It was the first day of the Equestria Games and today was the summer games. Such as track for example. Rainbow’s specific relay team wouldn’t compete until tomorrow. So, right now Harmony and Snowflake had to wait along the sidelines and help cheer on Ponyville. Rainbow told us she would be busy helping and coaching the other Ponyville teams.

Right now, Rarity, Angelfeather, and I were on our way to meet up with my mother, Aunt Luna, Cadence, Twilight, and the others at breakfast. We had time because the games wouldn’t start for a couple of hours yet. Cadence was nice enough to assign us rooms within the castle. So, we were on our way to the dining room.

“Good morning, all,” I greeted after we walked into the dining room. Then separating from Rarity and Angelfeather to single out Fluttershy. She blushed, giving me a wide smile as I leaned down giving her a kiss before rubbing her baby bump. “Morning. How are you and our foal doing?”

“Good morning,” she said after the kiss, then put her hands over mine. “We are fine, Fred, thank you.”

“Yeah, don’t sweat it,” Rainbow spoke up, looking over at me with a wink, “we made sure she didn’t do anything strenuous.”

Because Rainbow was sitting next to Fluttershy, I leaned over, grabbed her head, and thanked her with an exaggerated big kiss. Finishing the kiss with a heartfelt, “Thanks, Skittles.”

Of course, she didn’t appreciate me doing that in front of everypony. Especially when her wings snapped open. So, she narrowed her eyes at me and gave me a tight-lipped, “You’re welcome.” It got everypony either chuckling or giggling and set everypony in a good mood.

“Alright, leave Rainbow alone and come here and greet your mother.”

I complied and walked over to her near the head of the long table. “Good morning, mother,” and gave her a good hug. Then did the same to Aunt Luna, “Morning, Aunt Luna.”

“Good morrow, nephew,” Luna hugged back.

I gave Cadence a sideways hug, “Good morning, Cadence. Any word about Shining Armor?” That’s when I noticed the rather somber look she was sporting this morning. Especially when she didn’t say anything at first. Which also explained the rather saddened mood that I noticed when walking in. My kiss with Rainbow lifted the mood a little but it came down again when I asked about Shining Armor. I waited a couple of beats before addressing her again, “Cadence? What is it? I didn’t kill him, did I?”

She looked up with a small smile, putting her hand on my arm. “No, you didn’t.”

“Cadence? What is it?” Twilight asked from sitting next to her. “I think all of us were worried about you when you walked in.”

Now all eyes were on her as I took a seat next to mother. Because of the larger than usual breakfast, Cadence and the staff thought it best to go buffet style this morning. Rarity and Angelfeather had already got their breakfast and sat down when I greeted Cadence. The others already had theirs, so I waited on mine while seeing what’s bothering Cadence.

Cadence took a deep slow breath before speaking. And when she did, our hearts sank. “He woke up early this morning. He was sitting up in the hospital bed and breathing easy when I walked in. So, he seemed well enough to ask him about what happened.” She paused before continuing with her head looking down at her plate. “He tried lying to me after I asked about the incident. And tried again after telling him about our investigation. When I told him about how Luna got into his subconscious...he couldn’t deny the truth then. He actually tried giving me the silent treatment after that.” Her voice cracked a little, so Twilight put her arm around her. “I finally got him to admit what Luna suspected. He’s been hiding his hatred for humans all this time. Especially for Fred and my friendship with him.”

“How far back does his hatred go, Cadence?” Twilight asked gently.

“Before our marriage,” Cadence almost whispered, her voice showing us her hurt and sorrow. “He hid it so well that I had no clue his hatred went so deep. And when I asked him why he didn’t tell me about it before, he said he didn’t think it would matter. He never thought that slavery would be challenged, never thought that Celestia had a son, or that the Crystal Empire would ever have to deal with human slavery.”

“And now?” my mother asked, also as gently as she could.

“Now...our marriage is in jeopardy,” she said slowly through a couple of sniffles. Twilight immediately hugged her. That’s when our hearts sank. “He...he doesn’t want the Empire to support ending slavery. Even...even going so far...as demanding that...that...” A few tears fell from her face, softly crying, then turned to hug Twilight. No one really knew what to say. It took a minute for Cadence to settle before going on. “He demanded that Fred, Celestia, Luna, and the rest of you girls leave simply because they are in a relationship with Fred.”

“Me as well?” Twilight’s voice told us the many emotions that she was feeling. Mostly shock and disbelief.

“He wanted...to lock you into your room until he could...talk...to you. Convince you not to see Fred again.” I didn’t like the scared tone in Cadence's voice when she said that. It made my blood boil all over again.

Twilight sat there in total shock and it showed in her eyes as she looked around the room. “I don’t believe it.”

“Are you saying what I think you are?”

“She is Rainbow,” I put in, my voice as hard as the look on my face. “Brainwashing basically. Naturally, he won’t call it that. He’ll call it ‘Waking up to the truth’ or ‘re-education’ or simply ‘Convincing her.’ No matter what it’s called, it’s still the same thing.”

“My word,” Rarity's soft shocked voice carried the tone of everypony in the room.

Cadence spoke through quiet sniffles as she and Twilight hugged one another. “He’s...not the...stallion...I fell in love with. He’s walking down a path...that I can’t follow.”

“I understand, Cadence,” AJ spoke softly, her voice filled with sorrow and understanding. Such was also written on her face as she looked over, sitting back in her seat. “As everypony knows, Granny has left the farm. Choosing to hang onto her hate and separate the family.”

Pinkie put her arm around AJ as she spoke up, her voice also filled with sorrow. “My parents almost broke up over it.”

“Have you told Night Light or Velvet yet?” my mother asked.

“Not yet,” Cadence sniffed with a shake of her head. “I was going to tell them that he was awake after breakfast. But...”

“You’re also afraid to tell them because of this new revelation,” Luna finished where Cadence nodded her head.

“Cadence,” Twilight spoke softly then pulled back, holding Cadence by her arms, and looked at her firmly, “they need to know.”

“But, Twilight,” there was caution in Cadence’s voice as she protested, “what if they agree with him?”

“I might not know what my father truly feels about him,” Twilight said to her then smirked a little. “But I do know how my mother feels about him. I can say with all confidence that you don’t have to worry about my mother.” That’s true considering the rather intimate greeting we had. I had to grin when Twilight said, “And my mother can keep my father in line. You can trust me on that one.” Cadence didn’t say anything, just nodded slowly in response.

“Excuse me, but I have a question,” Harmony spoke up, even slightly raised her hand as if in class. Everypony looked at her. “If I understand correctly, Shining Armor would be in control of the guards, right?” Almost everypony nodded at that. “Then can I ask is it a really good idea for him to still be in charge of the guards when he wants to lock up his own sister in a room and brainwash her?”

My eyes locked with Harmony’s as some disturbing thoughts came to mind. “She has a point,” I said softly, almost to myself, but loud enough for them to hear.

“Oh dear, surely he wouldn’t take it that far.”

“I’d like to think not, Fluttershy,” I told her before a sigh, “but...”

“I’ve seen into his subconscious,” Luna’s voice was soft but deadly serious. “He’s capable and knowing what we now understand and wants plus what he’s already done…” Luna looked over at Cadence with firm eyes and somber voice, “I’m afraid that he might command the guards into unethical actions.”

I watched both Cadence and Twilight look over at Luna with horror on their faces.

“Might I suggest that both you and Twilight take Velvet and Night Light to see him, talk with him, and then discuss appropriate precautions?”

“Alright, Aunty Celestia.” I barely heard Cadence’s voice as she stood up with Twilight and then left the room with her.

It was after they left that I addressed the girls. “I want you to promise me something.”

“What is it, sugarcube?”

“Don’t go see Shining Armor alone. And be suspicious of any guards that ask you to go with them for any reason.” I made sure they understood that I was being deadly serious. I looked at each one until they agreed. It was Fluttershy that I was worried about the most due to her pregnancy. And I wasn’t sure if I could control myself if he hurt her. Heck, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to control myself if he hurt her. And that was the scary part. I wasn’t worried about Philomena. She’s a phoenix and can quite literally burn her way out of any situation. Nor was I worried about Pinkie or Rainbow. They can handle themselves. I was, however, worried about Angelfeather’s safety.

^_^

After that, breakfast lasted just long enough for me to get a quick bite to eat and that was it. We pretty much went our own way after that. After I wished them all good luck and told them to watch out for each other, cautioning them again. And then Rarity, Angelfeather, Mother, and I went to the royal box at the stadium to watch the games. This time, though, all four of us were on the front bench. I was seated between Rarity and Angelfeather with Mother next to Rarity.

“That turned out to be a rather somber breakfast,” Rarity’s voice told me that she was complaining only a little. “And took a darker turn than expected.” Rarity squeezed my hand, which was around her, a little as she spoke. Like last night, she and Angelfeather had put my arms around them.

“As Luna would say, ‘Indeed.’ I did not expect it to go that way either,” my mother sighed. “And all this is, at least partly, my fault for encouraging all that hateful teaching for all those years.” Rarity was going to protest, but Mother raised a hand and looked at her with a small gentle smile. “No, Rarity. It is partly my fault. One that I’m trying to correct with the hopes that I’m not too late. But I fear that I’m too late for some.”

No one really knew what to say at that. So, things went quiet as we watched the games below. Today was track day, so there were straight dash runs, pole vaults, and other similar games. Most of the contestants were earth ponies.

“I noticed that the pegasi and griffons in today’s are participating,” I mentioned aloud to my mother. “I gather that’s the reason why their wings are tied behind their backs?”

“Correct, my sunshine boy. If any flying species wants to participate in a non-flying game, that’s the condition. In like manner, if a unicorn wants to participate in a non-magical game then a suppressor ring is placed on their horns.”

As my eyes watched the stadium, one particular unicorn got my attention. He was a lanky looking stallion with a suppressor ring over his horn that was going for the pole vault. He got my attention at first because he didn’t look like the type that would be good at it. What got me scrutinizing him was when his body went farther and hung in the air longer than should be normal.

“Mother? You think that unicorn on the pole vault is being magically manipulated?”

“Let’s see.” She went silent for a few seconds looking at the lanky unicorn intently. Then hummed softly, turned her head toward the crowd, and looked down at an area. “You have a good eye, my sunshine boy. That unicorn was being lifted by magic but from the crowd.” She stood up, lifting her hand toward somepony in the crowd, “Let’s see what they have to say about it.” More and more ponies in the crowd started to murmur as the stallion unicorn started floating up from the crowd. And right up to my mother. Where he looked a little sheepish.

“Hi, princess.”

“Your highness?” Harshwhinny called out from directly below us.

Mother stood up, walked over to the edge, and dangled the stallion over the two-story drop. “This stallion and the pole vaulter are to be banned from the games for cheating.”

“Understood, your highness,” right after Harshwhinny said that Mother let him drop with a loud “AAH.” Only to be caught by the security guards down below.

“Really Celestia, I think you enjoyed that,” Rarity giggled and had me chuckling at Mother’s smile.

She had us all blushing when she sat down and winked, “About as much fun as you three did last night with all your fondling each other in the darkness.”

“Oh, you noticed?” Rarity was beet red, along with Angelfeather and I.

“Noticed and heard,” Celestia grinned at us.

“Well this is awkward,” was my stupid response as well as an awkward look to her. Angelfeather was the wise one and kept quiet.

“I have no regrets,” Rarity finally said in a huff that was part serious and part silly. Then to my surprise, she grabbed my hand, raised it up, and slapped it on her breast before crossing her arms over my arm to hide it from public view. She was wearing the same dress as yesterday as well.

To add to the slight silliness, I couldn’t help but rapidly squeeze, let go, and squeeze her breast again. “Beautifully plump, firm, and squishy.” In response, Rarity turned and kissed me with a happy hum.

Angelfeather was wise. She kept quiet and simply kept my arm around her waist with her fingers were linked with mine. After that, the mood was light and we were having fun with Rarity and I teasing one another. What brought the mood down was after the games broke for lunch. One guard told us that Cadence wanted to meet us in the dining room. That told us that their talk with Shining Armor was done.

^_^

When we walked into the dining room, I could tell that it didn’t go well simply due to the looks on their faces. Luna was still asleep, so she wasn’t there. Rainbow and the other girls were already there, so Mother, Rarity, Angelfeather, and I were the last ones in. Velvet and Night Light were there as well. With all eyes on us, my heart went out to Cadence and Twilight. So, I gently untangled myself from Rarity and Angelfeather, walked over between Cadence and Twilight, and put one hand on each of their shoulders.

“Twilight? Cadence?” Leaning down I gently gave a kiss on Twilight’s cheek. “I gather it didn’t go well?”

“They were going to wait for you before telling us, sugarcube.”

“We went to see our son,” Night Light went first with his voice filled with a father’s remorse. “Even with Twilight and Cadence telling us what he said, it was still unbelievable. Whether or not we’re for or against slavery, it is simply inexcusable to do anything remotely to Twilight as what Shining suggested. One thing I thought we instilled in him was family was everything. You don’t go against family. Ever.”

Velvet simply leaned against him with tears slowly falling down her cheeks.

“He even said it to my face,” Twilight’s voice was quiet and filled with complete and utter shock. “He said it to my face. That Emmit’s father had corrupted Celestia and that Fred has corrupted me. He even said that he was surprised that I had survived going into and returning from the human world.”

“An argument ensued about her going into the human world and making friends with your counterparts,” Cadence said while looking at the other girls one at a time. “You can imagine how that went.”

“Our son has changed,” Velvet said between quiet sobs.

“Changed too much for me,” Cadence whispered as a couple of tears fell from her eyes as well. “I told him that if he continued to feel that way and continued to work against the greater good of not only the Crystal Empire but Equestria as well, then...then...”

She didn’t need to say it. We all knew what she meant. Leaning down I gently put my cheek against hers, whispering, “Sorry, Cadence.”

“Not your fault, Fred,” she whispered back, rubbing her cheek against mine, thankful for the comfort.

After another small smile to her, I moved behind Twilight and wrapped my arms around her, resting my head on hers. She put her arms over mine as if to make sure I wouldn’t leave as she hugged herself.

“He actually said, that would be fine with him,” Night Light finished Cadence's sentence. “That if she didn’t change, if Twilight won’t change, and even if his own parents don’t change, then he would divorce her. And then disown us as parents.” His voice got louder and harder as his anger started rising. Not that I blame him any. My own anger was rising as well.

“Oh, my,” Fluttershy whispered her shock that was echoed on the faces of the others.

“That no good for nothin’...”

“Please tell me we can kick his tail,” Rainbow stood up, pounding her fists onto the table making the plates, and glasses, jump a little.

Cadence raised a hand for calm before she spoke. There was deep sorrow in her voice, “As a princess of the Crystal Empire I must be prepared to deal with all potential threats to the Empire.” She paused as if in shock with what she was about to say. “Even if it’s...my own husband.”

“So what then?” Harmony asked gently.

“I’m giving him one last chance to change his mind...or...” she paused to steel herself before finishing, “or...it’s the end of our relationship and his position as captain.”

And that was that. Cadence just threw down the gauntlet. She’s giving him one last chance to change. No matter how I felt about him, I sincerely hoped he did. If only for Cadence’s sake. She genuinely loves him, but with the line drawn, it would practically devastate her to actually go through the divorce. Never in a million years would I thought that this trip would have come to this. And even though Cadence said it wasn’t my fault and even though I knew it in my head that it wasn’t my fault, I still felt partially responsible if only because I was the object of his hatred.

Needless to say, lunch was a quiet affair after that. And after lunch Twilight thought it a good idea to stay with Cadence during the rest of today’s games. During lunch, I could see Pinkie’s gears turning in her head trying to find a way to cheer Cadence up. But if I knew the girls, they would gently tell her that a party wasn’t a good idea for this type of situation. Although, well-meaning.

Mother’s mood soured a little more and stayed that way throughout the rest of the day. She still felt at least partly responsible and I guess by all technicalities she is because of the hatred she pushed all those years ago. I just hoped that all of Equestria would look at her example and follow it. After lunch, there was an opportunity for me to tell her just that. It helped a little and she gave me a smile hugging me to her telling me how much she loved me and was proud of me.

The rest of the day was uneventful. The games went along just fine, although we couldn’t really enjoy it as much as we wanted. We all did our best to cheer up my mother and Cadence for the rest of the day.

Little did we know that the very next day would be the day everything changed between Shining Armor and Cadence.

^_^

(Next day)

We slept in two groups last night. Harmony, Rainbow, AJ, and Pinkie took one room. Angelfeather, Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight, and I were in the one next door. All five of us couldn’t take one bed, so another one was pulled in, so Rarity and Angelfeather took that one. They discussed it and decided that Twilight and Fluttershy should sleep with me. Mainly Twilight because she was Shining’s brother and needed my comfort. Fluttershy, simply because she was pregnant. Very pregnant. My guess would be only about two or so months away. I didn’t want anything to happen to any of the girls, but I have to admit that Fluttershy’s safety was first on my mind.

I woke up first that morning and the peaceful look on Twilight’s sleeping face was the opposite of the turmoil that went through her mind the day before. I had hopes that, at least at night, her mind could retreat to pleasant dreams. Fluttershy, meanwhile, had a content smile on her face with her head resting on my chest. Lifting my head up, I noticed that Rarity and Angelfeather were resting peacefully.

Fluttershy was the first one of the girls to wake up a short time later. After a yawn and a small stretch, she looked up at me with a smile showing her contentment. With a gentle stroke of her hair, she leaned up giving me a soft morning kiss. Of course, that smile all but disappeared when she looked over at Twilight. I looked over as well while my hand stroked her hair and back.

“I can’t imagine how she feels,” Fluttershy whispered into my ear, “knowing what her own brother wants to do to her.”

I slowly nodded, “I can’t imagine the techniques ponies can use here to do it with. Even in the human world, it can be done even without magic. I tremble at the idea of using magic to do it.”

“Just like Granny, her brother is holding onto that hatred and tearing his family apart.” Twilight groaned in complaint at our whispering and wiggled to get more comfortable against me. I did what I could to comfort her and rubbing her back while humming a little seemed to help.

Suddenly, Fluttershy turned my head to her, mouthed the word “bathroom,” and quickly, but as quietly as she could, got out of bed heading toward the bathroom. Holding her protruding belly the whole way she had the cutest little quick walk. That reminded me of one important thing that my father ever told me. Never get between a pregnant woman and a bathroom door. I couldn’t help but grin at that thought while watching Fluttershy quickly walk herself into the bathroom as her tail swished from side to side behind her. It shouldn’t have been a little funny, but it was.

While Fluttershy was in the bathroom, sunlight from the rising sun shined through the window into the room. Because the ceiling was painted white, the morning light lit up the room like a light bulb. Twilight complained again with another groan but woke up anyway. Her eyes fluttered open then looked up to me. “Good morning,” her greeting was soft after she took a quick look over at Rarity and Angelfeather noticing that they were still asleep.

Leaning my head down, I gave her a light kiss, “Morning, Twilight. How are you feeling?”

She didn’t say anything right off, just looked past me to the wall in thought before finally telling me, “I’m not sure what I’m feeling. It’s such a shock.”

“I can tell,” I whispered, kissing her forehead at the base of her horn, “and you know that the other girls, my mother, Aunt Luna, Cadence, and I are all here for you.”

Her smile was small but thankful. “I know they are. But I’m still processing it. It’s like he just changed overnight.”

“It does seem that way doesn’t, darling?” we heard from Rarity as we saw her now facing us. Now awake, she had the same somber look on her face as she did at dinner last night. While looking at Rarity, I felt a single tear fall from Twilight’s face. “I always thought of your brother as a very honorable stallion. I’m ashamed to say that I might have felt the same before Fred came into our lives. There’s always hope, Twilight.”

“I hope so, Rarity,” Twilight buried her face against my neck wrapping her arms under my head, “I hope so.”

^_^

(one hour later, castle’s dining room)

Everypony was at breakfast, almost everypony.

“Hey, stud? Didn’t you say that Twilight and Fluttershy would join us a little later?”

The fork paused halfway to my mouth while I looked around and not seeing Twilight and Fluttershy with me. “Yeah. That’s what they said.” My hand slowly lowered the fork while looking at Pinkie’s face. Her hair wasn’t fluffy like it usually was, but straight as if it was wet.

“I think they’re in trouble, Fred,” her voice was soft and filled with worry, “my Pinkie sense is going off.”

Fear gripped my heart as my eyes snapped over to Cadence.

“Tartarus, he better not have done anything,” AJ’s angry voice held only a fraction of the anger that I was feeling.

“I told the guards to not obey any orders from Shining Armor yesterday,” Cadence told us, her eyes holding horror and shock in them. She quickly stood up with me, quickly stepping over to the door and opening it. Turning to the guard on the right she grabbed his head forcing it to her, “Where are Twilight and Fluttershy?”

The stallion’s look on his face was shock and even fear due to the intensity of the look she was giving him. Mine too as I stood behind her with a glare of my own. At first, it appeared that he didn’t know what to say, just stared at her. He was brought out of it when she yelled at him, “WHERE?”

“I was simply t-told to tell t-them that M-Miss Harshwhinny wanted to see them,” he said as not only his voice, but his body shook as well. He was nervous, as he should be.

“Where did you send them?”

His eyes snapped to me. “I was ordered to tell them that she wanted to meet them at the edge of the field in the stadium.” There was a pause as what he said ran through our minds. But I thought of something first.

“They might have been taken to a second location,” I muttered in thought. Then looked at Cadence, “Do you have a way to find them?”

“I don’t know about Fluttershy,” Cadence looked up at me in thought, “but when Twilight was very young I used a tracer spell to find her when I was babysitting her.” She closed her eyes for a second, using her magic to light up her horn, and activating the tracer spell. It took a few seconds for the spell to work and it was obvious when she figured out where they were. Her eyes snapped open and looked at me in horror, “There’s a secret room beneath the Captain’s Office for high profile or dangerous suspects. That’s where they are.”

Fear had a vice grip around my heart as I looked at Cadence with a dangerous and angry red tint to everything I saw. “Can you teleport us there?” I probably had a face to match the anger I was feeling.

“I can get us inside the Captain’s office,” her voice was trembling with worry and near panic.

“Hey, take us with you,” I barely heard Rainbow’s voice, or the sound of moving chairs, over the pounding of my own heart.

I took Cadence’s head in my hands, “I can get us in, just get me in the office. Once there stand back because I’ll use my Ittou Shura to rip everything apart.”

She nodded and concentrated on her magic to teleport us from the dining room.

^_^

I know we left everypony else behind when we disappeared and would get an earful about it later. But right now there was only one thought in my mind as Cadence and I suddenly popped into the Captain’s Office. It wasn’t empty either but had two high ranking guards there that were relaxing in a couple of chairs. Were being the proper past tense word because their attention was immediately upon us after we appeared.

Then all hell broke loose.

At the same time that Cadence backed up and I went into the Ittou Shura, the two guards also took action. As magic and fire swirled around me, the stallion guard put up a shield around both him and the mare guard. The female guard screamed out a battle cry going for a basic magical blast attack. But Cadence saw it coming, put up her own shield around me, and deflected the blast up through the ceiling. “Get out of MY WAY.” The stallion’s eyes went wide as I screamed out and dashed toward him as I did with Shining Armor. I wanted to go for the stallion first. His shield was nothing compared to Shining’s, so it didn’t stand a chance against my punch and shattered instantly. My momentum carried me through his shield hitting him in the chest, into and through the back wall to land on the ground a good number of yards away. The stallion didn’t have much of a chance to cry out in pain from the collapse of his shield before my fist hit his chest. I never wanted to hit women, or mares in this case, and luckily for me, I didn’t have to. Cadence teleported the mare over to her and put a magical suppressor ring over her horn before I had a chance to get to her.

Now with the two guards out of the way, it was my turn to rip up the floor. Or at least a portion of it. My eyes spotted a trapdoor underneath the desk and with one wave of my hand, the desk went flying in one direction. A wave of my other hand had the trapdoor flying in the opposite direction.

Immediately I heard muffled shouts coming from down below. I couldn’t quite make out exactly what was being said, but I did hear Twilight’s shout of alarm. More than likely shouting at her brother. “Cadence, let’s go,” I shouted to her then jumped down the small elevator shaft not even bothering to wait for her. It was about fifteen feet or so to the bottom of the shaft where I put up my shield, so I wouldn’t hurt myself after crashing through the elevator. The elevator itself reminded me of a large dumb waiter because it was all wood. Even the doors.

Which meant that after my rough landing, it was easy to use my magic to rip the doors off their hinges sending them across the room.

“Please, don’t hurt my foal,” my ears picked up Fluttershy’s plea.

Twilight started to plea until she shouted in alarm when the elevator doors went flying in front of her, “You’re my big brother don’t do thi-Aaahhh.”

Shining Armor was barely standing, so when the door flew by in front of him it startled him into tripping over his own hooves sending him to the floor. He didn’t stay there though and began to get back up. “That foal is a bastard,” Shining Armor coughed as he stood back up, “and shouldn’t exist.” His short monologue gave me the opportunity to run up and get between him and the girls.

All I could see was red as his eyes and mine met as magic and fire continued swirling around me.

“Fred!” Fluttershy’s happy voice hit my ears.

“Please, don’t kill him!” I heard Twilight plea then a soft pop of magic behind me. “Cadence!”

“Please Shiny, stop this,” Cadence pleaded and I could tell that she was crying due to the sound of her voice.

“NO, that bastard of this human,” he growled pointing to me while looking at Cadence and activating his magic, “needs to be destroyed.”

“NO!” Fluttershy cried out in horror.

I didn’t waste any time after he said that. He needed to be stopped immediately. And with Twilight’s plea banging around in my head there was only one course of action that I could take. In one swift movement, I body-slammed him into the opposite wall. He cried out in pain as his body impacted the wall and I couldn’t take the chance that he would recover, so I punched him in the face to disorient him. It did the trick and his body went almost fully limp, so I focused all my magic from around me into my arms. With one I placed my hand against his head to keep it firmly against the wall. The other I grabbed his horn.

“NO!” he cried out then screamed as my hand wrenched on his horn. “I’LL KILL YOU!” he tried pulling my arms away, but it didn’t help him.

“You won’t harm my FAMILY!” At the last word, I put all my effort into one final pull. Shining screamed his lungs out as magical sparks leaped from his horn with one final intense crack as it snapped in two. When his horn snapped there was a wave of magical backlash that pushed me back, almost making me stumble. Shining continued screaming in pain as he held his head. Blood seeped from between his fingers, tears fell from his eyes, as he doubled over screaming from the pain.

Turning around to face the girls, I tossed the other half of his horn on the ground dissipating my magic. My eyes met theirs amid Shining’s continued screaming and crying. Cadence turned to the girls, putting one hand on Twilight’s shoulder and the other on Fluttershy’s. “Go with Fred,” she told them igniting her horn to teleport us, “I’ll take care of Shining Armor.” A second later, Twilight, Fluttershy, and I found ourselves back in the Captain’s Office.

Fluttershy immediately stepped up to me putting her arms around me, burying her head in my chest and started crying. Resting my head on hers, I put my arms around her. “You’re safe now, he can’t hurt you,” I whispered to her. Cadence must have put up a soundproof area around them because we couldn’t hear Shining’s screams anymore. My eyes met Twilight’s and even though she had tears in her eyes she also mouthed “Thank you” to me before stepping up and hugging Fluttershy as well.

“He was...was...”

Twilight gently shushed her, “It’s alright, Fluttershy. Fred’s here. My brother can’t hurt you.”

My ears picked up a whoosh of air a few seconds later. Rainbow landed just outside and walked in up to us. Worry was on her face which turned to relief after she spotted us. “Guys,” she ran up to us, “you’re ok.”

“We’re ok, Rainbow,” Twilight sniffed, then smiled over at Rainbow. Then stepped back, “Rainbow, please go with Fred and Fluttershy while I stay with Cadence as we take care of my brother.”

Rainbow blinked, “Sure, Twilight, but what happened?” She then looked over at me, her face showing that she was a little miffed at me, “You left so suddenly.”

“Sorry, Rainbow,” I said to her. And still holding Fluttershy, I urged her toward Rainbow and the door, “Come on, Fluttershy. Let’s get you and our foal away from here.”

“Alright,” Fluttershy said through her crying and hiccups. Rainbow put her arm around Fluttershy as she took her other side as we left the Captain’s Office. We met my mother, Aunt Luna, and the rest of the girls outside.

“Nephew,” Aunt Luna ran up to us.

“Son, Fluttershy,” Mother ran up putting her arms, and wings around us. “Is everypony alright?”

The other girls came running up as well as Aunt Luna hugged Fluttershy and I from the side.

“Fluttershy is shaken up, so while we go with the others could you and Aunt Luna help Twilight and Cadence with Shining Armor?”

“Of course, nephew.”

Mother leaned over and kissed my forehead, “We will go on now.”

^_^

Fluttershy, the girls, and I got back to one of the guest rooms where Fluttershy was surrounded by the girls. Meanwhile, I took a seat on the edge of the bed and finally took a calming deep breath. Now that Fluttershy was safe again, it was time to calm my nerves. Not only from the thoughts of her, and our foals, death, but also from the massive use of magic. At least I didn’t pass out this time.

Philomena and Harmony both walked over to me, sitting on the edge of the bed on either side of me. Each one putting an arm around me as the girls began talking.

“He wanted to what now?”

“It’s true, Applejack. He wanted to murder our foal.” They urged Fluttershy to sit down in one of the chairs, which she did with the rest of them either sitting down or standing around her.

Pinkie stood behind Fluttershy and gently hugged her from behind, comforting her.

“My stars,” was Rarity’s quiet shocked response.

“Tarnation, I never thought he would take it that far.”

Rainbow looked over at me with anger etched on her face, “You kicked his butt didn’t you?”

“In a sense, Rainbow,” my voice shook slightly with my body. Both Philomena and Harmony hugging me from each side to help calm me down.

“He broke his horn, so he can’t use magic again,” Fluttershy finished for me.

“Whoa!”

“Twilight asked me not to kill him after he threatened to kill our foal. That was the sensible thing to do without killing him.” My eyes met theirs one after another. Each one might have been initially shocked but each one looked at me with at least some understanding. “He could still be a threat if he can get more of the guards on his side. He might not be able to use his magic anymore, but he still has hands to use. Swords and knives to use with them.”

“So it all depends on what Cadence and Twilight do with him then?”

“Correct, Rainbow,” I said to her.

“Well considering what he wanted to do, I doubt that he’ll see the light of day anytime soon,” AJ commented with a huff, crossing her arms under her breasts. “Unfortunately, I think their marriage is over because of this.”

I agreed, saying, “Once again it rips another family apart.” Because my body had all but stopped shaking, I put my arms around Philomena and Harmony.

^_^

About an hour later, Cadence sent word for me to come see her, Twilight, Mother, Aunt Luna, Velvet, and Night Light down in the dungeons below the castle. I made my way there after telling the girls to continue watching over Fluttershy. I was cautious to follow the guard at first, but she led me right to them into the dungeons below then dismissed herself.

It was Velvet that saw me first as I approached them while they watched Shining Armor from his cell. I could hear him crying as I walked up. “Fred!” Velvet greeted me first as I walked up, letting go of Night Light, stepping up to me, and hugging me. “Thank you for sparing my son.” I hugged her back as Night Light stepped up as well.

“Yes, thank you,” Velvet stepped back letting Night Light shake my hand.

“You’re welcome. After all, it was Twilight that asked me to spare his life, so taking his horn was the only other option to keep him from murdering my child and harming either of them.” After firmly shaking his hand, I turned toward Mother, Aunt Luna, and Twilight.

Shining Armor was sitting down on a basic wooden bench up against the far crystal wall. The bars were made out of metal, but were probably enchanted against escapes, magic, and who knows what else. Twilight looked up at me with a grateful small smile as my arm went around her shoulders.

Cadence was beside me and looked up at me with deep sorrow in her eyes. “It’s over between us, Fred. I’m going to proceed with the divorce papers as soon as we’re done here.” I gently put a hand on her shoulder, my eyes showing remorse for what she had to do.

“You!” Shining Armor growled from inside his cell, lifted up his head, and glared at me with all the hatred that was in his heart. “You took everything away from me. Even my magic.”

“It was either your magic or your life,” my own voice was firm as I spoke to him. Narrowing my eyes at him, making sure he knew how serious I was. “And because Twilight asked for your life, taking your magic was the only other choice. However, listen and listen very closely. I could have killed you. And if you come after either one of the girls again and or try to kill my foal...” Stepping up to the bars I let go of Twilight and raised my finger to make sure he understood my point. “I don’t care how much they plea for your life, I will kill you next time. But as far as taking everything else away from you...you did that yourself.” With a sigh, I stepped back and put my arm around Twilight again. “The world is changing, Shining Armor. You can either let go of your hatred or forever get lost in its darkness. The choice is yours.”

“You filthy vermin!” he growled at me again. “Corrupting everypony around you,” he spat at me, but it didn’t get past the bars.

“Please son, listen to him,” Night Light pleaded to Shining Armor while holding a softly crying Velvet in his arms.

“Don’t call me son,” Shining Armor snapped at him, while his eyes shined with disgust as he looked up at his father. “You even thanked that filthy vermin of a human for doing this to me.”

“I asked him to spare your life, brother,” Twilight’s voice shook as she tried shouting at him, but came out softer than she intended. “And I am grateful that he spared your life. Your still my brother-”

“Not anymore, dear sister,” he glared at Twilight as she too was crying softly. “He’s corrupted you...all of you, can’t you see that? He’s nothing more than an animal to be put down like all humans.” His eyes glared at his parents once again, “And you aren’t my parents anymore. Not since you ha-”

“Sleep,” Aunt Luna said quietly and used her magic to gently put Shining Armor to sleep. She sighed, shaking her head, and lowered her arm to her side. “That will be quite enough of that for now.” Shining Armor slumped back down onto the bench fast asleep. Which left the only sound heard was Twilight and Velvet crying. Twilight turned toward me and looked up at me.

“You really meant what you said?”

“About killing him next time?” I asked as she nodded her head. So, I gently took her head in my hands. “Twilight. Your safety and the safety of all the girls and my foal is, and always will be, my top priority. No one, and I mean no one, threatens you, the girls, or the life of my foal. So, yes, I meant what I said. But I also hope that I never have to.” She didn’t respond right off just looked up at me with horror and uncertainty in her eyes. “Understand?” I tried telling her as gently, but firmly, as I knew how.

“I..”

I heard hoofsteps behind me and looked to see Night Light walk up. “Twilight. He’s right.”

“But-”

“Twilight,” he interrupted by putting his finger on her lips to silence her. “Even though he’s my son, even though I love him more than my own life, and even though I want him to live. I also can’t let him go around destroying other lives, no matter whose they are or what species they are. I can’t fault Fred if he has to do what he has to in order to save his child’s life. Because as a father, he wants the same for his child as I do for you or Shining Armor.”

As Twilight’s mouth open and shut like a fish out of water, Cadence slowly turned, walked over to Twilight, and gently hugged her. Night Light and I stepped back as Cadence turned Twilight away from the cell, saying quietly, “Come on, Twilight. Let’s go talk.” And then led her away from us and the cell back down the crystal hallway.

Once they were gone, Aunt Luna walked up to me and put her arm and a wing around me. “We are proud of how you handled this, Nephew.” I smiled back at her in appreciation. Mother walked up on the other side of me, also putting an arm and a wing around. “And we understand that in the future he might need to be stopped.”

“I’ve had to do just that in the past, my sunshine boy,” Mother added softly, gently putting her head against mine. “I hope that you never had to experience it.”

“So do I, Mother. So do I.”

^_^

Aunt Luna dismissed herself to go sleep, so it was just Mother and I on our way back to the girls. One thing that I hadn’t thought of was what Spike was going to be told about all this. Or if he is told, how he would react to it all. I didn’t know that answer would come right after walking into the room again.

“You broke his horn?” Spike was on me a second after Mother and I walked through the door. He was flame snorting mad too. Evident by the flames that he snorted out of his nostrils as he glared up at me.

I simply shrugged at him, stepped aside, and walked over and behind the chair that Fluttershy was still sitting in. “It was either that or kill him. And Twilight asked me not to kill him, so that was the only other choice. Even now he can still be a threat. Cadence and I had to fight off two guards just to rescue Fluttershy and Twilight. So, let me ask you something, Spike.” I looked at him with narrowed eyes as I leaned over wrapping my arms gently around Fluttershy. “If somepony, or someone, had Rarity and Sweetie Belle captive threatening to murder them. What actions would you take to protect them?”

“I’d burn them to...a...crisp,” as he answered his voice got softer as his mind began to understand. The fire in his eyes that was there before was all but gone now. He sighed, crossing his arms over his chest while looking over at me a little sheepishly. “Ok, I get it.”

“Right now, he’s still alive, Spike,” I said to him. “I had every right to kill him to keep Fluttershy and our foal alive. But I didn’t because Twilight asked me not to. It’s over between Cadence and Shining Armor. And if I had to guess I’d say that he won’t see the light of day anytime soon. One charge of attempted murder and conspiracy would be the least of the charges against him.” Fluttershy held onto my arms, gently rubbing her head against them while I spoke. The rest of the girls were either on the bed or in chairs around the room. With a sigh, I leaned my head down and rested it on Fluttershy’s. “Luna had to put him to sleep to stop his hateful ranting. He even said that Twilight wasn’t his sister anymore, nor was his parents his parents anymore as well. He’s completely separated himself from his own family.”

“Tarnation,” AJ cursed softly as she sat on the edge of the foot of the bed. “He’s worse than Granny.”

Spike was speechless as he just blinked off into the distance while his mind tried to comprehend it all.

“Not to be inconsiderate to what’s going on, but how is this going to affect the games today?”

“That’s right, Harmony! Our relay team is supposed to compete today,” Rainbow echoed her as she stood up, looking over at my mother.

“Cadence and Twilight are talking about what happened now, so I really don’t know. Nor do I know where they are either,” Mother said quietly as she stood behind Fluttershy’s chair next to me. “What you can do is tell Miss Harshwhinny what happened and ask her to find out what Cadence wants to do.”

Rainbow saluted, “Right away,” then immediately got up and ran out of the room.

“Do you know what will happen?”

“My guess is, Miss Pie, is that Cadence will halt the games for today. Because of Shining’s actions, there is much that she has to take care of,” Mother replied with a somber tone to her voice. “I’m just sorry that I pushed hatred for humans all those years ago. If I hadn’t maybe Shining Armor wouldn’t be this hateful today.”

No one said anything as I leaned up against my mother. She squeezed me a little tighter, thankful for the comfort.

Next Chapter: Chapter Thirty Three: The Equestria Games Part 4 Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 6 Minutes