Act Two Finale, Chapter Nineteen
Them

The clock was ticking, but it wasn’t in urgency. Instead it was merely clicking away, denoting the passing of the seconds. Shining Armor, Strong Spear, and Gleaming Bullet were the only ones that could hear it, the only ones able to count the seconds one by one. The steady beat of the ticks, mechanical and methodical. Never missing a tick. Just constant and perfect repetition.

It was driving Gleaming insane.

“Is... Is it true?” Shining Armor suddenly asked, pacing back and forth in front of the Corporal. Lieutenant Spear sat in the corner, watching as the older stallion walked around the younger one, who was strapped to a chair.

“Is what true?” Gleaming replied.

“YOU KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT! DO NOT FUCK WITH ME, SOLDIER, OR I WILL KILL YOU! IS. IT. TRUE?! ANSWER ME” Shining screamed, grabbing the Corporal by the shoulders and getting in his face.

Gleaming Bullet sighed and hung his head low, saying “yes” just loud enough for Shining to hear. At this Shining Armor pulled back and continued pacing, though it was faster this time, like he was letting his anger fester.

Coming to a sudden stop in front of the Corporal Captain Armor tapped his right fore hoof against the steel floor, contemplating what to do next.

“I’m sorry” the Captain remarked as he pulled out the custom M6 he took off of Chrysalis’ body, pressing the barrel to the Corporal’s head. The younger soldier looked into his eyes, a kind of fear but resignation to his fate mixed within.

“WAIT! Let him explain” Strong Spear declared, getting to her hooves.

Frowning in anger Shining lowered the gun and returned it to its holster, waiting impatiently for the young Corporal to begin speaking his piece.

“I still remember it, to this day. The Mid-Morning War, I mean. An event which cracked the foundation of Equestria. The gunfire from within the tower, confusion, wondering who or what might be attacking us. I was in the gallery hall when an alert went out on the radio; ‘attention all soldiers of the army, two fugitives are on the loose in Canterlot Tower. The stallion is to be eliminated, but the mare is to be spared. Find them immediately’” the Corporal started, recounting his perspective of the events that formed the Peace Fighters and started the war.

“I lead my squad through the lower halls of the tower, down into the basement. We soon found the two fugitives and engaged, doing our best to keep from hitting the mare... There was nothing dramatic about it. She didn’t catch a bullet for you, she didn’t get hit in a vital area and bleed out. She was simply killed... Just, in an instant. One second she was there, running with her fellow ‘fugitive’ and trying to escape, and the next she was dead. Her companion went on, and we lost him.”

“I didn’t know it was Cadence until after we went back for the body. I was disappointed, sad, and confused. We took her back and I was forced to give a full debriefing to the Princesses in person. I told it to them both straight, and didn’t spare a detail... Luna wanted me executed, but Celestia allowed me to live. Apparently they wanted Cadence alive because they intended to save her whether she wanted it or not. Celestia is... She’s not what we make her out to be. She understands war, she understands that what I did was an accident” Gleaming continued.

“I lived with what I did, and my career went on. I lead the Empire’s Armies during the Battle of Ponyville, during the Siege of Stalliongrad, and during countless other skirmishes against the Peace Fighters. Every time it was the same thing; their ‘leader’, Lieutenant Strong Spear, was spouting stuff about ‘the truth’ and how we’re all ‘sheep’. The rest of my stallions brushed it off, declaring it typical revolutionary crap. I, however, looked between the lines. I sought the truth, and found it” the Corporal said.

Gleaming looked up and directly into Shining’s eyes, allowing him to see the truth behind his words. “When I learned of what the Princesses are I felt worse than the day I killed Cadence. I realized you were right, your Peace Fighters were right, and that I had been fighting against those who had been right all along. I felt the need to join you, to repay for what I did. Nothing will ever absolve me of taking Cadence’s life, but know that now I fight for the truth” Gleaming Bullet finished.

Still standing stoic Shining Armor sighed and turned away, leaving the interrogation room for the halls outside. Lieutenant Spear followed quickly behind, glad that the situation had cooled down after Gleaming’s story.

“Shining...” Strong Spear said, unsure of what to say. Shining closed and locked the door and walked down the hall, opening the door to the other interrogation room.

“Let’s see what this guy knows, then we’ll figure out what to do with Gleaming” Shining Armor declared, stepping into the room where Red Dragon was secured. Over 20 leather straps, steel locks, and chains securing him to the metal chair which was bolted to the floor.

Sealing the door the two ponies sat down in front of the dragon and waited patiently, simply staring at him. The assassin stared back, saying nothing and not even moving. If Shining didn’t know any better he would swear the dragon was dead.

“What is your name?” Shining started, standing up and beginning to walk around RD. There was no response.

“Where are you from?”

“Do you have any family? Friends?”

“Is our base in danger?”

There was never a response from Red Dragon, who simply sat still. Glancing over at Strong Spear Shining sighed and rubbed at his head. The stallion considered executing Red, but thought there still might be hope for getting something out him. His silence was starting to piss Shining off, however.

“Alright, I’m tired of this. Strong, get that helmet off of him, I wanna know who this bastard is” Shining ordered, turning away from the dragon as the Lieutenant got to work, pulling on the helmet fully encasing RD’s head.

With a hiss and a pop the helmet came loose and Lieutenant Spear tossed it to the floor.

“S...Shining...?” a voice not belonging to Strong asked, fearful and hesitant, but also sounding like he was far past the breaking point.

Turning around Shining felt almost surreal, staring into the face of Red Dragon. His purple scales scratched and scarred and his green eyes empty and dull.

Eyes wide and blinking Shining quickly approached the dragon at Lieutenant Spear’s disapproval, claiming he couldn’t be trusted.

“S-Spike...? Spike is that you?” Captain Armor asked, squatting lower so he could look the drake in the eyes. He looked scared, broken, and traumatized, but it was still the same library assistant he once knew.

“Goddess...what did they do to you?” Shining said, still not believing what he was seeing. The Captain never thought the Princesses would go so low as to subject a young and frail dragon to the horrors of war. Spike may be a teenage dragon, but based on his peaceful upbringing being forced to kill was surely enough to break him.

“Spike...? Why did you try killing us, if you recognize me?” Shining asked, wondering if Lieutenant Spear was right to be wary of him.

Swallowing back his breakdown Spike sighed and began. “The...suit. It’s the suit. There’s a cable that connects to a port installed in the back of our heads, and when it’s connected we are subject to the Princesses’ will... I was aware of everything I did... The horror, the blood, the guilt and fear at taking another being’s life, I was consciously aware of everything. Do you have any idea what it’s like to see what’s happening before you as yourself, as your body performs acts akin to that of a cold-blooded psychopath?! Goddess... There was nothing I could do.”

“Goddess...” Shining said, shaking his head. It was almost unbelievable, what he was hearing. “Wait... ‘our' heads? There are more of you?”

“The special soldiers known as ELEMENT GEAR are ponies under the same control. I don’t know who they are, except that their names are inspired by the bearers of the Elements of Harmony” Spike explained.

“This is fucked up...” Captain Armor remarked. “Back for just an hour and I’m bombarded with fucked up nonsense.”

“No one else in the Empire knows the location of this base; Nightshade and the soldiers she brought with her on those three DRAVMs were the only ones, and they’re all dead. I’m the only Imperial soldier that knows the location of this base” Spike declared.

Silence befell the room as the individuals present thought over their own thoughts, contemplating what had happened and what might happen. Shining Armor especially was interesting in what he had missed while gone, and how the Princesses have managed to harness the power of mind control.

“Shining... Will you please kill me?” Spike solemnly asked, prompting the two ponies to look at him in surprise.

“What?! Spike, I--”

“Shining, please... I don’t want to live with the things I’ve done, and I don’t want to go on the run or risk getting caught and forced to do more things like that... Please...” Spike said.

“Spike, I can’t kill you. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself after that” Shining reasoned.

“It’s the right thing to do, Shining... It’d be worse to let me live and make me suffer with life, knowing all those ponies I’ve murdered... Or to be captured and forced to give up the location of this base... Kill me... I've murdered so many ponies in absolute cold blood... I was forced to just kill, and kill, and kill, and kill, and KILL... Please... End it...” Spike pleaded, struggling against the many bonds holding him in place.

It was the logical thing to do, to end Spike’s misery and suffering. Still, Shining felt hesitant to murder one of his friends, to murder the dragon that he watched grow up alongside him. He still had memories of the little guy as a hatchling, being chased around the Canterlot suite by Twilight, who was trying to catch him to clean the ice cream splattered on his face. Or many of the other things he remembered like how Spike was praised by Celestia herself for saving the Crystal Empire.

Pulling his gun out Shining looked it over before turning and putting the barrel to the dragon’s head, seeing him weakly smile as tears started to pour out of his eyes. In his eyes Shining Armor could still see the innocence and happiness of a time long gone, replaced with a broken mind.

“Heh...I can finally meet my real mommy...” Spike said, giggling and choking up at the same time. He could almost see the greener pastures of the other world already, and could almost feel his real mother and father standing over him, warmth and heat radiating off their larger bodies. Spike closed his eyes as the tears began to drip off his chin, broken smile still on his face.

Shining Armor pulled the trigger.

“We need help, Shining Armor. Things have changed since you’ve been gone, and the Canines aren’t enough. I know you would not approve but I enlisted the help of some...’freelancers’ for this war. I already know who we should approach; them” Lieutenant Strong Spear said to the Captain back in his private room.

If it had been any other time Shining would have protested heavily; enlisting the help of them wouldn’t necessarily be hard in the logistical sense, but Captain Armor was opposed to it morally. However, he realized that times were getting tough, and that the Peace Fighters were fighting on borrowed time.

“The freelancers I hired are members of the species that them refers to; they’re good fighters, and their special airplane with the ability to cut other aircraft in half was invaluable” Strong reasoned.

“All of them are good fighters, Lieutenant, but regardless of how good they are I still don’t like it. And I don’t like them; they’re two-timing backstabbers. They’re the kind of soldiers that are the exact opposite of the Peace Fighters. They fight in the shadows like cowards” Shining declared.

“Maybe that’s exactly what’s wrong with us” Lieutenant Spear remarked, prompting the Captain to turn around in shock. “We always fight at the front-lines, and never behind the scenes, and that’s why we lose many battles. We don’t have the numbers or the technology necessary to go head-to-head with an empire, but if we fought with hit-and-run tactics we could potentially win” Strong Spear explained.

Sighing in resignation Shining Armor realized the Lieutenant was right, but still didn’t have to like it. Still, there was no other choice if he wanted the Peace Fighters to win the war.

“OK, let’s go talk to them” Shining said, turning away and leaving the room. As he went down the hall Lieutenant Spear went back to the interrogation rooms and sat down in front of Gleaming Bullet.

“You OK?” the Lieutenant asked.

“Considering that I just stared death in the face and lived, I would say good.”

“Don’t worry about it, Shining will come around eventually I think. He's right to be pissed at you, though. You should've told him when you first joined” Strong Spear said, getting up and preparing to walk out of the room. Before she reached the door she remembered something, and turned back around.

“Gleaming, I have to ask you something. One of the weapons officers told me that you were seen alone in the radio room before the surprise attack. I need to know; did you help Nightshade assault us?” Strong inquired.

“No” the Corporal flatly answered, not taking it any further.

“So what were you doing in there?”

“Um... I don’t wanna say...” Gleaming answered.

“Look, I need you to answer my question. I don’t want to believe that you helped them so I need you to convince me. What were you doing in the radio room alone?” Lieutenant Spear persisted.

To the best of his current ability Gleaming Bullet moved his hoof up and down, curling it in the center. He looked up at the Lieutenant and continued to move his hoof up and down in a rigid motion until Strong turned red in the face and left the room.

It was almost like an alien world, the continent that was home to them; it felt odd, different, completely foreign to the world of Equestria. Shining had last fought them before the Mid-Morning War, but suspected there was still bad blood between Equestria and them. Captain Armor still had reservations about coming to them for help, but he supposed that in war one must be willing to sacrifice their personal feelings for the good of their cause.

Standing on the crest of a hill overlooking the capital city Shining was flanked by Strong Spear and Gleaming Bullet.

“Lieutenant, go forth and see what’s up” Shining ordered, Strong wordlessly acknowledging. Once she was away Shining Armor turned to Gleaming, who found he couldn’t look his captain in the eyes.

Grabbing the young Corporal’s chin and lifting it up Shining looked into his eyes and said “I will never forgive you for what you did, but you still have your place in the Peace Fighters. Do not make me regret the decision I have made to keep you alive.”

Releasing his hold and turning away Shining Armor saw Lieutenant Spear already coming back from her scouting run, stopping at the bottom of the hill and motioning for the two stallions to join her.

Proceeding down the hill the trio entered the rear door of the target building and made their way around to the front lobby, the attendant there shocked to see ponies in her building, much less her continent.

“Uh, hi. I’m Captain Shining Armor of the Peace Fighters; we’re here to see the president.”

The attendant nodded and gave them the necessary paperwork before sending them on their way, the three ponies proceeding through the halls. Any and every member of them they passed looking at them with mixed expressions; confusion, hate, surprise.

Eventually making it through the gauntlet of awkwardness the trio reached the doors of their target, Shining knocking and hearing the call of “come in” from beyond. Tentatively he opened the door and they entered, the individual sitting in her chair sharing the same shock as those in the hall.

“She of Our Evolution please give me strength in dealing with this.... Vell, if it isn’t ze legendary Shining Armor, hero of vat ve call ze ‘Great Patriot’ war. Do tell; what do you want?” the president of them asked, her Germane accent thick and stereotypical. She had been the president since the Great Patriot war and it wasn’t really a surprise to Shining Armor that she wasn’t pleased to see him.

“I’m going to be brief; I’m sure you have heard of our civil war, and of my Peace Fighters. The war’s gotten difficult as of late for us and as a result, we are respectfully requesting the aid of the armies of the Fascist Felines. Your armies, madame” Shining said, professional and courteous.

Laughing with a throaty purr typical of her feline race the president got off her chair and snaked around the desk on all fours, approaching Shining Armor who stood in his place. “Zis is almost unbelievable. In my nine years leading ze Fascist Felines I have studied the Equestrians, and learned that you all have some gall. Your army destroyed my people and land, Shining Armor, and you lead them to such a victory. Vat makes you think ve vill help you, hmm?” the Feline leader inquired.

“I know what we did, but that was two years ago. It’s time to let go of this bad blood” Shining commented.

“Bad blood? BAD BLOOD?!” the Feline president hissed. “You little insolent SHIT! Since ve evolved from simple house cats ve have been persecuted by the Equestrians. Were it not for the Minotaurs ve vould still be hunted by your racist Princesses!”

“I know, I know. But times change, and we need your help. I need your help, Madame” Shining replied.

“I, Madame Softpaws, Chancellor to the people of my land, have never experienced such nerve of the Equestrians. I knew your people had balls, but zis is absurd! I simply can NOT believe vat I am hearing” the Feline leader exclaimed.

“Chancellor, please. This war goes far beyond just the Equestrians. The details behind this war will affect all that live on this planet” Captain Armor declared.

“Oh really? Do tell, Mr. Armor. My patience is thin with you and your race, so be quick about it” Softpaws said.

Sighing and stepping forward Shining began to tell her the truth behind the Princesses of Equestria. “When I first learned of what I am about to tell you I was shocked, astounded, and frankly disturbed. My wife, a Princess herself, Cadence, told me these things. These are the reasons the Peace Fighters fight for what they do. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Goddesses of the People of Equestria, are fake. They do not at all control their respective heavenly bodies. They're ALL fake. Celestia, Luna, Chrysalis, even Cadence herself, all fake Goddesses. Cadence is not a Goddess of Love, Chrysalis is not a Goddess of Illusions, and our Princesses are not Goddesses of the sun and moon. It's all fake. Now...these are things that only apply to us, things that only affect Equestrians. However, it gets worse... The sun is going out in four years, Madame, and Celestia and Luna are planning on abandoning all on this planet to their collective fates and moving on to another planet to continue living. When that sun goes out all life on this planet will be dead. So please, please, help us.”

In what seemed to be a common theme with Shining Armor lately silence once again befell his existence, punctuated only by the tick of a nearby clock. Madame Softpaws rattled her paw against the floor, her outstretched claws tapping on the marble.

“If...vat you say is true, then... I don’t know, really. Ze people will be hesitant to help you, but they must understand the circumstances. You say your wife told you this?” the Chancellor asked.

“Yes, on the day she was killed” Shining answered, sneaking enough vitriol in his answer for Gleaming Bullet to notice.

“I heard of the event. The Mid-Morning War, as it’s called by your people. It must be true then... Very well, zen, I vill see what I can do. I can't make any official promises, but ve vill help you somehow. We must, if all life on zis planet is to continue living” Softpaws stated.

“Thank you, Chancellor. Thank you so much.”

I’ve been away from the Peace Fighters for two months, and a lot changed in that time. Lieutenant Strong Spear proved to be a capable leader in my absence, keeping the Peace Fighters together. The Lieutenant was even hunted by two assassins, Major Nightshade and Red Dragon, the latter of whom was an old friend named Spike. I...personally executed Spike, at his own request. Nightshade was killed by Strong.

The Changelings are down now, after I escaped their prison and killed Queen Chrysalis. She was piloting an aerial vehicle named METAL HORNET, and informed me that my friend Gleaming Bullet was the one that shot and killed Cadence the day of the Mid-Morning War. I didn’t kill him, but I’m still watching him. I don’t know if he can be trusted.

Realizing that our situation is dire I, along with Gleaming and Strong Spear, went to an old enemy for help. The Fascist Felines. The Empire had won a war against them when the Mid-Morning War began, and there’s always been a terrible history between our two species. After explaining to their Chancellor the truth behind the Princesses she agreed to help us, and their armies will be aiding us in the war against the Princesses.

I... I’ve been having nightmares and hallucinations related to Twilight. I’m hesitant to write about them, but I must express them. The first nightmare involved Twiley seemingly burning all on our planet alive except for me. She told me that they all suffer because of what I do, but I don’t understand why or how. The hallucination was... I’m afraid to admit that I may be losing my mind.

I’m afraid...

Author's Note

Legal note: Shining Armor, Princess Celestia, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. Lieutenant Strong Spear, Chancellor Sharpclaws, and all related characters belong to me. Major Nightshade belongs to Kirlia481. All other characters belong to their respective owners.