Shadows of a Silent Pony

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Sunday March 8th, 1002 RC(Reign of Celestia)

Weather: Sunny

Afternoon

"Your Highness!" A guard trotted quickly down the hallway of the Crystal Empire's castle, his hooves nearly skidding as he made it to the throne room. "Lord Shining Armor!" The crystal pony knelt before the throne, interrupting what appeared to be a meeting between the rulers and some foreign dignitary. The guard quickly tried to backpedal, "If Your Highness would see me after your meeting-"

"No!" Shining stated a bit too quickly, hopping down from his throne to greet the guard. "I mean, no, no, if it's an emergency, I should really attend to it." He calmly tried to seem slightly less interested in the guard's call, shaking his head as he ushered the crystal pony toward the door. "Cadance, can you finish up here, honey?" He managed just before closing the door to the throne room behind him.

"You are a life saver, buddy! I was getting bored to death in there." The former Captain of the Equestrian Guard tapped his hoof against the soldier's armor, happily grinning all the while.

The crystal pony was hardly amused, but rather incredulous at his ruler's disposition, "Y-Your majesty! This is hardly the time for frivolity! There's been a murder within the Empire's capital that reeks of alicorn magic!"

Shining Armor's eyes narrowed, looking the guard up and down. "And you're sure about this, private?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good. Not a word of this to Cadance. That's an order to you and your superiors." The unicorn firmly commanded, his expression as stern as ever.  He approached a small nook tucked away within the castle halls. From it, he retrieved his old armor and spear."I need you to bring me to the crime scene immediately."

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Despite their lack of training in proper modern techniques, Shining found himself at least somewhat proud of how his guards had cordoned off the home. Shining stepped over the warning tape that had been set up, his stern eyes looking for a proper commanding officer. He pointed his hoof to a blue mare with a grey mane and tail. "You there-" he paused as he looked at her uniform, "Lieutenant!"

"Sir!" The crystal pony set down a piece of the evidence, a peculiar comic book, to address her ruler. "What can I say the pleasure of this inspection is, sir?" The mare remained at attention, standing straight before his lordship Shining Armor.

"At ease, lieutenant." He grinned a bit as she relaxed, before quickly inquiring. "I need to know what the situation is with this murder. When I heard Sombra's magic was involved, I did what I could to get here." He pulled his helmet off to set into his saddlebag as he looked over the body. The mangled, broken form could hardly be called a pony any more, though its pelt still shimmered in the midday sun coming from the window. "Do we have an M.O., miss?" He led on, waiting her name.

"Lieutenant Sure Shot, candidate for detective, and marksmare." She introduced before turning back to the crime scene. The pony, presumably male from the shape of his muzzle, was splayed on the floor of a private residence. "We don't have a definitive M.O. until the gals down at the lab come back with the magical analysis. We know for sure that there's some kind of foreign magic at work here that has traces of dark alicorn magic, but so far, we can't detect much more than that."

Shining looked over the evidence. Past the blood caked floor, he noticed only the bloodstained comic book, a number of shelves holding a library of comic books in plastic covers, and a paper bag on the floor next to him. Shining picked up the bag with his magic, and slowly opened it. He took care not to touch it physically or leave his magical signature on it. Within a small sheet of paper rested. He pulled it the best he could without damaging the bloodied bag.

He read over the leaf of paper aloud, "Canterlot Enchanting Comics Emporium. One limited run issue of Captain Equestria, twenty bits." He read it off, before setting the receipt beside the bag. "I need you to run this to evidence, and get a letter out to Canterlot immediately. And be discreet. This whole investigation is now under my personal eye, and not a word of any of this gets to my wife. If Sombra's back on the prowl, or someone like him is trying to hurt my citizens, I'm going to personally see to it that they're dealt with."

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Sunday March 8th, 1002 RC(Reign of Celestia)

Weather: Cloudy

Night

Prince Mi Amore Cadenza sat on her royal bed, staring up at the ceiling. She swirled a glass of wine in her magic's grasp, the scent of the crystal berries within it wafted through the room. "Shiny's late." She huffed for a moment as she splayed out onto her back. She held a hoof over her forehead, trying to soothe the headache she'd managed to accumulate from the meeting with the dignitaries from Saddle Arabia. The exchange they wanted for access to some of their oil was absurd. Four hours of negotiation and little more than a child's argument between her Secretary of Commerce and the ambassadors later, and she was nearly forced to use her magic on all three of them.

The pink alicorn looked between the wall clock and the door, before finally standing up. She opened the door to her chambers and peeked outside to one of the guards. "Do either of you know where my husband is?" The guards fidgeted slightly as she asked. She watched them closely, taking note of their body language. Matchmaking was all about understanding ponies, and she had the two guards down fairly easily.

"M-Ma'am, we aren't sure where he is." The younger of the two answered quickly, perhaps a bit too much so.

"Oh?" Cadance stood in front of him, standing only a slight bit taller. She glared down at the guard, raising a hoof to touch his nose. "And if I were to find out he's up to his little 'secret ops' again, who would I need to see about getting his conspirators a gelding?"

The guard whimpered as his hindlegs pressed together slightly. "He's at the magic lab investigating a murder. One that has alicorn magic involved."

Cadance stared at the guard for a moment, her pupils nothing but pinpricks. "Wh-What did you just say?"

"He's trying to investigate a murder that had alicorn magic involved! Just don't geld me!" The guard was reduced to nothing but tears as he backed up against the wall.

The princess let her gaze move to the floor before quietly stating, "Take the rest of the night off. Both of you." She calmly strode down the stairs, before breaking into a full sprint.

Once she was gone, the senior guard spoke to his junior jokingly, "Gotta love a mare who's got you by the balls, huh?" He let out an uproarious laugh, before returning to standing at attention in front of the door.

"Why are you just standing there? I thought she said to take the night off?"

"No can do. I'm not about to be outdone by the Equestrian Guard his lordship is always bragging about." The older guard huffed as he stood tall at his post.

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Cadance galloped as quick as she could to the unicorn magic lab. The alicorn bucked the doors open to the main lab, finding her husband and a few of their top mages standing around a bloodied comic book of all things. "Hubby, I know you like to play detective and figure out every last crime you can in the Empire, but that is no excuse for keeping something like this from me!" The young princess yelled in her Royal Canterlot Voice, shaking the entire building as she approached her husband.

"Honey, calm down. I didn't want you to freak out about this." Shining Armor lifted up the comic book with his magic, taking care not to touch it. "This comic has two kinds of magic on it. Alicorn magic associated with him," he paused for a moment, trying to recover, "and a kind foreign to Equestria altogether."

Princess Cadance let out a breath, trying to calm herself. "What do you mean 'foreign'?" She approached her husband and the mages, her furious glare still apparent.

"Well, Your Highness, we have concluded that this magic is not entirely of our world. The magic structures held within can theoretically alter a pony's very core, and even psychologically harm them. But within the book... The results can be fatal if a pony is weak-willed. At least, that's what our current data projects." A tall, slender pale yellow unicorn stallion stated as he adjusted his lab coat, reading off the chart attached to his clipboard.

Shining Armor nodded to the mage, still holding the comic book. "Thank you, Starfield." The mage bowed deeply before slowly backing out of the conversation. "Honey, as you just heard from our best mage, this isn't something we can tread lightly into. It's an enchanted comic book, like Twily told me about a few months ago. If we touch it, we're forced inside. Whatever is in there, it already killed one of our citizens. And if it is made of alicorn magic, I don't want to risk you getting caught in it." Shining looked up to his wife with a rather concerned, tender glance.

Cadance visibly flinched under his gaze, her hard glare softening quite a bit. She let out a sigh, trying her best to stay calm. "But if it is from him, I need to stop it." She pleaded with him, leaning her neck against his  in a quiet, heartfelt embrace.

Shining bit his lip as he finally set the comic book down. "Alright, but we're both setting up shields the moment we get inside."

She gave him a nod as they both reached out their hooves together, bringing them both down to touch the open comic book. "I'm ready when you are. But after we're done with this, you and I are going to have words about trying to keep this from me. Harsh words." Cadance tried to maintain her air of propriety, though her frustration still shone through.

The second they touched the comic, they were sucked into the world within it. A blue butterfly passed Shining Armor's eyes, calming him as he landed in a fictionalized Manehatten with his wife in tow. Several strange creatures began surrounding them. Not quite pony, but not quite anything else he'd ever seen. The former guard shot a spell above his body as his wife did the same. Without hesitating, he drew his spear, mounting it on its rack on his armor. He grinned to himself as his muscles tensed for the coming battle.

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Save Data?

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Player: Shining Armor

Current stats:

1/5 Knowledge

2/5 Courage

1/5 Charm

Key Items:

Wedding Ring

Equipment:

Weapon: Captain's Spear

Armor: Royal Armor

Accessory: n/a

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