gonna to give you five one warning," Shining said in a chilly tone. The Shadowbolts immediately straightened up to listen. "I don't like having to yell at you. I especially don't like punching walls. I would rather be at work, knowing my sister is safe. Not sitting here, wondering where she is," Shining said, almost glaring at them. "But here we are. We are going to have a talk. You are going to listen. No interruptions, no lying, no brownnosing, no sob stories, no fake tears, no excuses, no 'I'm sorry', no 'I know'. You will only speak when I ask you a question." He took a short breath before continuing. "If you keep doing these things, I won't yell. Cadence told me not to yell. But I will punch the wall again. And if I have to punch the wall," Shining said, almost gritting his teeth, "you will never, ever, be near my sister again. Do you understand?" The Shadowbolts didn't respond out of fear. "I said, do you understand?" Shining asked in a more icy tone.
"Yes," Sugarcoat breathed out of fear.
"Good," Shining said, the icy tension dying down a bit, but never fading. "Now, you nearly got my sister killed. And as it turns out, my sister might be alive in some other world, no thanks to you. Cadence tells me you five are going to help search for her. She thinks that you girls are just misguided souls who took things for granted," Shining said in a somewhat mocking tone. "But I don't buy that. I honestly believe you five are just a bunch of psychotic little skanks who, deep down, wanted this to happen to my sister. And the only reason you're trying to search for her is you got caught doing it. I don't want you to search for my sister." The Shadowbolts looked angered and dismayed at the accusation. "Oh, you think that's unfair?" Shining asked rhetorically, the vindictive mockery evident in his tone. "You know what's unfair? My sister paying the price for your stupidity." The Shadowbolts expression shifted to a more forlorn one. Shining took a short breath before continuing.
"Now, if the only thing you did was make her open that amulet, I wouldn't feel this way," Shining said in a calmer way. "I would still be angry, but I would see it as just an act of impulsive stupidity." His face turned red for a moment. "But no. As it turns out, that was just the cherry on top of what my sister went through being here." The fear on the Shadowbolts face returned. "And maybe you didn't realize it, but this not the first time Cadence and I have given you a chance to shape up and be nice to my sister." The Shadowbolts looked confused.
"Let's start at the beginning," Shining said, pausing as if to collect his thoughts. "For the first two weeks at Crystal Prep, my sister told me about how no one wanted to sit with her, join a study group with her, or were making fun of her," Shining said. A shadow of guilt formed on their faces. "For two weeks, I kept telling her she'll make friends if she keeps trying. And two weeks later, my sister comes home with a party invitation. Her first party invitation." Sunny's eyes mouth twisted into a guilty frown. "I'm so excited, I even buy her new clothes. I drop her off, telling her to have fun." He then turned to glare at Sunny. "And 20 minutes later, she calls me in tears. And when I come to pick her up, she is covered in paint and crying her eyes out." Sunny looked to the ground in shame, while her friends looked upset as well.
"Now why are you upset?" Shining asked Sunny directly. "You said it yourself. It was funny watching my sister suffer. You hated my sister so much, you wanted her gone, didn't you?" Shining said in a mocking tone. "Didn't you?"
"I didn't," Sunny said in a weak voice. "I swear it was just-,"
"Bullshit," Shining said in a unsympathetic tone. "What did you think was going to happen when you did that? Are you so emotionally stunted, you didn't think she would actually want to leave school after that?" Sunny looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole and die. The small comforts she received from her friends didn't help at all.
"She was so upset, she didn't go back to school for two whole weeks. Now, I was so upset, I wanted to pull her out of school. I was so upset, I wanted her to get some revenge," Shining said, his face twisting into an evil smile. "Now, my sister isn't physically strong, but she knows a lot about chemistry. I wanted to her make something good to get back at all of you. Do you know why she didn't?" Shining asked the Shadowbolts.
"Why?" Indigo said.
"Cadence," Shining said. The Shadowbolts looked at him with surprise. "There is a reason why you never knew Twilight was the Dean's sister until you came to my house. My wife didn't want Twilight to be someone who pulled rank. My sister wanted her to be someone who did her work and always accepted responsibility for her actions. Cadence felt my sister should always be above things like petty revenge," Shining said with some contempt."Even after your idiotic little stunt," The Shadowbolts looked even more surprised, "my wife refused to let Twilight sink so low."
"You thought my sister was nothing but a wimp," Shining said. "But in reality, my sister followed Cadence's advice and has spent the last two years tolerating you." The Shadowbolts frowned at this revelation.
"Your former principal," Shining said, too enraged to say Cinch's name out loud, "always talked about how you should have bars in your windows, and your lockers checked everyday. And after that act of stupidity, she tried to get Cadence on her side. But my wife, despite how mean you were to my sister, felt that you all deserved another chance. So after punishing the three bitches who invited her to that party, she told me she gave you all a speech about why bullying is wrong. She assured me that you all learned a lesson. She assured me that when Twilight returned, it would be....pleasant." Shining's smile became increasingly strained.
"So after two weeks, I told Twilight to go back to school. And, well, I didn't hear about anything bad. For a while, I thought you all learned something." He put his hand on his chin. "I always wondered why my sister didn't bring friends over, and why she spent her weekends practically hiding in her lab." The Shadowbolts felt uncomfortable, waiting for the other shoe to drop. "But then Spike, after he learned to talk, told me everything. She told me about how Twilight was being shoved in the hall, being sent on gooses chases, being sent to meetings and clubs that were completely...false," Shining said, trying to keep calm as the vein on his forehead bulged, as he glared at Lemon Zest. "Apparently, the only things you and your fellow idiots took to heart was that my sister was a snitch, and that you had to bully her in a passive-aggressive way." Shining let out a mirthless chuckle that put the Shadowbolts even more on edge. "You must've patted yourselves on the back for your brilliance, didn't you? Didn't you?"
"Well," Sugarcoat said uneasily, "I," she stammered shamefully.
"Let me tell you something," Shining said, not even bothering to disguise his rage. "My wife's been very patient with you, but she was beyond hurt when she learned all this. Not just because you did it to her sister, but because she gave you her trust, protected you from retribution, hoped you'd grow up, and instead you've spent the last year or so throwing it in her face," he finished, gritting his teeth. "Now, I know Cadence isn't perfect. But she works her ass off to make this school the best in can be for you ungrateful brats. And you thanked her by making her think she was an imbecile for believing you." The Shadowbolts felt sick to their stomach with remorse, but Shining ignored it, shaking with rage. "But you kept doing it...because you thought my sister was a complete loser who never would ever, ever care about."
"And then there's the Friendship Games," Shining said, biting his lips to keep himself from yelling. "As I told you, I wanted Twilight to do the games, because I thought she would make friends, and because I didn't want my sister to spend her high school years alone doing some independent study." The guilt in the Shadowbolts' stomach burned hotter. "You see, when I joined the football team, whether we won a game or lost, we would always go out for a pizza. I assumed that all my sister needed to do was try her best, put herself out there, and maybe she could make new friends." Shining let out another angry chuckle. "But that's not what happened. Again, Spike told me that no matter what she did, you five kept giving her crap. When she didn't do well, you called her names, and when she did do well, you couldn't even give her so much as a high-five or a pat on the cheek." The Shadowbolts were almost on the verge of tears, but Shining was too mad to care.
"Mr. Armor," Sunny pleaded. Shining raised a hand, stopping Sunny's plea cold.
"And then, in the final part of the games, you decided to use magic you didn't understand," Shining continued, his fists clenched. "Now, it is one thing to put yourselves in danger. But no, you bullied my sister into doing your dirty work for you. You threatened to make her life even more miserable if she didn't cheat." Shining, pulled his arm out of the ice bucket and gripped the side of the desk to control her anger. "Because, in the end, no matter what she did, my sister was worth less than a pile of shit to you." Shining took another deep breath.
"She was completely worthless to you," Shining continued. "So worthless, you could put her life in danger for a stupid trophy. But let me tell something. There were quite a few people who did care about her: my wife, who spent a whole night crying her eyes out." Lemon Zest felt tears roll down her eyes, and the other Shadowbolts were also on the verge of breaking down. "Spike, who loved her with all her soul. Me." Shining paused and pulled something out of a drawer. He held it up: it was a picture of a family reunion. It must've been a few years old, since Twilight looked tiny and her parents were in it. She stood in front, with Cadence, Shining Armor, Twilight's parents, and other relatives behind her. All of them looked down affectionately at their youngest member.
"She had a whole family that loved her," Shining said, his mask slowly cracking. "What do you think it was like for me to tell them, barely five years after Twilight's parents died, that she got blown up and that THERE WASN'T EVEN A BODY TO BURY HER IN!" Shining finally yelled. The Shadowbolts all started crying in shame, and saying sorry, but Shining didn't look impressed.
"Oh, now you're crying," Shining said unsympathetically. "Now, you're crying. Now despite your stupidity, my wife has wanted you to be better. She tells me about all the nice things you've done." Shining Armor exploded. "But I don't really buy it. You see, all those things were things you should've already been doing. And the final punch in the teeth is that...you couldn't do things while she was still alive. You made a slideshow about her, after she died! You apparently liked my sister better when you thought she was alive!"
"Mr. Armor, that's not true," Sunny said.
"Well, I don't believe you," Shining said in an upset tone. "You spent two years bullying my sister, making her feel miserable, making her feel worthless. Spike told me that the last thing my sister ever said was that no one would ever like her." He got out from behind the desk and stood over them. They leaned back in their chairs in fear. "My wife and I gave you a chance to be better, and you punched us the throat, and you punched the rest of my family in the throat. Two years worth of chances. Two years! After two years, you hated her so much, you couldn't even be bothered to care about her safety!" To the horror of the Shadowbolts, small tears formed at the edge of Shining's eyes. He took a deep breath, and sat back down behind the desk miserably.
"From this point forward, you five are out of chances! You have to convince me why after all the shit you pulled, after breaking my sister's heart, breaking my wife's trust, why I should put you in a position where you can hurt her again?! The issue is not 'forgive and forget'. My sister did that so many times, and you've made her regret it. You have to convince me you aren't a pack of abusive psychopaths. And if you can't convince me, you're not going to be allowed to search for her. As her brother, I have been given the final say over that." He paused for a moment. "So tell me, why should I trust any of you?"
The Shadowbolts looked utterly mortified, struggling to think of an answer, while struggling through their regret, self-loathing, and shame.
"Well?"
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Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang Shining!!!
Phew! What a rant. Bruno Ganz would be proud.
You can just tell that he's been harboring these feelings for ages now.
This is really great!! Keep going!!
Shining. I get what you're coming from. You've been through a great and tragic loss, and you're confronted with some of your sister's primary tormentors.
STOP BEING AS MUCH OF A DOUCHECOCK AS THEY WERE.
Be better than they are. Guide them. Don't go Frank Castle on them. Frank Castle isn't happy. Frank Castle lives in a miserable cycle of vengeance. And while you're not a killer, you're acting like you're damn close to being one! Vengeance solves nothing. Stop seeking it!
Because if you aren't careful, you're going to talk five honestly repentant young women into killing themselves. And that will be on you. Imagine how your sister would feel knowing that her brother is just as much of a bully as the ones who bullied her.
I'm not saying like them. That can come later.
But be better than they are. Let them make up for their mistake. Let Twilight make the choice to reject them.
...Holy Molly!
That was a tense and emotional chapter! Very powerful chapter by far! You could feel all the raw anger, pain, frustrations and sadness from Shining as he talked, like it was built up for years! If the Shadowbolts haven't already realized how bad they screwed up, they definitely realized that now!
I... I honestly don't know how they could fix this or how they convince Shining Armor to trust them to find Sci-Twi.
Nice Pulp Fiction reference BTW!
10251100
I hope it felt like...well...the kind of rant someone gives after numerous fiascos. Something you would hear in real life under similar situations.
10251104
Well...
If you read between the lines, you'll see that Shining isn't trying to be vengeful. Frank Castle is a poor comparison, since if Shining was like that, the Shadowbolts would be far worse off.
His simple statement is this: you've screwed up so much and lied to me so many times, why should put you in a position to screw up and lie again? I'm not trying to justify his behavior. But I think it's understandable for him to act like that. And if he really were so vengeful, he wouldn't be giving the Shadowbolts a chance to defend themselves.
10251143
I wouldn't say the conversation has been built for years. A better comparison would be the anger you'd feel learning someone you once admired was actually deceiving you.
Shining again had hopes that Twilight would love Crystal Prep as much as he did. The reality was this: she was stuck in a school full of people that went out of their way to make her miserable. Even Cinch, the woman who opened doors for Cadence and Shining, turned out to be a complete fraud. Crystal Prep failed Twilight in every single way.
...Well here's a clue. Sci-Twi, from what Luna can tell, hasn't had a nightmare throughout her time stuck in Equestria. She's probably having the time of her life/finally found peace and happiness.
10251104
Seconded!
10251436
It doesn’t feel like a chance to defend. Any proof they give will be fake in his eyes. Anything at all. His words sound very convinced of them being crooked dead-hearted Psychos. He says they have a chance, but that isn’t true at all, in this moment
10996122
The issue is this: Cadence is making the case that they've changed their attitude, and as a detective, he's trying to see if they still have the same rotten disposition because he doesn't want them to search for her if they are going to be cruel to her again.
view on the front entrance.*
Why am I not surprised she was gonna say that.
Huh, I was actually expecting more but wow!
And..."*
"we've had so much bad luck*
Let's hope so.
yours."*
grew as they walked*
sent a chill*
eyes looked almost*
I hope Cadence understands why he did that to the wall earlier.
it, but this is not the first time*
chemistry. I wanted her*
sink so low.*
The " isn't needed since Shinning is still talking in the beginning of the next paragraph.
the best it can*
ever care about.*
Same reason about the last paragraph.
me tell you something.*
punched us in the throat.*
With the amount of adult/parental negligence they almost deserved what happened to Twilight