Night Shield landed in Canterlot, closing his bat wings and breathing a sigh of relief. It was hard, flying from Canterlot to Ponyville and then back right away. He trotted sluggishly back to the castle and noticed Shining Armor standing there, waiting for his arrival.
Shining Armor smiled at his soldier of the night. "Good work today Night Shield. Consider tomorrow your day off, you've earned it." He praised, lifting his hoof in a salute.
Night Shield snapped a salute and chuckled. "Just what I need, thanks captain. I'm sure tomorrow will be full of relaxing and drinking some gold old fashioned wine." He joked, trotting into the palace.
he captain smiled and trotted to his own quarters, placing his helmet down. Today was his last day as Captain of the Royal Guard, tomorrow he would be the full-time Prince of the Crystal Empire. He took off the rest of his armor and placed it on his desk for the next captain before noticing a letter with his name scrawled on it. Curiously, he levitated the letter in his magenta aura and opened it, pulling out the parchment. "Who could this be from?" He wondered aloud, unfolding it and beginning to read,
Dear Prince Shining Armor,
It seems there's been a craze of sending letters these days. First it started with Fiddlesticks and Vinyl Scratch being reunited with Octavia, then Derpy Hooves forgave Time Turner and now my sister has adopted Pipsqueak. I feel the need to answer a question I've been asked repeatedly by my subjects, your subjects and even you yourself. But before I tell you the truth, let me share a story with you.
Once upon a time there was a barren land known as Earth. It was cold and the plant life brittle and brown with no inhabitants to care for it. It never rained, it only snowed in harsh blizzards as the Wendigoes ruled, freezing everything much like their hearts.
But then one day, the clouds opened up and the sun shone through. In that sunlight a mystical being formed and stepped onto the wasteland, melting the snow around her. Plants sprang up and glowed with life, shedding death and rot as she came near them. The clouds were banished, though some paled and dotted in the sky, now puffy and white instead of an angry black.
The being was pure gold, from the colors of her irises to the tips of her hooves. She had great golden wings and her mane and tail were the very color of the sun, flowing around her even when there was no breeze. She was very kind and very caring, always shedding warmth onto the planet and melting the snow.
But as she watched, the plants started to shrivel from lack of water. She flew into the sky, her first flight, and created a layer of clouds. She made it rain and pushed the sheet around the earth, watering all the dying plants. When she landed she cast a spell, even her magic was golden and she made it rain where rain was needed, always able to see inside her mind.
But soon her world was becoming overgrown. So she created the first animals out of mud and clay, little bunnies that nibbled on the ferns. They made burrows and ate hungrily, keeping the plants in check.
Then the plants started to become lesser and the bunnies started to take control. Soon everything would die, so she made predators. Soon the world was in balance, but it was missing something. Something like her. She looked at herself and decided to call herself an Alicorn, but there should be more to help her control the Earth.
From the mud and clay she created an Alicorn. This Alicorn was much different, she was made of many colors. The coat color was pure white, the mane and tail were billowing rainbows and the hooves were bright pink. The eyes were different colors, one blue and one magenta.
But the new Alicorn had no control over her powers. She flew too fast or too slow, her magic had powerful surges before dwindling and she couldn't control anything, she only ended up destroying.
So the Creator separated her.
The rainbow mane shrank and became a cerulean pegasus with magenta eyes.
The alabaster body shrank and became a unicorn with a deep purple mane and tail and cerulean eyes.
Lastly, the pink hooves became an earth pony with a bright pink fluffy mane and blue eyes.
The Creator made many more of these ponies and split them up, the pegasi, the unicorns and the earth ponies. She watched them as the sun shone brightly in the sky, never leaving and cascading the ponies in warmth.
But then one day she saw the tribes fighting, how the earth ponies were taken advantage of for their food, how the unicorns were snobs and how the pegasi were brutes to the other two tribes.
She descended upon their world and used her Alicorn magic to lower the sun and everything went dark. The warmth was taken away and the planet grew cold. The Wendigoes howled and a blizzard swept across the land. With that she leaped into the air and through the clouds, never to be seen again.
But then Clover the Clever created the fire of friendship. When the tribe leaders and their companions exited the cave, two little fillies were born from that fire. They were both Alicorns, one was white with a pink mane and the other deep blue with a pale blue mane.
That was Luna and I.
Shining Armor's eyes widened in surprise. He'd heard legends of how his Princesses had come to be, but now he was hearing how it really happened. After regaining his composure and continued reading, eager to find the answer to his question,
Luna and I were born from the power of friendship. We socialized amongst others, but we always had more power. But as we grew older, we started seeing that the unicorns were selfish with their powers over the sun and moon. By the decree of the Creator, we were to rule and we took those powers from the unicorns, bringing them upon ourselves.
It was us who created day and night.
Thousands of years later, when Luna was 4,000, she gave took a husband, a brilliant unicorn that you know quite well. His name was Starswirl the Bearded. She created a fire of love with him, combining their magic and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was born. Yes Shining Armor, you are the son in law of the great Starswirl. You are married to an Alicorn and you are Prince of the Crystal Empire.
So why are you not an Alicorn?
The Prince's eyes widened again, even wider. Was this it? Was today the day he gained a pair of great white wings? Or would his hopes be dashed and he would forever remain mortal. A few tears found themselves running down his face and he read on, anticipation unbearable,
I know how you must feel right now my little pony, hopes soaring and falling at the same time. Anticipation building as you read on. But let me tell you this right now, spare you the anticipation;
You will never become an Alicorn Shining Armor.
The reason is... bizarre, to say the least. As you have seen in the tale I have recounted to you, all the Alicorns in history are mares. Every single one. The Creator was a mare, my sister and I are mares, Princess Cadance is a mare and so is Twilight Sparkle. Not once has there been a male Alicorn and those who claim to have seen them are lying. All male Alicorns that have ever appeared were caused by illusion spells, including my young nephew Prince Leon, who was given wings by my other Nephew Prince Blueblood in a desperate attempt to make himself more famous, but instead he spelt the doom of himself and his son. You'll have noticed how they are no longer called Princes.
The reason only mares can be Alicorns is rather... strange. The Equestrian population is made up of mostly mares, very close to 75% mares to 25% stallions. Mares are shown to have more power than stallions, so when my niece was born we studied her and found something interesting. We compared it to a stallion of the same age and made a shocking discovery;
The mares have an extra layer of muscle on their back and a small lump of bone, unnoticeable unless viewed up close on their foreheads. We studied unicorn fillies and found the muscle on the back. We studied pegasi and found the bone near the foreheads. We studied earth ponies and found they came equipped with both.
But the stallions didn't have either.
So the entire reason you can't be an Alicorn is because you don't have the parts, to put it simply. Only mares come with these parts, showing that all mares have more power and is why there are more mares than stallions in our world. This would explain how Zecora can use simple spells, Pinkie Pie's impossible feats and even the ways some magic and flight is created. The wing spell develops the muscle on the unicorn's back for a short period of time.
I'm sorry Prince Shining Armor, but you will forever remain a unicorn. You will forever remain mortal and you will perish.
Forgive me,
~Princess Soleil Brillante Celestia
A powerful deep blue hoof slammed the letter down onto the desk, cracking it. Tears poured down the stallion's face, tears of despair and rage. He slammed down on the letter again and again until his hoof smashed through the desk and splinters embedded themselves in his white fur. There was a flash and he felt great white wings wrap around him and he struggled in vain, roaring in rage. But Princess Celestia refused to let the knight win. She held him tighter and he stopped struggling, sobbing into her chest and occasionally wailing in his sorrow, the tears ever-flowing. They were hot and sticky, clumping his short facial fur together as he cried.
The Equestrian Monarch held her crying subject, wings shielding him from the cruelty of the world. In her warmth, she let him cry until there were no tears left and he heaved dry sobs. "There, there my young Prince... I'm so, so sorry." She whispered.
"LIES!"
She backed away as he leaped from her safety, red eyes blazing with anger. "LIES! If you were sorry, why would you send that letter? I would rather go my entire life without knowing than find out that I'm going to die, that my little sister and wife are going to live without me!" He whipped around and turned his back to her, staring out the window.
"Shining-"
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" He screamed bitterly, fresh new tears rolling down his face. Regaining some of his composure, he sighed heavily. "Please... Just leave me alone." He begged, not turning to look at her.
Princess Celestia nodded and exited the room, tears rolling down her face.
Inside the room, Shining Armor slid to the ground, legs unwilling to support him and he cried long and hard, screaming and begging for things to change. For the rest of his life he would remain mortal, never to feel great wings flapping behind him or a surge of raw power from an Alicorn's horn. His sister and wife would outlive him and whether by the cold blade or the hoof of time, he would die.
That night, the bravest stallion the Princesses knew cried himself to sleep, poisoned with nightmares of his own death and the anguished screams of those he held dear as fate claimed his soul and body, dragging him into the cold depths of nothingness. The place he was destined to go when his time came.
Fate changes for nopony.
~~~~~
Princess Twilight Sparkle teleported into the room beside her sobbing brother and hugged him as he twitched and thrashed in his ill slumber, crying to escape from his nightmares. Her horn touched his and channeled purifying magic into his brain, banishing the cold and the dark. Soon his form grew still with sleep, the last tear rolling down his face. She cradled his head in her hooves and watched him with loving eyes. "My big brother best friend forever..." She whispered, planting a kiss on his forehead.
Flash!
A scroll dropped onto her head and she picked it up in her magic, confusion on her face. "Spike? Why would he send me a letter?" She murmured, untying the red ribbon and unrolling the scroll.
Dear Twilight,
Princess Celestia told me not to tell you this, but I know a way to make Shining Armor immortal.
