Echo shifted uncomfortably in her armor. It had been a long day for the poor bat pony, and it only looked like it was going to get longer as the day went on. She needed to to get her soldiers in order, she needed to get somepony down to that warehouse where Ares had been held to investigate the area, and she had a lot of paperwork to do. She had wanted to kill two birds with one stone and go in with the princess to properly question the clan leaders but Cadence had insisted she stay out in the hallway with Luna, who also looked like she wanted to go in there and get some questions asked.

It’s not like getting one thing done NOW will make this night go by any faster she thought sourly before yawning. And you don’t even need any sleep you baby. Sleeps for cowards.

“It’s very good to see you again, Ma’am,” Echo said to Luna as the two waited for Cadence to finish up her “meeting” with the clan leaders.

Luna, who was sipping a cup of coffee that a maid had been kind enough to supply her with, smiled down at her former Sergeant. “Likewise, my little pony,” she said, nudging the mare’s helmet with a wing. “Though it appears congratulations are in order.” She took another sip of her coffee. “We expected Cadence to promote thee but we did not think that it would be so soon. Thou truly must be excelling here.”

Echo’s chest puffed out ever so slightly. “I’m just doing my job, Princess,” she said modestly.

Luna nodded, eyeing the door that Cadence had stepped through a few moments ago. While the Princess of the Night understood that her niece needed to look after her little ponies, she didn’t know for the life of her why Cadence would forego rushing Ares to the doctor for this. She herself would have gladly ushered the poor, injured human to the doctor’s herself but she decided to go with her niece to see what was actually going on.

Levitating her coffee away from her muzzle, Luna said, “Captain, may We ask thee something that has been troubling us since we arrived here?”

Echo eyed her curiously. “Of course, Princess. What did you need?”

“We were wondering why, when we teleported to the Empire, Ares was with the ponies in that room?” Luna looked at the door in frustration. “When we asked Ares about it he did his best to avoid our questions, and when the clan leaders saw us they cowered in fear…”

Echo’s ears perked back and her eyes widened in alarm as she watched Luna look at the door with narrow eyes. She knew that look; it was the “I shall smite all those that cross me” look, and Echo couldn’t say that she particularly cared for it.

“Wouldst thou know what transpired between them, Echo?”

Echo didn’t even have to think about her answer as she opened her mouth,” Nope, can’t say that I have any idea what happened, Your highness.”

Though Luna turned to regard her with a critical eye, Echo continued to look back at her ex-mistress with the biggest, and fakest, smile that she could muster. The bat might have not been one of the smartest mares in the world but she knew that telling Luna that Ares had been kidnapped would have been one of the stupidest ideas in the history of everything. Luna wasn’t known for her mercy in criminal matters, and Echo was sure that not one of the clan heads would have survived the night if she had found out someone had stolen her friend/ hopefully soon to be coltfriend for a possible nefarious purpose. The Princess of the Night would just look at them, growl and cast a spell, and there would be a big mess and she’d had a lot of explaining to do. Thank the gods that Ares had the common sense to keep his mouth shut about the whole thing…

Why the clan heads had done what they had done was a mystery to the mare (she still needed to question them to get the finer details), so she herself didn’t know anything other than the hard facts that Princess Cadence had whispered into her ear as the three of them had made their way over here. That meant it was going to be a bit difficult to lie to the thousand year old ruler, but Echo was going to be damned if she wasn’t going to give it the ol’ college try.

“...Does this not seem… odd to you, Captain?” Luna asked, tearing her gaze from Echo and focusing it back on the door.

“Oh, I’m sure that it’s nowhere as bad as it seems, Your Majesty,” Echo said, trying to sound casual. “Ares actually knows Mrs. High Rider. I heard that she got him a job as a florist with one of her nieces.”

“If their actions were honest and innocent then why did Ares not tell us so? Why did he look relieved to see me when I appeared before him?”

Echo gulped at the princess’s tone but managed to keep her composure. “Maybe they were meeting to plan something for Cadence?” she said lamely. “A party or something like that?”

Luna let out a “humph”. “We will make sure to thoroughly question Ares when we find time alone with him,” she said, taking another sip of her coffee while Echo sighed in relief.

Now I’m going to have to make sure Ares keeps his mouth shut about this whole thing, Echo thought. There’s no way in Tartarus that I’m going to let…

The mare’s train of thought slipped away from her when she noticed something that should have been impossible in this well heated, windowless part of the castle, especially at this time of year. Right in front of her the door that Princess Cadence had gone through was starting to become icy. She was about to comment on it and ask what the hay was going on when a chill came upon her, going through her armor, which was insulated, and chilling her to the bone.

…When and the hay did it get so cold in here? The batmare thought, shivering where she stood. For some reason, at that moment, the air seemed heavy, with a wrongness in it that made her want to leave this part of the castle entirely.

From beside her, Luna seemed to pick up on whatever was going on, cocking her head at the icy door and staring at it with renewed interest. Said door had a thin layer of blue magic (a muting spell if she had to guess) which was rapidly turning darker by the second as the temperature dropped.

Not able to keep herself in check, Echo took a few hasty steps backwards. Is… Is that room sucking in LIGHT?! The batmare thought, horrified. Echo was a mare that enjoyed a good scary story every once in a while. She liked to listen to stories about ghost and ghouls and even the occasional story about Nightmare Moon. She got a kick out of being scared and listening to her heart race when somepony spun a particularly scary yarn or just out and jumped-scared her. This though, this feeling that was making her stomach twist, wasn’t any kind of fear that she had ever experienced. It was like all of the happiness had left the room and the only things that could fill in the vacuum was terror and nightmares. Nightmares that would make you want to never sleep again. Terror that made your knees shake and your blood freeze and...

The castle seemed to be holding its breath, the silence so thick that you couldn’t cut it with a knife, when a single deep, booming voice rang out, as quiet as a whisper but so powerful that the walls shook:

“YOU BUCKED UP.”

Luna, it seemed, was unaffected by the cold and the gut-wrenching terror that had Echo shaking in her armor. She just continued to stare at the door, her ears perked up as if trying to hear the conversation that may or may not have been happening in that room. “It seems like young Cadence is displeased with something these ponies have done,” she mused, taking a calm sip of her coffee while Echo stood stock-still in terror. “Now we simply must pester Cadence about what happened…”

Summoning up what little courage she had left, Echo stuttered, “P-Princess, w-we should g-go i-in there and m-make s-sure C-Cadence i-isn’t hurting t-them…”

“This is our niece’s domain, Captain,” Luna said simply. “Even if We wanted to, and We do not know enough about the ponies through that door to know if they deserve rescue, We have little power to do anything in the Crystal Empire; far less than you in fact since We are simply a guest here.” Seeing that her coffee cup was empty, Luna let it float away from her head and down the hall towards the kitchens. “And We are sure they will not suffer any more than they need to. Cadence was taught by my sister after all, and We are sure that she—“

Echo almost jumped out of her horseshoes when a shrill scream erupted from the closed doors, which was then followed by a loud thump that shook the door, her and Luna, and even the very walls themselves.

The alicorn and bat pony looked at each other then at the door.

“...That couldn’t have been dark magic could it?” Luna murmured, her expression turning concerned. “Cadence knows better than to use something like that for any reason…” Getting up from her spot, Luna walked over and eyed the door with a frown. Spreading her wings out, she gently tapped her horn against the oak wood door. The blue hue that covered the door’s frame vanished and the thin layer of ice quickly melted, which allowed Luna to open the door, revealing inky blackness.

“We think that We should investigate what is going on in that room,” Luna said, visibly nervous by what she saw in the room.

Echo, her courage gone and fear holding her in place, refused to look into the room along with the princess. She could hear… whispering, and the dark…

No. She was a guard: a mare that was supposed to fight enemies on the battlefield and protect Princess Cadence with her life. But she could not fight this darkness, she could not make fear bleed. This was not a fight she could join. This was not a fight for mortals.

Luna was about to walk into the room but paused mid-step, looking back at a shaking Echo. “Captain, thou may stay outside if it pleases thee.”

When Echo didn’t answer, Luna looked back into the darkness that the room had become, adjusted her crown, and walked right in and disappeared into the dark.

Before Echo could open her mouth, the door slammed shut, the ice coming back to seal it right back up.

“…GET….OUT….”

“Nope,” The batmare said, sitting right on her rump and pulling her sword out from its scabbard to point it at the demon door. “Nope, nope, nope, nope!”

()()()()()!!!!!()()()()()

“I SWEAR TO THE GODS, ARES, IF YOU DON’T BUCKING GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW I’M GOING TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO WHINE ABOUT!”

I wasn’t fucking whining! the human thought, running down the halls as fast as his feet could take him. Fucking crazy doctor!

When Doctor Stitcher had found out that, after making sure that her day was one of the most stressful that she had had in months, Ares had gotten himself kidnapped and injured again she was less than pleased. In fact, one could say that she was pretty pissed off about it. And, after making sure that he didn’t have a concussion or any kind of internal bleeding (he didn’t; thank God for landing on marshmallow horses and some damned fine luck) she let him have it, and, in his stupidity, Ares had mouthed off right back at her.

This ill-fated decision left him in the position he was in right now: running around the castle with an angry unicorn right on his tail and one hell of a headache. Which Ares didn’t think was too good for a guy that had just been tossed around like a ragdoll and might have a head injury even after she checked him out.

“GET THE BUCK BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!”

“NO!”

The human and mare turned the corner, Stitch pouncing forward in an effort to try to tackle the human to the ground. She had managed to get a mouthful of his pants for a second but got a heel to the snout for her efforts, which sent her tumbling into a wall.

“SHINING, FLASH! GET YOUR ASSES OVER HERE AND SAVE ME FROM THIS LITTLE HORSE!”

The doctor growled, giving her head a shake before charging right after him. “THIS LITTLE HORSE IS STILL GOING TO HAVE A NASTY CONVERSATION WITH YOU, BUSTER BROWN!”

Shining, who was slowly trotting after the two with a frown, just shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ares run that fast,” he muttered as Ares skidded around another corner.

Flash chuckled. “It’s weird that he can run that fast on just his two legs,” the private mused. “You’d think he’d be stumbling around and stuff…”

A loud crash erupted from down the hall and Shining sighed. “We’d better go and make sure she doesn’t kill him. Cadence is already upset enough as it is; if she finds out that the doctor tried to murder Ares she might actually lose it.”

“She’s had a rough day,” Flash said as the two started at a medium sprint down the hall hoping to catch the doctor before someone got hurt. “If anypony deserves to scream or throw something across the room it’s her.”

~~~

Gottagetawaygottagetawaygottagetaway! Ares thought, frantically grabbing for doors, trying to find an open one so he could make a quick escape from the hooves of the adorable little doctor. He had no desire to die by marshmellow horse today, thank you very much!

Luck, it seemed, was not on his side since every door he tried was locked up tight. This meant that he was going to have to run more, something that didn’t particularly appeal to him. Though he hated to admit it, he was pretty out of shape. Like really out of shape. That, coupled with the fact that he wasn’t feeling a hundred percent right now meant that it wasn’t going to be much longer until the doctor got her grubby little hoofsies on him. He would have taken a moment to curse his bad luck but the doctor, her eyes wild and her glasses slightly ajar on her face, raced around the corner with a snarl.

“STOP RUNNING RIGHT NOW, MR. ARES!”

Swearing, Ares once again took off, now with the doctor nipping at his heels

Why the hell can’t I keep my mouth shut? He thought sourly, hopping into the air as the doctor once again lunged for him.. Can’t I get a fucking break today?! I swear to god—

“YOU BUCKED UP!!!”

Ares felt the words more than heard them as they rang out, loud and clear and full of anger.

Those three words made him stop in his traces, his hair standing on end as he stared down the hall. The doctor, not able to fully stop herself, bumped into him, but Ares barely registered the impact.

...When did it get so cold in here? he thought, looking down at the doctor, who was also staring down the hall wide-eyed. The two looked at each other for a second before quickly taking a few steps back.

For whatever reason the air now seemed to be charged with… something. Something that made the both of them want to get the hell away to avoid whatever had shouted. Down that hall that two of them had been running through was something, something… wrong, and it made the two of them back up until they were back around the corner, both of them a shade paler and their hearts beating a mile a minute.

“…What the hell was that?” Ares asked, almost whispering as he stared down at the hall, still backing up with the doctor, laying a hand on her back to try to keep himself calm.

“I… I don’t know,” the doctor whispered softly.

Another sound cut through the dead silent hall, something between a yell and a roar, making both Ares and doctor Stitch stop in their tracks.

“We need to get back to where Shining and Flash are,” Ares said, every fiber of his being screaming that something was wrong.

The doctor nodded, shaking slightly as Ares’ hand lightly squeezed the back of her neck. “The two of us need to get out of the halls,” she said, nervously eyeing one of the rooms doors.

Ares gently yanked the unicorn backwards, moving as quickly as he dared. “All of the doors are locked for some reason.”

He resisted, once again, the urge to start running when he noticed that his breath was fogging up and that ice was starting to collect on the windows.

“We need to go find Shining now."

~_~_~_~_~_~_

As Luna walked through the door she couldn’t help but paw at the floor nervously.

The darkness the room was absolute and unending, and the air had a chill that threatened to freeze her blood if she stayed still long enough. Even when she cast her most powerful light spell and used some of her magic to insulate her body the alicorn could barely see ten feet in front of her and she was still shivering from the cold.

The room felt wrong; the atmosphere, spacing, even the room’s smell seemed off. It was like there was something in this room that wanted her to leave so it could conclude whenever foul task that it had sent out to accomplish. It was so bad that Luna, a mare that had seen and fought some of the darkest, most vile creatures in existence, looked back at the door and eyed it longingly. Even the door looked wrong to her. The paint was peeled off and it looked like… something had tried to claw it’s way free from the room. It looked like a door that had been at the mercy of the elements for thirty years…

There is something foul in here, she thought, shaking her head before turning back to survey the area as best as she could. We must find out whatever it is and see if our niece is alright… I pray that she is alright…

Like the door had been, the furniture that she could see had deteriorated, chairs and tables and beds rotting and grey and covered in ice. Icicles covered the ceiling, long and sharp and probably dangerous, and there was a thin coating of ice covering every surface. Every step she took seemed far louder than it should have been, and with every step the anger and fear seemed more and more familiar to Luna. It was almost like remembering a bad dream or meeting a long lost friend. A long lost “friend” that Luna had hoped would fade into memory after she had been saved by the elements.

This is far more than my niece trying to scare some of her nobility, she thought, her heart racing as she continued forward. I fear that Cadence may have succumb to darker powers… But why would she do such a thing? What did those ponies do to--

“You bucking try to steal my coltfriend away from me when I just want to cuddle him while the two of us ate grilled cheese sandwiches?! Well no more mister nice princess!”

There was a thud, which was quickly followed by a grunt of pain, and then another, and then another after that.

“YOU’RE NOT GOING TO BUCKING TOUCH HIM AGAIN!!!”

“SOMEPONY HELP!!!”

Eyes widening, Luna raced forward into the darkness. That wasn’t Cadence’s voice, so she was suspicious of a trap, but even so that pony sounded faint, like they were about to keel over any second. And, even though she was in a weakened state and scared what she was going to find, she wasn’t going to just run and hide. She was a Princess! It was her job to protect ponies from things that went bump in the night, no matter how scared she may or may not be!

Though the room gave off the feeling of being far bigger than it should have been, Luna easily crossed the rest of the room where she found herself stopped right in her tracks out of shock. There, in amidst a swirling vortex of shadow and ice, was Cadence. Or at least what Luna thought was Cadence.

The mare in question was throwing an elderly stallion against a wall again and again, the stallion grunting defiantly, covered in ice and bruises, as she glared at the monster of a mare.

Luna took a step forward, her mane wiping around her face, peering into the darkness that seemed to come from the mare.

Pray let that just be some abomination, she prayed, quietly taking another step forward so Cadence wouldn’t notice her. Let it be--

Luna’s heart sank as she finally got a good look at the mare’s cutiemark. It was a crystal heart alright, and that horn and those wings could only mean that that was actually Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

What… happened to thee Cadence?

Whatever dark magicks had taken over her dearly loved niece it had twisted her body into something far more sinister than the loving pony that Luna had come to know. Her irises were gone, leaving only white, bloodshot, crackling with energy eyes. Her coat seemed longer and wilder and darker; almost blood-red in fact. The color of her mane and tail seemed to change with every movement, coiling and striking as a snake would. Even her wings and hooves seemed different; they seemed… darker and whenever Luna looked at them the world seemed to unfocus for a second, almost like the world stopped whenever a hoof or a feather moved.

Does… she have fangs? Luna thought, taking one more step forward, making sure not to touch any of the darkness that was whipping around her niece like a bunch of angry tentacles . And does she look a mite taller?

Luna was rapidly brought out of her thoughts as Cadence once again slammed the old stallion against the wall with enough force to put a hole in it.

“CADENCE! RELEASE THAT STALLION AT ONCE!” She commanded her wings flaring and her horn sparking to life. Gritting her teeth she managed to drive away that cold and the darkness around Cadence with her magic, though the effort made her knees shaky.

Cadence stiffened, dropping the defiant-looking stallion with what suspiciously sounded like a yelp.

“AUNTY LUNA?” she said, spinning around. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?”

Luna found herself frowning.

Why was she not being attacked by the monster that her niece had become?

If the nightmare had indeed corrupted her then the moment it saw her it should have came charging across the room with a roar! The nightmare was a hate-filled entity of darkness, and hate-filled entities of darkness did not just stand there like a filly that had just been caught with their hoof in the cookie jar!

...Maybe we are wrong about Cadence being corrupted? Luna thought, hoping against hope that her niece hadn’t befalling the same evil that had taken her body. Maybe it is something else?

Something about this didn’t seem right right to the Princess of the Night, but if she was actually talking to her niece and not whatever demon inside of her maybe she could stop this before things got really out of hoof? She could at least try.

“We heard a ruckus coming in from here and We thought We would investigate.”

Cadence looked back at the bloodied stallion that she had been tossing around just mere moments ago. “Oh… she said, looking almost… ashamed.

Though she still suspected that she was being mocked by the nightmare, Luna took another step forward, an offensive spell at the ready in case this was all a sham.

“Tell me, Cadence.” Luna motioned around the room with a hoof at the broken furniture, the ice and icicles, and the other terrified ponies that were huddles on what was left of their beds. “What in the Tartarus are thou doing?”

Luna watched as Cadence’s iris’s reappeared and the ring of darkness surrounding her vanished, her pink mare’s eyes nervously scanning the room. “WELL, YOU SEE… I, UM, WELL…”

It seems that we are actually getting through to her! Luna thought, both amazed and relieved. We must press it!

Her face a mask of stern disapproval, Luna took another step forward, then another, then another, until she was face to face with Cadence. “Whatever these ponies did they do not deserve this,” she said, poking the younger alicorn’s chest. “Our powers are not to be used in such a way under any circumstances!”

Cadence looked up at the older alicorn for a moment before something seemed to snap. In a flash black magic was once again pouring off her, forcing Luna to take a few hasty steps backward while someone screamed in fear.

The Princess of Love snarled, her mane once again wiping around her face. “THESE PONIES TOOK ARES FROM THE CASTLE! THEY WERE GOING TO HURT HIM!!!” she said, glaring at each of the offenders with unyielding anger. “THEY DESERVE TO BE—“

Gritting her teeth, Luna took a step forward. “ENOUGH!”

With every bit of magic that she had left, Luna sent a shockwave of light through the room. Though the effort caused her to fall back on her haunches and very nearly black out, the darkness surrounding Cadence dispelled, Cadence herself reeling back as if struck, her eyes hazy and unfocused with confusion, fear, and exhaustion etched on her face.

Get up Luna, Luna through, growling as she fought to get back on her hooves. Thou are not finished yet/

“What would my sister think of thou if she saw thee in such a state? What about your subjects? Or what about Ares? Would he enjoy gazing upon thy actions?”

With each verbal prod, Cadence slowly but surely started to change back to her normal self. Her hair flopped back against her head and neck, her teeth lost their sharpness, her coat retained its vibrant pink color, and the dark, powerful magic that surrounded her dissipated. A minute or two later, the nightmare creature was gone, leaving regular old Cadence, who looked to be on the brink of tears

Sighing in relief, exhaustion, and sympathy, Luna walked over to the crying mare, wrapping a wing around her and pulling her close while the pink mare sniffled. “Thou do not need the ruining powers to protect Ares, Cadence. And we are sure that it would kill him to see thee using it for whatever reason.”

Cadence just replied with a sob, of sadness or regret or anger Luna didn’t know, nor did she find herself really caring at the moment.

“I-I’m s-sorry…”

Luna just nuzzled her again. “Shush, shush, everything will be alright, everything will be alright…”

Sister will have to be told what happened, she thought, nuzzling her niece’s cheek while she quietly cried. But first I will see to it that Cadence is looked after to the best of Our ability.

()()()()()@##$()()()()()()

“So where are we going again?” Ares asked as he was led/dragged through the halls by Shining and Flash.

Though he wanted to say something witty or funny in a situation like this, Ares knew to keep his mouth shut and follow that ponies that were trained in the soldiering-arts.

Whatever had starting making the walls shake was something that he’d rather not meet out in the open, and it seemed that Flash and Shining agreed since the two of them were taking him… somewhere.

“I’m sure that Echo and the other guard heard whatever the hay that was too,” Shining armor said, poking his head around a corner before waving Ares and Flash to follow him. “While they’re securing the castle me and Flash are going to take you to the most secure room in the entire castle.”

The unicorn looked back at him with a small frown. “Even though I want to go and investigate myself, Cadence would rip me a new one if she found out that I left you alone.”

Ares heart almost stopped when Cadence was mentioned. Was she alright?! Was whatever was running around the castle looking for her?! Though he really wanted to go and look for his fillyfriend he resisted the urge. Though it left a bad taste in his mouth, he knew that he would be less than worthless in this situation. He couldn’t use any kind of fancy magic, he couldn’t fly or fight or anything like that. If anything Cadence was probably a hell of a lot more equipped to handle whatever monster was running around. So he was going to go with Shining and Flash and try not to worry about Cadence too much.

“Alright, so where’s this super secure room of yours?” the human asked, cocking his head when he heard Shining quietly grumble to himself.

“We need to take you to the wine cellar, Ares!” Flash said from behind him, almost accidentally poking Ares with the pointy end of his spear.

Ares frowned. “Wine cellar?”

Shining nodded. “It’s more of an alcohol cellar really, but you get the idea.”

Though there was a knot of worry and fear making his stomach hurt, Ares couldn’t help but smile. “You know, Shining, if you wanted to get something to drink you could have just told me.”

Shining stopped suddenly, spinning around and facing the human with a frown on his face. “Nopony’s drinking anything when we get down there!” he growled, his gaze withering. “You’re enough of a hoofful sober.” Gazing at Ares for a moment or two longer, Shining turned back around and started to lightly trot down the hall. “That and I’m sure the doctor wouldn’t like to hear that you were drinking after getting thrown around like you did.”

Ares flinched, one of his hands moving down and rubbing his leg. “Alright you dirty tattle- tale, no one’s drinking anything when we get to the booze cellar.”

The walk was a heck of a lot longer than Ares expected. He and his companions had to run back and forth hallways, up and down (though mostly down) stairs, and even a few rooms until they reached a heavy wooden door at the end of an empty hall. To Ares’s disappointment it wasn’t even a magic glowing door or a door that was covered in runs, it was just a plain old boring door.

“…This is it?”

Shining started fiddling with the stones on the wall to the left of the door. “Yes it is,” he said matter-of-factly.

“…But it’s just a wooden door.”

“A wooden door that hasn’t been broken down in over fifteen hundred years,” Shining retorted, his hoof tapping the walls as if he was trying to look for something. “Now shut your trap and let me look for—there it is!“

Click!

One of the stones glowed the moment that Shining touched it before a loud clicking sound came from the door.

“Most ponies don’t start poking at walls when they want to steal alcohol,” Flash explained as Shining threw open the door, revealing a pitch-black room.

“What about ponies that know how to open it?” Ares asked as Flash pushed him into the room.

In the darkness, he could hear Shining scoff. “There’s only a special few ponies that know how to unlock that door.”

Since he really didn’t care enough to further carry on the conversation about a door that he thought was kind of stupid, Ares instead took a look in the darkness. A darkness that became absolute the second the door behind him closed by itself with a loud slam.

“…So is this the part where one of yours jumps me and tries to take my pants off?”

Once again Shining snorted, his horn charging up before he threw a small burst of magic across the room.

Out of nowhere what looked like a torch lit up, then another, then another, and so on until the room as so bright that Ares had to blink to let his vision adjusted. And when it did he couldn’t help but whistle in appreciation. The room was littered with giant walls of wine racks, each as tall as the ceiling and at least fifty feet long, all neatly laid in rows, with every conceivable type of liquor imaginable.

Mouth open, Ares slowly walked over to a rack and grabbed a dusty bottle of wine.

“Huh, it looks like someone around here enjoyed their drinks,” he said, blowing the dust off the bottle to get a better look at it. “Hey Flash, does this look like a good year to you?”

Grumbling, Shining snatched the bottle out of his hands and put it back where it belonged. “This used to be the pride of the old emperor of the empire before Sombra overthrew him,” he said, nudging Flash and Ares over toward a rickety wooden table with a few chairs. “It has some of the oldest, finest, and rarest wines and spirits in the world, so keep your grubby mitts off!“

Sighing, Ares sat down on one of the chairs, the only wooden thing creaking loudly under his weight. “So we’re just going to sit down here, in a room filled with “some of the oldest, finest, and rarest wines and spirits in the world”, and that’s it?”

Shining nodded, taking a seat at the other side of the table. “Yes.”

“And we might have to stay down here for a couple of hours? Just sitting here without anything to entertain ourselves? Not even a board game?”

Shining frowned. “Well what do you suggest we do smart guy?”

Ares shrugged. “You boys want to do each other’s hair and talk about girls? Cause that’s the only thing I can think of--”

“Why don’t you tell us what happened with you and the princess today, Ares?” Flash asked with a smile. “All we know is that the two of you were in trouble earlier and that both of you needed to go to the doctors.”

“Yeah,” Shining added, a frown coming to his face. “When we asked the Captain she was really tightlipped about it…”

Ares opened his mouth before closing it. “That… that’s not really something I want to talk about, Flash,” he said neutrally.

“Why the hay not?” Flashed pressed. “A story or two might make the time go by faster!”

“Then you tell a story.”

Shining, a frown still on his face, leaned forward in his seat. “Did something happen to the princess, Ares?”

Though he refused to look at either stallion, Ares nodded. “Something happened that turned into something, which turned into something that I would have liked to build up to before actually doing it,” he told them, a bit of frustration laced in his voice. “Now will you two just drop it?”

“I don’t see why the hay you’re being so fussy about this.”

“I’m being fussy because I’ve had one of the shittiest days of my life, Flash, so will you please just be quiet so the three of us can sit here and hope that some evil monster doesn’t manage to come in here and eat us?”

“Come on Ares,” Flash said, putting a wing on his shoulder. “We’re just concerned about you today. First whatever happened between you and the princess happened then you got coltnapped then--”

“I accidently gave Cadence a plant that made her cast a lust spell on me and the two of us fucked.”

Silence reigned supreme as Ares, with an angry look on his face, continued to look at the table.

“...Oh.”

Flash and Shining heard the human let out a quiet growl.

“I told you that it was fucking personal,” Ares grumbled, finally looking up to glare at the two of them. “Do you want to know anything else about my fucking love life before we go on?”

Shining looked at the human hard for a few moments, a cocktail of emotions swirling inside him as he digested the news. “...And that was the first time either of you…”

“Yes.”

Chuckling awkwardly, Flash got right up and trotted over toward one of the wine racks, pulled a random bottle out of his cubbyhole, and walked right back over.

He didn’t even have time to put it on the bottle before Shining plucked the bottle out of his hooves, popped the top, and took a swig. “You know what? I think I know what the three of us are going to do while we’re in here.” He made a face before passing the bottle over to Ares, who took a swig himself. “Do you remember when you promised me that we were going to have that ‘talk?’”

Ares nodded. “Yeah, and I’m sure we have a lot to say to each other about that,” he answered before looking at Flash. “Flash, go and get a couple more bottles for us. I really need something to fucking drink.”

His ears folding back against his head, the private quickly started to search through the racks while Shining and Ares continued to look at each other as if sizing the other up.

“…I’m sorry for pushing so much, Ares… I just wanted to—“

“Just bring a few more bottles over here before I pick your ass up and stuff you in one of those wine barrels.”