Power lies deep within

Everything went too fast for Twilight.

First, she got a letter telling her that something terrible was coming up and now it had already happened?

What happened?

What was that creature?

What were it's intentions?

What was her teacher doing?

She had so many questions, but right now there was nothing she could do. The portal had brought them right into the middle of the chaos.

They were outside of the circle, on the other side of the room from the princesses. There was no way to reach them.

Celestia had seen them enter the room. She signaled Twilight to stand still.

"Stay here everyone!" Twilight said to her friends, "Until we know what is going on we should not provoke that creature".

It came too late. Rainbow Dash had already taken off. A few moments later she landed in front of the creature.

"Hey you!", she yelled, "What in the hay do you think you're doing!"

"MOVE AWAY FROM THERE RAINBOW DASH", Celestia said with a strong, royal voice.

"She is of no threat to you", she spoke to the creature.

The creature raised it's head and opened it's eyes. The expression on his face clearly showed his patience was running short.

"You know I did not come here to fight", it spoke with a surprisingly soft voice.

Then with a firmer, almost threatening voice it said: "If I wanted to harm you I would have destroyed this city long before you would have realized that I was here".

It closed it's eyes and sighed.

This was the moment Shining Armour saw an opening. The creature’s guard was down, even if it was for just a moment. He jumped on the opportunity to attack.

The next events happened in a split second.

Shining Armour had jumped towards the creature, his horn glowing more fiercely than before. He was ready to fire his shot.

Celestia raised her hoof, as if she wanted to grab the captain of the guard and stop him. Her mouth opened to call him back, but it was too late.

The electricity in the air crackled loudly.

Shining Armour realized that the creature had not dropped it's guard.

He had made a grave mistake.

The creature's arm shot out. It glowed the same way a unicorn's horn glowed when casting magic. It’s open palm crashed into his chest. His armour cracked under the pressure of the enormous force of the hit. He was thrown back into the wall behind the princesses, where he landed on the ground.

He did not move.

The electricity faded from the room.

The guards that surrounded the creature watched with open mouths as their captain was defeated in a single hit. They took a step back, not knowing what to do for a second. Their loyalty would soon compel them to launch an all out attack. A battle, they all knew, they would not win.

"ALL OF YOU, LOWER YOUR WEAPONS!"

Princess Celestia stepped forward, commanding the guards with the majestic tone of real royalty.

"This is far beyond any of your power!", she said while lowering her voice and almost whispering she added: "Or mine"

They obeyed their ruler.

Twilight saw her brother's defeat. His landing against the wall, his fall on the ground. Tears shot into her eyes when she saw that he did not move after that. Like everyone, she realized that the force behind the attack of the creature was enough to destroy a building. She had to see to her brother!

Her horn glowed as she teleported herself to his side. She didn’t even hear the princesses command to stay where she was. Her head brushed against his, as she asked what was on everyone's mind now.

"Shining Armour?”

“Big brother?”

“Are you alright?”

“Shining Armour!"

He did not respond.

She put her hoofs on his chest and shook his motionless body.

"Wake up!”

“Wake up!”

“Shining Armour!”

Tears were dripping from her face as she yelled in powerless frustration.

“Wake up... PLEASE!"

Everyone else in the room was silent. They could not believe what had just happened. All of them stood still, they could not move, they could not speak, they were completely frozen. They all felt as hopeless as Twilight. Their captain was defeated and there was nothing any of them could have done. The attack had come so fast that they didn't realize it had happened before Shining Armour had hit the ground.

The creature sighed.

"I'm sorry", it said, again with a soft voice, "it should not have come to this"

It stepped towards Twilight and Shining Armour. The guards in it's path stepped aside. They would not dare draw their weapons anymore.

It kneeled next to twilight, who was in tears. Sinking her head in Shining Armour's side.

"I'm sorry little one, please, let me make this right"

"You monster!" Twilight sobbed, watching the creature right in the eye.

"You killed my brother! Get away from him!"

She tried to push the creature away, frustrated, powerless, hopeless. The whole room held it's breath for what the creature would do. But it did nothing. It did not attack.

The creature put one hand on Shining Armour's body. Twilight tried to stop it. She knew that she could do nothing against this creature that was almost three times bigger than she was, but in her sorrow she tried everything she could to keep him away.

“Please... just leave us alone!”, she yelled.

The creature's hand began to glow. After a few moments, the glow radiated to Shining Armour's entire body. This went on for about a minute. Twilight had moved in front of the creature, still sobbing while banging her head against it’s chest, as if she wanted to hurt him. Then, Shining Armour inhaled deeply and a few moments after that, opened his eyes. He looked confused.

"Do you remember what happened?" The creature asked.

"Yes", Shining Armour replied. He tried to pull Twilight away from the creature’s chest. Afraid that it would hurt her too.

"I'm truly sorry about what I did" it said.

"I let my frustration get the better of me, and defended against your attack, knowing that it was too powerful for you".

It bowed its head.

"I'm sorry", it whispered.

"Even after all this time, I'm only human"