//------------------------------// // Betrayed // Story: Original Sin // by NocturneD85 //------------------------------// Original Sin -By NocturneD The reception went off without a hitch. Most ponies from all over Equestria came to the joyous celebration of two ponies joining in eternal union. I danced with my bride, gave her a kiss and danced some more. Everything was going great as we raced to the carriage. My sister and her friends waiting there to send us off. I can't imagine a better night. I looked at my bride and asked her if she was ready to depart. She told me to wait just one more second as she threw her bouquet. One of sister's friends caught it and we finally drove off in our carriage into the night for our future to unravel. And we lived happily ever after... *ZZZZZTTTTTT* Stupid pause button... Yeah. Back up a moment there. By at this time you should already have an idea who I am. If not, my name is Shining Armor. Captain of the royal guard. Well former to be exact. And looking at newly weds that drove off into the night, they are only going to be met with uncertainty, heart break and even mistrust. Yeah it's going to be one of those stories where a happy marriage turns sour. Or what even was a happy marriage to begin with. A lot of you are asking how could this all be an illusion? Well, easy. It's an illusion. I really can't dive into it with accuracy because a lot of it is something is surprising even to myself. Well. Allow me to tell you my story. My wife Mi Amore Cadenza and I have been having a fallout. What you saw that night was only the fraction of our problems. I knew Cadance pretty much throughout my childhood but would never imagine ever tying the knot with her. She used to be Twilight's foal sitter but every pony knew she was a relative of Princess Celestia, niece if you did not know. She was all sweet, innocent, kind, pretty and easy on the eyes. She had charm I admit, but I was not interested in her. I had friends of my own that held my interests, we did so much together and it was all perfect. I had excellent grades and knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. A teacher. I mean, both my parents have a field in education. I had a knack with helping Twilight with her homework. Hey it easy back then. I showed her easy tricks to memorization and it proved me right when she ran home holding up a paper with a gold star on it. I was so proud of her and kept helping her until she finally got accepted into the school for gifted unicorns. You can pretty much ask Twilight when she got the flier for the school she was pretty excited but really... Back then, she was crying she did not want to go. She never made a lot of friends or if any if I recall. She hated places she was not familiar with and she was little known to have little accidents when she got scared. Used to tote her stuffed animal Smarty Pants everywhere with her but then would have to give it up when she finally came of age. I don't remember where exactly she got that thing but whatever helps her sleep at night. I can admit, Twilight an over thinker can also not think and rush into a situation guns ho without thinking. That is what she usually gets into trouble for. But sometimes I think she does not learn. She was the bridge between me and Cadance. But back to Cadance and I. And sometimes I wished I never crossed that bridge. Back then, I really did not like her. She was over almost every day because Twilight had no friends. Mom would be teaching history at The Star-Swirl private school. Dad was a professor at Canterlot university teaching a variety of things. Neither of them were home most of the time and Cadance was there to answer the call whenever I had to go out. Ugh. She was annoying back then. Before you judge me. Please just listen, if you don't like what you hear then you're free to leave but I'm only telling you this because of your curiosity. Ever since that night I crossed the line of no return. The marriage would only fall apart because of the conflict of interest between my career of a guard and Cadance, being a princess of love I guess. She had duties such as going to high class parties, speak at charities, cut ribbons to open new buildings and parks. We pretty much almost never see each other. That's one thing. The other thing was the lack of communication. Cadance was never home when I got the night off finally so, I pretty much just go over the bills, do some shopping, clean the house and play video games. I had my share of rough nights where fellow guards and I would go down to the pub and have a few drinks, go home and flop down on the bed. Being captain is not easy, never intended it was. It drained me physically, mentally, even emotionally. I don't know who decided that captain had to do almost everything but surely they don't know what a captain is supposed to do. Don't get me wrong, I have an opportunity to be a teacher by pulling my guards into a classroom to give them presentations but I'm wondering now a days the guard is just accepting any pony. The changelings had no trouble taking down my guards despite all the superior training they got from me and my superiors, it was disgusting that they would fall easily. But I had my fair share of great soldiers but those were one out of twenty that deserved to be promoted. If there were any time I could spend with Cadance. Work would always call telling me of an emergency and that it was mandatory for me to go. Whatever feelings Cadance had, they would instantly flush down the toilet once I told her that work needed me more than ever. She would pout and I would try to make her promises that I can only keep about half the time. For a chance to make this relationship work, there had to be trust, intimacy and communication. There was none of that. Do I feel bad about it? Yes. Do I want to work it out? Yes. Do I want to keep the relationship a float? ... ye...era... Yeah I admit I trailed off on that last one but there was such a conflict of interest that it was nearly impossible to think of Cadance as a wife and was just more of a random pony I just so happen to be sharing a house with. Yes, she's a knock out and how lucky I am to have her. It's... just that back then, she was really annoying and I wanted nothing to do with her. So what changed you ask? *Sigh* You're not going to believe me but... you know how Cadance is the princess of love? Having the ability to play match maker with random ponies? Most of her spells are affection spells. Look, I'm not trying to make this a conspiracy but Cadance is a pony that can get whatever stallion she wants with her magic or probably without. Call me lucky if you want but... I missed two years and half of my life devoted just for her. Just to chase her to the ends of the world just to see her graceful appearance. That talk about me wanting to be a teacher was thrown aside because I don't know what came over me that made me join the royal guard. But I did. A sudden change in career just in the flip of the hat? I disappointed a lot of my friends. Especially Rain... Who I will probably never see again. *Sigh* I was engaged to another pony before I married Cadance. Her name was Rain. A majestic blue pegasus with her coat matching the sky, her hair matching the clouds . And her eyes, like the sun. She was a tomboy and loved hanging out with my friends and I. She felt like she was one of us. Got our sense of humor. Never really got offended by anything. She had her faults which made her perfect. Though she came from a broken home of an uncaring mom and an alcoholic step-dad.I only met them a few times for dinner and they really do not seem bad but then again, they are out in the open. Her step-dad would sometimes offer me a beer I figure just to be a good host. Of course I was under age at the time and just to make him happy I drank a little. Rain and I were close, very close. A relationship like ours went through all the goods and bads but we made it work. She was probably one of the first youngest recruits for the Wonder Bolts. She did phenomenal with her tight moves and sharp turn a bouts. She was like an angel... who sort of like had rockets for wings. The more I saw her perform, the more I knew she was happy with herself. Her step-dad actually stopped drinking just to see her fly, her mom stopped playing bingo and poker with her friends to see her as well. This made her happy. But what really made her dreams come true is when she finished one of the last air shows for the season... I greeted her with flowers like the past shows I went to. And got down on one knee and held out a velvet box. I saved just about enough for whatever I could afford with a mix of savings and working odd jobs. She was a tough girl, never cried about anything... Until then. She accepted my proposal and every pony was happy. Well... that would not last long. Rain from then on was in high spirits, she really did not know Cadance that well and I figured she would like to make friends with other girls. What better than with the princess of love? Well... Let's just say, Cadance did not take a shine to Rain for some odd reason. I did not know it was jealousy back then but hey what did I care? I was getting married to Rain and my teaching career is finally going to be the real deal. Down the line, Rain would come to me and tell me these stories saying Cadance tried throwing a few insults at her. We both just laughed it off and figured Cadance was just being snooty because she was a princess. I would go up to tell Cadance that if she had a problem, she can be civilized about it and talk to us if she was ever bothered. Well... Let's just say that sort of became a problem. Cadance would not let up, Rain had nerves of steel and was a real champ for not putting up with the snootiness, but me... I really did not like it. I told Cadance to knock it off time and time again... Well that's when everything went hazy... Well before I knew it. I was no longer engaged to Rain and was to Cadance. Rain was crushed by my decision and would go off to join the Wonder Bolts full time on all of their tours across all of Equestria. She was too good for me anyway... I betrayed her... What was meant for her, went to Cadance. Soon, news spread all over that Mi Amore Cadenza was getting married to a royal guard. My head really hurt at random times but whatever Cadance said, I followed her no question. Strange... I don't remember proposing to her or breaking it off with Rain. Almost like... oh no she didn't... Please say she did not do what I thought she did. Sort of felt like waking up one day you remember being single then somehow find out you have kids, a wife, a bigger house, a dog. I blindly followed the princess of love by joining the guard just to get closer to her. I tried going back to talk to Rain but, she would not answer any of my calls. And before I know it I was bonding with the princess. A lot changed. Right in the blink of an eye. I missed Rain. I screwed up my chances. But I had a duty, being part of the guard I put in one hundred percent. Well what they told me was one hundred percent. I rose in the ranks. But... this was not me. I did not want any of this. I wanted to be a teacher! NOT A GUARD! WHY? Well... I stuck with it. I made good money, I had the respect of my peers and fellow guards. I was doing outstanding from what they told me. Saying I was lucky to have quite a catch for a fiance. Well... I sucked it up and tried to spend time with Cadance. Probably the only time I could do so up until we got married. I learned a lot about her through communication, something we lacked later. I dreaded when I heard her name, I felt sick when they would mention I was lucky. But I made the most of it. Giving her flowers and candy. Before I knew it, the relationship was better between the two of us. She really loved me, but for me that was a question I needed to true to myself. Here I had a princess who wanted me to be by her side for as long I can walk. Alicorns can last a real long time, I'm just a mortal so... Don't know what she possessed her to pick a mortal. Soon enough, I was charmed from time to time and would finally see what made her lovely. Too bad she was not like this when she was younger. I would defend her left and right... Even turning on my own sister... That was really hard for me. So came the big day. I was sure of myself. Cadance was the one for me. We proved it to Chrysalis the changeling queen. I was then a full time captain. I was married to a princess. I had more rights to the royal family possessions that would make Twilight jealous. So life was good. No really I was not. I was put under so much stress that my performance suffered because of it, my superiors questioned me even sternly told me to pick up the ball. I do not know what it was but I was not performing like I was told during the two and a half years I was blindly following Cadance. The recruits were more than a handful, undisciplined, rude, no respect. Then there were the drills, I was quadrupling over time shifts just to make sure they got into the groove. I don't know what happened but... I think the real Shining Armor is finally coming back and it was showing. I was really more of a brainy type of pony than a physical one, yeah I'm tall but I don't really like sports. I barely even recognized the pony in the mirror before me. Well... The moment you were waiting for. Cadance and I were squabbling over how I was never around when she was. I told her I had to work and asked what she was expecting. She kept yelling at me how she feels embarrassed to go to parties by herself. I told her I hated the parties we are usually invited to go to. It's all the same, try to mingle with other successful ponies just to look down on the less fortunate. Why do we even go to these parties? To feel superior? To feel welcome? I hated these parties Cadance made me go to. So, up until last month I told her to stop asking me to go because I hated those parties and refused to go. She of course would tell me to go make my own dinner. Is that supposed to be a threat? Because Cadance can't cook. Yeah, shocking huh? Whenever she goes out she leaves a package of defrosted hotdogs in the sink. Best dinner ever. No really. She tries to cook up something and it usually sucks. Probably the reason why she always wants to go to parties and go out to restaurants. I felt pretty bad for arguing so I decided to go out and get her a present. Thing was, everything seemed tasteless and Cadance probably already has a forty dresses and a dozen shoes. Flowers were played out. Had a lot of jewelry. But that's the stuff she liked so why not? While I was up and around I met Rarity, one of Twilight's friends skulking around the business district. She saw me and waved. I could go for a friendly conversation. So we grabbed something to eat and talked about what she was doing in Canterlot. She told me that she was looking for some property to buy so she could move her business. She was always an uptown girl if you knew Rarity and it really showed. She had high class taste but was very generous that it would not deviate from her. She was calm, very well spoken and loved the feel of what Canterlot gives off. For me, I really have not noticed since I grew up here. It was just one of those places that did well that others, okay maybe the castle has something to do with it. But other than that nothing. Rarity and I talked for a long while. She asked how Cadance was doing. I said, "Fine. Just fine." But she detected the subtle in my voice when I answered. She stared at me and knew something was wrong. "Darling is something wrong?" She tilted her head and blinked. Rather cute how she did it. I scratched the back of my neck, "Eh. Cadance and I have been disagreeing with a lot of things and we're not together all the time." "Oh I'm sorry to hear that. So why are you out?" She asked. "Was hoping to find her a gift to make it up to her." I admitted. "Like what exactly? Maybe I can help?" She put her hoofs under her chin and listened to everything I had to say with interest. "Well. She likes the typical dresses, jewels, shoes." I listed off, "Was hoping to find something different but really that's all I can think of." I grinned, "Maybe some cook books? Or some silver ware." Rarity gasped, "Captain. A lady does not like getting working utensils as gifts." "Oh really?" I frowned. "Guess the dress might have to do." "Oh a dress would do nicely. Fit for a party." She smiled. "Uh..." I rubbed the back of my neck, "Since... uh I was wondering since you did Cadance's wedding dress could you uh..." She smiled, "Say no more." "I mea... I mean I'll pay you I just don't want to take advantage of the situation." I was hesitant at first. "Well I need the publicity if I want to start here." She giggled, "But I would be honored. Anything you want the dress to look like?" "Uh..." I had no idea, "Maybe something appropriate for any type of party. Not too fancy, not too dull, not too spicy." "But all around?" She asked. "Yeah." I nodded. "You know her dress size?" She asked. My mind went blank and I shook my head to tell her no. She just chuckled lightly, "Oh don't worry darling I still have her measurements on file back at the shop." I wiped my forehead from the sweat. "Phew..." "You really been out of touch with Mi Amore Cadenza?" She asked, her eyes shifted to sincere and caring. I nodded and tilted my seat back, "Yeah... Almost like we're complete strangers." "Oh I'm sorry about that." She apologized. "Did you two try talking things over?" I smirked, "Try to but either work calls me back or she's never home." "Oh." She blinked. "Ever try taking a personal day off?" "Yeah. But then that ends up blowing up in my face to find out Cadance would not be home either." I told her. "What is she busy with?" Rarity asked. "Well a number of things. She has princess duty and also has to keep up in appearance in matters." I answered trying to number off things. "Oh dear. She's been quite busy as well." Rarity blinked. "Yeah." I played around with the salt shaker for a bit, "By the way. Thanks for taking up my order for the dress." I gave her the info she needed as she said she had a marvelous idea. She said something about wanting to make a set. Dress, shoes, purse, muff, mink fur, all that junk. I agreed to pay her for each piece but she told me that it was going to take awhile for each piece to come out. She would mail me each piece, but I told her to mail it to me to my castle mail delivery and not my house to avoid Cadance from ever finding out. It was genius. Once everything comes I can give it to her and maybe set things right. If not well... I'm out eight hundred bits plus tax. Within each week for the past month Rarity would send each piece through the mail, but to my surprise she had this little trademark of spraying perfume all over her boutique boxes. That stuff has such a strong smell if it gets on your body then you're going to be smelling of olives, strawberries and wine all day. I would hope in the shower once I got home to get rid of the smell but I think Cadance is raising an eyebrow at this. That one week that would change everything. Cadance and I were invited to Ponyville for a party and to stay for a week, go figure I could not get it off. So Cadance being sore about it leaves for Ponyville. Good, now hopefully I can sneak the stuff into the house and hide it. The set is almost complete. Sadly, I still have to work but the next day I get to leave early to maybe get some cleaning and shopping done. Or just catch up on some lost sleep. More likely grade papers. Night one... That night pretty much went as expected. The recruits were acting stupid again. I went over drills and handed back tests. I went home to prepare for the next day and had a nice meal I made by myself. The next day, did not go over so smoothly. I came in to greet the day. The other captains welcomed me with a salute as I did to them as well. We talked but I noticed captain Silver Dagger kept smiling and chuckling at me. Usually we never see eye to eye on things but still respect each other. Often it was always his squad against mine in training drills. Captain Biggs and Captain Wedge just kept looking at each other then back to me almost like I should know something. Captain Steel kept silent and sipped his coffee. I grabbed one too and just minded my business. Our female captain Sky Dancer with a sympathetic look, usually she's tough on her squad and kept it real but. "So Shining Armor. How is the princess doing?" She asked. "Fine. Just fine." I answered, then sipped my coffee. "She's out of town to visit my sister and her friends in Ponyville." The other captains looked at each other, almost giving me a sorry look. Or wanted to tell me something. "What?" I asked. "Uh..." Captain Biggs trailed off. "Well we saw the latest issue of..." Captain Wedge stopped himself. Just then major Gold Wings walked up to us. "Look alive my ponies." We all saluted the major. "At ease. Today is going to be another training drill. We don't want another Changeling attack on our hoofs and I know you have been pushing your squads really hard." He looked at me then Dagger, "Some of you need a bit more work on strategy but doing well in other areas." He put on a stern look, "But reports from our recon squad have been reporting sightings of new breeds of Changeling. Something different from the types you fought here in Canterlot before." This brought my blood to a boil, but I kept it suppressed. I hated Changeling creatures ever since the day I got married. "Any descriptions major Gold Wings?" "Three to be exact. One of them has been dubbed Scythes as to be more of a praying mantis shaped Changeling. Stands almost upright with huge claws to use as a weapon and for defense. Second one called Scorpio for obvious reasons, just a regular Changeling with pincers and a scorpion like tail where the tail should be." He took a deep breath, "Last one is more of an improved version of the worker and grunts you all fought. Bigger, meaner, faster, clicker, harder to put down. They can't feel pain, they can't be reasoned with as what our recon described. Apparently, the Changeling colony have training sessions of their own." "Amazing..." Captain Biggs said aloud. We all looked at him like he was nuts. "Yes. Dazzling captain Biggs." Gold Wings chuckled, "This closes the recon report. No other news has been found yet so continue your training with your squads. I want to see improvements." "Yes sir!" We saluted him. "Be off then." Gold Wings excused then. I went back to my squad and started the training exercises. We did pretty well with princess Celestia and major watching over us, guess none of them wanted to goof up in front of the princess. Good for them. I called for a break and congratulated the team. Lunch was provided and I smelled the aroma. Normally guard food was often complained about tasting like garbage but it was a lot better what Cadance makes... Some pony cue the drum symbols to ring. I sat next to my lieutenant of my squad, second in command Ghendi. A quiet fellow but simply not like the other guards he can get a bit funny at times with over reactions when we prank him. Not as bulky as the others but don't let that fool you, he's very swift. Fast. Can think on his hoofs and very calculative, does not quite use Canterlot type weaponry for his arsenal as he's more of an eastern type warrior. Samurai sword for one instead of the usual Canterlot blade. He's a white unicorn like me and has dark long hair with blue tints. Only thing I know about his family, he has an older brother who is also in the guard as a lieutenant colonel. A very respected officer. An honor to have his younger brother serving under me. Then there is the youngest of the family Ghendi likes to show pictures to me that his little brother is learning magic and might be attending the gifted school for unicorns. I of course encouraged him and agreed that the little guy should. I only met him a few times and he was considered to be a ring bearer at the wedding but... somehow Spike was put in the role at the last minute. Poor little guy. Don't get me wrong, Spike is a good kid too but I think Ghendi's little brother was more up for the part. Maybe he got scared. "Another fine day captain." Ghendi finished his meal and laid the napkin over his tray. "Should we go over the weapon training again and maybe finish it up with some sparring?" "Indeed lieutenant." I replied also finishing my meal. "A great suggestion." "Oh dude the captain is going to be pissed." One of the privates said to another. Apparently sharing some sort of book or magazine. "Man poor guy. Puts up with a lot and yet his wife goes off and does this." Again the privates down the other side of the table were whispering, but I could hear them just fine. This caught my lieutenant's attention as he rose up from his seat to wander over to the privates. He looked over their shoulder and grabbed the magazine. "Sorry private. I know you have needs but we're still on duty to look at smut..." He looked at the magazine and flipped through some pages that the privates were looking at. My curiosity rose. His mouth hung open in disbelief then looked at me, he stuffed the magazine back down to the private's hoofs. "What's so secretive?" I asked. "Oh uh... Nothing captain." Ghendi shook his head. "Just a dirty magazine." Whatever it was, I felt a bit in the mood today to maybe look at some naughty pictures. "Ah come on lieutenant let the captain see. Wife is out of town so she won't mind." The privates all around the table looked at each other. Some of them breathed through their teeth and others turned their heads. What could be so bad about this magazine? Was it raunchy? Was it vile? Well, I had my time at looking at naughty books back then, dad used to have a stack of them in his closet. I ordered Ghendi to bring the magazine over, "Lieutenant that's an order." I said sternly. Ghendi sighed and levitated the magazine over to me with his magic. I read the cover, "Scandal in Ponyville?" This really got my mind going, I turned the pages to find some pretty wild pictures of a party let alone an old picture of my wife was on the cover. I was expecting maybe the mayor of Ponyville doing something she should not have been. I flipped a couple more pages and... to my horror... "Cadance the princess of love spreads..." I'm not going to finish that sentence. There must have been three or four pages of photos of my wife doing horrible things that no wife should ever do. Worst of all, in some pictures she was being mounted by a big red stallion. In the picture it showed her face as she looked like she was enjoying being bucked silly. Oh my.. Celestia I'm going to be sick. I threw the magazine down and covered my mouth. "What the...?" Is the only thing I could mutter let alone scream out loud. In a fit of rage I overturned the table thrashing the trays of food all over the ground. The privates only stood there, my lieutenant trying to calm me down. "Captain this is not the best place to ven..." He tried to tell me. "WHAT IN THE BUCKS NAME DOES SHE THINK SHE IS DOING?" I hollered. "THINKS SHE CAN JUST BUCK ANY PONY SHE WANTS AND ME NOT KNOW? THIS IS WHAT SHE'S PROBABLY DOING ALL THE TIME!" And that's what I thought for awhile. Cadance just cheated on me, I looked at the date of the photos and it was from last night. My world came crashing down, I know I said the marriage was not going smoothly in the first place and how I had my doubts about Cadance. But I wanted to make the most of it. Not even a few months into the stupid marriage and already I find this out. Oh yeah, say its my fault for over working. Say its my fault that Cadance and I could not find time. Say its my fault that I'm physically drained from working all the time. For two and a half years I devoted to Cadance blindly following her. I'm not getting those back. Wasted... My rage was so terrible that the other captains had to come along and try to calm me down, Ghendi was so loyal he tried everything. Reasoning with me not to go to Ponyville and break the stallion's neck and tell Cadance that it was over. I did not care. My rage went on. Gold Wing arrived and demanded me to stop, I just shouted. Celestia was behind him. "What is going on here?" Celestia walked around Gold Wing. I stopped. My eyes narrowed at the sun princess. “Captain Shining Armor. I hope there is a reason for this tantrum." The princess frowned in my direction. I nodded once. Then furiously again, "Oh yeah. There is." I took the magazine and walked up to the princess. Every pony watching me what I was about to do. I shoved the magazine into her chest, she gasped and looked in disbelief at what I done. I did not care anymore and walked away but not before saying, "If this is how things are done in the royal family then I'm disgusted with you princess." "Captain!" Ghendi pleaded, "Don't let this cloud your judgment! There has to be an explanation to this!" "What's there to explain? My wife bucked another stallion and some pony actually took pictures!" I hollered, then laughed in disbelief to prove a point, "That's the explanation! She took our vows and threw them away!" Celestia I knew was reading the article. Her mouth and eyes widened in disbelief that her precious niece could do such a thing. Her blood must be boiling because she spent a fortune on the wedding, I know that because the bill is on file in her study. I'm not paying it, Cadance is the one that did the deed. Gold Wings started to walk after me, "For this outburst captain Shining Armor consider yourself suspended for the rest of the week until Monday!" "Oh good for me!" I hollered back. I opened up the large barrack door and slammed it with all my might. I found myself packing some of my stuff to take home for the day. Another guard was reading the same magazine and was obviously getting his jollies off of Cadance getting her flank slammed. I grabbed it and stared at him with fury in my eyes. He coward back and I left the castle to hopefully blow off some steam. If anything where to happen to me, Ghendi knew what he had to do and be in control of the squad until I came back. I furiously opened the door to my house and slammed it. I laid out everything on the kitchen table. I walked over to the answering machine... "Thirty seven messages?" I hit the play button. "Hey this is Silver Spear. I just heard the news, sorry that it did not go so well. If you need some pony to talk to just call me back." *Beep* "Oh dear. I'm sorry to hear about this Shining Armor. You're a good pony and I hope this works out for you. Remember call me, Red Rose." *Beep* "Dear Celestia sakes man what happened to you two? Call me." *Beep* "Hey Shining Armor. This is Chugs. If you want to go out for a drink just ask. We'll talk." *Beep* "Honey this is your mother. I just heard the terrible news, if you and Cadance are fighting and need a place to stay don't worry. You're father and I will let you stay with us." *Beep* "Shining Armor what the heck did you do? This is obviously your fault! You drove her to this!" *Beep* "Cadance was always a bitch man. Need some pony to talk to, call me." *Beep* "Would you like to increase the size of your horn?" *Beep* At this point. I just let the messages keep coming. I never returned any of those calls except for my mom's and surprisingly Rarity's. I had a lot of emotional support from friends who stopped over later that day. Ghendi stopped over to talk, I apologized to him for being a level headed idiot but it still hurt knowing that you spent almost three years of your life devoted to one pony to just end up with punch to the face. Ghendi cooked me dinner to cheer me up and I graciously accepted, had a couple of beers. A lot of the neighbors stopped by with food to show their support. Well I did not have to worry about food for the next couple of days. But still this would not fill the void in my soul. It hurt... it seriously did. I was going to try to get this back on track with a gift and a promise but... It was too late. I gave Ghendi some encouragement to the substitute role for the rest of the week. I have been working too hard and need this week off. He was not sure at first but I gave him a nod. He smiled and bid me a good day. That's when I received a letter from Twilight and read the details. The next day... I waited by the kitchen table reading various letters from magazine editors wanting our story. Reporters asking for meetings for pretty much the same. Princess Celestia wrote out a letter to Cadance and even sent the bill. To hell with it, Celestia can take that bill and shove up her flank hole. I had my phone with me with various videos of Cadance coming through of her over and over again calling me a stick in the mud. Just then the front door opened. I heard hoofs pit patting onto the hard wood floor and there was Cadance. She put some stuff she bought from Ponyville and set them on the table in front of me and sat down. I rubbed my forehead and took a deep breath. I did not look at her, I could not. I left an uncaring note in my voice... "What are you doing home so early?" I asked. She just said she did not want to stay for an entire week. She asked about work. I just threw the magazine in front of her with the pictures of her. Waiting for her to explain... "Well?" I asked.