The sincerity and sorrow in his voice meant a lot to Cadance and the two Young Princesses, but Luna and Celestia knew that Shining was merely using it as a facade to hide his fear, and when he pulled them closer for a tighter embrace, they could feel their hearts ache; but Shining knew he could not embrace his Family forever, and to his dismay, he was forced to let go of them not long thereafter.
After Shining wiped clean his tear-stained face, he helped his Daughters and his dearest beloved to dry their tears, before he sweetly offered to give Flurry and Twila a lift on his back to the aura, where they could wave each other goodbye; and to his relief, the Young Princesses happily accepted, and they swiftly jumped onto his back, but Shining did not even notice, as if they weighed nothing.
Packed and fully protected from anything that could be thrown at him, Shining slowly turned around, and solemnly told their friends in the Great Hall that they were welcome to join them, but he would not fault them if they stayed; but to his pleasant surprise, not a single being remained seated, as Eclipse and Spike, Star and Amethyst, Sunburst and Starlight, and even Frost all rose to join them.
It was clear that Shining never expected that everyone would be willing to accompany them, but when Eclipse walked up to him, Twilight whispered that he should not be so shocked, before they gestured for him to lead them to the border; and after Shining shook his head, he said that they were right, as he would not want the others to wait for him much longer, which startled the Two-Headed Alicorn.
As Shining walked to the doors to head outside, always keeping a close eye on his two Daughters, he politely asked a worried Eclipse if they could help Cadance out with looking after Flurry and Twila while he was away from here; but Eclipse did not answer his request, and instead, after he repeated himself a moment later, they quickly agreed, and quietly asked him who 'the others' were in return.
Fortunately, when Shining realised what he said, he managed to stay calm, and he politely told them that he meant the Guards at the Outpost, of course, whom had been waiting there for an awfully long time already, and it was time to head there to help them; and he loudly told himself that he had to remember to arrange another shipment of supplies, trying to cover for his mistake as best he could.
To the others' relief, Cadance believed Shining at his word, and she merely looked at him in wonder and awe, overjoyed to have met and married such a helpful, honourable, and honest Stallion; but out of all these qualities, Shining was breaking the latter, as he, and the Princesses with whom he was conspiring, were lying to Cadance for her own good, despite feeling terrible over the mere thought.
But although Eclipse smiled in return, and encouraged Shining to make haste to head to the Outpost, Celestia discreetly whispered to them that their friends were not ready yet, and they were not able to bring Shining to the Dragon Lands yet; but they could not make Shining wait for them, either, so the best thing they could do for them all was to warn Shining, and to tell him it may take a while.
While Celestia and Eclipse discreetly spoke with one another, miraculously without Cadance noticing their conversation, Luna frequently reached out to Nox to ask her for an update, to which she often received little more than a request for patience in return; but eventually, just as the whole group in the Empire stepped into the grassy fields, just as they silently passed the Mirror, she stopped.
A small and warm smile grew upon Luna's face as she put her hoof to her chest, and listened closely as her Daughter let her know that they were finally close to an unremarkable area, which Ember said was a neutral area; but they had to be careful, as only half of their group was able to fly towards it, while Light, Boom, and Courage either had to travel by hoof or paw, or had to be carried there.
Almost in tears to know that Nox and their mutual friends were close to safety, Luna told her:
"Do what you must, but I beg you to stay safe, and to take no unneeded risks…"
(Thanks for reading! And if you enjoyed, please reblog! Thanks in advance!)
Send an ask or request! | Start at the beginning! | Next part!
Featuring:
Nox Lunarwing from @nox-lunarwing
Boomlord from @thedumbguywithaheart43
Princess Twila from @twila-bloggin
Solar Eclipse and Twilight Sparkle as Twilight Eclipse from @asktwilighteclipse
(P.S. At the moment of writing, I’ve just crossed over into Germany, about to get off at my next station, where I’ll have an hour of transfer time. Still have like 6 hours to go… and waiting is one of them.)
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After the others all breathed immense sighs of relief, however, Ember continued, and said that they could not delay, and they had to hasten themselves to leave these territories; for although she was able to reason with the Great Elemental Dragon, the mere presence of such a small group was already close to their limit, and they would not allow a longer stay or more beings to pass without issues.
Hearing this, both Nox and Boom turned away to think, albeit for separate reasons, before Nox asked the group for some silence, as she had to let her Mother know that they could not yet allow Shining to join them, lest they risk the wrath of the Great Elemental Dragons that rule these lands; and to her great relief, Luna understood, and from her position in Frost's arms, she gestured to Celestia.
When Celestia noticed the signs that her Sister wished to speak with her, she discreetly moved over to sit next to her and Frost, and while the Dragoness between them was as quiet and sat as still as she possibly could, Luna told Celestia about the complications the group faced; for if they were to translocate Shining now, they would put the group in danger that could not be solved with strength.
Fortunately, since the Lord of the Empire was still energetically dancing around the table with his Daughters, they did not yet have to worry about letting him know about their slight change of plan; but he could not stay forever, either, and both they and the group had to make sure that everything was set, so Luna closed her eyes to reach out to Nox, while Celestia moved over to talk to Shining.
But just as she gently laid her head on Frost's chest again, Luna heard that Shining had started to well up as he quietly whispered to the two Young Princesses that he loved them more than they could imagine; and Luna struggled to calm down her heart as she told Nox and the group to look after each other, as Shining had just uttered what she knew he intended to be his last words to his Daughters.
In response, Nox quickly passed her Mother's message on to the others, and repeated Ember's request to leave these territories as soon as they could, and to find an area of neutrality where they were able to rest and regroup; but when Ember took the lead to guide the group to the East, Boom did not move a muscle, and he pensively looked into the distance towards the Great Elemental Dragon's lair.
Only when Nox placed her paw on his shoulder was Boom finally able to snap out of his focus, but he could not answer her when she asked him if he had heard her, for which he started to apologise; but Nox instead told him to forego his apology, and to make haste, as Ember had already started to lead the group further East in the hopes of reaching unoccupied territory where they could take a break.
Before he could take time to think, Boom was pulled onto his hooves by Nox, who started to push him forwards with her wings, hoping to catch up with the others, while back in the Empire, Lord Shining was putting on his armour and gathering his supplies again; but when he put on his protective gear, Celestia returned all his weapons onto his body without anybody noticing, save for her and Shining.
All that Cadance worriedly asked Shining was why he briefly shuddered a moment ago, the moment that all his weapons were translocated at once, to which he lied that he was just not looking forward to stepping into the snow; and he sweetly promised Cadance, Flurry, and Twila that he would be back in no time, before he jokingly asked the two Princesses if they could look after their Mother for him.
As brave as one of the Royal Guards, the two little Fillies almost started to jump in excitement as they promised their Dad that Momma would be every right before he returned back, before they softly asked him to be safe and stay careful in the very cold; and Shining had to hold back his tears with all his might as he picked up Twila and Flurry, and pulled them and Cadance in for a sweet embrace.
In turn, as everyone in the Hall got up to join the Crystal Royals to the aura, Shining whispered:
"I already miss you…"
(Thanks for reading! And if you enjoyed, please reblog! Thanks in advance!)
Send an ask or request! | Start at the beginning! | Next part!
Featuring:
Nox Lunarwing from @nox-lunarwing
Boomlord from @thedumbguywithaheart43
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