Shining Armor Gets his Cutie Mark
Shining Armor was watching over the foal, his newborn little sister. The colt was nervous. This was the first time his parents had left him alone with her. It was a big responsibility to take care of her on his own, but he told his parents he could do it. He watched the purple foal sleep, before wondering if she was getting cold. He stood and quietly walked out of the room to get another blanket from the hall closet.
He froze at the sound of glass shattering and a foal crying.
Running back into the room, Shining Armor gasped. A stallion wearing a mask across his face was standing up out of the broken glass of the window.
Spotting the colt, the stallion smirked. “Get out of the way, kid.”
“N-no.” Shining Armor said unsteadily, dwarfed by the adult.
The foal began to cry.
The stallion looked over, “What do we have here?”
“Leave Twilight alone!” Shining Armor cried out thoughtlessly.
The criminal smirked, looking over at the colt, “How ‘bout this… I take little ‘Twilight’ here, and you don’t call the guards. Once I’m out on the street, I’ll set the foal down, and you’ll never see me again…” The stallion strode over towards the crib.
“DON’T TOUCH HER!” Shining Armor’s horn flared to light.
A pair of unicorns strode towards home, turning a corner. Then they saw a pair of pegasus guards in front of their home. Both broke into a gallop.
The guards noticed the approaching couple. One stepped forward to meet them, “Miss Velvet, Mister Light?”
“Y-yes?” Twilight Velvet answered, looking towards the door.
“There was an incident. A fugitive entered your home.” The guard spoke calmly.
Night Light gasped, “Twilight! Shining!” He ran forward, past the other guard and into the house, galloping up the stairs to the nursery.
The unicorn stallion entered the room and halted. Another Pegasus guard had a rough looking stallion pinned down, as yet another was attempting to talk down… a magenta sphere.
Night Light looked closer at the sphere, realizing it was translucent, and inside were his children.
Shining Armor was holding Twilight Sparkle close in her crib, rocking her slowly, and seeming to ignore the guard.
Night Light carefully walked around the broken glass to the sphere. When the guard moved to stop him, he glared, “I am their father.” His expression softened, as he looked to the sphere, “Shining Armor? It’s your father. The guards are here, you and Twilight are safe… You can drop the shield.”
Shining Armor slowly looked up, “D-dad?”
The blue stallion nodded, “Yes, son, just relax, let go of the spell.”
Slowly, uncertainly, Shining Armor closed his eyes, the bubble smoothly falling away. The colt looked exhausted.
The guard who wasn’t pinning the fugitive down spoke, “When we came in, the fugitive was beating against your son’s shield, shouting bloody murder. If it weren’t for your son, we would not have apprehended him.”
Twilight Velvet entered the room now, walking quickly to her husband and her children, “Shining, are you alright?”
“Y-yeah, mom… just… really tired.” He said softly, still holding onto the foal, who seemed quite sedate.
“Let me take Twilight, dear.” His mother said softly, reaching down.
Instinctively he held her a bit tighter, turning away.
“It’s safe now, Shining…” Night Light trailed off, staring.
Twilight Velvet gasped, “Shining! You got your cutie mark!”
The colt blearily twisted to look at his flank. Upon his white pelt, now stood a dark blue shield with three star bursts above it, and the shield itself was adorned with a magenta star burst, the same color as the shield spell he had performed.
Night Light nosed at his wife softly, “You know, I think Shining can take care of Twilight for a little longer.”
“Excuse me, sir,” The guard spoke formally, “Your son needs to make a statement.”
Night Light perked, and nodded, looking back to his son, “Do you think you can talk to the guard, Shining?”
Shining Armor seemed to notice the guard for the first time, and nodded, sitting up and gently easing Twilight down onto the crib’s bedding between his haunches and his forelegs. Carefully, he started to tell the guard what happened.