Ḧ̬̗̭͖́̓̆͐̆e͓̺̻̼̓̆̑ͅ'̒͑́ͥ̊͗sͦͩ͒̔ ̩͕̥̳̠ͧ͛ͤ̍͆n̬ọ̥̟̘̋t̤͔̣̻̣̘̎͗̍ͬͅ ͣͧ̃͐h̪̪̲͙̪eͬͦ̑ͪ͛r͐͑e̮͓̝
͙̞̀̏͐̚̚G̗̋o͔̦̮̝̥̘ͬ̈́͗ͯ̎ͦ ͇͖̣͍͇̼͑̈ͦ͆ͪͭa̟̞͇̘͉͚̯͐ͯͨnͧ̆̒ͬ̍d̻̫̬̘̩̫̖ ̿ͮͤ̐̐̽f͖͕͓ͭ̃ͪi̩̞̫̥͆̀n̺̋ͯͤ̐̚d͎ ̩̘̐ͦh̩̣̍͌ͫͅi͍̻̳͉̙̅̔̄ͅͅm͓̜̽̀
͔̥͖͙̳͌̍̈̌̾̇̚W̩̰e͖̞͙̬̝̯̞ͪ̂ ̲̭̫̘͋͐͆̐̊̚m̘̳̼̭͕ͭ̾͌̽ͤ̃ũ̓ͫ̉̿s̺̞͔̭͈̜̄̃ͪͧͬt͍ͤͭ̆̈́̏̊ ̩͈̯̻ͭ̽r͖̮͇̞͕̊̑̊̀i̘̜̱͓̻͉̔͐p̜̾͐̐̀ ͓̯̮̝͉̤̊̏̈́̚ã̼̮͔́ͣ̊̓͆n̏ͣd̮̲̈ ̟̰̩͕̬̜̈́͑ͣť͖͚̣̖̠e͇̯̰͚̬̘̬a̟̣̼̹̩͐̃ͤͅr̫͗͆̄ͪ͗ͪ̈
̓Ṱ̥̱̽͛̿ͣ̇̂e̩̣̗̲̰͒͆̓̓̒ͥḀ̠͙̭͕ͧr̥͂ ̗͖ͩ͑̅̌̐̎A͈̖̟̦͆ͦ̈́n͖D̩̲̲͚̘͓́̾͐̌ͥ̅ ̘͓̯͋̈́͆ͫͥͭr͉͕̫̓̊͗͋͗ͦ̚Ì̄̚p͇̄

“EEP!”

My bed groaned in protest as I launched myself up into the air with a panicked flap of my wings. I tried for another flap when my blanket decided to wrap itself around me, impeding my movement. So all I was able to do was squeak in surprise, my hooves kicking in panic, before I came crashing back down to earth. Hard.

“BUCKING BUCK—OMPH!”

I hit the bed at an awkward angle, which sent me flying off the thing and onto the floor. And let me tell you it was not a very nice landing.

“SON OF A BISCUIT!”

I hit the ground rolling, my wings and legs hitting every hard, painful surface that they could reach (including my head) until I ended up on my back in the middle of the room. Now staring at the ceiling, wheezing because I just knocked the wind out of myself because I’m dumb, I took a moment to reflect on the finer things in life. Why were blankets death traps? Why was my bed so springy? How could a carpeted floor hurt so much? Did I at least get a good amount of air when I launched myself toward the ceiling?

It was in the middle of this contemplation when the pain hit. The horrible, stingy pain.

“….Owwwwwwwwww .” I winced, gritting my teeth and closing my eyes as I wiggled back and forth. While the aches and soon-to-be bruises weren’t anything serious it felt like they were everywhere. And it bucking SUCKED.

“Arrrreeeesss,” I whined, my back legs kicking slightly. “Heeeeeelllllpppppp!.”

I waited for my human to be at my side trying his best to comfort me. I wasn’t exactly the quietest with my little freak out, so Ares should be wide awake and just as freaked out as I was. But the seconds ticked by and no human came. I didn’t feel Ares’s hands running down my body and I didn’t hear his comforting voice.

Cracking open an eye I looked over toward the bed. To my surprise Ares wasn’t in sight.“…Ares? Honey?” The pain receded just a little bit, which allowed me to pick my head up off the floor. “Ares? Are you in the bathroom?”

A sinking feeling started to build in my gut as I slowly rolled myself onto my belly and stood up. Ignoring the popping sounds coming from my back and wings, I started looking around for my little human. I checked the bathroom, I looked under the bed, and I even checked in the closet for some silly reason, and I still couldn’t find him.

Where the hay did he go? I fell asleep on top of him so he should still be on the bed…

Frowning, I trotted toward the door and threw it open, stepping out into the hallway.

“Ares? Ares? ARES!”

I passed maid and guard alike looking for my human. Some of them bowed, some of them offered me a good morning, and some even gawked at my probably disheveled appearance, but I was too focused on finding my Ares to even acknowledge them. I needed to find my human and I needed to find him now. A certain human had a certain marefriend that had hurt herself by flip-flopping around on her floor and now she needed cuddles to make herself feel better.

I didn’t know why, but something in my gut told me that I needed to find him, and it wasn’t because of the aforementioned reasons either. Something might have happened to him. If I wasn’t around him something probably would happen to him knowing his luck. Though the thought might have been a little silly—Ares was just probably in the kitchen getting us some breakfast or something like that— I couldn’t shake it. In fact the feeling got stronger the more time passed.

After a few minutes of calling Ares’s name out, my leisurely pace became a slight trot. My cries became a little louder and higher pitched. For some reason my breathing started to get quicker. The hallways seemed to get a bit narrower with each step. They seemed darker, colder—

“Are you alright there your majesty?”

I jumped as captain Echo suddenly appeared to my left. “Good morning, captain!” I said a little too loudly, clenching my chest. “Good morning, good morning, how has your morning been going? I hope your morning’s been won-der-ful!”

My captain, who I was going to make wear a bell so she’d never scare the horse apples out of me again, raised an eyebrow. She looked me up and down, taking in my appearance, before holding me in place with a wing. “I’m doing very well, my lady,” she said calmly. “Now could you please calm down and tell me what’s bothering you?”

I opened my mouth to tell the bat pony that I was fine and that nothing was bothering me but slowly closed it. “…I look like a crazy pony right now don’t I?”

“You look like you just woke up and you’re one step away from having a panic attack,” Echo answered, her professional tone not wavering in the slightest.

I took a few deep breaths and sat down in the middle of the hallway. The second that I did this the panic that had been making me freak out dissipated. Now a little calmer, I looked back over at my captain.

“Do you know where Ares is, Echo?” I asked with a slight whimper.

Echo, with a snort, nodded. “As a matter of fact I do, Princess. Half of the castle knows where your human is at the moment.”

Relief flooded me. “Oh thank goodness he’s alright,” I muttered before my nose scrunched up. “…Wait, why do so many ponies know where Ares is?”

Shaking her head Echo nudged me with her wing. “Just follow me, my lady. It’ll be better to just show you.”

Now calm, cool and collected—and more than a little embarrassed about my actions and the fact that I was being so excitable—I followed Echo through the halls. The walk wasn’t a very long one, and soon the two of us were standing before my honey bunny in all of his glory. And what a glory it was.

“…Aw, look at them…”

A smile quickly worked its way onto my face as I watched Flash nuzzle Ares’s neck, a bit of drool dripping from the stallion’s mouth and onto my human’s shirt. It looked like both Flash and Shining, for some reason, had decided to use Ares as a pillow in the middle of the hall of all places. Shining had his hooves wrapped around Ares’s back and was nuzzling the back of his neck with a small smile on his face. Flash had his hooves wrapped around Ares’s middle with his muzzle buried in his neck. While both stallions looked as happy as they could be the same couldn’t be said for my human.

There were bags under Ares’s eyes as he laid there nestled between those two stallions, both of whom reeked of alcohol. His mouth was set into the deepest frown that I had ever seen on his face and his eyes were narrowed to slits. Though he wasn’t doing anything to free himself from his ‘prison’ I could tell that the littlest thing would probably set him off.

It would be clear to anypony looking at him that Ares wasn’t happy right now, and while I couldn’t help but wonder how the hay he managed to get himself in this situation, the fact my human being cuddled by two stallions while he was pouting was both hilarious and adorable. So, being the wonderful marefriend I was, I sat myself down and had a good chuckle at his expense.

“Y-You alright there, h-hon?” I asked before throwing my head up into the air and laughing my head off.

Ares grunted as he wiggled downward into Flash’s chest. “Fuck off and help me, candy,” he demanded while Flash nuzzled the top of his head. “I had a real shitty night and this morning isn’t looking any better.”

If I wasn’t on the ground laughing I would have noticed that there was something off with my human. He seemed to be watching out for something. The dark rings under his eyes hid the fact that he looked unusually pale. And even though he didn’t look happy he was holding both Flash and Shining close, as if to use them to ward something off. Though he was doing his best to look upset there, was a nervous fear in his eyes, an uncomfortable tenseness, like he wanted to get out of the open as soon as possible.

I think that was a big part of why Echo wasn’t laughing or giggling with me. She must have been wondering what had Ares so nervous but she didn’t want to say anything until she had him free. If I had seen it earlier I would have forced Ares to tell me what was going on and why he was shaking. But, as blinded by my relief that he was alright, all I saw was my silly Ares cuddled up with his silly drunk friends.

It took a couple of minutes for me to calm myself down, but after taking a few deep breaths and getting it all out of my system I wiped a tear from my eye and took some stalk in my surroundings. Whoo, I thought that he was in trouble, I thought, taking a step forward to inspect Flash and Shining a little more closely. …You know, I should go and get my aunts. I bet they’d LOVE to see this. Or at the very least I coul—

“I can’t tell you how sorry I am about this, princess,” my captain said, walking over to the cuddle pile and nudging Shining with a hoof. The frown on her face deepened as she kicked at him a little bit harder. “When these two get up I promise that they’ll be in for a world of hurt.”

I got up and stood beside her, doing my best not to break into another fit of giggles. “Oh I don’t think that there’s any need to punish these two, Captain.” I had to bite my lip as Shining kissed the back of my human’s head, making him tense up. “It looks like Flash and Shining were just having a little fun and there’s nothing wrong with that. I might give them a bit of a talk—“

“Fuck’em up, bat horse,” Ares growled, doing his best to squirm out of his cuddle captor's clutches. “I don’t care if you have to saw them off me. I need them off me now.”

He managed to wiggle down another inch or two before Shining and Flash frowned. The two stallions started murmuring, and as quick as a pair of snakes their grip tightened on Ares. I couldn’t help but ‘aw’ again as Shining’s horn glowed and he forced Ares’s head under his chin. The cuteness was doubled when Flash, muttering nonsense, unfurled his wings and wrapped it around Shining and Ares.

Ares cursed, looking up at me. “Will the two of you stop standing there and help me?! I don’t want to be out here anymore! I want to go back to my room.”

The smile on my face died when I heard the desperation in his voice. Blinking, I noticed that he looked a little pale, and I noticed that he was shaking. “…Ares, honey, is everything alright?”

“Everything’s gonna be peachy as soon as these two get off of me!” Ares growled, his eyes darting around the hall. “I need to get out of this fucking hallway. I need to get away.”

Sensing that something was wrong I turned toward my captain, who continued to nudge Shining with a hoof. “First things first we need to wake these two idiots up,” she said with a sigh. “So we shou—”

A shadow flashed across Ares’s eyes and his movements became more frantic. His gaze settled right behind me and in an instant he went rigid.

Whatever color that he still had drained from his face and his eyes widened. Now very worried, I took a step toward him with the intent of getting him out of the cuddle pile so that he could tell me what was bothering him.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Both me and Echo jumped as my human let out an earsplitting scream of terror, thrashing around so hard that I was afraid he was going to hurt himself.

GETAWAYFROMMEGETAWAYFROMMEGETAWAYFROMME!DON’TYOUFUCKINGTOUCHCADENCE!”

Not a half a second later Flash was in the air with a frightened squeak, his eyes wide and his hooves kicking. “WHO? WHAT? WHERE?”

Shining’s eyes shot open as his body violently twitched. A shadow passed across his body before disappearing into Ares. Gritting his teeth like he was in pain, Shining’s horn sparkled to life and he let out a scream of his own as he fired off a spell in his panic. “AWWWWWWW!”

I had to shove Echo out of the way to keep Shining’s spell from hitting her, the pink burst of magic crashing into the ceiling a second later. With wide eyes I wrapped my wing around the mare and shoved us both forward as my horn lit up with magic.

“ARES!”

Chunks of crystal broke off from the ceiling with a thunderous crack. Cursing, I threw a shield over all of us as Ares, Flash, and Shining screamed like a bunch of bucking banshees. With a crash the crystal fell all around us, dust flying everywhere.

If Echo looked mad before now she was beyond furious. “PRIVATE SHINING ARMOR! PRIVATE FLASH SENTRY! I SWEAR TO CELESTIA IF YOU DON’T BUCKING FREEZE RIGHT NOW I’M GOING TO SHOVE MY HOOF UP BOTH OF YOUR PLOTS AND WORK YOUR BUCKING MOUTHS LIKE A COUPLE OF SOCK PUPPETS!”

Both Shining and Flash froze, both of their mouths agape as their eyes darted over to their commanding officer. Breathing hard, Ares was finally able to free himself from Shining, grabbing the stallion and tossing him away.

“Don’t l-let it get me!” he yelled, crawling away from me until his back hit the barrier. “S-Stay away!”

Shoving Echo out of the way I strode toward him. “Ares, honey, what’s going on?” I asked, looking over my shoulder. “What’s trying to get you?”

Though dust and debris filled the air I could clearly see that there was nothing there. We five were the only ones in the hall. I grabbed Ares by his shirt and pulled him away from the barrier. Though he resisted at first, his eyes still looking at nothing, the second that I managed to get his back off the magical barrier he nearly jumped into my hooves.

“The s-shadows,” he whispered. “The shadows have eyes and mouths…”

“Shush, shush, everything’s alright honey,” I said, wrapping my wings around him. “Everything’s okay. You’re alright, you’re alright. Nopony’s here, you’re just seeing things. Shush, shush.”

Ares must have been suffering from sleep deprivation. It only made sense; after all of the excitement from these past couple days the two of us haven’t gotten that much sleep. That was why he was freaking out and saying stuff about shadows and seeing things that weren’t there.

“I’m going to take you back to our room and I’ll make sure that you get to sleep,” I said, nuzzling the top of his head. “But first let me make sure that Shining didn’t hurt you.”

With a careful eye I searched over my Ares. Though he looked a little dirty and tired he didn’t look worse for wear. Which was a relief, I don’t know what I would have done if he’d have gotten hurt…

My eyes widened slightly when the revelation that Ares could have gotten hurt just now. Shining’s spell could have blown him to pieces if the unicorn would have had his head turned just an inch. If I would have waited a second or two longer a chunk of rock could have hit him, hurting him or worse. Heck, Flash could have fallen on top of him and broken something!

Though I had no idea why, tears started to form in my eyes. “You could have g-gotten hurt…”

Ḑ̞̭͇̬̥͇ͅe͉̙̟͖̮͎̤s̞̼̝͈̖̬̭p͏̫̫̤͉a̵̲͚̟̰̤͙ì̘̥̭̫̲͍̲r̩͖̩ ̘̘i̶̳͓͔͕̻n̫͎̺̞ ̕y͞o͇̗͚̟ú͈̗̠r̶͔̤̪̫͕ ̘̜̦̲͜v̞͍̩̼̻̟̠e͎͓̮̣͎̠̫̕i̞̝̙n̼͇̳̹̬͍s͕͔̪
̘̲̘̰̗̱̫Re̷g̙̫re̫͇̺̭̩ṯ̢̬̙̤ ̹͙͕̘̼t͕̦̳̼͕ẹ̡̲͕a͏̞̭̟r̲̫̘̠̲̺̕ş͉ ͚̝̯̘̗í̞̹n̫͈̜̜̯ṭ̬̘̻͉ͅo̼̙͎̩̲̪ͅ ̤̮͉̬̤̞y̸̘̗̺͎o̵̹̜͇ͅu̬͘ŗ̟͓̹ ̦̺̹͙́f̡̠̜͔l̴̝͙̜̯̜e̗͙̦͎̬s͔͚̻h̝̦̲͉
҉F͖̣̤̳́e̼͚̬͔͍͍̟a҉͕̩̤̫̞̭̱r̵̲̦̠͇͉̤͉ ̞i͚̲̩̦s̺̘̯̞ ̙͈͉̤y̻͖̜͎̞ǫ̩̗͍̺̩̱ur̜̺̦̲͢ ͍̭͈m̞͈̀a̗̩̜͔s̟̼͔te̺͓̝̫̫͍r͈̣̹̝̼

A sob racked my body and I had to blink away tears. I ran a hoof through Ares’s hair, holding him as close as I could . “I-If that spell would h-have hit y-you...”

L̹e͉͚t͜ ̧̦̺͇̬̞͕u͈̱̥s̹̫̯ ̕f̣͇̯͜e̗̖͕ḛd
L̡̖̯E̦̥̞T͏̟̬͎̮̮̲̖ ̞̗U̴̙̰͖͙̱͔S͜ ̵̬̹̯̻͈F̱͢E̛̫̗̩͕E̶̠̟̱̳D̤̝̀
͕̝̱̖́L̜̱̞̯͉̤ͅe̴̹͎͍̱T̷͙͈̼̗ ̝̻̀u̦S ̜̥f͔̬̤̺̰̹̘E̝e̯̭͞D̪

~-`-`-`-~

Shining Armor felt awful. His head felt like somepony had spent the night kicking him in the head, his stomach was doing flips, he felt sweaty and sticky and it felt like the sun was trying to burn holes in his eyes. In a fair and just world he would be lying in a dark, dark room in his bed still sleeping. He would have woken gradually with a bit of a headache from all the drinking the night before, and that headache would have been fixed with a warm shower and something greasy and delicious.

But this was not a kind and just world. Instead he found himself waking up with a splitting headache in the middle of some hallway at some godforsaken hour because some jack-off started screaming like a crazy pony. As disorientated and confused as he was, Shining’s first thought when he had heard screaming right in his ears was that he was being attacked. So he, falling back on his training as a guard, he let loose a spell blindly as he flailed around.

He had been ready to unleash another when he had heard another shout that put the first one to shame. This shout was sharp, angry and commanding. This was the shout of a commanding officer that was furious

“—FREEZE RIGHT NOW!”

The magic that was building up in his horn died almost instantly as his eyes frantically snapped back and forth. He was forced to blink a few times to focus his vision, and the second that it cleared he saw that he was in a blue barrier. He was able to take in his surroundings for a few seconds before a growl turned his attention away from the barrier surrounding him and toward the pony in front of him. The second that he did so he instantly regretted it as Echo’s face came into view.

Captain Echo was staring at him like he was the scum of the earth, and through his haze of pain he couldn’t help but flinch when he made eye contact.

…Oh bucking horse apples…

It wasn’t often that Shining had ever been caught with his metaphorical pants down by a commanding officer. He had caught more than a few ponies under him doing silly or even dangerous things but he himself wasn’t usually on the receiving end of that kind of glare. So, like a deer facing down a speeding eighteen wheeler, he froze up.

Echo’s eyes narrowed as her lips drew back, revealing sharp fangs. “Private,” she said, her voice dripping with malice. “You done bucked up royally.”

A thousand and one thoughts flooded the unicorns mind. He shouldn’t have let Twilight’s friends talk him into drinking. He should have just dragged Flash back to the barracks after the two of them finished a bottle of whatever they had been drinking each. He probably should have just stayed in Twilight’s room and not have tried to stumble back to his bed. Thought upon thought assaulted his pounding head; until he heard somepony crying.

Though common sense was telling him not to, Shining looked away from the angry captain and over to… Ares and Cadence?

Cadence’s horn was glowing, she was hugging Ares tightly, and for some reason it looked like she was crying her eyes out. Ares, who was muttering something to himself, looked like he had been through the ringer. He looked unnaturally pale, he was shaking, and his grip on Cadence looked almost painful.

…What the buck happened? he wondered, his nose scrunching up. Was… Was that Ares screaming?

Shining blinked again and noticed that he was under a blue barrier and there was dust all around them. It took him a few moments to piece together what happened, but when he did he was horrified.

“Cadence! Ares!” Shining struggled to his hooves. “Is everypony alright?! I didn’t hit anypony with that spell did—“

He took a step toward the couple, panic and worry twisting his already upset stomach. He reached up to touch Ares, ignoring his captain’s yelling, and placed his hoof on the small of his back.

H̡̦̹͙̭͓̼͆̈́̎̑͢͟u̎̊͋̐̾̓͗̈́̀҉͇̪͔̟̗̞͖̜́N̮͇̦͓͈̙ͤ̽ͬ̈́ͨ̈̎ͦͣ̀͝ḡ̺̯͎͕͚̳̲̤̍ͤ̎̉͘͟ͅR̛͍͇ͨ̉͐̍̂̑̾͊̕y͉̮͕̤̔ͤͧ͠

With a yelp he found himself backpedaling until he touched the barrier. WHAT THE BUCK WAS—

Shining only had a moment to contemplate what just happened when a hoof came flying out from the corner of his vision and hit him with enough force to knock him off of his hooves. Stars exploded across his vision as he let out a pained grunt, hitting the ground and skidding across the floor a moment later.

“SHINING ARMOR! DID I OR DID I NOT JUST TELL YOU TO BUCKING FREEZE?!”

His head spinning, Shining could only watch as Echo stomped over to him. …What the heck just happened? he thought, looking over at Ares and Cadence, his heart pounding in his chest. Why was… What was… How?

Snarling, Echo yanked him to his hooves and got in his face. “I swear to Faust I’m going to shove my hoof so hard up your ass you and your coltfriend won’t be able to bucking have any fun together, Private! What the hay are you doing just firing off spells willy—“

What the heck happened? Did Ares do something to me when I touched him? Some kind of human magic?

Though he didn’t know why, the fur on the back of his neck stood on end as he watched Ares’s fingers twitch. The movement didn’t look right; his fingers were moving in ways that Shining had never seen Ares move them. If he didn’t know any better he would have said that Ares wasn’t that one that was moving his fingers at all. Alarms were going off in his head, telling him that something was wrong. Very wrong.

No, no, Ares can’t do any magic! Magic HURTS him! But what was that feeling then?! Though Shining didn’t notice his breathing started to quicken as he turned his attention over to Cadence. Wait… did Cadence—

Shining managed to move out of the way this time as Echo tried to slug him again. “Shooting off spells AND staring off into space like some sort of airhead?! Booooy you must be trying to test my bucking—“

“Captain, there’s something wrong.”

Echo managed to grab into him, her teeth bared. “Of course there’s something wrong you bucking moron! You and Private Sentry decided to get yourselves liquored up like a bunch of—”

Shining started to back away as much as the barrier would allow when he noticed something pass over both Cadence and Ares. At first glance he would have said it was a shadow but the longer he looked at it the less likely it seemed. There wasn’t anything in the hall that would cast a shadow over the two. And a shadow didn’t get as dark as that during this time of day. That and there was this cold…

“Captain, we need to get out of this barrier right now.” Not looking away from Cadence and Ares, Shining bucked the shield as hard as he could. The barrier barely flickered as he made contact with it. “Horse apples… Flash, are you there?”

From outside the bubble coughing could be heard. Through the dust and debris Flash could be seen lying on his back with his eyes closed. “Yeah, I’m here,” he called before breaking into a coughing fit. “Mostly. What the buck happened?”

Realizing that his commanding officer was no longer trying to slug him Shining looked up to see what Echo was doing. The batpony was starting at Ares and Cadence, her eyes wide and her mouth open. Her entire body was rigid, like she was ready to take off at a moment’s notice.

The shadow-like figure stretched out around both the human and alicorn, becoming darker and more solid with each one of Cadence’s sobs. It reached out with one of its hellish claws, trying to reach out and touch one of them. It hissed, its “head” twisting and forming and reshaping until
it hurt Shining’s eyes to look at it for any longer.

“…What the buck is that?” Echo whispered, backing up until her back was against the barrier.

The temperature inside the barrier instantly plummeted. Frost surrounded Ares and Cadence and started to slowly creep toward the unicorn and bat mare.

“The shadows have teeth of ice,” Ares muttered, struggling against Cadence, paler than he had ever been. “And the ice is made of pain.”

L̩̙e̯T͕̭̯̙͖̀ ̙͝u҉͖̗̣͙ͅS̪̟͉̮͇̙ f͈͚͟E̮̻̖̳͈͚a̰̤̪S̷̜̫͔ţ̠̫̼̬
̬͔͉͎͕̦͈ṭ͝E͎̱ą͉̫̗̠̳ͅͅR̜̪ ̗̞͎͓̜̳̩͠a͜T̮ ̣̼͈ͅt͓͍H͚̞̯̰̫͘e͉̻͉͇͚͕͉͡ ̶̟̠B̥̯̱̫o̜͝N̴͇e̴̩͕̘
̢T̡͕̥̠͙̝͔ḙ͓A͓̦̳̤̤̯͕r̻͍̮͎̘ ̼̫̭̀A͓t̠ ̖͜T̜͚̗͓̟h̙̼̻E̠ ̣̺̼̰b̝̼̱͙̬̀L͉͠o̯͎̟͈͔D̯͍̀d͉̘̥̕

“Private, go and get the bucking princess right this bucking minute,” Echo said, frost forming on her muzzle. “I don’t care what the buck you have to do or which princess is it, you just need to get one of them. Now.”

Neither Shining nor Echo watched Flash leave. The two of them just stared at the horror in front of them in a kind of paralysis. They were two of the best guards in Equestria. More than once they had fought overwhelming odds and had lived to tell the tale. They were veterans, warriors, old hats to the art of combat. But neither of them had ever seen anything like this. They had not known that horrors like this existed, because that was what this was. This was no monster or enemy of the crown that could be defeated in an afternoon. This… thing was something else. Something bad. Something that they could not fight.

But they were going to be damned if they weren’t going to try.

“Shining,” Echo said with sudden calmness. “You go left, I’ll go right. Remember not to hurt the princess or the monkey any more than we need to, but most importantly make sure that that…. Thing doesn’t touch you.”

Eying the shadow with narrowing eyes, Shining let magic flow through his horn, making it spark to life. The shadow, which was swaying to and fro near Ares’s head, seemed to smile as both Shining and Echo took a cautious step toward the couple.

“On my mark. One… two… th—“

“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?”

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

I couldn’t get the image of one of those chunks of crystal hitting my little human out of my head. I could hear Ares’s scream, I could hear the crystal hitting his body, I could even hear the cracking of his bones as he… as he…

Quietly sobbing I held him a little tighter as I put a little more magic into the shield around us. If I kept this shield up nopony and nothing would hurt him. The two of us would be happy and safe if I just kept this spell up. I needed to keep the spell up and I needed to make sure that it was strong enough to keep everypony and everything out.

T̶̡̗̭͗̏̾h̞̞̝̗̯͙̪̘͓̓͑ͦ͑́̌E̘̲̘͙̮͙͎͌ͯͯ͋ ̵͈͍̰̱͈͓̞͈͕ͪ͐͛͗s̸̴͚͙͙̆̌͑̀ͧ̑̓̕H̛͐̿̃̓́҉̲͍͍̰̬ḁ̧̩ͩ͒̄ͤ́D͎̞̘̜̗̅̀ͬ͂͟͝o̥͎̼̟̝̭̟͐̋̃͢͝W̙͎͚̯̝̦̎̐s̵̜̲̰͉̞͍̼̋̈́ͤ̒͊ͅ ̭̼̩̍̓̅̈́ͬ̂ͤ̀͜ͅD̙͓ͯ͌ͤa̛͔ͬ̎̍ͧͨ̒̌̌̓N̷͉̰̼͍̬̊̈́̑ͩc̡̳̯͕̺̓̔̀͢Ę͍͕̦͖̦̫̥̫͒̑ͦ́̚͠

I could smell alcohol on Ares, no doubt from Flash and Shining. I could also smell sweat and the very faint musk from the fun that the two of us had the other night. Underneath all of that though, underneath the sweat and the smell of sex and whiskey, I could smell the unique, irreplaceable scent of my little human.

Ț͉̲̫͚̞͖͙̌̿̄̈́̑͋ẖ̟͚̟̠͓̣͈̹ͮͭ͛͋Ẽ̟̝̠͍̮̯͉̟̤̍ ̳͎̼̟̭̦͒̿ͣ̊ͪ͌ͣͣͅḿ̰͉͙O͓͙͈̞̣̝̯̯͋̑̅̊̅ô̙̠̽̓ͨͬ̾N͕̭͕̙̟̺͂͆ ̯̱̭͈̝͕ͨ̑̋̊̆͆̇̌ͅs̠̭͕̯̺̯̞̤ͤ͑̈ͫ͋ͭͅĈ̤̭͔ͭ̽̇ͭ̈ͅr̰̥̹̥̮̲̝̅ͦ̎̃E̝͎̊̊̓ͫͣͬǎ̠͚̜̝̠̇̉ͦͦͥͧM̝̭͔̋̔̃ͤ͐́ͥ̓́ͅs͚͚͖̠͓̲ͭ̒͂
̥̠͌̈ͮͪT̬̫͙́́̍͛́ͣ̇h̺̗͖͌͌̄̑̓E̳͍̞̔ͯͩ ̮̞͎̍͋͋ͪṣ̫̻̰͕̭̝̭͛ͭ̃̊͋Ủ̝͕̗̠̦̫͇̲ͬͅn̺̣̫̯͚͇͑͑ͣͨ̒ͦͫ̿̑ͅ ̹̝͉̘̰̓́ͪ̆͐̿̾̂B̳̳̗͙̹̝͚̈́ͪͮͭ̋͗l̝̦͎̪͆ͮ̃͌ͨ͊Ĕ͖͇̜̗̙̱̋̌̎̅ͨ͆ͬͅẽ̯͕̔́ͤ́̐ͤͦͅD͚̟̻͓͚̘ͦ̆ͤ͒ͬs͈͉̰͙̭̄̅̀̓̏͊̋͌
͈͖̺̲̗̘̭ͣ̓̾ͪM͉̰̪̜̲̬͙̙̩̌͆͌̍͒a̦ͧͅG̣̫̳̳̘̮̟̤ͩ̿̚i̹͇̝͖͖͙ͥͩ́̍C̜̝̣̲̚ ̤͚̘͚̲̲̾ͅd̦̜̼͎͚ͣ̓I͇̬̝͔̫̗̤͒̉ͧ̌ͪ͊͑ͦe̼̗̫͚̳̦̘ͫS͓̯͙̳̬͚̲͙̑̍ͥͧ͐͌͒̐ͅ
̞̩̫̺͎̊̂̀͐ͮa͔̲͉̮ͫͭ̌̾̇̓̆N̥̮ͮ̒̿͑̌͒̍d͉͐̄ͩ ̞͇̥̳͚̞̜̔̏ͫͧ͂T̹̙ͥͭh̤͚͚͚͎̥̦͔̿Ḛ̰̗ͤͣ̃͛ ̦͔̅ͬ͊̍s͓̮̔̈́̏͌̽̅H̭̤̉͐̀̐̌a̦͆͗͊ͥ̀ͬ͆D̯̹̠̪̖́̿ͯ͛ͫ̔ͩ̈̚o̫̮̠̰̅͐̾̋̀̎̔W͈̱̄ͧͦ̿s͍̙̜͊͊ ̞̇̌̉̽̍̇̐ͣL̞̦̞ͬa͍͖̱̰̱̪ͫͤ̃U͍̰̹ͬͦ̅̄ͫ͑͊̎g͚̊͑̿ͅḢ̝͙̜͚̦͎ͩ͂̽

A shudder ran through Ares’s body and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. If I didn’t know any better I would have said that he was shaking slightly as the two of us rocked back and forth.

T̫̞͍̲̟̞̼̎ͨ̓̍͒͐h̭͓̫̲̒ͦͧ́ͭ̓̓̏E̖̹̯̜̦̮͚̰̓͋̾̃̔̈́̀ ͇͎͓̼̖͇ͣ̂c̫͖̺̙̩̲̏̈́͂̿͆ͮ̓ͤO͇͕̩̮̮ͮ̋̍̅ͮl̫̘͕̬̥̭͙̞̐ͣ̋ͯ̀̍̄ͭD̫̻ͮͮ̐͌̈́̈́̇̇̆ ̜͎͙̗̹̺̦ͧͫ̐ͦ̊́ͨ̌k̮̜̲̺͉͚̎̑͗͗̆I̬̥̽̃ͮ̒ͦ̐l͖̮̀̏̂͐ͧL̤̜̦̳̬̭̬̎s̝̝̫̥ͦͪ͌̆͆̿̓ ͙̳̈̾ͫͤ̀A͉ͪ̇̊̏͌ḷ̬͔̒ͫ̉ͅL̮ͭ̔ͮͅ
͚̫̺͖̜̝̝̿͛̆T̘̗͇͕͎̺͎̞͔͂h̬̗̜̬̯̜̭͉ͥͤ͐ͮͭͯ̚Ë͖̥̰̰̟̪́ͯ͐̋ͩ ̭͎̪̟͉̱̲̝̠̚c̟̠͍͎̥̅̉̏̌̋ͯ̈́̔Ō̩̻͍̠̤̿̾ḽ̬͍̮̬͚̲̠̻̇ͮ̔Ḓ͉͇̲̮̮ͪͤ ͇̦̘̤̜̤̤̼̋̄͑̐̏̈k͍̳̙͕͎̈́̎̏ͦ͛̀ͅI̠̬͈̙͕͖͖̳̎͒l̩͍̜͚͇͍̜̯̑ͭͤͯḺ͇̀̌ͥ̃ͅs̱̫̫̹͓̜̜̬̏͂̿ͭ̅̿̾̒ ̳̜̝͓̼̰̦̻̩̎ͧ̈́͒̃̌̃ͣA̤̠̥̓̍ͮḻ̰̯̻͌̆L̝̣̩̭͊ͥ̓ͭ̿̊ͅ
̼̹͍̗̤͙ͫ͂͒̆ͤ̆̓̚T͉́ͬH̗̑̌E̟̗͚͈͉̘̣̼ͯͯͤͭͅ ͙̳͍̏̌̌ͫC̜̲ͤ̑̄ͤ̆̍O̰͓ͣ̇̚L͕̬͉͉͖̦̲̆͒̃̈ͣ͛́D͉̩͉͎̟̔͗ͪͭͤ̔̚ ͔̞̗̯ͨ͑̃K͓ͯ̅̐̄I̫ͧ̏ͫ̍͊̊ͪͬͅL͈͔͈͂̓͋ͣ͐̆̎͋̑L̦̥̳̠ͫͮ̀ͩͯ̎S̱̼͔͕̳̈́̿̊ͦ̚̚ ̯͓̬͈̟͉̪̳͊ͩ͊́ͤA̲̭̤̱̤̦̬̺̎̈͛̇̋̂L̟͐̏̈̓͆L̘̗̓ͨ̏͗̉
͙͈̥̯̫̥̻̌̀̍̚T̺͎̜̺̺̂ͪ̑̈͛̾̔H̼̤͙͈̤̃ͨ̒̂̑̿̒E̦̣͓ͣ̏̚C̗̣̑ͬ͋ͩ̓ͦO͉̩͚̘ͯ͊ͬ̓̔ͫͤL̳͙̼̓ͬ͐ͫD͚͖̣̙̗͔̦̞ͤ̊K̪̳̱͉͙̭̔͐͊͑̈̅̎I̗͓̲̺̲̽͛ͬL̹̪̰̾ͦĹ̘̫̲̟͊S͈͚̖̥͚̑̍A̻̙͈̝͔̮͍̋͋͂͋̾̿̏L͈ͤͧͩL̤͎̥ͣͭ̒ͯ̈́ͫ͊͗ͅ
̯̍ͥͭ͂̃͂ͫ͛ͥṮ͚̘̻̦̂͛̈́́H̩̙̖̞̙ͭͤ̄̎̾E͈̲̳̗̱̜̗̖̪͂ͨC͕̘̔ͬ̍̓̇ͮ̔Ȍ̲̗̼̪͔̹͇̋̆ͩ͐̂̒͊ͅL̖̘͇̝̻͙̈̓̄̇̓̈́̈͌͊D̖̟̩̥̝̙͗̈́ͯ́̅͋̂̚K̮͙͓͍̙̲̦̖͔͊ͦ̒I̼̙̰ͤͮ͂̊L̪͕͖͋̿̐̃͐ͦͅL̯͕͇̺͒̈̍S̼̮̄ͩ̀ͣẢ̠̓̊̈͒̋ͧL̝͖̤̼͓̓̅̌̑͒̄̍ͧL͚͂ͥ̔L͈͙̮̘͕̰̎͌̋̾ͩͨ̄ͤͪL͓̲̞̦̮͚̪͍̍̅̄̌

“It’s alright, honey,” I whispered. “Everything’s going to be fine. Nopony’s ever going to hurt you again. Nopony.”

I pulled away from Ares slightly to look up into his face. His mouth was moving but no words seemed to be coming out. My ears perked up, and I strained as hard as I could to hear what the heck he was saying, but all I could heard was silence with just the faintest sound of the wind.

Huh, Shining’s blast must have damaged my ears, I thought, a smile coming to my face as I looked up at my Ares. I’ll just sit here a little longer and—

That’s when I felt it; somepony was poking at my barrier with magic. There wasn’t all that much force behind it but it was persistent and spread out on a small part of the shield. Pulling Ares back against me I poured more magic into the shield, hoping that whoever was trying to get in would give up and leave.

Couldn’t they see that I just wanted to be left alone? Couldn’t they see that I just wanted to keep my Ares safe? Why couldn’t they just leave us be? Why?!?!

“Go away!” I yelled, nuzzling the top of Ares’s head. Leave us alone!”

Though I’m sure that my voice carried through the barrier the would-be shield breaker persisted. With each passing second I could feel the foreign magic burrowing into my shield.

“You’re not going to take him away from me!” I snarled. “Nopony’s going to take him away from me! Even if I have to seal up this cas—“

From my left I finally felt the needle of magic punch through my shield. Furious, I let my shield drop and readied a spell to blast into the intruders face. If they didn’t want to leave us alone then I was going to make them leave us alone. But just as I was about to release the spell I saw a pair of purple eyes; two big purple pools that had nothing but warmth and worry and motherly care in them. They weren’t the eyes of a human-stealer; they were the eyes of somepony that loved me with all of their heart.

Blinking, I watched as my auntie Celestia take another step toward me. With a small smile on her face she took another and another until her nose was touching mine.

“You smell like you and your coltfriend here had a bit of fun last night,” she said out of the blue. “Did you forget to wash this morning or did you want to telegraph it to the world, dear?”

My aunt and I just stared at each other for about a minute as I processed what she just said. Though I could see frost starting to form on Celestia’s muzzle she didn’t seem to notice it, nor did she notice that Ares’s eyes were pure black orbs. She was just looking at me with that smile on her face and just a bit of mischief in her eyes. I opened my mouth then closed it as I blushed.

“A-Auntie?” I whispered as any anger that had just drained out of me.

Celestia’s smile twitched and she looked over to Ares. Her mouth moved but no sound came out. Ares twitched against me and I saw his mouth moving to answer her. Though I couldn’t hear what was being said (for some reason) my aunt didn’t seem to take it all that well. With a sigh she turned back to me.

She tried to smile again but her lips refused to move. “Cadence, honey, you know that I love you with all of my heart right?”

Ares started struggling against my hug. His face was red and a vein was popping out of his neck as he silently screamed at Celestia. I just held my little human even closer and nodded as she leaned in and nuzzled my cheek.

“Oh course I know that, Celestia. And I love you with all of my heart,” I said honestly.

For some reason tears started to form in my aunt’s eyes, the little drops of water freezing as they spilled down her cheeks. Without saying another word Celestia’s horn sparked to life. If I would have bothered to look I would have noticed that the ground all around me was covered in a thin layer of ice. I would have also noticed that everypony watching this unfold was looking at me and Ares with horrified expressions. But I didn’t notice that. All that I saw was my aunt’s horn glowing brightly. It was a soft glow, a warm glow. If I had been able to tear myself away from the light I would have closed my eyes and just let it wash over me.

“Forgive me you two.”

Forgive? What does she—