A Princess In Trouble...?
Shining Armor patrolled the halls of Canterlot Castle, yawning a little as he walked. Patrol was one of his least favorite duties as a guard. It was a lot of walking and not a whole lot of action. Usually the most exciting thing that happened during patrol was that a guest of the Princesses would somehow get lost and would need directions to the throne room.
Shining stopped and looked out the window. The summer sun seemed to mock him in the fact that he was stuck inside on such a nice day.
Oh well, thought Shining, At least I get to walk around. I could be stuck on guard duty and have to stare at a wall all day.
“Captain Armor!” yelled a voice.
Speak of the devil… thought Shining as he turned around. Another guard was running towards him. The guard had a panicked look on his face and did not bother to salute Shining when he skidded to a halt. “Silver Shield,” began Shining, “you’re supposed to be stationed outside Princess Celestia’s chambers. Why have you left your post?”
“Sir, you’ve got to come quick!” said the guard. “I think the Princess is in trouble!”
“Lead the way.” ordered Shining Armor. The two guards raced down hallways, their armor clanking as they dashed to Princess Celestia’s bedroom. They eventually stopped in front of a large set of doors. Another guard was anxiously staring at the door, a worried look on her face.
“Blue Blade!” said Shining Armor. The guard jumped a little and spun around to salute Shining. “What’s going on?” asked Shining.
“Just listen sir!” said Blue Blade. “We think someone is attacking the Princess!”
“We were standing outside the door like we were supposed to.” explained Silver Shield quickly. He looked towards the door nervously. “After a while, we started to hear two ponies arguing and yelling. We recognized one voice as the Princess so we got worried and we heard threats and that’s when Blue told me to go get you and I ran and-”
“Quiet!” ordered Shining. He stepped closer to the door and listened to the voices coming from within.
“…never be able to beat me, Celestia!” said a triumphant voice. “You should accept defeat with dignity!”
“You haven’t won yet.” came Princess Celestia’s voice.
“You’re going to keep fighting? How pointless. I’ve been able to counter every pathetic move you’ve thrown at me.”
“I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve.” assured a confident Celestia. “You’ll never be able to win, Nightmare Moon.”
A loud gasp drowned out Nightmare’s retort. Shining spun around and looked at a horrified Silver Shield.
“Nightmare Moon?!” he squeaked out. “B-but she was destroyed by the Elements of Harmony! How is she still alive?”
“I don’t know.” answered Shining. “But that’s not important right now. We need to help the Princess.”
“Sir.” said Blue Blade. “We don’t stand a chance against Nightmare Moon.”
“You’re right.” agreed Shining. “We can’t fight her by ourselves. We need back-up.” He looked towards Silver. “Silver, I need you to calm down and do what I tell you. Understood?”
Silver, shaking slightly, nodded his head. “U-understood…”
“There should be a group of guards in the training grounds outside the barracks.” explained Shining. “I need you to go to them and inform them of the situation. Once you do that, lead them back here. Got it?”
“G-got it, sir!” said Silver.
“…Silver.”
“Yes sir?”
“Why are you not moving?”
“I appear to be frozen in fear, sir.”
“I can help with that!” said Blue Blade. She walked over and smacked Silver in the face with her hoof. “Better?”
Silver winced and rubbed his face. “You didn’t have to hit so hard, Blue.”
Blue rolled her eyes, “At least you can move now. And I didn’t hit you that hard, you big baby.”
“Yes you did!” argued Silver. “It stings really bad! You didn’t have to-”
“Private Shield.” growled Shining, glaring at the other guard. “Training grounds. Now.”
Silver gulped and saluted his captain. He turned and ran down the hall, stumbling a little as he went.
Shining sighed and turned back to the door. He closed his eyes and listened to the voices.
“…You call that a move?” said Princess Celestia smugly. “I expected you to be good at this, Nightmare. I didn’t realize you were so mediocre.”
Shining smirked as he heard Nightmare Moon growl. At least it seemed like the Princess was putting up a good fight. Maybe she didn’t need any help after all.
Shining’s grin vanished as he heard Nightmare Moon say, “That ‘mediocre’ move was enough to defeat your sister.” Nightmare Moon let out a sadistic chuckle. “What’s wrong, Celestia? Did I strike a nerve there?”
Shining turned back to Blue with a frown on his face. “It seems that Princess Luna has fallen in battle. And it seems like Nightmare Moon is using that to get under Princess Celestia’s skin.”
Blue let out a low whistle. “Damn. If Nightmare Moon can defeat Princess Luna, then what hope do we have?”
Shining smiled grimly at his subordinate. “Don’t worry. All we have to do is distract her long enough that Princess Celestia can come up with a way to beat her.”
Blue laughed mirthlessly. “Right. All we have to do is distract an immortal monster with more magic than all of Canterlot put together. No problem.”
“Captain Armor!” came a voice. The two ponies looked to see Silver Shield leading a group of seven guards towards them.
“What’s the situation Captain?” asked one of the guards.
“It appears as though Nightmare Moon has returned.” answered Shining. Seeing the horrified looks on the guards’ faces, Shining addressed them all. “Princess Celestia is currently fighting Nightmare Moon right now. Princess Luna has apparently fallen in combat, so Celestia needs all the help she can get. Our job is to get in there and distract Nightmare Moon so the Princess can find a way to defeat her.”
The guards looked at each other nervously and began to whisper to themselves.
Seeing this, Shining continued. “We are the Princess’s Royal Guard! It is our duty to aid the Princess! If we don’t help stop Nightmare Moon, there will be nothing to keep her from destroying Equestria. Think of your family and friends! They are relying on us to protect them from all threats. Keep them in mind and answer me this: Are you with me?”
“Yes sir!” said the guards in unison.
“Good.” said Shining. He turned back to the door. “Now wait for me to move and then follow. We need to wait for Nightmare Moon to be distracted so we can take her by surprise.”
Within the room, Nightmare Moon laughed. “You know something Celestia? Once I defeat you, I should pay a visit to your student, Twilight. I would love to have a rematch with her.”
Shining’s eyes widened. His little sister was in danger. He couldn’t wait for Nightmare Moon to be distracted; he had to do something now!
“CHARGE!” he yelled as he threw open the door. He ran inside, quickly followed by a stampede of guards.
“Nightmare Moon!” yelled Shining. “Get away from the…Princess?” He stopped and stared at the scene before him.
Both Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia were sitting on the floor in the middle of the room. A large TV was in front of them with a gaming console hooked up to it. Both the Princess and Nightmare Moon had controllers in their hands.
Princess Celestia blinked, looked at the TV, and quickly pressed buttons on her controller.
“PLAYER 1 WINS!” yelled the announcer from the game. “FATALITY!”
“WHAT!?” yelled Nightmare Moon. She glared at Celestia and shouted, “THAT’S CHEATING!”
“There are no rules in kombat.” answered Celestia, getting up. She looked at Shining and the rest of the guards in confusion. “What are you all doing?”
“…With all due respect, your highness, what are you doing?” asked Shining. “Why…how…is Nightmare Moon here?”
“I am here as a guest.” huffed Nightmare Moon. “Whereas you barged in unannounced and caused me to lose.”
“I’ll handle this, Nightmare.” said Celestia in a pacifying sort of way. She turned to Shining and answered, “When your sister and her friends used the Elements of Harmony on Nightmare Moon, the blast freed Luna from Nightmare’s grasp. It also seemed to have given Nightmare a body of her own and cleansed her body of all of her evil intent.”
“Stupid ponies interrupting my stupid game with this stupid princess…” mumbled Nightmare Moon in a rage.
“Well…” said Princess Celestia. “Most of her evil intent. She no longer wants to plunge the world into eternal darkness at any rate. She appeared in Luna’s chambers one night, begging for forgiveness.”
“And Luna forgave her?” asked Shining. “Just like that?”
“Eventually.” answered the princess. “She did attempt to strangle Nightmare for a good while before she believed her.”
“But what about that move that killed Princess Luna?” asked Blue Blade.
“I’m afraid that was just a teleport move in this game.” answered Celestia, pointing at the TV. “Nightmare spams it like no tomorrow.”
“You’re just mad because it works.” said Nightmare Moon.
“And about her wanting to have a rematch with Twilight?” asked Shining.
“Your sister is undefeated when it comes to this game.” answered Celestia. “She’s very good, although she seems to get a little too into it at times.”
“Frankly, it’s a little disturbing how she laughs when a character’s blood gets splattered everywhere…” said Nightmare.
“So…you’re not in trouble?” asked Silver Shield. “You don’t need us to fight Nightmare Moon?”
“Not at all.” answered Princess Celestia.
“Thank god…” muttered Silver.
Celestia smiled at all of the guards. “I’m lucky that I have such vigilant guards protecting me! Although, next time you can just ask me if I’m okay rather than break down my door.”
The window suddenly glowed blue and opened. Princess Luna flew in, holding several bags of chips and a few cans of soda with her magic. “Sister, I’m back! And I brought the snacks!” She stared at the group of guards. “…Alright.” she said. “What did I miss this time?”
