"And then, I fell down this cliff into an entire patch of Poison Joke! My horn didn't stop wobbling for two weeks after that!" Twilight rubbed her horn thoughtfully as Shining laughed. After a second, Twilight began to giggle as well and before to long, the duo were on the floor, laughing up a storm.

"Seriously? I can't say I've had that happen to me before. That is quite the story!" Shining Armour stood up, still smiling and offered his sister a hoof. "Why didn't you try and fly away?" He tapped her right wing and it unfurled. Twilight sighed and looked towards the floor.

"Well, you see, I was supposed to be getting lessons from Rainbow Dash when we were called to Canterlot again. You know the rest of the story from there. I still haven't been able to learn. One, because the Dark Elves keep on tracking me every time I'm higher than the trees, and two, I've mostly been running this whole time. I bet I could outrace you if I wanted to." She tried for a joke, but her somber expression took away from the effect. Shining merely sighed and instead decided to sit beside his sister. She looked up at him, a question on her lips, but chose to stay quiet as he placed a leg around her. The two just sat there in comfortable silence as the birds chirped away and the sun slowly dipped in the sky.

"I've been wondering, who has been moving the Sun this whole time. It hasn't been me, I'm not powerful enough." Twilight asked as she looked out and over the walls of the fort with a thousand yard stare. The side of her head pressed into shining's chest and she breathed deeply. "Sometimes, I can still feel a ping of Celestia's magic every once and awhile. I think it's just muscle memory; dust and echoes."

Shining's ear twitched as he thought. He to was watching the horizon, but his mind was constantly abuzz.

"Well, we don't know yet who is doing it, but I have to assume they are on our side. Not a single Dark Elf is powerful enough to move the Sun and Moon on their own. We will just have to find them." Shining looked down at his sister and nuzzled her head. She gave off a quiet giggle and squirmed in place.

"I missed having my big brother around."

The duo suddenly jumped as a wooden door slammed open across the courtyard. The sound of hooves quickly drummed their way over, causing Twilight to huff.

"Princess, Prince. The nurses in the Infirmary would like you to know that the creature is awake. Best if you hurry though, he was getting quite aggravated when I left to inform you."

Shining Armour stood and nodded to the guard who had approached them. The guard in turn saluted them both before turning on the spot and trotting to his post. Twilight watched as the guard trotted back through the door and out of sight. Her gaze then quickly switched to her brother and she raised an eyebrow.

"Fine, fine, let's get this over with." Shining huffed as he hauled Twilight to her hooves. The two began a brisk trot as they made their way to the infirmary; not a word was spoken. Twilight was analyzing the base with sorrowful eyes. Former guards walked about with their heads down, their armour and weapons in horrible condition. She noticed more than a few were wrapped in bandages around various ligaments.

Twilight nearly got the scare of her life when a Pegasus stallion suddenly cried out and jumped in front of her. His pupils were dilated to mere pinpricks and his legs quaked.

"Make it stop! Make the screaming stop! Oh Faust, what they did to the kids, a-and Blue Rose! P-p-please make the screaming sto-o-p-p!" The stallion collapsed right in the middle of the path, sobbing and weeping. Every few seconds, one of his legs would lash out at what was seemingly a Ghost.

"Just step around him, there isn't anything you can do." A nearby guard called from across the path. Twilight merely nodded and kept walking, but now with an obvious shake in her step. Twilights breathing grew heavier as she tried to get the sobbing stallion erased from her mind, but it wasn't working. Never before had she seen somepony act like that. What would she even call it?

'Seeing things one shouldn't have to see? Trauma?'

The clop of her brothers hooves suddenly stopped ahead of her but she failed to register it. Her own hoofsteps carried her a bit further past the door she was supposed to stop at, and it wasn't until Shining called her name that she snapped out of her trance. She quickly trotted back to her brothers side and faced the doorway to the infirmary. Her eyes slowly drifted over the red cross above the entryway and she took a step forward... only to be halted by her brothers outstretched leg.

"Maybe I should go first, he might-" Shining didn't get to finish as Twilight backed up and glared at him. He turned to face her and scowled.

"He isn't going to hurt me Shining. He saved my life not once but twice! It's not like he's suddenly going to sprout fangs and eat me or something! Why do you hate him so much?"

Shining's mouth tightened into a thin line and he stomped his hoof in irritation. "He is a threat to everyone's well being. Just because he claims to be a creature from mythology does not mean he is one. He could be using you to get into the Resistance, he could be using some sort of mental magic! He-" Shining was cut off as Twilight huffed.

"The Prince of the Dark Elves captured me and brought me to his camp. If it wasn't for Dean, then I would likely have been dead by the end of the week. Instead, he saved my life, killed more than twenty Elite Guards, took the Prince prisoner, and made sure that we got to Maritime Bay in one piece." Twilight glowered and Shining continued to scowl.

"You don't understand, Twily. I-"

"What don't I understand Shining? I know you have always been the protective big brother but this is ridiculous! I'm not a foal anymore! I'm a Princess!"

"I understand that entirely but-"

"You didn't even come to see me first, you went to interrogate the 'creature!'" Twilight signed 'creature' with her hooves. "The only pony I recognize when I woke up was Midnight, I was scared!"

"It isn't like that, I was only trying-"

"Trying to what, exactly? Does duty always come bef-?"

"I COULDN'T LOSE YOU AGAIN!" Twilight backpedaled away from her brother in fear, her eyes going wide and her wings flaring to the side. Tears poured down Shining's face as he stared into her eyes. Both of his ears were plastered against his head and his pupils were dilated. With a defeated sigh, Shining hung his head. "I had to be sure you were safe and nothing could threaten you. I knew that this 'Sergeant Dean' was powerful, so I had to find out everything I could before I eliminated him. He was the only thing in the base that could hurt you, and I had just gotten you back. I thought that maybe he might have been controlling you and had to get rid of him for it. I-I can't lose you. I've already lost Cadence and Mum and Dad, I can't lose you too."

By this point, tears were streaming down both his and Twilight's face. For the longest time nopony said a word. The hallway they had traveled down was utterly silent, minus Shining Armours laboured breathing.

And then, as if a light switch had been flipped, Twilight blinked. Her ears folded back against her head as she rushed towards her brother. Her front legs wrapped around his neck as she cried into his fur once again. Shining Armours tears flowed from his eyes as he hugged his sister back.

"I-I can't. Not again."

"I'm so, so sorry Shiny. I overreacted and got angry at you when you were just trying to help. I-I'm sorry! Dean makes a terrifying enemy and I didn't want you to get hurt. When I found out you were interrogating him I thought he might consider YOU an enemy." Twilight continued to sob into his fur as he stroked her back.

"It's okay Twily, I know that this cr- Human means a lot to you. I probably could have taken a more rational approach. And don't you worry, your brother can handle nearly anything."

After several minutes, Twilights sobs began to settle down. Shining smiled and let go from their hug. The two began to make their way to the door when Shining came up with something devious.

"You like him, don't you?" He kept a straight face as Twilight spluttered and choked for a second. When she was able to get her breathing under control, she threw another nasty glare at Shining, who swiftly dodged it by looking the other way.

"I-I do not! He's one of my friends!" Twilight harrumphed and began walking to the door again.

"Friends with benefits? I don't know what happened while you two traveled with each other!" Shining struggled to hold in his laughter as Twilight nearly fell on her face.

"N-no! Ew! Why do you even think of this stuff?" She glared at Shining, though a blush was slowly making its way through her fur.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Shining's tail wagged slightly as he strutted past Twilight. He grabbed the door with his magic and swung it open. The smell of body odour and something else quickly wafted into the hallway, causing Twilight to gag. Shining smirked as he saw Twilight role her eyes.

"Come on, I want to properly meet my new brother in law."

"SHINING!"

*****

Sergeant Dean stood tall as he faced down the three nurses before him. Each only came up to about his waist and were holding various medical instruments like weapons. He couldn't help but smirk at their behaviour.

"M-Mr. Creature sir, I-I'm going to have to ask you to lay back down in your bed. You still have a concussion." A yellow Earth pony with a roll of gauze as a cutie mark stated.

The bandage wrapping Dean's head shifted slightly, causing him to wince as a dull throbbing echoed through his skull. He kept still however and continued to glare at the ponies before him. The second he moved to sit down, they would likely try to jump him and restrain him to the bed until Prince Gallant Knight or something showed up. Dean's ears twitched as the sound of hooves echoed from down the hallway. The nurses didn't seem to notice or simply didn't care as they continued to look at him.

The sound of Twilights voice caused his eyes to look away for a split second, and that split second was all the nurses needed.

"GET HIM!"

Dean suddenly found himself being attacked from three different angles from three different ponies. The yellow earth pony went for his legs and succeeded in latching onto his right shin. Dean tried to shake the fuzzy thing off but found his world obscured by fur and fluff as the second nurse, a red pegasus pony, clung to his face.

With an indignant yelp, Dean was sent catering off balance. He fell to the floor with a loud THUMP! The third nurse, the ringleader, smiled down at him as she hopped onto his chest.

"Alright, the Princess has made you an honoured guest, but we were instructed to keep you here. She never said how we were supposed to do it. SO, you will not be moving until she comes back. Am I clear?" The pony yelped when Dean suddenly reached up and picked her up by the scruff like a kitten. He jumped to his feet, mindful of the pony wrestling his one leg, and turned towards the entry to his room. The pony around his face slipped, but Dean quickly scooped her up to. He walked out the door, looked right, then left, spotted an open closet, and proceeded to walk towards it, all the while dragging the yellow Earth pony down the hall. Upon reaching his destination, he spotted a pile of dirty sheets laying in a corner and proceeded to lift both ponies up to his face. He smiled at them, being sure to show his canines, and they cowered away in fear. Dean chuckled as he threw the two nurses into the blankets.

Upon picking up the yellow pegasus, she gave a quiet eep and looked into his eyes, a sheepish smile adjourning her face. Dean simply huffed before tossing her in as well.

Once Dean shut the door, he turned around and was immediately assaulted by a lavender blur. His moment of shock was quickly turned into a chuckle of amusement as he began to scratch behind Twilights ears. Then, a second set of hooves entered his hearing.

Dean stood up straight and quickly pulled Twilight off of him, much to her protest. His eyes were locked on the figure that was slowly making his way towards them, and his face fell into a mask of professionalism. Prince Shining Armour stopped about four meters away from the towering soldier and visibly gulped. he eyed the bandage around the Human's face warily and grimaced slightly after realizing he was the one who had caused the wound.

The Sergeant stood their, full armour and exo-suit, glaring down at the pony who had attempted to interrogate him.

'If you could even call it that.'

"Come back for round two, or am I going to have to turn your words against you again?" Dean smirked as the Prince scowled. He saw Shining look at Twilight, then back at Dean.

"Sergeant Dean." Shining began in a dead panned voice. To Dean, it sounded like the Prince was trying to force the words from his throat. Shining looked at Twilight once more before huffing. His ears splayed back and his face portrayed irritation. "I would like to apologize for my earlier behaviour and assumptions surrounding your person. If there is anything-" Shining was abruptly cut off when Dean held up his hand. With a raised eyebrow he looked down towards Twilight, who was a bit red in the face.

"Did you put him up to this?" He narrowed his eyes as she looked down at her hooves. Her sheepish smile was all he needed to know. "Huh."

Dean looked back towards the Prince and smiled.

"You may have been an ass the first time we met, but I am not dense, I knew the second I found out you were Shining Armour that you were trying to protect your sister. I likely would have done the same if some random, heavily armoured warrior showed up with my sibling and attacked my friends." And then Dean surprised everyone by snapping his heels together and saluting. "I also heard you were a Captain. I am First Sergeant Dean Forrester. I hope those three scouts that caught me are okay."

Shining Armour merely stared at the metal clad Human with his mouth slightly open. Never before had he experienced such a turn of events.

Shining quickly realized that he was making a fool of himself and snapped his own salute in response. His eyes drifted over the Human and he was able to take in minute details. Scratches decorated the metallic armour in various areas and black paint seemed to be peeling off around the center of his body. There was some sort of combat webbing on his front as well as a strange belt with tons of pockets and various holders. The one detail that caused Shining to shiver were the small blood splatters around his gloved fingers. To sum it up, it looked like Sergeant Dean had gone through a lot.

"I am indeed a Captain of the Royal Guard, It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sergeant. And to answer your question, the pony you choked is somewhere in the infirmary while the other two are on duty." He saw Dean wince slightly and smirked.

Both Dean and Shining dropped their salute as one and turned to face Twilight with critical eyes. Twilight chuckled nervously as the Human and her brother stared at her.

"Heheh, I guess I owe an apology." She looked at Shining with a sincere face. "I'm sorry for forcing you to apologize to the Sergeant, Shiny."

Shining Armour merely chuckled before walking over and nuggying his sister playfully. Dean couldn't help but chuckle at their antics.

The Prince looked up at Dean with a neutral expression. "Well, Dean. You are hereby free to go. I am going to be assigning a guard for you for when you go into town-" Once again, Dean cut off Shining.

"Whoa there bucko, I'm not exactly staying here and sightseeing. I'm on a tight schedule." Dean gave one more scratch behind Twilights ears before crossing his arms and looking at Shining.

"And were exactly do you have to that is so important, Sergeant?" Shining raised an eyebrow. He still didn't fully trust the Human and visibly expressed it. His eyes hardened as he glared up at the soldier.

"Well, I have to get home, I'm not exactly from this world and I have a war to fight." Sergeant Dean saw Twilight look down sadly but chose to ignore it. He looked back and saw Shining do a quick double take.

"Another world? And how are you going to do that? Say I believe that you are an alien; We don't have the capabilities here or the spells that could possibly send you back to wherever you came from." Shining Armour had a feeling he knew where the conversation was going.

"Maybe not, but I made a deal with someone. If I completed my mission, they would send me back to my world. I intend to get that done as quickly and efficiently as possible; my people need me."

"And what was this deal, might I ask." Shining groaned on the inside. The counsel wasn't going to like this.

"Well, I am supposed to help free your people from the Dark Elves." Dean smirked as Shining huffed.

"And how will you do that? We don't have a military anymore, our morale is hanging by a thread... and you are just one guy! We need to wait and plan our next move against the Dark Elves, not rush in blindly and hope for a victory." Dean heard the defeat in the Prince's voice. He felt the coldness that seemed to leech off of the pony when mentioning their oppressors. Sergeant Dean may have been looking to get home, but these ponies were slowly growing on him. They seemed... human, in a sense, and nobody deserved the treatment they were receiving. The past of the United States of America, his home country, was reason enough for him to fight, and the sooner he got done here, the sooner he could get back home and win the war.

"Prince Shining Armour, I told Twilight this and now I am going to tell you something similar." Deans face seemed to darken as he glared down at the pony. His whole frame seemed to grow to an impossible height and his armour seemed to thicken. His eyes narrowed and the Prince gulped.

"Victory is always possible for the one who refuses to stop fighting. I suggest you remember that. And let me tell you, I'm going to give those pricks a fight for the centuries." Dean began to walk past Prince Shining, who was staring at him with... some sort of emotion. His metal boots created a deafening stomp that seemed to drag out through the hallway. Twilight was looking at Dean in awe once more as he stalked past.

"I need my equipment, I need my guns, I need four good soldiers. He looked back at the Prince, who was still standing there. A small ray of hope seemed to be breaking through his downed expression. He just needed another nudge.

"These Elves have grown lax in their victory, they think you are beaten. The reason I am here..." Dean pushed the heavy wooden door open, letting bright sunlight spill through the entry. He looked back at the siblings, one held malice and a sense of revenge in her eyes, the other held a sense of awe and inspiration. His smile widened.

"...is to show them the fight is just beginning." He turned and walked through the doorway. "Common, let's go win this thing."

And so Shining Armour and Twilight followed the Sergeant. A new sense of hope hung in the air around them. As the group moved towards the barracks, Shining was able catch a glimpse of the city of Maritime Bay, the city he had protected for the last two years. By doing so, he came to a decision: They would finally take the fight to the Elves, they would finally free all the oppressed ponies, and they would finally be able to get their... revenge.

'Did I say revenge? No, I-I meant what was stolen. Yeah, we will take back all that was stolen from our ponies.'

*****

'The Demon of Metal has joined the resistance!'

'We need to find a way to remove it.'

'But how? What? No, no, that could jeopardize the already tense relations!'

'It doesn't matter. If we can get that power, not even the Dark Elves could stop us. Do it.'

'Fine, but if it fails, you get to answer to the queen.'

'I will bear that responsibility.'

'Wait, What of the Prince?'

'He matters not, neither do. If you have the opportunity, kill them both.'