Cadence In A Minor
Chapter 13
The Princess And The Pea

For once, Shining Armor doesn't hesitate to open the door to Cadance and his apartment. It's dark inside and for a moment he stops, in case she has actually fallen asleep in the few minutes it took for him to walk from the garden entrance to the private wing. The sound of running water from the bathroom assures him that she is still awake. He opens up his mouth to call out to her, but something else intrudes upon his senses. The smell of a mare's sex is thick in the air, clear as day to him. He walks to the bedroom where a lone candle on the end table is lighting the bedside. He takes the view in in a glance: slightly damp, ruffled sheets, closed curtains, and there is The Thing.

It is purple. It is long. It is thick. It even has artificial veins on it to make it more realistic. His mind makes the connection, and, as the male psyche would have it, immediately deduces The Thing to surely be larger than his member. It glistens in the dim light, still wet from being inside his wife. He has to stop and just stare, not knowing what to do.

Maybe I could go stand outside for a few minutes, or maybe a few hours and come back and pretend I haven't seen anything? I mean... I can't believe she'd have something like this. Well... it's obvious she has one and I know mares do it alone too but I never thought Cady... and why does it have to be so big? Or is mine just that small? Is that a medium size? I have no idea.

The musk in the air starts calling to the more primal side of his mind and Little Shiny volunteers for guard duty with a throbbing salute.

Maybe I'm just imagining it. I could always make sure, right? Maybe I should... make sure?

He circles the bed and closes in on The Thing. He lifts his forelegs onto the bed and pushes his own member awkwardly forward, afraid to touch the purple toy. It sits neatly on the middle of the bed and despite his prancing, remains out of reach for an accurate comparison. He decides to brave it and lights up his horn to lift it up.

As soon as his magic takes hold of it, it starts glowing, and to his immediate horror, vibrating loudly with a buzzing sound. The second he picks it up, luck has it that the bathroom door opens and Cadance steps out with a towel wrapped around her head. He didn't even hear her turn the shower off. He turns to look at her, she looks at him, both of their eyes bulge out in horror, and The Thing slips free from Shining Armor's magic and drops onto the floor, still merrily vibrating and bouncing under the bed.

"Cady, I—" is all he can say before the door to the bathroom slams shut as Cadance runs inside. He looks at the door, then back at the bed, confused and bewildered. He dives onto his stomach and pulls the dildo from underneath the bed and looks at it, at a loss of what to do. His solution is to open the balcony door and drop the toy on the ground and toss several pillows on it to cover it up before closing the door and leaning on it.

He walks to the bathroom door. Cadance's sobs are easily audible from inside.

"Honey—"

"Go away!" she shouts.

"But I—"

"Just please go away!"

He thinks of leaving, but instead he just leans a forehoof on the door. "No. Please open the door and come talk with me, Honey."

"But you'll shout at me!"

"I... what? Cady, Honey, why would I do something like that?"

"Because I... because I did something vile like that with... the—"

"Who cares?" he asks and shakes his head for emphasis. "I know mares do it. It's no biggy. Just come out and we'll talk. I'm not angry or anything like that."

After a short silence, she asks in almost a whisper, "P-promise?"

"Promise. Now come on."

He hears the lock of the door rattle and the door slowly creaks open. Cadance is sitting on the floor, looking away from the door with her eyes cast down. The towel she had on her head has been thrown away and her wet mane is hanging in thick strands all around her face. He doesn't hesitate for a moment and walks in front of her, sits down, and grabs her in a tight hug. She struggles for a few seconds before leaning onto his shoulder and letting out a few deep, shuddering sobs. He strokes her mane.

After a while, he lets go of her and lights up his horn. "Come on, Cady. Let's go sit somewhere and we'll talk, okay? I've never been too comfortable with bathroom floors." Or toilet floors for that matter

She doesn't laugh at his weak attempt at humour, but does smile slightly. They walk over to the bed and sit down. He wraps a hoof around her shoulders. "So... a dildo?"

"Y-yes. A d-d-d..."

"Dildo. Dil. Do. Dildo. Almost like 'pinto'. You can do it."

She looks at him with squinted eyes and huffs. "Not funny."

He chuckles. "Sorry. I couldn't resist it."

"Yes. Fine. I bought a..." despite her best efforts, she has to swallow before trying again. "...dildo."

"There you go." He ruffles her damp mane like he would a schoolfilly's.

She pushes him away. "You're horrible!"

He falls onto his side and can't help but laugh out loud.

"Shiny! Stop it!" she huffs and turns away from him.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he gets up, stifling a few more chuckles. "So, was this the first time you were caught in the act?"

There's no answer from his wife. He puts his hooves onto her shoulders and starts to gently rub them. He feels the tension slowly ebb away from her.

"Come on, you can tell me," he says.

"...s" she whispers.

"Really?"

"...s"

"Wow."

She turns to look at him over her shoulder with the cutest pout he has ever seen on her face. "You say it like 'getting caught' would be completely natural to you."

"Well, I, uhh..." He stops for a moment before continuing. "I mean, it's not something that happens often or anything, but yeah. I've been caught a few times." A memory of two frowning maids appears briefly in his mind before he mentally waves it away. "I gotta admit, the first time was pretty horrid."

"Who... who caught you?" she asks.

He knew the question was coming, yet he still has to cough a few times to get the name out. "Twily."

"Oh, my..."

"Yeah, well, I thought I had the whole house to myself and was playing with myself on my bed, when suddenly Twily appears out of nowhere next to my bed. They'd been studying teleportation at the school and she wanted to surprise me."

Cadance giggles at the thought. "You don't say."

"Yeah. I shouted her out the door. Then I got worried that she'd tell our folks and I ran after her. She was sitting just outside the door to my room and was almost crying. I hugged her and told her I was sorry and..."

"...And then she made you explain everything in great detail and made notes."

He flinches and shies away from her. "H-how'd you know?"

"Well, first of all, we're talking about Twilight..."

"Yeah, uhh, right."

"...aaand she might have told me when I was foalsitting her."

"She what!?" He jumps up from the bed. "She promised not to tell anypony!"

Cadance giggles at his predicament before continuing. "Hold your horses there, Mister. She didn't tell me she'd caught you specifically."

"You're... a terrible pony."

She giggles again. "Serves you right for teasing me about the—"

"Yeah, fine. You won. So what did she tell you?"

"Well. I came to foalsit her just like usual and suddenly she slams a research paper into my face. It was about "Equine Reproduction" and she wanted me to proofread it for her."

His eyes almost bulge out from his head. "She didn't!"

"She told me she'd gotten some hooves-on experience a few days earlier and had started studying the subject in great detail. And I really mean great detail. It must have had at least thirty pages."

"Oh, Dear Celestia..."

"With pictures."

"Oh. Dear. Celestia."

"You're telling me? I was so embarrassed that I couldn't refuse and, well, I was a teenager too so the topic was pretty... interesting."

He thinks he can actually hear her blush from her words alone. "So you read it?"

"Yes. I did. And to be quite honest, I learned a great deal. She'd really been thorough with the subject. I never did dare ask her what the hooves-on experience was, but I guess now I know."

"So let me get this straight: because my little sister caught me jerking off, the Princess of Love got a lecture on having sex from an elementary school filly?"

She sighs. "Yes."

He tries to stay silent, but the chuckles just won't go away and she soon joins in. After the worst of it passes, he just hugs her tightly and kisses her on the cheek. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that because of me."

"I'm pretty sure I was traumatised! Some of the pictures—"

"I can only imagine." He kisses her again. "So what happened with the paper? Did you burn it?"

"Burn it? After all the work she'd put into it, how could I? I think she ended up getting an A+ from Princess Celestia for it."

"My sister... returned a paper... on...” He stops to shake his head. ”Please tell me you're just pulling my hoof here, Cady?"

"I'm afraid not."

He leans back on the bed and she curls up next to him, using his foreleg as a pillow. "Wow."

They hold a communal moment of silence to Cadance's lost innocence.

"You told me that was your first time getting caught?" she asks.

"Yeah," he answers, before the unspoken question sets in. "You can't be serious?"

"Would you really leave me wondering after that story? Who knows how much I've suffered because of your... alone time."

"I'm pretty sure the two times in the Guard haven't affected you in any way. And catching someone doing it wasn't really that big of a deal anyway."

"I don't think that's something I should hear about."

A few of the more unsavoury moments of his armed service appear in his mind, including but not limited to falling asleep during gate duty and his mates slipping a used condom on his horn. And the bastards didn't even tell me before a few dozen ponies had walked in the next morning. "I think that would be better, yes."

"So any other times? Come on, out with it."

"I, uhh..."

The maids. Oh, crap.

Her head rises above his prone form like a cobra from a faqir's basket. "Uhh? I know that 'uhh'. It means there's more."

He puts a hoof on his face. "I really don't want to talk about it, Cady."

"Spoilsport. Now I'll have to guess."

"Wait, what? How does that work? How did you even—"

"Soo... your mother?" she interrupts him.

"NO! I mean, eww! That'd be—"

"Your father?" Her head snakes even closer to his face.

"No, it wasn't—"

Their horns touch with a clack as she leans even closer. "Humm... Maybe it was... Oh! Don't tell me it was someone from the castle?"

"Cady—"

"Mmm? So it was? Then who... Shining Armor, did you get caught by one of the Prin—"

"It was someone you know and would be hugely embarrassed if I told you and found out."

She is about to open her mouth, already forming the insistent question.

He removes the hoof covering his face and puts it on Cadance's mouth. "Please don't ask me to tell you. You're my wife and I promised you I'd never lie to you again, so I would tell you. And I'd end up hurting a pony's feelings real bad if I did."

Not sure if it would be the two maids or you who'd be more hurt, but I'm gonna shut up about it. Period.

"Sorry," Cadance mutters. She slinks back onto the mattress, laying her chin down. "I was hoping it would be some funny story."

"You couldn't know," he says and gently pulls her back next to himself. "I didn't mean to snap at you either. I just wasn't expecting this sort of a Spaneighse Inquisition."

They both freeze and perk up, looking in horror at the door to their bedchamber. After a moment of nothing happening, they exhale in unison and fall back onto the bed.

"Shiny?"

"Hmh?"

"Have you done it often after we've, you know, been married?"

"What, get caught while—"

Her glare silences him up. He is left with a silly grin on his face.

"No, you silly. I meant that... have you done it to yourself?"

"Oh, well, ehh, about that... could I please not comment on that, Your Honour?"

"Fat chance, Mister."

"Fine. Only a few times after. It hasn't worked quite the way it's supposed to, after everything."

"Oh."

"You?" he asks as nonchalantly as he can muster. It wouldn't fool a foal.

"What are you talking about, Shiny?"

He sighs theatrically. "Have you done it to yourself after the wedding?"

"I, uh... I don't think it's proper for me to—"

"Right. You get to play twenty questions on me and then you don't tell me?"

"It's not the same for mares!" she says indignantly.

"Really?" He raises a suspicious eyebrow. "I thought everypony does it."

"Well, sometimes in the shower I might wash a bit longer than necessary. But today was the first time with the... toy." She looks around on the bed. "Where is it?"

"It's, uhh, on the balcony. Under a pile of pillows."

"W-what? Why?"

"I didn't know how to turn it off."

She stares at him for a moment before giving out a tiny giggle. "That's because it's designed for unicorns. It works off of levitation magic."

"That would explain it then. So how long does it keep going?"

"Only about a minute or so. At least that's what the instructions said."

"Huh. They really do think of everything." He leans his head back and almost casually adds. "I wonder how you got ahold of one, though."

She huffs at him again and turns around. "You had to ask, didn't you?"

"Can you blame me?"

"I guess not." She takes a deep breath, as if preparing to confess for murder. "There's this little shop a few streets from the clinic."

"I know the place."

She tenses up against his forehoof. "Wait, you do?"

"Well, I, uhh, met Twilight there and, I mean—"

"Wait!" She climbs halfway onto him so she can stare directly down on him. "You went to such a vile place with your little sister!?"

"No! Yes! I mean I just happened to walk past it and was about to go in when Twily came out! I didn't even go in!"

She stares at him intently, her eyes burning holes in the back of his skull, before she finally relents. He lets out a deep sigh of relief at the stay of his execution. "I told you I met with Twily. It was back then."

"I see."

"But what made you go there in the first place?"

She falls down onto the mattress. "It was that awful Swallow mare's fault. She told me I was sexually frustrated and should go buy one."

"Really? She told you that?"

"I couldn't believe my ears. I left immediately after. The nerve!"

"So, wait, the reason why you don't like her is because—"

"Fine. Yes. I haven't seen her since then. I wasn't even going to buy that thing but... the more I thought about it, the more it started to feel like a good idea and finally I just gave up and went and bought it. So there. Have your laugh." She crosses her forehooves on her chest and lifts her chin up for emphasis.

He wiggles his forehoof once more behind her head. "Wouldn't dream of it, Honey. But you have to tell me: did it feel good?"

After a small pause, she just mumbles a positive "Uh-huh." She turns to her side, laying one of her forehooves onto her chest. "Actually, I really needed it."

"I understand. I haven't been much of a help with that lately," he says, partly to himself.

"I didn't mean it that way, Shiny," she says in a quiet voice.

"No, don't get me wrong. I really think it's good that you have that toy and it's great that it made you feel good. I've felt pretty guilty about not being able to do it with you, so I think it's awesome that there's stuff like that."

She snuggles in closer to him. "Thank you."

He smiles at the dimly lit room. Cadance feels warm against his side, her hoof drawing a small circle on the fur on his chest. He feels his eyes moisten up. "Honey, Cady. There's something I need to tell you. It's about tonight and about the wedding..."

Shining Armor tells her of his trip to Luna's Night Garden. He tries to tell her of everything that came to light with the Princess' spell; of the days before the wedding, of the confusion, the endless sex, the repeated rapes.

At first, Cadance seems horrified, then her eyes tear up and she takes him in a tight embrace. With every word he speaks, she holds onto him, shushing him, promising it's over, that she's there for him.

Bit by bit, word by word, the walls come crumbling down around Shining Armor. He isn't able to stay the big, strong stallion he should be. Nopony could, not after what he's gone through. It's the same as with Luna, except this time he has to mold into words what the Princess only needed to see in his mind.

Every time the words become impossible to say and are hidden under torrents of tears and sobs, she strokes his mane, nuzzles him, and holds him.

It is all too much for him; the horror takes over. He clings to her like a foal waking from a nightmare. It is not his wife he is looking for any more. It is a lost child looking for his mother in the dark of the night. He is lost, not knowing what to do, or how to make the bad feelings to stop.

That mother is there. She pulls him onto her lap into a deep hug, allowing him to cry against his shoulder. Her strong hooves protect him from anything bad. Her wings shield him from anything that might stalk him in the dark. She assures him everything will be alright and that the nightmare is over. The monster is gone and can't get him any more.

After the worst is over, he tells her how used he feels. How weak he feels.

She tells him she understands. What else could she say?

He tells her how weak he is, how much he blames himself for everything that happened. How he is sorry for not resisting her.

She tells him he is the strongest pony he knows and how proud she is of him being able to tell her. She tells him it hurts and that there is nothing wrong with it.

He tells her how much he loves her.

She tells him the same.

The darkness envelops them, but it is no longer the horror of the night with green eyes and endless abuse. It is the peaceful sanctuary of two lovers, silent, calm, and above all, safe. In the end, he collapses in her hooves. He is spent, both in mind and body. He doesn't care. He closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep with a heart lighter than it has been for the past month. His last memory is of Cadance stroking his mane.

Shining Armor wakes up. He is still lying on Cadance's lap. She has dozed off as well and her head is hanging low, almost touching his face. A sliver of drool runs down her cheek as she snores gently. The room is lit with the pale morning sun through the balcony door. He can see a pile of pillows there, bringing with it all the memories of the previous night. Then comes the guilt.

DAMN IT! I was supposed to hear what had happened to her and instead I ended up bawling on her lap like a colt. Whatever. Gotta fix this thing right now.

He slowly wiggles out from under Cadance's hooves. He turns to leave, but hears her mumble something in her sleep, clearly searching for something on her lap. He grabs one of the few pillows left on the bed and maneuvers it into one Shining Armor-sized slot beneath her hooves.

She hugs the pillow and smiles in her sleep.

Shining Armor walks to the door and pulls the string to summon a maid. Soon enough, a slightly drowsy-eyed young mare answers his call.

"Yes, Your Royal Highness?"

"It's Shi— yeah. Umm. Could you get us some breakfast and, err, maybe could you cancel all the appointments Cady—Princess Cadance and I have today? She's not feeling well."

Or won't be. Probably. At least this'll buy us time to talk.

"Shall I summon the Royal Physician?"

"We have a... No, no need for that. Just breakfast, please?" He looks over his shoulder. "She's still sleeping."

"Any particular wishes for your meal?"

"No, thanks. Just food, I guess." He yawns, barely remembering to cover his mouth in doing so. "Coffee. Make sure there's coffee."

"Very well, Your Royal Highness." She stands at the door, still waiting.

"Err, dismissed?"

She bows and leaves down the stairs.

He shakes his head, wincing as the pain in his neck reminds him that ponies are meant to use pillows and not wives to sleep on. His eyes fall on the clock on the wall, and he grimaces again. It's barely six in the morning. He lays a hoof on his forehead. Great. Just great. We've only slept a few hours and I already ordered breakfast. Hope she isn't too tired. He sits down at the dinner table, looking as the clock slowly ticks off a full minute, the events of last night playing out inside his head again. I can't believe I did that! I don't even remember how she reacted. I was too busy being a stupid little kid. Did I screw things up even more? I just poured everything on her! Selfish idiot.

"Argh," he mutters and gets up, thinking of a way to get his brain working again. He tippyhooves through the bedroom, making sure Cadance is still asleep, and goes to the bathroom. A slightly disheveled unicorn with a messy mane and red eyes stares back at him from the mirror. He smiles at himself, but the face in the reflection is anything but reassuring. He turns the water on and tests it with a hoof. The warmth sends shivers of pleasure through his body.

He's used to taking quick showers from his time in the Guard, but this time he relishes in the warm water caressing his body. He stretches under the shower, easing the ache in his neck. A loud pop sends his vision swimming for a moment, but amazingly his head can now turn again.

"Only need some coffee and I might survive."

He dries off and walks back to the bathroom. The maids are setting up in the lounge and the smell of freshly roasted coffee and just as freshly baked bread waft over to him. He walks to Cadance and sits next to her on the bed. He runs his hoof through her mane a few times before setting it around her shoulders. She leans into him and his heart melts once again. He holds her under his foreleg, not wanting to break the moment just yet. Her mane still smells of the flowery shampoo she used on her midnight shower. She stirs under his arm.

"Honey, it's time to wake up."

"Wstfgl?"

"The breakfast is ready. Come on, sleepyhead." He kisses her cheek and her eyes open lazily.

She opens up her mouth wide for a yawn. "What time is it?"

"Early."

"I don't like early." She closes her eyes again. "Wake me up when it's not early anymore." She curls against his chest, making him feel cruel for having to wake her up.

"The coffee'll get cold."

"Mmm. They'll make more."

"Do I have to carry you to the table? Or should I ask them to serve it in bed? Maybe I could spoon-feed you?"

She opens her eyes halfway into a dangerous squint. "You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, don't you think a breakfast in bed would be romantic?"

"Shiny, the last time we did that, you poured hot tea all over me and I ended up with a fried egg in my mane."

"Well somepony was in such a hurry to get rid of their gala dress the previous night and just threw it on the floor..." He kisses her cheek.

"You're horrible." Cadance slowly straightens her back and gets up from the bed. He barely has time to dodge when she spreads her wings out to their full length before folding them to her sides again. A few loose pink feathers float down onto the floor. "Mmmh. That's better," she mutters. "I think I need to schedule a visit to the Royal Preener one of these days."

"The what now?" he asks.

"The Royal Preener. His name is Loco Padrillo, I think."

"He? You think? What?"

Cadance hides a giggle behind a hoof. "Shining Armor, if I didn't know you had just woken up, I would think you were jealous."

His only answer is an indignant harrumph.

"I hear his touch is almost magical. At least according to Aunt Celestia. She told me she met him working on a beach somewhere in the South and brought him in." Cadance gives him a wink. "I hear he does a massage afterwards."

He just sighs and allows his head to droop as he trudges to the door. "Whatever. You coming?" He doesn't check if she's behind him and merely sits down for breakfast, downing a full cup of black coffee.

Cadance arrives a moment later. "Shiny, I didn't mean it like that," she says after sitting down.

Shining Armor lifts his gaze from his cup to see her sitting opposite to him, her forehooves held in front of her between her legs, her head down like a schoolfilly having been caught doing something naughty.

"I know, Honey."

"Shiny—"

"No, I'm sorry too, Cady. It's just a preening." An image of some muscular olive-coated stallion with perfect teeth pushing down on her back, making her moan from pleasure appears in his mind. He quickly drowns it in his second cup of coffee. "I just kinda thought you were still doing it yourself."

"I actually wanted to, but Aunt Celestia told me that I need to have a 'professional' do it for me."

"Sounds silly."

"That's what I told her too. But she insisted. Couldn't take the chance of a primary sticking out of place in court." She finally pours herself a half a cup of coffee too, filling the rest of the cup with cream and sugar. "I remember you preened me once. It felt really good."

"Yeah, right. I ended up spitting down from my mouth for two days. No, you go on ahead and get this... Lucky... err..."

"Loco Padrillo. Though everyone just calls him Pepe." She sips her coffee. "He's also over sixty."

"Wait, you were just teasing me about—"

"I have stated nothing but the facts. Everything else is conjecture." She looks to the side with her chin lifted high.

He just rubs his temples with both of his forehooves. "More like a con. I always forget you're a politician."

She pushes her tongue out at him. "We are royalty. It comes with the title."

"Doesn't mean I have to be one." He leans back on his chair, lifting his forelegs over the back of the chair and tilting his head to look at the ceiling.

"I know you don't like it, Dear. Doesn't mean it wasn't true." A hint of the foalsitter giving nasty tasting medicine to a foal seeps into her voice.

He lifts his head back up. "I'm too honest to be a politician."

Cadance leans forward onto her forehooves to meet his gaze and gives him an almost wicked smile, the shadows falling over her face. "Those are the most dangerous ones."

He flinches, subconsciously pushing his chair back a few inches, almost toppling it over. "S-scary."

Cadance sits up and smiles at him, the dangerous expression vanishing in an instant. "Aunt Celestia made me practice that stare for hours in front of a mirror." She casually takes a bite out of her toast and looks up at him again. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Really? She made you practice something like that?"

"Well..." She fidgets a bit before continuing, "...yes. It came in handy with foalsitting though."

Another fleeting image flutters in his imagination, this time of his sister asking to stay up for another hour to finish a book and Cadance giving her that same stare. He laughs out loud.

They finish their breakfast in silence. The maids stand vigil nearby if they have any other tasks for them. Afterwards, Shining Armor motions for Cadance to join him on their couch. Behind them, the mares begin cleaning up the table.

"Would you like to tell me why we have to be up so early, Shiny?" Even with half a pot of coffee in her, she yawns once again. "It'll be several hours before my first meeting today. I was going to sleep in."

He rubs his forehooves together nervously. "Yes, well, I kinda canceled the meeting."

She looks at him with raised eyebrows. "You did?"

"I wanted to spend some time together with you and—"

"Shiny! It's a very important meeting on... on..." She has to stop for a moment to think. "...on something very important, I'm sure."

"Cady, after last night, I wanted to talk to you more."

"Oh." She looks down at her own hooves. "I see."

They sit in silence for a moment. The maids quietly leave the room.

"I'm sorry," he says. Despite himself, he feels his lower lip trembling.

"Honey, it's okay. It must have been really hard for you last night." She moves a bit closer to him so their bodies touch each other. "I can only imagine how horrible it was."

The memories are still vivid in his mind. The laughing face of the Queen mocks him once again as he lies helpless on his own bed. He shakes the thought away. "No, not that." He's afraid that if he looks at her, he'd see the concern on her face and break down again.

"What's wrong?"

"I wasn't going to tell you about the things last night. Or I was, but I... I wanted to..." The large lump in his throat stops him from speaking. To his frustration, he feels a hot tear running down his cheek. "Sorry."

"Shhh. Take your time." Cadance nuzzles him under his chin. "You don't have to be sorry for telling me all those things."

"It's not that. Last night, I understood something. About how stupid I've been. I... I..." Again he falters to a stop.

"Honey, don't say that. You're not stupid."

"Yeah, I am. I mean, sure, the whole thing with the Queen... sucked. But I realised that I've never asked how you were doing."

She is silent for a moment before answering. "Whatever do you mean, Honey?"

"You must have gone through bad stuff too during the wedding and I've never even asked you about them. All I know is that Twily saved you from the Crystal Mines below the city. I've just kept thinking about myself and you never brought it up so I kinda forgot about it." He waits for a moment, but she doesn't answer. "Cady?"

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm alright."

He can't believe his ears. "W-what?"

"She captured me under the city and then I was saved and we won the day." She smiles at him. A terrible, waxen smile that is betrayed by her glossed eyes. "I think I should start getting ready for my meeting. It's in a few hours and—"

"Cady. Please don't do this. I canceled the meetings, remember? So we could talk. Please, don't pretend everything is alright, because I can see it's not. I pretended that I didn't notice, but I did. I know you, Honey. I know that you're feeling bad."

"I told you there's nothing wrong, Shiny." She starts to get up from the couch.

He gets up faster and lays his forelegs on her shoulders, pushing her back down, slowly and gently. She barely resists. He keeps holding onto her shoulders and looks her straight in the eyes. "Stop it, Cady. You've helped me through this crap so let me do the same. I should have been there for you before, but I messed it up. I've messed a lot of things up lately. Let me fix that."

She looks down at her hooves. "But everything is alright now. We're married and all the bad things are behind us, aren't they?"

"Cady, Honey, it doesn't work that way."

At first she tries to get up again, but he gently pushes her back down. She looks to the side, averting her eyes, before her head finally droops down. "I don't want to." Her words are a quiet whimper.

He sits back next to him and wraps a hoof around her shoulders.

"Please. Don't make me go back there. I don't want to think about it." Her hooves start to shake. "I don't want to."

"I think you have to, Honey. If you don't, you'll never get over it."

"You don't understand! I missed you so much! I hoped you'd come save me. They... they pretended they were you. They looked like you and every time I thought it would be the real you, coming to get me out, they'd turn back to hideous monsters. And they'd laugh at me and tell me I was a 'yummy, tasty treat' and called me a 'snack bar' and other stuff too... I don't want to!" Her shoulders start to shake, not from crying, but from sheer horror.

He wraps his hooves around her even tighter and holds her close. "I'm here, Honey. I'm not letting you go. The changelings aren't here any more. We drove them away together. They can't hurt you any more."

"It was so dark and I could hear them walking around me. They never spoke, only whispered and laughed. Then I would see you, in your armour with your horn glowing, and I'd rush to you. And they would turn back into a black monster and laugh at me and tell me how good I tasted. I tried to be brave. I really did! I didn't let them get to me, but it was so dark. I tried to light the place with my horn, but then I'd see the crystals. They were even worse." Her whole body shivers from the memory.

"The crystals?"

"She was in them. The Queen. She looked like me. There were dozens of her there. Maybe hundreds, I don't know. All of them leering at me, laughing, smiling, showing me what was happening on the surface. Twilight and her friends were preparing my wedding, telling me I'd never get to see it. That she'd marry you instead and make you hers and I'd be left in the caves forever. And the creatures around laughed and kept whispering 'forever' and 'darkness' and other things. I was so scared that I turned my light off and she went away. I waited for a long time before trying again, but when I did, she was still there. Mocking me, laughing at me, and the monsters around would start chittering and laughing again as she showed me herself in my own wedding dress, standing in front of Princess Celestia... with you. Kissing. It was worse than the darkness." She begins to pant from speaking so fast. "I was too scared to use any light because I was so afraid she'd be there again, so I... I stayed in the dark. And they still whispered and laughed at me, but I couldn't even move. I don't know how long I was there. I thought you were already married, thinking she was me, and didn't know I was down there." Her last words come through chattering teeth.

Shining Armor squeezes her against his chest as hard as he can. "Oh, sweet Celestia. I had no idea. I had no idea, Cady. I'm so sorry I wasn't there. I'm so sorry."

She grabs onto him and squeezes him tightly, making him gasp for air. "Why didn't you come get me, Shiny?" The words hurt him just as much as her panic-filled grasp. "Why!?"

"C-cady... hurts... can't..."

She jerks away from him and back to reality, clearly scared of what just happened. It allows him to catch a breath, which sticks in his throat as he feels his side catch on fire. He tries to keep his breath shallow, but the pain refuses to ease even a bit.

Not again.

Cadance reaches her hooves to him, but is too afraid to touch him. "S-shiny? Are you alright? I'm sorry I... what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he mutters. He has to bite his teeth together to not yelp when he feels his hoof along his side.

"Shiny, did I... did I hurt you?"

"It's nothing," he says through gritted teeth. He can feel his eyes burn and his mouth grow dry. "Just a cramp." He can clearly see that she isn't convinced. What he sees is her lowering her gaze, hurt that he is lying to her. But I don't want her to know. It'd destroy her.

"I'll... I'll go call for a doctor," she mutters and gets up.

"Please don't, Cady. There's nothing they can really do. I'll take a painkiller and it'll go away."

She stops and turns around. Her eyes are flowing with tears again. "But I hurt you. I—"

"Shh." He tries to get up, but a jolt of pain sends him back down. "You didn't mean it."

"I'm sorry, I was just so scared and... for a moment I felt like I was back in the caves."

He can clearly see her hooves shake a bit before she wills them back under her control. She takes a deep breath to steady herself and lifts her head back up. Wow. I'm not sure if I could do that. "Honey, I'm not angry. Believe me."

She returns to the sofa and sits back down, but makes sure to give him a lot of room. "I didn't mean to, Honey."

"I know. It was an accident. These things happen, right? It's pretty easy to forget how strong you are sometimes, right?"

She nods and seems to calm down, before her eyes shoot open. "Shiny?"

Oh... fuck.

"Happen? Sometimes? Are you telling me this isn't the first time? Have I... have I hurt you before?"

"I, err, I... well, umm..."

His indecisive words are all the confirmation she needs. Her head falls limply onto her hooves. She covers her eyes and sobs. "Why, Shiny? Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you tell me? I never... I would never do it on purpose. I'd never—"

Shining Armor has never wanted to hug her more than he does right now. He tries to move to her, but flinches from pain and has to stop. "Cady, I know you wouldn't. That's why I didn't tell you. You've always told me how hard it's been for you to get comfortable with being an alicorn and how much you've struggled with your big wings and your magic. It's the same with you being so strong as well, that's all."

Cadance looks up to him, her eyes red and her face twisted in pain. "But I hurt you! There's no excuse for that!"

His first instinct is to try and put on a brave face and smile. "Cady, I'm pretty tough and I've always healed fast. I've gotten pretty roughed up in the Guard a few times as well, so I think I can handle a few hugs from my wife, right?" He winces again, but forces his forehoof up to stroke her tear-stained cheek. "I know you'd never hurt me on purpose, so I never said anything. Maybe I should have, but I never found the right moment."

"Is... is that why you've been so scared of me?"

"I... I haven't—"

"When we met here, you started shouting for me not to hurt you 'again'. And your panic attacks? Is this why?"

"I..." He looks into her eyes and sees fear and hurt in them, but worse yet, he sees that she knows the answer already. All he can tell her is the truth. "Yes."

That simple word stops the world for them both. She looks at him, her mouth open, her brain not able to find words. For a fleeting second that stretches into an eternity, he knows that the most beautiful and precious thing in his life has just shattered into a thousand pieces because of that word.

Cadance's heart.

"I... I should go," she says. Her voice is cold and hollow. Shining Armor knows it's the voice of someone running on autopilot. Cadance begins to walk towards their front door, slowly, but deliberately. He knows she just wants to run away. The same thing he has done so many times since the wedding. He also knows that if she walks out of that door, there won't be anything he can do about his marriage any more. It will be over. She is close now, only a step or two from the door.

"No."

His horn lights up in a dull purple light, which soon also covers the door. The same spell he used to protect Canterlot from the changelings. The spell he first cast when he got his cutie mark. The shield that can never be broken.

The glow dances along the walls and spreads all around their apartment. It covers the ceiling, the floor, and even the windows. It is the spell he learned to protect what is most important to him. It is there to protect the people he loves. It is to stop anything bad from hurting them. Only this time, it exists to keep something in, not out. To protect someone from themselves.

Cadance reaches the door, pushing a hoof on the handle. The door refuses to budge. She pushes it with a shoulder, then her head, and finally with both her hooves. She turns around and kicks it, sending several splinters flying, but nothing can get through that spell.

"Let me out!" she shouts, but the spell holds firm.

He gets up from the sofa, the pain burning his side, but the adrenaline in his body pushes it away. The fear of losing Cadance pushes him over his normal limits. He walks to Cadance's side.

Her horn glows and she sends a spell at the door, but it only dissipates into the purple light. She tries again, to no avail. She turns to look at Shining Armor, her face twisted in rage and horror. "Let me go!"

"No. Cady. I'm not letting you go. I'm never letting you go. I'm your husband and you're my wife. We've gone through Tartarus together and we're still here, and I'm not giving up. Not now. Not ever."

"No! Not like this!" She grabs his shoulders with her forehooves. "Not like this! Don't you understand! Not like this!" Her hooves fail to hold her up and she falls onto the ground. "Not like this. Not like the caves."

His mouth falls open. The shield that can never be broken shatters all around him. The tiny pieces fall onto the ground like the petals of a dying flower. "Cady, I didn't mean it like that! I didn't..."

She lies on the floor, curled up in a ball and shivering.

He lies next to her, his own hooves shaking from horror and his side burning like a blade were being twisted there. "Cady, you're not in the caves. It's over. I'm sorry I never came to save you, but it's still over. You're safe. You're with me."

"You don't understand!" she shouts. "She took me! Right out from my own bed! Right here! I thought she was you when she walked in and I turned to look at you. But all I saw were those glowing eyes and then the flames. I thought I was going to die and I wasn't sure if that really happened when I ended in the darkness. But it feels like I never got out! Ever since then, I've been there. Every time I close my eyes. Every time it gets dark. Every time I'm alone, I go back there."

Every time I'm alone. Oh, no, Cady, no!

"All the time? Cady? Whenever you've been alone?"

"Y-yes. Every time. I can't help it! I can feel their chattering, her voice, it all comes back. I know it's crazy and I hate it, but I can't help it! I try to think of other things, concentrate on working, but it never works. I still go back there. Shiny, I've never gotten out from there! I think I have, but then I find out that I'm still there and I can't do anything about it! I start thinking that everything that's happened since has been just one more illusion she shows me on the crystals. Just another way of hurting me. Just like how she kept showing you to me over and over again and it never stops!"

His mind starts going though the things that have happened after the wedding. Her never leaving his side. Her always clinging to him when they were together. Her never wanting him to go out. Her not even being angry when he came home drunk.

"You kinda told me you'd send Cady some nice dreams so she wouldn't be so angry in the morning." He hears himself accuse Luna.

"I did... but she did not enter my domain that night." The Princess of the Night answers.

Because she was all alone and too afraid to even fall asleep. She was so afraid of being alone all this time and I never even noticed it.

"Cadance. Twily saved you. We fought the monsters away together. We fought the ghost of a mad unicorn king from the Crystal Empire? Remember? Do you think the Queen could show you something like that? The Crystal Faire? Sombra? The Crystal Heart?" He nuzzles her soggy cheek. "Our honeymoon? Wouldn't she have jumped at the chance to show it was all a lie?"

Cadance punches the rug in front of her. "I... I know. Dammit I know, Shiny! But when I'm alone, I can't help it!"

"Well then there's only one thing to do," Shining Armor says.

"W-what's that, Shiny?"

"I'll just have to stay next to you all the time from now on until you're no longer afraid."

"What? But that's... that's silly!"

"No it isn't." He leans into her and gives him a kiss on her forehead. "It's not silly if it helps you. You know I'd do anything for you. Anything. Except, well..."

She peers up from between her hooves. "What? I don't—"

"Just don't ask me to go to the toilet together. That'd just be weird."

"Shiny!"

He ignores her indignant voice and nuzzles her again. "Wouldn't mind a bath together once in a while though."

"You're... you're horrible." She puckers her lower lip in a pout, but he can clearly see her hooves no longer shaking.

"Yes. I am." He takes a deep breath before continuing. "I should have been there for you, but I was too busy being selfish to even notice."

"Shiny, I know it's been hard for you too. Far worse than for me, I think. I mean, after what you told me last night, I was horrified. I... I..."

"I know, Honey."

"N-no! You don't understand. I blamed you for everything that happened! Even... even earlier when you asked about the caves, I still kept doing it." She falls silent, her head falling back down to her hooves. "I'm the horrible one here."

"Then we're both horrible," he says. He tries to wrap a forehoof around her's, but a sudden realisation makes him laugh against all the odds. The stab of pain in his side makes him cough instead, which makes the pain even worse. He struggles for a moment to get his breath back. "Because... because all this time," he struggles to get another lungful of air. "All this time, I've been trying to run away from you because you reminded me of the Queen and what she did to me, and you've been trying to stay close to me because of what she did to you." He croaks another painful laugh, not able to help himself. "A stupid little game of tag. It's not even funny, but she's still around even though we beat her!" His side burns, but he can't stop himself from laughing. Tears run from his eyes, but he doesn't know if they are from laughing or from sheer pain.

A gentle, if hesitant, hoof takes ahold of his. "Honey, please calm down. You're scaring me. Could you please take a breath?"

He coughs again, tasting metal in his dry mouth. He looks at Cadance and sees the worry in her face. Here I am, laughing like a maniac about everything that's happened. No wonder she looks like that. I must look crazy to her. He takes a rasping breath, gets his lungs full, then exhales. Again, inhale, then exhale. The slight feeling of hysteria ebbs away from him with every breath, finally letting go. "Sorry about that, Cady. I just understood this whole thing and it just felt so silly that I couldn't help it."

"I think I understand it now too." She takes his hooves back into her own. "It's that neither of us could have done anything? That the Queen was just too powerful and too evil that there was... nothing we could do."

"Yeah. We've kept blaming each other all this time because we both felt so weak and useless..."

"...when it should have been us blaming her and what she did."

The thing that Shining Armor realised last night finally hits home. He was a victim. So was she. Neither of them could have done anything different or expected the other one to do either. Their eyes lock for a moment, the mutual acceptance finally breaking the wall they'd built between each other. "Cady, I've... we've been really stupid."

Cadance nods. "I'm so sorry, Shiny."

"I'm sorry too, Cadance."

A silence falls over the two. Nothing else needs to be said. They lose themselves in the other's eyes, finally seeing the pony they fell in love with. Their horns touch and he feels the magic ripple through his whole body. He recognises it immediately. He's only felt it twice in his life, but it's the unmistakeable magic of Love they'd shared during the wedding and again in the Crystal Empire. He feels his heart swelling from happiness, and her smile answers his. Everything else around them fades away into a pink and purple haze around them as their horns take on a stronger glow. The magic lifts them up in the air, drawing them even closer to each other. Shining Armor can only distantly feel the ache in his side easing with every pulse of their combined magic.

"Cady..."

"Shiny..."

"...I love you."

Their lips lock. The world melts away and they lose themselves in each other.

"Wanna fuck?" Shining Armor asks inside the pink haze.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Author's Notes:

This is not the end of CIAM. We're still a few chapters away from the real ending. Several people will probably hate me a bit for what's to come. Tehee.

The chapter is dedicated to Valikdu, who stood up for me against bad odds without me asking for it or him expecting anything for it. If you spot that nickname somewhere on the site, know he's one of the good guys.

The usual suspects
Tinandel, Dee45 for being awesome and insightful.
Cahoon and Cerulean Starlight (welcome aboard the slave ship) for being meticulous and pedantic.