Carol of the Bells
Winter Bells
Preread, Edited, and Reviewed By
Batty Gloom, Illustrious Q, Municipal Engines, Cloudhammer, Wraithguard, Kohta Izumi, Kirk Heller
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Part of a side-story miniseries known as "In The Family" for the story Past Sins
- The stories of the miniseries -
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Chapter 10
Carol of the Bells
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“No, stop... I’m not Nightmare Moon anymore!”
Though Nyx’s pleas rang out through the empty darkness of her nightmare, no one in the anger driven mob heeded them. Some of the ponies were even throwing snowballs, hurling and smacking Nyx in the face as Shining Armor’s dream doppelganger continued his accusations. All the while the real Shining Armor could only hang back, watching in disbelief at the nightmare that was playing out in front of him.
“Is that really how she sees me?” Shining Armor asked. He then shook his head and pulled back from the corner of the clock tower, letting Nyx and the angry mob fall out of view. “No, Shining, keep it together. This has to be a trick. I don’t act like that. I’ve never been like that. I’ve never... been like that. I’ve never—”
“The fire of friendship lives in our hearts, as long as it burns we cannot drift apart. The fire of friendship lives in our hearts, as long as it burns we cannot drift apart.”
Shining’s ears turned, drawn by the singing. He turned to look at the tower, and soon focused in on where the song was coming from. It was a nearby window, one of the many that went up the height of the tower. The tower itself seemed to be growing taller, he didn’t remember it reaching so high before. Still, his concern was more focused on the pony singing. It was a familiar voice, and, brotherly instincts driving him, he jumped up to into the window and climbed inside the tower.
He landed on his hooves when he got through the window, stumbling a little from the hard landing on the stone floor. The interior of the tower was barely furnished at all. There were metal mounts on the walls holding torches, and those torches illuminated a single, long staircase that wrapped around the interior of the square tower and climbed all the way to its top. The source of the singing was coming from a pony at the base of those steps, who was desperately trying to climb them even though she was chained to the wall by a collar around her neck.
“Twilight!” Shining Armor said, rushing to the side of the dream doppelganger of his sister. “What are you doing?”
“The fire of friendship lives in our hearts, as long as it burns we cannot drift apart. The fire of friendship lives in our hearts, as long as it burns we cannot drift apart.”
“Twilight? Twilight!?” he shouted again, trying to snap her out of the strange trance. Yes, he knew this wasn’t his real sister, but still... he found what he was seeing too disturbing to ignore. His sister, in chains, singing like a mad mare. Why was Nyx dreaming about this? What purpose did this have? “Twilight, snap out of it!”
His final shout seemed to bring the dream Twilight’s mind back, and she turned to look at him for a moment, then she threw herself at him. Her forehooves wrapped around his neck. She smelled of body odor and her mane was greasy from being unwashed. It was a sight he wanted desperately to get away from, but the dream Twilight was holding tight, screeching her song.
“Earth ponies build and reap what they sow! Unicorn’s craft with a magical glow! Pegasi steward the skies high up above! Equestria lives by our care and our love!” Twilight’s grip tightened, threatening to squeeze Shining’s throat shut. He began to cough, struggling to breath, but Twilight just continued screeching.
“While different in form our spirits are one! We are a circle of friends that will never be undone! For the fire of friendship lives in our hearts! As long as it burns we cannot drift apart! Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few! Laughter and singing will see us through!” Twilight was now choking Shining, her grip becoming so tight not a single gasp of breath was able to get in or out of his lungs. He began to thrash, trying to free himself, but the dream Twilight’s grip held strong.
“We are a circle of pony friends! A circle of friends we’ll be to! The! Very! END!”
Shining was beginning to black out, and in his desperate thrashing he called on his magic. A pearly pink shield formed around him, casting Twilight back into a corner of the room. A moment later Shining dropped the shield, needing to focus entirely on gasping for breath. His lungs greedily sucked in the oxygen they had been deprived, and, as he recovered, Shining looked to the nightmare doppelganger of his sister.
The dream Twilight was curling up in the corner where she had landed. She was singing again but like a broken record. She was repeating the same lines over and over again, singing the twisted version of a line from the carol. “Though Quarrels arise, there is nothing to do. The silent bells can’t see us through. The silent bells can’t see us through. The silent bells can’t see us through.”
“Silent bells?” Shining Armor asked, taking a few cautious steps closer to dream doppelganger. “What about the bells?”
Dream Twilight looked at Shining again, but instead of screeching and attacking, the corner of the room seemed to fade. Like part of reality was just disappearing, the corner of the tower went away like smoke on the wind. Shining was able to see outside the tower again, to the snow covered ground, and there he saw his parents’ house. It was their back yard, and he saw three ponies standing next to their old grill as a little stick burned with red and white flames, like a peppermint stick.
It was Cadance, Twilight, and Nyx, and they were all straining their ears, as if trying to hear something.
“Wait, I think I hear it too,” he heard Cadance say, a smile spreading on her lips. “It sounds like bells.”
Twilight nodded and pointed with a hoof, and in the distance he saw something else fade into view. Floating in the darkness, like a distant city in the sky, was Canterlot Palace. That was where Twilight was pointing. “It must be coming from the bell tower at the castle. Those are the biggest and loudest bells in all of Canterlot. I bet they’ve started playing carols, like they do every year.”
Shining watched as Twilight’s smile grew as she nodded her head and shut her eyes. “Yeah, can you hear it? They’re playing the Hearth’s Warming carol. The fire of friendship lives in our hearts. As long as it burns we shall not drift apart!”
The familiar giggle of his wife drew Shining’s eyes away from Twilight, and he saw her lean down to playfully whisper to Nyx. “Twilight has a thing for bells.”
“I do not have a thing for bells,” Twilight defended. “A ‘thing for bells’ would imply I have an unhealthy or unnatural obsession with them. No, I enjoy bells, particularly around this time of year.”
Nyx and Cadance shared another giggle before Shining saw Nyx take a step towards Twilight. “Why’s that?” she asked.
“To me, bells represent the spirit of the season. A single bell ringing doesn’t make music. It’s only when a bunch of different kinds of bells, big and small, come together that they can make music. They play the carols, and it’s like the sky and wind are singing along.
“It’s just like the hearth warming legend,” Twilight said, Shining continuing to listen from the perspective Nyx’s dream offered him. “Not one kind of pony could have made this kingdom. It was only when all three tribes worked together that Equestria was born. Different kinds, big and small, coming together to face adversity in the name of peace and harmony.”
The vision, the memory, Shining saw began to fade and the corner of the clock tower began to return, growing back out of the snow. The dream doppelganger of Twilight returned, eyes red with tears. She pulled herself up from the ground slowly and limped back towards the base of the stairs, even as the chains that connected her collar to anklets to the wall grew taut.
“I told her the bells represented the season. I told her that she would be welcomed by my family. But she wasn’t welcomed by everypony. She was told our love was only a spell. The carols were nothing but lies to her. She didn’t want to hear them anymore... she didn't want to hear them taunting her. She wanted the bells to be silent. But one of my favorite parts of the season are the bells. I wanted her to enjoy them like I do. I wanted her to have a happy Hearth’s Warming like we always used to.”
The dream Twilight reached the bottom of the steps, and it was like she and Shining had come full circle. She began to sing again as she pulled and strained against the chains that bound her to the wall, that kept her from climbing the steps. “The fire of friendship lives in our hearts, as long as it burns we cannot drift apart. The fire of friendship lives in our hearts, as long as it burns we cannot drift apart.”
“We’ve had enough of your lies! It’s time for you to come clean and admit the truth! Admit what you’ve done! Admit that you brainwashed these ponies into caring for you. Admit your plans to usurp the throne!”
“I don’t have any plans! I’m not Nightmare Moon anymore! I’m a good pony!”
Shining Armor’s mind was assaulted on all sides by the sights and sounds of Nyx’s nightmare. He flattened his ears, shut his eyes, gritted his teeth, and tried to shut out the shouts and the singing. He tried to shut it all out. This... wasn’t what he wanted. This wasn’t what he had meant to do. That stallion outside... that Tyrant Armor... that wasn’t who he was. He had just been scared for Twilight. He had every reason to be scared, after all. Nyx is Nightmare Moon. Putting attitude and name change aside, she was still the same mare that had taken over Equestria.
He had every right to be scared, didn’t he?
“The fire of friendship lives in our hearts, as long as it burns we cannot drift apart. The fire of friendship lives in our hearts, as long as it burns we cannot drift apart.”
Shining looked to the dream Twilight Sparkle and with shaking hooves moved closer to her. She didn’t even take notice of him. Her eyes, every aspect of her mind and body were focused on climbing the steps, on ringing the silent bells at the top of the tower. He reached out to touch the doppelganger of his sister, but then pulled his hoof away and began to climb the tower.
“Don’t worry, Twilight, I’ll get those bells ringing.”
~~~
It had been a long climb up the tower, but, with a small flare of magic, Shining Armor opened the hatch at the top of the stairs. He climbed the last few steps and stepped into the chamber at the top of the bell tower. It was an awe inspiring sight. There were so many bells, glistening in the light of a non-existent moon. They all looked like they had been well cared for, polished and maintained like they were the finest bells in all of Equestria.
There were bells of every size, from those no larger than his hoof to ones bigger than even a manticore, but size was not the only thing that set many of the bells apart. Emblazoned upon the surface of each bell was a picture, a portrait of a pony. He saw images of Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy emblazoned on five bells that lined one side of the tower. Across from them, on bells that were slightly larger, he found the faces of four fillies. Three of them he recognized as the flower fillies from his wedding, the fourth was a filly with a curly mane and big rimmed glasses.
He saw pictures of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and he saw a bell with Lumber Jack posing proudly. He even saw a small bell with Spell Nexus’s picture on it. Each bell had the picture of somepony, though there were some faces Shining wasn’t able to find. Most notably, he could not find a bell with Twilight’s picture on it.
What he did manage to find, however, was another staircase going up from the first level of bells.
Climbing those wooden steps, Shining entered a second level of bells in the tower. On this floor he found five bells, the largest of any he had seen. There were four surrounding him, one for each side of the tower. Upon those bells he saw the familiar images of his mother, Twilight Velvet, his father, Nightlight, his wife, Cadance, and there was even a bell there with his picture on it.
And above him, hanging from the ceiling at the tower’s pinnacle, was the single largest bell. And, on the underside of that bell, Shining Armor could see an etching of Twilight smiling back at him with love and compassion.
“Okay... time to play a little music,” Shining said. It only took him a few minutes to find the rope that connected to Twilight’s bell, and with a smile he trotted over to it and grasped the rope in his magic. He glanced up at the bell, taking in its mammoth size for a moment before looking back at the rope. He braced himself, tightened his magic, and pulled.
But the rope would not give.
“Come on!” he said as he yanked and tugged on the rope. He grabbed the rope with his hooves and tried to pull. He even took the rope in his teeth to try and get the bell to ring, but all he succeeded in getting was a sore mouth and minor rope burn on his tongue.
“All right,” he said as he backed away from the rope. “Maybe I should start with a smaller bell.”
Looking around, Shining’s gaze was eventually drawn to the rope connected to the bell with his own picture on it. Unlike all the other bells, this one seemed to have a layer of dust on it. It was like the bell hadn’t been rung in a while, but as Shining took the rope up in his magic he could see the bell shift and move a little. He gave it a small test tug, and was surprised how easy it was. It was like this bell, the bell with his image, didn’t weigh anything at all. All it would take was one good tug and—
“Let go of the rope, now.”
Shining turned, letting the rope fall from the grip of his magic. He hadn’t even heard somepony else come up behind him. There had been no hoofsteps on the stairs, no creaking of the boards. And yet, somehow, a pony had come up behind him, a pony that was carrying a sword in a levitation spell and had murderous intent in his eyes.
It was his own dream doppelganger.
Shining turned around slowly, not wanting to make any sudden move as his doppelganger moved in closer, keeping the blade held at the ready. The blade itself seemed to gleam, as if hungry for blood, and there was no mercy in the eyes of his clone. There would be one, and only one, warning.
“Why? Don’t you like Hearth’s Warming carols?” Shining asked, forcing a small chuckle into his voice as he kept a wary eye on his doppelganger’s blade.
“The bells have been cursed,” the doppelganger said as he slowly circled the real Shining, keeping his sword raised. “When they play, the ponies pictured on them become brainwashed to believe Nightmare Moon is an innocent filly. It disguises her true form, and I won’t let you replace her spells before we can finally put an end to her.”
“What do you mean?” Shining asked.
The doppelganger finished circling around Shining, taking the rope to the bell that shared their image. With a single swift slice of his sword, the rope was cut and left to fall onto the floor. The doppelganger then focused his attention back on Shining Armor, keeping him at the tip of his sword. “Walk to the edge.”
Shining didn’t protest, walking around his bell. The four bells that represented him, Cadance, and his parents hung on the edges of the tower, mounted in the middle of large archways in the wall. This gave the bells all the room they needed to swing while also letting their music easily fill the open air outside the tower. This, however, also meant there were four gaping holes in the walls, and Shining was lead to the edge of one of them. His forehooves stuck out just beyond the edge, and he was able to look down to see the angry mob and gallows below.
Nyx was still crying out her innocence, and the crowd still wasn’t listening.
“Now, I don’t know what you are,” the doppelganger said, poking Shining in the back of the neck with his sword. “But, if you’re some spell of hers, then I want you to watch. Your master is going to meet the same fate as King Sombra. We’re going to put an end to her once and for all.”
Even without the dream Shining Armor down on the platform, the gallows began to do their work. The wooden post that held the rope began to grow taller, pulling the hangmare’s noose taut and causing Nyx to struggle to free herself.
“Yes, it will all be over soon. She won’t darken another doorstep ever again. She won’t brainwash another pony ever again, especially Twilight. She won’t turn my sister evil, not on my watch.”
“Is that why you’re doing this?” Shining Armor asked, looking back at his doppelganger.
“Of course, why else would I be doing it? Why else would she be brainwashing everypony? She wants to take over, and to do that she has to get ponies on her side. She has to make them evil, just like her!”
It was like staring into a funhouse mirror. Shining Armor recognized the doppelganger standing in front of him, but the words coming from his mouth sounded off, like an out of tune key on a piano. He... he had never thought that, had never said. Yes, it made sense. That was what had happened to him and everypony else that had been blessed by the Children of Nightmare.
But... he had never been afraid of Twilight turning evil. That one thought had never crossed his mind. He had only been afraid she had been brainwashed into loving Nyx, and that Nyx herself still had ill intentions. He was afraid that Nyx would take Twilight away and lock her in some dungeon. He was afraid that Twilight would be lead to the gallows again and, this time, no pony would be save her. He was... he was...
The truth hit Shining Armor like a freight train. His legs felt like jelly, and he had to take a shaky step to keep himself from falling. He took his eyes off his doppelganger and the sword that threatened to cleave his head from his body, and instead he looked to the floor. “That’s what I’ve been afraid of.”
“What are you mumbling about?” the doppelganger snapped.
Shining Armor raised his head until he was able to look at his doppelganger eye to eye. “I’ve been trying to protect Twilight. I’ve been trying to keep her safe from Nyx, because I was afraid she had been brainwashed like I had been. But... that’s not what I’ve really been afraid of. I haven’t been scared of the idea that Twilight was brainwashed. I’ve been scared that Nyx would take her away. I’ve been afraid of losing Twilight.
“I am afraid of losing my sister.”
“Hey, she’s my sister!” the doppelganger snapped. He brought his sword to Shining Armor’s neck, pressing the tip against the base of his chin. “And what’s the difference? Twilight getting brainwashed is the same as losing her.”
“Yes, maybe it is,” Shining Armor admitted, “but there is more than one way to lose somepony you care about. There are also lots of times you can be scared of losing somepony when you have no reason to be. Twilight knows that better than most ponies.”
“What do you mean? Twilight’s never lost anypony!” the doppelganger snapped.
“No, but she thought she was losing me,” Shining explained. “She was so mad when she came to Canterlot for the wedding. And, during all the preparations, she saw Cadance acting evil. She saw that changeling queen cast her spell on me, and she was afraid. She was afraid she was going to lose me to somepony that was evil.”
“Quit talking like Twilight’s your sister! She’s mine!” the doppelganger spat.
“And Twilight,” Shining Armor continued, ignoring his dream copy’s protest. “She was so afraid. She was so sure that I was being taken away by an evil mare, she burst into the dress rehearsal for the wedding and called Cadance out. And I was so mad at her because of that. I was so mad that she had made my bride cry, that she was trying to ruin our special day. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see Twilight again after what she had done.
“But Twilight was proven right in the end! She found the real Cadance in the crystal caverns and brought her back to the wedding. Then Cadance and I defeated the changeling queen. Twilight learned to trust her intuition.”
“Yes, she did. Twilight was proven right in the end, and this whole time I was sure the same would happen for me. I was sure that I would find the evidence I needed to prove once and for all that Nyx was trying to take Twilight away. But... ” Shining looked over his shoulder, looking down at the scene below. The crowd was throwing snowballs at Nyx again while the noose remained tight around her neck. “... I can’t find evidence if it doesn’t exist.”
“There’s evidence!” the doppelganger shouted, lowering his sword and waving a hoof through the air. “Twilight is caring for Nightmare Moon like a daughter. You said yourself that the the only reason she cares for Nightmare Moon at all is because of a spell.”
“But there’s a much simpler explanation for why my sister has taken in Nyx,” Shining said, a proud smile spreading onto his lips. “She’s growing up, just like I am. We’ll always be brother and sister. Nothing will ever change that, but we aren’t the goofy kids we once were. I’ve grown up to be a captain of the guard and a husband to an amazing mare. And Twilight, she’s grown up into such an astounding mare. She’s Celestia’s prize student, she’s a hero to Equestria, and now she’s also an amazing mother.
“And until there’s some real evidence to prove otherwise, it’s high time I started supporting my sister and acting like a real uncle to my niece.”
“No!” the doppelganger spat, raising his sword above his head. “Twilight is my sister! She isn’t yours! She’s mine! I’m not going to let you or Nightmare Moon take her away! I am not going to let you replace me so she can bewitch everypony else! Now you are going to go and join your master on the gallows or I will cut you down right here!”
“I’d like to see you try!”
Like a rabid dog breaking loose of its chain, the doppelganger threw himself at Shining Armor. He raised his sword and swung it. The sharp edge was set to find a home in his neck. The lethal intent in the doppelganger's attack was like a poison on the blade. The sword, however, found neither flesh nor bone. Instead, it clanged against a magical shield, causing the doppelganger to stumble back as he held a hoof against his head and flattening his ears.
“And, by the way, if you were the real me, you wouldn’t even need that sword.” Shining Armor said as he rooted his hooves against the floor. Magic trailed from his horn to his shoulders, on which he had formed a pair of semi-transparent, pink kite shields.
“I am the real Shining Armor! You are the fake! You won’t take Twilight away!” Once more the doppelganger charged, but this time Shining Armor did the same in return. But instead of clashing with his copy, Shining ducked, letting the sword nick against his shield while he ran past. He was ready to fight this nightmare version of himself, but he didn’t want to do it so close to the bells. For the bells hung in the large openings in the tower walls, large openings that would be very easy to fall through should he be knocked off balance.
With the sturdy ground of the center of the tower beneath his hooves, Shining spun to face his attacker. And the doppelganger was attacking. Roaring like a manticore the doppelganger thrust his sword, aiming the tip for Shining’s heart. Shining rolled his shoulder into the attack, letting the magical shield he had affixed to his right shoulder take the blow as the sharp clang of the sword’s steel against his magic struck hard against his ears.
He returned the attack with one of his own, a burst of magic from his horn. He had aimed at the doppelganger's sword, to try and disarm him, but his clone smacked away the attack like he was swatting a fly out of the air with a newspaper.
Thus their dance began, each moving to try and defeat the other with tactics that were as different as their states of mind. Shining Armor stuck to his shields, blocking and taking any brief opportunity to shoot a beam of magic at his opponent. The doppelganger moved like a mad pony possessed by a raging spirit of war. He’d duck and dodge the blasts of magic, or knock them away with his sword, before wildly attacking Shining Armor again, beating his blade against the shields.
For a time they were even, each getting in an equal number of attacks while blocking the blows from their opponents. But the battle began to sway in his nightmare clone’s favor. The ground on which you stand in a fight is as important as any training, any armor, or any spell. If you can gain the high ground, you gain the advantage over your opponent. If you can maintain a sure stance, you can be as immovable as a brick wall.
This was where Shining Armor was in trouble.
The doppelganger cut, riposted, and lunged. He swung the sword horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. Shining had to shift himself to meet these blows, had to bring his shields to block the deadly blade. Those times when he could not change his stance quickly enough, those times when he was a little slower than his doppelganger, he would stumble. He would be forced to take a step back to maintain his defense and, at the same time, sacrifice his own opportunity to attack.
He was being beaten back, and with every inch he gave up he only gave his doppelganger more confidence. The blows were coming faster and more wildly. The sword was swinging through the air like it was being carried by a tornado, spinning and whirling so fast Shining had almost no hope of blasting it away. He had to turn his magic on his opponent. He had to try and knock his nightmare copy off balance and take the offensive himself.
But the doppelganger was no real pony, of flesh and blood who would at least cringe when blasted with magic. He was part of the nightmare. He was shrugging off the blasts as if they were nothing. He took a blow to the shoulder and all it succeeded in doing was singeing his fur. He took a blast in the knee, and the doppelganger only got angrier and began swinging his sword with greater lethal purpose.
The fight was looking bleaker the longer it went on, Shining didn’t know what would happen if he let himself get beat while he was a visitor in Nyx’s dream. Truthfully, he didn’t want to find out, but the situation grew only more dire as he was forced back by his nightmare clone. He kept having to take steps back, kept having to move away and reset his stance so that he might defend against the doppelganger's assault. He kept moving back. He kept stepping back.
Until there was nowhere else to go.
The doppelganger swung wide, a horizontal slash. Shining shifted his shoulder shield. It took the brunt, but the force behind the blow made him stumble. He tried to take just one more step back but felt his hind hoof miss the ground and fall down. He yelped and fell back as his three other hooves struggled to keep him upright. He dared to look back, and saw a long fall. He had been backed to the edge of the tower, to one of the great windows that the bell with his picture hung from. It was the same place their fight had started, the pair having made several full circles across the bell tower’s upper floor.
He pawed at the ledge with his back hoof, trying to pull himself back up from the edge. He, however, wouldn’t be given the chance. A flash of movement in the periphery of his vision made Shining Armor look up. His doppelganger had raised his sword to his side, and was now swinging it. It cut through the air, its path set to make it sink into the side of Shining Armor’s head.
There was no time to raise his shoulder shields, no time to conjure another spell. He could not back up either, there was nowhere else to back up to. So he did the only thing he could, he ducked. He brought his head down, getting it below the blade just as it swung through the air above him. He felt the sharp edge brush against his mane, even cutting some of the strands of hair. It then continued on, swinging through the air until it came to an abrupt stop.
With a mighty clang the sword struck his bell, causing it to ring out its singular note. Shining had to wince and flatten his ears at the loud tone, which threatened to deafen him with its volume. But his pain seemed minor compared to what his doppelganger was experiencing. The Shining Armor of Nyx’s nightmare had stumbled away, dropping his sword as he placed both his hooves against his ears. He was screaming, as if trying to drone out the tone of the bell with his own voice.
It was a chance Shining Armor had been looking for. With a grunt he hauled his hind hoof back up and got all four of his hooves on the ground. The bell was still ringing, still giving him a few precious moments of protection from his attacker, and in that time his eyes went to the ground. He looked and quickly found the rope his doppelganger had cut, and he quickly levitated it up towards where it had been tied to the bell.
He began to secure the knot as the bell’s ringing faded. His doppelganger began to recover, stumbling as he levitated his sword. Shining heard the scream, a shout of hated words. His intuition as a soldier was telling him to turn and face the attacker that was undoubtedly bearing down on him. But he did not. He finished tying the rope in place and then gave it a single, firm tug.
The bell that bore his picture swung up in a grand arc. It’s pendulum like clapper crashed into its side, and the bell gave up its note once more. His doppelganger screamed and fell to the floor, writhing in pain from the sound of the bell, but Shining Armor continued to ring the bell. Down below, the tolling of the bell brought silence to the angry crowd. They all looked up, and Nyx too turned her eyes upward. They all watched and listened as it swung and sang into the empty night of Nyx’s dream.
“The... the bell... it’s...”
Shining Armor smiled, and looked back as the dream Twilight climbed up the last few steps that connected the top level of the bell tower to the one below. The chains that had been around her neck were gone, and the tone of her voice was far less manic.
“That’s right, Twilight!” Shining shouted before pointing with his hoof “We’re playing a song with the bells. Why don’t you grab that rope over there and help?”
The dream Twilight turned, looking to the rope and then following it up to where it connected with the tower’s largest bell, the one that hung above them and bore her image on its interior. She stared at for a good few seconds. A smile then spread on her lips as her horn glowed. She took hold of the rope in a spell and pulled it. The bell above them sang out its note, its large size making it twice as loud as Shining Armor’s. Still, the two bells did not fight for dominance.
Like members in a choir, their voices began to fuse together into a pleasing harmony.
“That’s it! That’s it!” Shining cheered, ignoring the writhing screams of his doppelganger as he ran to the edge of the tower and looked down at the crowd below. “Hey, everypony! Come up to the tower!”
The crowd, which had been shouting and throwing snowballs in rage, seemed to have calmed down. They did as they were asked, filing through the door and climbing up the steps. Shining Armor met them at the top, and began directing each pony to the bell that carried their picture.
And with each bell that joined the harmony, the more smiles Shining Armor began to see. The air was growing warmer, the darkness that was surrounding the tower was lightening, first to a dull gray but it was on its way to being a pristine, clear white. And below, the gallows that Nyx had been standing on were disappearing. They were turning to snow and disappearing in the wind.
And as all the bells began to play together, the ponies of Nyx’s dream began to sing. Their voices joined in the harmony. It was a joyous sound, one that filled the area and made everypony smile as they sang. Even Shining Armor joined in, unable to deny the energy as he looked around and saw his family on the top floor of the bell tower, each pulling at the rope of their own bell.
Twilight, Cadance, Night Light, Twilight Velvet, they were all there... or maybe it was more like he was now there with them. Yes... that was it. They had been trying to make it a happy Hearth’s Warming. They had been willing to accept Nyx. This wasn’t something he had started.
They had always been singing the songs and enjoying the holiday. He was just joining in.
And he did join in, he raised his voice with the others and sang loud as his lungs would allow.
♪ The fire of friendship lives in our hearts ♪
♫ As long as it burns we cannot drift apart ♫
♪ Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few ♪
♫ Laughter and singing will see us through (will see us through) ♫
♪ We are a circle of pony friends ♪
♫ A circle of friends we'll be to the very end ♫
~~~
With a final tolling of the bells, Shining’s eyes became blinded by white. The light seemed to be coming from everywhere, and for a moment he couldn’t feel his hooves against the ground. But then the dream began to come back into focus. He was standing in snow again, no longer inside the tower. He instead found himself sitting in the middle of a street in Canterlot, looking at a modestly sized bell tower that was playing the Hearth’s Warming carol.
None of the other ponies that had been playing the bells with him were anywhere to be seen. They had all vanished, but he wasn’t alone either. There was one pony there with him in the empty street. She was sitting, looking up at the tower as he was. She didn't even seem to notice he was there, a fact Shining Armor quickly changed as he came up behind her.
“Nyx, we’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
Nyx turned her head quickly to look back at Shining, who sat down beside her. She was looking at him in confusion, like she almost didn't even recognize him. Then again, she had never seen him when he was smiling at her.
“Y-you’ve been looking for me?”
“Everypony has,” Shining Armor answered cheerfully. “Twilight, Cadance, Mom, Dad, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and even the princesses have been helping.”
“But, you’ve been helping them?”
Shining Armor nodded. “I have. I’ve been helping Princess Luna. We even managed to catch the pony who chased you on the catwalks.”
“But...” Nyx lifted a hoof and pointed at Shining Armor’s nose. “You’ve been helping look for me? I thought...”
“I know, I know,” Shining Armor said. He lowered himself down, ignoring the chill of snow on his stomach as he laid down in the street. “Nyx, I’m sorry about everything I’ve said and done the past few days. I know that you haven’t been doing anything to purposefully try to hurt Twilight, and I’m sorry for ever suspecting you. I’m also sorry about what you overheard me say. I don’t know for sure what that spell did to Twilight’s blood, if it did anything at all, but—”
“I know what it did,” Nyx said as she looked down at her hooves before she kicked at a little bit of snow. “I found Spell Nexus and asked him. He didn’t put a spell on Twilight or anything.”
“So that’s where you went,” Shining Armor said before smiling. “Still, that’s good news, isn’t it? You proved me wrong.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“I just...” she sighed, using her hoof to draw a circle in the snow. “Lumber Jack made me think that the blood in the spell made me Twilight’s real daughter, but Spell Nexus said that wasn’t right. He said that Twilight’s blood was just food for me.”
“How could it have been food?”
“I don’t know,” Nyx whined before kicking at the lopsided circle she had drawn. “He was being really confusing and then he wouldn’t talk to me anymore. He just... he just wished I would go away.”
“Guess I’m not the only one having trouble being nice this Hearth’s Warming,” Shining whispered before using a hoof to raise Nyx’s chin. “Listen, if what Spell Nexus said is true, then the only thing that means is that you aren’t Twilight’s biological daughter. That doesn’t mean you aren’t her real daughter.”
“Yes it does.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Shining argued, keeping his tone chipper and a smile on his face. “Being related to somepony else by blood isn’t what makes a family. All that matters is that you care about one another. Just look at your Aunt Cadance. She isn’t related by blood to me or anypony in my family, but we still consider her family.”
“That’s because she’s your wife.”
“Exactly,” Shining said with a single, firm nod. “We’re husband and wife. Cadance and I love each other so much we wanted to become part of the same family, and that’s what Twilight did for you in a way. Do you remember earlier this year, when Twilight took a trip to Canterlot and left you at home with Spike?”
Nyx nodded. “Yeah, I remember. That was the weekend Granny Smith put me under an apple basket.”
“Okay... yes, that weekend,” he confirmed, though he had no idea whether or not they were truly talking about the same few days. “Did Twilight tell you what she was doing in Canterlot?”
“She was filing paperwork to adopt me.”
Shining Armor nodded and smiled. “That’s how much she cares, Nyx. She loves you so much, she didn’t want anypony to be able to take you away from her. She wanted you and everypony else to know that she sees herself as your mother, and that you are her daughter. That’s why she filled out the adoption forms, even after Princess Luna had decreed that you were to stay with her.
“Because she wants to be your real mother.”
Nyx huffed as she shifted in her hooves. “So, some paper says I’m Twilight’s real daughter.”
“Legally, yes... and legally, that’s all that really says that Cadance and I are married. But it’s more than that. Getting married, filing for adoptions, they aren’t what make ponies a real family, that’s what comes afterward. What really defines a family is the love they share and the time they spend together.
Shining gave Nyx a gentle nudge, getting her to look at him. “Haven’t you had some good times while you were here in Canterlot?”
Nyx looked away from Shining, her gaze wandering back to the bell tower, which was still playing carols. “I guess... I did get to look through that scrapbook with Velvet, and Night Light pulled that cookie out from behind my ear and welcomed me to the family in his speech. And Cadance and I learned how to fold napkins from Fluttershy.”
“And I bet you have loads of good memories with Twilight, don’t you?”
Nyx nodded her head eagerly as a smile formed on her lips. “I do!”
“What’s your favorite memory?”
“My absolute favorite?” Nyx pursed her lips, stuck her tongue out, and brought a hoof to her chin. She thought for a few good minutes, shaking her head a few times as if to disregard a memory that had been competing for the spot of favorite. Finally, Nyx smiled and looked back at Shining, though it was not the eager smile of a child about to tell you of a day in the park. It was a more somber smile.
“It was when I woke up after fighting all those monsters in Ponyville. I was still an adult, and Twilight had convinced me we had to free the princesses. I was scared they were going to send me back to the moon. Twilight promised she wouldn’t let them, but I was still scared. So I asked her if we could wait a little while, if we could spend some time together in case... I had to go away.”
“And did you?”
Nyx nodded. “We did. She said Equestria could wait a few hours. She got us something to eat from the kitchens, and then she picked out a story for us to read together. At first, we took turns reading, but then we started to read the dialogue in funny voices. And then... when I was starting to get tired, because of my injuries, she just let me lay my head in her lap while she finished the story. We read the whole book together, cover to cover. Twilight made sure that I had my one last good memory, just in case I did get sent to the moon.”
“That’s what I’m talking about, Nyx. It’s those kinds of things that prove that Twilight is, and always will be, your real mother. It’s those kind of things that make Cadance your real aunt and that make my parents your grandparents.”
“And makes you my real uncle, right?”
Shining Armor laughed anxiously and glanced away. “I don’t know about that. I don’t think we’ve really had any good times together, Nyx.”
“But we will, won’t we?” Nyx asked, smiling as she climbed to her hooves and took a step closer to Shining.
“Yeah, I suppose we will,” he replied as he stood up as well. “In fact, there’s something I want to show you.”
Shining Armor waved at Nyx to follow him, and they began walking towards the clock tower. They walked around to its far side, and it was there they found a large door sitting open. Light poured through the door and onto the snow, and the air was filled with the smells of spring. Nyx had to shield her eyes for a moment when she first looked through the door, but then a large smile spread onto her lips when she was able to see what lay on the far side of the door.
“Wow!”
“Nyx, welcome to the Crystal Empire,” Shining Armor said as he led Nyx through the doorway, their hooves tracking snow onto the warm dirt and grass.
“But... how did we...”
“Allow me to explain that.”
Nyx and Shining Armor turned and looked to the side of the path, where Princess Luna was standing with a smile. “Well done, Shining Armor. You did a wonderful job calming Nyx’s dream.”
Nyx glanced back and forth between the two taller ponies, her eyebrow arched in confusion. “I’m dreaming?”
Princess Luna nodded once. “Yes, Nyx, you are. This is how Shining Armor and I were able to find you. As the Princess of the Night, my domain includes the realm of dreams. I was watching this realm when you fell asleep, and was able to sense your dream taking shape.”
“So, all of this is my dream?”
“No,” Luna said with a shake of her head. “This dream of the Crystal Empire’s beauty is Shining Armor’s. I connected your dreams together with the doorway you just passed through. You were having a nightmare, Nyx. I tried to enter your dream directly to calm you down, but was unable to do so safely. So, instead, I guided Shining Armor to sleep. This allowed me to bridge his dream to yours, which allowed him to calm your nightmare.”
“Why did you do all that?”
“Everypony is out looking for you, Nyx, and are worried for your safety. We need to know where you are sleeping, so we can come get you.”
“Speaking of,” Shining Armor said, interrupting the princess for a moment. “Nyx mentioned Spell Nexus earlier. I think she may be with him.”
“Yeah, the last thing I remember was talking to Spell Nexus at his manor. Lumber Jack found me in the streets and helped me get there.”
“Lumber Jack?” Luna questioned before glancing at Shining Armor. “Do you know this Lumber Jack?”
“Yes, he’s a family friend,” Shining explained.
Luna nodded as she began to step towards the doorway, which was framed by the entry archway of the Crystal Empire. “Well, then we have obtained the answer we sought. Nyx, if you would, please return to your own dream. I need to wake Shining Armor so that we can come and get you at Spell Nexus’s manor.”
Nyx followed Luna over to the door, and looked through the cold, wintery landscape that lay just beyond. “Do I have to? I wanted to see more of the Crystal Empire.”
“I promise, someday you’ll get to see the real Crystal Empire,” Shining Armor assured her. “But right now Twilight is really worried about you, and she won’t stop worrying until we can get you back to her.”
“Okay,” Nyx said as she walked through the door. She then stopped and looked back at Princess Luna. “Are you sure this isn’t all just some strange dream? I’m not going to wake up all alone in Nexus’s manor, am I?”
“We will be there before you awake, Nyx,” Luna assured. “But, if you truly wish, I have a way you can prove to yourself all that we’ve said is true. It is a trick I discovered milllenia ago, when I was just starting to understand my power over dreams.”
“What’s the trick?”
Luna motioned towards Shining Armor with a hoof. “Tell Shining Armor something he wouldn’t otherwise know, something that is personal to you and you alone. Then, when you two meet in the real world, you need only to ask him about what was said here in the realm of dreams. If he is able to answer it correctly, then you will know that all this was not a concoction of your mind alone.”
Nyx nodded her head, and then fell silent for a few minutes as she thought. She then smiled and looked up at Shining. “You know that stick Twilight bought for me from Lumber Jack, the one burned with fire that looked like a peppermint stick?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“The reason I picked that stick out is because it reminded me of my friend, Twist. She makes the best peppermint sticks. She gave me one once when I... when I really needed it a lot.” Nyx looked back to Luna. “Is that the right kind of thing to tell him?”
“It was perfect,” Luna said as her horn began to glow. “Dream well, Nyx, we will see you when you wake.”
With that Luna closed the bridge between the two dreams, letting the crystalline gateway of the empire return to normal as Nyx and her snow covered dream faded from sight. She then looked to Shining, smiling proudly. “You did well.”
“She didn’t make it easy,” Shining Armor said with a small chuckle. “She was having a doozy of a nightmare.”
“I am sorry I could not assist you, but I cannot cross between dreams when I am bridging two or more minds together. I must remain in a single dream, as an anchor point for the magical bridge.”
“I guess that makes sense. You can’t cross a bridge when you’re the one holding it together,” Shining Armor said. “There was one thing I wanted to talk to you about, though.”
“Oh, what is—”
Luna’s tongue and mouth were silenced by the wet, cold splat of a snowball against her face. She stood still as stone for a moment, feeling frozen water slide down her face. The snow must have come from Nyx’s dream, but that fact did little to soothe the chilled shiver that ran down the princess’s spine. She slowly opened her eyes and looked to Shining Armor who was smiling smugly as the glow from his horn faded.
“That was for throwing me through the door.”
=====================================================================
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My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic © Hasbro
I do not own the intellectual properties this fan-fiction is based on.
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ERMAHGERD I'm so happy this looks like a big chapter!
I wonder is this the last??? I should read it and find out!! Commence now!!!
Very nice!
Ah, a literal 'in-your-face!' scenario. Magnificent.
yay
I would have used a bigger snowball and just dropped it
NICE chapter by the way
And at last, Shining realizes what a plothead he's been. About time, too.
Another wonderful chapter, and I look forward to how the rest of this story will unfold.
And so Shining Armor spent a fortnight improving his snowball throwing skills.
On the moooooooon!
I see Shining Armor is prepared to take his place in the traditional alicorn prank wars. I just hope he has 'game' for it.
love the end
WOW!! That had me glued to my phone (iPhone reader) from start to finish.
Shining Armor is best Counter-Troll
Also... Shiny finally decided to be Nyx's Uncle!
Typo alert!
Red letters and words are letters and words that the actual chapter needs to have added, while bold words need to be changed in certain ways.
Remove the apostrophe S at the end to fix this.
I believe the word you meant to use is clashing.
My goodness, I'm positive you meant to use my instead of me.
This sentence seems strange. I'm not exactly sure what you meant to say there.
Other then that, great chapter!
Welcome to the other side, Shining. And nice work with the snowball.
Lovely.
Finally, Shining comes to his senses.
Another great chapter, as always!
love this story and its predecessor
Nice hit, Shining!
And the cliche comes out.
---
I know this is supposed to be heartfelt and full of "d'awwww" but...
Shinning is still a creep in my books. He's got quite the hole to dig himself out of
Pen Stroke, I think you did too good a job making SA into an asshole
Okay, I spotted to things that I found didn't belong in your story grammatically, and on the matter of punctuation too.
She's wants should be She wants instead.
There was a space that was unnecessary between "trance" and the period that follows it, thus making the sentence like this: “Twilight? Twilight!?” he shouted again, trying to snap her out of the strange trance. Yes[...]
Okay, so Shining Armor came face-to-face with his doppelganger in Nyx's nightmare, realized what he was really afraid of, and ultimately realized what a foal he'd been for going after Nyx when he didn't have any proof that she was still evil.
Also, am I the only one who sees a parallel to a certain episode of My Little Pony 'n Friends? You know, The Return of Tambelon? A bell was the key to victory there as well!
That scene with Shining Armor and Nyx rustled my jimmies in the best way possible, and that ending...Shining Armor, I hope you're ready for a massive prank war!
Also, I really hope this all ends with a trip to the hospital for a DNA test that says that Twilight and Nyx are related biologically, just to make sure that there is no further room for questioning that aspect of this fic.
All in all, this chapter earns 2/2 badges of approval, so here you go!
fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/282/e/5/twilight_sparkle_approved_by_ambris-d4c255h.png
fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/057/f/a/princess_luna_approved_by_ambris-d4r3ibw.png
You know what would be really awesome? A Nyx approved badge! Anyone feeling up to the challenge?
th09.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2011/080/9/d/i__m_ok_with_this___celestia_by_megasweet-d3c6xx4.png
“Is that really how she sees me?” Shining Armor asked.
i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/2110300928/h7722C98C/
Really Shiny, are you that dumb? Well I guess you are.
Well, I guess it's okay
You don't have to be perfect to be the perfect uncle
bout time you got it right
Thank goodness. Great job to you Pen Stroke.
First comment on this site. I like this story a lot, and this chapter was great. One question, though: shouldn't Spike have had a bell somewhere? He is part of the family too.
And now all that's left is for everyone to find out that Cadence is pregnant......Pinkie Pie? You may now throw the Congrats on having a foal party.
I have a feeling this isn't quite over yet....
Might also want to change 'Tryant Armor' to 'Tyrant Armor".
2364549Luna doesn't send ponies to the moon silly, she sends them to the SUN!
Great chapter, it's good to see that Nyx will be getting some relief for her heartache soon.
I like how shining told nyx that they might go to the christal kingdom together
and that shining got back at luna for tossing him through the door
Buhahaha
that ending
And then Shining was sun'd...
Or possibly upended into the nearest snowdrift and starting the Great Harmony Prank War or something.
Took him a while, didn't it? (Well, military minds have historically oft been resistant to ideas which don't fit their world view...! The fact Shining actually changed his eventually puts him ahead of the game there!)
Great job sir
Is it odd that this reminded me of Perchance to Dream? What with the big climactic battle in the bell tower and all.
2365151
I think you mean "Tryhard Armor". Dohoho.
Burn.
2365389 That's okay. I have +5 resist fire damage armor and 5 rawst berries. Or was that for Shiny?
Ahh, Shining Armor is sane now. Or MAYBE the dream-bells really DO activate the mind-control spells, and because Shining's bell rang, he's been put under the spell.
Dun dun duuuuunn. 
Gramma chek:
"It’s pendulum like" should be "Its pendulum-like".
Dat chapter end. Lol.
God that was awesome! The feels man the feeeeeeels!
Finally you see the light Shining, FINALLY!
And during the battle when Shining talked about not needing a sword I was instantly reminded of the Zelda clip made by Dorkly. That would have been a laugh.!
No. You're supposed to pick several words at random and make a nonsensical, but memorable, sentence. It's much harder to guess.
Yay, snowballs and revenge. It's perfect.
Shinning Armor did well, but I hoped he would debate with his counterpart in front of Nyx, not end up fighting his shadow, though fighting your darker self is always epic, it remind me of persona 4 so much.
Anyway for me Shinning Armor is not yet redeemed, he was stubborn so long when proves that he was wrong was thrown in front of his face that this one action in Nyx dream is not paying up for it, Shinning Armor will have a lot to apologise to Nyx, and next time not in private of Nyx dream, but in front of everypony, including his sister.
As for revenge again Luna, I think Luna should just repay it with far bigger snowball in the face, she had every right to thrown cowardly stubborn Mule ( no offence to mules in MLP show ) out of his paranoia.
FINALLY Shining sees the truth.
This is wrapping up quite nicely, great chapter.
Love that song. Nice job fixing it, Shining.
2364744 Well, this isn't the point where he decides that he's turned it all around and everything's good. It's the point where he realizes he needs to turn it all around and make it good. So, yeah, he has some digging to do, but at least he's digging up now.
2364744
You know...sometimes cliches isn't really a bad thing. Yeah I know, many times we want to gagged at them, but other times, we can't help but to smile at them. Eh, that life for you.
And, you know, we human beings really do need to learn something about forgiveness. We all make mistakes, I know I have, but the only things that keep us from forgiving others is our own stubbornness. Sure, there are some mistakes that will be harder to forgive than other, but I figured, if someone did their best and try their hardest enough to repent for what they did, don't you think they deserved forgiveness.
On topic:
This chapter...it is so beautiful and warm! It is nice to see Shining Armor finally able to see his mistake and owned up to them. And, the imaginary of the fight between the two Shining Armor has a nice touch to the story as well. The differences between the two really shows off the chapter like a work of wondrous masterpiece. You have earned the 'approved' badges, thumbs up, and many other praises there is on the Internet! Keep up the great job!
C&Cs:
He was shrugging of the blasts as if they were nothing.
> Correction: ‘off’.
Until there was no where else to go.
> Correction: ‘nowhere’.
He could not back up either, there was no where else to back up to.
> Same as above.
Do I have do?
> Replace ‘do’ with ‘to’.
Nyx turned her head quickly to look back at Shining, who sat down beside her. She was looking at him in confusion, like she almost didn't’ even recognize him. Then again, she had never seen him when he was smiling at her. The apostrophe after didn't should be removed.
“No, it doesn’t,” Shining argued, keeping his tone chipper and a smile on his face. “Being related to somepony else by blood isn’t what makes a family. All that matters is you that you care about one another. Just look at your Aunt Cadance. She isn’t related by blood to me or anypony in my family, but we still consider her family.” Remove the word in bold.
“No,” Luna said with a shake of her head. “This dream of the Crystal Empire’s beauty is Shining Armor’s. I connected your dreams together with the doorway you just passed through. You were having a nightmare, Nyx. I tried to enter your dream directly to calm you down, but was unable to do so safely. So, instead, I guided Shining Armor to sleep. This allowed me to bridge his dream to yours, which allowed him calm your nightmare.” allowed him to calm your nightmare.