Author's Notes:

Edited on 18 May 2016

Formerly Come One. Come Some.

And just because Shining needs some love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aglz3MZhP0U

Shining Armor's head bobs, and his bloodshot eyes have trouble focusing on the door ahead of him. On his desk are orders that need to be signed and folders that need to be opened, but on top of all those is another New Yoke Times issue. The front page has a picture of him and Case Study side by side, smiling during an event he cannot rightly remember, but the article associated with the picture is yet another one by Quill Pen. The title of the article: Fairy Tale End. S.A. Sparkle Finds Love In Younger Mare.

Ever since that article came out the day before he has felt a heavy weight in the air. It is suffocating, the distrust, the disgust, the fear, the pain, the confusion. All of it on him and around him in every eye, every posture. His colleagues will not look at him, ponies whisper about him behind his back, and he has not seen Case Study since yesterday. Even though Cadence has talked to him, he heard the pain in her voice, saw the confusion in her eyes and noticed that her steps have changed.

The lie has gone nationwide and he cannot contain it, and he ran out of alcohol to hide the pain. He does not know if he should be surprised or worried that Celestia has not said a word about this, but he knows one thing, and that certain thing must be done quickly and without remorse.

Shining Armor's hoof slowly presses the button to summon his communication's rig, and when it is up he goes through his phone book to find the number he needs.

“Colonel Blazer,” says a stallion.

“Colonel, this is Captain of the Royal Guard Shining Armor Sparkle, code Rose Bud oh-four, two-one, twenty-twelve.”

“Confirmed. What can I do for you?”

“I want you to arrest Quill Pen, the board, the lead editors, the publishing supervisors, and the distribution supervisors of the New Yoke Times. Publicly. The flashier the better.”

“Sir?”

“I will not repeat myself.”

“Under what charges?”

“Defamation, spreading slander, dishonest journalism. Put Quill Pen and the board in Snowflake and put the rest in Singsong. I want this done by the end of the day.”

Blazer hesitates. “It will be done.”

“Good.”

Shining Armor hangs up and slumps against his desk, blowing heavily through his nose and running his hoof through his mane. A moment later the speaker on his desk buzzes and he sluggishly answers.

“This is Sparkle,” he says.

“Captain, its Case Study,” says his assistant, her voice a panicked whisper.

Shining Armor stiffens. “Case Study? What's wrong?”

“A group of EIB agents just came in and they are heading your way. They want to arrest you.”

Shining Armor's mouth goes dry and his heart bangs against his ribs as he snaps his eyes up to his door, expecting to see it kicked down any moment.

“Under what charge?” says Shining Armor.

“Quill Pen's murder,” says Case Study.

Shining Armor pales.

“Somepony found her body and you are their prime suspect. You have to run! You don't much time!”

Shining Armor immediately hurries towards his door, but when he enters the main work area his steps become much slower. Casual in fact, even though he feels a ball of air in his throat and a tension that demands he run. He ignores the stares and the cold shoulders, and when he rounds the corner out of everyone's sight he goes to the maintenance elevator and hits the express button. After stepping inside and being safely locked behind its thick door, his eyes narrow and his jaw tightens, and he prepares himself for a long day.

Hours later Shining Armor is walking in a garbage filled alley, wearing a full body cloak. The only parts that aren’t covered are his muzzle, the tip of his tail, and the bottom of his legs. Once he reaches the end of the alley he is forced to squint his eyes due to the bright afternoon sun, and gets a little bit of shade when one of the propaganda zeppelins glides by. He passes the expected high class snobs talking in their pompous tone, some homeless ponies begging for money or food, vendors selling stuff, and a crowd of ponies at some kind of convention. Shining Armor also spots a Royal Guard patrol wagon driving dangerously close to him, but rather than making a break for it like his legs are telling him to, he keeps his walk steady and direct.

He walks into the convention and sees that it is crowded with mostly the miserable crowd. They are dirty and worn down, but they have smiles and are laughing and generally having a good time with one another. Shining Armor peeks over his shoulder and notices the patrol vehicle turning into plot of grass where other vehicles are parked. A couple of Royal Guard’s hop out with radio packs on and the barrels of their battle saddles pointed down. Shining Armor swears under his breath and goes further into the crowd.

“Ladies and gentlecolts!” booms a mare into a microphone, her voice echoing over the crowd chatter from a series large speakers strategically placed around the convention.

Shining Armor has the misfortune of being next to one when the mare spoke, so his ears are ringing and his heart is racing from the unexpected sound.

“Here is the pony you have all been waiting for! Mother Glory!” continues the mare.

The crowd cheers and stomps the ground in applause, and Shining Armor snakes his way through the bodies as the two guardponies trail him.

“Thank you, Sister,” says Mother Glory cheerfully after the crowd dies down. “You know, I have been a priestess for a long time. I’m also a priestess daughter, so I grew up with a devoted family that held the principles of Celestia's teachings to the highest standard.”

Shining Armor ducks into a food court and scrunches down in the farthest table and watches as a guard walks by, speaking into his radio.

“But the thing is, it didn’t matter,” continues Mother Globry. “I knew the words, or more accurately, I memorized them. But I didn’t know their meaning, I didn’t comprehend the message. There is so much more to faith than just praying and donating bits to your local charities.”

Shining Armor moves from his table and goes out the back of the food court when the guard turns and walks towards him. He briskly walks into the food storage area and lies in wait by a stack of boxes containing hay bacon. He crouches down lower when he hears two sets of hooves cautiously enter the maze of boxes.

“There is forgiveness and perseverance and deeds. Forgiveness is the root of all that is good, for without it, the cycle of hate and vengeance will never end,” says Mother Glory.

As soon as the first soldier’s head goes into view, Shining Armor socks him in the jaw and he crumbles to the ground, unconscious with a bloody mouth.

“But forgiveness cannot last without our perseverance,” says Mother Glory. “We must be strong, we must have the strength to withstand all the evils in the world. We must have the strength to believe that, in the end evil will fail and good will reign supreme.”

Shining Armor puts a shield around the remaining guard as he shootsp. The bullets ricochet off of the rosy walls of the shield and strikes the guard in the leg. He falls to the ground, crying in pain as he feebly tries to stop the bleeding. Shining Armor approaches the guard and expands his shield so he can walk inside comfortably without anyone hearing the guard’s cries.

“And in order for us to have the strength to continue on, we must fuel our faith with good deeds,” says Mother Glory. “We must do right by others, we must fight evil wherever it may be, for there will be days when prayers will not be enough. A prayer, while good for a moment of bliss, is nothing compared to helping your fellow pony.”

The guard looks up at Shining Armor, eyes wide with terror and body trembling, and Shining Armor brings his hoof down on the injured soldier’s head, knocking him unconscious. Shining Armor’s shield disappears and carries both of the guards to a janitor’s closet. There, he ties and gags them, takes their radios and weapons and locks the door. As he puts on the radio pack, his eyes and ears scan the area for anything suspicious. Not even a few seconds in he barely hears the clip-clops from hooves landing on concrete over the cheers responding to Mother Glory’s charismatic sermon.

Shining Armor hastily puts on a battle saddle and aims it towards the source. Right when the stranger is about to round the corner, the noise stops. Shining Armor adjusts his battle saddle as he cautiously rounds the corner, being sure to have his steps as light as equinely possible. Right as the crowd cheers in response to another well said line from Mother Glory, Shining Armor puts a shield around himself and jumps around the corner with his weapon at the ready.

A stallion with an charcoal coat, a muzzle and afro matching an ashy color with neon green sunglasses shrieks at a pitch too high for any normal stallion. The shriek is so loud that Shining Armor can see the ripples of the sound waves against his shield. The pony’s eyes then roll to the back of his head and he collapses to the ground like a bag of bricks, and all Shining Armor can do is blink. When a green coated, purple maned stallion jumps around the corner and uses his magic to cock a shotgun, Shining Armor barely reacts, he’s too stunned by the unconscious pony’s scream to do any real reacting. However, that goes without saying that the Captain still aims his weapon at the newcomer. But oddly enough, the newcomer lowers his weapon and kicks the afro-pony in the side, making him yelp and jump up.

“I almost lost my hearing again because of your stupid scream,” says the stallion, his voice sounding oddly familiar to Shining Armor.

“I’m sorry, but these things just happen,” whines the other, also sounding familiar.

Shining Armor looks at both ponies, and lowers his weapon and shield while cocking his head quizzically.

“L. Roy? Colt?”

The green coated pony looks at Shining Armor and almost gets a smile.

“You got a lot of explaining to do, Sparkle Sparkle Boom Colt,” says L. Roy as he slips his weapon into a scabbard attached to his saddle.

“Don’t call me that,” says Shining Armor.

The afro-pony, Colt, snickers and when Shining Armor glares at him, his grin and laughter go away in a a blink of an eye. Then Shining Armor’s eyes go half lidded and he frowns as he does a quick inspection of Colt.

“I’m going to guess that these disguises were your idea,” says Shining Armor.

Colt’s grin returns. “Yep.”

L. Roy steps in front of Colt and points at Shining Armor angrily.

“Okay, so now that we are here, in disguises, are you going to tell us what is going on?” says L. Roy.

“Yeah, I'd like to know that, too,” adds Colt with a childish raise of his hoof.

Shining Armor takes a deep breath. “Somepony killed Quill Pen and the EIB thinks it was me. Brisk Wind had something to do with this, I just know it, so I need your guys' help.”

“And what exactly are we supposed to do?” says L. Roy.

“Help me prove that Brisk Wind set me up,” says Shining Armor.

L. Roy scoffs. “Oh, is that all? Well, shit, we'll be done by the end of the day.”

Colt looks at L. Roy with a broad smile. “Really?”

L. Roy frowns at his partner. “No.”

Colt's smile disappears and his body sulks. “Oh.”

L. Roy looks at Shining Armor. “This whole thing is stupid. Brisk Wind is already in hot water for what happened at the Griffin Enclave. It is only a matter of time until she is fully discharged.”

“I am being framed for murder!” says Shining Armor. “And I don't give a shit if she is in trouble for that griffin fiasco. It won't clear my name and I refuse to be arrested for a murder I did not commit.”

Colt raises his hoof. “Hold on. If you're just a suspect, then all they wanted to do was ask you questions, so, really, you running only made things worse, so technically you are looking more guilty than innocent.”

Shining Armor and L. Roy stare at Colt, and he shifts his eyes between them, smiling nervously.

“Just a thought,” he says.

“A valid thought,” says L. Roy. “As for you, Boom Colt. If its any consolation, I am glad Quill Pen is dead. She was a bitch.”

“Brisk Wind is a bigger bitch and she needs to go,” says Shining Armor.

“Why not just kill her? It will save us a lot of trouble.”

“Because that would not clear my name, Lenard!”

L. Roy's throat rumbles with a growl, but Shining Armor does not care. He paces in circles, heart racing and eyes darting madly as the gears in his brain spin at smoking speeds, making for a mess of thoughts.

“There's got to be something we can do to prove Brisk Wind framed me,” says Shining Armor.

“Yes, the unanimous we. Glad we had a say in this,” says L. Roy.

“Shut your mouth! You're a detective. Help me out here.”

“How? I don't have any evidence to look at.”

Colt suddenly lets out a loud gasp and turns to L. Roy and Shining Armor with big googly eyes and a massive grin. He holds that stupid smile for a second before Shining Armor becomes massively uncomfortable with it.

“Um, you okay, Colt?” asks Shining Armor.

“Yes! I’m more than okay!” says Colt. “Why don't we get the Vigilante to help us?”

Shining Armor facehoofs and L. Roy calls Colt an imbecile under his breath. Upon seeing the other two’s reaction the earth pony’s smile fades away and he looks at both of the two with worry.

“The Vigilante hasn’t been seen ever since the griffins and EIB had the shootout at that apartment complex,” says Shining Armor.

“Don’t you listen to the news?” adds L. Roy.

Colt waves his hoof dismissively. “Psh, no. The mainstream media is a corrupted, propaganda machine backed by corporate giants, unions and foreign influences whose only goals are to manipulate the sheeponies so that they can keep their influence on the populace. I can go on all day about this stuff.”

Shining Armor is dumbfounded by Colt’s outburst in regards to the media while L. Roy looks unimpressed.

“Then where do you get your information?” asks L. Roy.

“...Vinyl Scratch,” says Colt.

“Oh goddess, of all of the ponies out there, you just had to pick her?”

The two have a short argument about the famous DJ, and as they argue a light bulb turns on in Shining Armor’s brain. The light is so bright, in fact, that it compels him to clap his hooves together, effectively getting the other two’s attention.

“I know what we have to do,” says Shining Armor. “And we're going to need a wagon.”