That Time I conquered Equestria... As A Colt

Shining Armor groaned as he rolled over on the sofa. He had actually gone to his parent’s house that evening and paid them a visit. Of course they were more than happy to welcome their crying and bleeding son into their home, which means that his mother almost called the princess herself, because her son was injured on the street. Luckily he managed to come up with an excuse, before she did that.

He still couldn’t believe she bought the old ‘I fell down the stairs’ – tale.

After Twilight Velvet had patched him up and he spent the evening with them, he elected to stay for the night. He awoke the next morning, when his mother put him some breakfast onto the coffee table.

“Morning dear! Did you sleep well?” She asked cheerfully. Sadly, Shining couldn’t share Velvet’s bright mood.

“Uurrrgh… my head hurts… and my back feels like I slept on a rock.” Shining complained.

“Well, I did tell you, you could sleep in your old room, but somepony wanted to sleep on the couch instead.” Velvet huffed indignantly. “Really, it’s very immature of you to just not want to sleep in your room because you find it too ‘foalish’… I can’t even see why.”

“Yes, I know mom…” Shining mumbled groggily. Of course, his reason to sleep on the couch wasn’t that he found his old room too foalish, but that he’d pass Twilight’s on the way there. He couldn’t very well tell her that though or else she might think that he had suddenly come to hate his own sister…

Shining groaned. Thinking about his sister right now was only adding to his already existing headache and the conflict in his head wasn’t really making things better either.

Truth be told, he didn’t believe Frosty one bit. After all, Twilight was his sister, right? And he knew that she would never do something like that… right?

No, he definitely didn’t believe Frosty. Not in the slightest. It was just that… It all added up way too much and it all fit way too well… What if it really was all true? What if his sister did all these things that Frosty had described? It was nothing but a single thought, but that single thought shot through his head every time he thought about his sister.

“Shining, don’t go to sleep again, or you’ll mess up your sleep schedule!” Velvet warned. “I thought the guard taught you about that stuff?”

Shining didn’t answer. Instead, he rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. His breakfast was still sitting beside him, its delicious smell wafting into his nostrils, but even if he was hungry, all these terrible thoughts had properly robbed him of all appetite.

“Mom?” He suddenly spoke up, almost startling his mother and making her break a plate.

“Uh, uh, yes dear?” She quickly said, while carefully holding the fallen plate in her magic.

“Would you believe somepony if they told you Twily did something… bad?” Shining hesitantly asked.

“Huh? Where did that come from?” His mother asked back half-mindedly, while putting the plate back to where it belonged.

“I was just… wondering. Like, what if somepony had very good evidence that she really did it? Would you believe them?” Shining asked further.

His mother turned around and gave him a very disapproving look. “Shining, what do you mean to imply?”

“Uh, nothing, it’s just…” Shining tried to excuse, but when he looked his mother in the eyes, he knew that lying was a fruitless effort.

“Ugh, there’s somepony that said some pretty nasty things, Twily supposedly did and he brought some very decent evidence with him. He even told me how I can check for myself! I could just go visit her and see if she really did it, but… what if it turns out to be true?” Shining asked. For the first time in years, Velvet saw her little colt again, looking up at her and asking her for help. It made her chuckle.

“Shining, Twilight is your sister, right?” Velvet asked in a calm and motherly tone.

“Yes, of course!” Shining answered immediately.

“And you would never think that she would ever do anything bad, would you?”

“No! Never in my life!” Shining almost shouted.

“Then what are you afraid of? We both know that Twilight would never do anything bad. All you now need to do is to go to her and prove her innocence.” Velvet advised.

Shining smiled a bit, nodding to himself. “Yes. Yes, of course! Thanks mom!” He said, hugging his mother tightly, before bolting out, leaving the door open behind him.

Twilight Velvet watched her son disappear through the door, before chuckling to herself and putting away Shining’s untouched food. After all, there was no need to waste a perfectly good breakfast.

In Ponyville, Twilight and the other Element Bearers were currently sitting in the Library, Twilight on one end of her Kitchen table and her former friends on the other.

She had tried multiple times already to convince them that Frosty was the actual villain this whole time and that he was just toying with them. However, her former friends were also trying to convince her that Celestia was the one toying and that Twilight was nothing but the stick she was poking the fire with. Ultimately she would also be thrown into the fire and left to burn.

Their arguments were shot back and forth, each side trying to convince the other. However none gave in. Instead, this confrontation that was meant to bring the group back together was only widening the gap between the two sides.

They were already about to end this charade, when Shining Armor burst through the doors and headed straight for Twilight.

“Shining, wha—“ she managed, but was cut off by her brother.

“Twily! Good to see that you’re back! Listen, I’ve recently talked to Frosty and I think I have a way of proving that you’re innocent!” He said excitedly.

“Really? Oh that—wait, you met him?!” Twilight did not sound particularly happy about that.

“Yes. I owed him a favour after he and his companions saved our hides on the dragon border, but that doesn’t matter now.” He quickly said, before charging up his horn and starting the scan. “this should only take a few seconds, so just wait and…. And… uhhh…”

His smile vanished and was replaced with and expression of deep confusion that morphed first into barely subdued anger and then into desperation.

“No… nonono, that can’t be, it can’t—Planted evidence! Yes, that has to be it! We just need a way to prove it!” He thought out loud. A moment of silence followed, before he shouted again: “The Badlands! If what he said hadn’t happened, then there should be nothing there!”

Without explaining anything any further, he galloped out and straight south. The Element Bearers looked at one another once, before silently deciding that they should probably follow him and set off as well. Twilight was the last to remain at the table, dumbfoundedly looking out of the kitchen window, before shrugging to Spike once and setting off as well.

Only when he finally arrived did Shining Armor realize, how big the Badlands actually were and was thus forced to think anew. Luckily, however, he heard the mares galloping up behind him and spun around to them.

“Ah, good that you came! I need your help to search this place, Miss Dash’s in particular.” He said, turning to Rainbow. “I want you to fly up high and scout the place for anything that looks like the sun had come down there.” He described vaguely.

“Umm… what? I mean, did you look around? This whole area looks as if the sun had come down on us! Everything’s just… sand and heat and… stuff.” Rainbow lamented.

“I know, but I mean, something that seems odd even in this region. Here--“ He charged his horn again and placed some kind of spell on Rainbow. “that’s a communication spell that our guard uses to keep contact to our scouts. Now, please, search for anything that seems odd.” He pleaded.

“Hey, no problem, I was in from the start. It’s just that I don’t really know what I’m looking for.” Rainbow assured.

“Oh, uh, from what Frosty told me, it should be a large crater or something in that regard. I’m sure you won’t miss it, if it exists.” Shining Armor described.

“Oh… kay… Well, umm, I’m gonna get flying then.” Rainbow said and took off.

Just when Rainbow zoomed off, Twilight ‘s running form appeared in the distance, drawing closer and closer, until the panting mare stood directly in front of her brother.

“Shining... *pant* wha--… *pant* Badlands…” She panted, trying to say something, but being too out of breath to do so.

“Woah, easy there, Twi. Seems like you need some exercise, huh?” Shining joked, trying to lift his own mood a little, when Rainbow called in through the spell.

“Uhh, test test… Sir Armor? Uhh, I think I found the crater.” She said.

‘Huh, wow, that was fast.’ He thought

“Great, how big is it? Like a big lake or something?” Shining asked.

“Uhhh… no. I’d say, it’s about, uhhh… twice the size of Ponyville, maybe bigger?”

“WHAT?!” Shining shouted in shock. “No way! No bucking way! I have to see that for myself! Miss Dash, would you please land, so I can teleport safely?”

“Huh? Uhh, yeah, I can, but…”

“Then land! Please.” Shining ordered, only adding the ‘please’ as an afterthought.

“Y-Yes, sir!” Rainbow shouted back, before howling winds could be heard through the spell, followed by the thud of hooves on sand.

“There, I’ve landed, sir.”

Without another word, Shining teleported to her and when he did, his jaw fell down. He looked over the most giant crater he had ever seen in his entire life. His own eyes were now confirming that Rainbow’s estimate likely was correct and maybe even still too low…

He didn’t manage to say anything. He didn’t want to say anything. All he could do was stare.

Suddenly, he heard Rainbow shriek behind him and he spun around in an instant. What he saw was the last drop in the barrel.

Rainbow Dash had seemingly jumped a few hooves backwards, when something touched her hoof and when Shining looked what it was, he noted with shock that it seemed like some sort of empty exoskeleton that resembled the two ‘changelings’ that were with Frosty.

The sight made Shining feel sick. No matter how much he tried to excuse his sister, he ultimately couldn’t. He was confused, he was desperate and maybe even a little sick, but first and foremost, he was angry.

He teleported Rainbow and himself back to the group, where Twilight was already waiting and greeting them.

Shining didn’t say anything. He only moved to his sister.

“Hey Shining, what’s wrong, what did you—“ She was cut off by Shining’s hoof slamming into her face. She fell to the ground, a thick bruise already starting to form on her cheek.

“TWILIGHT, WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING?!” He shouted at her, tears gathering in his eyes. “I knew that you would do anything for the Princess, but I never would’ve thought that you would even just THINK about killing a single pony, never mind an ENTIRE CIVILIZATION!”

The others gasped as they heard this. “What?! Did you really--?“ Rainbow stammered.

“No! Girls, I swear, that wasn’t me! That was—“ Twilight tried to defend, but Shining cut her off.

“It’s no use anymore, Twily. I can’t just blindly believe you anymore after everything that I’ve seen here.” Shining said, on the verge of crying. “… You aren’t my sister anymore.” He said, turning around and heading back.

Twilight was shocked beyond words. She wanted to tell them what really happened, prove to them that she was innocent… but she had already tried multiple times and with each time… they seemed to trust her less.

Her former friends passed her shortly after Shining had left. They didn’t even spare her a glance. She wanted to talk to them, clear things up at least a little, but when she tried, she immediately received an intense glare by Applejack.

The girls left just like Shining did and Twilight remained, alone, exhausted and heartbroken. She didn`t know how long she stayed in the Badlands, but when she arrived back in Ponyville, night had already set in and everypony seemed to be asleep.

She quietly made her way to her room, sat onto the bed… and couldn’t sleep. Too many thoughts plagued her mind to allow her to rest.

She had lost everything. Her family, her friends, the Elements of Harmony and most importantly, she had no clue how it could’ve come to this. She was accused of things she never did and everypony seemed certain of her guilt, even though she never really had the chance to defend herself. To her, it seemed like there was no way out of this… almost, at least.

Her eyes scanned her room and fell on the balcony, upon which she had set up her stargazing equipment and as her body set itself into motion, her broken mind came up with one last alternative – one last way out that she hadn’t tried.

She stepped out into the cold midnight breeze, past her telescope and towards the railing.

She looked down. The height alone likely wasn’t enough to kill a pony instantly. Most likely she would just break her legs, ribs and a few other bones and then slowly bleed to death. However, there was also the mailbox. It wasn’t pointy enough to impale her, sure, but if she aimed carefully and hit it head-first, it might crush her skull and thus grant her a quick end.

Deciding that this was her best bet, she placed herself in the optimal position, swung a hoof up onto the railing and leaned over…

…only to be yanked back by a white hoof.

“No! Shining! Let me go, please! Please, it’s no use anymore! I just… I can’t—“ Twilight sobbed and cried and struggled against the grip around her.

“I’m sorry, Twilight, but I’m not your brother. Still, even I can’t let your life end in such a way.” The pony behind her said in a coltish voice that made her freeze the moment she heard it.

“W-w-what are you doing here?” She asked fearfully, as she slowly turned her head to the side and looked into a light grey face with a white mane.

“I’m saving you from the biggest mistake of your life.” He answered smugly.

“What? No… NO! I don’t want to be saved by you! Let me go!” She demanded, struggling against his grip. However, even a grown unicorn mare like her couldn’t do anything against a necromancy-boosted colt like him.

“And let you jump to your death? No. Twilight please, don’t throw your life away like that! There is so much that you can do to make the world better and you just want to throw all of that away?” Frosty questioned.

“That comes from the one colt who made me do this in the first place!” Twilight spat. “You were the one who destroyed our bond and made me look like a villain! So now at least let me die like one!”

“That’s just the thing: I didn’t. I never made any move to set you up against each other Twilight. All I ever did was trying to survive.” Frosty reasoned.

“Oh yeah?! Then why has everything gone downhill, ever since you were found out?!” Twilight spat, though it came out like more sobbing.

“Did you ever notice that every time your relationship with your friends worsened was preceded by an action from Princess Celestia?” Frosty pointed out.

“Oh, now you’re trying to blame the Princess?!”

“No. Just like you, I am a citizen of Equestria and love my princesses, Twilight… however…” Frosty hesitated.

“What?”

“There seems to be a darkness corrupting Celestia’s very soul. I first noticed it during the incident here in Ponyville, when she tried to blast me, and have since spotted multiple individuals with similar corruption. Fortunately I also found out that it can be cleansed with soul magic, so healing her should be possible.” Frosty assured.

“Heh, so why didn’t you cure her already?” Twilight demanded.

“Because even – or rather, especially -- I can’t just walk into the palace and use magic on the princesses.” Frosty stated flatly.

“True… alright, then we can just use the elements! I’m sure they’ll be useful.”

“The elements are currently inoperable due to your less-than-ideal relationship with your ‘friends’.” Frosty pointed out.

“Yes, I know, but… I can fix this… Yeah, I can…” Twilight assured herself.

“Maybe, yeah, but it would all be much easier if we were to work together.” Frosty offered. “Please, Twilight. I like you quite a lot you know? You were a fantastic teacher and are a very kind mare. I would hate seeing you on the other side of my horn one day.”

“Y-you can’t sweet-talk me to your side!” Twilight insisted, though with a much less hostile tone than at the beginning.

“By siding with me, you might also win your friend’s and familiy’s trust back.”

That seemed to be the last straw needed. Twilight froze for just a second, but tried to hide it. Frosty noticed anyways, however, and now knew that his prey had taken the bait.

“Sadly, I can no longer stay with you and try to convince you. Really, I am very sorry for everything that you went through.” He said. “I hope we will soon see each other again. Farewell.” Frosty said, before teleporting away.

Twilight was now alone on the balcony, in the freezing midnight air. Her mind was in shambles, her body was freezing and her world was on the brink of destruction. Thus, she decided that going to bed was the best option for now. However, sleep wouldn’t come easily to her, as today’s happenings were plagueing her mind and keeping her from resting properly, until her body finally yielded and her exhaustion carried her into the realm of dreams.