Survival Begins at Home

Shining and Cadance were once again in their carriage, leaving one city for another. Manehattan was well-defended, and had been a massive victory for Equestria. In the unlikely event that the Zebras returned, Manehattan would be ready to meet them. Even better, with the new weapons, dubbed 'cannons,' they could take back the coastline from the zebras.

Shining didn't know what awaited them in Canterlot, merely that it was imperative that they go right away. Cadance looked concerned when she read the summons, but she hadn't shared what it said yet. She had said she would bring it up on the road, but so far, she'd said nothing.

They were about halfway there before she said anything. "Shining, do you want to know the reason why we have to go to Canterlot right away?"

Shining looked over. He'd been staring out the window thus far. "I don't. Do you?"

Cadance nodded. "Yesterday, when you supposed to have brought in that ship full of prisoners, it sank. There were some of the higher-ups that needed to ask about it. Now Shiny, you know I love you, and I'll stand behind you no matter what, but I need to know what happened. I need you to tell me the truth. What happened out there?"

Shining sighed and looked down at the floor. "I don't remember everything. There was a point where everything goes blank, and I lost everything between that moment and the point where I woke up underwater. My first thought was that I fell off the ship."

"There were theories that you blew up the ship. How likely is that?"

Shining shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I did, but I don't remember."

"There's also a theory that you let the prisoners go, and they blew up the ship."

Shining shook his head. "I can almost guarantee that's not what happened. I would have liked nothing more than to lock them away forever. I would never set them free."

"Not even if ordered to?"

Shining looked away. He didn't have an answer.

Cadance shook her head. "I know how much you despise them, Shiny. I know you want to make it clear how much they hurt you, but this wasn't the way. To kill off the surrendered soldiers is cowardly."

"I couldn't stomach them anymore," admitted Shining. "They were all bragging about how they were going to defile Twilight in the afterlife, and that they were coming for you next. I couldn't take it anymore. I just blacked out, and I don't know what happened after. Maybe I blew them up, maybe it was an accident. I don't know."

Cadance stood up and moved to the other side of the carriage to Shining's side. "When they question you, it would be best if you were sure of your answers. I can't be in there with you for all of that, so we need to be sure of it all before we arrive."

"I know," nodded Shining, placing his hand on his wife's knee. "I'm going to be honest with them, as I have with you. I did not set them free, I did not help them release themselves. I may have tried to kill them, I may have tried to kill myself, it may have all been an accident. I don't know what caused the explosion."

Cadance was about to say something, but the carriage stopped suddenly. "What's happening?"

There was a knock at the carriage door. "Prince Shining Armor, you're needed out here."

With a kiss to his wife, Shining stepped out of the carriage onto the road. Looking forward, he saw an Equestrian soldier dragging himself toward them. He was wounded, with arrows protruding from his lower body. His face was very pale, and he'd very clearly lost a lot of blood. Shining rushed toward him and assessed his wounds. He was in very poor shape.

"We're going to take you into town," promised Shining, picking him up. "You're going to a medic, you're going to be in the best care I can give you." He climbed back into the carriage, laying the soldier down on the floor at Cadance's feet. She immediately came down to meet his level, doing everything she could to ensure his survival, which came down to just putting pressure on his wounds and giving him some water to drink. She was no medic.

"Where's the nearest town?" asked Shining of the escorts. "We need one with a doctor."

As Shining stepped back into the carriage, the answer came in the form of his escorts taking off back up the road they'd just come from. The nearest large city was behind them. They took off at a higher pace than they had been going, but slow enough so as not to create undue turbulence that would knock the injured soldier around.

"What company are you from?" asked Shining, pressing down around one of the arrow shafts. He looked over the uniform and saw that he was a Private First Class, barely any kind of rank. His uniform also told Shining that he was a member of the 108th division. "I need you to stay with me, and I need to know who you are."

"I belong to the one zero eight," he wheezed. "They tortured me, their bloodlust to sate."

"What happened to the rest of your group?"

"Zebrican soldiers stormed our encampment in the dark of night. They killed the others, but saw me as a blight. I was made an example of those who don't return. They shot me several times and left my body to burn."

Feeling suspicious, Shining shifted the soldier's garment forward. Running along his body were stripes. He was a zebra. Despite this, Shining believed his story. There were burns on his legs, and more importantly, the arrows protruding from his body were zebra arrows. It would be foolish to pull out Equestrian arrows only to stab zebra arrows in their place. The soldier was wearing some light armor, very basic stuff, just restricted to a breastplate. That hadn't protected his legs at all.

"What's your name?" asked Cadance.

"Jericho," he gasped. "My friends called me Jerry. I was born in Equestria, and I'm not your adversary."

"Hold on for just a little longer, Jericho," said Shining, holding onto him. "We're almost there."