Equestrian Knights

It began with an explosion of fire on Main Street in the Crystal Empire.

Shining Armor was flung from the parade float he stood on and launched into a nearby bus stop, shattering the glass and the bench from the sheer force of the impact. Fragmentation from the blast was lodged in his right leg, and splinters of wood and glass burrowed into his left shoulder and right forearm, tearing a sizable amount of flesh. His ears rung, and he could barely hear the cries from bystanders on the sidewalk. He grimaced as he stood back up, trying to return to his senses; he had no time to be a victim, his wife had been standing right beside him on the float, and she was nowhere to be found on his side of the street.

"Cadence! Cadence!" Shining Armor cried out to his wife as he limped over to the destroyed float that was engulfed in flames; perhaps the explosion flung her in the other direction. "Cadence, where are you?!"

Shining Armor coughed as smoke filled his lungs, and he tripped onto the ground as something snagged his right leg, causing him to writhe in agony as his shredded right knee slammed onto the pavement. He used his left arm to raise his body up, and he cocked his neck to the side to look back at whatever had tripped him up; it was the mangled corpse of one of the dancers that stood on their float. Shining Armor crawled to the other side of the street, staying low so that the cloud of smoke above wouldn't collect in his lungs. His hands dug into the smoke-covered grass on the boulevard as he made his way across the street, ignoring his wounds and trying his best to power through.

"Cadence?!" Shining Armor gasped as he saw his wife tangled in a brush along the patch of grass next to the sidewalk, fragmentation in her arms and legs, but luckily nothing life-threatening. She was unconscious, knocked out cold by the devastating pressure wave. Alicorns were hardy, but they were by no means invincible. Shining Armor set his forehead on hers and wept as his hearing returned, and the screams became clearer all around him. "Cadence..."

****

At the hospital, Shining Armor insisted his wife and other victims go to surgery before him, as his injuries were not as severe as others. However, the doctors persisted, warning the prince that he ran the risk of infection if his open wounds were not tended to soon. With a sigh, he accepted their help; he needed to remain strong for his daughter in his wife's absence. It wouldn't be wise to let his heroic nature blind him to the harsh reality of the situation.

After his surgery, Shining Armor got up from his hospital bed and grabbed the pole with his iv bag dangling above and rolled it out of his room, ignoring the requests of the nurses to stay inside. He wanted to see his wife, he needed to. He needed to know what he was going to say to his daughter. What would she think? Would she be confused? Scared? Shining Armor couldn't bear to imagine her wide eyes filled with tears.

The prince knocked before entering his wife's room, and a nurse answered the door. "I'm sorry, your majesty, but your wife is in no shape to-."

"It's okay... you can let him in..." Cadence whispered in a gravelly and anguished voice. "Could you leave us alone and tend to other patients...?"

"Yes, your highness," The nurse nodded as she raced out the door.

"She's a sweetheart, that one..." Cadence grinned as she watched her nurse leave from her hospital bed. "I envy the next pony who gets her..."

"I'm sorry..." Tears began to stream down Shining Armor's face as he saw the braces and bandages on Cadence's arms and legs, and the stitches on her face and neck. How could he have let this happen? He was the Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard, this should not have happened. He approached Cadence and held her bandaged, delicate hands. Even in this state, she still boasted the grace and beauty of an angel, smiling through the pain. "I'm sorry, I should've-."

"Please don't go blaming yourself, Shining Armor. We couldn't have known. I keep thinking myself to be unbreakable, unstoppable, but I'm still mortal in spirit and in the body," Cadence looked up at the ceiling as tears also began to form in her eyes. "That poor dancer behind us... he absorbed most of the explosion, he saved us both. But at what cost? I feel ashamed sitting here, delicate and fragile and confused like our daughter at home. I should offer my condolences to his family, to the victims, but I'm bound to this bed. Damn..."

"Leave that all to me, Cadenza," Shining Armor insisted as he wiped the tears away from his eyes, and a serious expression replaced his worried one. "Not only that, but I'll find the people who did this. I can promise you that. I'll have guards stay here and watch you and the others twenty-four-seven."

"What are you planning to do, Shining Armor? You are in no shape to handle whoever is looking to kill us. You can't just charge into battle blindly. Leave the investigating to the authorities." Cadence tried discouraging Shining Armor, but she knew she could not sway him once he made up his mind.

"We can't leave it to the authorities anymore. We need something else," Shining Armor began pacing in front of Cadence's hospital bed, using his free hand to comb through his blue locks. "We need something new..."

"What do you mean 'something dangerous'?" Cadence wondered; she had never seen her husband so enthusiastic before.

"I don't know, I don't know... something-, something..." Shining Armor sat down on the chair adjacent to his wife, brainstorming. He took a deep breath and looked around the room for inspiration, something that popped out at him. Then, to his left, he saw a stack of magazines, and on top of the pile sat a comic titled, 'The Power Ponies and The Return of The Maniac!'. And just like that, Shining Armor found his inspiration. "Cadence? This is crazy, but... I think I have an idea."

****

Weeks passed, and in his room, Shining Armor used his privileges as a prince to gather information from prison databases all across Equestria on his laptop. He managed to narrow down the most qualified candidates for his project to one location, the Canterlot Maximum Security Prison. There, Shining Armor found five individuals who he believed were perfect for the job. He hung up their prison files on a laundry line attached to his and Cadence's bed rail, and it ran all the way from there to above his desk beside the door. The coffee mug in his hand was never empty, always filled to the brim with the straight, black beverage. Bags formed under his eyes after the first week, and a beard began to fill his once clean-cut face once the second week was over. A knock at his door roused him from his daily grind as he stared on at his laptop, filled with the hundreds of new documents that piled up over the two week period. Shining Armor got up and opened the door to find his sister was standing just in front of him with a disappointed look on her face and Flurry Heart in her arms.

"You look awful, Shining Armor," Twilight said as she looked up and down at her brother. His tattered attire greatly differed from her clean and organized outfit; a red blouse and black pants with a red and purple polka-dotted scarf around her neck.

"Thanks," Shining Armor wore bandages over his right forearm and left shoulder, and his right leg was put in a brace. He wore a coffee-stained white tank top and ragged sweatpants, and he put mirror shades over his bloodshot eyes to conceal the purple patches under them. His face was dominated mostly by a gruff five o'clock shadow, and trying to hide his exasperation to the best of his ability, he glanced over at his daughter in her white little dress and waved to her with a big smile. "Hi, pumpkin! You enjoy seeing Auntie Twilight?"

"You smell really bad, daddy," Flurry Heart remarked as she plugged her nose.

Six-years-old. She was six-years-old and could already read Shining Armor as well as her mother. The thought terrified him greatly, but in a way, it also put him at ease. It was good to know he had somepony to look after him besides Twilight when Cadence was recuperating in the hospital. "Yeah, sweetheart, well... that's what happens when you live off of scones, coffee, and water for two weeks straight and don't shave."

"You haven't answered any of my calls in a week. I was beginning to worry about you," Twilight said as she let herself in, traversing the stacks of paper that layered the floor of Shining Armor's once spotless room with Flurry Heart still in her arms. "Cadence is a little worried too..."

"Are you here to discourage me...?" Shining Armor asked his sister as he gathered up some important papers and shoved them in one of the five files hung up on his clothesline. "You're not the first to try. Mother was here a few days ago..."

"Daddy...?" Flurry Heart rubbed her eyes; it was around eight o' clock at night. "I'm tired... can you tuck me in?"

"Daddy is very tired, sweetie. I'll have a maid tuck you in, okay?" Shining Armor kneeled down as Twilight placed her on the ground.

"Okay, daddy!" Flurry Heart prepared to race outside before she was stopped by her father as he grabbed the back of her dress.

"I love you, sweetie..." Shining Armor said as he gave her a big hug.

"I love you too, daddy," Flurry Heart giggled as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and immediately recoiled from the foul taste. "Daddy needs a bath really bad..."

"Yeah, I know," Shining Armor nodded as Flurry Heart closed the door behind her, then he turned to his sister and sighed. "I was worried she'd turn out like me, but... I'm glad to see she takes more after her mother."

"Me too," Twilight laughed as she sat down on a stool right next to Cadence's walk-in closet. "I didn't come here to stop you... I just want to know why you insist on doing this to yourself— the sleepless nights and the long, drawn-out days of perpetual work. What's it for? Making some fantasy heroes come to life?"

"It's more than that, sis..." Shining Armor said as he levitated a file over to another stack next to his bed using his magic. "Let me ask you a question. What if the Elements of Harmony fail? What if Tirek comes storming into town one day or Discord decides to go rogue again? What if the Crystal Heart shatters again?"

"My friends and I deal with the problem like we always do," Twilight answered. "We always find a way."

"But things are different now. It's not like it was six years ago, Twilight. Some of you have lives now, families to protect. I can't have you all get killed. You're just normal ponies with magic stones. We need a contingency plan," Shining Armor said as he sat down on his desk chair. "Equestria needs a reliable first line of defense."

"And this is your solution? Gather a bunch of super-powered criminals together and expect them to fight for Equestria like a soldier would?" Twilight rolled her eyes and groaned as she got up from her stool and examined the files hanging up on the clothesline. "How can you expect to trust these ponies-?"

"They're just down-trodden, Twilight. They're outcasts. It's not their fault they ended up in prison... they just got a bad slice of life is all." Shining Armor interrupted her as he got up from his chair and stretched his aching back. "They've only been treated like freaks— less than ponies. I think if we treat them like ponies, they might treat us like ponies too..."

"You can't possibly know that," Twilight said as she analyzed the file hanging up on her right, closest to the bed. The photo attached to it was a young stallion in his early twenties, with wild red hair, pale blue eyes, and a sleek silver coat of fur. "It says here that this one is, and I quote, 'possessed by a demon'?"

"That's Blaster, he demanded to be placed in solitary confinement out of fear of his own power..." Shining Armor explained as he took the file from her and hung it back up on the line. "He's just a kid. He needs help is all."

"And how do you expect to control somepony like this? Tell them words of encouragement?" Twilight said, doubtful that Shining Armor even had the slightest idea of what he was getting himself into.

"I didn't just spend two weeks here studying. I've been commissioning some building projects as well," Shining Armor reached into his pocket and grabbed a rolled up blueprint, then proceeded to unroll it and hand it to his sister to examine. "This is a military bunker on the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. I fitted it with five rooms, each catered to the needs of my new guests."

"A two foot thick, titanium-reinforced blast chamber? A laboratory with a pair of Tesla coils? Chainmail punching bags and a full array of workout gear? Oh my-... custom-made two and a half meter tall doors in every entranceway? Whose pocket is this coming from?" Twilight was flabbergasted by the sheer absurdity of the complex.

"The Minister of Defense. He's a firm believer in this project, Twilight. Many on my council are," Shining Armor stated as he opened his blinds and looked out the window, taking in the beauty of the city from afar. "The ponies here need something to believe in, and it's not me or Cadence anymore. They need something else, something new."

"These ponies have criminal records, Shining Armor... some have done very questionable crimes," Twilight grabbed another file and searched its contents. "It says here that this 'Blue Thistle' was an underground boxer that hospitalized more than two dozen stallions?"

"To support her thirteen-year-old brother, Twilight. She never killed," Shining Armor took the file and showed her an old picture hidden within a document of a young filly hugging a toddler. "These ponies are sympathetic, and I want to show them sympathy."

"Still... I can't expect them to open up to you right off the bat," Twilight added as she took the file and hung it back up. "You expect them to work well together instantly?"

"I'll work at it. I'll give them time and training and see what it yields. They're all alike, Twilight. They've all lost something, and I want to try and give it back to them," Shining Armor said as he took all the files off the line and placed it next to his laptop.

"I suppose I can see where you're coming from." Twilight sighed to herself and nodded slowly. "Okay, maybe just this once I'll trust you. But that doesn't mean I'm for this idea. I still think you're in over your head with this."

"Great, let's get-..." Shining Armor turned towards the door but was cut off before he could even take a step by Twilight, who grabbed his right shoulder forcefully.

"Oh, no, no, no... you're not going to a maximum security prison like this," Twilight shook her head at him, waving her finger back in forth in a disapproving manner. "They'll think you're an escaped convict and tackle you to the ground. You need to shave, shower, and above all else, you'll be going to bed! We can go tomorrow morning!"

"Oh, but-... okay," Shining Armor groaned as he trudged over to his bathroom to freshen up.

"I'll clean this room as well," Twilight whispered across the hall to her brother as he shaved the bristle off his face, trying not to rouse Flurry Heart from her slumber.

Twilight reminisced as she gathered paper off the ground and piled them into neat stacks next to her brother's desk, gathered up dirty dishes and mugs, and piled smelly clothes strewn about the ground into his laundry basket next to the closet. She thought of her many adventures with her friends, discovering new worlds and new ponies. She missed those days. She was twenty-four now, and her friends all had lives beyond working at the castle and managing Twilight's kingdom. It seemed that time whittled away at the adventure in her life, leaving only work on her plate to deal with. Maybe her brother was right, perhaps it was time to pass the torch of protector to other ponies. Although, if they offered the torch to these outcasts, would they accept it? Twilight was doubtful. If they have spent their whole lives being called freaks by other ponies not like them, why would they even bother protecting said ponies?

Twilight sighed as she looked under the five main folders on the desk to search for scrap paper to throw away. She snagged a piece of paper from underneath the stack with an odd symbol sketched on it. It was a sword driven through a runic design, with a sun and moon over the blade, as if safeguarded by the weapon. She had seen the ensign before in old textbooks in the Canterlot archives. It was a badge of honor that the most esteemed protectors of the monarchy wore in days of old, the sacred guardians of Celestia and Luna, and all of Equestria. It was the symbol of the Equestrian Knights.