With his blue sapphire mane in the wind and his roar that echoed off the mountains, Captain Shining charged through the waves bare hoofed leading the charge deeper and deeper into enemy lines -Anonymous Royal Guard
Shining Armour had the dream of becoming part of the royal guards since Twilight wanted to learn magic. Follow his life and journey of how a colt becomes a stallion and later on the bearer of the 7th element Love in this story filled with love, pain action, sadness and most importantly courage.
Shining Armour crept silently on all fours around the terrain. It was rough rugged and no place for a rookie to fail. But of course Shining Armour had been brought up by dragons thus he knew how to survive anything. Slinking round the sharp edges he took a deep breath before rolling behind the thick foliage, the leaves although providing ample camouflage was not safe, his enemy was a powerful magician who built an entire fort that stood ten meters tall with impene- impe-...Thick walls. Inside was also the pretty but dangerous winged princess who could also wield the powers of evil.
"FIRE"
Shining Armour lunged for another hiding spot as a large shadow quickly shrouded the light. At the last second he dodged letting the projectile simply crush his previous scouting point.
"Haha Shining Armour, you have fallen for my trap!" The sorcerers voice echoed loud and clear through the land as Supreme General of the Royal Special forces found himself in open ground. Soon more boulders flew through the air slamming a hairs breadth away from their target.
The Shining simply smiled. It was almost effortless for him to dodge a few slow projectiles.
"Justice will prevail you wicked fiend." Shining Armour focused his powers and sent the missile back from whence it came slamming into the book fort.
Looking into the remains of the eastern wall and hearing a satisfying ouch sound coming from within he tensed his hind legs and charged.
"The walls have been breached. CHARRGEE!" Stepping over the rubble (Carefully due to Twilight hating to destroy them) he went deep into the castle fending off traps and any enemy which stood before him.
"Your small Daring do minions cannot stop me!" The warrior roared slamming the pathetic tiny doll soldiers out of the way. Reaching the center the dark evil enchantress stood in her full glory with her majestic cape of invisibility, fire-proofness, lazer-proofness as well as magic-proofness.
"So you think you can defeat me?" The small sorceress let out an exceptionally evil squeaky laugh before vanishing in her cape. "You can't fight what you can't see." Shining Armour focused his magic powers to levitate anything he could to hit his invisible foe.
"HAHAHAHA" came the laugh from thin air. "You will ne- WHOA" The evil magus' monologue was cut short as the cloak of invisibility got caught on her hind foot.
"Ahaha you lose this round Twilight the master of the magical forces of doom, evil and downright meanness your rule of evil shall be lifted."
His new captive simply pouted. "No fair, no fair I tripped, an...and you can't win anyway I have an invisible force field that protects me from danger."
"Nu-uh"
"Ya-uh I'm an evil witch, we have that kind of power."
Shining Armour started pouting himself before he found his answer.
"Well I got a magical invisible force field destroyer."
"Nu-uh"
"Ya-uh I'm a hero, we get that kind of power."
Twilight deviously smiled. "Well I still win anyway."
Shining Armour was about to go into another childish arguement with the Lady Of Darkness about the penetrating capabilities of a mega lazer force field destroyer when he felt a small eerie gust of unnatural wind slide up his back.
Oh no
Such a rookie mistake to not count the enemies you have before and after a battle. Twilight was merely a distraction. He spun around to defend against his new attacker before a white fluffy boulder slammed him across the face.
"Muahahaha" Laughed the Evil pink Alicorn rather terribly.
"Face the powers of Cadence the Warlord of evil...monsters.." Twilight faced hoof. "Let me handle the names ok?"
Shining Armour's vision was hazy, immediately the hunter had become the hunted but this cat was not going down without a fight.
"If I can't win then I will take one of you with me." Running blindly he grabbed the first pony in front of him and carried on running.
"We will both fall into the bottomless ravine of everlasting evil together."
"WHAT RAVINE!"
Quickly surveying for a suitable are he, spied the corner behind the couch and smiled. "THAT ONE!"
He carried on running, jumping over the couch and into the ravine "May the future remember me as the hero I was." His voice echoed as he fell down the worlds deepest ravine.
Opening his eyes he was surprised to see not his little sister but a much larger babysitter sitting in his lap.
"Well then my dear prince." Said the supposed dead evil warlord.
"Ahem."'
Cadence rolled her eyes.
"I mean Supreme General of the Royal Special forces, it seems I am your prisoner. Allow me to give ransom for freedom." Cadence leaned in and pecked a very much surprised Supreme General of the Royal Special forces on the cheek.
"That's not a ransom that's torture." He quickly wiped his face as if a flesh eating virus was burning his skin. "Eww Mare-cooties."
Cadence giggled at his immaturity.
"Don't be silly you hug Twilight all the time."
"Yea but you can't get cooties from your sister." They both giggled like little school fillies until a small purple head peeked over the top of the make believe ravine.
"Are you guys alright? What are you doing in there.?" She screamed using her magical voice enhancer (speaker phone.)
"Alright Dark Overlord we are coming." They climbed out and giggled in a puddle of laughter.
"Next time I get to play hero." Shining Armour simply smiled. "Alright Twiley." The peaceful tranquility was almost everlasting.
That was until the evil dragon of great fire, death and nagginess bellowed through the land
"Really now Shining Armour you should know better than this."
Ms Sparkle had a frown on her face that looked as if it was about to fall off and bite somebody. "But mom Twilight threw it at me." His pleas fell on deaf ears as Cadence and Twilight fixed up the books and pillows while Shining Armour swept up the aftermath of the battle.
"I'm sorry Ms sparkle, playing hero was my idea."
The grown mare simply shook her head. "Now now Cadence don't worry yourself my son should know better."
Shining Armour felt cold daggers stab into the back of his skull.
"Now then lets all get cookies." She turned to Shining Armour. "You can join us after you are done sweeping."
"But...but Twilight will eat all of them."
"Don't throw your buts at me young foal finish up and if Twilight isn't so hungry maybe a couple will be left."
Shining Armour pouted and carried on sweeping. Knowing his sister she could eat almost anything and never get fat.
He sighed and carried on his task. The sound of hoof steps made him turn around.
The pink Alicorn foal-sitter smiled as she offered him a plate of cookies.
"Your mother had to rush off with Twilight so I supposed it was ok to deliver rations to the prisoner."
Shining Armour muffled a thank you in between his large bites of the cookie.
They sat in silence together eating cookies for a while before the plate was empty.
"Well then I guess its time to go"
As he stood up a large pink wing lunged out making him fall rather hard on his rump.
"Uh uh uh prisoners aren't allowed to leave."
Shining Armour shook his head.
"So is there a way for me to be free?"
"Yup all you need is one ransom fee."
"Uhh.." Shining Armour blushed a shade of red so bright it could be a hearth warming decoration.
"Come on don't you want to be free?"
Shining Armour leaned in with his eyes closed, it was a strange request which he often wouldn't do but he felt something for Cadence that he didn't for other fillies. He quickly pulled back the moment his lips brushed against her cheek.
"Al..Alright so I am free right."
He tried to get to his feet only to trip on them. His motor skills were as great as a pony who took way too much cider. He laughed nervously before shrugging off his embarrassment and quickly walked out with the trash.
Cadence giggled at his awkward nature. It was cute and very comical although Shining failed to see the funny side.
"Alright so I'm going to put the trash out alright? The royal guards should be around to pick you up soon rrright?"
His speech was still slightly impaired but he quickly darted out with the remains of his mothers flower pot.
Cadence smiled and walked out into the awaiting carriage before waving goodbye. Shining smiled weakly as he watched her go.
He rubbed his face where her lips had touched him only hours before. Despite the cold Shining felt his face flush hotter than ever.
"Silly fillies." He shook it off and headed inside.
Shining Armour's loud thunderous footsteps echoed through the small home of Mr and Mrs Sparkle. Shining Armour thundered into the kitchen to grab a bite before dashing out with a small piece of toasted bread and jam in his mouth. He was late, It didn't matter about proper eating habits if you are late for school, unfortunately they don't accept the excuse of little sisters taking up the bathroom to brush their mane for eons on end.
Shining shook his head, dashing out he sped through the streets of Canterlot going by his usual route towards his school, unlike his little sister who attended a school in the afternoon his school called for him to be there are eight sharp, leaving the house at 7:55 was not the greatest idea.
Aw damn He cursed in his mind as the school gates were already closed. This mean't two things, he was late, and he would have to use the back door which is guarded in Twilights opinion and own words. A scoundrel and a rapscallion. Shining made a note to stop his sister from reading those pirate books. Slowly shuffling up to the gate he received a cold death stare before gaining entrance to his school.
School to Shining Armour was fun, although he was not like his sister who could easily out talk half his classmates, he was a popular jock with a strong sense of morals, many of his friends even gave him the nickname of the Blue Knight due to his sapphire blue mane and his strong sense in what was wrong. Quickly storming to class he steadied himself before knocking politely.
After the words 'Come in' were heard he quietly opened the door and was faced with a sea of eyes pointing in his general direction.
"Ah Mr. Armour nice of you to finally join us, you can barge your way through three defenders and yet you still find trouble coming to school early."
Going through the sea of sniggers and chuckles he took his usual spot and lessons went on as per-normal. Making his way into the yard for what they called P.E. he strutted to the starting line ready for the race,
"Ready...Steady...GO!!"
Instinctively he tensed his muscles and took in a deep breath of air. Lunging forward he felt the cold wind whip his mane as his muscles ached slowly as he ran faster and faster. Almost instantly his opponents were left in the dust. But the person Shining was challenging was not his friends but himself.
The pain was starting to build, his muscles were aching and his big gulp of breath had been reduced to short bursts. But he went on, to pass his time limits had to be broken simple as that, the last stretch always slowed him down. But as his little sister said, he had to sprint at the last meters rather to lower his guard and relax. He closed his eyes and ran at full speed toward the thin white string. He felt alive, his whole body started to break down but that didn't matter, his horn hit the string first, easily slicing through the line he collapsed on the ground in a heap of laughter and self appraisement. Soon after his friends caught up and dragged him to the coach.
"Coach he did it again."
"I mean seriously whats the point of all of us on the team if Shining just beats all of us."
The coach looked up from his check board.
"Stop yer whining, good job Shining, we'll make a soldier of you yet. Now everyone DODGEBALL"
The complaints turned to joy and everyone headed to the field for a good thirty minutes of raw painful slinging of brutal projectiles.
School was over at last, the time was perfect for some sparring, Every stallions pastime was usually filled with spar matched around Canterlot, It required both endurance and magic so you couldn't simply win through brute strength, In the ring his nickname was the Impenetrable Armour. His natural gift at creating force fields of all sorts was only seconded by his little sisters ability to use all sorts of magic. But something stopped him, his friends had already invited him to go but somebody already made plans with him, specifically the one that all his friends constantly tease him about, it was Cadence.
As childhood friends with an Alicorn Shining knew that a certain barrier of hierarchy and noble bloodline would always stand in the way of their relationship, although still friends (For now) Cadence entered a school for the rich and mighty, Luckily for Shining she kept to her child like ways and refused to grow up.
"Shiny!" Immediately a pink blur slammed into the great stallions side forcing a large big embrace on her prey, The Male stallion simply stood there with a look of annoyance on his face.
It had been forever since Cadence felt it was needed to spread love in the world, although it worked on many, Shining always felt a little awkward hugging her, nevertheless after many years of trying to fend her off he resigned to his fate of being hugged upon meetings,
"Hello Cady." He mimicked her high pitch voice jokingly. "Would you mind allowing my lungs to gather air?" She stopped hugging him and bounced in glee. "Alright then lets go go go." Wrapping her fore hoof around his, she hopped jubilantly forward dragging the misfortunate young stallion towards certain doom.
"Hows this?" It had been over two hours since they stopped at the mall, unlike more mares Cadence's age she didn't have a good Marefriend to go out to shop with due to aristocrats being in her opinion "Boring and snobby." The high mares were either conservative or very snooty and the stallions were no greater match. Shining felt like stabbing a stake through his heart.
"Its fine Cadence." He sighed as she showed him the one hundredth dress she put on. "Is it really necessary to dress up for this shindig?."
Cadence did a twirl before disappearing behind a mountain of tried on clothes to pick out a new one.
"Unlike you Princess MI Amore Cadenza needs to look good or the tabloids will get me."
Shining Armour shook his head. The life of a princess certainly was not easy.
"And I need a good strong stallion to carry my ba- ah I mean tell me what looks good and what doesn't." Shining knew it wasn't mostly about clothes due to Cadence knowing that her friend was terrible at fashion.
"Alright then lets see the next one" The words left his mouth as a dressed up Cadence approached him with her newest dress.
It was a pure white with a golden rose on the front with gold lining for the sides. Shining's mouth could only say "Woah"
Cadence rolled her eyes. "I can't wear this you know its a wedding dress." She stared back at the much entranced Stallion friend. "Do I look good?" She winked at him and laughed. Immediately Shining felt his face go hot when he realized his awkward stare.
"Actually it makes your butt look big." His quick reaction timing was not ready for the flying three inch heel slamming into his face. The helper at the store shook her head.
"Not something you want to be saying to your girlfriend."
He froze at that word. "S..she's not my girlfriend just my...Best friend." Cadence had already disappeared behind the mound to grab another dress.
"Sure thing, whatever floats your boat." The shopkeeper smiled and dived into the mountain to pull a drowning Alicorn out. "Alright I think I'll get the red one." Payment was unnecessary, Being princess does have it's pros. They wandered slowly through the shops, Rather Shining carried the bags whilst Cadence hopped from store to store looking for more things to buy.
He wandered after the pink ball of madness silently taking his time. Cadence barely had time outside her royal duties to shop and every time she did Shining would suffer. Well he didn't suffer he liked hanging out with her, she was the only one he could be properly comfortable with.
"Well if Cadence I really like your new servant, he seems really strong." Shining's thoughts were interrupted by a Noble pony with Cadence.
Well snob alert.
"Don't be silly, he's my best friend." She pulled him up. "Shining meet Sir Limeberry." She paused for dramatic affect. "Heir of the lime plantation on the outskirts of Canterlot ."
"I'm pleased to meet your friend Princess." Shining felt a vein in his forehead pulse when he heard the tone when Limebreey said friend the nobility really expressed the word arrogant very well. "But more importantly who are you planning to take to the upcoming ball?"
Cadence frowned at the question. It was a simple yet very political question at the same time.
"I don't know yet haven't decided yet ."
Limeberry face suddenly lit up into a large smile.
"Well you should make your decisions fast, its coming up soon and you shouldn't be without a partner."
He flattened out his already extremely waxed hair before looking back at her. Giving the world's most forced smile Cadence looked around for a way out.
"Well alright I'll make my decision soon alright? Bye"
She quickly waved him off and grabbed Shining Armour before dashing away like the wind.
"Well I didn't think that nobles would go to such desperate measures to ask you out to prom."
Cadence caught her breath and giggled. "Well whoever goes to prom with me usually gets fame and recognition." Her smile dropped "I feel like a prize." Shining felt now would be a good time to hug her. Surprised by it she swung around accidently elbowing him in the eye. His vision grew black before opening his eyes seconds later facing the ceiling.
"OhMyGoshI'mSoSorry." A Stream of apologies poured out into his ear and Shining simply nursed his black eye and laughed. "Well then I didn't know hugging could be so dangerous." He calmed her down and she checked his eye.
"Well it makes your face look better" She teased. It was his turn to roll his eyes. "All it needs is a healing kiss." Before he could repudiate she leaned in and gave him a small peck on the cheek. He wiped it off and fell onto his back.
"W...what did you do that for, we aren't kids anymore."
He rubbed his face and Cadence giggled at his childish need to get rid of invisible cooties.
"Aww you're blushing."
"Am not."
"Am too."
They would have continued their usual light hearted bickering until Shining checked the clock.
He stood up quickly and picked up the fallen shopping bags. "A..anyway I gotta go home." Cadence hugged him one more time.
"Its alright I'll get the guards to pick up the bags." As the words left her mouth two Lunar guards appeared from the shadows stealing the bags into the darkness. Shining's face fell. "What was the point in me carrying them then?"
She smiled playfully. "Aww lighten up, whats the point of those muscles if you don't use them."
Twilight Sparkle is an exemplary student who often shows great improvement in her studies and easily tops the class despite already skipping one grade. The next thing would be to try getting her into Celestia's school For The Gifted. It would better suit her both mental and social needs. Unfortunately Twilight has shown great trouble in making friends and is often bullied by older Colts who are from our neighborhood school I would like to have a talk with you again due to our previous efforts being a failure so we can try and find a way we can keep Twilight in a safe environment. Yours truly Ms. Rose
Shining armour read the letter from start to finish over and over again as he and his mother sat at the dinner table drinking coffee. Twilight had already gone with dad to get healing ice cream which left the two members of the family to decide what to do.
"What did she do this time?" Shining let the warm caffeine filled beverage slide down his throat. He recently started to drink it and now it was soothing for him.
"Well apparently a couple of stallions from another school told her that she was a weakling, so she took her hair ribbon and levitated it onto a nearby tree to show them her level of magic." The marshmallow colored mare smiled grimly. It was a great feat for a simple filly to be able to even conjure magic. But to control it enough to levitate usually only happened when they end their preschool years.
"Well apparently they said she was being arrogant so they needed to teach her some manners."
Shining pondered over the thought letting the coffee simmer inside him.
"Alright I think I'll pick her up from school from now on."
Shining got up from the table, his mother could easily sense the aura around him did not match his words. "Shining, you know I can read auras, I don't want you to do anything silly young foal." She chastised
Immediately after being found out the aura shrank and Shining Armour smiled. "Yes mother I will just pick her up alright?"
"Alright dear just don't do anything..." She paused to think of a proper word to use " Anserine"
"You know you could always say stupid."
"Watch your language and finish your coffee. Its time to go to bed soon and Twilight will be back. I'll tell her that you will be picking her up from now on until she moves school."
Shining Armour dashed out onto the open street after school. His school was a little bit further from Twilight but his legs didn't mind a short gallop. Making his way through the streets of Canterlot his thunderous hooves clacked onto the hard stone floor. Unbeknownst to him a hidden stalker stayed in the shadows shadowing the loud stallions path.
The school was in sight. Lucky for him it was a relatively easy route to learn. The area wasn't all safe, in every town or city there was always a small backwater side of it that was filled to the brim with fallen nobles or simple jerks. Canterlot was no exception. The small preschool although was a good kilometer away it was located at a junction point for the whole city so that it students could have easy routes to go home to. And the darker side of Canterlot shared this route.
Shining upped his senses and cautiously walked towards the school. The whole area although busy was still an easy place to get into a fight. His legs slowed down and his ears instinctively flicked back and forth to catch anything out of the ordinary. His sensory abilities is his true strength. Although not the greatest it allowed him to react to attacks fast enough to put up a defense or counter.
All clear
He walked calmly towards the school until his nose picked up a familiar smell. His head darted quickly to the right only to be smashed into by a flying pink ball of madness.
"Oof." His head was in a spin. His attacker was on top of him and he was almost defenseless. He spun around and flipped his assailant into the air before capturing him inside a pink force field.
Well actually it was a her.
And it wasn't an attacker it was Cadence.
"Well then even after all this time I still can't sneak up on you." Her voice was muffled by the ball as she tried to punch her way through the strange rubber like walls.
"New spell? I can't even tear it." Shining released the field and face hoofed. "Don't you have somewhere else to be Ms Cadence, I mean you can't keep giving up your royal duties to hang out with me. "
She brushed the dust off her mane and wrapped her dull brown coat around her. "First of all, Ow, thanks for dropping me on my flank. Second, yes I know but I figured it was time for some fun."
Shining rolled his eyes at his pink friends lack of responsibility. " Anyway what does it matter, your flank should be large enough to take the impact."
His witty joke was rewarded with a nice punch into his arm. "Haha very funny. So you are here to pick up your sister? I heard shes been getting bullied so I hoped me being here would cheer her up."
They walked into the compound and waited by the second gate. "Yea well that's what I'm here for."
It didn't take long for them to spot the small lavender filly hopping out of the large red school doors. Her smile became as big as the moon itself upon seeing her older brother waiting by the gate.
"SHINY thanks for picking me up."
"Well I have a surprise for you." Twilight peered around the pillar to meet her very tall surprise. "Hi Twiley"
Her smile became so big it almost went out of her small face. "CADE --" Cadence placed her hoof over the very enthusiastic ponies mouth before more could realize. "Now now Twilight not everyone can know I'm here. Come on now lets get you home. The walk was a slow and easy one. As they passed the school zone Twilight began to shiver slightly.
"Don't worry Twiley your big bro is here to protect you alright." He ruffled his little sisters hair. The words left his mouth as two young stallions approached the trio with faces that smelled trouble.
"Well if it isn't our arrogant little filly." The words slowly dispersed from their mouth as they came face to face with Shining Armour.
Immediately one began backing away. The Sapphire Knight was known almost everywhere and this guy looked the part. His partner nudged him on.
"Come on man the boss said he got backup." He whispered.
The two bullies regained their composure and began their advance. "Oh so iddle widdle Twilight got her big bro to back her up ey. Whatcha gonna do big gu--"
Their banter was cut short as Shining dug his front hoof deep inside the face of one of them whilst the other received an elbow to the cheek. Fighting on two feet was clumsy if he missed but Shining rarely missed.
"Argh where's that damn back up." They bounded away as more began to join their ranks.
"Now Shining I think you attracted enough trouble." Cadence took Twilight and huddled her into a corner. Shining protected their blind spot.
"You think you are so tough eh Shining you and your..." He scanned the hooded mare. His eyes open to the size of saucers. "Princess Cadence?" He smiled. "Well boys I guess the plebeian got it together with royalty." A snigger went up in the crowd.
Shining did what he had learn't and scanned his oppressors. Four of them and one leader, the leader was easily spotted to be of royalty due to the usage of the word plebeian and from the cutie mark of a silver leaf, probably a disgraced noble from some obscure family.
He backed up slightly waiting for them to make the first strike. The first attacker was a chestnut brown earth-pony Throwing his hooves wildly at Shining his feet gave way easily from a simple side dodge. In a poor attempt to attack their only target another tried his hand at kicking only to have his back hooves deflected and his side sustaining a heavy blow.
"You fight good for a peon." He nodded before two more attackers sprung up with batons in their mouth. Shining Armour ducked and weaved through the simultaneous strokes gracefully before finding an open spot and making quick work of both of them. He kept going and all of them kept coming back. One by one they were beaten back by the blue haired demon.
The leader gritted his teeth in annoyance. They expected a quick battle but it was soon going to end with him losing. Picking up one of his own comrades he threw it at Shining before making his way straight towards the pink Alicorn.
"Well hello your highness." The smugness in his voice failed to hide the subtext of his words. The princess was both a political tool as well and a liability to future agreements. If he could take her it would be easy to beat Shining
"Stay away there isn't any need for anymore pain."
The yellow maned noble simply laugh. "Now if you come silently we won't have any trouble." He reached out to grab her only to have a flurry of pink feathers in his face followed up by two jabs into the solar plexus. "I think you are the one in trouble."
Twilight kicked him for extra measure and they back up further to watch the fight. It was soon to be over, one had already fled which meant soon others will follow. However they were tougher than usual fighters. Although lacking skill they made up with amazing endurance.
Shining was getting tired. He could have easily ended it but the need to fight three on one was starting to tire him out. His guard dropped. Taking advantage of that, one of his attackers made a quick swing into his victims blind spot. Shining braced himself for the pain... His eyes opened to a new ally leaping in slamming his back hooves into the would be attacker. His golden mane flicked into Shining Armors face before they worked simultaneously to beat back the remaining attackers.
"Well then its amazing how you are this weak and yet still Princess Cadence's acquaintance." Shining rolled his eyes as the new unicorn fixed his hair.
"Well its easy to say since you took your sweet time Bluey." Prince Blueblood flinched at the nickname but chose to push it aside into his list of people he should place in jail when he becomes king.
"I think it would be wiser to call me by my proper title."
"But you always said I wasn't smart."
"Yes and your stance has much to be desired."
"Well at least I can get my hooves dirty when I need to instead of showing up when the battle is almost over."
Cadence looked upon the two bickering stallions before rolling her eyes. Colts can be so immature.
"Guys back to the mission at hand." She gestured to where she had previously knocked out the leader of the gang only to find him running into the distance.
"You let him get away?"
"Well I was beating up four other guys what do you want me to do."
The argument could have gone on for another hour if it wasn't broken by a sharp whistle from Cadence and two Night guards swooping from the shadows to drag him back.
Shining gave his apparent best friend the most annoyed stare anyone could pull off. "You had two guards and you still wanted me to fight by myself."
"Well I thought you had a masculine pride thing and I didn't want to ruin it."
"Well you should because this peasant can't handle a bunch of thugs."
"Well at least I can handle a leaf falling from a tree."
"Do you know how dirty leaves are? I mea-" Their meaningless argument ended when the guards dropped the very much frightened noble at their feet.
"Well then if it isn't Silver Leaf." Blueblood faced his entourage. "We weren't very inventive with names back then."
"Why do you keep bullying my sis." Shining Armour picked up the weeping noble by the collar and raised him to the sky.
"Now now you brute, there are better ways to handle this." Shining released his grip and Blueblood bent down to whisper into Silver Leafs ear.
"Now you listen to me you sorry excuse of a pony. I am Prince blueblood and the dungeons under my home are created for dirt like you. Like rats and cockroaches? Because they will be your food and friends, I suggest you spill the beans before I imprison then exile you for the rest of your stinky little life."
The once proud bully broke into a torrent of tears.
" I think you over did it."
"Oh come on. I mean I can't actually do any of that but threatening is coming on me."
Shining slapped the weeping sack of tears in the face. "Shut it, just tell me why."
"O...one of th..the nobles. I don't know who..." He paused to snivel slightly Cadence took Twilight aside for safe keeping.
"Guys let me handle this." Cadence released her hood and bent down to her previous attacker. "Alright could ya please just tell me why you keep disturbing Twilight. I mean I'm sure there are better things for a noble such as yourself to do right?" Cadence wore her biggest smile.
"I don't know he just gives me the letter and I do it for him."
"Why do you help him?" Shining pestered him on but the prisoner refused to speak.
"Now Shiny let me handle this."
"Cadence we already tried being nice but it doe--" His words were interrupted by a gust of wind caused when Cadence wrapped her magic around the noble and flew up into the air with him.
"You like flying so much? Well you have been bullying my number one best buddy in the world and I don't like that. So either you tell me what you know or I release my magic and let you feel the ground Capish?"
He nodded vigorously.
"Alright whats in it for you."
"He said he would vote for me to re enter my nobility into the court if I could stop Shining,"
She let him drop a meter before catching him. "Stop Shining from what."
"Stop him from asking you to the dance" He burst into tears, his words went along the lines of I wanna go home or mommy. Cadence sighed and spun him around before releasing her magical grip he screamed for a second before slamming into the floor only a meter away.
Letting him run off she received stares from her two guy friends.
"What?"
"For the princess of love that was pretty harsh."
"Please use her full name... Yea but I second the Plebeian."
"Aww come one guys I didn't want to waste time. And I got what I needed."
They began to walk back side by side down the road.
"So what did he want."
"Oh it was nothing really don't worry about it." She did her best to hide her blush from Shining Armor but it didn't work.
"Are you sick?"
"Probably your fault for spreading your filth onto her."
"NO! guys stop fighting its what that guy was fighting for."
"What was he fighting for."
"It wasn't important... But Shining would you ever ask me to go to the upcoming dance?"
Blueblood stopped straight in his tracks his his eyes as wide as plates. "You are planning to go with this uncouth ruffian?"
"I have a name you know... And yea I second the rich brat," Cadence shook her head in annoyance
"Never mind lets just get home."
"Urgh mares" Thought both Shining Armor and Prince Blueblood simultaneously.
"Ugh stallions" Thought Cadence.
"Urgh teenagers." Giggled Twilight to herself as the strange group walked back home through the streets of Canterlot.
It was time. Twilight had already gotten into Celestia's School Of The Gifted and it was his time to do something with his life. Studying the board, the list of jobs or learning courses lay in front of him all calling out at once. Cadence or Princess Cadence had taken up her role of Princess and was currently scouring Equestria to spread her new found monarchy. His cutie mark had also been found. Much like his sister it included a purple six pointed star but with a dark blue shield behind it and three twinkling stars above.
Things were coming along great. Well except for choosing a path in life. It was difficult when everyone wanted you to do something different. Before he had approached the board many higher ups had come round to talk to him about future jobs that would pay well. Unfortunately his due to his sister being Princess Celestia's apprentice, many expected great things from him.
"Hey Shining still here?" That voice could easily be recognized as his closest buddy. Night Spear found his job choice to be easy. As a fighter and his ancestors being descendants of the first Lunar Guards his choice was pretty easy to get. Well if you think about it, who would want their hair to be cut by a person named Night Spear.
"Yea man its tough when everyone wants you on their team." He rubbed his head in hope that it would have somehow increase his decision making skills.
"Haha complain all you like, anyway shocking turn of events..." He paused for a dramatic effect. "I am now part of the Night Guards."
"Woah never would have expected that." Came the sarcastic reply. Shining scanned the board for jobs. Some payed well but offered terrible working hours.
"Perhaps I should ask around." Shining wandered into the streets. In two days he had to hand in his form and officially join either the fighting force or a more private position as a bodyguard. Many of his friends had already joined different parts of the fighting force as scouts, spies or even siege mechanics. Apparently due to his abilities to cast shields his apparent skill set pointed him towards civil defense or mountain excavating.(In case of rock slides). Shuffling his feet through the busy streets the Canterlot breeze ran through his mane.
For some strange reason his entire family had the terrible trait of panicking when a deadline starts to get closer. Shining walked briskly in the neighborhood.
The Royal Guards could be fun. Shining brooded over the thought. The Royal Guards would most definitely be fun. But it was already full. Every stallion wanted to be in the Royal Guard and it took minutes for a list of 200 to be filled. This mean't he had to resort to one thing.
"Nighty."
"Hey Shiny hows it going."
The two friends sat down for a coffee. It was three in the afternoon and the air of recruitment was in the air. Anyone who had already signed up were either going in early or getting prepared. The perks of the Night Guard meant recruitment times are at night.
"Hey man just wondering." Shining took a sip of coffee. "Would it be possible for me to join the Night Guards?"
Night Spear stared at him for a second before realizing his white coated friend was being serious. "Oh well erm...Well the Night Guards are chosen by descendants and tradition. That's why there are so few of us. Sorry man only a captain could ever even think of training."
"Oh alright then." Shining smiled but underneath he felt a twinge of disappointment. If he did not get a job soon then he would have to join the stragglers in taking what was left. And usually it wasn't good.
They stared into the streets. Watching high level officers pick up the recruits and haul them to their stations. Shining felt slightly happy that he had a little more freedom than those who had already gone through.
"WELL THEN WHERE WILL YOU BE GOING." A loud rambunctious Stallion donning the basic Royal Guard armour approached the duo. It was easy to smell the booze on his breath, probably a first timer to Canterlot due to the fact he was drunk in the afternoon.
"You going to the Lunar Guards eh?" He stuck his hoof rudely into Night Spears chest. He paused to gather his thoughts "You like to join that sniveling princess traitor eh?"
He didn't even get a chance to blink. Night Spear lunged his hoof a straight strike into the buff earth-pony. Unlike normal punches, Night Spear had made the spear literally one with his body. It mean every one of his strikes were honed to be able to pierce tree branches. Leaving a comical dent in his face, the very much drunk and dazed stallion sunk to the floor. Princess Luna was worshiped by Night Guards. From young their lives were dedicated to her til the death.
"Hey he took out Mighty Hoof." More Solar Guards circled the duo with dull anger in their eyes. All of them seemed to be blindly following the pack leader. Mighty Hoof crawled from under the crowd out of the way.
"You can't take so many of us goldy eyes
The taunts and jeers continued as Shining and Night Spear stood back to back
"Nighty you are getting us in trouble again." The group closed in their circle. The only safe area was the shop but even the shop owner sensed trouble and closed the door.
"Well not like it hasn't happen before right?" Night Spear scanned the surroundings. Nearby an old stallion pulled a wagon filled with flour.
"Ah well you gonna help me? Because I got a plan."
"How about I try a diplomatic approach and calm everyone down."
Shining stepped forward towards the growing crowd. "I think that's enough. You got more important things to do and my friend will apologize." He stared sternly at Night Spear who simply pretended to notice.
Mighty Hoof stepped forward clutching half of his deformed face. It was obvious two seconds ago he was crying but no one said anything "Alright sharp ears, you apologize and I walk away with my buddies."
Night Spear braced himself. "I'm sorry."
Mighty Hoof was not satisfied. The one who humiliated him now was being humiliated. "Sorry for what Lunar scum?"
Night Spear lowered his head to hide his smirk. "Sorry for making your face better looking that it was."
A silent snigger went up in the crowd.
"What was that punk?"
"Wow and he is deaf too."
Another chortle only louder rose through the crowd. Mighty Hoof stepped forward with a broken stick raised in his mouth. And for the second time he fall to the floor, only this time clutching his chest and two cracked ribs.
Grabbing a sack of flour Night Spear closed his eyes and smashed it on the ground. Only Shining Armour had the instinct to close his own. Night Guards fought with all senses and Night Spear had often used that in school as well as out of school.
"You can't fight what you can't see."
Darting through his blinded opponents he made quick work of them jabbing vital points before returning to the spot where he stood before.
To onlookers who had witnessed the spectacle from outside it would have looked as if the dark coated Pegasi had simply threw a sack of flour and all his enemies had simply fallen in pain. Scary.
The injured scurried back and more joined their places. This time Shining reacted. Forming a large pink bubble around him and Night Spear he quickly expanded the space meter by meter until all were pushed back.
"You really like to put on a show huh?"
"Well thanks for the late help. How long can you hold a bubble now."
"Long enough wh-" A shattering sound could be heard and the bubble shattered. "Well then long enough isn't very long now is it Shining." Shining Summoned a rubber like shield while Night Spear bounced off it flying towards the new attacker. Quickly dispelling his old shield he summoned yet another to protect his friend from the impact.
In one movement, the lone soldier darted to the side causing Night Spear to bury himself into the ground. Shining quickly expanded a shield to blow everyone back and dragged Night Spear into the safe zone.
"You alright bro?"
"Yea thanks for the defense."
They turned to face an old Unicorn dressed in the Royal Guard Armour but the gold had been faded and scratches lined the plates. He was no new recruit.
"What is going on around here. Who started this mess."
All seven hooves pointed at both of them. " You got something ta say to my new recruits or me mister."
"Yea, its amazing they could even write their own name." Night Spear said dryly.
"You may be from another division but that doesn't mean that you can make fun of my soldiers boy."
Shining Armour stepped forward to defend his friend. "With all due respect sir. They were insulting Princess Luna the Steward of the Night, and my friend was simply defending her honor as it is his duty."
The old stallion stayed silent for a few seconds. Taking four steps back he turned around and faced Shining. "Boy put up your shield again. If you can block this then I consider everything forgotten."
Without warning a beam of red ripped through the streets. Shining instinctively brought up a pink triangle shield to counter. Slowly inch by inch Shining was being pushed back. He could feel the intensity of the lazer burning through his shield and wearing down his magic. He analyzed the beam. It crackled with energy but was spilling off the shield in different directions.
Ah ha
Shining tilted his shield slightly and summoned another.
"Two shields won't protect you boy." The beam increased with intensity. "That all you got old timer?" Shining taunted. He could feel the red beam of heat amplify almost cutting through his defenses.
Perfect.
Quickly turning his shield he angled both at 45 degrees sending the fiery line of death back at its sender. But before it could hit the old pony. It swirled and bended around him flying back towards Shining. A loud crack ripped the eardrums of bystanders followed by an explosion.
From the smoke and ruins Shining lay down. his magic had been exhausted but the older pony didn't seem able to charge another beam either.
"Well since you didn't stop it I won't forget anything that happened here today." He paused to dust himself off. "Expect a letter to your parents soon. Although it wasn't a letter about how bad he was. It could easily be a fine for violence or assault. And that did not look good on a record.
Mighty Hoof and his gang cheered. "I said I forget nothing. So that means double time on the track tomorrow. You never insult a Princess or expect exile do you understand Mr. Hoof."
Night Spear picked Shining Armour up. "Phew wow that was intense. But I could have done it." The obvious lie was too easy to pick out but Shining was tired.
"Shut up Nighty."
The next day a letter came in to the mail box.
Dear Mr and Mrs Sparkle. It has come to my attention that your son Shining Armour as of now has not chosen a path for the future. I would like to personally invite him to join us at the Royal Guards Force as a specialist class due to my personal judgement of him as a fine soldier I would like him to comply soon.
The end of the year as usual held the promenade with all of the schools coming together to celebrate in the hallowed halls of the Canterlot Ballroom. It was the time of the year that both nobles and peasants alike could mix and mingle. Well the word ‘could’. Should be emphasized due to many nobles succumbing to peer pressure and outright snobbiness to be seen in public with any plebeian level pony. So there always was that empty space in the middle of the ballroom in which would be the place that no pony dare dance on.
Shining Armour had just finished his exams and his recruitment into the Solar Guards would mean he this winter would be his last one in Canterlot before he was shipped off into the army. Perhaps the job as a bodyguard would have been closer to home but then rent-a-cop would stick with him forever.
The streets filled with the joyous sounds of dancing ponies that had been freed from the shackles that is school and are now free to do whatever they wanted. Twilight had entered Celestia’s school for the Gifted and was doing well as the great Solar Princesses apprentice. Her entrance exam was probably the most interesting story he had ever came across. Who knew Twilight could hatch an egg to create a dragon.
The air got much chillier nowadays. In the day it was a refreshing coolness that swept the streets of Canterlot, but the nights were less tolerable. Nevertheless many enthusiastic mares lined the tailor shops for intricate dresses and stallions simply picking whatever that was black and expensive. Many tailors had come to Canterlot to make money. Shining bustled through the wave of mares his age as the Sapphire Knight was fruitlessly tossed around like a salad by a torrential storm of materialistic mares.
It’s just dresses
Shining Armour huffed and waded his way to the other side of town. Cadence had something fun planned for the day and he was not going to miss it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shining brooded over whether getting stampeded by the crowd outside would be less painful than picking up one of the nearby ties on display and strangling himself with it. If Shining had any foresight he would have realized the only fun thing on a females mind at this time would be shopping.
What’s worse was a female with what seemed like unlimited bits in her bag.
“ Ooh this one…No no this one…Hmmm why not all of them SQUEE!” Cadence bounced around store by store buys almost everything she could like a tornado of bits and dresses. As an Alicorn it meant that she had very little time to be in public. So anytime would mean four times as much speed as usual. Shining groaned under the weight of the growing bags. Although he only had to lift them five meters away into a nearby cart, the weight of the bags was taking its toll. Cadence oblivious to anything simply went on her speedy rampage of buying only stopping to fix her crown.
Scratch the crown
Shining noted to himself as he levitated a small tiara onto the pile of growing bags. “Alrighty then. Time for the next store!” Shining loaded the bags into the second cart and they carried on through the streets. Cadence ran ahead mumbling to herself about finding a good tailor to fix certain dresses for taller mares. (She had bought dresses too small due to lack of supply.) Shining galloped tirelessly to keep up with his bright pink friend.
“Alright Shiny, you find me a tailor and I will go onward. Take all the dresses in the second cart okay?” She turned to go only to pause “Oh and find one that can sew jewels on my dress. Its rare to find one but not impossible.” Shining raised an eyebrow. “And how do you expect me to carry this, Princess?”
Cadence giggled. Whistling two buff Pegasi donning the traditional golden armor swooped down to pick up the straggling bags. “Thanks.” She pecked him on the cheek and bundled off. Shining let out a sigh. Once more he had forgotten that Cadence had a platoon of soldiers to her beck and call. “Geez she is working me to death.” He mumbled under his breath “At least you get to go home.” Came the solemn reply from the silent guard.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “Hello?” Shining peered into the strange tent. During this time many seamstresses and tailors would bring their wares and set up elaborate tents to temporarily sell their goods in Canterlot. Although the population in Canterlot was no bigger than many other cities, it was bustling with the rich and the kind of rich. Shining simply picked a random tent that looked like it was recently ransacked. Clearing up was a marshmallow colored Unicorn with a purple mane.
“Hello darling, Welcome to the temporary shop of Carousel Boutique, as you can see I only deliver my dresses and do not sell on the spot."
The unicorn levitated a broom and began sweeping up the carnage of bows dresses and other small pieces of clothing. It was almost as if war of dresses had been fought in here. Shining armor looking at the young Unicorns flank could see three diamonds imprinted as her cutie mark.
Diamond…Jewels…Cade-
His thoughts were disrupted by a loud clearing of the Purple-maned Unicorns throat. Realizing he had been staring at her flank for a few seconds too long, he awkwardly looked away and cleared his own throat.
“Ah well then I will be leaving.” Shining edged out slowly only to bump face to face with an old foe. Prince Blueblood. “Ah well if it isn’t Princess Cadence’s butler. How does a plebian such as yourself get along.”
Shining rolled his eyes. “Oh its going along fine bluey, and I am not Princess Cadence’s butler.” Blueblood flinched at the nickname. He raised an eyebrow. “Really now, please explain to me what you are doing now?”
“What are you doing here anyway, I figured you would have been afraid of the mud puddles to even venture this far away from the castle.”
“Ah well that’s what carriages are for.”
The joke was not heeded to. Canterlot castle was literally a stone throw away. “Ah well time to go.” Blueblood trotted off in his usual manner with his hair being flicked to the side every few steps.
Shining stared after him only to be disrupted by a voice behind him. “Really now unless you want something don’t clog up my entra-“ The pale white Unicorn stared with her jaw on the floor after a hair flicking Prince.
“Wh..who was that?”
“That is the great nephew of Princess Celestia, Prince Blueblood.”
Rarity picked her jaw off the ground. “Wo…Woah. He is gorgeous.” She turned her attention to him. “Ah well I am Rarity and you are?”
“Before Shining Armor could speak the Unicorn let out a gasp of shock before dragging him inside with all the bags. “Deary me, all these dresses need work. Never fear, I can save them.” Melodramatically diving into the pile she methodically sorted them and began.
Ah well I’ve met stranger mares
Shining took a seat, waiting for the seamstress named Rarity to finish. “So how much do you know Prince Blueblood?” she questioned as the hum of the sewing machine started on.
“Ah well you can say he likes fashion.”
The smile of Rarity’s face seemed to grow wider. “Ah well then...He sounds nice.”
“Yeah, he’s a real killer.”
Rarity shifted the dress to a side and began working on the next one. “You know I always imagined a life with someone like him.”
Oh dear
"I would stroll through the gala, and everyone would wonder: "Who is that mysterious mare?" They would never guess that I was just a simple pony from little old Ponyville. Why, I'll cause such a sensation, that I would be invited for an audience with Princess Celestia herself. And the princess would be so taken with the style and elegance, that she would introduce me... to him...
Another crazy mare
The most handsome, eligible unicorn stallion in Canterlot. Our eyes would meet... Our hearts would melt... Our courtship would be magnificent. He would ask for my hoof in marriage, and of course I would say... YES! We would have a royal wedding, befitting a princess which is... what I would become upon marrying him... The stallion of my dreams!" Rarity placed her hooves in the air before controlling her dreams and getting back to work.
“So a Stallion like you must have a mare friend?”
Shining Armour fell off his stool. “Well erm actually no.”
“Well what about a person of interest. Hmm?” Rarity asked whilst carrying on with her work.
“Well I-“ “Oh so you do have one.” Rarity dashed to his side somehow dragging the sewing machine with her. “Do tell.”
Shining stared at the strange mare. “Alright then, well she is nice…Tall…Very caring.”
“Well then why have you not asked her to be your marefriend yet?”
“Well there are complications.”
“What is she already taken?”
“No.”
“Does she not like you around?”
“Well no.”
“Oh dear are you a colt cuddler are you?”
“What no!”
“Then what is it then? You look like a confident stallion, she is sure to go for you.”
Shining Armor re-adjusted his seat. “Well we can’t be together because of well…We are not allowed to be.”
“Oh my forbidden love. Amazing, but hey you should be with the one you love. I mean I am aiming for a prince.” Rarity giggled to herself. “So whom is the lucky mare?”
“Uhh…She’s an Alicorn.”
Rarity immediately stopped her work. “Oh I see.” She clumsily tried to get back on track. “Well you know that they are royalty right?”
“Yea. But you said that nobility should not be an issue.”
“Yea but, Princess Celestia is well…A few hundred years old. I mean if you are into older mares then I have no quarrel but…”
“Oh it’s not Princess Celestia, its-“
“Ah finished. Now then good luck with the princess. I’m sure it will be one hell of a battle but hey, I have faith in you. Now take these dresses and get moving. "
She shoved him out and quickly packed up her tent. Shining had just realized the sun setting. “Aw damn. Thanks Rarity. Goodbye.” Shining Armour galloped away into the sunset with Rarity looking at the blue-maned stallion gallop away. “Good luck.” She giggled to herself. “How does one even think they can woo a princess.” “Rarity stopped giggling. “Oh and I never got his name."
The streets of Canterlot was in a bustle of activity. Many recruits had finally gotten ranks and were being shipped to different parts of Equestria to further enable peace throughout the land. The only Train station in Canterlot was filled to the brim with crying mothers and sisters whilst hardened soldiers packed into tight carriages and got ready to go.
"Remember to bring your toothbrush."
"Yes mom."
"And to call every night."
"Yes mom."
"And if you are scared remember the song I sang to you."
"Geez mom the last time you sang that song was at least five years ago." Shining Armour shuffled his feet awkwardly as his mother fussily dug through his bag.
Mrs Sparkle wiped the tears from her eyes and locked her son into an embrace. "I'm sorry Twilight couldn't be here."
Twilight Sparkle had unfortunately been called away to study in another country for a short time in order to expand her magic capabilities as Princess Celestia's Protégé.
"Come on mom we promised no tears."
Mrs Sparkle wiped the leaking fountain of tears as she hugged him one more time before passing him along to his father.
"Now listen son, its a crazy world out there and you could meet some crazy ponies." He cleared his throat. "And these crazy ponies may make you wish that you could never leave." His eyes had started to go red. "Promise me boy that you will never forget home. Understand?"
Shining smiled and saluted. "Aye sir."
Finishing one last embrace he turned back to the train. his luggage had been wrestled from his mother and into the storage carriages and he was ready for his next post. Slowly walking towards the door he turned around one last time to wave goodbye to his par-
"Oof"
As usual he was unable to sense the flying ball of pink Alicorn flying at him as fast as a dragon after gold.
"Hello Cadence." He rubbed his head and tried to focus his eyes. " Emotional to see me off?"
His teasing stopped instantaneously when he saw the flowing fountain of tears rolling down her cheek.
"Wh...Why do y...you have to go?" She stuttered in between sobs. Immediately Shining felt his heart drop into an eternal abyss. What excitement he had for the trip dissipated the moment he saw that pink face look up at him like a homeless puppy.
"Uhh...Ehm...Well..." All the many months of training for war did not prepare him for a diplomatic conquest, especially an adolescent pretty sobbing Alicorn which was unfortunately bringing the crowd.
"Come here." He huddled her off into a corner where nopony would eavesdrop. Cadence let out a few more tears before burying her head in his chest. "Why do you always have to go." She mumbled to the ground. She let his soft warm chest sooth her mind as she simply leaned against him.
Shining Armour could no longer see a princess but a friend in need of comfort. "Listen Cadence." He raised her chin. "We all gotta leave sometime right?" He waited for her to start crying but she simply listened.
"I promise to write letters always."
"Always?"
"Yes."
"Everyday?"
"As many as I can."
"And we will meet again right?"
"Yes most probably."
"Most probably?"
Oh damn Shining felt the grave he dug for himself get deeper as Cadence's eyes started to swell up with tears.
"Uhh...I mean we will. In like five years."
"Five years!"
Bugger
"I mean soon."
"How soon."
"Promise me you won't get hurt."
"I will try to stay alive."
"Stay alive! Where are you going? I thought it was just a patrol mission. You could die?"
Oh Celestia help me
"Well...Uhh...Erm..." He was saved fortunately from another fountain of tears when a deep voice rang from the shadows.
"Typical Shining. Once more your peasant words and boorish attitude have upset yet another lady." From the shadows a golden maned stallion flicked his mane to the side and stepped out instinctively avoiding small puddles.
Now I have to pick between an annoying snob or a sobbing Alicorn...Can my day get any worse.
Shining decided now would be the perfect time to change the subject. " So Blueblood"
"Prince Blueblood."
"So Blueblood." The young prince let out a huff of annoyance. "What is it."
"You here to see me off? How kind to think one such as yourself would have the guts to walk twenty metres without servants to help you."
"Please don't be ridiculous, I had a carriage but had to leave the servants behind due to all these disgusting soldiers filling up the foyer. And I am here to see Cadence off not you."
A furrowed brow appeared on Shining Armour's forehead. "She is leaving? "
He turned to her. "Is this true?"
She nodded silently mumbling something incoherent due to her face still being in his chest.
"B...But where to?"
"She is going to countries overseas to learn more about the royal history of course." Blueblood interjected. "Such an honor. I wish there was a ti..."
Blueblood started drifting off as Shining pulled Cadence to her feet. "Now Cadence I know its going to be tough being alone with no one wh-"
He stopped mid-speech realizing the new hole he was digging. "But I promise that we will meet again ok?" He gave her the biggest hug he could.
"Alright." She brightened up immediately like a balloon and turned to Blueblood.
"Blueblood thanks for seeing me off." She gave him a hug that disrupted his never ending speech of prestige in which he replied with a mixture of shock and happiness. "Yes dear now please get moving. We wouldn't want to be late now would we?"
Shining Armour huffed and got to his feet as Bluebloos quickly dashed back to the safety of his carriage. Staying this long outside was as long as it was gonna get.
"Alright then...I guess this is it." Shining looked one more time at Cadence, Although she was smiling it was easy to see that underneath she was going to cry.
He raised his hoof. "Goodbye hug?"
As she went towards him for it his brain did something that he would make him kick himself as well as hug himself. Because as she leaned in he dodged her arm and well kissed her. What felt like seconds before became a semi-awkward/ loving scene which lasted hours. Shining pulled away quickly walking off as confidently as he could in an attempt to hide his blunder. Well he thought he was walking, from Cadence's point of view it was a lopsided drunken cat with too much cider the night before.
She giggled. Shining tried to go on back to the train only to feel something jerk him around. Cadence smiled. "Round two."
This time she kissed him. Much less sloppy but still the same blow. At that point the young stallion could not take anymore and simply blacked out.
"Hey now...Hello?" Shining awoke to a cute round face with two overly sized eyes peering down on him. Cadence shook him awake and got him to sit up. "How long was I out?"
Cadence let out a giggle. "About two minutes." They sat there awkwardly for a few seconds before Shining piped up. "Ah well I gotta go. Bye." He scratched his head sheepishly and started to get up.
"Yea me too...Bye." She got up and headed the other way.
"Hey shiny."
He turned around. The wind was blowing his mane over dramatically and his heart felt like it had burst through his chest. "The great knight vanquished with a kiss huh." He groaned and shook his head.
"A sloppy one at that." Cadence called after him as he slowly stalked off.
"I hope you improve."
That single line caused his heart to stop moving and butterflies to burst out of his stomach. "We...well...I...I-" He turned around only to find Cadence gone. "Ah well."
The train churned and chugged across many acres of land as a young stallion sat by its window watching the world go by and dreaming about the one special mare that would later be his bride.
Isn't it amazing how the person you are going to marry is right now in this world. They may be closer than you think.
In the strange and magical land of Equestria there were bound to be crazy and eccentric individuals with way too much time on their hands and a knack for magic. Almost every few decades out of all the crazies, one will show true potential in magic whilst many will only be disillusioned into thinking they could do magic. Nevertheless the one was one with great power and often did not see the world like most ponies would and that is never a good thing.
Shining Armour hopped off the train onto the dank and deary town of Baltimare. It was a truly eerie town at night, and the thick stench of the salty ocean did not help. All twenty-seven privates, one officer, one lieutenant, and one specialist equipped their backpacks and trudged to the Baltimare outpost on the outskirts of the town. The fog did not help either. It was as if the land had some sort of abhorrence of them and were desperately trying to push them out. Nevertheless they moved on, not in unison but with great speed. The train ride had made most of them fatigued but their senses did not grow dull in fear of whatever that lay in the mist.
The walk was creepy but uneventful, Shining Armour looked at his superiors, stopping to stare the specialist, the job of a specialist was a very mysterious one, not all groups had one but he was supposed to have some sort of ability that defines him from the rest. Dressed in a long dark cloak he trudged on whispering things from time to time to the Officer in charge, his bag looked almost empty save for small potions and a spell book sticking out, as if he could read his mind, the specialist levitated his satchel shut and walked on without a word.
Creepy
A call from the front ran clear to the back. "Battalion halt." The group stopped quickly. Shining Armour at the front could see nothing, not a single soul in the outpost.
Until an gut wrenching scream shook the entire battalion to its knees. "Hold your guts maggots, get up and equipped pronto." All soldiers were equipped with a short sword at all times. It was a small about half a legs length and was light and useful for any situation. The instructors called it a machete. Quickly the sound of rasping knives gleamed in the dim moonlight as thirty soldiers stood back to back ready for anything. And then they saw it, from the mist, lumbering soulless creatures emerged.
"Hold men, focus and strike together." The soldiers were not trained for this, many held the knives in their mouth or levitated it with telekinesis gripping on the handle tighter and tighter as the lumbering monsters grew close. The wait for the order to kill was tense, every soul marked a victim and aimed for a weak point.
"NOW."
The officer let out a bellow and slammed into two of them sending them flying, immediately the remaining soldiers slashed in unison, the sound of shouts and solid attacks could be heard. But they still came, unaffected and seemingly faster.
The officer in charge looked back at his soldiers, they were scared and about to run. "Hold your ground or I will kill you where you stand." He charged forward. "ARGHHHH!!" Immediately he felt a sharp tug pull him to the ground. Shining formed a force field around the entire group and dropped the officer.
"What is the meaning of this private? Do you wish to be flogged. I will ma-" He was cut off by the dark hooded specialist, he pointed to the supposed zombies. With Shining Armours bubble it was easy to see that they were made of sand bags and were simply animated with a bring to life spell.
The hooded figure went through his bag muttering something incomprehensible and motioned for Shining to undo the barrier. When it was down he simply took out a small orb and smashed it onto the ground. In an instant the surrounding area of about forty meters in every direction became clear. Confused mutter stirred up among the group as the more soldiers dressed in full armor emerged
"Halt stop exercise." Came a shout from the darkness, the entire area lighted up with large orbs of light and a single buff stallion approached the group looking into a clipboard. "No no no, I said NO Magic, why on earth would you disobey such an order, do you want to be flogged.?" The pony was still staring into his clipboard as he approached the specialist. "You boy better shape up or I-" He looked up only to face a dark and ominous shadow inside a hood that would make him sleep at night for the next few days.
"Corporal I demand an explanation." The officer was pissed. It had been a tireless train ride and frankly anyone would have been cranky to march through a dark town at 2 A.M. in the morning only to be scared half to death by bags of sand.
"Well...er... We were doing, an exercise. It was training and we did not expect you to be here until tomorrow sir." Replied the corporal.
"Well it is tomorrow and I want all my soldier's quarters to be ready now, understand?" The corporal feeling small saluted quickly and rushed to the barracks with his troops.
"Well then wasn't this a fun way to start a morning." Shining muttered to himself.
The next day was a free day to explore the surroundings, they had one day of rest before being assigned into groups of three and made to patrol the entire city, taking over the older patrols, altogether nine groups would make sure the city is safe and secure until relieved in a month or so. The city was bright and busy in the day, a large contrast to the night, the bay chirped with old sailors and merchants from distant lands talking about old tales of sea monsters and prices. The goods on display were also interesting, many different kinds of strange gadgets not sold in Canterlot lay on dirty colorful mats on the ground with a single pony guarding at least two mats to sell to bargain hunters.
Shining looked around and found a strange horn like ornament, only it seemed to be magic run and with switch," Picking it up he stared at it, it seemed like such a strange item, its switch was at the bottom and it there were many different shapes.
"Ah you want one?" An old mare emerged like a ghost, she had been there the whole time, but the colorful carpets on the wall matched her clothing and she was near invisible save for small movements.
"No just erm browsing."
The old mare chuckled. "No need for shyness young one, they one you hold in your hoof is cheap. It is good to stop marefriends from cheating on you while you are away."
Shining Armour frowned." How does it do-" His words drifted to nothing as he scanned the rest of the store in horror, other than the nicer looking horns there were replica's of horse genitalia on the mat. It was not a toy, well it was not a toy for kids... It vibrated as he accidentally flipped the switch. "Ehh? Want one? I promise it will only need thirty minutes of charge for two hours of fun." She touted.
He dropped it and ran, his face red with shame and horror. The old mare grinned a toothy grin. "Ah such a nice young lad." She mused.
No wonder they don't sell those in Canterlot.
Shining Armour shook the view of all the sex toys and walked towards another shop. It seemed normal enough. "Ah would a young soldier enters my shop, would you like anything?"
The shop contained all sorts of weapons, from over-sized axes to strange blades that curved in one angle until it looked broken. "Would the young colt like a nice trinket perhaps, for protection."
She showed him a box filled to the brim with different necklaces talismans and other small jewels. "Or perhaps some nice guards?" She pulled out a couple of shiny vambraces, They were beautifully decorated and very stylish.
Shining peeled his eyes off them for a second. "Actually I was simply wandering through." The look on the old mares face made him feel guilty. "Sorry." He wandered through the store. He turned a corner to find her standing in front of him.
"Actually I think I have something for you." Raising a single small badge it was the shape of a shield. "It is a simple clasp but it very useful when you least expect it."
Shining stared at it, although it seemed very simple, it gave off a vibe of some sort of mystical gem. "Er well how much?" He looked up only to find the strange old mare gone.
This town is filled with strange old mares.
He exited the store to the bustling streets, the stores were still filled with customers, so he went to the bay to see the magnificent ships.
"Hey laddie, yer mind helpin an old man such as meself?" A large Scottish sailor approached him. "I got meself these here crates and can't carry em bah maself. Ye mind helpin me out?" Shining nodded and levitated the crates onto his cart while the fat stallion drank yet another mug of cider. There were many boxes and Shining felt the hot salty air blow through his mane as he worked. Soon all the boxes were packed and the large stallion seemed a little more sober.
"Ye a strong one eh? Thanks for the help. You ever need a ship just gimme a call ye?" The fisherman trudged on drunkenly away to wherever as Shining watched with awe at the sheer size of said fisher.
Shining looked up towards the orange sun, by tomorrow he had to report in to start his patrol of the city and the sun was already setting. "Ah well it was an eventful day." Shining mumbled to himself as he trudged his way back to camp.
A single stallion was in that cellar. Although brightly lit it only amplified strange collection of items in his cellar. The single stallion was not any less scary to begin with, he wore a smile that simply said pedophile and his small collection of ominous jars of dust on his wall were not helping, walking to a small lump on the table he focused his magic, it turned into a diamond before shattering into dust. "Good...Very good."
Baltimare was both a city of great unrest but of great importance. It was the only port next to Manehatten but was more efficient in cargo delivery due to many rivers leading deep into the land of Equestria. Although rough and rugged any soul who took Baltimare could cause a famine that would stretch to Canterlot itself. But that does not make it an easy take, The easiest route was through heavy mountains and deep forests, the train that went directly through the forest or mountain took many days to traverse. The port was built on a shoreline shaped like a horse shoe, this allowed boats ample parking space but also an easy defense for attackers from the sea. The only people who dared attack the city were occasional sea pirates but that stopped after the nightmare moon incident due to the moon's imbalance causing large waves and whirlpools to emerge. However inside the safety of the city life was no better, pirates found it a nice place to dock and relax, so long as they did not cause trouble and paid of the shore administrator that is. But like all pirates, trouble found them. However life still carried on in the salty air city of Baltimare.
"Atten hut!" The 27 privates stood at the ready as their officer barked orders to them. "This city can be broken into five sectors, north, south, east, west and central. There will be four squads patrolling each of the four regions and three in the center. The remaining will patrol the border of the country, if under attack send for a flare and those in central will come to your aid. Understand?"
"Sir yes sir." Came the unified answer, After a quick salute the groups broke up and went to their posts. The city of Baltimare was a strange one, the port and center was often bustling with activity whereas the surrounding lands were quiet and small. Half of the city was made out of shops while another quarter was the port itself, only one quarter of the city were citizens while the rest were tourists and market dealers.
Shining and his group were posted in the west. It was the poorest slum of the other places and violence and gangs were rampant. Because of this, all squads in the west were often backed up the quickest in times of need. Shining and two other soldiers walked through the streets, it was quiet save for the sound of pots clanging in the wind or small murmurs from people in the street, even young colts and fillies dare not stray further than a few meters from their house. And Shining was about to find out why.
"Please let him go I promise by next week." A young mare struggled with four large thugs as they dragged a single young stallion away from the house. "Sorry missus, You know the rules. And we law abidin citizens ain't gonna break one for you." Mocked the largest. Shining stepped towards them with his group. Immediately his companions followed.
"And this poor soul came to us in his time of need. And if his gambling hooves can't stop, then I guess we will stop'em for ya." They placed his hooves over a block and brought a rusty old axe down on it. His screams erupted throughout the neighborhood but no one came to his aid. Shining stayed silent, allowing his white rage to soothe into a deadly calm ball before deciding on the right way to react. It was hard, his years of learning not to jump into fights would be tested now, the slums, the poor, the weak, all being compressed into a corner and forced to learn submission from an overgrown dog.
"Sir I will ask you only once to step away from that stallion." Shining's voice peaked a deadly tone but the large dog was too complacent to notice. "Ah its the law securin officer eh?" Mocked the thugs. "Pay him our citizen fees." They threw a bag of bits in front of him and went back to the hoof-less stallion. Immediately the biggest felt two back hooves slam into his face potentially breaking his jaw in three places, Shining reared back again and slammed into yet another. The disorientated gang members lunged for him only to face two more soldiers beating them back. In a matter of minutes all four were rounded up and tied to a post.
"Thank you, thank you." Begged the young mare as she bandaged her partners wounds. He had lost only one hoof, but that would have serious repercussions in the future.
"No problem miss. But what did he mean citizen fees?" Questioned Shining.
The mare looked scared, she motioned him closer as the other two guards sent for more backup. "You must be new here" The Stallion moaned in pain as the guards took over his care, Shining listened tentatively to the mare
"The place is run by thugs who settled here years ago, the old guards get payed a citizen fee and the gangs simply run around doing what they please. If I were you I wouldn't fight with them, they out number the guards three to one."
He shook his head and placed his hoof on her shoulder for reassurance. "Miss that's what I am here for. Now where can I find them."
The old abandoned warehouse just a few blocks from here is one of their hideouts, its small but also their supplier, they move in a few hours so you don't have much time. Shining Armour heard the words of the mare as he approached the hideout. It couldn't have housed more than twenty people, Shining stood there with two other squads, in all nine.
He had scouted the barn already. One front door and one back. and the area was surrounded with other buildings. An easy place to hide but not so easy to escape.
"Listen men, they still out number us but we can take them with surprise." Shining Armour may not call the shots, but his prowess in magic and his unyielding need to help others had him many followers. "Team one go and take out patrols, my group will enter the front and group 3 will flank them from the back, team one will come through the roof and take out any on the higher level, my team will then go up the stairs and team 3 will chase any runners. Got it?"
The silence was answer enough, they all got equipped and got ready for action. Team 1 crept out from the building top, going from one area to another they cut down one guard after another as Shining and his group stood by waiting for the other group to get into position.
Three...Two...One...
"NOW" He entered, levitating two nearby chairs he hurled them at the surprised rogues as his team charged in fighting off who they could. At this moment the back door exploded and team 3 entered screaming.
Perfect. Now any minute team 1 will be on the roof to start on the second floor. He heard the thud and smiled. Feeling his adrenaline rising he pulled his blade from its sheathe and griped on it with his teeth. The bandits could barely fight. Disorientated and sightly unprepared he dodged through the wild swings and went for the crippling points.
"Arghhhh." He parried an axe that was aimed for his head and tripped the attacker. His men were doing fine. But there seemed to be an unlimited amount of them. The battle was only in their advantage due to surprise, but the moment fatigue catches up they would be swarmed. Then his head felt cold.
There isn't anymore noise coming from upstairs.
"Dammit." He charged through the mass of bodies and summoned a pink shield. Allowing it to take all the damage he released it, sending all the force from the battering to explode back onto their sender. Ponies flew through the air, some even cracking their backs on pillars and others smashing into tables. His own soldiers were already going into another room to clear more out. Trudging up the stairs he slammed open the doors.
"Well well well, if it isn't backup." A single diamond dog wearing battle scars all over his face sat in a chair surrounded with four others. Shining's own men were beaten, lying on the floor tied together.
"I admit you guards put up a good fight." The troll spoke in a strange thick accent. "They took out three of my men before I put them down myself." He licked his lips and stared at Shining. "So how about this, you tell me who sold you out, and I let you all go free."
Shining's horn started to glow. The dog chuckled hoarsely "Such Brave one. But I don't think so now, You do anything and I will kill your friends." The diamond dog signaled to his pack who pulled out different assortments of weapons.
He was unnaturally well spoken for a Diamond dog. He obviously was not a simple henchman.
"We don't negotiate with filth." Shining nodded to his friends and they rolled away from attacking range. Instantly, Shining placed sent out a burst of light blinding the room long enough for his friends to break free and run. The Diamond dog was most definitely annoyed. "So you try to come into my business, you destroy the place and then think you can leave without a fight. He swung a large wrapped blade from his back and held it lightly in his paws.
"I promise you won't be so lucky. For if you leave, I will tear down half the city looking for you." The diamond dog let out a growl before swinging the cleaver, in a split second Shining had already darted out of the window and onto the ground below. The building was cleared and his own soldiers had left to chase down the stragglers.
"Arghhh." The dog growled in annoyance. His swipes were fast and precise. Unlike the others he was properly trained in using his weapons. Shining parried blow after blow, his own sword was chipping from the sheer force. Then a loud crack could be heard.
Shining threw the hilt at his attacker and hopped back a couple of feet. Both pieces of the sword clattered harmlessly to the ground.
Another swipe cleaved its way through the air only to be stopped by a pink shield. It held, for a few seconds before cracking. Shining rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding its blow.
The dog chuckled. "Funny how your magic seems so weak eh?" He stroked his blade allowing Shining to get a closer look. "This was created solely for creatures like you. Its called the magic eater, The more magic I cut, the stronger the attack." He growled lowly.
"Pathetic Unicorns such as yourself depend your whole life on magic. Lets see how long you last." Swinging the blade over his head in a helicopter fashion, the dog swung it around twice before bringing it down in a downward slice. Shining deflected it using telekinesis before dodging to the side. Flicking the blade back up the troll swung it again to the left trying to take a piece of Shining with him, Shining could only dodge and direct the blade away, If he took a hit head on it could mean death. Flicking his horn into the sky he summoned a wall of magic to catch the blow. The cleaver harmlessly sliced through it and carried on its path hitting Shining, cutting deep into his flank.
"You still haven't learned. You think a shield user such as yourself is hard to fight? You are so predictable" The troll laughed and carried on spinning the blade around,
Gotta think of something.
He narrowly dodge another swipe, the Diamond Dog was pushing him back onto a tree. It could guarantee the fatal blow.
But it won't be for me.
Shining backed up quickly towards the tree. "Sensing your end?"He laughed "Well I'll make it quick."
His blade stuck deeply into its target. It wasn't Shining but the tree. Shining darted from under it and slammed his horn into the Diamond dog.
He could feel its blood seep off his horn and down his face, undeterred he charged forward dragging the impaled dog forward before throwing him off with a quick flick of his head. The dog gurgled the blood in his mouth as Shining charged him into a wall before stopping. The battle was over, Shining spat the blood out of his mouth and began to walk back to his troops.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED IN YOUR DISTRICT PRIVATE ARMOUR!"
Bellowed the commanding officer as Shining stood with his makeshift rebel army in silence. The officer was already red in the face from the sun, Shining silently wondered if there was a deeper shade of red he could go.
"I in no way authorized your little war effort." Shining could feel the office's coffee stained breath burn the hair off his eyebrows. A single soldier spoke up from the group.
"Sir permission to speak sir."
Instantly the officer spun around and pulled the private so close their heads bumped together.
"Permission granted. What is it."
"If Shining had waited they would have been gone sir. And we didn't take a casualty except Shining sir."
The officer rubbed his temples, they had been rash and their actions could have dire consequences in the future. However their skirmish had most definitely warned all that break the law that the new guard was in town.
"Very well Private Shining, I commemorate you with a promotion...To barracks keeper. You will stay at the barracks and keep watch for any non personnel from entering. Do I make myself clear?"
"Sir yes sir." Groaned Shining with hidden frustration.
120 new recruits fresh out of the training academy waited in line for their final suit ups, their coats to be painted to match their position and armor for their rank, their cutie mark was to be hidden if possible unless they came from a high rank, nevertheless at the end of the day the large contingent will be broken into squads to serve the great and wondrous princess Celestia to protect both home and overseas. All 120 were proud, of the 150 original number they were the ones who survived the grueling training and were about to taste the world outside their homes. Shining was probably the most excited of the bunch, it was time for action, he could already hear the clash of steel in his ears, taste the blood of his defeated enemies, run headlong int-
"Get up!"
Shining felt the world spin as he tumbled out of bed to meet the floor, he got up into attention to greet whoever had woken him.
"Alright so you are the stallion who went on his little crusade huh?" mused the female soldier. Shining felt his heart flutter at the compliment. "Well your temerarious little escapade has got you promoted to one of the greatest jobs in the universe." She paused for dramatic effect. "Barracks duty." Her voice betrayed her words as it was caked in sarcasm so thick Pinkie would have eaten it for lunch.
Shining groaned at the reminder and packed up his bed, the lucky thing of Barracks duty is being able to wake up late. the rest of the group had headed out to their duties which left him with...
"Sorry, who are you?" Shining eyed the new soldier standing in front of him, probably one of the female soldiers that joined up because of family heritage or personal desires of adventure.
"If you keep your eyes on me any longer you might just lose them." She sharply announced, releasing his awkward gaze as he caught the flying clipboard with his magic.
"I know it's not much of a great job but that doesn't mean I like slackers." commanded the strict Pegasi as she marched him through the Barracks while Shining checked his surroundings. "Follow my rules and we will get along fine, rule number one."
The entire Barracks looked bigger in the late morning light, it was like a castle, a large wooden wall coated in leather to prevent them from lighting surrounded the entire encampment save for one small area that was naturally protected with a large mountain that lead to a sheer drop, the inside was separated into different sectors old ruins of an ancient castle that stood long ago, the ruins had been molded into the modern fort with the castle keep leaning on the mountain transformed into a watch tower, two other posts on different corners gave the entire expanse a triangular like figure, the architect had chosen the place well, it was placed on a hill to protect it from floods, only five meters from the gate was the land flattened out so that it was a smooth surface. Shining looked in wonder at the entire fort until he almost slammed face to face with his guide.
"And rule number 33." She stared deeply into his soul with eyes that were so fierce it could kill a small wildlife. "I do not like people who do not listen."
She turned around quickly and carried on walking, purposely swinging her tail in his face, Shining dodged and quickly picked up his pace.
After all the instructions had been read out she saluted him off and went to the west sector to check up, his job was simple, stay by the east sector and protect the post at all costs, she had told him that trouble usually never arose but he still had to keep a sharp eye for any attacks.
Shining was bored, he had so much to do in the city and he was forced into a job that meant he had to sit down and wait by himself for something that never came, the last attack on any Military Barrack was decades ago when a fleet marauders landed on the coast of Vanhoover and were repelled almost instantly due to half their crew already dead from the storm. Shining had many questions to ponder, he sat calmly on his bottom to focus. He hummed silently to render his mind free from any outer disturbances
Alright, lets break it down, first of how did that diamond dog ever come into possession of an enchanted blade? Blade augmentation took many hours and a lot of magic, not to mention it usually came with a binding so there would only be one owner at a time, So it meant the diamond dog didn't find it in the earth rather it was given to him, why would anyone do that?
Shining had so much to research on and it was all hindered because of a few words.
Shining sat down onto the hard wooden base with much thinking as the cool breeze floated through the mane of the Sapphire Knight.
His thoughts were rustled a few hours later by the same mare who had led him around, with coffee the female officer seemed more welcoming.
"Well soldier you are tougher than most." Her smile may not be so big, but at least it was sincere, Shining accepted the warm beverage and allowed it's dark heavy flavor to slither down his throat.
"Most privates that come to watch duty often get restless, I expected a trigger-happy soldier such as yourself to be slamming his head against the post by now." She took the empty mug from him and gestured him down. "Our shift has ended, another group will be here soon so let's go out and stretch our legs." She walked a few steps before turning back to him. "By the way, the name is Silverheart."
Silverheart had initially thought Shining to be like all the other privates put on watch, arrogant and very hot headed, always complaining at how boring the job was or how they had to work with a woman, the fact that Shining had decided to sleep in did not help her overall judgement of him, nevertheless he seemed like a nice stallion who had although not listened to her entirely, did sit through the entire thing without making so much as a sound. And that was good enough for her, she packed up and headed out to get him.
Her term of 'stretching our legs' was much more painful than it sounded, the moment they got out of the keep she flashed two wooden blades from her bag and threw one to Shining, instantly Shining found himself in a fight that made him wish he had never met this mare.
"Come on now, you must have been fighting drunk Diamond dogs who were old and blind, I got you six times." She laughed as Shining picked himself off the ground."
"Technically Diamond dogs are partially blind so-"
He ducked and allowed a swing meant for his head to pass before picking up his sparring sword and jumped back into it. "Enough gab, just swing!"
Her moved were graceful and sharp, never stifling or still, her body twisted to and fro like the wind playfully dancing in the evening breeze, it was mesmerizing, well you could only stare for so long before a solid stick would slam into your head and cause your brain to rattle, Shining darted forward only for her to tap him on the head. She laughed softly and turned to face him.
"Stop leaning into your strikes, your gonna get killed with your noggin so easily exposed." She striked and jabbed while barely moving from her position. "Your power must come from your neck and speed. Your feet move in unison like a dance.
"Shining steadied his stance and charged again, bracing a few feet in front of her he jabbed while moving his hooves along. She flicked his blow aside and darted away.
"Good good, let your attacks be stable, strike and pull back." She readied her stance. "Now again."
Shining darted forward jabbing and slashing his weapon but she had disappeared. His shadow became disfigured and he looked up only to see her get larger and larger. The last thing he saw was a small smile on her face as the wooden sword slammed into his temple.
"Oww." Shining rubbed the spot where she had hit him and rolled out of attacking range.
"I didn't say I would do the same thing over and over again." She grinned impishly as she picked up her wooden sword once more. "Again?"
Shining and Silverheart had stayed on the watch for weeks now and sparring was a usual thing. But one thing stayed the same, and that was Shining always getting beaten senseless.
Their merry sparring had gone on for an hour before it was time to report back to base. Shining was well tired out but his partner was far from it.
"Well then, never met a stallion who could survive past week one." She grinned and tossed him a bottle, she sat down beside him and pulled out a basket. They sat together as the remaining guard got back from the city patrol and trudged up the tall hill to their barracks.
"Ahh...There are times that you want to keep this job forever." She lay down on the grass and relaxed. Shining had already started eating.
"So why did you join up with the army anyway?"
She looked up from her position and answered. "Simple, my family was in danger and they needed more soldiers, I learn't my fighting from killing wolves who would attack my farm, During the great bread rebellion my entire village was razed and all that were left of it was just me and my brother."
She sat upright deep in thought. "It's actually quite ironic. We moved into the countryside to avoid the fighting and then we get sucked into it." She stirred the grass with her hoof and stared deeply into it, Shining stopped eating and concentrated on her tale.
"So when my brother joins the army I wait for him to return, many years later I find out he is missing so I join to search for him, at first they won't take me." She paused to smile. "But then I beat up half of their squad and they say yes."
Shining thought for a moment before speaking. "So how did you end up here?"
"Oh that story is simple, I searched for my brother for many years and ended up wandering through posts, after many years people forgot about me, I ended up staying here in Baltimare as a post guard." Her voice had gotten softer and less steady. "I always told myself that my brother was out there somewhere, but I never grew up enough to look." She mumbled bitterly allowing a few of her tears to escape.
Shining could start to see the brave mare that had slammed him repeatedly into the asphalt break into nothing more than a small filly. Silver felt his hoof gently rested on her shoulder for comfort. They sat there for a few minutes until she had stopped crying.
"Now we might be late going back to base." She dried her tears and quickly walked back to base. "Now Shining I expect to see you up and early tomorrow alright?" She quickly strutted away as Shining picked up the bags and rushed after her. "If I have to wake you up again I will promise you won't survive."
A single figure hummed lightly to himself as he levitated all sorts of materials onto a dark wood desk, placing them in large petri dish, he focused his magic and a single spell lit up the room, after a blinding flash the mysterious stallion levitated his creation, it was a small ball, nothing more, a simple perfectly annular object with a line going through it's belly, giggling to himself softly he tossed it over his head and carried on his work, a few seconds later a thunderous explosion could be heard, smiling to himself almost maniacally he trotted to two large budging sacks, opening one of them his smile grew in the upcoming chaos he was about to release. "I think it's time Baltimare got some fireworks.
Silverheart briskly walked her way to Shining Armor's quarters, once again he had been late and as their usual traditions go she had to wake him, briskly trotting through the campus and flipping the doors open with her magic, the empty courtyard was filled with the sound of her hoof steps, the entire place was empty save for her and Shining, checking the large clock tower she hurried her steps to faster reach his room.
Tiding herself, she cleared her throat and opened the door. "Shining Armour ge-"
A hoof lunged out and prodded her in the nose disrupting her sentence as Shining grinned sleepily at his senior, "yes ma am." He gave a sluggish salute and smiled. Silverheart returned the favor and tossed him his clipboard. Instinctively he caught it and trotted up beside her. The morning air was crisp, the cool dawn breeze was coming in but it was no time for Shining to enjoy, he quickly caught up to Silverheart to await his daily orders.
"Alright Shining, we have a lot of ground to cover." Commanded Silverheart as she went over her clipboard twice for extra measure. "Unfortunately two guards have left to go help with the fire last night." She stopped walking and frowned. Flicking through her clipboard her irritation only increased. "Where did I leave that blasted thing?" She mumbled as Shining rolled his eyes and pushed her forward.
Almost as bad as Twiley
"Geez it can't be that important, anyway I already know the whole barracks from the front to the back." He patted her on the shoulder to calm her down, "relax."
Silverheart rolled her eyes and sighed, as usual it was Shining giving her orders and not the other way around. "Alright Shining, but if you miss out one area, and I mean. Just one." She pulled one of her death stares inches from his face. Shining could feel the power radiating off her piercing gaze he could feel the sweat force itself out of their pores.
"You get toilet duty." She smiled at her black humor and carried on her path out the door giggling silently at her rather sadistic joke.
Shining stared blankly after the mare at her innocent yet seemingly vicious wordsAfter all these months, I still can't get when she is joking and when she isn't. Shining picked up his clipboard and proceeded to the left wing lest he get into more trouble.
It had been many months since Shining had been posted as barracks guard, after his first month he had already gotten over the long and painful wait and learnt to enjoy it, although the day before had been a slightly depressing 'leg stretching' exercise, Silverheart had bounced back like an Indian rubber ball and was ready to go back on duty, Shining went through the clipboard quickly but carefully as he checked off each outpost.
In the distance the fire could be seen, it had started in the night, during the usual celebrations an apparent explosion had set off a chain of reactions that lit the closely joined houses together, with the drains blocked from the confetti and trash from the fiesta the fire went rampant for hours until passing Pegasi arrived with a rain cloud, luckily the fire had died down but not before destroying a few dozen homes and an entire section of the east to the south side of Baltimare, many had taken to looting and a small riot took place through the night. Shining was both happy yet sad to not be in the rush of the action, 20 privates had taken to the front leaving behind only Shining and a few soldiers to guard the fort and rest, now that the damage control had finished up rounding the offenders, it was time to fix up the homes and for everyone to get a cup of coffee.
Shining went to his high watch post waiting for his shift to be over and to start his next day of pain and sparring.
The day had been nice and peaceful, a few guards had come back from the city to rest their injuries from pushing back mobs as well as being burned from saving the injured. They sat around resting and playing cards while Shining stood firm at his post, the smoke was gone, all that was left were a few shallow clouds that hung around like a grimy fog over the charred city. Shining relaxed his shoulders slightly and calmed his mind.
"Emergency, emergency!" came the shriek through the fort, immediately Shining rushed from his post to the gate wall, down the wall he could make out a single guard, his armour was ripped and torn through, even the hardened steel had deep gashes which were only stained with it's wearers blood.
"Let me in!" Screamed the guard. "I need help." Shining reeled up the gate and allowed the single soldier to rush through, at this point the guard was in a state of panic. Shining galloped down the stairs to meet the injured newcomer.
"There has been another explosion, something set off another chain of fire, we need more people to the front, the commanding officer is injured." He rushed around grabbing at their collars for support but they only looked on in a grim silence. The remaining soldiers were reluctant to go, disobeying orders could mean severe punishment, with the commanding officer down in the front and no higher ups to give out commands, it was a gamble as to whether to go or not. They murmured among themselves as Shining brought the now passed out guard to rest. The guard had been out the whole night, to fight off looters and bandits while calming a fire was no easy task, Shining walked him to the infirmary to rest.
Shining laid the weakened soldier to rest and headed outside to deal with the chaos, the remaining soldiers had started to fight over orders, they were taught to listen, but not to lead, Shining allowed his thoughts to settle to think of an answer as the guard started a heated argument.
"There is no bloody way the commander can go down, that mysterious specialist is with him ain't he?"
"That is no excuse, if the one of our men say the commander is down then we must go and help."
"Are you mad? You're gonna get us all sent home or worse! We were told to guard the fort, nothing more."
"Guard the fort? If you want to be su-"
"SHUT IT!" The group stopped their bickering to face Shining who at this point had found his answer.
"Listen, all of you. I will go, you stay here and protect the fort, I understand that not all of you know the structure of this place well but we shouldn't be under any attack." Shining saluted his dumbfounded comrades.
"Are you mad?"
"He's gonna nail you for this one Shining."
"Come on Shining don't get kicked out."
Shining Armour raised his hoof to silence them and turned to walk out. "Guys, it's alright, anyway I believe our friend, and I promise I will come back."
He turned to leave when he felt a hoof on his shoulder.
"I'm going with you." Shining turned to refuse the request only to meet eyes with Silverheart.
"Are you sure you can take care of yourself?" He retorted sarcastically
"Please, you try to keep up." With that she dashed out the gates with Shining following in right behind.
They galloped quickly to the city, Shining quickly galloped to match his galloping speed with Silverheart, she was faster and much more agile than he was, but that wasn't going to stop him, he ran as fast as he could to aid the commander, but something gnawed at the back of his mind.
What am I missing? He wondered silently as the outskirts of the main buildings started to grow bigger.
The duo approached the center of the city, already all of the fire had been extinguished and all were left was the empty frames of houses, he took a right and headed for the main post in the city, he listened closely for sounds of trouble. And then it hit him. There is no fire, no smoke, in fact all that I can hear are screams. Shining darted faster than ever to the east branch, his breath was wavering but his mind stayed on the goal, immediately he could see other soldiers darting around shouting commands and directing injured civilians to safer quarters, the commander was in the middle of it all. But unlike the strained report he was not in danger nor was he dying, in fact the word furious would better describe his current mood as he saw Shining rush towards him at full speed.
"Sir?" Shining braked with his feet managing to stop inches away from his senior officer who was not looking very pleased to see his house arrested private in the city. "What are you doing private? How dare you disobey a direct order?"
Shining scratched his head in confusion. "But sir, we received information that you were injur-" His words were cut short by more screams.
"Look private, if you do not go back to the fort, I will have you court-martialed and sent home!" Shrieked the officer in frustration. At that point Shining had already gone back, he had realized what had been worried about.
Stupid, stupid! Why did I not see that earlier Shining ran through his survey of the injured guard.
How can anything pierce his armour, He was fighting a fire and the local pirates, not heavily armed soldiers, furthermore he lied about the fire as well as the commander being injured to draw all the guards out of the fort, but why?
With his new knowledge and questions plaguing his mind, he galloped until his hooves were sore, back to the endangered fort.
"Hey, what are we supposed to be doing?" Said one guard to the other, they sat around the courtyard contemplating their next move, Shining had left with that strange mare which meant they were without orders. "I don't know." Came the lethargic reply.
"Weren't we supposed to guard this place or something?"
"Yea but like Shining said, no one would dare attack us." Seconds after the words left his mouth, a large explosion ripped through the hard wood wall of the fort gate causing the entire structure to shudder and shake.
"What the hell was that!?" Immediately another explosion could be heard. The remaining guards formed a circle around the newly formed hole.
"Surrender or be killed." Shouted the unicorn guard through the raging fire, He charged his horn and waited for a sign of surrender.
From the shadows, a single pony emerged, he was cloaked with a pitch black hood that hung low over his entire face only allowing for a single smirk to be seen.
"Strange, I was told that the fort would be empty." Muttered the enigmatic newcomer ignoring his opponents as he stepped over the rubble.
"Listen to me." Shouted the guard angrily at the new threat "If you take another step further we will take you down." He threatened but his enemy seemed less than willing to comply.
The hooded unicorn stared in annoyance at the guard, this small weak creature was commanding him to surrender. He stared through his hood into the eyes of his target. "Silence scum."
Before the Unicorn guard could summon a spell he screamed screamed in agony and shattered into a million pieces, the remaining guard stared dumbfounded, their comrade had simply vanished into dust in front of their eyes, quickly the five took up basic formations, the Pegasi swooped into the air and the Earth ponies took the defense charge while the unicorn stood at the back firing spells, Immediately another Earth pony had been disintegrated, the hooded assassin was agile and swift, quickly dodging a wild sword swing he rolled past the swooping Pegasi and let off another shot this time eradicating the Pegasi from existence.
"Three down, three to go." Teased the vicious killer lightly. The two remaining Earth pony guards charged while the Unicorn formed a defensive shield around them, something that Shining had taught him.
"You won't get past the shield you freak, it's anti magic so do-" His sentence was cut short by the sound of the shield bubble shattering. Another guard screamed in agony and vanished, only his armour left on the ground.
"You guards have such nice equipment, I really would hate to have them destroyed. He ducked under the last Earth pony and raised him to the sky with his two front hooves, smiling wickedly his pressed his horn into the head of his victim and like the victim's fellow guards before him, he vanished into dust. The last Unicorn fell onto his bottom, he quaked as the invincible pony with untold and unnatural power loomed closer and closer.
"What are you?" Whispered the guard in fear as the God like unicorn stared into his wide trembling pupils as they darted around looking for some sort of impossible rescue that would never come.
The Unicorn simply smiled and paused before turning his mood into a dark one. "I'm the disassembler" He announced dramatically before smiling, the screams of the guard echoed through the fort followed swiftly with the sound of an empty armour husk clanking on the floor.
The cloaked Unicorn laughed, it was so very easy to kill off six guards without even batting an eye lid. He giggled maniacally and walked out the way he came meticulously dusting off the remains of his recently vanquished foes off his shoulder and took a look around.
"Sir!" Came a voice from the infirmary. The turncoat hopped out and rushed to his master's side. "I have done as you wished, please give me my reward."
"Yes I will reward a good little traitor with what he deserves." He smiled fondly at his ally before he turned him into dust.
Now we just need Silverheart to deliver my hostage and all is ready. He grinned, walking away from the fort slowly as it burned away in the background.
Shining charged up the hill to the fort, from a distance he could already see it burn, cursing his carelessness he stumbled up the carved hill to get inside, immediately he saw the empty suits of armour lying on the floor. Carefully hopping over the large stones and rubble that once protected the fort, Shining hopped through the large hole and into the fort.
"Guys?" He shouted through the fire, nobody answered, quickly darting into the infirmary he found the traitor to be gone, he rushed outside to search for any survivors, suddenly a flash could be seen a single orb rolled towards Shining Armour's feet before it exploded.
Shining quickly took cover before noticing a shadow in the mouth of where he had entered just minutes before.
I know that orb He stood from his hiding spot and formed a force field around himself but it was immediately disabled with another attack. The specialist slammed the butt of his sword into Shining throwing the blue maned guard to the floor and pointed the end of it to his chest.
"The criminal, coming back to the scene of the crime." The specialist stared fiercely at the misunderstood soldier as he raised his sword and brought it down, Shining braced for the attack only to be saved by a flying blur as the Specialist dodged out of the way and rolled back to assure his defense.
Shining turned to his savior. Silverheart stood angrily wielding a strange elongated weapon, it was the first time Shining had seen it, a long staff with one side equipped with an axe head, while the other a spear tip. She swung it quickly with her teeth expertly in an eight figure movement and darted forward.
The specialist darted forward as a reply and they fought, Shining got to his feet to witness the spectacle, he had known that Silverheart was a good fighter, but he didn't expect her to match up against a higher ranking officer. She feigned an attack and soared into the air, caught unaware the specialist swung his head wildly to find her, his shadow became disfigured and she slammed down into his back with the spear tip embedded through his cloak.
Her signature move
"Wait what are you doing?" Shining rushed forward to his comrades side. "We don't want to kill him, it was all a misunderst-" Silverheart slammed her fist into Shining Armour's face and he passed out before he hit the ground, she wiped off the grime from her face and prepared to leave with him.
Alright, time to go.
Turning around she heard a clink behind her, looking to her feet a single light blue orb rolled under her. "Boom boom" she grunted in annoyance as a bright flash enveloped her.
Rolling to the left she grunted in pain as she picked herself up, lucky for her she had enough strength to roll to the side, the orb burst into a thick cloud and the specialist dusted off his cloak.
"That attack should have killed you, I hit between the gaps of your armour with my spear." Silverheart braced her hooves for another attack, But the specialist simply tore off his cloak revealing a full suit of armor.
"You see dear, I'm not a normal pony, you can't expect to tear through the armor of a knight using that feeble weapon." The knight smirked as he pulled out two more orbs from his thick shiny armor.
Silverheart studied her new attacker. His sword was a large broadsword but she had not noticed that before, A Knight was a person of high power, very few exist in the military and often they were sent of solo missions for the good of Equestria, but for one to show up here as well as wield more than just simple weaponry meant there was something dangerous afoot.
"To think they would send a knight to solve their problems mean that we are causing enough trouble for Celestia huh?" said Silverheart coldly, she could not break her nerve, her fight with him would be futile, as good as she was, the remaining army would be there soon and she was not ready to take on 20 albeit tired but battle ready guards, smiling to herself she fished into her backpack and drew out four small stone shaped balls.
The Knight braced his blade and waited for her to strike.
"Sorry sir, I don't have anymore time to play games," She threw them into the air and blew them behind her attacker with her wings and smiled."And I think even you would find it hard to get past two tons of rubble." The knight smiled as the balls exploded behind him.
"You can't expect such tiny explosives to bring down an entire castl-" The building behind him came crashing down on his words. He was right, those explosives could not bring down the building, but she had known the entire area from the inside out, every crook and weak point was imprinted deeply in her mind. The knight fruitlessly dodged and slashed away at the falling debris before he was enveloped in a deep cloud of dust. Silverheart smiled at her handiwork and dragged the unconscious Shining Armour out of the burning fortress.
Shining Armour and a group of other soldiers have been posted to Baltimare for their first mission, after a clash with bandits Shining is demoted down to Barracks duty where he meets a new friend Silverheart, after months of getting to know each other a fire in the city causes most of the guards to help put it out, Shining and Silverheart head to the fire after false information is given that the commanding officer is injured only for a mysterious stallion to enter the fort and destroy the remaining soldiers as well as take search for something of value, when Shining returns he gets attacked by a knight but gets saved at the last second my Silverheart only for her to knock him out and bury the knight under rubble.
"Wake up private!"
Shining Armour bolted straight up at the familiar command, He turned his head around and he gave an instinctive salute along with mumbled lines of apology.
"Sorry ma am" Shining opened his eyes to realize his current bedding was not his usual bedding. Feeling the intense throbbing pain in his temple he rubbed it vigorously trying to make sense of his current predicament.
"Hello Shining Armour, seriously I didn't expect that sort of reaction." giggled the shadowed pony in the darkest corner of the room. Shining looked around to examine his new confined location, a single hardwood door leading into the room and a small window on the roof, the only thing separating Shining from the newcomer was a black iron gate comically placed in the middle of the large room from the cage on his right to the cage to his left. In the prison cell on his left and right, he could see no other prisoner in the dim room.
"Who are you and why am I here?" Asked Shining as he threw the dirty makeshift blanket off his body, his armor was expectedly missing as well as his sword.
"Well to answer the first question, I am not your ma'am and is in fact a stallion." Said the darkened figure as he rose to give Shining a better look. "And you are here as part of a social experiment."
Shining got on his feet only to be worn down by thick chains that hung around his neck like a noose. "And what kind of experiment would that be?"
The dimmed figure stood inches away from the bars to look Shining in the eye. Shining quickly took note of his features before his thoughts were interrupted by the answer to his question. "Simple" said his captor lightly "the experiment is to see if Celestia will be willing to sacrifice her reputation for a city."
Shining mulled over those words trying to make sense of the situation. "If your beef is with Princess Celestia, then why capture me?"
The pony's smile grew larger at the question and answered. "Yes, I was hoping you would ask, well let's just say you are an incentive for Celestia to do as I say."
He paused to allow Shining to take this new information in. "Oh! And of course, she doesn't know that I plan on destroying the city anyway, so you don't play a very big role in the overall plan for..." The strange pony paused to find the right words "rehabilitating the city." The pony smiled and tilted his head before backing away into the darkness.
"But for now, you are my prisoner and I am the only person with the key, so ta ta" He waved to Shining as he exited the room.
"Wait, I'm not done talking yet."
Shining darted forward attempting to stop the only person with information only for the chains to rein him back, Shining gritted his teeth before starting to wrestle with the chains desperately to free himself. Cursing at his weakness he forced what energy he could to summon magic before a small ring around his horn sent shocks of pain riveting through his body.
Collapsing to the floor Shining gasped for air while his captor simple looked on in curiosity.
"You have some spark in you I can see." Said the enigmatic captor as he turned to leave Shining to himself, "Something I would like to change during your time here."
With that, the deranged pony slammed the door shut and allowed the echos to mask the shouts of a unicorn soldier trying with all his strength to break free...
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Shining awoke the next chill of the wind blew through his small window, it was dark but he didn't care, after testing the strength of the chains that held out against his thrashes and tugs for well over an hour, his body had given in to the strain and he passed out, the sun had almost vanished over the horizon and Shining knew a long night was ahead.
Alright focus Shining Shining Armour calmed his breath and sat down onto the floor to think. The military training back home had trained him for capture, torture as well as self suicide if it was ever needed, he brushed suicide away and focused on capture.
"A brown chestnut colour with a strange yellow mane, his legs look as strong as a soldier but his mane isn't well kept and neither is his coat, has no scars except blisters and chips around his hooves and he eats cherries from the smell of his breath." Shining thought to himself. He could start to feel the night breeze settle in but chose to ignore it.
"Nothing is useful" Shining swept that aside and moved onto other facts.
"He hasn't revealed where I am, but he did reveal a little of his plan." Shining put his hooves to his temple to try and recall what the pony had said.
"If Celestia will be willing to sacrifice her reputation for a city" Shining replayed the words over and over in his head, unable to find any link whatsoever Shining felt frustration and desperation build up in his heart.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Quickly turning around to meet his visitor he immediately felt a tinge of disgust in his mouth.
He stared at the newcomer with thoughts of anger and hatred filling his head in his head, his leaf green coat visitor without a word, left a tray of food before turning to leave.
"So how much of your life story was real Silverheart?" The silhouette stopped in the doorway. "Or was all of it just to get me to feel sorry for you?"
She paused for a second before Shining could see the door closing, causing the room to be plagued with darkness once more.
Quickly fishing for the tray he ate whatever was edible and refocused his goal.
I will not give up. he chanted in his head
I will not die in this hell hole
I promised someone that much
Shining felt for the first time, felt sadness and despair welling in his heart as he stared out into the night sky hoping his comrades were in better shape.
"Put your bloody backs into it." Screamed the commanding officer at his well wearied privates as they dragged rubble after rubble away from the destroyed fort. The commanding officer ran his hoof through his hair in frustration, it was not a good day, after a confusing day fighting the large fire in Baltimare they came back to the fort only to find nine soldiers missing in action and the entire thing brought to the ground, he shook his head in annoyance as he briskly trotted down to the digging site.
"Move out of the way." He barked as he pushed past his soldiers and towards the large pile of unmovable rock.
"I'm getting too old for this." he muttered as he focused his magic onto the pile, feeling the strain of lifting so much weight in his mind, beads of sweat began to roll down his head as lifted half of it into the air before allowing tonnes of rock and rubble to tumble loudly down the hill as all of the soldiers for the first time felt proud to have him as their leader. Feeling light headed he felt his soldiers catch him before he collapsed to the ground.
"I'm alright, I'm alright dammit, just get back to digging." He brushed off the help and went back to a tent to retire.
"Sir!" Came the call not ten minutes after he reached the new temporary campsite. He stuck his head out only to bump directly into a private that looked like he badly needed to go to the toilet. "We found something sir, or rather someone."
Immediately the officer rushed back to the fort as fast as his hooves could carry him.
From a distance he could make out a large crowd around the medic tent, forcing his way through he shoved his men out of the way until he was face to face with the only survivor of the accident.
"Ah officer, it's good to see you." Came the immediate sarcastic reply as the knight unhinged his armour plate and called for a cup of water. The officer a thousand thoughts went through the mind of the commanding officer as he tried to make sense of the situation. "Who the hell are you?"
The Knight rolled his eyes before pulling out a single blue ball, a wave of ohs went around the crowd before the officer pushed them back to work. "Alright alright nothing to see here, get back to finding those missing soldiers."
"You won't find them officer." The knight stretched his back before taking off his greaves.
"Why would that be?" Questioned the officer, the Knight massaged his hind legs before speaking. "Because we are dealing with a unicorn that turned all six of them into dust."
"Dust?"
"Dust."
The officer pondered the new information as the Knight rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Look sir" he started with condescending look on his face " he vaporized six soldiers without breaking a sweat, then your friend Shining Armour turns up with his assistant to blow the fort sky high and bury me under it."
The officer rubbed his chin in confusion. "Assistant?"
"The mare."
"who?"
"The light green one with the dark green mane and a grey stripe through it, that was leftover from the previous squad! That one."
The officer scratched his head in confusion. "And you say Shining as well?"
The knight took a deep breath in to control what ounce of patience he had left, he knew that working with officers were tiresome but he had bigger problems to solve, "yes, the white one with the blue mane, the idiot who went bandit raiding, yes Shining Armour, now are we going to play twenty questions or try and find where those two traitors went?"
Immediately the officer clamped his lips out of fear he might say something stupid.
"Now I need you to find those two, I called for more guards to join in, they won't be anywhere in the city so try the surrounding areas, I will personally write to Princess Celestia to warn her that her suspicions were right." The Knight stood up and began to walk out of the tent.
"P...Princess Celestia? More guards?" Stumbled the officer as he hurriedly rushed out of the tent after the unequipped knight. "This is a little extreme for two soldiers is it not? Why no-"
His words were cut off by a fierce gaze that seemed to burn into his retinas. "Why exactly officer, do you think I am doing here?"
Before the pale faced officer could reply to the rhetorical question an even fiercer stare cut him off.
"I am here not to babysit twenty-seven rookie soldiers to do their job, I was sent here on notice that a threat against Equestria was made and thus I need to know that I have someone to count on that isn't completely incompetent, now either you help me or I add an extra word into the next post assignment you get."
The officer saluted weakly before turning back to his troops. "B..but sir, how many soldiers do we need to find two turncoats?"
"You know I hear that the Badlands isn't as bad as they say, after the getting over the smell yo-." Before he could carry on the officer had already vanished.
"I thought so." The knight carried on his path towards the city deep in thought.
Oh Princess, what did you get yourself into now?
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A few hours later into the night
Shining awoke when the final chill of the night rose up his spine, immediately the discomfort of sleeping in the harsh cold night consumed his fatigue causing him to rise instantly to his feet, rubbing his temple in frustration, Shining peered out into the window in an attempt to gather the time.
In the distance he could see Celestia's moon in the sky with the sun nowhere in sight, the moons pseudo heat from the glow it gave off did little to warm Shining, grumbling in annoyance at his current predicament a cold chill quickly turned his thoughts to more pressing matters, pressing matters like the two glowing yellow orbs in the cage beside him and why they seemed to be blinking.
"Hello? Shining called into the darkness, the orbs simply stared on quietly it's stare unwavering as Shining felt it's gaze trail all over his body, immediately the cold air seemed like a summer breeze to the icy stare that seem to penetrate his very soul.
"Hello?" Shining called again hoping for an answer, after what felt like an eternity, the eyes turned its gaze to the window and carried on it's ghostly silence.
Not talkative I guessShining thought to himself as he burrowed in the warmest part of the cell and drifted off into an uneasy slumber.
-----------------
"Hello!"
Instantly Shining Armour leaped from his stupor on instinct, realizing once again he had been duped Shining immediately turned his back from his captor and threw off his makeshift blanket.
"Aww does the trapped soldier not want to talk?" mocked his captor as Shining busied himself with tidying his cell.
"Really, the only thing that you worry about is making your bed." The pony rolled his eyes as Shining ignored him and turned his back to the prison bars, looking out the window he heard the scraping of chair legs on concrete and the pony sitting down heavily watching him from behind.
"Why so distant?" Questioned Shining Armour's captor. "It's not like you have anything better to do right?" Shining heard him shuffle closer to the bars. "I mean really, I get bored from doing near to nothing and you got nothing to lose."
Shining spun around and relaxed his shoulders, realizing that this pony wasn't going to leave him alone he figured he might as well gather information.
Time to get something useful.
"Why would I want to talk to you anyway?" Shining started to formulate a plan in his head. "After all, I don't even know your name."
The pony brooded over the new counter proposal, deciding nothing could go wrong he smiled back at Shining.
"Well then, my name is Madblood the Enchanter!" Dramatized 'Madblood' as he waved his hooves into the air.
Shining rolled his eyes at the theatrics. "Yeah and I am Captain of the Royal Guard."
'Madblood pouted at the doubt Shining Armour was having over his name but quickly bounced back to his cheerful self. "Well I gave myself that name when i decided Equestria needed a hero, I can't go around with a name li-" He clasped his hooves over his mouth before realizing what he was about to say. raising an eyebrow he sat back down on his backward chair position and stared intrigued at Shining.
"Nice try Shining, but really even of you did learn of my name then, what would you do with it?" Shining quickly flashed ideas through his head to keep dominance of the situation.
Remember, to win a captor you need him to, sympathize with you or make him believe that he has the power of control, manipulate his wants and desires to get what you want.
"Shining? What you thinking about?" 'Madblood' said distracting Shining Armour from his thoughts.
"Oh just thinking of a game." Shining paused for a second to allow 'Madblood' to think.
"And what game would that be?"
"Oh how about twenty questions?" Shining asked, secretly hoping his luck will be with him. "But you know, whatever, play don't play, I preferred it if you left me alone." He lay back onto the floor hoping that 'Madblood' would take the bait.
'Madblood' once more consulted his inner being for an answer. He wants to play a game?
"Well what can we play for?"
"Alright alright, how about I try to guess your name with twenty questions." Shining smiled on the inside, 'Madblood was deep in thought trying to make sense of the situation, after a few seconds of sitting in silence, Madblood peered up with a smile on his face.
"But what do I need to guess from you?" 'Madblood' said as he sat back comfortably on his chair.
A flurry of thoughts ran through his head, Shinining had hoped he would accept and not give a counter-proposal, losing his momentum of control he quickly going through ideas that would be hard to guess in his mind.
"I mean somepony close to me." He said staring at 'Madblood' to see if he accepted.
"So a marefriend back at home?"
"Well that's for you to find out"
'Madblood' went back into his thinking state once more.
"So you accept or what? Because I am getting tired of waiting." Shining once more went back onto the floor and shut his eyes.
"Fine"
Shining opened one eye "So 'fine' that we aren't playing or 'fine' that we are?"
"Yes yes we are playing, and it's not like you're going anywhere anyway." Sitting down 'Madblood' peered at Shining through the bars.
"So I guess somepony close to you and you guess my real name." 'Madblood' said to Shining who merely nodded.
"And the winner?"
"You get information."
"Information?"
Shining realized things were going his way, smiling at how curious his warden was he answered. "I know every battle technique and strategy there is to know about the army, you win and I tell you, I win and I go free."
"Done" came the immediate reply. quickly bumping hooves they sat down once more.
"So shall we begin?" 'Madblood' questioned.
"Yes" Shining paused for a second. "And that is question one."
'Madblood' smiled devilishly at his new opponent. "So that's how you want to play it" his smile grew twice as large. "so be it then"
'
Hey guys, so it has been forever, I plan to write a new story with better writing and such but I felt like I should finish this one up, my next story will probably not feature Shining but instead will have someone more awesome...So yeah
