//------------------------------// // An 'Evil' Parasite // Story: Moments in Time // by Shingo //------------------------------// The leaders of the Crystal Empire were moving down a hallway at great speeds. They were being lead by a magenta earth pony mare with a white cap on her head and were accompanied by a purple unicorn with a baby dragon on her back. The princess was sitting in a wheelchair holding onto her midriff with a pained expression on her face while the relatively new prince was pushing her. “Twilight,” Cadence said. “You’ve sealed, annihilated, and or exorcized evil before right?” “I have,” Twilight looked to the mare in the wheelchair. “Why do you ask?” “Because I need you to get this… thing out of me,” a scowl formed on the princess’ face. “It’s evil, and it’s bringing me great pain.” “Sweetie,” a voice said behind her. “That’s why we’re here. And I don’t think that we should be referring to…” “You!” light blue energy poured out of her eyes. “You did this to me! You’re the reason this parasite is in me! I’ll make you pay for what you’ve done!” Small hook shaped knives formed around her horn. The circled around it making them appear to be a single knife. Cadence tilted her head to the side before swinging it around to Shining Armour’s neck. A small purple shield appeared before the knives made contact with his neck. Sparks flew in all directions. Twilight and the baby dragon stared at the sight in horror while Shining Armour had a calm smile on his face. “Cadence,” he said. “Calm down. Nothing will get accomplished if you kill me in a public setting.” The energy coming from Cadence’s eyes faded away and the knives disappeared. “You’re right,” she said. “I’m sorry, Shining. I’m just nervous…and in more pain than most males can only imagine.” “Don’t worry about it.” The baby dragon chuckled. “Anypony getting a case of mood whiplash?” he whispered. “Trust me, Spike,” Shining whispered back. “This isn’t the most violent thing she’s done in the past eleven months.” “Really? What’s the most?” “Well….” * Cadence sat in front of a mirror with a brush moving through her mane. A smile was on her face as the brush moved. Shining walked behind his wife and kissed the top of her head. “Hey you,” he said. The smile on Cadence’s face grew. “Hey you,” the brush was placed down. “Shining, can you get me something? I’m having a craving.” “Of course,” a nearby pantry was opened up. Various candies and dried sundries covered in a purple aura were brought over to them. “Do you want something sweet? I just restocked that licorice that you like. Or do you want some sour candies? Or do you need something like dried tomatoes again?” “Actually, I really want tacos,” the candies and dried sundries were returned to the pantry. “Do you think you can go to that place on Winston and get me two tacos?” “Sweetie, it’s ten o’clock at night,” Shining rubbed the back of his head. “I’m pretty sure that they’re closed.” Cadence’s face became blank. “What?” “Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I could get you some tacos right now.” Cadence’s horn lit up. Her eyes had blue energy slowly pour out of them. The room the two were in started to shake. Shining looked around the room with wide eyes. Cadence stood up and turned to his face. “Dear,” her voice was calm but had a razor edge to it. “Tacos. Now. Or else.” “Or else what?” Cadence chuckled. The aura around her horn became brighter and the room’s shaking became more violent. “I… I’ll see what I can do.” The glow disappeared and the energy from her eyes faded away. A bright smile appeared on Cadence’s face. “Thanks, Shining.” * “There’s something that sex-ed didn’t teach me while I was in school,” Shining said. “Or if they did, I wasn’t paying attention. Whenever a magic user is pregnant, their magic increases at an exponential rate. And since Cadence is an alicorn and already has a firm grasp of magic…” “I see,” Spike said. “How dangerous was she at that moment?” “If she wanted to, I think she could have made a city the size of Canterlot crumble on itself.” “Shining, you got a part of that story wrong,” Cadence said. “If I wanted to, I could have made the country collapse onto itself.” “I don’t think a single pony has that kind of power,” Twilight said. “It would probably take at least a million unicorns to…” Cadence screamed. The magenta mare leading the four turned around. She placed a hoof on Cadence’s midriff. “I believe that it’s time,” she said. The mare pointed to Twilight and Spike. “You two will have to wait here in the waiting room.” “I can’t believe this is happening,” Shining smiled. The nurse signaled Shining and Cadence to follow her. “I’m going to be a father! I can’t wait to bring them into this world.” Cadence turned to Shining as the three of them were approaching a door at the end of the hall. “You can’t wait to bring them into this world?!” again, energy flowed from Cadence’s eyes. “You’re not doing anything! I’m the one who’s going to be in pain, I’m the one who has to hold onto this evil little parasite for Faust knows how long! You just get to sit there and watch you sadistic little…” Cadence’s voice faded away as they passed through the door. Twilight and Spike sat themselves down on a pair of seats in the waiting room. Spike played with his thumbs while Twilight looked at the ceiling. “Hey Spike,” she said. “Can you do me two favours?” “That depends on what they are,” he replied. “What do you need?” “Can you make sure that I’ll be a good aunt?” “Only if you make sure that I’ll be a good uncle,” Twilight giggled. “I’ll take that as a yes. What else do you need?” “If and whenever I become pregnant, can you make sure I don’t hurt you when I become mad with magic?” Spike chuckled. “What’s so funny?” “Nothing. It’s just that I was already planning an escape plan for when you do.” A purple hoof ruffled the spines on his head. “I didn’t think you could plan that far ahead.” Spike pushed her hoof away. “Well, after living with somepony like you for a guardian, you tend to pick up habits like that,” he said. “We’re going to be here for a while, what do you want to do to kill time?” Twilight’s horn gave off a purple glow. In a flash of light, a chess board with all of the pieces set up appeared between them. Spike moved his knight forward while Twilight moved a pawn two spaces ahead. It would be a long and tiring night, for both Twilight and Spike as well as Shining Armour and Cadence. But at the end of the ordeal, they’d all have a new family member waiting for them.