A Crow in Shining Armor

“Hey… Are you all right...?”

If the stallion formerly known as Shining Armor had a beating heart, it would have skipped several beats when he heard the question. The moment it touched upon his eardrums, he knew something wasn’t right with it. He remained still on the ground for a moment, trying to process what was happening. Another memory, taken form in reality? No, it wasn’t the same, it was real.

Furthermore… he recognized the voice.

That’s what made it stand out so badly and that’s what was so wrong with it; he’d heard it before. During a time long ago, when rain fell on his shoulders and Cadance’s lifeless body still looked up at him. He knew the voice, yet his brain didn’t want to accept it. It didn’t want to accept the fact that the pony that had whispered those last words in his ears… now stood right next to him.

“Buddy, I asked you a question…”

Shining Armor flinched once the voice came back, this time louder. He became angry at the owner of it, whoever it was. This was the pony that had slit the throat of his own prince, and now he had the audacity to walk across the place where it happened. And he had stumbled right onto the very prince that he had taken from this world.

“You should get up from there; you might catch a cold or something.”

Slowly, Shining raised his head out of the water, his quiet movements easily mistaken for caution, when in fact it only served to mask the rage he felt inside him. He wanted to turn around, jump this unknown stallion and rip his heart out of his chest with his own teeth.

“A cold, it says…” Shining whispered, more to himself than the stallion next to him. “Oh, such beautiful irony…”

Slowly, he rose to his hooves, the cloak and hood still sticking to his body like a second skin.

“Did you say something?” The voice of his murderer replied. “Come on, I’ll help you back home, where do you li-“

Shining felt a hoof touch his shoulder. A warm hoof, blood still coursing through its veins. A stallion, very much alive. He instantly shrugged it off of him, slightly turning his head, getting ready to pounce, to tear through skin and smash bones to dust.

“Come on dear, let’s just go…”

A third voice suddenly entered the conversation. As it reached his ears, Shining instantly froze in place. He instinctively held his breath out of fear, ignoring the fact that he didn’t even need to breathe.  Thunder roared over him, almost as if it had waited for this one dramatic turn of events before unleashing its deafening fury.

The voice was impossible to mistake. It was feminine, one he’d both been wanting to hear since he woke up, yet at the same time, he dreaded the thought of it. That meant he would have to meet the owner of it. The owner that he loved. Slowly he turned around, hoping the hood would cover his face.

At first, only the worried face of a stallion met him. He was about the same height as himself, but a little bigger, his body not as sleek around the legs like the prince’s. Orange fur covered his body, and a mane of different shades of blue lay plastered against his face. He’d never seen this stallion before, but he instantly knew how it was. The one that had killed him.

“We shouldn’t just leave him here, Twi.” The stallion said to the owner of the third voice, one that Shining still couldn’t see due to the hood covering his eyes. But he had now uttered the name that made his fears come true.

He looked just a little bit more to the left, but instantly threw his head to the side when a much smaller, violet body came into his view. Just as he’d feared, Twilight was standing right there next to him. He couldn’t let her see his face, not like this, not… next to his killer.

“I’m… I’m fine.” Shining whispered, trying to make his voice sound different than his usual tone.

“Are you sure about that?” He heard the voice of his little sister ask, followed by the sound of hooves against stone. She came closer. “You don’t look too good…”

“I’m fine, really. You should just.. get out of here.” Shining answered. “Get out of the rain.”

Shining made a move to get away, but the orange stallion was quicker. He walked in front of him and stopped him.

“We’re trying to help you here.” He said. “You should consider yourself lucky; the princess doesn’t just stop to help any drunk in the street.”

Suddenly, the stallion made a move towards Shining, trying to get a glimpse under his hood. Shining wasn’t fast enough in backing away from him. Something changed in the other stallion’s face as his eyes fell upon the scarred face of the prince.

“Maybe we should just go, Flash…” Twilight said behind Shining. “He obviously doesn’t want our help, and we shouldn’t force it on him.”

The stallion named Flash blinked slowly, his eyes strangely glazed as he looked at Shining. His face showed several different emotions at once, and he slowly backed away from the prince. His lips quivered, and only one word managed to make its way out between them.

“… You.”

Shining understood it was too late to hide any longer. The stallion before him saw him, saw the dead prince before him, and recognized him. It was too late for a lot of things, and Shining didn’t have any other choice than to turn around and run as fast as he could.

He galloped hard through the streets, tears yet again streaming down his face. He crossed street after street in his attempt to lose any potential pursuer. He skidded around corners, tumbled over in the water but got up again and kept on running. The crow caught up to him and flew just as fast right next to him, following his every twist and turn.

Eventually, Shining took a sharp turn into a dark alleyway, coming to a stop behind a big old trashcan. He wasn’t panting, didn’t need to, but his mind was racing with questions. The stallion that had killed him right in front of everypony had seen him, seen his face. He knew that he was back. And for whatever reason, this killer kept his own sister company. She had called him ‘dear’.

The thunder and lightning drowned out Shining’s screams as he slammed his hooves hard into his face, his mind twisting around itself. A part of him wanted to find this Flash and tear the flesh from his body, wanted to break his limbs and cause him as much pain as possible before his death. An eye for an eye, his mind told him.

On the other hoof, if he was courting Twilight, he couldn’t hurt him. If something happened to him, it would probably devastate Twi, and he didn’t want to cause her any more pain than he already had.

But deep inside, he knew. He knew that he would never find peace unless this Flash pony suffered the way he did. In anger, Shining rammed his face straight into the ground, childishly hoping it would somehow sort his thoughts out and give him a concrete answer as to what he should do. Nothing happened.

He raised himself up and did the same thing again, his neck cracking slightly as he strained it over and over. Then out of nowhere, a bright light filled his vision, similar to what he had seen earlier by the palace. Before him, he could see himself on the ground, holding his wife. It was as if he was watching his own death from the eyes of somepony else, and he saw Flash grab him from behind, place the blade against his throat.

Long live Janus…

Flash’s eyes breathed hate as he let the dagger cut deep. Shining could feel it again, its cold edge sliding across his skin, thin as a strand of hair. And he knew. He had no choice.

Flash needed to die.