Shining’s lips were thoroughly bitten-shut, and he couldn’t help fidgeting in trepidation while standing outside the doors of the Crystal Castle ballroom. It was hard to believe that the Crystal Empire Formal had arrived so soon, but he couldn’t deny how much of a blur the week itself had been for him. Even with how consistently the thoughts of tonight’s plans had been plaguing his mind with each passing day, it was hard to really take notice of the countless hours while obliging to every twisted whim of his Prince. And in a strange way, the near-endless torment he had to endure helped to make tonight feel like it came in an instant. Of course, as the stallion fidgeted in his tailored suit, he couldn’t help being reminded that after this moment, he wouldn’t be able to come like he used to ever again.

But alas, after taking a deep breath to collect himself, the Private mustered up enough courage to stand upright in his Royal regalia, and walk into the ballroom with a confident look on his face. The moment his hooves stepped inside of the massive crystallized ballroom, his face blushed upon seeing the countless smiles of the Crystal Ponies who took notice of his entrance. Many of the ponies clapped and applauded him as he finally showed up to the formal, clearly waiting for their Prince to arrive for such a stupendous night. Fortunately for Shining, it didn’t seem like his flustered state was too visible as he gave his usual greeting to various guests, and carried a polite and courteous demeanor throughout his entrance.

“Shining, it’s so nice to see you showed up!” said one of the castle staff members as she shook his hoof with an excited smile. “Cadance and Sombra were starting to worry that you wouldn’t make it on time.”

“Oh, come on,” said Shining with a bashful blush while shaking the mare’s hoof. He may have been nervous, but he was able to maintain a casual smile as he said back to her, “Of course I’d be here for the Crystal Empire formal. What kind of Prince would I be if I didn’t?”

The mare’s brows raised up for a couple seconds, and she stared back at Shining like he just said two plus two equals five. She then grew a very amused smile on the Private before she started to giggle. Several of the other Crystal Ponies standing nearby laughed as well, which caused Shining to blink confusedly and look around the room. The mare then gave a playful pat to Shining’s back before walking away, and said, “Oh, you! You really are dedicated to the end, huh?~”

“W… What?” Shining blinked repeatedly in befuddlement, but he could only watch as the mare walked away to return to the formal’s activities. His eyes narrowed in suspicion, and he turned back towards the nearby ponies who also laughed at his comment. One of them happened to be a member of the Crystal Guard, who took notice of Shining as he came up to him and asked, “Ummm… Could you tell me what that was about?” he asked the stallion, while pointing a hoof back to where that mare went off to.

“It’s alright, Shining,” said the muscular Guard with a reassuring smile on his face, and a small nod of his head. “You don’t have to worry. We all know how big this night must be for you and Cadance.”

He then placed a hoof on Shining’s shoulder, and confused the Private even more as he added, “But don’t worry. I have a feeling you’ll feel a lot happier with yourself by the end~”

Shining’s head reeled back as he shot a very confused stare back at the Guard. He glanced over at the other Crystal Ponies who were previously conversing with the Guard, and saw them all nod with warm smiles of their own back at him. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but the ponies’ odd statements and behavior was leaving the Private in a bewildered state that caused his eyes to widen worriedly. Fortunately, before he could try to figure out what was going on by himself, one of the Crystal Ponies beamed as they pointed towards Princess Cadance. “Oh, there she is! Shining, maybe you could, errr… talk with her for a little bit?”

Shining turned around to take notice of Cadance, who was wearing a stunning red gown that accentuated her curvaceous and fruitful form beautifully. Even though he had picked out the dress for her himself, Shining was still speechless for a moment as he blushed and grew an enamored smile. Cadance gave the Private a cheerful wave, and began to walk up to him while smiling happily. Even though he was still unsure of what was going on, Shining made sure to look back at the Crystal Pony with a thankful nod and say, “Yeah, I think I might need to speak with her about some things. Thank you.”

The ponies all nodded before walking away from Shining, helping to give him some space for privacy at this formal event. When he turned back towards Cadance, he tried not to appear too awe-stricken by the sight of her wearing something so alluring for the night’s formal. But alas, a bashful smile still shone through his heavy blush while he looked her up and down so gleefully. “Wow! I mean… I gotta say, that dress looks amazing on you, honey.”

“Oh, don’t be such a flatterer~” she cooed playfully back at him with a wave of her hoof. Cadance gave a small giggle to Shining’s compliment, but her muzzle soon pursed in tightly as she looked around the ballroom. When she turned her attention back to Shining, the Princess started to look more contemplative as she asked him, “So, ummm… Shining? You haven’t… You haven’t heard anything just yet, have you?”

“Ummm… No, I don’t think so…” Shining’s confusion hadn’t exactly went away when he turned his focus onto Cadance, but that question caused him to remind himself of how those two ponies had been acting just before. He didn’t want to think Cadance was related to it, but her hesitant smile prompted him to bite his lip before asking her, “Is… is there something I should know?”

“Well…” Cadance looked away from Shining which scratching the back of her neck, and breathed out sharply like she was worried about something big. However, as she made another quick glance around the room, the Princess was able to sigh affirmatively before looking back at Shining. “Actually, yeah. I… I do have something to tell you about...”

Shining may have already dealt with a lot that week, and also knew that the biggest hurdle was yet to come; but despite the fact that he and Cadance weren’t legally married anymore, he still grew anxious upon hearing her give such an unsettling answer. But instead of letting his worries show too notably in his expression, Shining tried to keep himself stoic while she said, “Now, before I say anything about this, I… I really don’t want you to think that this was something I did to hurt you, okay? I promise you, I only did it because I think it can help you.”

“Wait, what do you mean by ‘helping’ me?” asked Shining as his tone grew more befuddled, and he gave his Ex a more alarming stare. Cadance tried not to cringe when she saw that response, but she was understanding enough to keep from losing her composure. Instead, the Princess closed her eyes to take a deep breath, and then looked around to make sure the two were isolated enough to speak comfortably. She then turned back to face her Private, and blushed with worry when she saw him fretfully standing in wait.

“Okay, so…” Cadance’s muzzle pursed shut for a couple seconds, almost as if she was considering staying silent on the matter. But with the way Shining was staring at her, she knew it wouldn’t be right to leave him hanging. So after breathing out one last time, Cadance tried not to appear too guilty as she confessed, “... I… I’ve noticed how comfortable you’ve been getting with things they way they are between us and Sombra. So I… I decided to do something to make sure our positions stayed that way. And I...”

Shining had no idea what Cadance was trying to imply, but her wording was causing his brows to raise up in looming dread. Meanwhile, the Princess struggled not to look away from him as she spoke hesitantly. “... And I’m fairly sure that by now… everypony knows about us.”

Shining’s eyes grew to the size of frisbees, and he completely froze while gawking at Cadance in absolute shock. He didn’t want to think that his Ex would actually do something as insane as what she just said, but the Private wasn’t able to catch any dishonesty in her sheepish expression. Several seconds of awkward silence passed between them, but the rest of the formal was still running fairly smoothly by the time Shining finally gave a response. “... What?”

Cadance winced from how firmly her Ex asked that question, but she was able to breathe out through her nostrils before confirming what she said. “Well… We both know that this news was likely to come out eventually, right? I mean… It’s not like we’ve been that subtle about it nowadays…”

Shining’s eyes were somehow able to widen even more, and he stared at Cadance with the same level of shock that one would’ve had to seeing a cock implanted on the Princess’ forehead. “You… You’re joking, right?” he asked with a clear hint of fear in his trembling voice. He then started to look around the ballroom, half-expecting to see torches and pitchforks coming out to maim him. “P… P-Please tell me that you’re joking.”

“I’m not,” she said with a deeply apologetic tone of voice. “But you have to believe me, I did it as safely as I possibly could. At first, I just told a couple of my closest staff ponies, since I knew they could trust our decisions on the matter. And after that, I ended up telling Flash Sentry, since he has the highest influence aside from you in the Crystal Guard. And ever since then, we’ve been disclosing the information to others who work with us, and making sure that nopony was upset or uninformed on the circumstances.”

“W-W-WHAT?!” he practically screamed through his panicked hiss, before he looked around again to make sure they weren’t being eavesdropped. Even though that precaution may have not been necessary as of now, Shining still looked petrified as he gawked at Cadance with his pupils as small as pin-pricks. “How… How long has this been going on!?”

Cadance’s guilty expression came back in an instant, and she had to breathe in before saying meekly, “Ummmm… Well, I… I started telling some of the staff about two months ago.”

“TWO MONTHS?!” That response wasn’t hushed, and Shining cringed hard when he saw several of the nearby ponies glancing back at them with raised brows. The Private quickly looked away from the leering eyes and waved his hoof in dismissal, hopeful that would be enough to dissuade ponies from listening in on their discussion. But even when his focus went back to Cadance, he tried his hardest not to give a panicked glare as he hissed through his teeth, “Cadance… Please tell me this is all part of some elaborate joke Sombra cooked up.”

“It’s really not,” she said with a shake of her head. She then exhaled sharply, and rolled her eyes before deciding to prove her shocking claim. “Okay, how about this?” Cadance looked around before noticing a member of the castle staff walking by with a tray of champagne glasses. She used her magic to carefully nudge the blue Crystal Pony mare towards their direction, who responded with a chipper smile as she trotted up to them. Cadance motioned over towards her while looking back at her Ex, and said, “Shining, you know Topaz, right? If you really don’t believe me, then go ahead and ask her about it.”

Shining stared between the two mares bug-eyed, and blinked repeatedly at Cadance like she turned completely insane. Even if he were to believe Cadance, the idea of asking anything too revealing to castle staff seemed like complete suicide. Not to mention, Shining had no idea where Sombra had went, so he could’ve been lurking out of sight somewhere to see if his cuck would actually fall for a trick this cruel. But after seeing the insistence on Cadance’s face, Shining bit his lip before he sighed shakily, and turned his attention back to Topaz.

“Ummm… Topaz?” asked Shining in a very apprehensive tone, before he took a breath and tried to speak casually. “Okay, so… This is probably going to sound like a really weird question for me to ask, but ummm…” Shining took one last glance back at Cadance’s approving nod, and then closed his eyes to ask the staff pony, “Who… Who would you say Cadance's husband is?”

Topaz’s eyes widened in surprise, and a small blush grew across her cheeks as she looked between Shining and Cadance. “Ummm… W-Well…” She took notice of Cadance’s warm and welcoming smile as she nodded reassuringly, which helped to make Topaz smile and nod back with confidence. She then took a breath as she looked back at Shining, and answered with an optimistic, “Well, of course Cadance’s husband is Sombra. Everyone knows that~”

Shining’s muzzle dropped, which caused Topaz to quickly turn worried. “Ohmigosh! Is that not right?” she said in a panic, before she stared between the two and asked, “I-I mean… Are you two back together now?”

Cadance didn’t say anything, and just glanced back at her Ex with a satisfied smirk. Shining was still rightfully floored from the realization of what Cadance actually did, but he was able to blink a couple times upon seeing Topaz was waiting for an answer. Even though he was internally freaking out, he breathed out weakly before shaking his head, and said to the mare, “Ummm… N-No, we… we’re not…”

Topaz blinked a couple times in confusion, but then instantly perked right up with a cheery smile. “Oh! Alright then,” she chirped happily, and then used her magic to float a champagne glass to Shining. “Don’t be so gloomy, Shining! We all understand this is what you want~” She then trotted away to resume her work, leaving Shining in a completely stunned state while holding the champagne glass in his hoof.

Shining’s body barely moved an inch from his stoic position, but he turned his head around to glance back at Cadance wide-eyed. “E… Everypony knows?”

“Well, almost everypony in this room, at least,” noted Cadance with a shrug. “I, ummm… I kinda had it set up that way so the ceremony wouldn’t be interrupted.”

Shining’s head reeled back in shock, and he then turned back around to gawk at the room full of Crystal Ponies galavanting about so cheerfully. It was one thing to process the idea that they all knew of his cuckolded status, but the thought that they all knew he was being gelded was another can of worms altogether. After taking a couple of panicked breaths to keep himself from passing out, Shining handed Cadance his champagne glass before going out to the party. Cadance bit her lip worriedly, but didn’t try to stop her Ex while his glass was hovering in her magic.

“GUYS!” Shining rushed up to a group of three Crystal Ponies who were conversing privately, and tried not to sound too paranoid as he said, “I’m really sorry for interrupting your chat, b-but ummm…” Shining looked around again, and then leaned in close to the ponies to ask discreetly, “... a-are you guys aware what’s going to happen tonight?”

“Why, of course!” said the pegasus stallion within the group, who placed a hoof on Shining’s shoulder and said cheerfully, “You were going to undergo that initiation by Sombra, right? I gotta say, it’s really impressive that you have the balls to go through with something that big~”

One of the mares beside him snickered from his wording, and jeered jokingly to the Private, “Well, you currently have the balls to do it. Although that might not be the case afterward~”

She and the other two Crystal Ponies giggled to that little quip, treating Shining’s incoming emasculation like it was a cute little joke. Shining gawked in shock from how positively they were treating Sombra’s plans, and he had to trot away from them before they finished laughing. He then went up to another castle staff who was carrying a tray full of shrimp, and asked the stallion, “Excuse me! Do you, ummm… do you know where Sombra is?”

The pony scoffed with an amused smirk on Shining, and asked, “Ooh, are you getting antsy already? Maybe he should’ve done this ceremony a little sooner if you were gonna get that riled up about it~”

Shining reeled back with a disturbed stare on the pony, unsure whether or not to take that joke as something to be offended by. The stallion then sighed with a more accepting smile on the Private, and flicked him with his tail as he walked past him and said, “Hey, don’t worry too much about it. You’ve already done everything else for Cadance and Sombra, so you might as well go all the way~”

Shining froze as he watched the staff pony walk off to continue his work, and stood by himself in the middle of the ballroom for a long and awkward moment. Just as he was about to process what was going on, one of the Crystal Guards walked up to Shining and asked, “Hey there, Shining! You feeling nervous?~”

“Ummm… Well, that and a lot of other emotions,” he replied with an uneasy shrug, all while averting his eyes from the Guard’s chipper smile. Given how horribly Sombra had treated all these ponies a millennium ago, the idea that they were all cool with this was beyond jarring for the poor Private to comprehend. But since he felt the strong need to talk with Cadance again, Shining nervously smiled back at the stallion and said, “But, ummm… I think I’ll be alright, so… carry on, Corporal.”

The Guard huffed with a raised brow, and then shrugged before walking away from him. “Alright then, Private~” he said with a coy-looking smirk back at Shining, as well as a wink that left the cuckold absolutely speechless. Even though he should’ve known the ponies would know about that too, Shining still needed a moment to process being called such a demeaning title by somepony other than Sombra. And while the Private stood in stunned silence, he didn’t seem to notice when Sombra walked up to him with Cadance by his side.

“Ah, there you are~” said Sombra with a cockily wide grin, while wearing a tailored black suit with a red tie matching Cadance’s dress. For a moment, Shining was reminded of how similarly the couple were dressed like back at that Garden Formal in Canterlot; except this time, there was no denial that everypony in the room was aware that they were the married couple. Sombra even had a foreleg wrapped around the small of his wife’s back, which didn’t even raise a brow from any of the ponies aside from Shining himself. While Cadance remained close to her husband’s side, Sombra snatched Shining’s champagne glass from her aura of magic to drink for himself. “Cadance just told me what happened,” he said after downing the class in one go, and openly groping the Princess to elicit a giggle from her. “And I must say, it’s downright impressive that she managed to pull it off so well! Even I couldn’t have thought of doing something this big~”

“Well,” noted Cadance after she finished giggling, and responded with a nurturing nuzzle to the side of Sombra’s neck, “I’m pretty sure that I was the only one who could inform ponies of this without causing a riot. You wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

“True, true…” Sombra nodded with a pursed muzzle, but still looked very chipper as he eyed the stunned Shining with a smirk. “Heh~ I know, right? It’s amazing I can actually do this in the open now. But you know what the best part of it is?~”

Despite the fact that Cadance was standing right beside him, Sombra leaned in with an especially wicked grin as he eyed Shining, and said tauntingly, “Now that everypony knows and accepts this, you have absolutely no way to stop me~”

Shining felt like a massive weight just latched onto his heart to send it sinking down to the pit of his stomach. Even with all of the other mortifying things he had to do over the past few days, that realization was somehow able to strike him the hardest. Since it was obvious that the Crystal Empire was strangely okay with Sombra and Cadance being the new couple, that meant that Shining wouldn’t receive any outside help for the torment he allowed himself to be placed in. Heck, given how sadistic Sombra has shown himself to be, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he got the rest of the castle to mistreat Shining from then on, just to lay down the humiliation even thicker. The Private had no idea what to say, or even how to feel about being thrusted into a situation this shocking; while he may have been justified at thinking the gelding ceremony would be his biggest hurdle, Cadance’s efforts proved to be just as effective in making him feel absolutely hopeless.

And worst of all, it took everything for Shining not to squirm due to how badly his chastity cage was straining underneath his trousers.

“Sombra, come on,” warned Cadance with a sharp nudge against her husband’s side, which prompted him to pull back from Shining respectfully. “I know you’re excited, but Shining still needs a moment to process everything.”

Shining nodded thankfully back at his Ex, and Cadance used that moment to turn her attention towards him. “And Shining, I… I’m really sorry I thrusted this on you so suddenly. You know I had the best intentions in mind, right?”

“Y-Yeah, I know,” he muttered with another weak nod, before he took a quick breath to better recompose himself. “It’s fine, I’ll be fine. I just… I really wasn’t expecting to learn all of this at once.”

“Well, look on the bright side,” said Sombra as he spoke optimistically to his Private. “Not only are we able to continue this relationship without judgement, but now you can stop pretending to be something you’re not~”

Shining looked back at Sombra as his eyes slowly widened. “Ummmm…” Even though he was sure he understood what Sombra meant by that, Shining gulped worriedly before he asked his Superior, “Wh… What do you mean by that?”

“What do you think?~” Sombra’s eyes narrowed on Shining as his smile widened immensely, and he tilted his head while speaking in a methodical tone. “Everypony knows that you’re a Private now. They know that I’m the Prince now. They know about my legal marriage to Cadance, and not a single pony has tried to speak up against it. Isn’t that something to feel relieved about?~”

Despite knowing that he shouldn’t have felt relieved by such a stunning change of fate, Shining couldn’t deny that the Crystal Empire’s respect for them was certainly welcoming. Even though being a divorced cuckold was still a grim fate to carry, he’d rather deal with this as opposed to being decapitated with his head on the Crystal Castle’s pikes. And as he glanced back at Cadance, who looked genuinely happy while standing beside the true father of her foal, Shining couldn’t help but smile weakly and shrug his head. “Well, I… I guess it’s a little relieving…”

“Exactly,” said Cadance as she tried to cheer her Ex up with a warmer smile. “Plus, I mean… it’s not like you don’t enjoy being a Private, do you?”

Shining knew it was beyond dumb to say yes to such a question, especially while he was acting as a Prince, but he still nodded his head sheepishly while looking away from her with a blush. “I-It’s, ummm… it’s definitely something I’m… n-not against, I suppose…”

Cadance rolled her eyes with a playful smirk in response to Shining’s unconfident answer. Meanwhile, Sombra just huffed with an unamused scowl on the blushing stallion. “Oh, please!” he stated with a raising of his brows, before he said towards Shining, “You really shouldn’t be so sheepish about your wants anymore, Private. The secrecy is over! You can finally be exactly who you want to be.”

“I mean, I guess so, but--” Shining caught enough of what Sombra said to shoot a worried glance back at him. “... Ummmm… What?”

“Don’t ‘What’ me, Private~” Sombra’s grin widened to an obscenely sinister degree, and he motioned his head towards the massive stage at the head of the ballroom. Shining’s eyes widened the moment he realized what his Superior was implying, and he stared between Sombra and Cadance with a clear look of trepidation. Even though Cadance tried to look supportive, Shining’s focus went back to Sombra as he went up close to his Private, and spoke in a much more malicious tone, “Private Armor… Since it’s no longer necessary to keep this charade up any further, I’m ordering you to make this exchange of power truly official~”

Shining’s eyes bulged open, and he had to take an involuntary step back from Sombra out of fear. “Wait, are… a-are you talking about… l-like…”

Since the Private was too flustered by that order to make his clarification audible, Cadance stepped in to place a hoof on his shoulder. “Yes, Shining,” she said with a calming tone as she smiled in acceptance to her Ex’s fate. “This formal isn’t just about you becoming a true Private. It’s about you giving in to what you really want~”

Shining blinked a couple times, and then looked down at his hooves to process what they were saying. “You… Y-You mean, like… surrendering?”

Sombra and Cadance nodded at the same time, with their smiles showing that they discussed this plan in advance. “Exactly,” noted Sombra with a prideful smile, before he added, “Tonight, you’re being ordered to officially withdraw your Royal status, and let yourself be seen as the gelded cuckold you know you are~”

When Shining meekly glanced back up at his Superior’s wicked smile, Sombra narrowed his eyes again and added, “Oh, and one more thing… There’s one thing that none of these ponies know about, and you’re going to be the one to tell them on stage~”

He then leaned in close to Shining’s ear, and whispered the little detail that caused the Private’s blush to turn a full-blown red. “WHAT?!” Shining instantly reeled back from Sombra before gawking at his Ex. “You failed to mention THAT part?!”

“Sombra thought it would be good for you to do,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Not to mention, I… can’t exactly see them reacting poorly now, can they?”

Shining’s ears lowered worriedly, but he kept himself from answering that question dishonestly. Even though he really wished that they mentioned that big detail, the Private eventually sighed with his eyes closed and shook his head. “No, no… they probably wouldn’t…”

“So it’s settled!” shouted Sombra in a loud and boisterous voice, which was notable enough to make most of the ballroom attendees pause and glance over at them. Shining blushed hard upon seeing so many ponies’ eyes directed at them, even though he knew that it doesn’t matter anymore. But while the Private stood with his legs quivering beneath his fancy suit, Cadance nestled herself close beside her husband as he shouted out, “EVERYPONY! I think now is the perfect time to commence this ceremony!~”

Even though Shining was far from prepared for such a daunting moment, there was nothing for him to do as he heard the cheerful applause all the Crystal Ponies gave to that proclamation. Many of the castle staff and Guards were clapping and cheering so optimistically, that it took everything in the Private to keep from thinking some mind-control spell was in play. But as he looked around and saw all those chipper smiles directed towards him, his blush deepened with a weird sense of comfort from how positive the response felt. And as he was walked towards the stage with the assistance of Sombra and Cadance, he bit his lip as he heard his Ex say assuredly, “It’s all alright, Shining. I promise you, you’ll feel a lot better by the time it’s all over.”

That statement felt unbelievably unfitting due to the context of this event itself, but Shining still nodded with a shaky smile by the time he was lead up the stage’s steps. The moment his hooves touched the bare stage, Shining realized he was left all alone while Sombra and his wife stood to the side. Because of that, his heart was pounding uncontrollably as he trotted by himself to the front of the stage, and saw the hundreds of Crystal Ponies all in attendance for such a shocking event. He didn’t want to think that this was actually happening, but he still persevered with a weak exhale by the time he touched the base of the microphone stand with his hoof.

“... Uhhhhhhh…” Shining’s face was a beet-red as he looked out to the crowds, and he was standing by himself under the near-blinding spotlights pointed down at him. Fortunately, none of his “subjects” tried to interrupt him as he tried to speak, even if it meant the ballroom was under a heavy veil of awkward silence for several seconds. The Private eventually found himself able to take a deep breath, and looked out to the audience as he tried to speak. “Ummmm… Before I start, do… do all of you actually know?”

Sombra groaned with a roll of his eyes, while Cadance nudged him warningly to stay quiet. Meanwhile back on the stage, Shining’s eyes widened when he saw everypony either nodding their heads respectfully, or raising their hooves to show they were aware. The sight was shocking for him to see on such a grand scale, but it also gave him enough closure to close his eyes and sigh in slight relief. “W-Well, ummm… I guess I can’t be upset that Cadance did the hard part, huh?”

That line got a sizeable amount of laughter from the crowd, as well as Cadance who giggled with a hoof over her mouth. As for Shining, he took another breath before he looked over at his Ex, and said with a weak smile, “B-But uhhhhh… I really do appreciate you handling such a big thing, Cadance. It… It really means a lot for you to put yourself on the line for me.”

The crowd all applauded towards the married couple, with Sombra holding Cadance close and smiling cockily. Cadance nodded graciously back at her Private with a prideful smile of her own, happy that Shining was able to respect the lengths she went for this event. The stallion then huffed before looking back out at the audience, and tried to continue his impromptu speech without much hesitation. “A-And, ummm… it also means a lot that all of you are okay with this too. A-Although, ummm… it’s still really surprising that you do.”

Another round of laughter came from the crowd following that remark, most likely due to how truthful that point may have been. Nevertheless, Shining was comforted enough from their support to smile a little more naturally, and then said, “But I… I really do appreciate everything you’ve all done for me. And… it says a lot that you all were willing to do this to make me feel comfortable with myself…”

Shining sighed as he looked down for a moment, mostly due to the shock of how honestly that statement came out. He didn’t want to think that he actually felt comfortable being under Sombra’s hoof like some prisoner, but those words didn’t carry any insincerity when they came out of his mouth. And while that fact wanted to worry him for a second or two, the stallion kept speaking as he looked back out to the listening crowd. “A-And I… I do feel better about the fact that everypony knows about… about me, and…”

Shining may have known he was in a safe space to be truthful, but spending over a year in secrecy left him feeling the lingering effects of apprehension. But as he paused to glance back at Cadance, she nodded with a supportive smile while standing beside Sombra. For some reason, that sight prompted Shining to smile more comfortably, and then return to his speech towards the audience. “... and that you all are so supportive of… o-of Cadance’s remarriage to Prince Sombra.”

Just an hour or so ago, Shining would’ve thought that saying such a thing before the Crystal Ponies would be an invitation for an instant beating. But as soon as he actually confessed such a shocking thing out loud, his eyes widened upon hearing the crowd applauding to his admission. The sounds of supportive claps and whistles caused his heart to skip a beat, and his nervous smile widened quite a bit in response to that unexpected praise. “Ummm… Wow, I… I can’t believe I just said that…”

Shining looked down at himself again, and huffed with a bewildered smile as he processed how good that moment felt. He was so worried about how dire the consequences would’ve been for himself and Cadance for months, but that applause helped to wash away all his apprehensions in an instant. He may have still felt fidgety about what he was doing, but his smile became more genuine as he returned to his speech. “But… I suppose it really is a good thing, isn’t it? I mean… Cadance was able to find somepony who makes her feel special, a-and I… I guess I found Sombra to be special too…”

That response caused Sombra’s brows to raise up in surprise, but he stayed silent while the Private continued. “I can’t believe I’m actually thanking somepony like Sombra for all that he did. Especially to all of you, but I… I really do feel like he made me the pony I am right now. Just a year ago, I was your Empire’s Prince, and happily married to one of the greatest mares I could ever hope to have for myself…”

Cadance smiled a little wider after hearing that praising statement, while her husband stared at Shining with a more respectful smile that grew across his muzzle. Meanwhile, Shining closed his eyes for a second to take a breath, before he looked back out to the audience and spoke more sincerely. “But now, I… I can honestly say that I do feel alright where I am right now. Sombra helped me realize what I found to be the most important things to value in my life, and he… he helped me to better appreciate what I have before it was gone. And… I know that it’s a strange thing to actually say out loud, but… but I really do feel happy…”

As soon as that last word came out of his mouth, Shining bit his lips together to keep from smiling too wide from that realization. But since he could tell he was among nothing but support and acceptance, the Private breathed in before he finished his statement with a strange sense of pride building up inside of him. “I… I really am happy to say that… that Sombra made me a cuckold!”

Shining would’ve never imagined that saying something that stunning would warrant applause, but the Crystal Ponies all cheered and clapped like he just defeated Queen Chrysalis himself. The level of praise and respect he felt from his former subjects made him smile even wider, and he breathed out shakily to keep from getting teary-eyed. Despite how weird the moment should’ve felt for him, Shining couldn’t let his positive feelings die down as he kept going. “I… I’m also happy to say that ever since Cadence's pregnancy announcement, that I… I was given a permanent demotion by Sombra himself, so that I shall only be a Private from now on. A-And even though that doesn’t sound great, it… it helped me to understand how important it is to show respect to my Superior. Plus, I…”

Shining looked back at the married couple with a warm smile, and pointed a hoof over towards them as he added with a blushed smile, “I couldn’t think of a better way to show how much I care about Sombra. Not just as a friend, or as a Prince. But as… a-as the…”

Shining closed his eyes for a couple seconds to prepare himself, since this was the big reveal he knew Cadance never disclosed to everypony in the room. But by that point, Shining couldn’t have felt more content with sharing the news as he looked back out to the crowds, and enthusiastically proclaimed, “But also, as the REAL Father to Cadance’s future foal!~”

Unlike the previous responses Shining received from the audience, that bombshell caused all of the Crystal Ponies to gasp loudly in unified shock. For a moment, Shining froze with a fearful look, and stood wide-eyed in the middle of the stage after the gasps died down. There were a few seconds of uncomfortable silence that loomed in, which caused even Cadance to grow worried beside her husband. However, after about five seconds of nothing, Shining finally received a response from the crowd of Crystal Ponies following that confession:

A very loud, and very passionate uproar of applause.

“YES!~” Cadance beamed in elation when she heard that optimistic response, happy that the news of her foal’s patronage wouldn’t cause an uproar after everything else. Meanwhile, Shining let out a very relieved sigh as he held a hoof over his chest, and took a couple heavy breaths following that scare. Fortunately, due to how enthusiastically the Crystal Ponies responded to that fact, Shining knew that he would be alright for whatever happened next. So when Sombra finally came out to join Shining Armor on the stage, the Private could only smile with a respectful nod as he stepped away from the microphone.

“Alright, alright!” Sombra made a ‘settle down’ motion with his hoof to extinguish the momentous applause, and then said with a prideful smile, “Yes, I know, I know. It really is great that I’m finally going to be a Father. Not to mention, it means a lot that I can actually say it without being beheaded by you guys~”

Sombra received a strong bout of laughter from the crowd, despite how morbid it may have been due to the context and truth of the matter. But alas, Sombra then pointed a hoof towards Shining as he proclaimed, “And I must say, after everything that’s happened since my return and reformation, it truly means so much that I was able to help Shining Armor see himself as I see him: a tenacious, dedicated little cuckold who loves being under the embrace of a Superior stallion’s hoof~”

That comment may have been a little much for Shining to hear about himself, but he couldn’t argue with the applause Sombra received following that dissertation. Instead, the Private remained standing beside his Superior while blushing hard, and hearing him say in addition, “Furthermore, it really says a lot that despite my lack of useable magic, that I was able to take everything I wanted from Shining without question, and still receive his respect and friendship in the end. In a way, it’s almost like I conquered more as his Prince than I did as his Enemy~”

Another round of laughter rolled around the ballroom, while Shining winced bashfully due to how truthful that statement was. But as the Prince continued with his thankful speech, he placed a hoof on Shining’s shoulder to say with strong conviction, “But of course, I can’t say I’ve taken everything from my Private just yet. There’s still several important things that need to be done to establish my place back in this wonderful Empire, and it’s an absolute honor to have Shining here to provide me with what I need. So to start things off…”

Sombra gave a friendly pat to Shining’s shoulder so he could turn obediently towards his Prince. When Shining went to face his Superior, the entire crowd could see the slight difference in height as Sombra looked down at him with a prideful smile. Shining lowered his head sheepishly while blushing, but still smiled to himself from being able to show this side of him without judgement. Even with all those Crystal Ponies looking up at them, Shining didn’t feel the least-bit hesitant as he heard Sombra’s dauntingly firm voice. “Private Shining Armor? Remove that Royal regalia from your body, and submit your power to me~”

Shining’s heart was thundering in his chest, but his blushed smile remained unchanged as he nodded to that order. The Private lit up his horn, and pulled off the large golden plating that had been resting around his neck for so long. With a content sigh, Shining closed his eyes before he bowed himself before Sombra’s hooves, and floated his regalia up towards him. “Prince Consort Sombra, as the previous head of the Crystal Empire, I hereby surrender my own Royal status, so that I may remain as your loyal Private!”

Shining couldn’t believe that he actually did something as classless as quitting his leadership role as Prince, which went against everything he was raised to uphold as a member of the Royal Guard. But the very moment he handed over his golden plating to his former enemy, he couldn’t help smiling to himself contently as he heard that crowd of ponies cheering him on. This should’ve been the worst possible fate for a stallion like himself to do, since it basically branded him as an absolute coward for future Equestrian history. But since he already came out as a cuckold, and was going to be gelded soon after this, Shining could only bow before his Superior as he savored how ironically freeing the experience was leaving him.

“Private Armor,” said Sombra as he stood dominantly over his cuckold, and held that priceless golden regalia in his hoof, “due to your undying diligence and dedication, it’s an honor to call you my personal Guard. And as an effort to establish my rightful place, I need you to show yourself as the lesser stallion.”

Shining looked up at him with a brow raised in confusion, unsure what his Prince meant by such a thing. Sombra motioned for Shining to stand back upright, and then grew a devilish smile as he looked his Private up and down. “Private? I need you to remove your clothing, please~”

Shining blushed profusely upon hearing such an order, but the respectul claps he heard from the crowd prompted him to comply with a sheepish nod. Shining used his magic to remove his tailored jacket and shirt, and folded them neatly before placing them on the stage floor. When he went to remove his pants, Shining tried not to grow too embarrassed from hearing a few wolf-whistles from various ponies in the audience. By the time his trousers finally slipped down from his hind-legs, Shining placed them aside before hearing Sombra say, “Now… I want you to expose yourself to the crowd~”

The Private’s muzzle clenched tightly in trepidation, while Cadance stood to the side and blushed from hearing the crowd’s murmured giggles. But with only a preemptive sigh in contemplation, Shining complied with a weak nod of his head before he turned himself around, with his rear-end now facing the crowd of Crystal Ponies. Shining took a deep breath with his eyes closed, and then bent himself over with one of his hind-legs raised up high. As soon as the stallion’s tiny pink chastity cage was finally exposed to the crowd, Shining winced as he heard the uproar of laughter from his former subjects, as well as the distinct clicks of several flashing cameras.

“As you all can see,” declared Sombra as he presented Shining’s demeaning stance towards the crowd, “I have kept your former Prince’s stallionhood locked up for almost a full year! And during that time, Shining has never been granted an orgasm by myself or Princess Cadance. Isn’t that right, Shining?”

The Private exhaled shakily through his nostrils while his muzzle was touching the floor, and he replied with a meek-sounding, “Y-Yes, my Prince. That’s correct.”

“Well, don’t you worry, Private~” cooed Sombra in a sickly sweet tone as he leaned down close to Shining’s face, and said before everypony in attendance, “Because in just a few moments, you’ll never have to worry about having an orgasm again~”

Shining’s blush didn’t dissipate for a second, and remained burning hotly against his cheeks as he heard another round of uplifting applause. But for Prince Sombra, who was still leaned in close to Shining’s ear with a sadistic grin, he decided to push his Private’s limits as he said, “But before you can earn such a highly-sought title as being my personal Gelding, I need you to comply to several orders to show how much you deserve it~”

When Shining glanced up to see the Prince’s face, Sombra was giving a delighted-looking grin that was practically dripping with toxicity. The Private’s blush grew even heavier than before, and his eyes darted between Sombra and the giggling crowd behind them. He almost felt like a tiny creature of prey that had been captured by its predator, and then ruthlessly played with before it could experience that brutal kill. Sombra didn’t just want him to submit himself as his personal bitch; he wanted Shining to show just how low he was willing to go in front of everypony in this room, without any way to protect himself from the scrutiny.

And despite how horrifying such an idea should’ve sounded, Shining’s ears perked up as he overheard one of the ponies in the audience shout out, “Oh my gosh, I think he’s leaking!~”

The Private cringed with his eyes clenched shut as he overheard the uproar of laughter behind him, and felt his unused cock straining relentlessly inside of his cage for them all to see. A couple drops of his precum fell to the floor of the stage between his quivering legs, and his cage was incessantly twitching from the humiliating display he was upholding for his twisted Prince. And worst of all, Shining instantly regretted the moment he tried to glance back at his Ex wife, who was also giggling with a hoof over her muzzle alongside everypony else.

“NOW THEN!” Before Shining could process the dauntingly horrid scenario he had allowed himself to be in, Sombra’s booming voice caught his attention and prompted him to stand back upright. The Prince motioned him to stand back before his Superior; and as Shining did so, Sombra maintained his domineering pose while smirking smugly down at him. Cadance walked out onto the stage, carrying a small stack of papers on her magic aura. The audience clapped and cheered to the sight of their pregnant Princess, but quickly turned silent as she went up beside her husband. Sombra held the microphone in his hoof while looking down at Shining, and said with an elatedly wide smile, “Since you already relinquished a lot to be my cuckold, I’m ordering you to sign these documents to surrender everything else required to be my Gelding.”

Shining nodded with a bitten lip, but tried not to feel too humiliated while standing naked on the stage. As his Ex floated over the stack of documents, Shining took a breath as he took them with a hoof and began to read through the papers. He wasn’t sure what else could’ve been necessary to sign after those divorce papers, but it was obvious that the couple did their homework. Along with an official notary that would transfer official rule from himself to Sombra, Shining also saw that the paper after that would decree for his demotion to be permanent by all legal rulings. The document after that one was an official bank transfer statement, which would make Sombra the legal owner of all of Shining’s personal assets and properties for the present or future. The next sheet was a decree for Shining to legally abide by any and all orders issued by not only Sombra, but any higher ranking Guard or castle staff in the Crystal Empire; strangely enough, that order struck Shining fairly hard due to how hard he worked to make himself the Head of the Royal Guard years ago. But after all these documents are signed, he would basically be a peasant within his former castle.

But despite how mortifying all of those documents may have looked to see before him, Shining actually gasped in horror when he caught sight of the final two sheets at the bottom of the stack: One was an Emancipation Notice, which would make it so he was no longer the legal Father of Flurry Heart. The other sheet were adoption forms, which already had Sombra’s signature in place to take the role as Flurry Heart’s new legal Father.

Shining’s jaw dropped, and he stared back up at Cadance with a mortified look on his face. But despite how he may have looked, Cadance carried a nervous smile while looking between him and the papers. “I know that’s a big one to agree to,” she said apologetically, before she nestled herself in closer to Sombra’s side and added, “But… Sombra did tell me you wanted to be hurt, right? And… I think it’s clear she deserves a Prince as a Father~”

Shining’s heart broke in two, and he looked like he was about to start sobbing in front of the entire audience as that horrifying realization sunk in. After all the months he and Cadance spent wanting to keep things as civil and safe as possible for this “relationship,” the public reveal of his cuckolded status meant that all those barriers were gone now. Any semblance of normalcy or security he may have had were now thoroughly gone, and even his closest companion was now willing to show him the same pain that his Prince had. That moment of realization was one of the most excruciating moments Shining had ever felt in his life, and he closed his eyes with a pained wince as he tried not to break down and cry.

Unfortunately, the only drops that came from Shining’s body were the globs of precum that were still dripping from the tip of his straining chastity cage.

“Private?~” asked his Superior as he narrowed his eyes on Shining, and his intense tone of voice caused the Private’s fur to stand on end. “I gave you an order to fulfill.”

Shining wasn’t sure that felt worse in that terrifying moment of silence: That he knew he had to sign all of those documents, and place himself in such a lowly position with no hope of salvation -- Or the fact that despite how horrid that order truly was, Shining didn’t feel any sense of urgency to decline it. Even though the last thing he should’ve wanted was to sign any of those papers (especially the last two), Shining could only breathe out in reluctance as his Ex handed him a pen. As he took it in his magic, Shining made one last glance up at Cadance to see her hesitant, but still comforting smile back at him.

The Private sighed as he looked back down at his papers, and nodded to himself to continue. And as the crowd of Crystal Ponies watched and photographed such a dire moment in his life, Shining started to add his signature to the bottom lines of every paper presented to him. With each flick of the pen in his aura, Shining felt his heart growing heavier as he signed away everything he held so dear to him before this moment: His Royal status, his title, his assets and finances, his sense of leadership as he was brought down to the rank of Private for good…

And with a heavy exhale of acceptance, Shining Armor let the last of his old life vanish from his grip as he signed away his very lineage.

“Th-There,” he muttered with his head hung low, before he handed all of the signed documents back to his Superior. “I… I gave you everything, my Prince…”

Sombra gave the largest shit-eating grin imaginable as he stared down at his Private in pure satisfaction, and the Crystal Ponies all applauded to Shining’s demeaning display. Fortunately for the Private himself, his Ex came in to give him a strong and supportive hug. Even though it took a few seconds for him to reciprocate the gesture, Shining was able to eventually smile weakly as he hugged Cadance back, and heard all of that uplifting applause celebrating him for his efforts.

“Congratulations, Private,” said Cadance as she pulled back from her former husband, and stood back beside her current spouse with a prideful smile. “Now that everything is taken away, you can truly be the stallion you know you are~”

Shining wasn’t sure how to process Cadance’s wording, but he still nodded his head while hearing the ponies in the crowd clapping in agreement. Sombra looked out towards the side of the stage, and made a motion with his hoof to bring in something that had been hidden. Shining heard several hoofsteps coming in from behind him, and turned around to see three Crystal Ponies using their magic to float in a large item. He blinked a couple times in confusion as he tried to discern what it was, since it looked like an inverted gynecologist chair; however, the back of the large chair was positioned downwards from the base, which meant anypony who was braced in it would have their back arched uncomfortably far back.

The Private’s eyes then widened in shocked realization, as he figured out that the position was meant for him to lay across the chair on his stomach. And as the device was being placed at the front of the stage, Shining gulped as he realized his backside would be pointed directly towards the crowd. Every single Crystal Pony that he had once saved from the clutches of Sombra’s reign, would now bear witness to him being willing castrated by the very same Tyrant. And as he stood beside the chair with nothing on but his chastity cage, Shining felt unbelievably isolated underneath the stagelight illuminating his defeated form.

“Wonderful!” proclaimed Sombra with pride, as he walked around the inverted gynecologist chair and cackled in delight. One of the Crystal Ponies also brought out a large magnifying glass, which was standing atop a metal brace with rollers on the bottom like an office chair. Shining was able to see that with its positioning, it would give everypony a crystal-clear view of the procedure as it zoomed in up-close. Of course, before Shining could be on the other end of that revealing display, Sombra turned his attention back towards his Guard and said, “Now then! There’s one final matter I would like to address before we proceed to the... ‘cutting ceremony’~”

That little play-on-words gartered a good amount of giggling from the crowds, and made Shining’s ears pull down with an embarrassed slouch. Cadance came up to rub the Private’s back reassuringly, hoping to get him in better spirits for what was to come next. Meanwhile, Sombra faced Shining directly before he spoke in a deep and brooding tone. “Private Armor… Since you’ve already sacrificed so much, all that’s left for me to take from you is your very pride. So with that being said…”

Shining looked up at his Superior with a heavy blush, and an already defeated expression on his face. Sombra motioned a hoof out towards the audience, but kept his narrowing sights on Shining as he said with a dementedly wide grin. “To ensure that you’re truly content with such a permanent act of sacrifice, I, Prince Sombra of the Crystal Empire, hereby order you to beg to be gelded~”

Shining’s eyes shot to the size of dinner plates, and his body quivered as he heard the strong rounds of “Ooooohs” and giggles from all around. For a split-second, Shining wasn’t sure if he could actually submit himself in such a horrifying way for the promise of Sombra’s equally morbid procedure. But with Cadance’s hoof still nestled against his back, Shining felt her comforting rubs as she whispered into his ear, “It’s alright, Private. You already came this far, haven’t you? You know it would be for the best~”

The Private let his Ex’s oddly reassuring words sink in as he closed his eyes, and breathed out to get himself out of his reluctant state of mind. He had just given up everything he had to that sadistic Dom looming over him, and he knew that nothing could save him if he tried to turn away now. But despite knowing how helplessly trapped he was, his heart raced as he thought about all of those peering eyes from the audience. The idea of having the Crystal Ponies see him in such a way was beyond wrong, and the weight of this entire spectacle should’ve been coming down on him like an atom bomb at that point…

But after taking a deep breath, Shining let the final weights of his shame wash away from his body as he collapsed head-first to be at level with Sombra’s hooves.

“PLEASE, PRINCE SOMBRA!!!” Shining cried out in absolute mercy, his eyes clenched shut as he heard the audience beginning to laugh. His forelegs clung around Sombra’s hooves like a colt crying for his Mommy, and he wailed out pathetically for the approval of his grinning Superior. “Please, PLEASE let me be your Gelding!! I’ve given you everything I have!! EVERYTHING!! I beg for you to accept my pleas!! PLEASE GIVE ME THIS MOMENT, MY PRICE!! I BEG OF YOU TO GELD ME!!! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE CASTRATE ME I BEG OF YOU!!!~ REMOVE WHAT I DON’T DESERVE!!!~”

Shining had no idea why those groveling pleas were coming out of his muzzle so naturally, but he didn’t try to stop them from being belted out for all of the Crystal Ponies to laugh and applaud at. Cadance had to look away from her Ex with an embarrassed blush, almost as if she was starting to regret having married him in the first place. Meanwhile, Sombra leaned his head back to cackle in dominant glee, and kept the Private begging at his hooves while dozens of camera flashes immortalized such a twisted moment. “HAAAA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAA!!! Wonderful, Private!! Absolutely wonderful display!!~”

Sombra then took Shining by surprise as he pulled him up from the floor with both hooves, and then gave him a powerfully intense kiss before the crowd. Everypony roared in applause as the impromptu kiss lingered on for a long moment. Cadance was understandably shocked to see her husband doing such a thing, but she could only shrug in acceptance as the Princess of Love. Meanwhile, Shining’s wide-eyed gaze slowly turned to a half-lidded look of contentment, before he relaxed in his Prince’s embrace and allowed him to use his muzzle so dominantly. By the time Sombra finally pulled back with a wet pop, Shining could barely stand on his own hooves as he stumbled a little on the stage.

After the crowd of ponies finished their celebratory cheers and laughter from such an entertaining act of sadism, Sombra settled everypony down so he could continue with the ceremony. “Alright, alright! I know you’re all excited, but now we need to remain quiet. I’m going to be performing the procedure myself, so I need the utmost focus while Shining is being restrained. Understood?”

As the audience all nodded silently to their Prince, Shining felt several auras of magic grabbing his body so he could be lifted into the chair. He was placed belly-first atop the inverted bench, and found himself leaning down the back rest to stare down at the floor. Meanwhile, his hind-legs were quickly clasped within the chair’s metal braces, which helped to spread his hooves apart and fully expose himself before the curious crowd. Shining winced to himself as he heard lots of giggles from the audience, and felt one of the stagehands tying up his tail so it wouldn’t be in the way. He was completely turned away from everyone present, so he was all by himself as he heard the ponies behind him getting to work.

“Alright, now Cadance?” asked Sombra towards his wife. “May you remove the chastity cage, please?”

Despite the fact that his cage was meant to be permanent, Shining could hear a simple cracking noise as Cadance used her magic to disable the lock. His body twitched a bit as he felt that plastic prison finally prying away from his cock, which caused his long-constrained erection to finally stand at full attention in his prone state. There was another uproar of laughter in response to his sudden boner to the crowd, but Shining’s eyes were too clenched to pay attention as he cried out in pain from his cock aching intensely. He didn’t think an erection could feel so painful after months of constant locking, but it felt like he just pulled several muscles across his twitching shaft alone. “NNNGHHH!!”

“Don’t worry, Private,” assured Sombra, who was now seated on a stool beside his Private and his freed privates. “Cadance is just about to place a numbing spell on your backside.”

Shining’s ears flickered as he heard the distinct glittery noise of his Ex’s magic activating, before he felt an overwhelmingly strong tingling sensation that went from his waist to his rear hooves. “OOOH!!~” he blurted out with an involuntary shiver, which caused the crowd to giggle again as they watched their Princess’ magic take effect. In only a few seconds, Shining was able to sigh in elation as he felt that soreness from his erection wipe away near-instantly. “Mmmmmm… Aaaaahhhhh~”

“Alright, I’m just going to run a couple tests first, okay?” Sombra didn’t wait for Shining to nod, since he knew that the Private’s face couldn’t really be seen in his compromising position. So as the lone Private laid with his backside facing everypony, his muzzle twitched as he tried to focus on his Superior’s voice. “Okay, Private. I need you to tell me if you feel anything… here?”

Since he could hear his Ex’s magic aura still going, he wasn’t able to discern a thing due to the spell’s numbing effects. It was oddly relieving to know he really couldn’t feel a thing behind him, but he still replied rather nervously. “Ummm… N-No?”

“Good,” stated the Prince with a satisfied-sounding tone. “How about… here?”

“... No,” said Shining with a shake of his head. He could hear a couple impressed hums from the audience watching, seemingly happy that Cadance’s magic was working too.

“And… how about this?~” Shining heard a loud smack from his backside, which was apparently hard enough to rock his body forward a little in his bindings. He also heard many of the Crystal Ponies giggling from that response, but he wasn’t able to see where Sombra actually smacked him.

“No,” said Shining as he huffed with a confounded smile, “I… I seriously don’t know where you hit me.”

“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear~” said his Superior pridefully. His voice then became louder, most likely to address the crowd, as he said with conviction, “Alright, now that Shining is effectively numbed-over, I’m going to proceed with the gelding process. This might be graphic to some of you, so feel free to leave the venue if you’re not comfortable. But most of all, I require silence.”

Shining closed his eyes with a calming breath, and felt strangely grateful that he was the only pony who couldn’t see this procedure being done. He could only imagine how his balls looked behind that magnifying glass, or what the ponies were actually seeing from their point of view. Fortunately, since he was basically all by himself, Shining was able to focus on his breathing while hearing a few faint scraping noises behind him. “Alright… I think I got most of the hair removed from the incision point…”

Sombra’s instructor-like voice wasn’t the most comforting thing to hear, but Shining tried not to let it interfere with his stoic positioning. Since his balls were given a quick shave, the Private knew that Sombra would likely begin the actual surgery next. Luckily for him, his blinded perspective helped to keep him at ease as he laid in place, and heard Sombra’s voice continuing to speak. “Now… I’m going to begin the incision point right about… here~”

Shining couldn’t feel a thing, but his ears twitched as he heard a few soft gasps and groans from the crowd of ponies watching. He was thankful he couldn’t hear anything from Sombra’s instruments, so he was able to clear his head and try to think of something else. Unfortunately, that plan was better said than done as he heard his Superior’s voice continuing on. “Cadance, I need a couple rags to clean the area… Ah! Thank you…”

The longer Shining remained in that chair, the more his worrisome thoughts started to eat at his conscious as he tried to discern what was going on by sound alone. Aside from a few audible wipes, as well as a few hushed murmurs from the audience, Shining honestly had no idea what Sombra was actually doing. But given how quiet the tone had gotten since Sombra started this ceremony, the Private knew that his Superior was actually performing the surgery with utmost focus. Of course, just as Sombra let out a satisfied sigh, Shining winced as he heard a muffled round of groans coming from the audience.

“Yes, yes, I know how it looks,” said Sombra in a firm and reassuring tone towards the worried ponies, “but Shining isn’t able to feel a thing. Now then…”

Shining heard something metallic clicking behind him, which was followed by another round of gasps from stallions in the crowd. Of course, what caused Shining’s fur to stand up across his back was the distinct noise of two metal blades sliding against each other. Shining knew that those were clippers, and he tried not to flinch as he heard Sombra give the instrument a couple of testing clicks. “Ah! Perfect~ Now then…”

Shining froze up as he caught that pause, and he clenched his eyes shut to keep from thinking too hard about where those scissors were. However, while the Private tried to breathe out weakly and keep himself in check, he heard Sombra speak up towards him. “Shining? I’m just about to remove the first one. Any final words?~”

The stallion reopened his eyes and blinked a couple times, needing a couple seconds to process that question. Even though he was blushing heavily from the realization of what would happen next, it didn’t take long for Shining to close his eyes, and reply with a contented tone of voice, “L… Long live the King~”

“Excellent~” With that, Shining cringed as he heard those sharp metal blades close shut, which was quickly followed by a muffled thud. The Private needed a moment to process what he just allowed to happen, but was fortunate to hear a polite round of applause following that first cutting. But alas, as soon as the clapping died down, Shining heard Sombra’s voice speaking towards him again. “Alright, Private… I have the final one ready for removal. Are you ready?”

Shining honestly wished he could keep at least one of his balls, but he knew that option wasn’t going to happen. So as the last of his apprehension slipped out with a final exhale, Shining Armor closed his eyes as he nodded his head, and said firmly, “I… I’m ready, my Prince. C… C-Castrate me…”

“As you wish,” purred his Superior, before Shining heard a second snip to render him completely emasculated. Even though he was completely numb from the waist down, the Private could feel a faint phantom soreness across the inside of his thighs following the aftermath of such a procedure. Despite still feeling shocked that such a moment actually happened, Shining bit his lip with a shiver while hearing Sombra proclaim, “And with that, I’m very pleased to say that Shining Armor is officially a gelding!~”

Shining exhaled shakily through his nostrils while hearing the cheerful round of applause, which sounded more like how a crowd would react to a high school graduation. And even as he remained in place to be stitched-up, the Private couldn’t feel anything to have indicated he had just underwent a literal castration. But alas, by the time he felt those magical auras finally freeing his legs from the braces, his body felt tremendously weak while being floated over to a nearby wheelchair.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” assured Cadance in a soft-spoken tone, as she used her magic to carefully lower the Private into the heavily-padded seat. Her magic was still enveloping the bottom half of his body, which helped Shining to sit relaxedly following such a daunting ordeal. His face was heavily blushed as he looked back out at the audience, who were still cheering him on and clapping in celebration of his big ceremony.

And as Sombra walked up to him with the microphone, Shining couldn’t help smiling weakly up at his Superior as he asked, “Private? Are you feeling alright?~”

Shining nodded with a gracious smile, and leaned in towards the mic when Sombra presented it to him. “I… I feel alright, my Prince,” he said in a genuinely content, albeit weak tone of voice. But after taking a deep breath, Shining looked back out to the clapping crowd as he felt a newfound wave of elation sweeping across his chest. His heart swelled with pride at seeing all of those thankful faces, and his smile widened immensely in appreciation. Sombra and Cadance chuckled pridefully to their Private’s pleased reaction, and the Princess was the first to ask her Ex, “So, Shining? You have anything you want to say?~”

Shining nodded his head, and used his hoof to take Sombra’s microphone to speak freely. And as he smiled out towards the crowds, he took a heavy breath just as an uneasy tingling started to grow from between his legs. But just before that tingling could turn to intense pain, Shining shouted out with glee towards the Crystal Ponies, “I’M OFFICIALLY A GELD--”

“GGGGAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Shining Armor fell out of his futon, and landed face-first to the floor while screaming in agony. The lights of the bedroom quickly turned on, with Cadance being the first to rush out of bed. As Sombra jolted awake in a panic, his eyes widened as he caught sight of his Private writhing on the floor with his hooves over his crotch. Meanwhile, Cadance rushed up to Shining with a panicked look and shouted, “Ohmigosh! Shining are you okay?!”

“NNNNNGHHHHH!!!” Shining’s eyes were clenched shut as a couple tears trickled down his face, and his hooves were tightly latched over his straining chastity cage. “THE CAGE CRACKED!!!” he screamed out in unrelenting pain, and he shuddered from the intense pinching that the plastic was giving to the section of his cock that was trying to poke through the opening. “IT’S PINCHING ME!! GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!!!”

“SHIT!” shouted Sombra as he bolted out of the bed, and made a beeline to the doors to find help. “I need to find a Guard!”

“NO!!!” roared Shining and Cadance at the same time, not wanting to involve anypony else given their situation. Fortunately, Sombra was quick to freeze in realization before pulling away from the door, and wincing to himself in regret. As the Prince rushed over to help Shining directly, Cadance lit up her horn and said with a sharp huff, “Alright, that’s it! I’m making an executive decision!”

Cadance lit up her horn before she leaned down towards Shining’s crotch, and used her hooves to pry her Ex’s forelegs away. As the Private screamed out with his head reeled back, Cadance got a good view of the cuckold’s straining and broken chastity cage. Just as he said, there was a large crack that started from the open vents at the tip, and was pried open large enough to make part of his erection try to break through. The Princess may have not had a penis herself, but she still winced in second-hoof pain from Shining’s affliction. Fortunately, that sight lasted for only a second, as Cadance used a sharp flash of her magic to strike the cage directly and split it completely in half. The two halves of the pink plastic broke apart with a force strong enough to make the fragments shoot off wildly in two directions like a couple of bullets.

THWACK!!

“OOF!!” The very moment Shining’s cock was freed from its nearly year-long imprisonment, the throbbing cockhead shot out like a jack-in-a-box to strike Cadance’s face. Due to how badly erect the stallion had gotten from his dream, the force of that erection was strong enough to hit the Princess like a legitimate punch of a hoof. Cadance was thrown back after that meaty smack to her snout, and she hunched over on the floor while gripping her bloody nose with both hooves. “OWW!!”

“CADANCE!” shouted both stallions at the same time, even though Shining’s was notably more strained due to his earlier screaming. As Sombra rushed over to make sure his wife was okay, Shining winced as he went back to rubbing his freed cock again. He whimpered a little as he looked down at his stallionhood for the first time in almost a year, and saw how rigidly it was standing. There was a reddish welt at the top of his crowned head, and a couple of scrapes from where the flesh tried to cram its way through that sharp crack of the now useless cage. But other than that, Shining’s cock, as well as his untouched and deeply blue balls, were completely fine.

Shining panted heavily as he came down from that painful awakening, as well as the eerily detailed dream that he had just experienced which caused it. Even though he was extremely grateful that the ceremony didn’t actually occur in real life, his heart was still thundering from how everything felt during that recollection. His hooves curled up while he bit his bottom lip, and he tried his hardest not to touch himself and risk shooting his load. Not only did he want to keep himself from ruining his incoming sperm sample for Cadance, but he really didn’t want to treat that dream as something worth jerking off to.

“Shideeg?” said Cadance with a nasally and muffled voice, as she kept a hoof over her bleeding snout. Sombra was holding her close and rubbing her back to comfort her, but the Princess kept her focus on Shining as she asked, “Are you ogay?”

The stallion quickly nodded his head, and needed to take a couple more breaths before saying, “Yeah, I… I’m fine, Cadance… Th-Thank you…”

Cadance nodded happily and went back to her own injury, while Shining breathed out with a strong shudder and closed his eyes. Even though he felt unbelievably relieved, a million thoughts were flooding through his head due to everything that had just transpired. He didn’t want to say anything to Cadance or Sombra about it, so he was grateful that the two were focusing on each other for the time being. But while Sombra used some tissues to help clean up his spouse, Shining closed his eyes and thought to himself, Okay… first thing in the morning, I really need to make sure Luna didn’t witness that dream...