Rainbooms and Royalty

Clash of Magics

Shining Armor had been twisted by Nightmare Moon’s magic, like Ditzy Doo and the pegasi guards. Even his hair and coat color was different. Everything was darker, duller. If Ditzy Doo was a Shadowbolt, Shining Armor had become a dark knight. Blackened Armor.

His face was adorned with a cruel leer. “When my Mistress realized that she had company and dispatched me hence, I didn’t dare imagine that I would run into you.”

“Shining Armor…” Twilight reared and started to gallop towards him only to have Rainbow Dash suddenly interpose herself between them, pushing Twilight back.

“Twilight don’t! It might look like Shining, but it’s not him!” She warned.

The lavender unicorn struggled, but Dash was stronger than she was. “B-but that’s my brother! Rainbow let go! Let me go!”

“No it isn’t!” Rainbow insisted. “Trust me!”

“Clever girl. So you CAN learn.” Blackened Armor mused. “As much as I’d love to catch up with my baby sister and my ‘iddle Dashie.” He taunted cruelly. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut this short.” A wicked, sickly looking light over took his horn and seven spheres engulfed each of the travelers. “My Mistress will be coming and look…here you are: all wrapped up and ready for her.”

Rainbow Dash hurled herself at the edge of her bubble. There was a faint, echoing sound made upon impact but not so much as a crack appeared. “Shiny I know you’re in there somewhere! You have to fight it!”

He shook his head, chuckling. “Aww, Dash, Dash, Dash…you never give up do you? You tried that on the Shadowbolt who used to be Ditzy Doo. Do you really think it would work any better here?” He gave her a knowing smirk. “Or were you counting on the magic of ‘looove’ to make the difference?”

The trapped pegasus flared her wings, as if wishing she could fly away to escape this situation. No such luck. “S-shining…”

Blackened Armor put on affected look of contrition. “Oh, I’m sorry, did you think you were being subtle? That Shining Armor didn’t know?” He chortled, dropping the thin pretense of sympathy. “I can see all of his thoughts…Shining Armor knew about your crush the entire time. He thought it was ‘cute.’ Half of Canterlot knew! It was one of the biggest jokes in the city.”

There was a thudding noise in Rainbow’s ears that she took a moment to realize was the sound of her own heart and of the blood rushing through her veins. She found herself short of breath, as if she had flown too high and the air was thin.

Her tormentor, her foalhood crush, her captor, her friend…whoever he was, he pressed his face in close to the sphere holding her captive. “Of course he never thought about you like that. Not even close. You see…he’s taken. By somepony a lot more important and let’s face it, better than you. One who isn’t constantly mistaken for a colt.”

“Shining—whoever you are—stop it!” Twilight implored, seeing the distress on Rainbow Dash’s face. “Leave her alone!”

He ignored her. “Did you think he didn’t notice you watching him all those times you thought you were being clever? Like during his morning calisthenics, for instance? Watching him work out? Or that time you ‘accidentally’ wound up in the guard’s shower when he was in?” He rolled his eyes. “You might as well have written it over Canterlot in cloud writing. Ironic, really. He knew your secret for years, but thought it was funnier to never let on. But you never could figure out just how completely out of your league he was.” Blackened Armor whinnied in amusement as Rainbow shrunk in on herself, trying to disappear.

“Rainbow…” Twilight reached out a hoof, trying to comfort her, only to be blocked by Blackened Armor’s magic sphere.

Fluttershy whispered softly from her place next to Dash’s sphere. “Don’t listen to him Rainbow, you know that’s not Shining Armor.”