A Secret in Shining Armour

Shining Armour stepped into the dark corridor under the palace kitchen. At the end of this hall was a long-forgotten dungeon from the reign of Nightmare Moon. The evil princess from 1000 years prior had secretly built this prison to hold those who opposed her oppressive regime. After regaining the throne, Princess Celestia sealed this dungeon so that no one could use it again. After Celestia was dethroned once again, the dragons used it to hide away enemies if the state; to make them "disappear".

Shining Armour had heard of it only a few times himself, some rumors from the gossiping guards on night duty. Once he took a wrong step on duty and finally found this cursed room. Of course he knew better than to stroll into such a forbidden room and left immediately, however now he had no choice but to venture deep into that hidden corridor built so long ago.

As he neared the mighty dungeon door, he took a deep breath and prepared for whatever awaited him beyond that point. He pushed the door open and let the torchlight flood the hallway, and immediately, as if waiting in line, a thousand moans of dying ponies crammed into a foal-sized compartment permeated the unicorn's ears. The sound tormented him, but the sight was more horrific still. He wanted to flee, to wake up from the nightmare standing before his eyes. Ponies, young and old, innocent and guilty, all tossed aside to die. Corpses covered the floors of the loathsome cells and the overbearing odour of death filled the air, utterly repulsive.

He slunk into the chamber, avoiding to the best of his ability the blood, vomit, and fecal matter that painted the cold stone floor. Looking around, he saw hundreds of familiar faces, all staring at him, hoping only for death to come quickly. It seemed nigh impossible to find his dearest in the crowds, even less that he might be alive at all. Despite this, he could not give up, for how could he leave Steel Hunk in such a place?

As if by miracle, Shining Armour found himself face to face with his comrade. He nearly burst into tears at the sight of him.
"Steel Hunk!" he cried, unable to hide his joy or relief. He had come to save Steel Hunk, so why was he desperate for the safety of his friend's presence?

Steel Hunk was too weak to answer but just met his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. Shining Armour broke the bars that separated them and pulled out Steel Hunk. He carefully placed him on his back and carried him out of the wretched dungeon.

Steel Hunk could not help but question the morality of his savior. Although he was eternally grateful for the rescue, how could he leave so many innocent ponies in that dungeon. He looked down at the handsome unicorn clad in shining dragon armour, his knight in shining armour. With one glance he forgot it all; how could so beautiful a stallion be immoral?

Shining Armour traversed the hallways, exhausted from carrying an adult stallion all the way, only to find the entrance he came through sealed off. He grew nervous and longed for the comforting words of his companion but no such words could be heard: Steel Hunk had fallen asleep. With no other options, he went back through the pitch-black hallways, this time checking everywhere for another exit.

A full hour later, he still walked the hallways. Forwards he crept, careful to not disturb the pegasus on his back. Still, his steps proved too heavy to be ignored by trapdoors and similar triggers. As he took a step forward, Shining Armour felt the ground beneath him sink. He froze, but it did him no good. The ground dropped, letting the hallway fill with light. He heard Steel Hunk groan a bit, then go silent. The floor had given way to reveal an exit. Relieved, he walked through the door, not a thought about what or who could be on the other side, not a second of consideration about whether the door led to friend or foe.

Shining Armor carelessly walked out into the throne room. After a moment, he came back to his senses and darted behind a column, terrified.

Luckily he had not been caught. In fact, the dragon empress was quite preoccupied with a pitiful guest. Shining Armour lay hidden behind the column, not daring to look out, but something caught his attention, something seemed off……

“Please!” a mare’s voice called out, “I’ll send him far away from here, I’ll do triple the work, anything! Just please, let him go!”

The voice sent shivers down the spine of Shining Armour. That voice…his mother’s…

“Listen here, pony,” spat the furious blue dragon, “Why should I send off one of my best workers? Just to get more work out of you? Because you begged me to? Triple the work from you is just a fraction of what that son of yours can do. And not only that, he’s a member of Equestrian royalty. A prince like him is incredibly valuable beyond Equestria.”

“I’ll do all of the work he did! More than that! You can take everything I have! Ju-”

“You’ll do as much work as I tell you to, regardless of whether we free your son or not. I don’t know if you’ve realised it yet, but we’re the ones who give the orders. We don’t free your son to get your little collection of trinkets. And if you think sending him farther away will somehow make me want to free him more you’d be sorely mistaken. Now shut your mouth and get back to your post. You’ve already come here three times to beg for your kids’ freedom. Another attempt and I’ll have to send you where I sent your husband.”

Twilight Velvet opened her mouth to speak but was quickly interrupted by a large red dragon who covered her mouth and dragged her out the door. Visibly irritated,the dragon empress stormed off to an adjacent room, leaving the room nearly unguarded.

Steel Hunk, Steel Hunk, awakened by the slamming of the door behind the dragon, raised his head and listened. He just barely heard the mumbling of his compatriot who looked on, shaking: “She even uses those tricks on the dragon empress……”