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Temporal_Writefag

Hit-Non's grim adventures.

Aug 21st, 2015
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  1. >You had told them it was pizza delivery.
  2. >Your mother, your father, your brother and sister.
  3. >A while back it was a waiter.
  4. >Before that it was cashier.
  5. >Now it was pizza delivery.
  6. >The story goes a little something like this...
  7. >When you were around 6 or 7 years old, you remember being lost on the streets of Canterlot.
  8. >It's very hazy, but you remember coming from somewhere else, although you don't remember where.
  9. >One night you were wandering the sidewalks in worn and dirty clothes and you hadn't the faintest idea of where you were going.
  10. >But you remember it was sad and dark, and you didn't care.
  11. >That is, until they had found you.
  12. >It was a boy, a few years older than you with his bright blue hair and nearly glowing eyes.
  13. >You remember that he pulled you quickly by the arm around a corner to a man and a pregnant woman.
  14. >The looks on their faces were indescribable, but likely only because back then you barely knew your own name.
  15. >It's hard to really describe it but you had been confused about how you felt from when they pulled you into their house to give you something nicer to wear.
  16. >For a boy who didn't really remember anything, they told you that was normal.
  17. >You learned that the boy's name was Shining Armor, a young student at Canterlot's prestigious academy.
  18. >The mother was Twilight Velvet, and her husband was Nightlight Sparkle.
  19. >Something inside of you told you that their names should've been more identical, but you had no reference to go off of.
  20. >Anything you had ever tried to remember before that day brought you severe headaches and even depression.
  21. >It was your way of teaching yourself not to dwell on the past, and when you had said that at 13 to your mother you couldn't describe the way she praised your 'maturity'.
  22. >You had definitely developed different than normal 'colts'.
  23. >You once used the term kid but apparently that wasn't so common here.
  24. >When they tried to discover any sign of heritage or origin they came up with nothing
  25. >After a while they decided it wasn't a big deal.
  26. >Velvet and Sparkle...or rather, Mom and Dad, adopted you.
  27. >They were kind to you like that, but you always knew one thing was true about them;
  28. >They weren't nobles in this noble city.
  29. >And that meant that harboring not just their two children, but also you, came at a cost.
  30. >Especially because they had to put more time into you.
  31. >It's probably the one emotion you remember feeling for almost all of your life.
  32. >Guilt.
  33. >You watched them smile and laugh it off, but you heard them talking sometimes at night when you couldn't sleep.
  34. >You had heard...mother, crying before.
  35. >Over the stress, her pregnancy, and worst of all not being able to provide for three children.
  36. >You remember planning to run away at one point, thinking you were nothing but a burden.
  37. >Shining armor stopped you in your tracks, though.
  38. >Even as you had cried into his arms about not fitting in and being 'over-expensive', he wouldn't let you go.
  39. >To this day you can't find a way to thank him enough for everything he had done for you.
  40. >And he agreed not to let Mom and Dad know either.
  41. >Celestia knows they would've been crushed and distracted even further.
  42. >It wasn't long after that they had Twilight Sparkle, their new daughter.
  43. >...Your new sister.
  44. >Something about those words had always sparked a sense of pride in you, something happy.
  45. >Give it a few years and you're about 10 years old, Shining is almost 16.
  46. >That was the day Shining started off for the Military Academy, accepted early for spectacular performance at such a young age.
  47. >This time you couldn't stop him from leaving.
  48. >But when he did, when Mom and Dad hugged him goodbye, tears in his eyes, he gave you one last thing to remember him by.
  49. >He gave you a task.
  50. >An important task.
  51. >Take care of everyone, and I will be back for you.
  52. >He gave you a family, and kept it for you.
  53. >You would do your job by any means necessary.
  54. >Anything for the ones you loved.
  55. >After that, it was you, Mom, Dad...and Twilight.
  56. >Twilight changed everything, in every way possible.
  57. >When she was born, they said that she had abnormal magical presence.
  58. >You didn't have magic, but you knew this meant that she was going to be a very powerful girl.
  59. >Your mother and father both had magic.
  60. >And your brother and sister did too.
  61. >You didn't have magic...
  62. >You also didn't have wings to be a pegasus.
  63. >They wondered if maybe you were an earthen 'folk'.
  64. >While they told you that you were still quite strong, you weren't as connected to the earth as they were.
  65. >You were lost in the middle of this triangle, and this haunted you growing up.
  66. >But it was a little less bothersome when you had Twilight around.
  67. >The little girl was a genius, and learned so fast.
  68. >By the time she was 5 she was speaking pretty coherently.
  69. >You were there for her every day you could be growing up.
  70. >But with Shining out of the house, you started to realize that with father getting into his years you were going to eventually be the man of the house.
  71. >As much as your family contributed to the heirarchy, you still weren't royal in blood.
  72. >This meant that you were probably among the poorest of those living in this rich city.
  73. >As much as people respected your father and mother, there will still equally as many who felt like you were all out of place.
  74. >You didn't like those people.
  75. >They didn't know how wonderful your family really could be.
  76. >And if they tried to do anything, you would protect your family.
  77. >But first thing was first, you had to make sure you could afford your lifestyle.
  78. >If not for you, then your family.
  79. >If not for you, then for Twilight.
  80. >You had come to the conclusion long ago that you would never get to reach the same places she and shining armor could.
  81. >Even if your mother and father still told you that you might be the most special of you all.
  82. >Special wasn't always a good thing.
  83. >But it would always be important.
  84. >That was your motto to live by.
  85. >Turns out, nobody wants a mug like you working an apprenticeship under them.
  86. >You don't have magic by nature, though you've been told you might be able to learn with time.
  87. >Nobody gives you that time.
  88. >You had gotten a decent little education in your time, with personal tutelage via your Parent's connections.
  89. >Twilight thought you were so smart, even though you're sure she already knows much more than you do.
  90. >You suppose, however, that the curse of talent is being a bit socially inept.
  91. >It's just as hard for her to fit in with her prowess as it is for you with a lack of such.
  92. >Maybe that's also part of the reason you paid so much attention to her.
  93. >Why you worked so hard to help make money for her.
  94. >It's better to help her grow up instead of bringing her down with you.
  95. >Thus you were in a predicament from 12-13.
  96. >You ended up getting a small job at a low-tier convenience store by working the registers.
  97. >Thankfully they had lower ethics there, which suited your self-worth at the time.
  98. >For the work, it was actually decent pay.
  99. >You got about 11 bits an hour, working 5 hour shifts.
  100. >It probably came from 'different' kinds of dealings occurring on a regular basis.
  101. >You would teach Twilight about money and how to use it, and most of the time you gave her your own little 'allowance' to make her happy.
  102. >She was a responsible little filly, and used it to buy more books, usually.
  103. >She came up with her own excuses to mom and dad.
  104. >It was around 13-14 things got...out of control.
  105. >The convenience store ended up getting shut down.
  106. >You made some good bits off of it while it lasted, though.
  107. >Mom and Dad would comment that you usually came back with strange smells.
  108. >You just told them you had done some oddjobs.
  109. >You didn't like lying to them, but you knew they wouldn't let you work just to pay their bills.
  110. >Child labor laws or something like that.
  111. >Yeah, I don't get it either.
  112. >It was around then, though, that something had changed.
  113. >You weren't sure what exactly happened, but Twilight followed you out into the 'slums' one day.
  114. >This was when she developed her little 'big bro crush' on you.
  115. >You thought it was adorable, and even at 6 years old it was cute how she showed you her love.
  116. >But you're still debating whether or not it was a blessing or a curse.
  117. >See, even when that store closed down, the manager still saw use in you.
  118. >Your fearlessness, you were told, was a valuable trait.
  119. >It's true, you were rarely afraid of anything other than losing your family.
  120. >And even then, that thought merely enraged you.
  121. >So when he offered you even more bits for special 'deals' he wanted carried out, you felt no hesitance in accepting.
  122. >In the first week you made over a thousand bits.
  123. >You went on like that, deals and small jobs.
  124. >The man introduced you to some other people as well.
  125. >'Friends of his' he called them.
  126. >Said there was something special about you.
  127. >You told him it was your lack of being special and he just laughed.
  128. >He told you that you would come to learn one day.
  129. >They taught you different things about the world they lived in, the 'underground'.
  130. >The man's name was Underpass.
  131. >You came to learn that meant he knew all the underground movements and dealings in the area.
  132. >You found it funny just how vast it was underneath the shining surface of Canterlot.
  133. >But you quickly found out that it wasn't all just good pay.
  134. >When Twilight nearly found herself killed at the hands of a bad deal.
  135. >You were always told everyone had a special talent.
  136. >Twilight's was magic, Shining's was protecting.
  137. >Yours was hurting people.
  138. >One night you had been tasked to settle a deal with a few people, though Underpass said he didn't want to send you.
  139. >But something you'd picked up was a way with words, and in two ways convinced him you were the kid for the job.
  140. >Thinking you were alone, you never noticed Twilight stalking you in the night to watch her 'cool older brother' work.
  141. >She had learned before that you did work in the dirtier parts of town, and you got her to keep quiet about it.
  142. >To her, you were like the heroes in her story books who went to the mines to pay their family's debts.
  143. >Heh, something like that, huh?
  144. >But this wasn't a story book.
  145. >Twilight accidentally revealed herself during the deal.
  146. >Everything fell apart from there.
  147. >A man you were dealing with, Vecchio, grew angry at the revelation of you being followed.
  148. >He attacked, along with a couple guys he was with.
  149. >They went straight for Twilight, not wanting anyone to get the info out.
  150. >Underpass might have reprimanded you for fighting with the ones you dealt with.
  151. >You made it up to him when he heard of what you did.
  152. >You're just sorry Twilight had to see it.
  153. >It came so naturally to you, though.
  154. >He pulled a knife, went straight for your little sister.
  155. >You couldn't explain how it happened, but you remember grabbing his wrist faster than you could register.
  156. >And the way it snapped in your grasp.
  157. >Although you partially blocked out the memory, at least for the longest time, you remember Vecchio on the ground.
  158. >You remember somehow you got the knife down his throat, and you didn't have to hear his voice anymore.
  159. >When the other guys came after you, your body felt like air.
  160. >You know how to bend, to turn, to lift yourself.
  161. >You don't know how, but breaking their bodies, their faces, their limbs, it was like you had been doing it your entire life.
  162. >You got Twilight back home unharmed, except for her mind.
  163. >You cried and you apologized.
  164. >She didn't speak with you the rest of that night.
  165. >You went back to Underpass instead of staying at home.
  166. >You had to report in.
  167. >He yelled at you, and reprimanded you.
  168. >And you got a promotion.
  169. >You think you tried to fake joy back then.
  170. >But mostly you just didn't understand.
  171. >When he told you there were guys like Vecchio all over the place, you started to catch on.
  172. >It took him all of about saying he would double the pay that you took the deal.
  173. >But you weren't going to be able to hide this income.
  174. >Or the hours.
  175. >You shook hands with Underpass, and learned he wasn't such a bad guy.
  176. >He offered you the chance to leave, but you didn't take it.
  177. >You needed this kind of effective work to save money.
  178. >He told you he would cut you a break to take a little leave at about half pay.
  179. >After looking at yourself in a mirror you figured that was a good idea.
  180. >You had blood on you, and bruises from the fight.
  181. >Dirt smudged all over your getup.
  182. >But most of all were your eyes.
  183. >Bloodshot, worn, and dull.
  184. >You needed to think about who you were going to be before it was too late.
  185. >You went back home later, and got a shower out of the way before anyone found you.
  186. >It was the next morning you went to see Twilight, and before you could've talked to her, she was in your arms crying and apologizing.
  187. >She ended up blaming herself, talking nonstop about how she messed everything up and how she made you do something like that.
  188. >You told her something you think hit her a bit too hard.
  189. >You say it wasn't asking enough of you to pay her back for being your little Sister.
  190. >You realized she forgave you for what you did.
  191. >You think you did too, but you never got back to that.
  192. >When questions about your marks, you told mom and dad you got into a little fight, but you didn't tell them what happened.
  193. >Just some bully kids picking on Twilight.
  194. >That's all they were to you anyways.
  195. >Well, they were worm food to you now.
  196. >Anyone who threatened your family would be.
  197. >A couple years passed since that night.
  198. >You took up Underpass' offer and became probably this country's youngest hitman.
  199. >You did a deal, if the deal went bad you cleaned house.
  200. >At first you ran into some snags.
  201. >You were still young, and had some issues with strength.
  202. >Some of them also had magic and flight.
  203. >It was good practice to know how to put those people to sleep too.
  204. >15, a little ways from 16, you were fairly strapping now.
  205. >Lean, your tone didn't show too much.
  206. >Twilight came to look up to you more than ever since then.
  207. >Not quite literally, since she ended up growing fairly fast as well.
  208. >Your mother joked all the time about how Shining would be jealous of such a man.
  209. >It always made you uncomfortable when she and dad had little arguments around the corner when they thought you couldn't hear.
  210. >Mostly because as time went on you felt like you were disturbingly more the center of your Mother's attention.
  211. >It was grown up stuff, you thought.
  212. >When your new 'work' kicked in, you told your parents you got a job.
  213. >When they questioned you, you told them you got a waiting job at a nearby restaurant.
  214. >Which was actually entirely true, because as it turns out helping a gang rise to power in a wealthy area came with benefits.
  215. >You were basically the right hand man of the group at this point.
  216. >Your normal education was effective, but they taught you every trick in the book down there.
  217. >You sorta changed since then, too.
  218. >You were never super expressive, but since then you felt a little more reserved all together.
  219. >Yet, strangely at peace.
  220. >It was very hard to explain.
  221. >All you knew was that you felt like you loved yourself a little more.
  222. >You really did protect Twilight.
  223. >Sure, you had to hide it in the shadows, but you were gaining some success.
  224. >You heard recently that Shining made Captain of the guard.
  225. >He's in his 20's now.
  226. >You hope to see him again soon.
  227. >Then more news came.
  228. >Twilight was leaving.
  229. >And you felt lost.
  230. >Your mother and father came home one day while you were alone.
  231. >You found great satisfaction out of being a 'hobby man'.
  232. >You picked up every little practice you found your hands on.
  233. >It helped you were very perceptive and exceedingly dextrous now.
  234. >You were in the middle of your 33rd practiced paper crane when their smiling faces came in.
  235. >You heard it from your mother's lips first.
  236. >"Twilight's going to be boarding at Celestia's school for the gifted!"
  237. >The tear of the paper you were currently folding told all.
  238. >They told you Twilight had been selected to take a test about magic to show she had the prowess.
  239. >Apparently she showed more magical ability than any unicorn did in centuries.
  240. >She even hatched a little dragon-kin egg and was told she would help raise it when she was more of-age.
  241. >She was practically a normal woman at this point, smart as all tartarus.
  242. >But she still deeply held you as someone with vast knowledge.
  243. >She wasn't far off, but it was knowledge colts didn't normally have.
  244. >You were hurt at first that you would be saying goodbye to twilight so soon.
  245. >But in the end you felt tears of Joy.
  246. >Twilight, your little sister, was going to be doing great things.
  247. >Years ago she almost died, and you knew risking everything then was the right choice.
  248. >Personal student of the princess...
  249. >What were you compared to that?
  250. >Simply having had the chance to help her be who she was now left a permanent mark of pride on you.
  251. >You baked Twilight a small cake as your way of showing her how proud you were.
  252. >Mom and Dad weren't happy with a whole cake, but you got them to acquiesce soon enough.
  253. >Something about your pleading eyes turned your mother with ease.
  254. >You hugged her when she promised not to tell your father.
  255. >The hug lasted a minute longer than you intended, for some reason...
  256. >Mother must have been tired.
  257. >Twily knew she didn't want to leave you behind.
  258. >She offered to turn it down...
  259. >You told her she deserved people actually worth the effort.
  260. >About a week later, Twilight was off.
  261. >The princess herself came to pick Twilight up.
  262. >It was a moment to you akin to transendence.
  263. >Watching twilight walk into a whole different realm.
  264. >And since that moment your mother and father were no longer the 'rabble' amongst the nobles.
  265. >People actually started paying attention to them.
  266. >And Celestia actually gave them a stipend to help with the bills...
  267. >That last part stung to you a bit.
  268. >And that night you think you might have shed a few tears, honestly.
  269. >You were supposed to be your family's savior...
  270. >Or at least the one to sacrifice everything so that they could get by.
  271. >That's what you thought long ago.
  272. >But Shining was practically royalty now...
  273. >Twilight was a celebrity at 11.
  274. >Your parents not only had fewer kids to spend money on, but had government funding now.
  275. >They smiled and embraced each other at the news, they seemed nothing short of blessed.
  276. >Two children of theirs had obtained stardom.
  277. >One child stood out in every way, they said in response.
  278. >You agreed.
  279. >You were a killer, a shadow lurker, and an outcast.
  280. >You thought it was all worth it.
  281. >Now you feel out of place entirely.
  282. >Sure you helped raise Twilight and you helped inspire Shining Armor.
  283. >But now you did nothing.
  284. >Nothing but spend time home alone and eat your parent's food.
  285. >Ironically, you felt as though you couldn't tell Mom or Dad any of this.
  286. >They've had it hard enough.
  287. >They finally have their own little 'nirvana' devoid of need or concern.
  288. >They didn't find value in collection much more than knowledge and comfort.
  289. >You made their stipend in your paycheck, still.
  290. >They told you without you none of this would have happened.
  291. >A part of you doubts that, of course.
  292. >You were a waiter, but you've been told that position might also change.
  293. >Underpass had something he wanted to say to you.
  294. >You've come to trust Underpass greatly.
  295. >He has treated you fairly, and even told you directly he has much of his success to thank you for.
  296. >When you had your rough moments, you could almost say it was like having an uncle that your parents didn't know about.
  297. >Then you realized how creepy that was and settled for a kindly old man.
  298. >A kindly old man who knew everything there was to know everywhere.
  299. >You never paid too much attention, but this group had grown beneath your nose.
  300. >You still felt weird admitting it, but you didn't feel all the way there as a part of the group itself.
  301. >Much like at home, you simply told yourself you were lucky to be here and they didn't need you so don't get uppity.
  302. >Underpass tried to tell you otherwise, of course.
  303. >"I can get you anything in this city any way at any time. And I'll be damned if it's not served to you on a silver platter."
  304. >It was tempting some times, but you told him simply that there was nothing you wanted beyond a purpose.
  305. >That was one thing you tended to lack when your family was full of fame.
  306. >He told you he could give you that too.
  307. >He told you he could make you his second in command.
  308. >You were offered the chance to improve the only 'talent' you really had.
  309. >Murder.
  310. >So you told him you wanted to be the best you could be at it, at protecting and handling those that needed dealt with.
  311. >You shared one ideal with Underpass if nothing else and that was that you didn't want to rule to burn away the world.
  312. >You both wanted to see it led properly, and you applauded his disdain for wrongful dealings to innapropriate audiences.
  313. >To get the big stuff, you had to be trusted.
  314. >If you broke that trust, the groups 'repo man' paid you a visit.
  315. >That man would be you.
  316. >It was agreed on that you would essentially become THE headhunter, and handle anyone who needed to be dealt with.
  317. >Later that night when you got home you felt that perhaps maybe there was still work to be done.
  318. >You told yourself that you weren't out of the picture yet.
  319. >Perhaps you still had a life to live.
  320. >Shining and Twilight would grow up to fight their fights, but you could make it a bit more tolerable for them.
  321. >As it stands you were surprisingly well connected on things that you might need.
  322. >You kept your hobbies going.
  323. >Now it was more like an obligation to you.
  324. >Mastering as many different things as you could was no longer just optional.
  325. >You wanted, no...NEEDED to know everything you could.
  326. >To have every trait you could apply yourself to.
  327. >Your mother told you that it was bad to stay indoors so often when not at work.
  328. >She told you that maybe you should try to make some friends.
  329. >You told her that you found nothing more satisfying that spending time at home with her and working hard.
  330. >You might have said something wrong, though, in your defensive attempt.
  331. >Mother looked at you strangely, and was unusually generous.
  332. >She offered to bake just for you.
  333. >It turns out with the new stipend and local noteriety that father had been out more.
  334. >He continued his research, doing much astronomical work in his observatory with all the freetime he had.
  335. >Your mother was a writer, and a bit of a socialite.
  336. >This meant that your father's sudden reclusive nature must have caused quite a rift between the two of you.
  337. >You respected your father's determination and work, but you felt he could at least spend time with mom...
  338. >Well, this was just one more thing you could do for them now that you were home.
  339. >Mother was just a bit lonely, is all.
  340. >That's what you thought back then at least.
  341. >That's how you shrugged off the way her hugs grew more invasive, and longer.
  342. >How when she kissed you, occasionally it was on the lips.
  343. >And sometimes those kisses dragged on.
  344. >Perhaps she was just trying to comfort you too, with how you had been feeling.
  345. >You were sure you wouldn't let her down.
  346. >You wanted to make sure she felt young again, and be a good son while you still could.
  347. >It was a few more years, then, from 16 to 18 as time went on.
  348. >In those few years, you had developed plenty.
  349. >You were somewhere in the middle range of height, and could easily blend into a crowd.
  350. >Your dark brown hair betrayed the color and vibrance of your family, but again it was rather unnoticeable in most situations.
  351. >You solidified your place in this 'mob' rather securely.
  352. >You knew how to put on faces, act, fit in, and deceive.
  353. >You knew exactly who you were, and what your job was at all times.
  354. >You actually felt you were somewhat blessed in the way you could still be you.
  355. >As different as you were from your family, you still had a personality.
  356. >Laid back, relaxed some would say, and you tried to be kind to everyone you met, outside of work circumstances.
  357. >If there was anyone they could rely on to take a man out, it would be you.
  358. >It was all you had left to really be proud of.
  359. >Shining was getting up there now, from what you've heard.
  360. >Mom and dad were as well, although you saw dad less than ever.
  361. >Last you heard he was spending time with one of his female acquaintances.
  362. >You saw her once, young and bright.
  363. >Your mother didn't seem to like her though.
  364. >As for your mother, it was around this time she started being a bit more forward with her thoughts.
  365. >She would occasionally say things such as 'You remind me of your father when he was actually a man'.
  366. >You wanted to avoid conversations like that when you felt you knew where they were going.
  367. >You didn't know just what was happening with them but Mother and Father seem to drift away from each other sometimes.
  368. >Sometimes the collide in arguments full force.
  369. >You aren't quite sure what you're going to do, honestly.
  370. >It's around this time a young man like you leaves the household if he can.
  371. >And heaven knows you could.
  372. >But something made you feel obligated to stay here where you are.
  373. >To stay and help however you could.
  374. >After all, the only friends you have are somewhat...'wanted'.
  375. >This is pretty much how we get to the whole pizza delivery thing.
  376. >Nothing really happened over the course of the next couple years.
  377. >Though every day it felt like you were a little less like a son in this house, inhabited by you...and your mother.
  378. >Your father wasn't even around much anymore.
  379. >You sometimes wonder to yourself how this became your life.
  380. >Everyone was leaving you one by one...
  381. >It was on one fateful night that everything collapsed.
  382. >Underpass had finally kicked the bucket, having grown quite old.
  383. >His successor, of which you made sure would not be you, promised to make sure things ran as smoothly as they did before.
  384. >You knew better than to take those words at face value.
  385. >It wasn't long that old safety precautions were eliminated in favor of business and expansion.
  386. >The new leader, 'Snake skin', he called himself, changed everything.
  387. >Needless to say, you didn't like him.
  388. >And a lot of older members agreed with you.
  389. >Things were getting bad fast.
  390. >Your waiter job was hard to manage when the restaurant was shut down for some druggy going berserk in the basement and causing a ruckus.
  391. >You were investigated, but came up clean on everything.
  392. >You didn't take anything yourself, so you weren't worried.
  393. >Snake Skin took your job in the first week of service.
  394. >It didn't affect him, he used the police investigations to spread in a different direction.
  395. >But when the other members came to you with a plea for your help you knew things weren't going to end well.
  396. >They wanted Snake Skin killed after only 2 months of service.
  397. >They said they didn't quite know where you would be after it happened, but they would make it up to you however they could.
  398. >You would have to lay low for a little while, and keep an eye out.
  399. >But when they could get things under control again, they swore they would never forget you.
  400. >This was one way to write your resignation letter, at least.
  401. >Snake Skin, having rather undisciplined access to his communications network, caught wind of this little uprising.
  402. >He didn't take it seriously, though.
  403. >You were really the only 'specialist' they had to fight back with, and to him that meant an easy put down.
  404. >Magic defenses, pegasus scouts, earth pony bodyguards.
  405. >To him that was all he needed, he didn't even feel the need to do so much as put up a 'keep out' sign.
  406. >After all you were just one guy and you didn't even have any of the 3 natural abilities.
  407. >You left his office that evening unemployed, but you're pretty sure you can empathize with really not liking your boss.
  408. >You suppose this takes it to a whole new level.
  409. >You didn't see the others again, but they left you a little care package with one more apology note for all of this.
  410. >You figured you'd at least be somewhat honest with your mother.
  411. >You told her you lost your job, the restaurant closed down and you had been having a bad couples weeks.
  412. >You had plenty of money saved up for yourself so you weren't worried at the moment about that.
  413. >But you basically just lost all your friends for an indeterminate amount of time.
  414. >Your mother told you not to worry, she was still proud of you.
  415. >You sat and spoke with her for a while, not having any job left to take care of.
  416. >Not having any more contacts.
  417. >You were told they would try to keep some of your benefits running, but it was more of a rogue organization now than anything.
  418. >Better no rule than toxic rule.
  419. >It made you think of the Princess, who seemed so perfect in every way.
  420. >Then that made you think of Twilight, who was much of the same.
  421. >Your thoughts were brought back to your mother, a woman deserving of more.
  422. >But that night you felt your weakness mix with hers.
  423. >And...'something' happened...
  424. >Your mother came to you with a bottle of extra ripe red wine, aged generously.
  425. >It started with her telling you that you've both been having some rough times and that she felt like you both deserve a reward.
  426. >You actually felt like you agreed given all that had been happening.
  427. >You sorta had no real direction as of right now, so a night to sit back and enjoy wouldn't hurt.
  428. >You had a lot of luggage to put down tonight.
  429. >But then the drinking finally began.
  430. >In a rather humorous fashion, you found yourself succumbing to the powerful flavor of alcohol for the first time and realized you had yet to experience the more robust things in life.
  431. >Your mother found it rather cute, honestly.
  432. >You both continued to have a few glasses, and you vaguely remember the conversation.
  433. >Your mother expressed how happy she is they found you on that day so long ago.
  434. >You remembered why you would do anything for her, even if it started getting slightly uncomfortable.
  435. >You felt your control slip away a little bit as you drank, and your mother, at one point, leaned up against you.
  436. >You could smell her fresh lavender conditioner.
  437. >You could feel her soft skin touching you, and it was only then that you realized this is the first time you stopped to appreciate the touch of another living creature so much.
  438. >You were always so young in mind whenever you felt your mother hug against you.
  439. >You never realized the weight of her chest, or the warmth of your legs against yours.
  440. >She told you that you were the man of her household.
  441. >She told you that you were more than Nightlight was.
  442. >On and on she went and you found yourself involuntarily drowning it out with more wine.
  443. >Nobody else was going to walk through that door, even if you wanted them to.
  444. >Everybody else was gone.
  445. >Everybody except your loving mother.
  446. >You told her how much she meant to you, and how you felt...abandoned.
  447. >Twilight was gone, Shining had moved on, and your father barely spoke to you as he was gone so much.
  448. >You were lonely...
  449. >The moment your mother heard this you felt like something changed in the atmosphere.
  450. >You could feel her hand brushing along your hair, when it moved downwards to instead stroke your shoulder.
  451. >You weren't unfamiliar with the touch, but you were unfamiliar with the gesture.
  452. >She got a little closer now, too.
  453. >You could hear her voice against your ear, whispering in a loving way.
  454. >She told you that you would always be her man and that she would never abandon you.
  455. >In your inebriated state, you took her words at face value.
  456. >But you felt like you knew where this was going.
  457. >Not much of that night is still visible to you these days.
  458. >But you will never forget her moans.
  459. >Your mother's moans.
  460. >It didn't bother you as much as you feel it should have.
  461. >That night your mother and you shared a closer bond than family.
  462. >She told you that it isn't by blood, and that there is no harm or risk.
  463. >To be honest, you did nothing to really stop it.
  464. >You were in a weak moment, and you found that her embrace and her soft lips did more for you that years of hard work.
  465. >Maybe it was a sin...
  466. >But that really wasn't a barrier to you anymore.
  467. >And of course, time continued on.
  468. >Your mother was much happier in the days you spent with her.
  469. >You'd be lying if you said she wasn't still a gorgeous woman even in her later years.
  470. >With nothing else around you, she would keep you sane.
  471. >But of course things continued moving, and you never told anyone about what you and your mother did.
  472. >For a little bit you considered trying to take a reasonable approach and stopping...
  473. >Weighing your options, however, you realized if you did such a thing you could lose her too, and the last semblence of sanity you felt you had.
  474. >It wasn't long after you started settling down into a more normal life that you began to explore the pleasures you failed to pay attention to before.
  475. >It turns out tens of thousands of bits are valuable for buying food, fun, women, and wine.
  476. >You didn't go so crazy at first, of course.
  477. >You weren't stupid, you knew to take it slowly with these kinds of things.
  478. >Your discipline over the years was your greatest ally.
  479. >After all, second nature to you was always remembering you might just have to kill someone.
  480. >First nature, however, was doing everything you could to not hurt those around you.
  481. >So you started slowly.
  482. >You and your mother still got out of the house, her to keep up her social connections with her friends and you to simply keep an eye out around this neck of the woods.
  483. >You would find yourself moving towards bars more often, places of pleasure and comfort.
  484. >When she asked where you got the generous sums of money you had, you admitted you had done a bit of dirty work.
  485. >Nothing explicit, you didn't mention the mob or the murder.
  486. >You only told her a while back you had to help being the muscle for some time.
  487. >Her response was how you were the perfect stud for that kind of job.
  488. >You decided to leave it at that and not focus on any unintentional undertones for now.
  489. >Your days were basically spent being a little renegade fighter.
  490. >You would look in all the right places for mostly harmless headhuntings, make a bit of cash, and then spend your nights with your mother or at the various 'funhouses'.
  491. >You did apply for the occasional job, but most of the time it came up a little short of satisfactory.
  492. >You were anything but worried, though.
  493. >You could get by, and you had some company to do it.
  494. >Of course, a lot can happen in a short amount of time.
  495. >A couple more years passed and the story nears the present as a whole slew of new information comes in.
  496. >The first thing that happened was you heard from Twily that she was being transferred to...ponyville?
  497. >That was your reaction then, anyways.
  498. >You knew next to nothing about that place other than it was a tiny village with big farm owners and a celebration was being held there for the Princess.
  499. >This was around the time you started to realize that the authorities might be something to keep an eye on if your group is going to be under cover for a while.
  500. >But not long after that moment you're contacted by one of your old acquaintances who revealed to you that the group has made sort of a comeback in a smaller 'sect'.
  501. >This sect is looking to keep an eye on and track down remnants of the old 'organization'.
  502. >If you can even call it that any more, it's in chaos.
  503. >They tell you that they don't really need you involved in anything yet, but they offer to let you return even if they're further underground than ever.
  504. >With the way the old group had influence into the law, there's a witch hunt for clearing out these remnants.
  505. >You suppose the guard wasn't complying because they wanted to.
  506. >It feels like times are changing somewhat.
  507. >Things are getting so complicated these days.
  508. >But you agree to join back in, knowing this was your place.
  509. >So now you were also kind of on the run from the royal guard, but not because you were the bad guy.
  510. >You were kind of just caught in the crossfire.
  511. >And you also weren't actually on the run, since nothing has really changed so far.
  512. >You were never one for the big picture sort of thing, honestly.
  513. >Right now all you know is that some things have changed, and you've got some contacts back.
  514. >But your 'bounties' are going to start racking up again.
  515. >Less than a week passes and you get more news.
  516. >This was the first time you, or anyone you know, has heard of Princess Luna.
  517. >But from the sounds of it, Twilight had been sent by Celestia to be in charge of the...'Summer Sun Celebration'.
  518. >A celebration to commemorate...yeah, yeah, it didn't concern you that much.
  519. >What did concern you was Twilight's name in headlines.
  520. >The story you learned was that Twilight had been involved in the banishment of 'Nightmare Moon'.
  521. >Barely a few days outside of Canterlot and she was already explorer levels of adventurous.
  522. >She and 5 other girls defeated the 'eternal night' and brought Princess Luna back to Equestria.
  523. >You have no clue who princess Luna was, though.
  524. >But apparently she was returning to Canterlot.
  525. >A second princess, huh?
  526. >That could change a lot of things.
  527. >From what you've managed to gather, she had been corrupted long ago, and was only just back now after 1000 years.
  528. >You can hardly imagine a 1000 year social gap, so you were certain you wouldn't really be hearing from this Princess for a little while.
  529. >Rehabilitation was probably her first concern.
  530. >It certainly didn't concern you, but you couldn't get over the fact that Twilight was going to permanently reside in Ponyville...
  531. >Of her own choice, no less.
  532. >I mean, er-, yeah- sure you told her she needed to make friends too and live her life but only because you didn't want her hanging off of you too much.
  533. >But you just feel now like you would've probably taken those words back even if it might be wrong...
  534. >She was gone now too, and probably for a while.
  535. >She remembered you were here...right?
  536. >Perhaps it was just royal Decree.
  537. >You would see her again!
  538. >Her and Shining...maybe father, too.
  539. >Maybe not father, honestly.
  540. >Maybe none of them, even if you wanted it.
  541. >That night you didn't really go to sleep.
  542. >You found it wasn't hard to get by on the occasional half hour of closing your eyes when you beared through the stinging.
  543. >The next morning held a message for you in the mail.
  544. >Surprise, surprise, you've got a job.
  545. >Sometimes you feel like these hitman tasks are part of what's keeping you sane.
  546. >You'd like to think it makes a difference to end the scum of this place.
  547. >And there was a lot to clean up these days.
  548. >This time whenever you went out on a job, you had to watch for a larger number of guards than usual.
  549. >The only response you had to the guards was 'Shit'.
  550. >Whenever you went out you made sure to dress indistinguishably.
  551. >Trench coat, reinforced, and a black cloth mask you wore over your mouth and nose to hide your facial features.
  552. >It helped you blend into the darker alleys as well, and keep up an appearance of 'Don't approach me' during the day.
  553. >To the guard it was apparently dangling a donut on a string in front of their eyes.
  554. >You never had anything on you, so getting checked by a guard didn't really hurt.
  555. >But at nights when you went out for the kill, typically the scuffle ended in two things; Victory, and getting chased by a couple guards.
  556. >There were new guards, too, in dark blue armors that could be seen around.
  557. >You guess these are the 'night guard' Luna inbibed in the ranks.
  558. >They were harder to watch out for, that much is certain.
  559. >But that was your life for another several months.
  560. >You don't know why but spectacular things tend to keep happening.
  561. >You began to hear about Luna the 'Dreamwalker' entering other's dreams and watching over them.
  562. >You've noticed no such presence yourself, but maybe she was there.
  563. >The fact that she doesn't have guards sprawling towards your house tells you she doesn't see your memories at least.
  564. >But you have a feeling the increased activity of the law is mostly her doing.
  565. >You haven't really met with either Princesses yet, you've been somewhat secluded recently.
  566. >But you've heard some odd things about her...
  567. >You actually ran into Princess Celestia during the week.
  568. >She saw you for the second time now, having grown somewhat from the last time you saw her.
  569. >She wanted to just talk with you for a bit and had you walk with her.
  570. >This...sudden noteriety you got from the other people around you was unsettling.
  571. >But the princess seemed to be interested in you.
  572. >Interested in your life, of course!
  573. >Not 'that' way, you think.
  574. >She mentioned Twilight and Shining, both of whom had 'served her people well'.
  575. >She asked if you had been doing anything as of late.
  576. >You told the Princess that you hadn't been up to much, just odd jobs and keeping your mother company.
  577. >She questions whether you'll be moving out soon or not.
  578. >You tell her you really don't know about that, since it's just you and your mother at home.
  579. >It practically is your house now anyways, you reason.
  580. >She laughs a bit, joking that you might end up a 'Momma's boy'.
  581. >It was awkward for you, but you had some work-arounds.
  582. >Thankfully the conversation shifted back to your siblings, which you were much more interested in.
  583. >Twilight was studying the magic of Friendship down in ponyville.
  584. >You didn't understand that at all but you figured Twilight was the genius so who knows?
  585. >She mentioned Shining Armor being the top official of the Guards now, practically royalty.
  586. >You always used to think the Princess simply knew more than you, that she had all the knowledge and answers needed.
  587. >You sometimes wondered if she knew what you did for work and whether she forgave you for it.
  588. >It made you sound religious, almost, but a guy like you needed it sometimes.
  589. >But that conversation put a couple things into perspective.
  590. >She told you that you could accomplish great things if you tried, and that she could sense that you were special.
  591. >You've been down this conversational path before.
  592. >You never really liked thinking about it, especially these days.
  593. >The lack of conventional ability that even children had.
  594. >When the Princess realized you seemed a little turned away by her comments, she seemed worried for you.
  595. >You heard her apologize, to you.
  596. >You told her it wasn't necessary, she was the princess after all.
  597. >You don't think she liked that answer, for some reason.
  598. >She asked if you would've wanted to come down to the castle with her and talk more there.
  599. >She told you that she enjoyed your company.
  600. >You were flattered by her request, but something still felt wrong about spending time with the princess.
  601. >A part of you even admitted it was probably because she was the one who took Twilight from you, and perhaps even Shining.
  602. >But that was just selfish of you to believe.
  603. >They did such things of their own accord, and it was wrong of you to point the blame at anyone.
  604. >You told her you weren't completely sure of yourself, still.
  605. >But you could admit that you might not mind the company.
  606. >Mother would be busy tonight anyways, so there was nothing on your agenda.
  607. >She offered you a ride in her carriage with her.
  608. >These things were strange, and became more automatic every day.
  609. >But the ride was nice, and the Princess' happy-go-lucky personality was a little infectious.
  610. >She asked you stories from your past with Shining and twilight.
  611. >She really didn't know anything about you, did she?
  612. >Perhaps that was for the best.
  613. >You kept many secrets, now would be no different.
  614. >The only things you really told her were generally vague, or side notes.
  615. >You explained that they found you when you were young and took you in.
  616. >You grew up with Shining and Twily, as she was nicknamed, and spent much time together.
  617. >Shining left for the guard, you started working, Twily left for school, and then there was you.
  618. >You told her after that it was a straight shot to today.
  619. >As you actually pulled up to the castle you noted, once more, the excess amount of guards.
  620. >You ask what the big issue is and find out that there was actually something about a threat from an outside force.
  621. >A potential invasion?
  622. >As if things didn't get 'exciting' enough.
  623. >Even with the threat of an invasion, though, you told her this was still a little much.
  624. >She responded that there was an important reason for having so many guards.
  625. >A wedding...?
  626. >Not just any wedding, it seems, but Shining Armor's wedding.
  627. >...Shiny was getting Married?!
  628. >Your response to this seemed to alert the princess a little.
  629. >But it was understandable, right?
  630. >You never even got a message about the whole thing!
  631. >It was YOUR brother, and you're only now hearing that he's planning a wedding?
  632. >Come to think of it, you two barely kept in contact much these days...
  633. >You figured he was just busy or something.
  634. >But he could take a few minutes to message his own brother....right?
  635. >Twilight was a hero, and didn't speak with you much either...
  636. >She had plenty of new friends in a nice new village.
  637. >The princess wasn't blind to your growing disdain either.
  638. >She told you that everyone had to become busy every now and then.
  639. >But that they would surely love to see you if they had the chance.
  640. >You suppose she was right, but still...
  641. >Though it wasn't right to push your problems onto others out of the blue.
  642. >You composed yourself before you got too revealing.
  643. >You never knew what small piece of information could lead someone in the wrong direction.
  644. >You didn't spend too long in the castle from that point, mainly asking the Princess about Shining Armor and Twilight and what had been happening with them.
  645. >Twilight, the Princess' protege, was now the leading figure on the study of Friendship Magic.
  646. >And you learned that Shining's wedding was to none other than a princess.
  647. >You don't think you remember the name 'Mi Amore Cadenza' but it's faintly familiar.
  648. >You had to ask the princess at one point why she was taking the time to speak with you of all people.
  649. >You didn't really feel like there was any particular reason why she would want to speak with you anyways.
  650. >You didn't think being the brother of fame was enough of a reason, to you.
  651. >But apparently she just felt like she could trust you to enjoy herself.
  652. >When you asked, she said even she didn't really know.
  653. >Something was just different about you.
  654. >Oh and you met Luna for the first time.
  655. >Celestia had to explain to you, after the ringing in your ears stopped, that Luna was still adapting to the times.
  656. >The times did not include the Royal Canterlot Voice either.
  657. >Magically imbued vocal projections, who'd have thought it wouldn't be such a good idea these days?
  658. >Still, she seemed to be interested in you, after she quieted down.
  659. >You quickly noted her usage of older phonetics.
  660. >She exclaimed something about you, though.
  661. >Something about you being that presence which she simply couldn't find.
  662. >You were thoroughly confused of course as to her meaning.
  663. >But she told you that she knew who you were, but could never find your dreams.
  664. >You gave her an honest answer when you said you really didn't know.
  665. >She was a lot shorter than you imagined, too.
  666. >While Celestia was a figure of power, standing higher than even her guardsmen, Luna was...little.
  667. >When you asked about this, gently of course, she made the most adorable pouting face at you and Celestia answered that she was still collecting her power.
  668. >To you, she kind of reminded you of Twilight, to be honest.
  669. >That thought brought you back into your memories, zoning out as Luna proceeded to chew you out for your 'insolence'.
  670. >You didn't really pay attention, though, because the more you looked at her and listened to her 'complex' speech, you remembered teaching Twilight about olden Dialect, too.
  671. >Words, meanings, those were something you cherished with Twilight when she finally learned to speak to you.
  672. >She often pouted when you corrected her, or asked her a difficult question.
  673. >She would come to you the next day with answers so complex you started getting confused.
  674. >Of course you teased her and always said 'Of course'.
  675. >That got her little cheeks so bright, but you would always praise her afterwards.
  676. >In your lost thoughts, you didn't notice Luna asking you a question.
  677. >When you returned to the real world, you saw she was waiting for something.
  678. >She wasn't waiting to be pet, though.
  679. >You aren't entirely sure what brought you to do what you did but you had softly patted Luna on the head with a warm smile on your face.
  680. >It was...instinctual.
  681. >You simply wanted to quell her upset nature and did so with the same words you used on Twilight.
  682. >You told her 'Of course, Princess'.
  683. >The anger you felt from before had dissipated soon enough.
  684. >You felt better now, and Celestia seemed to be having a laugh at the scene too.
  685. >Luna just stared at you, at first she seemed offended, but you could tell she was still pouting.
  686. >Without another word, you stepped past her, and began to exit the castle.
  687. >You thought you heard Celestia try to catch your attention, but you gave an idle wave over your shoulder and left.
  688. >Nostalgic memories were choking you right now, you needed some air.
  689. >You thanked them, of course, for their time.
  690. >But little more than that happened, and you said you'd probably be back some time.
  691. >You know, for a while you forgot what exactly you felt about 'you'.
  692. >You started to think that women, wine and pleasure was only going to take you so far.
  693. >When you got home, Mother was gone.
  694. >You looked at yourself in the mirror for a while.
  695. >You were clean shaven, you liked it that way.
  696. >Your hair wasn't too long, but it hung just over your ears.
  697. >It wasn't too thick, but maybe a trim now and then would help.
  698. >You just spend some time like that, waiting and watching yourself.
  699. >You wonder what you would do, where you would go.
  700. >Things about the future were difficult.
  701. >The future slowly picked apart your family and your life.
  702. >The future scared you, honestly.
  703. >What is it you liked to do?
  704. >Did you like to fight?
  705. >Did you like to kill?
  706. >There was no more shame in admitting that those things gave you some satisfaction.
  707. >But only as far as they completed your objectives.
  708. >A mindless murderer you were not.
  709. >But a blade for hire wasn't far off...
  710. >You then thought back to your 'conversation' with Luna.
  711. >What made you act in such a way?
  712. >Perhaps it was the innocence in her image.
  713. >There was something about innocence that you wanted to preserve.
  714. >Innocence you don't think you ever really had.
  715. >It must be bliss to have it, and perhaps that is why you cherished it.
  716. >You knew she was older than you by millennia.
  717. >But something in her eyes said she didn't truly yet understand sacrifice like yours.
  718. >It was such a strange sensation to know for just a moment she saw the cloud in your vision.
  719. >You wonder what Twilight had been doing.
  720. >What Shining had been doing.
  721. >Was Shining any more innocent than you were right now?
  722. >Did the Royal guard really have any opponents these days?
  723. >Their power was rather unrivaled.
  724. >Shining was getting married, and he would soon be a prince as well.
  725. >Prince...Student of the Princess...
  726. >This question often came back to you but where were you going to be?
  727. >Mom and Dad would not live forever, you would soon be the least important member of your family line.
  728. >A wife did not interest you, you didn't have much to pass on to the next generation.
  729. >...Take your kid to work day would be interesting.
  730. >Leaning against the bathroom counter, you felt uncertain about yourself.
  731. >What accomplishment would you have a few years from now?
  732. >World's best hitman seemed potentially viable.
  733. >You'd look wonderful standing on the podium for that.
  734. >They'd probably have the victory noose all ready.
  735. >Maybe self-reflection wasn't what you needed right now...
  736. >Maybe you should visit someone sometime.
  737. >You went to bed that night rather late.
  738. >You thought about where you would get to go.
  739. >You still had your connections, and you feel that chat with the princess would come back to you one way or another.
  740. >You certainly didn't have it the worst out of anyone ever.
  741. >Then everything changed when the changelings attacked.
  742. >Or...okay, it started with the wedding.
  743. >The first thing you noticed was the sky was shimmering pinkish purple.
  744. >And that's when you realized the entirety of Canterlot had become surrounded in what appeared to be a barricade.
  745. >Magically cast, it seemed rather marvelous.
  746. >Shield spells...you probably knew who was in charge of this one.
  747. >In the past few days since the whole wedding fiasco was announced to you, you started getting more active.
  748. >If you were going to decide that you wanted to be some kind of 'protector' as well then you needed to start a routine.
  749. >You went out, you exercised.
  750. >You then talked around, got some news.
  751. >You trained and fought, thanking the owner of the gym downtown who, unlike most of the upper crust, actually felt a place to keep oneself in shape was a good idea.
  752. >They didn't know what you could do without wings, magic, or nature 'magic'.
  753. >But you don't think anyone wants to step into the ring with you anymore.
  754. >You got offers to appear in tourneys...it was very tempting.
  755. >But you didn't really have the time to consider it right then.
  756. >You also went back to speak with the Princesses once more, which you felt was better than doing nothing.
  757. >Celestia seemed to enjoy talking with you, and Luna came back when she heard you were here, although she seemed a little different.
  758. >Certainly taller, and her presence held more of an aura about it.
  759. >She didn't have much to say this time, but she watched you from afar.
  760. >You didn't mind, you were hard to annoy.
  761. >Celestia told you Twilight was going to be here with Shining for the wedding being held in the castle.
  762. >That caught your attention.
  763. >She could see right through you, and knew that was really all you would be interested in for a while.
  764. >Although you felt a little embarrassed by it, she understood.
  765. >It had been a long time since you had gotten to actually see your family...
  766. >Apparently Twilight was already on the train here if her letter meant anything.
  767. >She was coming with her 6 friends.
  768. >You almost forgot about spike.
  769. >You wonder what he'll be like.
  770. >Knowing Twilight, he's probably somewhat shy, and quiet.
  771. >Maybe even helpless, who knows?
  772. >He was supposedly just a baby dragon-kin, right?
  773. >More than that, though, you would have some choice words for Shining Armor when you saw him.
  774. >For Celestia's sakes, man, you're in canterlot anyways.
  775. >At least give a knock once in a while.
  776. >After your talk with the Princesses, the first thing you did was go to find Shining Armor.
  777. >Apparently the whole Guard was on edge, because just entering the barracks set everyone off.
  778. >Strange man in a sweater and black jeans?
  779. >Obviously a threat.
  780. >When Shining saw it was you, he came running and tackled you in a hug, which you returned for a moment.
  781. >Then you proceeded to chew him out.
  782. >He twisted and turned under your gaze, listening and sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck as you told him how after all these years of him being busy, the one time you would've hoped he'd take some time out to come see you was when he had his wedding day.
  783. >Nevermind the invasion threat, he had more time than that to walk half a mile.
  784. >Even after you scolded him though, you two ended up laughing your asses off just getting to see each other again.
  785. >Having the chance to talk with your older brother brought more joy to you than you could remember.
  786. >His explanation was that he had just been so focused on wedding Day that he never thought to stop by, but he apologized thoroughly.
  787. >You weren't really mad, after all.
  788. >But seriously, it was his wedding.
  789. >That was a big deal!
  790. >You thought to ask about his wife-to-be, and his face lit up once more.
  791. >Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.
  792. >Otherwise known as Cadence.
  793. >You remember Cadence, and that's when your eyes went wide.
  794. >She was the girl who always came by to babysit!
  795. >Mostly Twilight, but when you weren't working you were there.
  796. >You remember seeing Cadence on occasion, when you got to be home with Twilight.
  797. >She was such a kind and sweet girl.
  798. >You won't lie that you had no clue how to talk to her when you first saw her.
  799. >She was pretty stunning, and had the patience of the universe itself.
  800. >Shining got to her, eh?
  801. >Not like you were envious, really.
  802. >You couldn't see yourself really with anyone.
  803. >It was just that cadence was the first person to help you really feel 'forgiven'...
  804. >Those times were in the past, though.
  805. >You were happy for Shining, happy that you could see him live happy.
  806. >Shining offered to let you taste some of the confections as apology for having kept you in the dark.
  807. >You were correct in assuming he had to keep the barrier up around Canterlot with his advanced shielding magic.
  808. >You figured you might as well let him get back to work at least for now, and snag a few sweets while you were at it.
  809. >You had a weakness for good food, shut up.
  810. >You bumped into Cadence on the way, as well!
  811. >She was in a rather elaborate dress, and you had to say she looked more amazing than ever.
  812. >She was utterly beautiful, honestly.
  813. >But something was...off.
  814. >She normally didn't scowl like that.
  815. >When you asked how she had been after all these years she...turned her head, shrugged you off and walked away.
  816. >Did you miss something here?
  817. >Did she not recognize you?
  818. >...Was it something you said?
  819. >Well now you felt bad, what if she had a bad day and you just reminded her of that?
  820. >You needed something sweet to cheer you up, obviously.
  821. >After you had grabbed a totally fair share of snacks for your hard work, you came back out to the training field to see Shining was still standing there, and with him was...
  822. >Cadence?
  823. >Yeah, it looked like they were talking, although she was doing something weird...
  824. >You suppose that didn't concern you, though.
  825. >For all you knew it was a 'Magical display of affection'.
  826. >They seemed to split up with smiles on their faces anyways.
  827. >And that's when you saw 6 particularly colorful women approach the scene. >You were just sitting off in the shade, enjoying your snack.
  828. >You had to see Shining get scolded by Twilight, too.
  829. >And you did, and it was hilarious.
  830. >But you sort of felt...weird watching like this.
  831. >You didn't want to interrupt their heartfelt moment.
  832. >But you felt as though you're right where you've been this whole time.
  833. >Kind of just off to the side in the shadows.
  834. >They didn't even see you where you were.
  835. >"And another thing..!"
  836. >Twilight sure has grown since you last saw her.
  837. >She was around a head shorter than you and Shining, but she had developed quite profoundly.
  838. >She looked lovely, really.
  839. >And those 6 standing behind her must be her friends.
  840. >The 'elements of harmony' from what you've heard.
  841. >Pretty cool friends, honestly.
  842. >It was only after you saw Shining and Twilight start to make up that you proceeded with approaching, and to them it almost seemed like you just came out of nowhere.
  843. >The moment Twilight laid eyes on you, you felt like something changed in the air.
  844. >You waved and smiled, gave them all a winning glance, and her eyes simply went wide, her mouth agape.
  845. >You had a feeling Shining was a bit jealous of the reaction you got.
  846. >As opposed to a scolding, Twilight practically had tears in her eyes like you just walked out of your grave to meet her.
  847. >She ran up to you and quickly embraced you in a tight hug, repeating your name over and over like it were the magic word.
  848. >You felt a little bad, honestly.
  849. >Shining was as much her brother as you were, but you know you alienated her when she was young.
  850. >You didn't mean to, but you know that she shouldn't be as excited as she is.
  851. >She quickly called everyone over to do introductions.
  852. >Thankfully she didn't forget to introduce Shining Armor.
  853. >That day you met all her friends.
  854. >Applejack, the farm hand with a mean grip.
  855. >Pinkie Pie, the loud one who made you laugh just talking to her.
  856. >Rainbow Dash, the colt-ish one with a big temper and ego, but you could tell she would drop it at the mention of her friends.
  857. >Rarity, elegance incarnate who you think you caught fluttering her eyes your way more than once.
  858. >Fluttershy took you a moment to actually find because she was hiding behind Rainbow dash, despite being a bit on the taller end.
  859. >She had the strangest glint in her eye, however, when Twilight mentioned that you weren't part of most known species.
  860. >And finally, you were happy to meet Spike.
  861. >Twilight told you he was the 'new little brother' to the family.
  862. >That meant he was best friends with you.
  863. >Imagine your surprise when the little guy had a sharp tongue, er, figuratively as well.
  864. >They all had a lot to say, but you sadly didn't have a whole lot of time to get to know them.
  865. >They had jobs to do here, too, it seemed.
  866. >As much as you wanted to catch up with Twilight, she had to be in charge of helping manage the wedding.
  867. >Much to your surprise, you were offered to stay the night in one of the castle suites to suit the occasion.
  868. >Another of Shining's apology gifts to you.
  869. >You two would have to go out for a little drink sometime.
  870. >But as the sun began to set on this evening, you explored your room, realizing you'd have to stop back home to grab a few things if you were stay over for a little while.
  871. >Twilight and her friends seemed to be having such a good time.
  872. >You had to say, though, that Cadence was being very unruly in how she treated them.
  873. >And you knew it was getting to Twilight, too.
  874. >But there was no use complaining about it now.
  875. >Hopefully Shining Armor knew what he was doing.
  876. >Another fear of marriage you had was marriage that went sour.
  877. >You had been pulled from your thoughts when Twilight had come knocking on your door late at night, asking to come in.
  878. >You were always happy to see Twilight, but you wondered why she chose to stop by so late.
  879. >Everyone else was either asleep or getting ready to go to sleep.
  880. >But it turned out she really couldn't rest without getting to talk to you again.
  881. >Letting her in, you realized she was also more socially developed.
  882. >Her words felt more natural, as opposed to growing up when she was always so precise with her words.
  883. >You let her take a seat on your bed for now, and took advantage of this room's miniature kitchen set to make some tea for the both of you, since coffee was a bad idea.
  884. >She told you about her time in Ponyville over the past few months, how she met her friends and thought they were so annoying at first.
  885. >But then she learned that they were all special and wonderful people like herself.
  886. >She had countless adventures to talk about as well, ranging from the return of 'Discord' which you 'think' you remember but it probably didn't reach as far as Canterlot quite yet.
  887. >Although you remember there were some strange things going on then.
  888. >Different stories of friendship and exploring their better nature filled the air as you listened to her, holding her in a warm hug.
  889. >How many years since you two got to really meet up?
  890. >She was about at adulthood, and you were in your 20's now.
  891. >You were starting to feel old, you curmudgeon.
  892. >When she finished regailing her experiences, she prompted you with a question on how you had been.
  893. >You told her you had been well, and that your life hadn't been half as exciting as hers.
  894. >But she felt you must have had 'something' to talk about.
  895. >Poor girl doesn't know that having something to talk about doesn't mean wanting to talk about it.
  896. >Still, you were gentle in letting her know that there was really nothing in your life that she needed to listen to.
  897. >You didn't feel like it was worth her time to sit here and listen anyways.
  898. >You just let her speak, praising all her hard work and admiring how she has come so far.
  899. >So far from being that little babbling filly that you used to play childish games with.
  900. >Who you used to make pout until it looks like she might cry, then embrace her and tell her you were really proud.
  901. >The same little one who you killed 3 people in cold blood to protect.
  902. >It's only when you hear Twilight protest softly that you realize your grip had been growing quite firm.
  903. >Letting go you shrug it off as just being happy to see her.
  904. >But she has gotten much smarter, too.
  905. >She could feel the coldness in your touch for a moment.
  906. >You thought she was looking down on you somewhat for what you two remember, that she wants to tell you she hasn't smartened up to realize the ways you've sinned.
  907. >She always surprises you with those little moments that don't make sense.
  908. >She pushes herself up against you, burying her head against your chest.
  909. >You softly held onto her, listening her breathing grow heavy with a burden.
  910. >She told you that she never forgot the day you fixed her mistake.
  911. >To her she had done something to ruin you and you gave it up to protect her.
  912. >She never forgot how if it weren't for you she wouldn't have even had the chance to see the front door to Celestia's school.
  913. >She had carried the weight of feeling as though she took your happiness from you and then left you behind for so long...
  914. >She forgets that if it weren't for you she wouldn't have been in that situation...
  915. >When you felt her gently crying against you, you felt your arms pull her so close you couldn't have seen her from the outside.
  916. >And you just told her that you would do it again if you had to.
  917. >That night she fell asleep in your arms, and you laid her down in your bed.
  918. >Heck, the couch they had here was better than the bed back home and that's saying something.
  919. >Morning came faster than you expected, but as quick as it was, Twilight was gone.
  920. >She must have gone back to her own room.
  921. >Given that you were a 'guest of honor', you were in no rush to really go anywhere.
  922. >To be honest, being away from the house and out with your brother and sister and even their friends and loved ones was nice.
  923. >You didn't deserve it, but you appreciated the feeling that you could fit in somewhere there wasn't a knife sticking out of somebody.
  924. >Your mother knocked on your door before long to actually greet you this morning with a kiss, once again elongated discreetly, and a little 'care package' of spare clothes for you to hang onto.
  925. >You were quite happy to see her, but you knew that part of you wished she might stay away for the sake of both your moral health.
  926. >You were only here a few days, as was she.
  927. >Still, you had something to change into, and wouldn't mind her company as your mother, of which she still upheld the role when she could.
  928. >But even she had work to do, off with father to see their precious 'Shiny' get ready for the big day.
  929. >Once again you had little to contribute to Shining Armor himself and you had no real place in the event.
  930. >Everyone had a role to play in preparing him or Cadence.
  931. >You were mostly on your own, but it was rare you got the chance to explore the castle as you did.
  932. >But you would do that later, for now you would bask in the purity of the light at the mountain top.
  933. >Here you admit you felt akin to a young angel, accepted into higher places.
  934. >Even if you might have given your halo to darker means.
  935. >A knock at the door interrupts your macabre thoughts as you turn to allow them entry.
  936. >You're most surprised to see Princess Luna enter your room, looking different yet again.
  937. >She now much similarly matched Celestia's stature and had a more pleased look on her face.
  938. >"We have watched thee sleep last night!"
  939. >To say you were a little petrified by that comment was an understatement.
  940. >You just stared at her wide-eyed until her smile turned to a look of confusion.
  941. >She asked if that was not a thing people said this days and you shook your head slowly.
  942. >It turned out she had simply been practicing her social skills in vocabulary and was trying to improve her ability to talk normally.
  943. >Once you got that cleared up you apologized for your surprise, but she said she understood.
  944. >She seemed quite depressed now seeing as she 'failed' to initiate conversation again.
  945. >You tried to comfort her by saying that you simply over-reacted.
  946. >It seemed to help her a little as she looked to you with a surprisingly soft look despite her normally strong presence.
  947. >It turns out that part of Twilight's adventures involved helping the Lunar Princess to fit in with modern ponies more.
  948. >She must still be learning, but something about the situation hits you somewhere in your heart.
  949. >The thought that Twilight, much like you had done with her, would teach the valuable lesson of learning to express oneself to Princess Luna in her time of regrowth was a melancholy feeling.
  950. >Bittersweet, rather.
  951. >You were so proud of Twilight.
  952. >But you were so sad she didn't need you anymore.
  953. >It took Luna's hand gently grazing your cheek, guiding you to look to her smiling face to break you from your trance.
  954. >In your moment of weakness you nearly let yourself cry.
  955. >When she asked you why you stopped, you replied you didn't have the gall to take such liberty in your own emotions.
  956. >It took a good long while of silence before you finally composed yourself properly.
  957. >You felt strangely calm, after a few more moments.
  958. >Luna asked what was wrong when you finally recollected yourself and you explained it was no big deal.
  959. >You were just proud of Twilight.
  960. >But Luna didn't think that was any way to be proud.
  961. >She could tell you were a little lonely...
  962. >To you, being proud was letting your loved ones go.
  963. >All you had ever really known was that, letting go.
  964. >You were a big brother, you were a little brother.
  965. >Both things have slipped away from you with time.
  966. >And you were foolish enough to think that coming here to this wedding might help you get them back.
  967. >Your big brother already thought you were grown up enough and your little sister was a hero.
  968. >Luna could tell these things meant so much to you, it all did.
  969. >It was hard to grow up being outcast, you told her.
  970. >She didn't really have a response to that, she knew at the very least that she has always had authority and family.
  971. >Even if she had taken it for granted once.
  972. >And now she had all of it back ten fold.
  973. >She asked you why you had been so happy around her before when you were with Celestia, yet so sad now.
  974. >She was surprised when you told her it was because she reminded you of Twilight, how it was like to watch her grow.
  975. >You even felt proud of the princess herself, because even she grew and adapted to the times.
  976. >You likely wouldn't get that opportunity.
  977. >Luna stared into your eyes, your cloudy, dim eyes...
  978. >She could tell you had a lot you couldn't tell people, and a lot you didn't want to let back out.
  979. >She told you that all she could offer you, was yours.
  980. >It may not have been very much at the time, but your kindness to her before and since then had been far more helpless than she let on.
  981. >When she was still terrified of others rejecting her and avoiding her, she told you that you were one of the first to stop and appreciate her presence.
  982. >Princesses get lonely, too...
  983. >This conversation began to feel a bit tense to you, honestly.
  984. >You think you might have an idea of what Luna is aiming for.
  985. >As tempting as such a distant fantasy is, you were in no position nor desire to pursue any deeper connections.
  986. >But she was subtle, if nothing else.
  987. >She was a figure of the night, the gorgeous dusk.
  988. >She would cry to know the things you did in her lovely shadows.
  989. >The conversation didn't have the chance to last too much longer.
  990. >You're certain the Lunar Princess has developed some kind of feelings for you.
  991. >Or you could be crazy and desperate.
  992. >Equally as likely at this point.
  993. >But again, even her feelings would be based on the same alienation that you put Twilight through.
  994. >You wouldn't be satisfied if you gave in now, because it would be based on the image of innocent you.
  995. >The paper thing image you stuck to the wall for others to ogle.
  996. >Luna left before too long, but she asserted with great fervency that should you need anything, she would provide it.
  997. >After she left, you aren't sure what it was, but a part of you did in fact want to call her back.
  998. >A part of you said 'Please, just a few more minutes'.
  999. >You could feel it stabbed into silence by your inner blockades.
  1000. >This sense of want, of feeling desired...
  1001. >It confused you, coming from someone like the Princess.
  1002. >You might have been important to protecting some people, and maybe you were a favorable worker in the mob.
  1003. >Perhaps you might even still have some place among your own family, but to feel loved so intensely, from Luna or Twilight or anyone...
  1004. >It confused you, and it upset you.
  1005. >It even angered you to a degree.
  1006. >But you directed that anger towards yourself.
  1007. >They didn't deserve something so senseless.
  1008. >You might have to spend some time away from Luna, the poor woman.
  1009. >You weren't the kind of guy that deserved other's trust.
  1010. >But you would make sure you could make her happy however you could, so long as she stood.
  1011. >All this tension was bad for your health, though...
  1012. >You had chosen to go for a walk in the gardens, taking a little trip away from everyone for a while.
  1013. >A little piece and pleasure in the world was something you could afford yourself.
  1014. >But you didn't know at the time that Twilight, the girl you promised to keep safe, was in deep trouble...
  1015. >Something was stirring beneath everyone's nose, the invasion had already happened.
  1016. >It started when you heard Twilight had claimed that Cadence wasn't Cadence, and had called out in front of everyone that she was an imposter.
  1017. >Nobody believed her without proof, of course.
  1018. >You had faint suspicions about this whole thing yourself, but you knew better than to make outrageous claims without something concrete to show for it.
  1019. >Come the ceremony, she had been excluded explicitly for fear of causing another disturbance.
  1020. >You knew she wasn't just one to make up faulty claims, she must have had something to go off of and you trusted her, at least.
  1021. >Yet nothing had happened since then.
  1022. >But you agree Cadence was being a real bitch.
  1023. >But maybe Twilight really was just over reacting...
  1024. >Whatever the case, when Twilight failed to be the attending ring bearer for the occasion, you were expecting to be the replacement.
  1025. >When you weren't, you...got confused.
  1026. >Again.
  1027. >You asked him, and he just told you he didn't think of you, and was sorry.
  1028. >But he already gave the position away.
  1029. >You decided that whatever was happening between Shining and cadence, it wasn't something you wanted to be involved in.
  1030. >You opted 'out' of attending the wedding itself.
  1031. >You noticed a slightly disturbing fact that Luna apparently did too shortly after.
  1032. >Something tells you she was hoping to speak to you after the wedding when they held the party.
  1033. >But regardless, you went to see Twilight to comfort her about what had happened...
  1034. >That was until you saw her unconscious form being carried away by a man in black, instect-like armor.
  1035. >You 'thought' it was armor, anyways.
  1036. >But the arms and legs looked almost like they had holes rotting right through them.
  1037. >You gave chase immediately.
  1038. >Many more tried to intercept you, no weapons but their claws were sharp.
  1039. >They possessed both wings and some magic, of unknown origin.
  1040. >But they were ultimately push-overs, and you cracked those armored skulls open.
  1041. >But Twilight was already gone.
  1042. >This was the second time you had seen Twilight in danger, only this time you hadn't quite saved her.
  1043. >Your heart was beating faster than your body felt it could handle as you ran in the vague direction of the assailant.
  1044. >You would've run towards the ceremony to get everyone's attention but they were surprisingly lacking in trust today.
  1045. >You even tried defending Twilight's claims earlier and got a little shit for it.
  1046. >Wonderful friends, Twily...
  1047. >That might be a bit harsh, but now you just had to locate this captor.
  1048. >But if there were enemies in the vicinity, doing it barely handed would be a bad idea.
  1049. >Normally you kept concealed weaponry on you for emergencies, or when you went on a job.
  1050. >Excuse you for not thinking you'd have to walk armed through your own country's capital building.
  1051. >The upside to this, though, was that some of the finest weaponry was here, and you knew where the armory was.
  1052. >If you had to, that was your next stop.
  1053. >Unfortunately, you came to a dead end.
  1054. >You saw a room glow green as you ran towards it, but when you went in, it was just Cadence's room...
  1055. >With a giant circle burned into the floor.
  1056. >You knew something was wrong.
  1057. >The only question was where that freak show...
  1058. >Then you stopped to think.
  1059. >Collect yourself, you were an assassin.
  1060. >That's right, you knew this game better than anyone.
  1061. >They wanted to play this game?
  1062. >Their funeral.
  1063. >The guy you were chasing didn't magically disappear, of course.
  1064. >Even if Twilight did.
  1065. >But the standing over the doorway for the person to walk through trick only worked once.
  1066. >That means people usually died the first time.
  1067. >But they didn't know who they were dealing with.
  1068. >You had a new plan; Make it to the armory.
  1069. >You had to get your hands on a weapon before they started sending actual infantry in.
  1070. >They would take note of a few spies having gone quiet.
  1071. >You would find Twilight, your blade would find her.
  1072. >You had to grab your stuff.
  1073. >Courtesy of the mob when they were in power, you had some special things you usually carried.
  1074. >Making your way back to your room, you picked up the things you thought you could put away for the occasion.
  1075. >Your cloth face mask, a couple concealed, if kind of big, daggers for emergencies, and an overcoat that was made of tough enough stuff to resist most cuts.
  1076. >You also had a few retracting hooks for going up and down pretty easily, the hooks were bladed for short notice.
  1077. >You decided if you were going to go all out you might as well make sure you could silence anyone no matter how high up they might be.
  1078. >That's probably going to come in handy.
  1079. >But even with your stuff, you'd feel better grabbing some real, top of the line weapons.
  1080. >While Twilight and the Real Cadence had been struggling to find a way out of their entrapment, outside your knowledge of course, you B lined for the weapons.
  1081. >Somewhere along the way, you encountered what semed like guards dressed in black armor with blue visors on.
  1082. >They carried dangerous things.
  1083. >Swords, spears, an archer on the balcony.
  1084. >They seemed to not think you were that much of a threat, seeing as they prompted your surrender.
  1085. >This situation wasn't favorable, but you've seen worse.
  1086. >By the time Cadence and Twilight had escaped their little dungeon, you were already splattered in...green.
  1087. >But you were at the Armory, and what wasn't picked apart by these rodents was yours.
  1088. >You found a shapely long sword, and a large bow with accompanying quiver.
  1089. >They had some emergency explosives too, which you weren't against taking with you.
  1090. >You would call this an emergency.
  1091. >Apparently something happened in the throne room.
  1092. >You're pretty sure it's not supposed to explode in green fire.
  1093. >That was your cue, you thought.
  1094. >From what you gathered outside the throne room, which you learned too late was locked from the inside, 'Cadence' turned out to be the malevolent Queen Chrysalis.
  1095. >Some feared creature known as a changeling that feasted on people's love and positive emotions.
  1096. >They all have the ability to change into targets they see, but only as illusions.
  1097. >That was what seemed off with Cadence.
  1098. >Which meant the real Cadence was in there right now.
  1099. >You were trying to find away into the throne room, blowing up the door wasn't your smartest option.
  1100. >So you selected option 2.
  1101. >Scale the outside of the castle.
  1102. >Those glass murals were going to cost so much, but you had little more choice.
  1103. >By the time you even got to the party, you were a bit too late.
  1104. >Chrysalis had apparently overpowered even Celestia, and captured Twilight and her friends.
  1105. >Everyone was caught in her trap and she was feasting off of vast amounts of power.
  1106. >From your big brother.
  1107. >That SHE hypnotized into obedience.
  1108. >One thing remained the same no matter what happened; You didn't let people hurt your family.
  1109. >The situation was complicated at the time, but you had busted through the glass mid-monologue when Chrysalis was mocking them for the immense magical power she obtained.
  1110. >One prepped arrow went through her hand, nailing it to the throne as you landed amongst an army of her drones.
  1111. >Well, sometimes plans weren't always thought out their best...
  1112. >But it was now or never, really.
  1113. >You remember doing something you had kind of been waiting for since the beginning.
  1114. >You backhanded Shining Armor across the cheek in an attempt to shake him out of his stupor.
  1115. >It was shortly after that he realized what was going on as though he had been unconscious since the week started.
  1116. >One look at the situation was all he needed to know what he had to do.
  1117. >He grabbed Cadance and Twilight's friends as quickly as he could and kept them all under one of his trademark shields.
  1118. >That was one problem out of the way.
  1119. >Of many.
  1120. >You're not sure what it was, but you found yourself completely ignoring them after that instance.
  1121. >Everyone else was too weak to really put forth the effort, and the only backup you ended getting was Princess Luna arriving to help defend a weakened Celestia.
  1122. >It was moment's like these you tended to 'change'.
  1123. >Any good hitman abandoned pretentions the moment a job needed done.
  1124. >Nothing but victory mattered right now, even if it was impossible.
  1125. >That was still your only goal.
  1126. >Sword in hand, you cut down one after another meager soldiers that came at you.
  1127. >They were cannon fodder, they were easy to throw around, to make bleed.
  1128. >It was the timer set on Chrysalis that had you worried.
  1129. >Once she could bring in her whole army, the game was over.
  1130. >It didn't matter how good of a fighter you were, one vs a thousand, or ten thousand, was destined to fail.
  1131. >You still held that day as one of your weakest moments, because it was not by your hand that you all lived.
  1132. >It wasn't by your inability that Twilight still drew breath.
  1133. >They watched you battle and they waited behind a shield that wouldn't hold forever.
  1134. >When Chrysalis finally had everyone right where they wanted, a miracle happened.
  1135. >Your brother, with Cadence's companionship, used the same power Chrysalis had obtained to overcome the hoardes.
  1136. >Your brother, once again, saved your life.
  1137. >Only after you showed everyone how to slaughter almost a hundred foes.
  1138. >It wasn't in a noble way, either.
  1139. >You made 'sure' each of them died.
  1140. >And when you 'woke up' from your battle, most eyes were on you.
  1141. >At least being spattered in green was more appealing than red, right?
  1142. >Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Shining, Twilight and her friends were all left watching you, everyone else either unconscious or scared out of their wits.
  1143. >You thought you heard cheering at some point, happiness.
  1144. >You think you were just hearing things.
  1145. >Story book villains have a common trait; They never hurt anybody in the end.
  1146. >Nobody really seems to get hurt or killed.
  1147. >Or they chose to avoid the atrocities to simply keep things simple.
  1148. >You wonder sometimes if your vision of villains is simply distorted.
  1149. >You didn't attend the real ceremony.
  1150. >You realized Mother and father were both there, as well watching you.
  1151. >You didn't feel your presence would add a cheery atmosphere.
  1152. >They would want to talk after it was all over.
  1153. >But you wanted them to be happy for a little bit at least.
  1154. >You left the evacuation scene before anyone could really catch you, of course.
  1155. >And you avoided any confrontations until after the wedding itself happened.
  1156. >You figure Cadence deserved a loving family to welcome her.
  1157. >To you that meant the Sparkle household, and not the masked man too good at violence for his own good.
  1158. >You heard the sonic rainboom go off, that famous trick Rainbow dash coined.
  1159. >Magically infused airwaves made for a pretty, if dangerous, trick.
  1160. >It looked nice from the silhouettes in your room.
  1161. >From the sounds of it, the reception was going phenomenally.
  1162. >Now that the invasion isn't a problem, at least.
  1163. >You were sure nobody really noticed that you were not around and that was fine.
  1164. >Well, you were sadly wrong about that.
  1165. >After the wedding, it turns out nearly everyone had asked about you.
  1166. >The first knock on the door was from Luna, surprisingly enough.
  1167. >She came by just to talk to you about what happened, and make sure you were okay.
  1168. >The part that disturbed you about the question was that you were completely fine.
  1169. >Not even really a scratch left on you from the scuffles.
  1170. >Sure you didn't really get into anything other than the little guys but still.
  1171. >She asked that you at least come down to the after party with her.
  1172. >You told her that you weren't really up for that, seeing as you already missed the wedding.
  1173. >She told you it was being thrown in your honor.
  1174. >One way or another, you ended up at the afterparty, and whether anyone was willing to admit it or not you were right for not being at the wedding itself.
  1175. >Your very presence would have distracted from the main event somehow.
  1176. >It seemed like everyone was at least glad you survived.
  1177. >Nobody expected you to do what you did.
  1178. >But then again nobody here really knew who you were most of the time.
  1179. >That was what frightened you the most right now.
  1180. >It was such a sudden realization and a sudden comparison that you still felt shell shocked.
  1181. >You got lost in the idea that here you were actually normal and okay.
  1182. >That you were pure like the others standing in the room with you.
  1183. >And they thought the same thing.
  1184. >Many things happened that night.
  1185. >You left a lot of impressions.
  1186. >False ones, really.
  1187. >They were all nice, but that was the problem.
  1188. >Nobody asked why you could do what you did, but everybody fawned over it.
  1189. >To them you were like Shining Armor.
  1190. >Even Shining Armor was impressed by what you could do.
  1191. >Other people are strange, you thought.
  1192. >The rainbow girl thought you were the coolest thing ever.
  1193. >The party one wanted to know your favorite foods, and your birthday.
  1194. >And you can't count how many times the purple haired one, Rarity, tried to flirt with you.
  1195. >You didn't have the heart to ignore her, so you played along.
  1196. >Luna seemed exuberant of your fitting in.
  1197. >Why did she build you up so high when you knew it would crumble beneath the both of you?
  1198. >One event that happened was Shining coming to you and asking if he could just talk one on one.
  1199. >His apologies were some of the deepest words you think he had ever said to you.
  1200. >Apologizing for failing his job.
  1201. >Apologizing for nor being there for you, again.
  1202. >Apologizing for passing you off and the vague memory of forgetting you existed for a while.
  1203. >Honestly it was hard to listen to...
  1204. >But that's why he trusted you to protect them.
  1205. >You don't think you said too much that conversation.
  1206. >You reached your hand out, had your brother look you in the eyes, and smiled to him.
  1207. >You weren't mad at him, you would never be.
  1208. >He spent the rest of the afterparty with Cadence, talking with her, settling some issues.
  1209. >You could tell there was still a somewhat somber tone in the air after everything that happened.
  1210. >It certainly wasn't the ideal wedding day.
  1211. >There were still tensions about who could possibly be a changeling even if the notion was crazy.
  1212. >You felt as distanced as you could be from everyone else, not for this reason though.
  1213. >You trusted everybody with your life, because they were all loved ones.
  1214. >But it only came back to you now to realize that you were still the odd one out.
  1215. >Twilight partied with her friends.
  1216. >Cadence and Shining Armor shared a dance.
  1217. >Mom and Dad even looked like they might be truly happy together...
  1218. >Once the party started winding down, you found yourself conversing with Cadence directly.
  1219. >She had told Shining to go talk with Twilight since the two were in a similar boat as you were with Shining earlier.
  1220. >Cadence wanted to thank you, too.
  1221. >Standing there in her wedding gown, with the warm expression you remember on her face...
  1222. >Memories of times when that wasn't mixed with the glare of an angry monster queen filled your head.
  1223. >Truth be told you could've died back there if the wedding duo didn't save the day.
  1224. >They tell you they would've died if you hadn't been there, but you felt useless nonetheless.
  1225. >Some sick part of you remembered that you thought you were being the hero.
  1226. >You doubt anyone would've really been hurt in the whole deal.
  1227. >Cadence gave you her personal thanks for what you had done for her, and that you risked your life to protect her and Shining Armor.
  1228. >Even if this is actually the first time you were talking face to face in probably a decade.
  1229. >After Cadence, you spoke with Celestia.
  1230. >You think that might have been the last time her words didn't feel like the same strangeness you heard from everyone else.
  1231. >To be honest that might have been the last time you felt like you were part of the family.
  1232. >It wasn't because you hurt them or you failed because they were all alive, and they were happy.
  1233. >Perhaps that's what really mattered.
  1234. >But something in you still debated that.
  1235. >You shouldn't have felt that way, but you still did.
  1236. >As though you thought it was better they be in harm's way so long as someone else wasn't responsible for their protection.
  1237. >This feeling pulled you away more times than you can count.
  1238. >Celestia congratulated you.
  1239. >She told you she didn't know what would have happened if you weren't there.
  1240. >You don't know either.
  1241. >Maybe Twilight would've grown up to be stronger.
  1242. >Maybe she wouldn't need you then.
  1243. >Or maybe Shining wouldn't have lost time worrying about you as a kid.
  1244. >Whatever the case you hid most of your feelings pretty well, you'd like to think.
  1245. >One after another people seemed to swarm you for a while.
  1246. >They were all happy to see you.
  1247. >You weren't so happy at the time.
  1248. >You didn't really want to be there to be honest.
  1249. >You wanted to go back to your room and enjoy solace for a little while.
  1250. >As if you knew what that word meaned anymore.
  1251. >Why was it that even something accomplishing lacked the substance to make you feel accomplished?
  1252. >You should've been happier than you really were but you almost felt like there was something missing.
  1253. >Not about the party and not about the people here.
  1254. >Something was missing about you.
  1255. >Like there was a part of you that wasn't with you at the time.
  1256. >You started to understand though.
  1257. >It was who was on what side of the looking glass.
  1258. >It was like a friend looking into a seeing eye pattern and telling you all the things they saw when all you could see was static.
  1259. >That's what you were missing.
  1260. >You were missing yourself.
  1261. >You went back to your room not too long after that.
  1262. >The party finally wound down, everyone finally got their loving goodbyes in.
  1263. >You stood in front of a mirror just gazing into it for a while.
  1264. >There was someone on the other side of it that looked pretty foreign.
  1265. >Like he didn't belong.
  1266. >You could see the weight in his eyes when he wasn't trying to hide himself.
  1267. >You got pulled away from your reflection by a knock on the door that you quickly went to answer.
  1268. >Quickly meaning sluggishly.
  1269. >It was Twilight, giving you that gentle smile she always had.
  1270. >You smiled back and let her in for a bit.
  1271. >She was going to be boarding the train back to ponyville tonight, returning home.
  1272. >Which meant you were gonna have to say goodbye to her again, at least for a while.
  1273. >She told you that you were the hero today.
  1274. >Hero or not you didn't feel like it.
  1275. >She told you that she didn't know what she would do without you.
  1276. >Call yourself crazy but you think those words actually meant something to you.
  1277. >The two of you sat in a bit of quiet, as Twilight, the prodigy and heroine of many adventures told you how great you were.
  1278. >You had to admit that it wasn't that bad.
  1279. >You could hear her voice strain, however.
  1280. >When she started talking about leaving you again.
  1281. >You gently pulled her close, kissing the top of her head and told her that you had never been more proud of her.
  1282. >You told her you couldn't wait to hear how she would wow you next time, too.
  1283. >She almost missed the train with how long she spent crying into your arms one more time.
  1284. >She used to do it a lot when she was younger.
  1285. >You suppose some things never really change.
  1286. >That thought might be what got you through the night.
  1287. >But when you saw Twilight out your door to head off for the train, you ran into your Mother as well.
  1288. >She had a guilty look on her face.
  1289. >To put a long story short, she and father were back together.
  1290. >She told you you two shouldn't hang around much anymore.
  1291. >And that she was sorry.
  1292. >Little more than that was said though.
  1293. >She gave you a hug, and apologized for hurting what you two had as mother and son.
  1294. >You didn't quite have the words to stop her when she left your room in a hurry.
  1295. >You watched her walk away and leave you alone once more.
  1296. >You're not quite sure why her words caught you so off guard.
  1297. >Or why seeing her walk away in a hurry did what they did to you.
  1298. >They all usually left.
  1299. >There was a strike to her words though.
  1300. >Did you get your hopes up by accident?
  1301. >Or maybe it was that she didn't just leave you, but rather she did so very...easily.
  1302. >It came back to you that you lived alone, now.
  1303. >She and father were going to start travelling together, to abandon their excessive studies and research and just enjoy themselves around the world.
  1304. >You suppose you were old enough that you didn't have much excuse to live with your parents anymore.
  1305. >But you didn't know how you intended to tackle the world.
  1306. >You didn't want to be alone.
  1307. >You were always alone.
  1308. >You think that night was the first time you really cried in a while.
  1309. >You wanted your family.
  1310. >Mom, dad, brother, sister, you wanted all of it back.
  1311. >What happened to family bonds?
  1312. >You learned everything about how the world and how people work.
  1313. >But nobody taught you this.
  1314. >You would have to apologize to the princesses.
  1315. >You broke a few things.
  1316. >How is it the day you gained new family, you also managed to lose it?
  1317. >One more knock resounded on your door that night, though.
  1318. >Princess Luna came back to check on you one more time.
  1319. >What was her deal with you, anyways?
  1320. >What did you do to her?
  1321. >You let her in anyways, too exhausted to really stop her at the door.
  1322. >She playfully called you 'nephew'.
  1323. >That's right, Cadence was technically their niece, and now you were her brother.
  1324. >Funny how that works out.
  1325. >To you it seemed a little awkward.
  1326. >But being a couple thousand years old probably took that view from her.
  1327. >You probably shouldn't have broken a few things, now that you think about it.
  1328. >You had no excuse to explain them other than your obnoxious emotions.
  1329. >When she told you that you could trust her to listen, you asked her if she felt the same.
  1330. >The warmth of her smile still haunts you, thinking about the way she put her faith out to you almost too easily.
  1331. >You were too tired right now to argue.
  1332. >You told her that you simply missed the old days, before it felt like everybody was moving on.
  1333. >You recalled how you spent more time as a kid working than you did enjoying your family.
  1334. >You still didn't know where you came from, and nobody ever pursued that.
  1335. >It only now occurs to you that your mother's last words before leaving didn't hurt because of being alone.
  1336. >They hurt because they were the same words she would speak when she wanted to talk to her beloved child.
  1337. >That she was leaving.
  1338. >Now it all came to you.
  1339. >Those feelings you were always too young to interpret.
  1340. >Shining going to the royal guard.
  1341. >Twilight going to Celestia.
  1342. >Your parents obsessions over their own things.
  1343. >You always kind of walking beneath your own family.
  1344. >You don't remember if you spoke all this out to Luna, but you think she got the picture.
  1345. >You had told her you wanted to be alone before you left the castle later.
  1346. >She took your hand softly and looked into your eyes.
  1347. >She told you that she would always love you for who you were.
  1348. >She gave you some time after that.
  1349. >You remember looked back at the castle as you walked back home.
  1350. >Your empty, vacant home.
  1351. >Mother must have wanted to leave as soon as she could to 'protect' you.
  1352. >You had a sneaking suspicion all this would come back to her one day.
  1353. >How were you supposed to protect people when they brought their own trouble?
  1354. >Perhaps you would find a way.
  1355. >The events following that night came very rapidly over the course of the next few weeks.
  1356. >You heard Cadence and Shining armor had been moved far out to the north to the 'crystal empire'.
  1357. >You still talked with the princesses fairly regularly, as some of your only remaining company, so they kept you in the loop on your family.
  1358. >...When family failed to do so.
  1359. >They revealed to you that there was a little 'crisis' going on down there.
  1360. >The crystal empire was supposed to be sealed in darkness, but it was back.
  1361. >Of course that meant whatever the reason it was sealed was back as well.
  1362. >You won't lie...you weren't happy to hear that Celestia had sent both your brother and your sister off to this dangerous place to battle whatever had risen.
  1363. >And so, you asked exactly what had been brought back.
  1364. >Celestia looked uncertain.
  1365. >She dismissed her guard.
  1366. >And so you were alone with her and Luna.
  1367. >She showed you a vision she has showed Twilight.
  1368. >One of dark magic.
  1369. >She showed you the way it ran out of control, and how it struggled under her command.
  1370. >Crystals black as the night, sharp as swords rose up.
  1371. >You even heard them whisper to you, faintly.
  1372. >It sounded akin to screaming without lungs.
  1373. >Just faint wheezing, choking, scrambling for breath.
  1374. >Alright, that was disturbing.
  1375. >You even told them the noises told you everything...
  1376. >But that seemed to confuse them.
  1377. >Celestia even asked you what you meant.
  1378. >That usually was a bad thing.
  1379. >You're guessing you're not supposed to feel a sudden uprising in hatred, guilt, and manic depression upon exposure to those crystals, so you simply said it must have been the sound of the magical essence.
  1380. >Shaking your head, you watched for a few moments at the holographic crystal empire that she showed you.
  1381. >It was absolutely breath taking.
  1382. >Such a place in reality would outmatch even Canterlot for it's exquisite sheen.
  1383. >When you asked her where it was, she broke the holograph and looked you dead in the eyes with a stern glare.
  1384. >"Don't go to the Crystal empire", She told you. "There is no war to be fought, you would only be in danger."
  1385. >You were told a monster rested out there.
  1386. >Now you just had to go.
  1387. >Since there was no information to be had from the princesses, of course, that meant you had to look elsewhere.
  1388. >A.K.A. you had to ask your contacts if anyone in the underground knew what the hell the crystal empire was.
  1389. >Sir Scribe, the local literature lunatic, er...metaphorically, not the librarian, when he wasn't writing his weekly post in the newspaper on weekly events was researching all the latest news.
  1390. >Something had to have reached him.
  1391. >There was something you really didn't like about the way the Princess had sent Twily off, even with her friends, to something so dangerous.
  1392. >When all was said and done, you had come to a very important conclusion.
  1393. >You were lonely.
  1394. >And feeling awfully overprotective of your little sister.
  1395. >And now your big brother and sister-in-law.
  1396. >Maybe if they could take care of themselves, then that meant they didn't need you anymore.
  1397. >But damnit if you weren't going to be the annoying relative who kept butting his way into his family's problems because he cares.
  1398. >You knew Shining armor was already out there, but Twilight must have still been in Canterlot preparing.
  1399. >They would be at the train station soon, and you might be able to catch a ride with them.
  1400. >No way was your little Sister going anywhere without her big brother's permission.
  1401. >She was only 19!
  1402. >Thankfully, being part of the pillars of underground society that kep the overground on it's legs, it wasn't hard grabbing a ticket to the train.
  1403. >You knew a lot of the people who worked around town.
  1404. >Of course now it was probably a good idea to hide your connection to royalty.
  1405. >The last thing you wanted was someone with the ability to connect your 'less than legal' connections to the royal crown.
  1406. >So you came up with a brilliant cover story.
  1407. "And that's how I became a pizza delivery colt."
  1408. >You swore you could feel the world flash to life the moment you told that to the man sitting next to you on the bench.
  1409. >Things felt a lot...'closer' now.
  1410. >But that was besides the point.
  1411. >You shrugged off the unnatural feeling, giving yourself a little bit of a wake-up slap as you got back into focus.
  1412. >"And you're delivering...by train?"
  1413. "Oh, yeah. Delivery travel has gotten so complicated these days."
  1414. >The look he gave you was still a little wary, but it seemed he believed you...almost.
  1415. >"So...where are the pizzas?"
  1416. >That question caught you off guard more than expected.
  1417. >Pizza colt with no pizza...
  1418. >Luckily you saw Twilight, along with her friends, walking up to the train at the perfect moment for you to stand up and say your goodbyes.
  1419. "Sorry, I'd love to talk more but I have to get going!"
  1420. >Maybe you shouldn't be working on such high tension, you'll slip next time.
  1421. >But walking closer to Twilight's group, you ensure none of them actually notice you.
  1422. >You used to do this to Twilight all the time when she was little.
  1423. >Poor thing never was a perceptive girl when she was absorbed in her books.
  1424. "Pizza for 7?"
  1425. >They scattered like flies the moment your voice hit right behind them.
  1426. >Well, almost all of them.
  1427. >The bouncy one was still there.
  1428. >"Oooh! Pizza? We didn't order any pizza, Twilight! You didn't tell me you got food for the road!"
  1429. >She hopped over to Twilight and gave her a hug, as though she had just been given a million bits.
  1430. >"Oh, and hi Anon! Where are the pizzas?"
  1431. >Why did everybody want pizza that wasn't theirs?
  1432. "Okay, shush you. I don't actually have the pizza. Yet."
  1433. >She stopped bouncing shortly after you said that, staring at you with a disappointed stare.
  1434. >Twilight intervened, however, with both a shocked and pleasantly surprised response.
  1435. >"Big brother! Anon, w-what are you doing out here?"
  1436. >Walking closer and giving her a soft hug, which she met graciously, you helped quell the 'out of place' nature of your encounter.
  1437. "Now, don't tell Celestia but I came here when she told me you guys were going out to the Crystal empire."
  1438. >Of course Twilight told Celestia everything.
  1439. >"Wait! I have to let Celestia know you're coming!"
  1440. >Here we go again.
  1441. "Twilight."
  1442. >"If she knows you're coming, and you didn't tell her, she's going to be so upset!"
  1443. "Twilight."
  1444. >"She's expecting me to pass her test and save the Crystal Empire!"
  1445. >"Twilight."
  1446. >"I'll come back and she's going to tell me all about how she never allowed it and I'm going to get sent back to magical kindergarten!"
  1447. >"Twilight."
  1448. >Two 'Twilight's ago it wasn't you talking, anymore.
  1449. >"Twilight, Sugarcube, if you don't stop panicking you're not going to 'get' to the crystal empire in time."
  1450. >The apple girl knew what she was doing.
  1451. >Manipulating one schedule based fear with another, more prominent schedule based fear.
  1452. >From experience, this drove Twilight up the walls.
  1453. >And onto the train, which she then jumped into, almost literally, followed by everyone else.
  1454. >The shy, pink-haired one was staying awfully close to you, too...
  1455. >When you sat down on the train, she sat right next to you, when you had been a little ways away from the others for them to have space.
  1456. >So, of course, you assumed she must have a reason.
  1457. "Um...hello there."
  1458. >"...hi..."
  1459. >She must have 'some' reason...
  1460. "Ah, er- Fluttershy, right?"
  1461. >Fluttershy only nodded in response, still looking down with a small hunch.
  1462. >The others were deep in conversation about what they were going to do when they got out to the crystal empire.
  1463. >But Fluttershy seemed to be seated just close enough to them to hear, and be 'kind' of in the conversation.
  1464. >And yet she was still not a part of it.
  1465. >You didn't think she didn't like them or anything...
  1466. >And you were no fool, but this wasn't like shy-crush behavior.
  1467. >She wasn't here to obsess over you.
  1468. >It was hard to trace, but she was distantly clingy.
  1469. >You had a bad habit of letting your 'mask' slip away, leaving you looking stern and rather rough with an uncaring stare when you were in deep thought.
  1470. >Twilight must have glanced over and gotten the wrong idea when she called Fluttershy over...
  1471. >When you saw Fluttershy cringe in what felt like rejection, you quickly stepped up to the plate.
  1472. >You smiled and gave Twilight a passive wave, putting your hand on Fluttershy's shoulder in a show of comfort.
  1473. "It's fine, Twilight! I was just thinking about something, she's not bothering me. We're just getting comfy."
  1474. >That seemed to convince Twilight enough.
  1475. >Sometimes you worried, because you literally have not found one thing that, when asked seriously, Twilight would not do for you.
  1476. "Goodness, Twi, you're still same old you, huh?"
  1477. >She seemed a little unsure of how to answer you on that, so she just stuttered in her adorable way.
  1478. "Don't worry, that means you're still the little ball of love I remember. It's a good thing."
  1479. >Her face lit up as the others in the group playfully 'aww'd and poked fun at her.
  1480. >You could see that little smile on her face, though.
  1481. >Even Fluttershy seemed a little more comfortable, as a quite giggle escaped her lips.
  1482. >You took that as a sign of a job well done, and simply relaxed, spreading your legs out to the opposite chairs as a foot rest.
  1483. >Were you the only ones on the train?
  1484. >Private rides, you supposed.
  1485. >It was pretty quiet for a while after that, though.
  1486. >It seemed everyone had their nerves calmed and were back on track.
  1487. >You even managed to close your eyes and relax for a bit.
  1488. >You know, this was nice, too.
  1489. >Just kind of relaxing with a welcoming group of friends off to one side.
  1490. >Well...your sister's friends.
  1491. >But they seemed like an alright bunch.
  1492. >Even if it was a little weird for her brother to be making friends at their age group...
  1493. >"Um, excuse me...Mr Anon? O-or is is Sparkle?"
  1494. >Well shucks, that was Fluttershy.
  1495. >Opening one eye, you looked over and she was staring back with one eye that wasn't hidden by her bangs.
  1496. "Hmm? Oh, did you need something?"
  1497. >The others were pretty much just talking amongst themselves now.
  1498. >Twilight was no longer freaking out about every step of her theoretical plan.
  1499. >Finally...
  1500. >"Um...well I was just wanting to let you know that, um...it's really sweet of you to come with us to help."
  1501. >Ah, right.
  1502. >This was still their job.
  1503. >You suppose she's thinking back to the wedding, still...
  1504. "No problem...I just don't wanna see my sister, or her friends, hurt. I can't do too much but I can still keep an eye on Twilight."
  1505. >"Oh, but I really am glad we could have you here with us!"
  1506. >Her voice didn't raise, but it was obvious she was getting excited.
  1507. >She also got a little closer to you.
  1508. >"I'm not a, um, 'fighter' like the others. So I'm just happy we can have someone around in case things get, um...scary."
  1509. >You know, she was really adorable, actually.
  1510. >Softly laughing at her timid antics, you give her a small pat on the head.
  1511. "Don't worry, Anon will keep the big bad wolf away from you all."
  1512. >You weren't expecting her to get scared at that.
  1513. >"A wolf?! I didn't know a wolf was after us!"
  1514. >She clung to your arm in sudden panic as she shook like a leaf in the wind.
  1515. "Uh...n-no, not a real wolf, it's just an analogy. Whatever trouble the Princess sent you out for, I'll be there, okay?"
  1516. >The blush and the backing away shyly told you she might have over-reacted.
  1517. >But she still recentered herself right next to you.
  1518. >It was then that Rainbow Dash called her over to talk about her 'big stunt' and Fluttershy politely bid you farewell for now.
  1519. >You wonder why she wore such baggy clothing all the time..?
  1520. >When all the girls seemed to gather and talk about their stories over the past few days, you almost missed when a young little dragon boy approached you.
  1521. >When you heard a little cough for attention, you looked down to see the little guy.
  1522. >His green hair was a little long, hanging almost to his shoulders, and some of it hung shyly over his eyes despite his almost anxious look.
  1523. "Oh...hey there, you're spike, right? Twilight told me a little bit about you."
  1524. >In an instant, the little guy stood up straight, brushed the hair out of his eyes confidently.
  1525. >"Yep! Spike Sparkle, at your service!"
  1526. >So he was adopted into the family after all, huh?
  1527. "Well, looks like I've got another little bundle to look after huh? Don't worry, you're welcomed to the family. I'll show you all the tricks you need to annoy Twilight to the end of days."
  1528. >"Hey!"
  1529. >Twilight didn't seem too thrilled about hearing that, but Spike just laughed, ran to your other side and hopped up on the seat.
  1530. >"Don't worry, I do that anyways. But it might not hurt to know some more!"
  1531. >You were gonna like this kid.
  1532. >You and spike conversed for a bit after that, talking about what each other's lives were like.
  1533. >He had a surprisingly large amount to talk about.
  1534. >As you suspected, it was study study study for the little guy.
  1535. >Poor thing.
  1536. >But you suppose it's good for him in the later years.
  1537. "Are you good friends with all of the other's?"
  1538. >"Uhuh! Especially Rarity...~"
  1539. >That bit sounded a bit emotionally exaggerated, to you.
  1540. "You good friends with her?"
  1541. >"She's perfect."
  1542. >"I'm going to assume that means yes."
  1543. >Okay, you weren't dumb, he had a crush on the purple haired one.
  1544. >This is something you expected, you suppose.
  1545. >Young boy, 6 girls, all admittedly of quite fair stature.
  1546. >He must be attracted to the mature air she had.
  1547. >Young boys typically went for that.
  1548. >Hmm...wasn't she the one flirting with you at the wedding?
  1549. >She must have caught you glancing over at her, because gave you a playful have lidded gaze.
  1550. >Waving in a slow and slightly suggestive way...
  1551. >Oh boy, you'd best not let Spike catch onto that.
  1552. >"Isn't she wonderful?"
  1553. "U-uh, yeah. She's a charmer, I can see where you're coming from."
  1554. >Of course, after that it was mostly quiet.
  1555. >You tried not to meet Rarity's gaze, but you could tell she was watching you a lot.
  1556. >Her and Fluttershy.
  1557. >Two different stares...
  1558. >You're told by the conductor that you're all almost there already.
  1559. >That was fast.
  1560. >It's...dark.
  1561. >Correction; It's REALLY dark.
  1562. >It's atmospheric with how the windows seem pitch black when looking into the distance.
  1563. >And there is snow EVERYWHERE.
  1564. >When you reach the train station, it looks like the most out of place thing ever.
  1565. >Just a wooden platform in the middle of a winter nightmare.
  1566. >You all finally step out of the train, and the first thing that happens is it's freezing cold.
  1567. >Spike seems to be tasked with carrying Everyone's luggage, strangely.
  1568. >That's almost adorable the way he can't really see in front of him with it, but it also makes you kind of sad to see.
  1569. >You lift a few suitcases into your arms and take a little load off of him while you can.
  1570. >Although he looks a bit embarrassed, he gives you a thankful grin.
  1571. >"Twily! And- Anon?"
  1572. >There's that relaxed tone of voice you remember so much.
  1573. >Approaching your group quickly is Shining armor, covered head to toe in a mix between his regal armor and winter clothing.
  1574. >"What are you doing here, Anon? Celestia didn't tell us you were coming."
  1575. >Twilight gives you that 'I told you so' glare like they just got in trouble.
  1576. >You laugh it off and answer curtly.
  1577. "I snuck on board. 'Aunty' told me not to, but I'm a bad boy. You know that."
  1578. >You vaguely hear 'Show me a bad boy' quietly among the laughter, but you weren't positive.
  1579. >The wind was also quite loud so it might've been in your head.
  1580. >"Well, don't blame me if she gets mad at you. We're trying to keep in contact with her directly using some long-distance contact going, by Radio when the storms clear a bit and by Spell Channeling when we need to. We have to conserve though."
  1581. "Why do you need to conserve? Don't you have an outpost connected to the train?"
  1582. >His face turns grim as he takes a look around, almost like he were on watch for something.
  1583. >You feel your muscles tense as you instinctively begin to do so as well.
  1584. >"There's a reason we didn't bring more people than we needed out here."
  1585. >That's a bad sign.
  1586. >They 'only' sent Shining.
  1587.  
  1588. >Your sense of preservation starts to kick in as you try to figure out the nature of the alarm without bringing out too much information.
  1589. >The girls were probably too caught up in their fear as it was.
  1590. >You guessed that Applejack and Rainbow might be fighters.
  1591. >They, and Pinkie Pie, were pretty tall and firmly built.
  1592. >But Pinkie didn't have as much tone as they did, so you assume she was simply an earth folk.
  1593. >Signs of those were usually their increased size and features.
  1594. >If anyone here could handle themselves, it might be those 3.
  1595. >You weren't sure about Rarity, but her features told you she was magic capable, so perhaps she had some means to fight back, like Twilight.
  1596. >But even then, she and Fluttershy who just looked so frail could be in danger.
  1597. >Given these circumstances, you were sure they wouldn't be handling any fighting that involved whatever had that dark magic under it's control.
  1598. >"Stop."
  1599. >Shining's voice came out firmly as he stopped dead in his tracks.
  1600. >You froze, prepared to drop the luggage at a moment's notice.
  1601. >There was something in the air...
  1602. >You were being watched by something.
  1603. >Twilight began to speak, hoping she could grab a few answers before disaster struck.
  1604. >"Shining, what exactly is hiding out here? Forgive me for morbid curiosity, but I'd rather know what's waiting to strangle me from the dark than just see when it does so."
  1605. >Shining turned to Twilight and reached out to gently pat her shoulder, trying to keep her calm.
  1606. >You kept your eye out, noting that it felt like it was getting darker around here...
  1607. "We should move. This isn't natural shade."
  1608. >Shining turned back forward, almost as if trying to hide something.
  1609. >You're pretty sure it's too late to avoid what isn't there.
  1610. >Because it's there alright.
  1611. >This darkness 'was' the enemy.
  1612. >It was alive.
  1613. "It sees us..."
  1614. >You could see your brother nod his head, holding his hand in a tight fist as tension ran through his body.
  1615. >"We have to move. Quickly, the empire is up ahead."
  1616. >You could see the stress on everyone's faces as they now looked around.
  1617. >Perhaps the worst, after Spike, was Fluttershy.
  1618. >Terror crept on her face as she looked around.
  1619. >You could see the quiver of her lip, and her pupils were the size of pinpricks looking around.
  1620. >You all heard a noise.
  1621. >It sounded akin to a distant cry of anger.
  1622. >It was Shining who spoke first, outmatching you by a mere second.
  1623. >"RUN!"
  1624. >Everyone made a mad dash forward, not even looking around for what it might be.
  1625. >Whatever it was, it was going to be bad.
  1626. >All you and the others know is that the empire itself seems to be a safe place.
  1627. >You could see the barrier between you and the empire up ahead.
  1628. >The problem was that right behind you there was a shadow approaching fast.
  1629. >You could note something moving in it, but you couldn't make out what.
  1630. >You were never told exactly what was hiding out here, simply that it was a monster.
  1631. >And that monster was closing in fast.
  1632. >Yet again, however, Shining is one step ahead of you when you see right as you were about to make it to the empire.
  1633. >His figure lept out behind all of you and attempted to block this mysterious force.
  1634. >You stopped as well, glancing back at him, about to leap into the fray as well.
  1635. >However when he gave you a glance over his shoulder, you knew he wouldn't forgive you did.
  1636. >You kept running, the glow of protection practically right in front of your face.
  1637. >Twilight, applejack, rainbow dash, one by one they all escaped through the stronghold before you did with a dive.
  1638. >And you landed on...soft grass and dirt?
  1639. >You were prepared for a hard tumble but looking up you realized you weren't in some frozen wasteland anymore.
  1640. >Nothing close.
  1641. >It was...the Crystal empire, as Celestia showed it to you from a thousand years ago.
  1642. >And it looked exactly as it once did.
  1643. >But this wasn't supposed to be possible, at least not by any normal reasoning.
  1644. >It took another kind of spell to keep something like this hidden for a thousand years.
  1645. >Your thoughts, however, get pulled from their place here amongst this land of seeming perfection to realize that your party was minus 1.
  1646. >Standing back up, you looked out at the way you came in, only to see what looked like an endless road that just continued to go on.
  1647. >It was likely just another illusion.
  1648. >Meant to separate this land from the land just beyond.
  1649. >But you couldn't help but worry.
  1650. >You do a quick head count, making sure everyone is still with you.
  1651. >Shining didn't come through but you would at least hope everyone else did.
  1652. >You're relieved to note that only your brother wasn't confirmed to be here.
  1653. >You quickly debate what you're doing to do...
  1654. >If you went out there, what 'would' you do?
  1655. >You might be well equipped, but you don't think you're set to handle whatever that was.
  1656. >Not until you knew more about it at least.
  1657. >Twilight slowly started coming to her senses too.
  1658. >You really dreaded having to tell her.
  1659. >There was a very real possibility that was the last time she would see Shining.
  1660. >You feel a sting in your mind when you realize that's something you understand.
  1661. >Maybe it would be normal to deny it...
  1662. >Still no sign of Shining, so you come close to Twilight who seems to stare at you, then the way you all came.
  1663. >There's obvious worry growing within her.
  1664. >You can't let her crumble here...
  1665. >But you can't lie to her.
  1666. >You take the middle ground.
  1667. "Twilight, listen to me...I'm not going to sugarcoat it, until he comes here we don't know what happened to Shining. But he might not be dead. He could be fighting, we have to use this time to our advantage."
  1668. >Your words bring utter wreckage to her expression, but after a few moments she chokes down a possible sob and composes herself.
  1669. >She has become so strong these days...
  1670. >But this is even more than you predicted when you first got here.
  1671. >Part of you says if it 'did' kill Shining, things were looking hopeless...
  1672. >As of right now, though, Shining was...pronounced dead.
  1673. >That was now on the top of your notes.
  1674. >You just hoped he would walk back to you all.
  1675. >Looking around, you take in everyone's condition.
  1676. >It's obvious this is the first time something like this has happened to them.
  1677. >Rarity looks panicked, but is controlling herself.
  1678. >You find this very admirable, actually.
  1679. >Pinkie appears to still be hanging on to the positive hope, you can tell because she's occasionally seems like breaking down, but then slowly calms herself.
  1680. >Rainbow and Applejack have their own similar reactions.
  1681. >Applejack lowers her hat over her eyes and seems as though she's taking time to think about what just happened.
  1682. >There's fear behind those eyes and that's why nobody sees them.
  1683. >Rainbow looks akin to someone who doesn't quite understand, but only because she seems to be in denial.
  1684. >Hell, that was better than nothing right now.
  1685. >Fluttershy however is mortified.
  1686. >She looks like she's about to keel over and hurl.
  1687. >You'll have to watch her.
  1688. >Her and Spike, who's just...sort of staring off.
  1689. >It occurs to you that he might not even fully comprehend the idea of death yet.
  1690. "Everyone! Come on, we're safe here, and we might be able to find a way to set all this straight. Remember, nobody is officially dead, and you won't be anytime soon."
  1691. >Wasn't your job that you decided for yourself from the beginning to protect?
  1692. >That would be your job now, anyways.
  1693. >You're glad nobody is questioning where your lack of fear comes from.
  1694. >Twilight already knows you, and they all think you're some brave warrior.
  1695. >Right now you didn't pay attention to the truth or the falsities, you had a job.
  1696. >Bodyguard...not bad.
  1697. >Taking Twilight's hand, you go slowly and lead her in a walk.
  1698. >It didn't matter how fast you went, now.
  1699. >One less person was waiting on you all.
  1700. >It was quiet on the way to the castle itself.
  1701. >It was a magnificent structure.
  1702. >The surrounding city, however...
  1703. >Dead looks, everywhere.
  1704. >Walking statues is what they were.
  1705. >Men and women and children with skin that looked like dried stone.
  1706. >And their eyes were ugly orbs that held no life, only grim fogginess.
  1707. >It looked like there was trouble in paradise.
  1708. >But that wasn't the issue at hand.
  1709. >At this point you picked spike up, having left the luggage in Twilight's magic.
  1710. >The little guy was trying to get all this into his young brain.
  1711. >You wished he didn't have to come to this.
  1712. >You were going to talk to Celestia.
  1713. >There was going to be trouble with her.
  1714. "Twilight...since Shining led us here this barrier isn't his doing, right?"
  1715. >She nodded in response, voice still clogged up. Which meant that the person you were probably going to see was...
  1716. >"Anon! Twilight!"
  1717. >Cadance yelled out to you all from her place on the throne, her body glowing with intense energy.
  1718. >She moved forward, but you could see she had to put most of her focus into projecting her magic.
  1719. >Being a princess, you suppose great magic power came as part of the title.
  1720. >Cadence always was a bit imposing for a woman of her appeal.
  1721. >She always stood about as tall as Shining himself, and so just about, maybe slightly taller, than you.
  1722. >She had strength, flight, and magic like the other princesses.
  1723. >You wondered if Shining obtained any power for his princehood.
  1724. >Or maybe you're just still trying to tell yourself he isn't really gone...
  1725. >She takes notice of the lack of Shining armor in the room, but before she asks you give your head a curt shake.
  1726. >She gets the message, and this seems to strain her even more.
  1727. >As you get closer, you realize she has bags under her eyes.
  1728. >But even still she puts on a little smile and appears to act as though things are fine.
  1729. >Twilight takes after her a lot.
  1730. >It feels weird everytime you see that kind of maturity, but you aren't sure why.
  1731. >Once everyone gets their luggage set aside, you let spike down into Twilight's arms, and approach Cadence.
  1732. >It looks like you'll have to take the position of the official here.
  1733. "We're all here, reporting in. Ah...Elements of harmony, Spike the dragon, and...that thorn in your side you missed so much."
  1734. >Giving Cadence a smile, you remember back to when she and Twilight used to get along, and you used to get jealous to the point where you would tease Cadence and she would tease back.
  1735. >You learned to be good friends with her, but you and her still remember the little battles you had.
  1736. >Your reference obviously brings her some joy, much needed at that.
  1737. >A laugh later, and the atmosphere feels just a bit better.
  1738. >"Oh where would I be in times of complete danger without that little thorn on a Saturday night?
  1739. >Stepping slowly down her throne, she closes in and pulls you into a gentle hug.
  1740. >You can feel the weakness in her body, but she's trying.
  1741. >Once she lets you go, she moves to hold Twilight just as close.
  1742. >But pleasantries aside, there was more you needed to know about this situation.
  1743. "Celestia wasn't exactly keen on filling me in on the important stuff. Mind giving a brother a hand?"
  1744. >Turning to face you, Cadence gently let Twilight go.
  1745. >Twilight took a seat nearby to cater to Spike for a moment, but it seemed like Spike was recovering.
  1746. >You could tell he could be very strong.
  1747. >"I'm not surprised, you weren't exactly in the plan when we put all this together, you know. No offense!"
  1748. "I know I wasn't involved. That's why I'm here on my own. No one's fault if something happens."
  1749. >She seems to shake her head, faint disapproval evident in her features.
  1750. >"Anon, you have to understand that these plans are put together with great care. I'm afraid I don't want you to be too involved in this if I can help it. If I fill you in, then you have to promise that until this is all over you won't go doing anything drastic."
  1751. >You had a sneaking suspicion that wasn't going to work.
  1752. >To be honest sometimes you felt apalled at the idea.
  1753. >It's almost like they didn't trust you...
  1754. "Cadence, I just want 'some' part in this. You can't expect me to not be here. Some of my closest family are here in danger and you think I could just be back home?"
  1755. >She simply walks past you, brushing her hand along your shoulder in an apologetic, comforting manner.
  1756. >"I'm sorry, Anon. It doesn't matter what the feeling was about, it was our plan. You know I care greatly about you and everyone else here. But you also know that means I can't risk changing things around. You can be here! But at least stay where I can see you, or at 'least' detect you."
  1757. >As she returns to her throne, you don't feel the malice you probably should.
  1758. >She is right, an unnecessary change in plans could be troublesome...
  1759. >But you were inclined to do what you planned and help protect.
  1760. >You dared not open unnecessary wounds about Shining right now.
  1761. >But you wanted to believe she was at least being honest with herself.
  1762. >As of right now you were probably the only actual person who knew how to kill if it was necessary.
  1763. "I promise..."
  1764. >She stops for a moment, turning to look at you as you do the same to her.
  1765. "I 'suppose' I promise not to do anything drastic so long as you tell me what's going on here. Again. Thorn in your side."
  1766. >A smile from you seemed to go a long ways because Cadence caught it too, giving an exasperated sigh as she sat back on her throne.
  1767. >"Very well, little thorn, then I suppose I'll give you the non-detailed run-down."
  1768. >You shoulda seen that one coming.
  1769. >But beggars can't be choosers.
  1770. >"The crystal empire, as Auntie probably told you so far was lost 1000 years ago by King Sombra, a dark man with evil powers."
  1771. >Fairy tale opening, that was a check back with Celestia.
  1772. >"As she probably also told you, the Kingdom has returned mysteriously, even though King Sombra was defeated by Celestia and Luna."
  1773. >You 'do' remember them saying they stopped Sombra. And the empire returning. And you could assume that-
  1774. >"King Sombra has returned."
  1775. >Called it.
  1776. "Cadence, I know all this. I know what that weird things have been happening. I want to know the why, what's the inside problem, why is Sombra kept back by this 'barrier'? It's just a wall of light."
  1777. >Your slightly stern tone was not lost on Cadence.
  1778. >But she shook her head slowly as she tried to think of how to tell this to you.
  1779. >At this point the others have approached as well, but stayed back while you have your conversation.
  1780. >It's somewhat apparent to them that you're a stow-away here.
  1781. >A little renegade on their mission, not yours.
  1782. >You feel Applejack burning a hole into the back of your head, which prompts you to look down a bit.
  1783. >Yet strangely, you feel as though Rainbow Dash couldn't take her eyes off of you either.
  1784. >And...Rarity was always looking at you.
  1785. >"Listen, Anon, it isn't that simple. First, we're still not sure revealing everything is a completely good idea. Second, I told you non-detailed. I can't just give out the information just like that. I'm so, so sorry but we have to watch every step we make."
  1786. >Right.
  1787. >For all she knew you weren't 'actually' anon.
  1788. >She would just like to think you were.
  1789. >That's what that strange tone was about.
  1790. "I think I understand..."
  1791. >"I'm so sorry, Anon. Heh, some big sister, huh?"
  1792. >Not the guilt speech, Cadence...
  1793. >"Met you at my imposter wedding and now I'm trying to tell you that you shouldn't have ever come here. I don't exactly sound like the good girl here, huh...?"
  1794. >You let out an annoyed breath as you look off to the side a little, then look back up to her with eyes that held strange regret.
  1795. "I'm sorry, Cadence, but you know what it feels like to have things close to you at risk. Hey, if you really wanna make it up to me, buy me a drink when this is all said and done, huh?"
  1796. >There was a moment of silence, but you could see a smirk growing on her face.
  1797. >"Of course, the reward to any warrior returning alive, huh? Boys and your drinks. I'm scared to even try!"
  1798. >Her laughter fills the room as does yours.
  1799. >The laughter lasts for a little bit.
  1800. >But you know it's masking the underlying issue.
  1801. >Unfortunately you have to realize that the longer you make yourself stay here, the longer it's going to take for them to get down to business.
  1802. >If you know what they need to do, even you know you'll try to help even if they tell you not to.
  1803. >Apparently this means Twilight really was sent to do this with just her and her friends.
  1804. "If this is the way you want it, Cadence, then I'll let you do your work. I'll find a room to stay in for now.."
  1805. >"I'm sorry, Anon. I really am. This isn't what 'I' want. To be honest, if I could choose I'd sit you right here by the throne. But it isn't really my choice to ma-"
  1806. >"Wait a minute! That's it? He comes like 50 miles north to the arctic against royal decree because he wanted to help and now he's just stuck sitting in a room?!"
  1807. >That somewhat gruff, tomboyish tone tells you who spoke up before you even turned.
  1808. >Of course it was Rainbow Dash, she seemed like the brash type.
  1809. >Cadence felt the words hit her the more Rainbow spoke, and you knew she didn't quite understand.
  1810. >"He came here for you! He came here to protect all of us and you're going to-"
  1811. "Rainbow, Stop. Just...wait, okay?"
  1812. >You hold up a hand to signal her silence, relieved she took to it quickly.
  1813. "Listen, it's fine. Okay? If you really need my help, I'm still here. But this is your girl's battle, not mine."
  1814. >You start walking, not daring to turn around to see how Rainbow ripped Cadence's heart out.
  1815. >But you gave her the tool...
  1816. >"But...you-"
  1817. "You're a tough girl, aintcha? You'll get the job done."
  1818. >They all stay quiet as you walk out, your steps resounding louder than you'd like.
  1819. >Just before you walked out the door, you called out for re-assurance.
  1820. "Just check for me later, make sure I'm still around. Call my name or something, these hallways echo like the void."
  1821. >Cadence nods her head slowly as you exit, and you hide your grimace with the door closing behind you.
  1822. >You must have been waiting in one of the rooms in the crystal castle for almost an hour before you finally heard a voice calling for you.
  1823. >"...non? Anon, are you here?"
  1824. >They must have finished the briefing of their mission by now.
  1825. >You wonder how they felt about going into this without you.
  1826. >Surely they must have the ability to handle things without you.
  1827. >Stepping out into the hallway, it was very difficult to see Cadence.
  1828. >You had to look down a straight line.
  1829. "Do you think, Cadence, that this entire floor is long enough?"
  1830. >She looks at you a bit strangely, and you simply gesture with your arms around you.
  1831. "Because I don't think it's LOUD enough in here!"
  1832. >The word loud echoed so very many times in your ear before finally dissipating because this long hallway bounces soundwaves like a pinkie pie on a trampoline.
  1833. >Yes you just made that up because you barely know pinkie pie, but whatever.
  1834. >Cadence just finds it amusing, laughing into her palm in a dignified manner.
  1835. >You aren't blind to the minor tension in her voice, however.
  1836. >"Anon, how is it that you always manage to bring a smile to my face, even when my face muscles hurt?"
  1837. >She then massages her cheeks as she takes a deep, steady breath.
  1838. "Well, maybe I'm the reason they're sore, from smiles. I was always there to bug you from out of the corners of your eyes."
  1839. >You two just shared a gentle moment, standing in that hallway.
  1840. >You could tell she was still tired.
  1841. >Another sigh to yourself...
  1842. >You shouldn't have asked her to walk all the way over here when she was already running on fumes.
  1843. "Hey, uh...why don't you come in and sit down? These beds are magic, I swear."
  1844. >She nods and follows you in, shaky but making it to the bed alright.
  1845. >"It's somehow not easy to stay up for a couple nights, constantly projecting energy outwards. Who'd have thunk it, huh?"
  1846. >It took a moment to think over what she said properly.
  1847. >All nighters, while putting strain on herself.
  1848. >You wonder if you could've done that, too...
  1849. >Once she got settled in, it occurred to you that she must have been alone with you now.
  1850. >With Twilight and her friends who knows where.
  1851. >And with Shining...
  1852. "I'm sorry, by the way...About before."
  1853. >In reply, Cadence makes a noise somewhere between a laugh and a scoff, and waves you softly.
  1854. >"Listen, I'm not upset. You were right about what you were saying, honestly. But it just wasn't my choice to let you walk around..."
  1855. >You shake your head, taking a seat next to her with your head hung low.
  1856. "I mean with...Shining Armor. I'm sorry that I left him on his own to...be trapped."
  1857. >You dared not say 'dead' for both her AND your sake.
  1858. >But she seems to still take a hit...
  1859. >"I...it's fine. It's what Shining signed up for. He was prepared for something like this..."
  1860. "He didn't sign up to die, he signed up to protect. But so did I, and I failed my part out there."
  1861. >Cadence merely looks down towards the ground, and you feel as though you might only be making things work.
  1862. "...I'm sorry. I didn't mean that, I mean we don't know for sure if he's-"
  1863. >A gentle, almost silent, sob fills the air and instantly all sound dies in your throat.
  1864. >You only watch for a moment, your mouth agape as you reailze Cadence is beginning to cry.
  1865. >And you don't know what to do to help her, until you hear her start to speak.
  1866. >"I used to think that being a princess meant seeing the light in the world, you know? That my wings and my horn and even my powers were given to let those I loved grow."
  1867. >You knew where she was going with this.
  1868. >You sat there like you needed magic words.
  1869. >"When I was young I thought it would let me do anything. I always had little fantasies that I might be a damsel in distress waiting for my prince to rescue me. I never imagined that I'd be in enough misery that I'd lose the man I loved..."
  1870. >Averting your eyes, you keep from reminding yourself of what happened.
  1871. >But even this...there must be something you could say.
  1872. >"I don't know...I wasn't expecting to be alone..."
  1873. "Cadence, I...You're not alone, Cadence."
  1874. >Your words are about as well thought out as you were sometimes but you hoped it got the point across.
  1875. "Listen, I'm not the most dependable guy around. I've done stupid, even bad things in life just to get by. But I do it all for the people I care about."
  1876. >She lifts her head a little, turning to look at the raw determination, the passion, in your eyes.
  1877. >It takes a moment to even find the words but it seems like she needs them enough that she can wait.
  1878. "As long as I...stand by you, with you here, as long as I am here you will not be alone. And I'm not the only one. Twilight, her friends, and yes even Celestia and Luna still care. I might not have all the answers, Cadence, but I'll be...damned if I don't have a solution to any problem with a little time."
  1879. >You can see the red of her bloodshot eyes clearly now in the light.
  1880. >The princess of love with tears in her eyes.
  1881. >You didn't stop for too long, but you had to question where your words were aimed.
  1882. >You knew if Cadence gave up the barrier might fall.
  1883. >But you don't think that's the reason you're really putting this all out there.
  1884. "I'll tell you a secret...when I was really young and before you came around...I worked in a pretty bad part of Canterlot. And I did some pretty bad things. I didn't have the answer to my family's problems in money or whatever. But I did anything I could, like I promised, to make it a little bit easier. Proud? Oh, I really don't have the answer to that one. But would I do it again?"
  1885. >You take a moment to really make sure she could see right into you, your words and your meaning.
  1886. "If it put me here with you like right now, if it protected everyone then a thousand times."
  1887. >That's when Cadence really broke down, but not quite in sadness.
  1888. >She pulled you close and held tightly onto you.
  1889. >You felt the magic radiating from her, the spell's aura coming from within her.
  1890. >It felt like it was getting a bit stronger.
  1891. ---
  1892.  
  1893. >You are Cadence.
  1894. >Mi Amore Cadenza.
  1895. >And you were confused.
  1896. >Very, so so very confused.
  1897. >Everything in your life, your history, had started to come crashing down around you.
  1898. >A few hours ago your husband went out to bring your sister back.
  1899. >In his stead came your brother in law and your sister.
  1900. >He still isn't back yet.
  1901. >And now your other brother is here to possibly be in danger.
  1902. >That's what you were thinking a little while ago, at least.
  1903. >You feel differently, now...
  1904. >It's strange but you really do feel like you'll be okay.
  1905. >It was the most cliche set of words.
  1906. >But they were exactly what you needed to hear.
  1907. >They were like what Shiny might say if he were here right now.
  1908. >Shiny...you missed him, you really did.
  1909. >Instead you had his brother, who sounded almost exactly like him...
  1910. >It was funny, how that worked.
  1911. >Not only brother in law, but adopted family.
  1912. >And he was so, so much like Shiny himself.
  1913. >I mean sure, Shining armor was sometimes brash, sometimes he rushed things and his personality was occasionally...passive to say the least.
  1914. >And sure he might've had one or two occasions where you might have been hoping for more personal time.
  1915. >But you loved him dearly, and he protected you any way he could.
  1916. >And his brother was much like that...
  1917. >Only he was so sincere, and considerate.
  1918. >They had different, but similar, features.
  1919. >And you won't lie you can't get Anon's words out of your head.
  1920. >You really did feel as though he would help you, and even in the path of your late husband, he felt like a shield that would protect you from...anything.
  1921. >You have loved Shining since you were a lot younger.
  1922. >You've only been married a couple weeks and already he might have gotten himself killed.
  1923. >What hurt the most was that for some reason you could completely believe it...
  1924. >That he really did run off to sacrifice himself for his family and friends.
  1925. >That he left you here, alone.
  1926. >With anon...
  1927. >Strange...your spell is growing stronger.
  1928. >But it's powered by love.
  1929. ---
  1930.  
  1931. >You, anonymous Sparkle, feel as though you are in a strange situation.
  1932. >Cadence has been crying into your shoulder for a few minutes now.
  1933. >Her grip on you growing ever tighter as you struggle only slightly.
  1934. >You figure she needs this.
  1935. >And it helps her regain her power.
  1936. >You would do anything to protect everyone, this was a pretty reasonable way to do that.
  1937. >Slowly, little by little, you could feel her crying come to a halt.
  1938. >And as she slowly pulled back, you could see the markings of the tears and the way they made her eyes look tired.
  1939. >That could've also been her lack of sleep.
  1940. >"Thank...thank you, Anon. I'm so sorry, I just kinda of lost control. I have to be better at working under pressure than this..."
  1941. "Hey, Cadence. We both know you've dealt with worse. You had to babysit me, remember?"
  1942. >She nearly burst out laughing at that, which was actually a bit surprising.
  1943. >She leaned back into you, just letting her head rest on your shoulder.
  1944. >You admit that this was a slightly awkward feeling, but then again you just weren't one for knowing how to deal with people face to face too often.
  1945. >"I don't know, Anon. I think you might've been one of the best things to ever happen to me..."
  1946. >It's not something you can identify, but something chill ran up your spine as she whispered those words to you.
  1947. "No...I don't think so. Shining armor, Twilight, Celestia, they've all done a lot more than I have. I was just the middle child, don't worry about me. I'll be okay not being as...we'll say crazy."
  1948. >Once again you found her laughing, rather infectiously, at your little jabs.
  1949. >Her touch was surprisingly nice.
  1950. >A sense radiatin from her that was peculiar, almost foreign.
  1951. >She was the princess of love, wasn't she?
  1952. >That's why.
  1953. >How ironic, hugging love incarnate when the whole point was having given it up.
  1954. >It would just be you two in this castle for some time...
  1955. >You had to admit, it wasn't have bad just spending some time with someone else.
  1956. >You're fairly certain you're not supposed to be 'this' close, but this was a pretty outrageous situation.
  1957. >"Anon...?"
  1958. >You hear her gentle voice against your ear once more, her voice less choked up than before.
  1959. "Yes, Cadence? What do you need?"
  1960. >"I know I told you earlier I didn't want you involved...but I would still appreciate it if you stayed here with me. I trust you."
  1961. >Trust...
  1962. "I thought you wanted me here in my room. Heh, kinda like some time ago."
  1963. >Your humor falls on deaf ears this time, Cadence's grip tightening on your shirt.
  1964. >"I mean it. Shining Armor believed in you, and I do too. The girls might be back soon..."
  1965. >You felt as Cadence slowly pulled away from you, her hair nearly glowing in the light.
  1966. >You had to wonder what magic could give someone such eyecandy as multicolor striped hair like hers.
  1967. >A...sour tinge hits your mind when you think back to your days where you sought out this kind of beauty for cheap.
  1968. >The body of women became somewhat of a delicacy to you for some time, including Mother's...
  1969. >Those days might have been behind you, but your loneliness was a heavy weight.
  1970. >Turning your head to avert your eyes from Cadence's body, you hoped she didn't take it the wrong way.
  1971. "You should get back to the throne room. They'll be looking for you there. Brother and sister in the bedroom for too long is a scandal waiting to happen."
  1972. >Standing back up, you offered one more grin, reaching down to offer to help her up.
  1973. >Taking your hand, she rises and follows you as you lead her back to the throne.
  1974. >"Can you, um- Help me? My legs are still a little weak. I don't want to have my conversation with the girls out on the cold floor."
  1975. >Gently placing your hands on Cadence's shoulders, you stay right by her to help her stay steady.
  1976. >You can feel her leanining into you somewhat.
  1977. >In response, your hands grip her shoulders tighter.
  1978. >A thought crosses your mind that poisons your senses.
  1979. >Cadence is lonely, too.
  1980. >She lost her husband, and stands isolated in an empire of soulless people.
  1981. >And she doesn't really have anyone else out here to spend time with her, and she has even been pushing herself to maintain her magic.
  1982. >There's a faint pause in all thoughts in your mind as you fear thinking too much.
  1983. >As you both trek down the long hallway, guest rooms as far as the eye can see, some strange twitch in your arm calls to you.
  1984. >Cadence's delicate aroma fills your senses little by little the further you go.
  1985. >You would be a monster for considering it but perhaps Cadence is also trying to tell you something?
  1986. >The pleasure of a woman is not foreign to you.
  1987. >Cadence stood far above the average woman in terms of all her traits.
  1988. >Shining was perhaps dead out in the cold now...
  1989. >Cadence was also the Princess of Love, but she had no one to love anymore.
  1990. >But perhaps Shining Armor wasn't dead, maybe he will return.
  1991. >Then your thoughts were just venom in the vein of your family line.
  1992. >Your family...
  1993. >What was left of it anyways.
  1994. >Assuming Shining Armor was dead, that meant you really only had 3 siblings left; Cadence, Twilight, and Spike.
  1995. >There was very little left to really make worse.
  1996. >You could feel the tenderness of Cadence's skin beneath her dress.
  1997. >And could eye every curve on her form from here...
  1998. >Without even realizing it, your hands slid down Cadence's shoulders to her arms, grasping them tightly.
  1999. >You had to get her back to the throne room.
  2000. >"Prince Anonymous..."
  2001. >Stopping dead in your tracks with Cadence in your arms, you could feel your vision get a tad blurry.
  2002. >"It has a nice ring to it, don't you think, Anon?"
  2003. "Cadence, keep walking-"
  2004. >She turned slowly towards you, eyes looking down into yours as her bountiful form leaned closer still.
  2005. >"Prince Shining Armor sounded a little less fulfilling to be honest."
  2006. >You swear you could feel time slowing down around you as Cadence's hand trailed down to your chest.
  2007. >It sent rigid chills through your body the way her fingers explored your frame.
  2008. >"We have any room in the castle, and what Princess am I if my own brother needs love?"
  2009. >You had thought you found a way to contain your emotions, on family or otherwise.
  2010. >But it occurs to you that up until now you've only ever assumed that family would just 'work out'.
  2011. >You craved to be with them so long that now you didn't know what you were doing.
  2012. >Cadence steadily closed the distance between your faces, you could see her eyes were unfocused.
  2013. >Like this was all just some fantasy for her right now.
  2014. >Her lips came closer still, until they were almo-
  2015. >"Cadeeeence, Anoooon, where are you guys? We found a way to help the empire!"
  2016. >You and Cadence were now against opposite walls, after you had shoved her away and pulled back.
  2017. >You held one hand against your face, trying to stifle the blood-flow pounding in your head from the tension left behind.
  2018. >Twilight's voice continued to call out.
  2019. >Call out for you and Cadence.
  2020. >You couldn't see Cadence herself, but from the way she was breathing in a panicky manner, you could tell she had been caught off guard as well.
  2021. >You slowly looked up, seeing Cadence equally perturbed by the unfortunate events.
  2022. "...Throne room."
  2023. >"Throne Room..."
  2024. "Let's go. I'll help you there.."
  2025. >Gently taking her arm, you kept a faint distance between you and her as you travelled back to the origin of the voices.
  2026. >Once you had gotten Cadence to the throne, you had left back for your room.
  2027. >You had a lot of things to think about right now...
  2028. >As you left you could hear the sound of Twilight and her friend's voices.
  2029. >Something about a library, a book about the history of the Crystal Empire.
  2030. >You heard Cadence's voice almost return to normal as she spoke to the girls.
  2031. >She came to her senses...
  2032. >Did you?
  2033. ---
  2034.  
  2035. >You are...Shining Armor.
  2036. >Ex Captain of the Royal Guard and prince of the Crystal Empire.
  2037. >And as the vision induced by the darkness of your wife and Anon embracing each other faded, you shook your head violently.
  2038. >Something laughed around you.
  2039. >In this pure darkness, the void of space and existence.
  2040. >You were not alone, and you never were.
  2041. >You had given yourself to protect your brother, your sister, and all their friends from the darkness.
  2042. >Here you were, captured and crippled with the ashen tendrils holding you down.
  2043. "I don't believe you."
  2044. >Your voice cried out weakly, to what listened without ears.
  2045. >"I do not care if you do."
  2046. >It called back with no mouth.
  2047. "I love them both, they're close to my heart."
  2048. >Sound and sight remained a fallacy regarding whether you could see the nothing there or were deaf to the silence around you.
  2049. >Silence except for the voice whispering into your deafness.
  2050. >"In death they learn to move on. You matter as far as your living breath to them."
  2051. >Cryptic bastard.
  2052. "What you show me are lies. I am stronger than that. Stronger than you and your tricks."
  2053. >That which was without hand struck you.
  2054. >And without feeling pain you cried out.
  2055. >"You are as strong as your weakest link, and your weakest link is your love. Your love for them is what will bring you to hate them."
  2056. >There was a difference between love and hate, not a similarity.
  2057. >...Right?
  2058. "They will stop you. You will die!"
  2059. >A sharp pain ran along your flesh, like needles swimming in your blood.
  2060. >"Then you shall bring me life, and be my puppet. And they will find madness everlasting."
  2061. >You tried to speak, but it felt as though you forgot how.
  2062. >You felt as though you were forgetting many things.
  2063. >"I give to you my eyes, glow green with envy. And see where darkness hides."
  2064. >Your eyes burned, and then the darkness became light.
  2065. >"Take my hands and feel what light sits in dark."
  2066. >You couldn't feel your hands anymore.
  2067. >Instead you felt everything.
  2068. >"Breathe my soul. Live my lie."
  2069. ---
  2070.  
  2071. >You are Anonymous Sparkle, as per usual.
  2072. >And you just woke up from a very strange dream.
  2073. >Shortly after your arrival here in the Crystal Empire, you had met up with Cadence, who had told you not to be part of this whole saving the balance of Equestria deal.
  2074. >You totally plan to be a part of this whole saving the balance of Equestria deal.
  2075. >She sat on her throne, and inspected the land.
  2076. >She had to maintain the barrier between you and whatever had taken Shining Armor in the outskirts.
  2077. >You wanted to take your mind off of everything that happened, and so you had fallen asleep for but a moment.
  2078. >But there was a strange vision in your mind involving...Cadence.
  2079. >You won't go into details.
  2080. >You don't think you really could.
  2081. >Something has been feeling very off since you got here.
  2082. >It's almost like you were being watched, still.
  2083. >That the creature on the other side of Cadence's barrier could still see all of you.
  2084. >It couldn't get in, but you could sort of...'hear' it.
  2085. >It was hard to explain.
  2086. >Shining Armor appeared in your dream as well...
  2087. >What you and Cadence had done, the dream ended when you felt like Shining Armor had seen all of it as well.
  2088. >You could see why Cadence couldn't get much sleep even if she tried.
  2089. >There must be something else you can do to pass the time.
  2090. >You've been here in the crystal empire for at least a day now, maybe two.
  2091. >It was tiring on everybody, of course, so you weren't going to complain.
  2092. >The lack of sleep hardly bothered you, honestly.
  2093. >It was just the boredom, which usually accompanied doing drastic things.
  2094. >But as far as you knew there were currently no active bars in the crystal empire, probably for your own good...
  2095. >But you had to find something to quell your boredom.
  2096. >When you were younger you used to occasionally write poetry to help vent your emotions.
  2097. >And NOT the kind that was just whining over a river of tears.
  2098. >Would you go back to such a thing?
  2099. >You would if it weren't for the rapping at your chamber door.
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