Chapter 5

Shining Armor stood at the castle landing pad uneasily. As he waited, he looked at his wrist several times only to realize that he didn't have a watch. He quickly began to wish that he did have one though, if only to give him a sense of time. The previous night, he had had nothing but bad feelings about this whole operation. No matter what he did he couldn't shake the feeling that this was all leading up to a major disaster. Perhaps he was just paranoid though. Celestia had after all approved of everything.

He looked to Cadence who also stood on the landing pad, only a few feet away from him. She too seemed worried, as if the weight of what was happening was finally setting in. Armor looked back to the large set of double doors that led back into the palace, then back to Cadence again. "What's taking them so long?" he asked to no one in particular with a sigh.

"I'm sure they're on their way," Cadence assured. "How are you feeling?"

Armor sighed again. "Tired," he answered. "I feel like no matter what I do, I just can't stop thinking about this going wrong."

"Are you still having those nightmares?"

Armor just nodded.

"Everything's going to be okay Shining, you'll see. Twilight has always done an amazing job with everything Celestia has tasked her with in the past. This will be no different." Cadence wished the last part was true or that she could at least convince herself that it was, but she too was worried.

The doors opened, catching the two ponies' attention. A small group of guards exited the palace followed by Twilight and Switchback. Two large gold chariots were already waiting for them on the landing pad, each being pulled by a team of pegasi. Captain Rampart gave a salute to Shining Armor who returned it respectfully.

"I trust that you will keep my sister safe?"

"Yes sir," Rampart replied. "I promise no harm will come to her."

"I'll hold you to that," Armor responded. "Good luck."

The two officers exchanged another salute before parting ways.

When all the guards had passed, it was Twilight's turn to talk to her brother now. "Don't worry Shining," Twilight assured him. "I'm in good hooves. This whole thing will be over and I'll be back before you know it."

"I know, just... just be careful, okay?"

"I will," Twilight said. There was a prolonged hug between them and Cadence as they all said their goodbyes.

"We believe in you, Twilight," Cadence said. "Just do what you do best."

"Calculus?" Twilight asked jokingly. The three shared a laugh. It was only a short moment, but it seemed to take some weight off of each of their shoulders. Unfortunately, it could not last longer. They were interrupted by Talisman who informed them that they needed to get going if they were to stay on schedule.

"Go get 'em," Armor said trying not to sound too worried and depart on a happy note. It didn't really work, but he knew that if anypony could do this, it was Twilight. He was very proud of her for that. It helped ease his worry.

Meanwhile, Switchback tried to sneak by the Captain of the Guard without being noticed. Short story shorter, it didn't work.

"Hold on a second Switchback," Armor called out.

Switchback froze. Crap! He had been seen. He wanted to run, wanted to hop into one of the chariots and yell for the pegasi to gun it, even though he easily could have flown away on his own. Speaking of bolting, why wasn't Switchback doing that right now? Why was he just standing there? Run you idiot, run!

Despite the voice in his head yelling at him to take off, Switchback turned to face Shining Armor. He gulped. It wasn't until now, when the two were face to face, that he realized just how tall Shining Armor was. "Uh... I-I'm an am-ambassador now. Y-you can't..."

"I'm sorry."

Switchback paused, his terror turning to confusion as he began to realize the words that had come from Shining Armor's mouth. He stared for a moment. "What?"

Shining sighed. "I haven't treated you fairly, I know this, and I'm sorry for it. Now I need you to do a favor for me. I need you to keep an eye on Twilight."

"What do you mean keep by 'keep an eye on her?'" Switchback asked, not entirely understanding the instructions. It's not like Twilight intended to do something devious. Why would he need to watch her?

"I want you to keep Twilight safe," Shining explained. "I know you'll have an escort, but I need somepony on a more personal level to make sure she doesn't take any unnecessary risks. Your her friend, so she'll listen to you more than she will some guards just doing a job. Promise me you'll keep her out of trouble."

Switchback couldn't believe Shining was asking for a favor, but knowing him, it made sense. Shining just cared about his sister. He couldn't blame him for asking this kind of favor.

How could Switchback even think about saying no? If he did, it would be like saying that he didn't care. After a moment of thought, he faced Shining Armor. "I promise."

Everypony loaded into the chariots as last and final goodbyes were exchanged. This was it, the moment that they had been waiting for. It had only been a day since the changeling situation had been discovered and here they were, already about to take off into the sunset, metaphorically of course. The sun had just risen and there was no reason for Celestia to lower it early.

Before the first chariot could leave the ground, Shining Armor ran to the one that his sister was now in. "I love you, Twilight," Shining said. "Be safe."

"I love you too, BBBFF," Twilight replied, "and I will, I promise." She shared one final goodbye hug with him before breaking.

Shining Armor looked over to Switchback, giving him a serious look and nodding, as if saying "Good luck."

The chariot left the ground, rising slowly at first and moving forward as the team of pegasi began take flight in unison as being of one mind and body. Shining Armor was left watching as the chariot took off into the sky. He had always been proud of Twilight for her accomplishments, and knew that she could always come on top against any foe, she had proven this time and time again. Now she was off to save the world again, but this time it felt different for Shining Armor. This time he felt like he was losing his little sister.

There was nothing he could do but stand in silence and watch the chariot grow smaller and smaller. This moment of silence though, allowed for a single voice to take over his mind.

Shining Armor froze as the familiar, barely feminine voice rang in his head. It was Chrysalis. She had come back from the dead one final time to speak to him, torment him, warn him.

"Now it begins."

Author's Note

A relatively short chapter. I've been playing a lot of the Division beta and World of Tanks as well as working on some other projects so I haven't work on this for a while. I figured this story was a bit passed due for an update though so I went ahead and wrote this. Pretty soon, I'll have nothing to do so this will probably get updated a bit more often in the coming month or two.