That Time I conquered Equestria... As A Colt

After he had reported to the princesses, Shining Armor had spent his time in Canterlot to investigate Frosty’s claims… and thus far it didn’t look very good.

He had looked into all the files and reports and thus far had only found a few loosely connected oddities, like a large black spot in the whitetail woods that suddenly appeared after the ‘Best Young Fliers Competition’. There was nothing directly linking these to Frosty, except for what Frosty said himself.

When Shining Armor searched through the archives, specifically through the newly published old documents and diaries of the princesses themselves, he found… nothing. There hadn’t been any earlier encounters with Frosty - at least within the timespan covered by the released documents.

There weren’t any mentions about specific cases of necromancy either, only a broad mention of several cases of Necromancy during the time, all of which seem to have been dealt with relatively quickly. There have been several mentions of a prophecy though, according to which a great necromancer shall once arise in a form, which nopony shall ever expect.

The prophecy does not mention anything that this necromancer would do, nor does it specify what this ‘unexpected form’ would be. He tried to apply this prophecy to Frosty and found that a foal is indeed not what he would expect in such a case… however even if he was said necromancer, that would not necessarily mean that he was bad.

To say that these results left a bad taste in his mouth would be an understatement. He was still loyal to the crown, beyond even his own life, but even he could feel that loyalty waver after the recent events.

These doubtful thoughts plagued him throughout his afternoon patrol when, only a few minutes before shift change, something ripped him out of his thoughts.

It was closing time for most of the stalls and wagons in the central marketplace, so it was entirely normal to see strange figures mill around closed stalls, at least on this time of day. However, if said strange figures are carrying an unconscious mare, then that is alarming even around this time. Thus, when Shining Armor saw two stallions carry said unconscious mare into the alleyways of Canterlot, he was immediately hot on their heels.

They were weaving through the streets like they were only half their apparent weight, making Shining think that these thugs likely did this regularly. Yet, the well-trained guard captain was still too big of a number for them.

He gained on them very quickly and he almost would’ve had them, but then, when he ran after them around a corner, he ran into a small, white pony, who wore a tuxedo and a fedora.

“Ow… sorry, I—Frosty?!” Shining Armor bellowed after seeing, who he actually ran into.

Frosty had been thrown a few meters away, due to being much lighter than the Captain. However, since he was already (un)dead, he didn’t feel any pain despite a quite obviously broken nose.

“Well hello, good captain. What a coincidence, I actually wanted—wait, did you just call me Frosty?” He asked, with a raised eyebrow and a tilted head. He hadn’t expected the Captain to call him that – at least not this quickly.

“Uhh, yeah, I… was in Ponyville recently and it kinda stuck, ehehe…” he said sheepishly, before quickly shaking his head. “But that’s not important right now! What’s important is that you’re supposed to be in exile and you promised to adhere to that!”

“Ah yes, the exile…” Frosty says slowly, almost sullenly. “A lot has happened in these past days, Captain. Things which are too… delicate to be told in public. If you don’t mind, I’d like to invite you to a little talk later on.”

“A little—Frosty, this is not the time for ‘little talks’! Celestia is out for your head and duty commands that I do so as well, but I am also indebted to you and—ARGH!” Shining Armor ruffles his own mane in frustration. “And to top it all off, there’s this damned incident, just when I-- OH CRAP!!”

Shining Armor suddenly remembers why he was in that alley to begin with and starts to run off, but Frosty stops him.

“Don’t worry about those, Captain. That was all just staged.” Frosty assures.

“What?”

“The foalnapping there. The mare was completely aware of what would happen and the ‘thugs’ are among my allies.” Frosty explains. “She will also be joining us tonight. The question is, will you?”

“I? I… I don’t know. I have too many questions right now, like… why did you have to stage something like that?”

Frosty’s friendly expression suddenly drops into a very tired and sad frown. “Well… recently it has become rather lethal to even just semi-openly ally with me, so I had to get creative.”

Shining Armor gasps. “Lethal?! What the tartarus happened?!”

“Like I said, too delicate to be told in public. I will tell at the meeting, though.”

Shining Armor stared at Frosty for a while and then sighed. “Okay, when and where?”

Frosty smiled at his apparent success. “Sir Safe Count`s Mansion, tonight at 10pm sharp.”

“Sir Safe Count? Isn’t he from the Royal Financial Department?” Shining Armor asked in wonder.

“Yes… although I am rather wary of him. As far as I can tell, he is not my ally because he likes or even believes me. Nevertheless, his resources are very welcome.” Frosty said. “Well then, I suppose we should take our leave now. I have a few things to prepare and I am sure, you do as well.”

Frosty moves away, towards the corner where they had run into each other and stops a moment.

“I shall see you tonight then. Good Luck, Captain.”

And with that, he rounded the corner and vanished from sight.

It was 9:45pm, when Shining Armor entered the noble district of Canterlot. The district, while viewed as highly ominous by the commoners, was not unknown to him, since he himself was born here. His parents, Twilight Velvet and Night Light are minor nobles, who lived – and still live – within this district’s borders. Of course, even if he hadn’t been of noble birth, he could’ve simply walked in, due to his position within the guard.

He made his way to Safe Count’s mansion, which lay on the opposite side to the district’s entrance. This was not a coincidence, but by design, for while the noble district was separated off from the City as one large district, it did not mean that it was entirely unified. Within the district’s borders there was a layering similar to the City as a whole.

Closer to the gate were the minor nobles, who, in case of an invasion or – more likely at the time of the district’s construction – a peasant uprising, would serve as cannon fodder to the other, wealthier noble families. This is also where the Sparkle family has their house.

Next up was the bulk of the nobility. Viscounts, Counts, or the wealthier of the barons and the odd titleless, but wealthy buisnesspony here and there. The Mansions of these families looked only marginally bigger than those of the lower nobles, however with the difference that the land these mansions stand on actually belong to the families that own the mansions and not the crown.

This difference was not in the design of the district though, as, while by equestrian law, owning a spot of land also granted one the right to militarily defend said spot (in case of a peasant uprising), this land ownership only came through the families here being wealthy enough to actually purchase that land. That is also why, if one was to draw these two district levels on a map, there would be several enclaves of both levels within the other.

After a sufficient amount of families had become wealthy enough to purchase said land, they pushed the higher nobles to acknowledge them as being of higher status than the normal ‘cannon fodder’, it was then decided that land ownership would be the decisive difference between the two castes.

Speaking of castes, the last of the three was the high nobility. Dukes, Princes – titled, not actual royalty – and the odd, superbly wealthy count, viscount or business magnate lived here, one of which was Sir Safe Count.

Shining Armor had always wondered, how a simple accountant could afford to live within this highly elite community, that wasn’t called ‘the noble district within the noble district’ for nothing. Unfortunately, all who serve the crown enjoy a certain immunity, corresponding to their rank and/or position, which had thus far stopped every investigation before they had even begun. However, that would change as Shining Armor reached Safe Count’s mansion at exactly 9:55pm.

Three bodyguards were posted outside. One of them searched Shining from top to bottom, while one positioned himself behind him and the last remained at the gate. When they had confirmed that Shining Armor was not carrying anything dangerous with him, the gate was opened and he was admitted entrance.

The front yard was not very large. It spanned only a few meters between the hedge and the actual building. The back yard was sectioned off by a wall and could thus not be seen from the front.

The only thing that now stood between him and the inside of the mansion and the answers therein were two massive double doors that by themselves were probably impressive enough to deter any intruder from trying to gain access. They were so utterly intimidating that Shining almost jumped backwards when they swung inwards and granted him access.

Despite his growing wariness, Shining pressed on although, even if he hadn’t, he no longer had a choice but to go forward. The doors had closed shortly after he entered and a butler of the house was now leading him through the corridors, until he stopped in front of another, slightly smaller double door.

“Right behind this door, sir.” The butler said and gently pushed the door open. Shining swallowed once and entered the room.

Inside, there was one big, round table, at which three ponies sat, while a further six were standing close by.

The three ponies sitting at the table were Sir Safe Count, Frozen Blood and the mysterious mare that he had seen being foalnapped earlier today. The six ponies that were standing were Sir Count’s son and Frozen Blood’s entourage, as well as two unknown newcomers.

“Ah, Captain. It is good to see that you made it in time. Please, have a seat. We were just about to start.” Frosty invited.

“Start? Start what?” Shining Armor asked.

“Why, the briefing of course. Captain, I really had expected you to be familiar with those.” Frosty said jokingly.

“W-Well yes, but- but…”

“Splendid. If you’d now please take a seat so we can start?”

Shining Armor looked at the one empty seat that was left, moved up to it and sat down without saying anything further.

“Trixie honestly doesn’t know, how she got roped into this, but… she still owes Frosty a few things, so she will also stay and listen.” Trixie proclaimed.

“That is very nice of you. Thank you, Trixie. Well then, Gentlecolts, let’s get this started, shall we?”

“Yes, ‘let’s get this started’ and Trixie thinks the best way to start is if you finally told her what’s going on! You withheld this information since you got her out of that room!” Trixie half-shouted in frustration.

“What room?” Shining asked.

“Not important right now. However, Trixie is right, I should probably get you all to the same level first. So, make yourself ready for some flash news – Trixie in particular.” He warned. Trixie’s interest seemed exponentially grow with every spoken word.

“So, starting with the basics: Trixie, I am a necromancer.” Frosty admitted. He stared at Trixie for a few seconds, waiting for a panic attack of some sort, however the mare seemed rather unimpressed.

“What, that’s it? That’s the big news? Huh, Trixie had expected more.”

“…Like what?” Frosty asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Pff, well, like… like being sunbutt’s long lost son, or—“ Trixie started, but Shining cut her off.

“Hey, don’t be disrespectful to the princess!” He bellowed.

“Okay, if ‘The Captain’ orders it… I can’t cover for everypony else though, Shieldbutt.” Trixie laughs, making Shining Armor grow a bit red in his face.

“And what would that make you? Wandbutt?” Frosty asked.

“Oh, you can put your wand up my butt any time~” She purred, seductively narrowing her eyes at Frosty.

He sputtered and scooted back a bit, before three angry fillies jumped onto the table before him.

“Hey, hooves off, lady!” Scootaloo shouted.

“Yeah, Frosty is our colt!” Sweetie agreed.

“An’ we ain’t givin’ him away ever!” Applebloom added.

Trixie tried to remain as serious as she could, but failed miserably, when she slammed her head down onto the table and burst out laughing.

“Ah, sorry girls. Trixie pulls this on everypony who calls her ‘Wandbutt’.” She finally explains, when she got herself back under control.

“I’m sure that has earned you quite a few ‘interesting’ nights.”

“Oh, you don’t even know how right you are.” Trixie said, wiggling her eyebrows.

“I, for one don’t know, how we got onto this tangent and would quite like to return to the topic.” Safe Count grumbled.

“Yeah, yeah, right… sorry.” Frosty apologized. He looked down to the table, suddenly looking rather glum. “Well, apart from being a necromancer, you should probably also know that Celestia is out for my head and I do not know why.”

Trixie sighed. “Yes, Trixie has read the news. At first, she thought it was just somepony similar to you, but it seems that isn’t the case.”

Frosty shook his head. “No, sadly it isn’t.”

“’Frosty’ is also supposed to be in exile right now, but has apparently decided to just return, even though he promised to me personally, not to.” Shining Armor pointed out, glaring at Frosty meanwhile.

“Yes, although with very good reason.” Frosty defended.

“Oh yeah? Well, let me hear it then!” Shining Armor demanded.

“Okay. But for that, I will have to introduce somepony first. Or, no… somepony isn’t the right word.” Frosty said, looking behind himself and nodding to his two unknown companions, who then stepped forth.

Shining Armor curiously looked on, wondering what he meant with ‘not the right word’, when he saw the two figures burst into green flames and be replaced by two black, bug-like creatures.

“I introduce to you: Pharynx and Carracas, the last changelings alive, as far as I know.” Frosty presented, although with a very sad voice.

“Changelings? I think I’ve—wait, what do you mean with ‘the last changelings alive’?!” Shining Armor questioned.

Frosty looked very uncomfortable at the question, avoiding eye contact with everypony in the room and scooting around on his chair.

“Frozen Blood, what happened?!” Shining pressed nevertheless.

“I… in an act of utter foolishness, I dragged these poor creatures into something that I couldn’t or maybe just didn’t want to see at the time…” Frosty started, while still looking away to the side. He then swallowed once and turned back around to face the group.

“After we met, Captain, I went south, just like I had promised. There, in the Badlands, I found the hive that these Changelings called their home. Their queen was generous enough to let me stay for an unspecified amount of time, until my problems with Celestia had been solved, however…” Frosty cut himself off and looked away.

“However what?” Shining Armor pressed.

Frosty sighed, but continued despite visible reluctance. “Sadly, said problems would catch up to me far sooner than I had anticipated. We six were out doing some stuff at the time, when we saw a flash and a powerful shockwave threw us through the air. If I wasn’t a necromancer, then I would’ve probably died back there.” Frosty said, giving a short look over to Pharynx and Carracas, who nodded to him encouragingly. “Sadly, Pharynx and Carracas weren’t so lucky. They were hurt. Badly. My only option to save them was to… also turn them undead.” Frosty admitted. “However I made sure to leave their free will as intact as possible!” He then quickly added.

“Alright, that’s at least something, but where did that shockwave come from?” Shining Armor asked.

“We were asking ourselves the same thing at the time, so we went back and… It was all gone. A massive glowing ball, bright and hot like a miniature sun, was ascending to the sky in a thick cloud, leaving only a giant crater where the hive once was.”

“WHAT?!” came from all three adults present.

“You mean to tell Trixie that somepony destroyed an entire civilization just for housing you?!” Trixie exclaimed.

“No, don’t mean to tell you somepony did it. I actually already have a suspicion.” Frosty implied.

“If ‘like a miniature sun’ is meant to imply that it was the princess then I can tell you that she reportedly hasn’t left the palace within the past weeks.” Shining Armor pointed out.

“Maybe, but I didn’t mean Celestia anyways. I mean a certain other mare who has been following me for a while now and who is said princess’s personal student and thus likely has picked up a spell or two.” Frosty said.

“Wait, you mean…? No. Nononono, my sister would NEVER do something like that!” Shining denied.

“Oh really? Then why did she kill these three fillies right in front of their sister’s eyes?” Frosty asked rhetorically, while pointing to the CMC.

“WHAT?! No, you are trying to trick me there! Twilight would NEVER do something like that!” Shining Armor shouted.

“He ain’t trickin’ ya there, ya know?” Applebloom said, jumping and walking on the table towards Shining Armor. “Yer sis set the hut we were hidin’ in aflame while Frosty was talkin’ with our sisters.”

“Oh yeah? Then why are you here, standing and talking before me?!” Shining Armor shouted angrily, though also desperately.

Applebloom remained unfazed by the shouting. She changed her eyes into the void and pointed a hoof at it. “’cause Frosty revived us after jumpin’ inta th’ fire an’ pullin’ us out.”

“What--- Hnggnnokay! Maybe Twilight did that, but I’m sure that was an accident! If she had wanted to kill you three then she would’ve just shot at you directly and not set the hut on fire! Twilight would never willingly kill anypony!” Shining still tried to defend.

“Alright, if you choose to believe that… However, just in case you want to be certain: the explosion in the Badlands had some strange effect. There was this kind of non-magical, lingering effect that was grinding against us on a molecular level. Our necromancy easily dealt with the damages, but a living organism might take longer to repair that.” Frosty described.

“So, you want me to scan Twily for these tiny damages?! Heh, wow, ever considered that she might’ve erected magic shields when casting such a powerful spell?!” Shining aggressively pointed out.

“Like I said, the effect was non-magical, meaning that she would’ve had to erect a physical shield. Do you think your sister would’ve thought of that, when casting such a spell?” Frosty countered calmly.

Shining Armor let out a frustrated groan and jumped out of his chair, standing up and walking towards the door, but stopping right before it.

“Alright… I will go to Ponyville, see if Twily is there and if she is, then I’ll scan her. But I warn you: if I find nothing on her and she tells me she saw you do ANYTHING, then I swear, I will personally drag you before the princesses!” Shining Armor threatened.

“Do as you please.” Frosty said calmly. “In any case, I think these news are highly disturbing for all of us, so let’s continue this another time. Captain, after you’ve returned from Ponyville, please come here as soon as possible and tell me what you’ve found.” Frosty asked.

“You bet I will.” Shining Armor grumbled, before storming through the doors, out of the mansion, turning down the road and entering a side-alley. There he stood for a few moments, before suddenly turning around and smashing his head against the wall.

He groaned from the pain and blood was dropping from one of his eyebrows, yet he hit the wall two more times, before leaning against and sliding down on it. He was breathing heavily and his eyes were filling with tears. Had he ever cried during his guard career? Probably a few times… but since he became the Captain? Probably not.

His thoughts were all over the place, sometimes flying to Twilight, then to the Dragon lands, to Cadence, to Spike, to the company he had led…

And then it started raining.

At first only a few trickles, but when Shining looked up, the rain started to pour down in full.

“Great. Even the Pegasi are mocking me today…” He grumbled while looking up… at the road sign he was sitting under.

‘Royalty Ave.’ If he went down this avenue and turned left, he would come to the street where his parents lived. He hadn’t visited them in a long time… maybe he should do that for once?

He decided that that was probably the best thing he could do to ease his mind and so, he went down the road… in the rain, with a bleeding eyebrow, a sore head and an almost broken mind.