Guardians Of Equestria
Prologue
Shining Armor was being watched. He could feel it.
He could not see who was watching; but as he walked through the dense darkness, the feeling of someone staring at him was burning through his skin.
In one quick motion, he tensed his muscles and whirled around to face whatever was following him. He frowned in confusion as he saw nothing behind him.
Nothing at all. No grass, no buildings, no trees. He looked up and could not even see any stars. He turned a few more times in an attempt to find something recognisable. Through it all, the unnerving feeling of someone watching him was ever present.
“Hello? Is somepony there?” he called into the surrounding darkness.
When no reply came, Shining Armor continued to walk; keeping a wary eye on his mysterious surroundings. Nothing was making sense. Where was he? Why couldn’t he shake the feeling that he was being watched?
He did not know how long he proceeded to walk, but as he did the surrounding darkness became more and more threatening. Strange as it was, it seemed to become even darker than before. Shining could not even tell where he was placing his hooves anymore.
Light! That’s what I need. The captain of the guard thought. He mentally hit himself for not doing this earlier.
He stopped for a moment and concentrated. A short time later, he had light emitting from his horn and finally some kind of visibility. He could not see very far, but he immediately recognized the paved ground below him.
Canterlot...? Shining observed.
There was no doubt about it. As he moved closer to the side of the street he could see familiar buildings lined close together. Everything was where it should be, but where was everypony?
He continued to walk down the long street, looking for any signs of life. Without warning, Shining suddenly bumped into a tall, lightless, metal street lamp. He grunted and raised his hoof to rub the pained area on his head.
Suddenly, he heard something. It was so quiet that he nearly missed it. At the same time, his feeling of being watched returned even more strongly than before. Shining quickly looked all around him, trying to find the source of the noise. Whatever it was it was quickly getting closer and as it did, the noise became louder.
Shining thought he was going crazy as his ears registered the sound. It sounded distinctly like...
...Laughter?
“Who’s there?!” Shining Armor demanded.
The ominous laughter became even louder, offering no response. However, Shining began to sweat nervously as the crackles became all too familiar.
“Wait a min-”
He never finished the sentence.
In an instant, giving Shining Armor no time to prepare, something suddenly impacted him squarely in the face; knocking him through the air. He landed hard on his back and groaned as he struggled to get up and locate his attacker.
As he struggled to his hooves, he was knocked back once more. He flew back several more feet, and lost his light as he crashed into the ground.
His attacker laughed once more and addressed him, her voice sounding like many voices and echoing across the abandoned city. It was a voice Shining Armor had hoped never to hear again.
“Well, well, well,... ‘Captain’ Shining Armor. I’m not very impressed. Your wife put up a better fight than you last time we... met. Too bad she’s not here to save you this time.”
Shining forced himself to focus and made his horn glow once more. His head was throbbing in pain, and it took all of his energy just to keep a steady beam of light. As he looked up, he could not believe what he saw.
“Chrysalis!” he yelled, trying to remain confident as he fought an overwhelming sense of panic. The large black changeling queen smiled wickedly, her eyes looking satisfied at Shining Armor’s helpless state. “You... How did you get here?!” Shining continued. “What have you done to Canterlot?! This doesn’t make any sense-”
Shining was cut off by a lower, much deeper laugh. A tall figure slowly appeared next to Chrysalis. Shining recognised the newcomer immediately. The pony head, dragon tail, and the mix of different creature limbs sprouting from his body made the new arrival’s persona unmistakable for any other.
Discord... Shining thought dreadfully.
“Make sense?” Discord began, “Why do you ponies always insist on everything making sense?”
Suddenly, a bright flash appeared above Shining Armor and he shielded his eyes at the sudden illumination. When he looked again to the sky, which had been strangely missing this whole time, he saw the constellations and stars that always dotted the sky. Just as quick as the bright flash another figure smashed next to Discord and Chrysalis, making the ground vibrate with the impact.
When the dust from the crash dissipated, Shining saw a large black alicorn taking a position next to the two other foes.
“Nightmare Moon too? This can’t be happening...” he stated, knowing that his life now hung in the balance.
“And what will you do about it, captain?” Nightmare Moon asked darkly. “Whatcan you do?”
Shining Armor didn’t know what to do. Equestria’s most feared ememies were towering over him in the middle of an abandoned Canterlot; and he could do nothing about it. He slowly stood up. All he could do now was stand his ground and wait for their move. For some reason, however, they made no advance towards him.
“Let me guess this one.” interjected Discord when Shining did not answer Nightmare Moon. He approached the captain swiftly. “You would use the Elements of Harmony against us if you could, right?” The draconequus suddenly began to chuckle evilly. “Oh but wait... Looks like the bearers of the elements are absent.” Discord said, turning back to his companions. “How will we ever be stopped now?” he asked, dramatically placing his lion arm across his forehead as if he were about to faint.
Shining knew they were toying with him... but to what end? What was going on?
“I know what he could do.” Chrysalis answered in her echoey voice, walking towards Shining’s position.
Nightmare Moon laughed as the changeling queen finished her statement. The dark alicorn joined her companions next to Shining Armor. “You’re kidding right? We all know that is not a real option for this welp.”
“What are you talking about?” Shining demanded, his face showing legitimate confusion.
“Oh come now, that one’s easy!” replied Discord, shaking his head in disappointment. “You of all ponies should know the answer. After all, you are a captain of that... option.”
“You mean, the Royal Guard?” Shining asked. “So you are saying that attacking you with all of our might, is ‘not a real option’?
“Bingo!” replied Discord, a smug look plastered across his face. Suddenly the draconequus began to laugh loudly. “Oh wait, did you just say ‘might’? Are we talking about the same royal guard here? Oh that’s rich!”
Shining felt beyond insulted now and was about to defend his fellow guardsponys when he realised that the three villains were right. The Guard’s track record was not impressive in dealing with the fairly recent uprisings of these three.
“That pathetic excuse for a guard could not stand even the least of my power.” stated Nightmare Moon, spreading her wings and making her eyes glow. “And there is far more that I can do than just control mere lightning!”
“And at your precious wedding” began Chrysalis, “It took my army maybe, what, five minutes to incapacitate your so-called security force? Even your Princess Celestia fell before me!”
“But you lost!” insisted Shining, wanting to escape what he was hearing, “All three of you were defeated in the end!”
In unison, all three evildoers looked at each other, and back to Shining again.
“And who defeated us, captain?” began Discord after some time. “Let me ask you. What happens the next time an enemy comes your way hmmm? What happens when you cannot call upon the Elements of Harmony to stop it? My dear captain... What happens when Equestria’s final defense rests on the shoulders of the Royal Guard?”
Once again, Shining did not know what to say. He stared back at the trio. Why were they telling him this? In fact, how did they get here at all? Why was nopony else nearby? The questions were overflowing in Shining Armor’s mind, leaving him dumbfounded.
“I think a demonstration is in order.” said Nightmare Moon, breaking the silence.
Shining flinched at her statement. He didn’t like the sound of that one bit. “What do you mean ‘demonstration’?”
Instantly, the scene around Shining Armor changed. Now, instead of the bleak, abandoned city from a few moments before, Canterlot was thrust into a more familiar state. The bustle of high-class society moved in full swing around Shining. The sun was now high in the sky, showing off the tall buildings that were lined up and down the proud city.
Suddenly, Shining heard a scream. He turned to the source of the cry just in time to see one of the tall buildings explode at the top. High in the sky, Nightmare moon was striking the buildings with powerful shocks of magic and lightning, setting the entire city ablaze. Many panicked screams joined the first.
Next to Nightmare Moon, Shining could see another dark figure flying as well.
“GO! FEED, MY HIVE! CONSUME YOUR FILL!” it yelled.
At the command thousands of changelings suddenly appeared on the horizon, quickly landing in the besieged city and laying waste to everything and everypony.
Shining Armor watched in disbelief at the events unfolding before him. He desperately looked around for a sign of hope.
Any hope he had was shattered mere moments later.
Scattered throughout the city streets, Shining could see the unmistakable golden glint of Royal Guard armor. The ponies that wore them, earth, pegasi, and unicorns, were dead. Every single one of his comrades in arms now lay struck down like ants, bleeding, broken, and unable to defend their city.
“Just beautiful, isn’t it captain?” said a voice behind Shining.
He turned to see Discord walking up next to him, a satisfied look on his face.
“No... No, no, no, no! This can’t be real! This has to be a dream!” yelled Shining.
“Ah but if it is, it is a marvelous dream.” Discord began. He moved to put his paw on Shining Armor’s shoulder.
Shining jerked away, anger now blazing in his eyes. “Get away!”
Discord now had a flat expression on his face. “If you want to get away, then why don’t you wake up?...”
Wake up... Wake up... Wake up...
* *
“Wake up! Shining, wake up!”
Shining Armor’s eyes flew open with a loud gasp for breath. He looked up and began to calm down as he gazed into the familiar purple eyes of his wife; Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or as she preferred to be called, Cadence.
Shining saw that her hooves were on his sides, and he assumed that she must have shaken him awake. He saw that her eyes were clouded with worry.
“Cadence...” he said as his breathing slowed down.
“Are you okay, Shining? You were tossing and talking in your sleep.” Cadence said. “Look at you! You’re covered in sweat... Are you feeling sick?” the captain’s wife asked, concerned.
“What... What time is it?” Shining asked, dodging the question.
The pink alicorn glanced over at the bedside clock. “A bit after midnight. Shining, you were making me worried. It sounded like you were yelling at somepony.”
Shining glanced out the window and saw the soft moonlight gently washing through his and Cadence’s bedroom.
“Shining.” said Cadence again, “What happened?”
He wanted to pour out the whole dream out to his wife, expressing the horrible feeling of fear due to encountering three of Equestria’s most terrible villains. But to reassure his wife, and himself, he decided against it. After all, it was only a dream right?
Shining Armor took a long deep breath and shook his head. “Nothing. Just a bad dream. I’ll be okay, honest.” He put on a weak smile.
“Alright, if you say so...” replied Cadence, uncertain. “Well, go back to sleep. You need to be up in the morning for the Guard.” she finished with a yawn.
Shining nodded and turned over on his side. He heard his wife lay down beside him, her presence giving him comfort as he tried to sleep once more. All the same, sleep did not come easily.
He lay awake for a while longer, his dream still fresh in his mind. The feeling of helplessness as the world he knew crumbled around him was still affecting him. Most of all, he realised that his dream could very well happen in reality.
What if they were right? He thought, What happens if the Elements of Harmony fail us? What happens if the Guard is called to defend Equestria from other enemies that may arise?
What happens when we are called to fight?
* * *
Tell me what you guys think. Thanks to Foxi Hooves, Split Mind, and IAMNOTCRAZY24 for prereading.
