Hey guys, great to see you all again! Now, I'm sure some of you have been thinking that the fighting's not gonna start up again. But trust me, it will. There will be some major fighting in a few chapters. So, onto the chapter, then!
Chapter 14: Family Business
"So as you know, Shining Armor, Applejack is my wife, and one of my fillies is training to be a Red Hoof, like myself, whereas my other filly is going to be helping AJ at the farm." Papyrus explained as he and Shining Armor were walking through the streets of Ponyville. Shining nodded. Papyrus looked off in the distance at the apple fields around Sweet Apple Acres, where he saw his wife bucking away at the apple trees. He placed his hoof at his lips to tell Shining to be quiet. Shining nodded with a small smirk. Papyrus took to the air and flew silently towards the tree AJ was kicking.
Papyrus settled in the tree shrubbery as his wife was about to buck it. As she bucked it, the red pegasus fell with a fake cry. Applejack spun around in surprise as Papyrus jokingly shouted, "Hey! Can't a pegasus sleep around here!" Applejack grinned as she saw her husband. "Papyrus! It's so nice ta' see ya', sugarcube!" She exclaimed as they hugged. Shining Armor came up not too far behind and smiled. "Hey, Applejack." Applejack let go of Papyrus. "Shining, nice to see ya' too! How are ya'?" Shining smiled "I'm fine AJ. But I need to go to the Library to see Starlight. Come meet me and the others at the Library in about an hour, okay?" Papyrus nodded. "Sure thing, Shining. See you in a while." Shining began to walk back towards Ponyville. "You two have a nice time."
Clockwork snored quietly as he slept in a chair in the Library. It had been a long day, and he thought he deserved a rest. He was rudely awoken by a knocking on the door. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up, "Why is it," He groaned, "That every time I get some time to relax, somepony always knocks on the door?" He walked over to the door, slightly hunched over from having just woken up. He opened the door and said, "I'm sorry the Library is clo- Shining! Nice to see you! Please, come in!" He exclaimed, opening the door. He continued ranting, "I knew there was a group of soldiers coming to Ponyville, but I didn't know it was going to be you!" "It's nice to see you too, Clockwork. But, if you don't mind, I'd like to speak to my son." Clockwork nodded quickly "Right, let me go get him. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see you again!" Clockwork rushed into another room to find Starlight. Shining settled down in a chair while he waited for Clockwork to reappear with his son.
It was a few minutes later that Clockwork came back with Starlight. Starlight followed closely behind Clockwork. When Starlight and Shining's eyes locked there was a brief silence before Starlight leapt towards his father and Laughed. "Dad! Dad, I missed you so much!" Shining hugged his son and laughed. "I missed you, too, son. But, there's something I need to tell you. All of you. Everypony else will be here soon. I can tell you all then."
-One Hour Later-
"Now, I'm sure you are all wondering why I called you here." Shining Armor began, now that all of his sister's friends, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, who was being unusually calm, Fluttershy, and her new friend, Mechapony, Rainbow Dash, Blue Bass, along with Applejack and Papyrus had arrived. "I would certainly hope so, darling! You're keeping me from making a new dress for Sapphire Shores!" Rarity complained. "Of course, Rarity, I won't keep you all long." Shining cleared his throat before he began speaking. "Now, as you all know, my sister was captured. But that's not all of it." Shining bit his lip, as all the ponies in the room looked at him with combined looks of fear and interest. "Not only was she captured, Chrysalis turned her into a slave. She… She corrupted her mind. Her very soul and thoughts are tainted with dark magic." Everyone in the room gasped at this surprising and disturbing revelation. Shining chocked slightly before continuing. "She is completely under Chrysalis's control." There was a few moments' silence before Rainbow asked darkly. "And did you do a thing about it?"
When Shining looked at her curiously, she continued. "One of our friends, your sister no less, was turned into a slave, and did you do one thing about it?" She asked, flying up and glaring at him. "Rainbow…" Blue Bass said, trying to calm his wife down as Fluttershy and Mechapony exchanged worried glances. He placed a hoof on her shoulder, trying to bring her back down. Instead, she shrugged the hoof off and sped in front of Shining. She glared at him angrily. "You did nothing. Absolutely nothing!" She shouted. "And what would have had me do, Rainbow?" Shining asked, his anger beginning to rise. "Lead a band of soldiers in an attempt to rescue Twilight? Have them imprisoned for treason, or killed even? So you tell me, Rainbow Dash, what would you have me do? What the buck would have had me do!?" He asked sternly, poking her in the chest with his hoof. "Hey!" Ace shouted, "Keep your hooves off my wife!" He took to the air, flying next to his wife. "Um, maybe we could all just calm down? Please?" Fluttershy meekly inquired. Shining ignored her and stared down Ace. "You wanna go flyboy?" Ace pounded his forehooves together. "Alright! Let's go hornhead!" Shining pawed angrily at the ground, preparing to charge at the blue pegasus, also angrily pawing at the ground. A second later, both angry stallions charged at each other.
There was a loud shout followed by a burst of magic. "PLEASE! STOP! JUST STOP!" Starlight shouted as a powerful outburst lifted up both the stallions a few feet in the air and dropped them on the ground. The blast also knocked multiple books off the shelves and threw everyone a few feet back from where they had just been sitting. Starlight released his hold on Ace and his father a moment later as everyone recovered from the grey unicorn's sudden outburst. Starlight sat down and sniffed, looking down. "Please, just stop. I… I just can't take any more." He sniffed again. "But, dad?" He asked his father, looking up at him. "What are you going to do? What about Aunt Twilight? Are you going to rescue her?" Starlight asked, wiping away a tear that had formed in the corner of his eye. Shining Armor shook his head solemnly. "I don't know son. It's not like we can march in there and rescue her."
"And why can't we?" Mechapony asked, speaking up for the first time since having arrived there. All eyes turned on him, full of surprise. Even his marefriend, Fluttershy, looked at him in surprise. (Yep. Marefriend. Deal with it.) "What do you mean, Mechapony?" Ace asked curiously. "I don't see why we can't." He responded. "We all know jou don't like this new ruler as much as anypony else, Shining. We can train the citizens here in Ponyville to fight the changelings. The Ponyvillians have always been some of the fiercest of Celestia's loyalists. They would fight to the death in an attempt to restore Luna to the throne." At this time, Luna's presence in Ponyville was well-known, but it had been kept under wraps. "I understand your point, Mechapony. But how many other ponies here will agree? And how do we know if the Red Hooves will help us or hinder us? They might turn us in for treason."
Papyrus cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. "Now, Shining, this is coming from a Red Hoof. The Hooves were an elite team, started by Celestia herself. They are loyal to the Solar Sisters, not Chrysalis." Shining nodded in agreement before asking, "But how do you know Blue Arrow will agree to this?" Papyrus chuckled. "The commander has been on edge since Chrysalis took over. I've heard him mutter about the start of a rebellion. This may be said chance." Shining nodded. "This may be the only hope we have to return the throne to its rightful owner." Papyrus continued. "I can talk to Blue Arrow later today about this. I'm sure he'll agree to this. He's been itching to fight for a while now." "But…" Fluttershy interjected, "What if he doesn't? But if he does, what happens if something really bad happens? What if we lose? What then? What if Chrysalis destroys our homes? What if she reduces Ponyville to ashes? Like what she did to Manehattan?" A brief silence followed her ominous questions. "We'll just have to take that chance, Fluttershy. For the greater good, we have to do this. We must return Luna to the throne. She is the rightful ruler of Equestria, not Chrysalis." Everypony murmured in agreement, nodding their heads. "Papyrus, shall we go speak to Blue Arrow?" He asked the Red Hoof soldier. "Of course, let's go!" The two quickly made their way to the door after saying goodbye to their friends to speak to the Red Hoof commander about the beginning of a Rebellion.
A rebellion? Sounds interesting… Well, that about wraps it up for this week! And News Flash! I'm not sure how many of you have heard, but season three begins next month in November! Woo Hoo!
OC's – Copyrighted
Lightning Strike - Gunzi's Poochy (Previous chapter)
Blue 'Ace' Bass – Thunderhawk6894
Red Hooves – QTXAdsy
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