Bioshock Equestria

by Dawn Flower

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Shining Armor regained consciousness and opened his eyes. He was already standing up on all four hooves and he looked around at where he was. He was now out on the balcony at the Crystal Empire Palace. Everything around him was grey. He turned his head to the left and he saw Cadance standing next to him; facing forward and looking out over the Crystal Empire. She had a blank look on her face.

Cadance closed her eyes briefly and gave a short sigh. She then turned her head to face Shining Armor. “So… your mind’s really made up then?”

Shining Armor turned his head away from her and looked out over the Crystal Empire. “I have to. The change in Equestria reaches even here now. With everything that’s been happening lately, I just know that Twilight’s in trouble. I know my sister and she would never do things like this of her own free will. I just know that something or somepony else is behind it all.” Shining Armor sighed. “I have to save her! And on the off chance that it really is her behind everything… I need to know why.”

Cadance hesitated slightly to say what she was about to say next. “You know; I don’t think that you’ll be able to just walk into Canterlot, take her and walk out. Ponies everywhere are becoming more obsessed and violent lately. Even my magic can’t reach their hearts anymore. If you try to take their princess away… if they hurt you…” Cadance looked down at her feet, her sad frown growing bigger. “I don’t know what I might do.”

Shining Armor turned back to face Cadance and put his hoof around her shoulder. “Cadance.” Cadence turned to look up at him. “I promise you that I’ll come back. I swear it on my life.”

Cadance took in what Shining Armor just said. She then smiled and leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

After kissing for ten seconds, Shining Armor pulled away slowly and looked her in the eye. “You’ll see. I’ll come back; and Twilight will be with me.” Shining Armor then turned around and walked into the throne room. Cadance followed soon after to see him off. When Shining Armor had reached the entrance to the throne room, he placed his hooves on the giant door and pushed it open. Suddenly there was a big flash of light and everything turned white.

“Shining Armor? Shining Armor. SHINING ARMOR!” Cadance screamed at the top of her lungs. Soon even this faded away and everything was white and silent.

---

“Cadance. Cadance. Cadance.” Shining Armor called out her name repeatedly.

Shining Armor’s vision was blurry but it started to return. He was able to make out the image of a pink pony standing over him. “Cadance? Is that you?”

“No. My name’s Lightning Flicker. Are you alright?”

Shining Armor’s vision returned to normal and he could see clearly again. The pony standing over him was a pink pegasus pony. She had a long, lime green mane tied back in a ponytail. Her cutie mark was of a dark storm cloud with three thunderbolts on it. She was kneeling down, with one of her hooves behind Shining Armor’s head, helping him to sit up.

“Yeah. I’m fine,” Shining Armor responded.

“Are you sure? You look like you’re in pretty bad shape.” She held out her other hoof to help him up.

Shining Armor swatted her hoof away. “I said I’m fine!” he said in a slightly aggressive tone.

Lightning Flicker pouted. She then stood back up and walked away.

Shining Armor stood up. He still had a slight pain in his head, but he just ignored it. He then surveyed his new surroundings. He was currently in a large, old, run-down room. The wood in the floor was creaking with every step. The windows were boarded up but there were still small gaps that let light in. There was dust all over the floor and there were lots of what appeared to be barrels covered with blue sheets. There were also strange posters on the walls. Shining Armor recognised them as the same type of posters he saw when he first entered the city. However, these were noticeably different than the others.

Shining Armor looked away from the posters and examined the rest of the room. He also saw several pegasus ponies around the room. Some were treating other ponies injuries; others were organising bottles of what appeared to be Quartz's.

The room looked like an old storage room. Buildings in this condition in Canterlot were few and far between. There weren’t many places he could be right now, but one thing he knew for certain was that he wasn’t in the palace anymore. Suddenly, his eyes shot open. “Hey. Where’s Twilight?”

“Do not worry Captain,. She is perfectly safe,” said a familiar voice from across the room.

Shining Armor recognised the voice that he just heard. He turned around to discover that his guess was correct. Right behind him, kneeling down next to Twilight, who was playing with a pegasus filly, was none other than Princess Luna. Luna stood up on all four hooves and walked over to Shining Armor. When she was standing right in front of him, Shining Armor gave her a curt bow. He was still willing to acknowledge her as princess.

Princess Luna smiled as he did this. “Now Captain, there is no need to be so formal.” She then raised her hoof to her mouth and giggled slightly.

Shining Armor rose back onto his feet again. “Thank you, Princess Luna. How did we get here anyway?”

“My guards found you unconscious not too far from here. Twilight Sparkle was draped over you, crying and scared that she couldn’t do anything to save you. She was so relieved when we came to offer assistance.”

Shining Armor’s expression then changed to one of confusion. “But why do you want to help me?”

Luna’s smile started to fade and she let out a sigh. She then turned her head to the side. “In these last few months, our Sister has changed; ever since Twilight Sparkle became an alicorn. No, it was even before that. She has become like a pony possessed. Every time we meet to conduct royal business, she just completely shuts us out and tells Twilight Sparkle to agree with everything she says. All of the new policies that she has introduced lately… well, you saw how that has turned out.” Luna then looked down at the floor. “We have tried to speak with her privately about everything, but she refuses to speak with us. I cannot even fathom what she is thinking about all of this. If we try to speak our minds about it anyway, then she immediately cuts us off and barks at us that ‘It’s for the greater good of the nation, Sister. Never forget that’.” Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, but she also wore a strong expression on her face; like she was trying to stay strong and hold back her tears. “However, we could not just stand by and watch what was unfolding before us. I took my guards with me and lent my support to the pegasi, these ‘Shadowbolts’ as the public has come to call them by. Naturally, our Sister has used this to turn the public against us and accuses us of high treason.” Her strong expression began to slip a bit and her tears were making their way down the sides of her cheeks. “My Sister; I do not know why she is acting like this or why she is doing all of these horrible things and saying that it is all for the greater good of our country. No future can emerge out of all this blood.”

Princess Luna was obviously very sad. She had even stopped using the royal we. Shining Armor took notice of this and decided the jump in. “Princess Luna; I can tell that you care deeply for your sister. I care for mine too and that’s why I have to get Twilight out of the city.”

Luna sighed and lifted herself up. She then wiped away her tears and responded to what Shining Armor just said, suddenly in a more serious tone. “I am afraid that that will be impossible. Tia has set up entire armies at the four exits of the city to stop you. You will not be able to simply walk out.”

Shining Armor paused for a moment after hearing this. He then suddenly remembered something. “Then why don’t we fly out? I remember seeing an airship when I first arrived in the city. We could use that to get out.”

Luna smiled. “Yes, that is Tia’s personal airship. She uses it to keep watch over the city. However, you will not be able to reach it.”

Shining Armor stomped his hoof on the ground. “I don’t care what it takes. If it means getting Twilight to safety, I’ll do anything.”

“Captain, you should not be so reckless,” Luna responded immediately in a straight tone. She then closed her eyes briefly and let out a short sigh. “Please, aid our cause. With your help, we will be able to stop my sister’s tyrannical ways and lead Equestria back to the way it was before: A country where everypony is happy and treated equally. Please, we need your help; and you need our help as well.”

Shining Armor looked his princess and aunt-in-law in the eyes. He could see both strength and sadness, but also a strong resolve and motivation. He then looked over at Twilight, who was playing with a young pegasus filly, trying to cheer her up. A smile began to form on his face. He then turned back to look at Luna. “Alright, I’m in. Just tell me what I can do to help.”

Luna began smiling right back at him. She turned to her side and gestured with her hoof to get Shining Armor to look around the room. “As you can see, the Shadowbolts are too few in numbers to stand up against our Sister. My Night Guard have joined them to lend assistance; however, we are still too few in numbers to fight against Tia’s royal guards.”

Shining Armor interjected. “Alright, so how do I fit into this?”

Luna turned back around to look Shining Armor in the eyes. “Your unicorn guards too support our cause and for that, our Sister has accused them all of treason and locked them up in the Canterlot prison. If you can go to the prison and release them; then we will have the strength and numbers to fight back at last. We can return Equestria to the way that it was and then you shall have your airship.”

Shining Armor thought that these were agreeable terms. “Alright, I’ll head out now; Princess Luna.” He then gave Luna a salute.

Luna responded in kind and saluted back. “Farewell, Shining Armor.”

Shining Armor walked passed Princess Luna and made his way towards the door. As we walked through the room, he noticed a recording crystal on the table. He picked it up and decided to play it.

Princess Luna
Concerns
My sister… I hope you know what you are doing. Twilight Sparkle… she has the potential to be the most powerful alicorn in history. This… coronation… is my sister’s way of guiding her… of containing her… hmmm… evil forces still exist out there… forces that vie for the end of ponykind. Forces that transformed me into… bah. If such forces ever take control of Twilight Sparkle… Sister… I hope you know what you are doing.

As he came closer to where Twilight was, he turned his head towards her and said, “Twilight, I have to go do something right now. You stay here. I’ll come back and get you later.”

When Twilight heard this, she stopped playing with the filly, stood up and turned around. “Shining Armor, I want to go with you.”

Shining Armor responded immediately. “No Twilight, it’s too dangerous! If anything happened to you, or you got hurt because of me; I could never forgive myself.”

Twilight suddenly threw herself at Shining Armor. “Please, let me go with you. I was apart from you for so long and I was so scared. I couldn’t bear to see you go again.”

Shining Armor looked down at Twilight who was clinging to him. “But Twily…”

Twilight let go of Shining Armor and backed away from him a bit. “You don’t have to worry about me getting hurt. You saw me back at the palace; I can take care of myself; and I can help you if you get into trouble. Besides, the guards won’t attack me.”

After hearing this and looking at his sister, he could see the look in her eyes. She was obviously scared, but he could also see strength and resolve. She reminded him a lot of himself. “But Twilight, you’d stick out immediately. It would be impossible to remain inconspicuous.”

Twilight looked back at Shining Armor, a smug look suddenly appearing on her face. “Don’t you worry about that.” She then activated her horn and her dress came off her. She then levitated a brown cloak on one of the barrels over to her and draped it over her, covering her body; her wings and cutie mark included. She then kicked each of her hooves in the air and her shoes flew off. “See? Now no pony will recognise me.” She then twirled around and gave a filly-like giggle.

This made Shining Armor smile a bit; and she was right. Nopony would recognise her like that. He then gave her a quick once over just to make sure. His expression then changed a little and he pointed at her head with his hoof. “Uhhmm, Twilight…”

Twilight had a bit of a puzzled look on her face. She looked up at her head where Shining Armor was pointing and noticed that she was still wearing her Element of Harmony. Her expression then changed again to match Shining Armor’s. “Oh, yeah. I guess it’s pretty noticeable, huh?” She activated her horn again and levitated her Element of Harmony off her head. She then turned around and looked at the little pegasus filly that she was playing with earlier. “Here, why don’t you hold on to this for me for a while? It will make you feel like you’re a real princess.” She then levitated the crown into the filly’s open hooves.

As soon as the crown touched the filly’s hooves, she gazed down at it quizzically. She then raised her head up towards Twilight and smiled. “Okay, I can do that.” She then placed the crown her head and her smile grew twice as big. She had to raise her head back so that Twilight could see it all. Twilight then smiled back at her and patted her on the head. The filly then turned around and skipped away, á la Pinkie Pie.

Twilight turned back around to face Shining Armor. They looked at each other, both with a determined expression on their face. Twilight then pulled up her hood to cover her face and said, “Let’s go.”

Shining Armor nodded while not changing his expression. “Right.” They then both made their way towards the door. As they walked along, they passed by many pegasus ponies of all ages. Some were huddled together, reading books, eating what looked like rations, treating injuries and organising supplies.

Just before they reached the door, one of the pegasi stopped Shining Armor. “Here; if you’re gonna help us fight then you’re gonna need this.” The pegasus pony held out a Quartz for him to take. This Quartz was filled with an orange liquid with a fireball on the cover. Shining Armor grabbed it, took the cork out and chugged it down. Shining Armor suddenly felt a minor but painful pain all over his body and his vision turned red. He raised his hooves to his face to examine his body and he saw that he was on fire and parts of his body were being burned to the bone. He let out a scream of pain. After about seven seconds, his body and vision returned to normal and the pain stopped.

Twilight and the pegasus both looked at him. Twilight then asked worriedly, “Are you okay?”

Shining Armor turned his head to face her, and responded, “Yeah I’m fine. But dealing with these Quartz's is becoming a real pain. I hope this one was worth it.”

The pegasus pony glared at him after he said this. He then turned around and walked away. Shining Armor and Twilight then took a few more steps towards the door and opened it. They were now outside.

---

Once they were outside, Shining Armor took a look around at his new surroundings. The room that they were just in was on the second floor of the building. Directly in front of them was a small flight of stairs that went straight down onto the street. Shining Armor took a better look around when they had walked down the stairs and they were on the street. The entire neighbourhood looked completely run down; a very rare sight in Canterlot for Shining Armor. This must be a part of the new expansion. The pegasus ponies were now being paid almost nothing compared to the unicorns and earth ponies and were now living in run-down neighbourhoods. The houses here were made of wood instead of concrete and they were all in bad condition and falling apart. Parts of houses that had already collapsed just laid there in the streets. Trash had spilled out from the trash cans and was lying in the street. The roads and pavements had been worn down and torn up. There were other ponies walking around in the streets; all of them pegasus ponies. Shining Armor then looked up into the sky. He couldn’t see the palace at all from here. They must have travelled quite a distance while he was unconscious.

“Just look at all of this.” Twilight had suddenly broken the silence. “How can some ponies be made to live like this?”

Shining Armor then turned to face her. “This is what most of Equestria is like right now. It’s even worse than this outside of Canterlot.”

“What?” Twilight said in a manner of legitimate confusion. “How? What? When? Where? Why?”

Shining Armor began to look almost as confused as Twilight. “Didn’t you know? Things have been changing like this all over Equestria. It all started shortly after you became a princess. You mean you didn’t know what was going on?”

“No,” Twilight said in the manner of a scared and innocent little filly. “In the last six months, since I became an alicorn, I’ve never once been outside the palace. The only time I even left my room was when Celestia needed me to attend to my new royal duties.”

“What kinds of things did that comprise of?”

“Celestia just gave me some forms and told me what to agree with. She didn’t even let me read them to let me know what I was agreeing to. She just told me that it was for the greater good of Equestria. Was I really agreeing to all of this?” Twilight now almost had tears in her eyes.

Shining Armor reached over to Twilight and put his hoof around her neck. “Twilight; none of this is your fault. You had no idea what you were agreeing to and you truly thought that it was for everyponies happiness.” He then moved closer to her and placed his other hoof underneath her chin. She then lifted her head up and looked him in the eye. “Now do understand why I came here to get you?”

Twilight perked up and smiled a bit. “Yes. To be honest; I did suspect that something was wrong. For some reason, everything that happened to me in the past few months felt forced; like I didn’t have a choice. I wished that somepony would come and save me; and deep down, I knew that that somepony would be you. And I was right.”

Twilight continued to stare at Shining Armor with what were now happy tears in her eyes. “Twily.” Shining Armor raised his hoof up and touched her face. He then wiped away the tears from her eyes. Twilight closed her eyes as he did this. “I promise you that I will get you away from all of this. You can go and see all of your friends again and have fun just like you used to. And you’ll never have to cry again. I promise.”

Twilight opened her eyes again and stared back at him. Her tears were gone and she smiled. She then moved in closer and wrapped her big brother in a warm embrace. “Thank you, BBBFF.” Hearing this warmed Shining Armor’s heart and he smiled as he returned the embrace right back.

After Shining Armor and Twilight had had their little moment, they continued on. They walked along the ruined streets, passing by many pegasus ponies, though they also passed by some unicorns and earth ponies. They were most likely ponies who sided with the Shadowbolts and believed that the pegasus ponies were truly being treated unfairly. It was good to see that there were still some ponies uncorrupted by Celestia’s words. Quite a few of the ponies around here were young fillies. Strangely, they didn’t seem to be suffering and were actually having fun playing with each other. They were too young to understand what was really happening right now, but that was probably a good thing. The worst thing to do right now would be to involve children in all of this.

As Shining Armor was walking, he suddenly felt himself staggering along. It seems that his fall from back at the palace had taken its toll on him.

Twilight took notice of this and began to speak. “Shining Armor, are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m just a little sore from the fall back there at the palace. I’ll be alright.”

Shining Armor noticed Twilight’s expression change a little, but it then immediately changed back and she responded, “I’ll keep an eye out for anything to help you keep your strength up. The last thing I want to be is a burden.”

Shining Armor took note of this and he was happy that she was starting to cheer up. They continued walking along; Shining Armor took any food he could find to get his strength back. He found some, apples, hay and some geodes, however, he didn’t take any food that belonged to somepony else. With that in mind, it took a little longer but after a while he felt himself back at full strength. He also noticed that nopony seemed to recognise Twilight in her disguise. As he was walking along, he noticed a recording crystal in the trash can. He fished it out and played it as they continued walking along.

Dusk Shine
Two Lonely Ponies
Oh… uhhmm… is it on? Does the flashing glow mean that it’s recording? Okay. Hello Mister Recording Crystal. My mummy tells me that you can record what I say and other ponies can hear it later, even if I’m not around. I think that that’s incredible. You should be very proud of what you can do. Unlike me, you’ve already found your special talent. I wonder what a recording cutie mark would look like. Anyway, I would like for you to give the new princess a message from me. Everypony says she spends all of her time in the palace; all alone. It must be very lonely in there; and that makes me very sad. I know what it feels like; to be all alone. I don’t have any friends either and I’m lonely as well. Maybe the princess and I can become friends. We could talk to each other about being alone. That way, neither of us will have to be lonely again. Please tell the princess what I have told you Mister Recording Crystal. That is my wish. Thank you. Now how do I turn you off?

When the recording crystal was finished playing; they turned a corner and they could tell from the buildings that they were now at the edge of the slums. There was a security checkpoint up ahead with a dozen guards checking ponies for identification before crossing the border. One of the guards then began addressing the crowd. “Everypony make sure that you have a valid form of photo ID before entering the city proper. Remember, this is for your own safety to insure that those Shadowbolts don’t cause trouble for the innocent.”

Shining Armor began looking around. “There’s got to be another way through. I can’t risk causing an uproar here.” Shining Armor then noticed the back door to a building on the other side of the border just to the right. He and Twilight made their way over to the door without looking too suspicious. When they were there, Shining Armor tried to open the door but it was locked. He tried to force it open, but it was locked up too good. “Dammit.”

“Shining Armor, stand back. Let me give it a try,” Twilight said from behind him.

“I don’t think that you can do it. It’s locked up tight.”

“Don’t be so quick to judge. Remember I saved us before.” Shining Armor was confused, but he did as she said and stepped aside. Twilight stood in front of the door, bowed her head down and her horn started to glow. Shining Armor then realised what she meant. There was a small flash of light and another strange hole appeared on the door. Twilight jumped through and gestured towards Shining Armor to do the same. As soon as he had jumped through and turned around, the hole had vanished and the door returned. He then turned around again to face Twilight. “This building looks pretty deserted. We should be able to find our way through and reach the streets without any trouble.” She then started walking forward with Shining Armor following close behind her.

---

The building they were in was dark. There were no windows and no light at all, but they could still navigate through it easily. There were pieces of misaligned furniture all over the room such as sofas, tables, dressers and such. There were also some metal pipes stacked against the walls and the paint on the walls was peeling off. This was most likely an old storage building. They left the room that they were in and entered the hallway. They made their way towards the front of the building.

Since they weren’t running for their lives anymore, Shining Armor just had to ask, “Twilight, what was that you did just now?”

Twilight gave a short sigh and began to explain. “I’m not entirely sure myself. Ever since I became an alicorn, I felt like my magic has become even more powerful. At first, it happened on its own. I would open doorways like this all over the place. But after a while, I seemed to have more control over them and I only opened them when I wanted to.”

“Sounds like quite a useful trick.”

“Yeah, but there’s more to it than that. These doorways… they don’t just go through walls. I can open up doorways to anywhere. Anywhere at all, in the blink of an eye.”

Shining Armor’s eyes suddenly shot open when he heard this. “Well then, what are we waiting for? Just open up a doorway to the Crystal Empire and we can be done with all of this.”

Twilight lowered her head and sighed. “Sorry, but I can’t. When I first discovered that I could do it, I could open a doorway to anywhere. Anywhere that I wanted to go; but for some reason, I always wanted to come back. But then one day, I suddenly couldn’t do it anymore.”

“Why not?”

“Who knows? Maybe on some subconscious level, I didn’t want to leave; I don’t know.”

“I bet Celestia would know.”

“Sorry, I didn’t want to get into anything. I just wanted you to know.”

“That’s alright. It was worth a shot.”

Shining Armor and Twilight spent the rest of their trek through the building in silence. As Shining Armor was making his way along, he noticed a recording crystal on a table. He picked it up and played it as they continued on.

Strong Steed
Years of Service
I am a pony who has dedicated his entire life to the greater good of the world. I gave half my ear and my right eye in service to this country. Every drop of blood that I spilled or took was all to protect those that I held dear. But does Princess Celestia see things that way? No! She called me a barbarian; a mindless killing machine that has no place in her ‘perfect world’. Never mind that my actions and those of those like me are what have protected Equestria in her time of need. She had me stripped of my rank as Captain and dishonourably discharged. But even this was not enough for her. As long as I was alive and free, I would continue to speak out against her rule and sully her good name. She will not rest until I’m sealed so far beneath Canterlot even the diamond dogs couldn’t find me. Even now her mindless puppets are coming for me. But I will not give them the satisfaction. I have established myself in the Canterlot prison along with my brothers in arms; the true protectors of Equestria. We will all die before we surrender to somepony like her; and we will not die to her mindless puppets. If Celestia wants my life than how about she steps off that high throne of hers and comes for me herself. If I could take just one drop of her blood… then I could die happy.

When the recording crystal finished playing; they found themselves at the front door of the building. Shining Armor pushed the heavy door open. They were now outside.

---

As soon as they emerged, the intense sunlight hit them hard. Twilight had her hood up to shield her eyes. Shining Armor closed his eyes tight and raised his hoof up to his face. Once their eyes had readjusted to the light, they looked around at where they were. This area was very different than the slums. The buildings were all made of sturdy concrete and they were painted bright and cheerful colours; even the building that they were just in. They seemed to be in the market right now. There were lots of small stalls around selling things like apples, carrots, corn, muffins, cupcakes, geodes and more. There were many other ponies here as well, mostly unicorns, going about their daily lives. They didn’t seem to take much notice of Twilight or Shining Armor; or that they just exited out of a locked building. Shining Armor knew that he wasn’t wearing a cloak like he was before. The guards would recognise him without it now anyway. Also, if the citizens saw that he wasn’t going to attack them, then it might make them change their minds about him. Although, these ponies didn’t seem to notice him at all.

Shining Armor looked around at the skyline to try and figure out where he was right now and where the prison was. Just over the roofs of the buildings to the north, he could make out only the highest turrets of the palace. It looks like they were transferred a long way from the palace. Since these ponies didn’t seem to recognise him, he decided to ask for directions. He stopped a mare with a light yellow coat and a green, beehive shaped mane with a cherry blossom branch for a cutie mark, who was passing by and asked her, “Hey, can you tell me how to get to the prison from here?”

“Oh yes; just follow the road straight ahead and then there’s a gondola that will take you right there.”

Shining Armor turned his head in the direction she was pointing. Straight ahead, far off in the distance was a very large building. Normally there is virtually no crime at all in Equestria and so there would be no need for prisons. This prison was undoubtedly a part of the expansion, so Shining Armor would know nothing about it. Shining Armor turned back to face the mare that helped him. “Thank you for your help.” He then turned back to face Twilight. “Let’s go.”

Twilight gave a curt nod. “Alright.” She then turned to face the nice mare that helped them. “Thank you again for helping us.”

“Oh, think nothing of it dears. I just pointed you in the right direction. Now, be safe you two.” She gave them both a smile and then turned around and walked away. Shining Armor and Twilight then went on their way, in the opposite direction.

Shining Armor and Twilight continued walking down the road. The other ponies in the area didn’t seem to notice them at all, despite the fact that Shining Armor’s cutie mark was on full display. Perhaps word of the Apocryphal hadn’t reached this far yet. They could only hope. As they were walking along, they suddenly spotted an advertisement on a billboard for the ‘Carousel Couture’, with Rarity’s likeness on it. This suddenly reminded Shining Armor of when he saw Rarity in the plaza during the celebration. Why did she seem like she was on Celestia’s side? Before Shining Armor could contemplate this any further, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Twilight talking out loud. “Wait a minute. Rarity’s here in Canterlot?”

Shining Armor’s eyes immediately widened when he heard Twilight say this. He was legitimately surprised to hear this. “Wait, you mean you didn’t know?” he asked inquisitively.

“No. I haven’t seen any of my friends since the coronation six months ago. I really miss them.” Twilight frowned, but then she suddenly snapped back. “Wait a minute. You knew that Rarity was here before now?”

Shining Armor suddenly tensed up. If there was a possibility that Rarity was in league with Celestia, then it would be best if he didn’t tell her about what happened in the plaza; and they definitely shouldn’t try to make contact with her. Twilight’s facial expression changed to show that she knew that Shining Armor was hiding something. He then decided to just make up a story.

“Yeah. Back when I first came to the city. She was at her new store surrounded by dozens of ponies. She looked really busy at the moment so I thought that I should wait until I found you before going to see her.”

Twilight didn’t seem to see anything suspicious with that story. “Well then, why don’t we go see her now? It would be great to see one of my friends again.” She smiled.

Shining Armor responded immediately. “No. We have to stay focused on the mission right now. Once we have the airship, then we’ll go see her; and all of your other friends as well.” Shining Armor knew that what he said just now would seem suspicious, but by mentioning all of her other friends, he was certain that she would go along with it.

“Oh, okay”, she said in a somewhat sad tone. She then perked up a bit. “You’re right. We have to focus on the bigger picture right now.” Twilight then faced forward again, a smile on her face and she continued walking along.

Shining Armor faced forward as well, however, his face was blank and he was deep in thought. “Twily. That’s the first time in my life that I’ve ever lied to you.”

They eventually reached the end of the road and they were at the gondola station. The gondolas were carriages that were carried by the transport line. They were used for travelling quickly around the huge city. No doubt Celestia could use that as more fodder to use against the pegasi; now all ponies could fly and the pegasi were even more useless. Shining Armor opened the front door and they both stepped inside.

---

Shining Armor and Twilight were now in the gondola station. Directly after the front door, there were about ten steps that led straight up. Shining Armor and Twilight walked straight up the stairs. The gondola station looked bigger than it looked on the outside. The main chamber which they were in right now was a small room with polished marble tiles, several seats made back to back for waiting for your ticket. Over to the right was the exit to the gondolas. At the back of the room was the ticket office. It was a small cubicle on the other side of the wall at the back of the room with a hole in the middle for talking to the ticket master on the other side. While the gondola station does seem small, it looks even smaller on the outside. There were about eight other ponies in the room, not including the ticket master in the cubicle. They were all white pegasus ponies dressed in formal attire.

Shining Armor turned to Twilight. “I’m gonna go get our tickets. I should have enough from the bits I found in that crate.”

Twilight just responded politely, “Alright.”

Shining Armor walked over to the cubicle on the other side of the room. The ticket master was sitting inside behind a sheet of glass with a small hole at the bottom. He was currently going through some paper work. Shining Armor rang the bell to get his attention. “Hey, can I get two tickets for the gondola please?”

“Just a moment sir,” the pony responded immediately without looking up from his paper work. The ticket master was a white earth pony with a short, brown mane.

Shining Armor looked behind him briefly and then turned back to face the ticket master. He rang the bell again. “Can you hurry it up please?”

“I’ll be with you in a moment sir,” he said again without looking up from his paper work.

Shining Armor was beginning to get frustrated. “Goddamit.”

The ticket master suddenly decided to address him now. He looked from his paper work, finally. “I’m very sorry about the delay sir. Here, let me HELP YOU ALONG!” He suddenly pulled out a large knife and stabbed Shining Armor in the hoof.

Shining Armor let out a scream of pain. However, at the same time, Twilight also let out a scream. He turned around and saw Twilight being grabbed by several white pegasus ponies. He can see now that they were actually royal guards in disguise. He turned back around and shot the ticket master in the face with a blast from his horn. He didn’t die; he just got scarred on his face and then crawled underneath his cubicle to a safe spot. Shining Armor then grabbed the knife and pulled it out of his hoof, very painfully and blood splattered everywhere from the force of removing it. He now had a gaping hole in his right forehoof, however, that was the last thing on his mind right now. He turned around and he saw Twilight struggling to get free from one of the guards grips. The guard was gripping her tightly and forcefully pulling her away. This sight made Shining Armor incredibly angry. He opened his mouth to scream at him, but instead, a ball of fire began forming in his mouth. He quickly released it and fired it at the guard holding his sister before he could even think about what was going on. The fireball hit the guard with such force that when the fireball exploded, it had blown the guard’s head off completely. Blood splattered from where his neck now ended right onto to Twilight’s face. Everypony in the area stopped what they were doing and Shining Armor calmed down enough to see what was going on.

Twilight suddenly started screaming. “Get away from me! All of you!” She then ran to the exit to the gondola. That passageway was now blocked off by a barred gate, but Twilight was small enough to squeeze through the bars.

Shining Armor looked to his left at where his sister was running. He held out a hoof and yelled out to her to wait. He wanted to go after her, but then, suddenly the rest of the guards started attacking him with Quartz's. Shining Armor just screamed at them, “I don’t have time for this right now!” He then shot at all of the guards with one big blast of lightning and proceeded to finish them all off with his unicorn magic.

When all of the guards were dead, the gates opened up and he galloped over to the exit as fast as he could. It was kind of painful because of the stab wound on his hoof, but he just kept running. After he passed through the gate, he noticed a recording crystal on the other side. He picked it up quickly and then ran off after Twilight.

Cherry Blossom
The Apocryphal is Coming
The Apocryphal is on his way here. Everything that Princess Celestia has predicted has come true; even the betrayal of her sister. Now even the Princess of the Night has turned against us and has allied herself with those rapscallion ‘Shadowbolts’. Perhaps that whole Nightmare Moon fiasco was an ill omen; a portent of doom. It seems that the unthinkable has happened and harmony has been truly broken. However, I still have full faith that our new princess can restore everything to the way things were once again; she always does. When we finally take in the Apocryphal, we must be careful not to harm the princess. If any harm were to befall her due to my own actions, I could never forgive myself; and I would not expect to be forgiven either. I just wish that they would show up already. This waiting is unbearable.

As the recording crystal ended, Shining Armor turned a corner and he could see the gondola and Twilight just up ahead. “Twilight, it’s me! I’m alright!”

However, he didn’t expect what Twilight said next. She screamed out as she continued running. “Stay away from me!” She then ran into the gondola.

“Twilight! We need to talk about what just happened!” When she didn’t respond, Shining Armor picked up the pace. He had to get inside the gondola before she activated it. Fortunately the gondola wasn’t moving yet even though it should be by now.

Shining Armor ran up several flights of stairs and made it into the gondola. Twilight was desperately trying to move the lever to start the gondola. When Shining Armor stepped closer and held out a hoof to comfort her, she then ran from the lever over to the window. Shining Armor lowered his hoof in disappointment and let out a sigh. He then pulled the lever and the gondola started moving.

---

The gondola sailed over the city about a hundred feet below. Before Shining Armor could move to say anything, Twilight cut him off.

“I can’t believe you did that. You killed those ponies. Not just fight them, but killed them.” She then turned around from the window to face him and she shoved him away. “You’re a monster. I hate you. I thought I knew you.” Twilight then backed away again and started crying. There were tears crawling down the sides of her cheeks.

Shining Armor moved closer to Twilight. “Twilight. What did you think would happen? Did you really think that all these ponies would just let you waltz out of her? You’re an investment to them.”

Twilight turned her head around slowly to look at him. Her face stained with tears and blood, wearing a look of pure anger. “Why? Why does it have to be me? Why can’t they just find somepony else to be their princess?!” She placed her hoof over her chest as she spoke.

Shining Armor responded immediately. “I don’t know. I have no idea what they want. All I know is what I want; and I want to keep you safe. Safe from everything; and I’ll do anything if it means accomplishing that goal.” Twilight’s angry expression started to fade; her face now showing only worry and fear. “Today, I got careless; and I made a stupid mistake.” He then raised his injured hoof and looked at it. “But I swear: that’s the last time anypony gets the drop on me.”

All of Twilight’s anger seemed to have evaporated. She walked slowly over to Shining Armor. She lowered her hood and took the ribbon from her mane. Surprisingly, it still ended in her stylish curl. “Here, let me help you,” she said quietly. She then wrapped the ribbon around his wound. Shining Armor gave off a slight grunt of pain. “Sorry about that… and I’m sorry for what I just said too. I shouldn’t have called you a monster or said that I hated you. I should have known that you were only trying to protect me. I’m just so sor…”

“Forget it,” Shining Armor interrupted. Twilight looked up from wrapping his wound in confusion. “Your reaction to what you saw was expected. I was just being selfish and wanted you to understand. Trust me; there are details about my life that you’re better off not knowing. I just want you to know that when I said that I wanted to keep you safe, I meant it; with all of my being.”

Shining Armor and Twilight both just stood there staring at each other for about thirty seconds. Suddenly they were interrupted by a ringing noise. The gondola had come to a stop. The door to the gondola opened and Shining Armor stepped out. He then turned around to face Twilight, who was still standing in the gondola with her head bowed down. “Come on Twilight. Once we finish our mission here, we’ll be able to help everypony in Equestria; and you’ll never have to feel this sad again.”

Twilight picked her head up and smiled again. “Right.” She then walked out of the gondola towards Shining Armor.

Shining Armor then took his hoof and wiped her face clean of blood and tears. His hoof had stopped hurting by now. He then backed up a bit and took a good look at her. “Let’s go, Twily.”

Twilight then perked up completely. She put up her hood once again and she and Shining Armor made their way off the gondola station. They were now standing directly in front of the gates to the prison. They then said together in unison: “Let’s do this.”

To be continued…

Author's Note:

Sorry if the second half of this chapter was too much like Bioshock Infinite. I'm not sure if you would like that, however, I really like how this chapter turned out and I hope you all did too.

Comments

[Inspector Gadget]

Nice story, but I find the lack of a Lutece equivalent disturbing. As far as I see it's Time Turner (Or dr. Hoves as I call him) but I don't think he's involved enough. Just some friendly advice . Anyways, I'll be anticipating the next chapter.

Have a moustache.

[Dawn Flower]

2695104 Don't worry. Time Turner is involved in this more than you know. Just you wait. Besides, after the Letuces gave Elizabeth her necklace, they didn't appear again until they found Chen Lin. It may be awhile before he appears again but he still has plenty of recording crystals to come. I already have them made, I just have to find a place to put them.

[Saint Henry The Pig]

MORTAL. YOUR STORY INTERESTS ME, WE SHALL CONTINUE TO READ IT. WE HAVE OUR OWN BIOSHOCK STORY TOO.~SLENDY

Umm, well yes i like the story if u don't mind that hehe. Though u don't have to look at our story, slendy justs likes seeing people read our story so u don't have to read it~shyZilla