Chapter 271 - Shining Armor's Perspective
“Shining?” Cadance looked at you from her seat, worried, yet annoyed. Well, yeah, she’s annoyed. But you had to be vigilant, you had to be at your best! Maybe she didn’t understand the dangers, but you had to be in top condition to protect her, Flurry, and Twily.
You are Shining Armor.
You were sitting on your seat next to your awesome wife, with your just as awesome daughter playing around on your head. You were on a train to Ponyville, a bit of a late ride, since you’d be arriving in the evening on Hearthwarming eve. It wasn’t ideal, but you know Twily would be excited to see all of you despite that. You had on your new and improved prototype magic armor. It totally, erm, wasn’t perfect. You didn’t know if it could stop Chrysalis’s magic, but it does stop everypony else's AND you can control it with your own to affect how strong its power is. And most importantly, it didn’t affect you at all while wearing it! That meant when Chrysalis eventually, and you know she will, crashes the-
“Shining!” Cadance yelled softly at you this time as to not startle Flurry, giving you a bit of a shove.
“Huh, wha? What’s wrong, honey?” You asked her, confused as to what was wrong.
“Nothing, other than you looking like you were imagining Chrysalis ruining everything. How many times have you conquered her already in your head?” She asked in a sarcastic tone.
“Erm… Like a hundred?” You said, sheepishly smiling at her.
“And that’s exactly the problem. You were doing so well, Shining. Why are you suddenly so uptight? And why did you have to bring that?” Cadance asked, giving a less than approving look at your armor. “Chrysalis isn’t planning to attack Twilight, you know that, right?”
“I don’t want to take any chances. How many times has Anon assured us everything was fine? I’m not taking his word for it this time. If Chrysalis wants to prove she’s reformed, then she’ll think twice about trying anything during Hearthwarming. One wrong move, and I’ll stop her then and there!” You said as you made stabby motions as if you had a spear.
Cadance sighed in frustration. You didn’t understand why she was so impatient with you. You were there that day, she wasn’t. Even if Chrysalis stopped for Anon, it was only by chance. She has proven she won’t hesitate to hurt your sister. “Look, I understand your concern. I really do. I love Twilight too and I’d never want to see anything happen to her. But did you see her last letter? Chrysalis is part of Spike’s roleplaying group now. Not to mention that she’s getting along with Fluttershy. You know, Fluttershy, the type of pony she’d normally really hate? Can’t you just give her one chance without making it look like you want to put a spear through her?”
You just blinked dumbly at her before making stabby motions again.
“Okay then…” Cadance said with a heavy sigh. “How about this? I’ll go talk to Anon and see if he can arrange a meeting tonight. As in, a meeting with me, not with you. That way I can assess if you need to take a chill.”
“What?!” You can’t allow that! What if she captures her again?! Or worse?! “You can’t do that! You know what she’s capable of! I can’t let you do that!”
“Honey…” Cadance let out another sigh, and rubbed her hoof gently under your chin as she gave you a concerned look. “I really do understand. It’s why I can’t let you keep worrying so much, it isn’t good for you. Let me do this, alright? I want you to see that everything is going to be fine.”
You frowned, it just… It filled you with so much worry. You didn’t understand why she’d put herself at such a huge risk. But, that look in her eye, she really was worried about you. Were you acting that crazy? Well, it was Chrysalis, so obviously not. You thought about your options. If you say no, she’ll be really annoyed, but you’ll be protecting her. And if you say yes, you’ll be putting her in danger because she thinks Chrysalis won’t try anything.
What to say…
Though, the longer it took for you to reply, the more visibly annoyed she seemed to get. “Look, if she captures me, then you can seal her in Tartarus and be done with her forever. Will you calm down now?”
Maybe, but the fact that she’d be captured doesn’t make it any better.
“Shining, are you going to say something?” She asked, staring hard at you.
Uh oh, you knew that stare. Darnit, if you say no now, you’d be doomed. You still didn’t want to do it, but… What if you were wrong? Man, you don’t want to be wrong, after what Chrysalis did to you and Cadance… But you couldn’t wait anymore. In the end, her happiness was the most important thing. For now, you’d fold, and just make sure to keep both eyes open. “Okay, okay, I hear what you’re saying. But could you maybe not go to see her alone? I promise not to cause a problem if she shows up at the castle, but I also don’t want to worry about what she might do being alone with you.”
“Progress…” Cadance whispered to herself with a sigh before giving you a softer look. “Promise?”
“I will give up all my comics if I screw up.” You say, giving her a salute.
Cadance leaned over her seat and gave you a gentle hug. “Thank you, Shining. I promise, everything is going to g-Ngh…” Suddenly, Cadance winced as she grabbed onto her head with her hooves.
“Cadance?! What’s wrong?!” What the?! Why was she suddenly in pain?! Even Flurry was suddenly reaching out to her, worried.
“I-it’s nothing, just a sudden headache. Ngh…” Cadance said, trying to relax in her chair as she squirmed and whined. “Actually, I-I feel really dizzy.”
You gently use your magic to place Flurry in front of her to hold, and grab the baby bag from the cabinet above you. “Hold on! I’ll get some medicine!” You said as you frantically began to look through the bag. “C’mon, c’mon, didn’t we put any in here?! Ngh, darnit!” You quickly got up, and began to look around. “Don’t worry, Cadance, I got this. Hey, anypony got any headache medicine?!” You called out the the other passengers.
But something was… Really eerie. You didn’t realize until now that they all had stopped talking, and didn’t even seem to be responding to you. It was pretty creepy. “O-okay, I’ll, uh, check the other car. Be right back, I promise” You say to Cadance as you rush out the door to the next car.
Standing between cars, you could hear the clickity clack of the tracks. You looked to your sides, you were already close to Ponyville. You couldn’t let Twily see Cadance in pain. Not on your watch! You steeled yourself, and moved on to the next car. It looked about the same as the last, seats on either side of the row. However, something was wrong. Almost a moment after stepping in, you hear the screams of some girls in trouble. “What the?!”
“Hey, get away from us, you jerks! What did we do to you?!”
“What’s going on, why are they attacking like this?! I thought we were all allies!”
“Yona shove seats aside, use as shield! Get behind Yona!”
“S-something’s wrong with them! I-I can feel it, it’s as if their entire being is being manipulated!”
You look over at the commotion and see everypony in the car attacking a strange group. A dragon, a yak, a hippogriff, and… A changeling? Wait, they looked familiar, you think you may have seen them once or twice when visiting Twily’s school. Were those her students?! Why were they being attacked?! “Hey, everypony! Calm down and back off, tell me what the issue is!”
You could only hear more yelling from the girls as the ponies outright ignored you.
“Hey, I’m serious! Back off! There’s no reason to be violent.” You barked at them.
Still nothing.
Okay, you didn’t want to do this. “By order of Prince Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire, I order you all to stand down!”
Still nothing, they were attacking mindlessly, the girls trying to shake them off. Their eyes, that was the weirdest part, they all started to glow blue. Those kinds of eyes, the mindlessness, it seemed so familiar. However, your thought process was broken by another shriek. Okay, time for desperate measures. “I said back off!” You released a powerful burst of magic, sending all the ponies flying to the other end of the car.
“Woah, what was that?!” The dragon said as she looked back at the launched ponies.
“Hey, that pony saved us!” The hippogriff said before waving at you happily. “Thank you, unknown pony!”
But the changeling, the way she looked at you, she recognized you? “Prince Shining Armor? W-what are you doing here? A-are you alright?”
You could ask the same of all of them. What was going on? You tensed as you looked at the changeling. Could it be her? Was she working for Chrysalis? No, no, she was changed like King Thorax. You had spoken to him before on his few visits to the empire. Despite being a changeling, he seemed like a good guy, and it was Princess Celestia and Luna who reformed him, so he could be trusted. All the changelings changed in form to represent this as well. All but that evil queen, Chrysalis… “Yeah, but what’s going on? Why were they attacking all of you?!”
The yak shrugged. “Yona not know. We all just sitting just fine. Then everypony go silent, then suddenly attack!”
“Seriously? Don’t you think that seems a little too, I dunno, weird?” You asked them.
The dragon then pointed at you angrily. “Weird?! That’s all you got to say about it? They were about to rip us apart! What, did you think we provoked them or something?!”
“What?! N-no…” Wait… Actually, all the ponies in your car went silent at first too. Why? “But it seems pretty weird t-WOAH!” You suddenly dodge to the side as a pony lunges at you. The ponies were getting back up, mumbling to themselves, as they began to attack. No time to talk, you’d have to figure it out later. For now, you had to protect them and get back to Cadance and Flurry! “Everycreature, run ahead of me!” You told them as you stepped aside, your horn glowing as you give the attacking ponies another blast to send them back. “I’ll hold them off!”
One by one, they began to rush past you. The changeling, however, looked back at them, staring at them for some reason. You didn’t have time to think about it. The moment you had your chance, you rushed back to the door to get outside the car. You then aimed your horn at the door and jammed it, blocking them from getting through it. “There, that should hold them.”
“Yeah! Thanks for the save! But, um, why were they acting like that? Was it the peanuts? The peanuts were pretty bad, but not ‘destroy us’ bad!” The hippogriff said as she backed off from the door, the ponies pounding on it.
“I don’t think so!” The dragon said as she pointed at the door. “They went nuts for no reason! Seriously, what’s their problem?!”
“Smolder, it’s not their fault…” Said the changeling.
What?
“What are you talking about, Ocellus?” Smolder asked, confused.
“Something is wrong with them. I could feel it, I thought it was nothing at first, maybe just a few ponies feeling anxious. But then it felt worse, terrible even. It was as if their love and friendship were being twisted… No, redirected even. It was like they only started to care about somepony, and only that pony. Any of their other feelings were still there, but… It felt so faint.” Ocellus explained.
“You mean, they were hypnotized? Is that what you’re saying?” You asked Ocellus. So, this was her game…
“It’s deeper than that. This isn’t hypnosis, this is something that can’t be broken. At least, I have no idea how to break it. Wait…” Ocellus was suddenly looking at your armor. “Is… is that armor made from our former queen’s throne?”
You nodded. “Yeah, modified to be powered through my magic. Hm, this is probably why I wasn’t affected then, right?”
Ocellus shook her head. “No, I just thought it was… Strange. But, erm, I think the reason you’re not being affected is because. Well, it looks like you’re so focused on hating somepony that whatever it is can't seem to change you.”
“What about us?” Smolder asked.
“Yeah, how come we’re not all weird like them?” The hippogriff asked.
“I… think because it only affects ponies. Something, something is off, I can feel it getting stronger and stronger, as if it’s coming from…” Ocellus suddenly stretched her head out some to look ahead. Suddenly, she became full of dread as she let out lowly. “Ponyville…”
Ponyville? Affecting ponies only? H-how could it not be Chrysalis? That’s where she was and…
Wait, affect ponies? Oh no! Cadance and Flurry Heart! They were in there, and everypony in there were acting weird and silent! “Cadance, Flurry, I’m coming!” You rushed back through the door to the other car, leaving the group behind. But what you saw… What you saw was horrific.
Cadance was holding onto Flurry tightly, huddled up against her seat as she weakly blasted ponies away with her magic. “Get a-away from us, g-get away from my b-baby!”
“Cadance! CADANCE!” You screamed in rage as your horn glowed brightly. With a mighty blast, you sent all the ponies attacking her flying from one end of the car to the other. You rushed over to Cadance, who had suddenly fallen to the ground, Flurry hovering to her, trying to shake her to get her to move. “Cadance! Cadance! We have to go!”
“I-I can’t… I can’t…” She said in a weak voice, barely moving.
“Why?! No, forget it, let me-” But before you could use your magic to get her over your side to carry her, she shoved you back with her magic. “C-Cadance?!”
“Shining… T-take Flurry, t-take her and r-run! I-I feel… D-different. I f-feel like… I have to… do what she says…” Cadance said, twitching on the ground.
“Cadance, I’m not just going to leave you!” You cried out to her, trying to approach her, before she pushed you back again.
“GO! TAKE FLURRY BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!” Cadance looked at you, and your eyes widened in horror. Her eyes, they were glowing as blue as the other passengers.
No… No! NO! NO! You tried reaching for her again, but she wasn’t responding anymore this time. Her eyes, she looked so distant as she began to stand back up. The other ponies you launched, they were beginning to descend upon you. No, no, no, no, this wasn’t happening!
“Flurry, we have to go. Cadance… I’m sorry!” Using your magic, you managed to pull Flurry away as the hypnotized Cadance dove for her, crashing onto the ground next to you. Flurry began to cry, reaching for her. You had to go, darnit, DARNIT! WHAT WAS GOING ON!? Holding Flurry tight with your magic, you look back at Cadance for any sign of her still being there. But as she stood, there was nothing but mindless cruelty in her eyes. You rushed back out towards the group, and jammed the door like you did the other.
“Hey, what happened in there?! What was with all the yelling?!” Smolder asked, demanding to know.
“Forget about it…” You said, looking at the door with an emotionless look as Flurry cried, holding onto the back of your head. “The train has been completely compromised. We need to get out, now.” You look back at them, noticing most of them are flyers. You gently pluck Flurry Heart, and nuzzle onto her as she whines, nuzzling back, distressed about Cadance. “Um, look, I don’t know your names or who you really are, but can you get us off this train? If not us, then my daughter?” You almost hoped they couldn’t, you wanted to stay and try to help Cadance. And yet, you couldn't do that either, you couldn't leave Flurry behind.
“Pfft, we’re not leaving anycreature behind. Ocellus, you turn into something big and get Yona off the train. Silverstream, you take the kid. I got you, Mister Prince!” Smolder said as she flexed her arm.
Everycreature nodded, and went to work. Ocellus quickly turned into a giant bugbear and grabbed onto Yona, flying off the train. You quickly gave Flurry to Silverstream, who gently held her as she flew off. But as Smolder grabbed onto you, she was barely lifting you in the air. “W-wait, you can’t carry me?!”
“I-I’m trying! I didn’t expect you tWOAH!” Smolder couldn’t actually fly with you in tow, even with her dragon wings flapping as hard as they could, you both ended up basically falling off the side of the train and falling to the grass, just outside of town.
Ngh, you were dizzy, nothing felt broken, but everything felt so far away, yet very close. You slowly stood up, calling to Cadance. She was still on the train, she could… She couldn’t. You couldn’t save her. She told you to run with Flurry, and you did just that, leaving her like a coward. “CADANCE!” You screamed into the air, your heart shattering from your stupid mistake. “I’m… I’m gonna save you, Cadance. Don’t worry, I’m going to… What?!” Then you finally turned your head, and saw what the true destination of the train was...
What was this? What was that in the distance? Where did this horrific-looking town come from?
“What the… Where Ponyville?! What place is that?!” Yona said, horrified as she pointed forward.
Silverstream covered Flurry’s eyes, as she looked upon the town, disturbed by what she was looking at. “D-did we get on the right train?”
“We did…” Ocellus said as she changed back to her original form.
“Ngh, what’s going on?” Smolder asked as she began to stand up, dizzy from crashing and tumbling on the ground.
“That…” Yona said, pointing towards the town.
“Ponyville, whatever happened to everypony on the train… It’s coming from the town.” Ocellus said.
The town of Ponyville, it looked like some kind of village of nightmares, even from this distance. The buildings were tall and twisted, the trees and grass became deader the closer to the town they went. The colosseum by the station, even if it was far away, looked like some horrible battle stadium. And there was a castle. Some twisted black and red castle, far off at the other end of town.
What…
What happened?!
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got thing cadence is a weakling xD
11522407
She ain't weak, Shining's armor is just OP and mitigates magic, which is 90% of where all the good guys powers come from.
11522495
think about it what i wean, if she was as magical powerfull as celestia ore luna ore even twilight.
now the villan's got her under there will. what would happen if she starts attacking pony's ? ^^
considering how close twilight and cadance are the takeover was no surprice there.
shini is just a paranoid nutjob at this point and just got lucky...
11522849
Ding ding ding, we have a winner. Shining isn't affected by the change due to his paranoia, anger, and obsession with the idea of Chrysalis being evil and behind the scheme. While the armor certainly helps, it isn't active at the moment (and is fairly weak due to whats been done to it in the first place)
11522910
11522849
But- I was saying why Cadence didn't use magic on Shining, not why shining didn't lose control, his armor likely stopped her from trying, which is why I thought you/he was calling her weak.
11522935
Its also not the armor. Its more her being at the cusp of being fully controlled. As seen so far, the changed are mostly autonomous and nearly mindless, almost like zombies. Writer's secret, it has to do with Tirek and Cozy not having a full understanding and control of the powers they wield. It also doesn't help that the staff, within the timeline of the chapter, is cracked, and is having its power mitigated to forge the barrier. If allowed to continue, it stands to reason Tirek and Cozy can have absolute control of everyone and their capabilities.
Sorry for the confusion
else's
less-than-approving (?)
chill pill (?)
whined (?)
Missing period or comma. (?)
horrific-looking
11534381
thank you as always
That is so rad.
I'd like to imagine it was the 'Royal Canterlot Voice' she yelled at him with.
With Chrysalis I thought we were watching it from the perspective of Anon. That due to his connection with her, his consciousness transferred somehow. Now, with Shining's POV, I don't think that's the case any more.
'Anymore' is correct too, for that last sentence.
oh god.. no... dread...
Luna and Celestia didn’t do SHIT! Anon did that!
holy shit, I’m turning into Anon.. Heck, I even see how hypocritical what I just said was... Let’s never speak of this again.
That chapter was just.... haunting