Chapter Fifteen
Armor Rising

The sun was shining, it was a beautiful day in all of Equestria, and Shining Armor was apparently in the town of Ponyville at a park. There was a bunch of foals playing on the equipment made for them, laughing and screaming in joy. Shining’s sister, Twilight Sparkle, was there at the park too, sitting on a bench across the entire park and beckoning for him.

Shining tried to run to her, but found he could only walk slowly. No matter, he supposed, the day was too nice to run in anyway. There was no rush. It was almost like heaven; the temperature was pleasant, there wasn’t a cloud in the bright blue sky, and everypony was happy and having fun.

A group of foals charged right past Shining Armor, yelling and screaming in delight as they chased one another around the park. The rush of perceived danger at being tagged by one of their friends enough to make them move their little bodies as fast as they could.

This is a wonderful life to live Shining Armor thought as he continued to make his way across the park, still heading for his sister who was now calling to him, her voice faint over the shouts of the children.

This is what life should be like. For everyone Shining thought, passing by a jungle gym and watching a colt and filly constantly chasing each other down the slide. Rushing back to the top and repeating the process over and over. Before long the filly wised up and waited at the bottom of the slide for the colt to come down, who saw her too late and was already sliding down when the filly tackled him, kissing him on the cheek and relishing in the colt’s cries of “ewwww!!”

Huge smile on his face at the display Shining carried on, noting that it was getting a little warmer out. It wasn’t a substantial increase in heat, but it definitely rose several degrees.

Shining Armor could only feel a sense of longing and jealousy as he watched the children play, deeply reminiscing over the days when he had done the same. Now he was an adult, had a real life, a job, responsibilities, things that most of these foals can not currently understand. In their world life is all fun and joy, playing with their friends, laughing and screaming in delight.

Goddess it’s getting hot! Is...is everything simmering?

Halfway across the park, in the middle of the playground, the heat suddenly skyrocketed and everything was on fire. The screams of happiness from the foals turned to screams and shrieks of horrific pain as they were all set ablaze, their fur cooking off in seconds and their skin warping and melting at the heat. Their eyes boiled and popped and they could do nothing but writhe on the ground or run in circles as they struggled to escape the pain.

Shining Armor observed in horror as all of Equestria was now on fire except for him and his sister; the screams of horror and pain rang throughout the entire country and from all corners and cities.

One young colt whose eyes had melted ran right past Shining Armor and slammed headfirst into a merry-go-round, one that was on fire and still spinning with foals on it, also burning and scorching away. The colt never stopped screaming as he desperately slammed his head into the merry-go-round until his skull cracked and he died, his brain matter sizzling and boiling like water in a cooking pot.

As he got closer and closer to Twilight Shining saw more foals desperately trying to rid themselves of the flames. One unicorn filly composed her brain long enough to channel magic to her horn, an act that backfired when her spell faltered and shot off, trapping her little brother by his throat and forcing her to watch and listen as he cooked alive, unable to save him or herself.

Another unicorn filly got enough magic to her horn long enough to completely rid her body of fire, though her fur was completely gone and her skin was black and red from popped blood vessels and from skin that had melted and fused all across her body. She lied motionless on the ground and continued to scream as she still burned, though she wasn’t on fire. Looking up Shining Armor saw the sun was much closer to Equestria, its side almost inside the atmosphere of the planet. The unicorn filly’s body split open from the heat and her insides were subjected to the same torture. Her lungs were incinerated and her heart popped like an over-inflated balloon.

Through the screams of horror and pain Shining Armor finally reached his sister, who was unscathed like him and still sitting calmly on the bench. Her eyes were closed, and when she opened them they were on fire, though she seemed unaffected by it.

“Twiley, did you do this?”

Smile on her face and fire literally in her eyes Twilight Sparkle looked up at her older brother and whispered “we all suffer for what you do.”

~~~~

Screams echoed through the halls of the Changeling prison as Shining Armor awoke from his nightmare, confined within a cell deep underground. The walls were black. The floor was black. Even the ceiling and bars were black, and four green squares were set on the wall behind his bed.

Eyes wide and head jerking as he looked around Shining Armor could hear the echo of the pained screams still in his head from the nightmare as he struggled to get them to go away.

For two months he had been trapped at the prison, which had actually been a quite pleasant experience when all things were considered. He was fed hot meals, allowed to take hot showers as long as he was accompanied by a guard, and his cell and bed were warm. It had almost been a luxurious vacation.

Shining Armor knew what they were doing, though. They were merely trying to make him sympathize and be grateful to them. Despite how nice it is, he still can see the reality.

He needed to escape.

He already had a plan and knowledge of a few of the floors of the prison, and had taken them into consideration when devising his plan. He knew that the day was coming when the Changelings would transfer him into the custody of the Princesses, and that would be his chance to escape.

Based on what he had seen Shining Armor was imprisoned on the fourth floor of an underground complex, and there was an elevator shaft that obviously lead to the surface. He had no knowledge of the surface layout, however.

Once outside his plan was to secure some type of land vehicle to make his getaway as he was too afraid of getting slashed down by Changeling aircraft, which had the ability to extend their titanium wings which were strong and sharp enough to slice through entire other aircraft, which was how they destroyed his DRAVM two months ago.

Right. Right. Left, right, left. The spiral staircase. Three rights and the final left before the elevator. Watch out for the guards.

The plan was all set and ready to be executed, and wouldn’t be too hard for Shining to pull off. The hardest part was simply the waiting game.

And any unexpected surprises... NO! No surprises. There are no surprises. This is gonna go off without a hitch and I’ll be back leading the Peace Fighters in no time.

A door opened somewhere nearby and hoofsteps could be heard, steadily approaching Shining Armor’s cell. Before long a Changeling guard came into view, stopping before the Peace Fighter leader’s cell and fishing for his keys.

“It’s time. We’re handing you over to the Princesses today” the guard said, sliding the door open and approaching Shining.

Once he was close enough Shining Armor swept the guard’s hooves out from under him, forcing him to topple to the ground. In a flash Captain Armor slipped his right hoof around the guard’s neck and pulled hard, pinching off his airways so hard it was like a clothespin was clamped on them.

The guard was out in seconds, and Shining Armor grabbed his gear. Knife in his left hoof and pistol in his right the Peace Fighter ducked out of his cell and headed immediately for the elevator, being sure to stay quiet.

Reaching and stepping into the elevator Shining hit the button for the surface and patiently rode it out, trying to drum up a plan for once he reached the surface.

Just get a vehicle. Just get a vehicle and you’ll be fine... But what about pursuing vehicles?

Reaching the surface with a ding the doors opened and Shining Armor darted out, grabbing the guard closest to him by the neck and crouching low, rolling the changeling over his shoulder and throwing him into the other guard, knocking them both out.

Stripping them of their ammo Shining rushed down the hall before reaching a window that looked outside, forced to shield his eyes from the intense light of the sun, which he had not seen in over two months.

The sun that reminded him of his mission. That would forever remind him of his corrupt Princesses.

The Princesses wanted me. Wanted the Changelings to give me to them. Well...they’ll get me, alright.

Perusing the rest of the Changeling base Shining noticed that no alert had been raised, meaning no one knew he was escaping. Deciding to take the best of the advantage the Peace Fighter Captain perused the rest of the base that he could see and committed it to memory, seeing what was undoubtedly the command center on the left side.

It was strange architecture, but then again so was most of that which belonged to the Changelings. It had a three-story flat base, but a tower stuck out of the middle which was a vaguely T-shaped, but the arms of the T slanted downwards. The building was solid black with an occasional assortment of blue or red lights.

Deciding that he’d need to get there to prevent any kind of chase Shining Armor was about to move out when an intense humming caught his attention, one that quickly soon provided an increase in temperature around him before it passed along with the thing making the humming.

It was an aircraft. One unlike anything Shining had ever seen before. It had no rotors, only thrusters to keep it afloat and moving. It was unusual, but it would likely make for the best escape vehicle.

The strange aircraft banked towards the command center and the Captain got moving, wanting to kill two Griffins with one stone by eliminating a chance of the Changelings pursuing him and stealing the mysterious aircraft.

Captain Armor proceeded down the rest of the hall and went through the doors there, finding a security checkpoint waiting for him.

I knew there’d be one eventually.

Darting into action he raised his knife and whipped it, striking one of the four guards in the throat with the blade. Leaping forward and landing in their midst Shining Armor toppled two more and turned on the fourth just as she hit the base-wide alarm. Shining shot her in the head before finishing off the two Changelings on the ground with the knife.

The whole base on alert Shining made his way down and outside, slamming the double doors open and presenting himself to the outside world once again.

Looking up Shining saw a wing of Changeling aircraft similar in nature to DRAVMs mobilizing and heading straight for the prison block.

Back to work.

Knowing all too well that being on the ground when being chased by aircraft would quickly quell his uprising Shining Armor ran back into the building and decided to hijack some anti-air weaponry from the armory, as well as stock up on other weapons.

Stealing a map from the check-in area Shining went to the armory on the second floor, killing the guard and taking his key. Opening up the array the Captain perused the quite respectable selection of foreign firearms and quickly appropriated one of their rocket launchers for use. There were also magazines for the handgun he had stolen, as well as some strange rifle on the wall, behind a glass screen.

CSC-12C: Changeling Service Carbine for the 12th Century. This rifle is to be the standard issue rifle for all branches of the Kingdom’s military ground forces. This weapon, which fires a 12.7x39mm round from 30 round magazines represents the future of small-arms technology. The rounds, which do not possess the incendiary capabilities of the Equestrians’ Solar Pulse round, are more powerful than any other round yielded in any two-hooved gun developed by Her Majesty Chrysalis. Despite its heavy round, the CSC-12C does not have any significant recoil due to the development of advanced machinery provided by our rich titanium industry. Combining a blowback shifted pulse with a roller-delayed blowback mechanism the CSC-12C is a rifle in which all recoil is shifted equally to the sides, resulting in 0 kick felt by the operator or muzzle drift. The magazines are also quite a change from any of those seen in any other rifle. Straying from the plunger-fed “clip sticks” used by the Equestrian Empire the Kingdom’s engineers sought out a system to developed spring-loaded magazines which result in more reliable feeding and easier loading. CSC-12C and its derivatives are to be the Kingdom of the Changelings’ primary military small arm for the 12th century and beyond.

-Note: magazines must be inserted front first and then rocked back to lock into place. Please consult technical manual for visual instructions.

Unsealing the glass screen Shining Armor picked up the rifle and looked it over. It looked more like it belonged in the hands of those who have fingers, and like something out of a space opera. It was light, but not so much that it felt like a toy. The sights were clean, and when he shouldered it Shining had to admit it was extremely comfortable.

Rocking in one of the magazines and pulling the bolt the Captain found that since the magazine protruded forward under the handguard it was a little cramped for his large hoof, but overall it was comfortable to wield.

Slinging the rocket system he had grabbed over his shoulder and shoving extra mags for the CSC-12C into pouches for a belt he’d taken Captain Armor rushed through the upper floors of the topside prison facility and reached the roof, taking aim with the missile launcher and downing the wing of Changeling DRAVMs that had come for him, clearing the skies at least temporarily.

As he was about to head back down Shining heard the humming again and turned around, seeing the mysterious aircraft from before rising up from beneath the horizon of the roof, facing directly at the Peace Fighter.

Now that he was closer Shining could inspect the vehicle, recognizing what was on the wings: the massive discs he had seen on the Cobra Star.

The aircraft was massive, quite bigger than the average DRAVM, and possessed a design unmistakable for anything else. The wings were mounted to the top of the body and ended in discs which had hundreds of small thrusters on the bottom and top to provide vertical thrust. The head hung down from the body and was allowed to swivel left and right as the pilot pleased, and hanging back from the body was a tail of sorts which possessed the thrusters arranged in an over-and-under format for horizontal drive. The vehicle was all black except for the cockpit windscreen which was of a blue hue, and the thrusters that glowed orange. The armament looked minimal, as they were just two slug-blasters mounted side-by-side under the chin.

“Shining ARMOR! Feast your eyes upon that which is to be the cause of your death: METAL HORNET! A vehicle which signifies great advancement in the aerial field and a sign of my alliance with the Princesses!” a voice screamed from the cockpit of the aircraft.

“That voice... Queen Chrysalis!” Shining shouted.

“Your very existence has plagued my mind since the moment I met you, Shining Armor, and though the Princesses wish to have you alive I’m certain they would be more than happy to see you dead, and that METAL HORNET was the tool used!” Chrysalis declared.

Looking the aircraft over again Shining had to give credit to those who made it; it very much looked like a hornet.

“If you’re so eager to try out your new toy, then come GET ME!” Captain Shining Armor exclaimed, slamming another rocket into the launching system and spinning it around onto his shoulder, crouching low and preparing for METAL HORNET to attack.

Author's Note

Author's note: sorry for the near hour-late release. I was negotiating a deal for a new airsoft gun(a gun that I didn't even end up getting. More details in this weekend's blog update).

Legal Note: Queen Chrysalis, Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. All original characters belong to their respective owners.