//------------------------------// // Why Is My Life This Hard Now? // Story: Is It Wrong If It's Fictional // by TimeRarity64 //------------------------------// Shining Armor's heart made slow beats that went along with the rhythm of his orchestrating fear. He moved towards his door, keeping cautious tabs on his steps. Sweat rolled down his forehead as the beats began to pace. Once he made it to the door, he paused and stared at the knob. He gulps his spit, and reaches out, but once he opened the door, his body froze in fear as he stared into the very being of death. "Shining, who is it?" Cadence asked, peeking out from her room, staring at her husband's back. Shining Armor's eyes bolted open as his body was drenched in sweat. It was only a nightmare and gladly, he awoke on 8 A.M. as it read on his beeping alarm clock. Shining Armor turned the clock off and sighed in relief, letting his mind settled. Today was perhaps going to be another day he might not make it out alive. The morning sun shined through Shining Armor’s blinds as he stay snuggled into Cadence’s coat. He slowly awoke from the warm rays and released a light yawn that brushed against the alicorn’s neck, causing her to giggle lightly from the ticklish air. Shining Armor nuzzled his face in her coat, earning a delightful groan, before releasing himself from her and hopping off the bed, stretching out for the day. “Today I have to visit the Crystal Kingdom’s library with Twilight, so you will have more alone time for yourself, okay?” Cadence asked, rolling on the other side of the bed, smiling softly at Shining Armor as he finished cracking his bones. “Yeah, but do you really have to go?” Shining asked, staring at Cadence disappointingly before sitting down on the ground. “Yes, dear, I do. It is important that Twilight and I figure out who would want an ancient scroll from the Starswirl vault. It wouldn’t make sense to steal it and sell it if nopony but that dead bearded wizard knows how to use it.” She said, before facing the ceiling. “Honestly, I don’t want to do this, but Aunty Celestia just had to put this assignment on my own flanks.” Shining Armor chuckles lightly from Cadence’s annoyed attitude that earned him a dangerous stare. He froze and rubbed his head trying to muster up the words to say in order to get him out of a possible predicament that would surely escalate downhill. “I agree with you, I don’t think you deserve such an assignment that has no quality to it.” He said quickly. “Quality?” “What I mean is,” he calmed down, “there are so many other ponies out there willing to hunt down some thief then sit around there house all day off from work. You don’t have to be one of the few if you forced into this even when you are clearly not interested in the job.” Cadence took a moment to think as her anger settled down, causing Shining Armor to sigh in relief from his quick save moment. “Nevertheless, dear,” she groaned, “I still have to do it. You know how Aunty Celestia is, she won’t take no for an answer.” Shining Armor shivered after remembering his time beside Celestia that Cadence never knew about, right before he joined the guard. ‘Why? Oh why would she make me dress up like a filly?’ His thoughts were soon brushed away after Cadence hopped out of the bed and quickly planted a kiss on the right side of his cheek. “I will be sure to keep you in contact, letters would be fine right?” She asked, heading towards the exit that led straight into the hallway. “S-sure, that would be fine.” Shining Armor said, resting his chin on the sheets, once Cadence soon exited the room. He heard her hooves clopping against the wooden floor heading down towards the kitchen on the opposite side of the hall. The stallion took a moment for himself to shut his eyes and release a long awaited sigh. That lasted till a few minutes after he felt soft tendrils wrapping around him. His eyes bolted open as his body escaped the strangling appendages that started to curl around him by his bed side. “Hello, my sexy stud,” the mad mare spoke in her typical sultry tone, “How sad, your friend down there does not seem to be so active again like he always is in the morning.” Mane-iac said after entering through the window, using her hair as leverages to provide her movement and height. The poor sap of a stallion began panicking right after he shut the door and locking it, before glaring back at the mad mare angrily. He started to soon calm down, before allowing realization to sink in what the situation was in front of him. “You broke into my house!” He shouted, “Why are you here, I left you in the factory for a reason?!!” “Dear, I did not break in; I simply just unlock the window and entered into your room…our…room.” She said, leaning down to him at eye level, “And I was very lonely in that factory.” She softly sung her syllables like canary bird’s melodious tune. “L-look, you can’t be here! I told you to stay in that factory!” He panicked, trying to push her back out the window, but her hair had the upper hand in the situation when it began holding onto the sides of the walls preventing the stallion from succeeding in his plans to rid of his guest/intruder/lover. She soon turned the tables for the unicorn in white, once her tendrils began circling around his hooves. They soon gripped them and flipped him upside down, face to face with the Lilith of his life. “And why can’t I be here with my lover, hmm? Is he planning to surprise me with something tasty and delightful?” She teased, licking the side of his right ear. He could not help but moan from this, and when he did, he shut his mouth quickly, biting the lower lip to ensure silence. “Ooo~, did you enjoy that?” She asked, but only to find her stallion getting out free from her hair-tendrils after they loosened up. He began backing away from her, terrified at her towering seductive physique along with the mad bi-polar mentality. “Look, get out! You’ve pick the wrong time to harass me!” “Oh, but why haven’t you call the police?” She questioned, lifting a brow in amusement once he froze in place. She caught him good. “It’s…it’s complicated!” He stated, but Mane-iac seen through his sweating mask and cracked it with ease, awaiting its plummeting so that she may see the pieces shatter and allow a soothing tinging noise to echo in the air. She eventually leaned down, allowing her hooves to settle into the carpet beneath them and slowly—with a predator grin, began trotting towards the stallion. Each step, caused him to back away in terror, sweating furiously from the sick glare she gave. He stared into the face of horror, coated with lust and greed, along with a carnal intention to return to their ancestral instincts; he was staring at a rabid animal in heat who targeted him to be her mate. When the world paused, and life became a victim to the cliffhanging man holding for dear life to a branch, and all Mane-iac had to do was corner him; being breaths away from his lips as her expression became bedroom eyes, laced along with her sweet odor coming off her hair. It was alluring, he could not deny that fact, for it was pushing him closer to her, but his mind had the leash in hand and pulled him back, trying to save him from destroying his marriage and falling into the succubus’ embrace. “Shining, I’ve made you lunch and left you some bits on the table just in case you get hungry and want to order out. I also just found out it was Hearts and Hooves day, so consider this your gift, you can return me mine when I return, sweety!” Cadence’s voice echoed down the hall and was heard from the room. Mane-iac pauses, once her expression turned into anger. The stallion gulped remembering that marish look all too well. It was not just from Cadence, but also from his mother. His dad was a handsome stallion that was very considered eye candy to all the mares in Canterlot, while his mom was the most feared. She was a protective woman while his father was a loyal husband and great father. However, whenever a mare passes by, sometimes a stallion to make it a bit spicier, she gave him that angry look; the look of jealousy, anger, and possibly betrayal as if he looked back at them and smile when all he was doing was just walking ahead talking about whatever came to his mind. Luckily, he was good in bed from the way he heard through his room once they settled their differences in who can make each other bust first and better than the other. His parents…were a strange couple. “Who is that, dear?” Mane-iac questioned, her tone growing grim as she slowly made her way to the door. Shining Armor acted out quickly, rushing in front of the mare’s path just as he had to hide his stash of Playcolt magazines from Cadence—sadly, eventually discovered a day later—and shook his head left and right. “T-that’s my wife! She does not know you exist in this world!” Shining Armor said, giving Mane-iac a nervous smile. “What are you saying; I existed here for a long time with you. Wait…wife…you married a mare and had been sleeping with her behind my back the entire time, I should strangle you!” She growled, beginning to grow furious by the second as her hair-tendrils slither around the room, slowly their making their way towards the doomed stallion. They were twitching madly after feeling their owner’s anger course through them. And when Shining Armor noticed their change of reaction from being touchy to being violent, his brain sank into another pit of realization that those tendrils of hair…They. Were. ALIVE! The captain of the royal guard had to act fast, struggling to find a way to make sure this mare would not kill him or blow his cover that would bring him standing up at the gallows. With a steady sigh, he looked at her and began pleading to her by falling onto his haunches and raising his hooves in praying manner. “Please, just, just don’t hurt her! We’ve been married way before I met you and I was going through a love-struggle and you managed to take my heart making me feel like a better stallion!” He lied through his cold hard teeth, shedding crocodile tears in front of her. Mane-iac pauses for a second before looking down at him. Her expression was clearly written in being shocked. This caught her well, and gave the stallion a bit of hope he might make it out alive on the next day. “I-is that true?” She asked, sitting down on the carpet, pressing her right hoof against her heart, as if something warm coated her with happiness and love. That was enough to provide Shining Armor time to escape from the dazed mare and exit his room. ‘Come on, just leave Cadence! Just LEAVE!’ Once he made it to the kitchen, Cadence was not around, causing silence to enfold within the house. Honestly, it felt good to him. The silence was very comforting and provided a nice soothing allure to its surroundings as he finally sat down on the floor and smiled softly. Times like this and he would be trapped in his room typing down some fictional story. He chuckled at that thought, seeing how it would be nice to write about his entire life slowly coming to an end from the very mare herself that emerged from whatever realm and into his, delusion and probably always in heat, seeing him as her husband. Why was she so lewd? Shining Armor thought about for a minute as he tried to piece back about Mane-iac’s coming to his world. He never made her to be so tempting, sultry, and elusive when it came down to the innuendos. His thoughts came to a sudden end once he felt warm tendrils wrap around his chest, squeezing him tightly before forcing him back against tight slick leather that was hotter on the outside, but probably unbelievably hot on the inside. The stallion could feel death hovering over him like the time him and Sombra one on one fought, but instead of feeling the cold gripping darkness of those miasmic clouds the stallion carried, this stranger’s carried only warmth. He breathed out a sigh of relief, before feeling his eyes slowly drift down so that sleep could take over his conscious and bring him to its soothing reposed state. But his eyes shot open after realizing that this warmth belonged to the crazy mare staring down at him with her traditional seductive. ‘Is she always like this?’ He quickly shook his head, before breaking free from the tendrils’ light grip. He backed away to the backdoor breathing heavily as he stared at the mare in horror. She nearly had him in her hold and was prepare to do whatever dark pleasure pent up in her head. “I was very enlightened to hear those loving words. Here I thought you were cheating on me because you were either a pig or pathetic slob with no interests in mares like me, but I guess I was wrong.” She said slowly making her way towards him. Shining Armor could have just ran out of the house right at the spot since he was pressed up against the exit leading into the backyard, but that would have been a bad idea. Today was Tuesday, one of the busiest days on the street in Canterlot, meaning, a no go for him to ever bother going outside. Ponies would definitely see a tall mare using her own mane to walk while chuckling every second. He decided to take this like a stallion and step up to his own possible mistake. “You can stay here, but when it hits night time, I am taking you back to the factory. I can’t have you living here since Cadence might find you and kill me. I don’t want this to escalate any further down than it is.” He said, only to be tangled her wild mane. Just what made them so alive and how did she even get her mane to be like this to begin with? Shining Armor shook his head before finding her face pressed straight into her neck, being squeezed and suffocated to death. Shining Armor’s hooves presses against her chest, struggling to break free from her bear hug, but fails once her tendrils tightened around him, assisted by her slim forelegs. He could feel her breath breathing down his neck, brushing against his sweating mane. “Oh my sweet dear, you are so romantic. It’s like you’re trap in a devastating love triangle. I wonder though, is this Cadence good in bed?” That question froze him in place, causing a massive blush to appear on his furry cheeks. “Does she give you good massages like momma does?” She questioned, rubbing her hooves smoothly against his back. More sweat began pouring down the stallion’s head as if he felt his body’s lust being tested by the slender crazy mare. But everything returned into an awkward pause once the backdoor’s doorbell rang. Mane-iac turned her head to it, loosening her hold on Shining Armor. He was capable of slipping under her legs and crawled towards the door. He peeked through the blinds and spotted another problem in his flanks that made matters pretty worse. “Alright, I need you to hide!” He whispered, turning to her while pressing his back against the frame of the door. Mane-iac only grinned lightly and leaned down towards him, using her hair to provide her stomach leverage to be in the air. Resting her forelegs under her chin and licking her sharp fangs, the crazy mare giggled lightly at her lover’s nervous expression. “Are we going to play hide and seek?” She asked. He pauses for a few seconds before shaking his head furiously with a small smile. “You hide and I will seek.” “Are you going to answer my questions about this Cadence when you find me?” She asked. “Y-yeah, sure, whatever, j-just hide!” He said. Mane-iac rubbed her chin, before licking her soft lips with her slick tongue. “Alright~, but you have to be good when you do this, love. Once you find me, maybe we can at least experiment with what you and Cadence done together.” She said, beginning to walk away into the hall, using her hair tendrils. When she was out of sight and sound, the unicorn quickly unlocked the top half of the door and opened it halfway, peeking out. “Flash, what are you doing here?” Shining Armor questioned in an angry tone, glaring at the orange pegasus with burning eyes. The pegasus was taken back, surprised from his best friend’s reaction. He eventually smirked, brushing off the glare as if it was some kind of joke and chuckled lightly before explaining his presence before his best friend. “Just asking if you saw Twilight by any chance?” “W-what, n-no, she’s probably with Cadence; she said that they had an assignment to do together order from Celestia.” He stated. “O-oh, well damn it. I was hoping to give her this,” Flash pulled out a sparkling necklace with a unique glinting pearl attached to it. Shining Armor could not help but admire the alluring accessory that glinted from the sun’s sparkling rays. “T-that looks pretty nice.” The captain of the guard muttered under his breath. “I know right,” Flash said, “I think Twilight will probably love it when I get a chance to show her it.” Shining Armor shook his head before looking around seeing ponies walking by the streets. He hated the fact his house’s front and backyard faced two streets, he made a mental note to buy wooden fences when the time arises, but for now he had to focus on getting rid of Flash. “Look, Flash, I don’t know when my wife and sister will be back, but I don’t have time to chat.” He said. “Really, I was also hoping we hang out since we are on vacation…for now.” He added in the last part with relief. “Probably catch the arcades or visit some Sports center.” “Now Flash, you know I am not a sports kind of stallion, I prefer video games, manga, and anime.” Shining Armor stated. “Sheesh, you’re such a shut-in otaku!” “Hey, I’m not a shut in!” Shining Armor clarified, but Flash shrugged it off. “Look, dude, do you want to go to the Gaming Convention at least?” Flash asked. “Why, so you can try taking flank and pantie shots on all the cosplayers?” He questioned, his tone becoming flat while staring at the pegasus with an unamused expression. Flash’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment, before rubbing the back of his head. “Hey now, if Twilight can snap shots at coltcuddler couples, and make fanfics out of that, while also trying to get us drunk and do it, I see it that it is an eye for an eye if I can just simply take those shots for “research”.” “Okay…one: That was only once that we kissed while being drunk, thank Celestia the higher captains didn’t caught us on that act or we would have that poor sinful Trotflic church and crap on us, “Dude they hate everything, “Let’s not make any assumptions on things that are too obvious.” Shining Armor cut him off, “Now, two: Twilight loves the taboo as much as Cadence does, it’s a thing I think they got into once they started merging with the crazy yaoi fanatics out there, next to the yuri ones.” “I see where you are going.” Flash said, nodding his head for confirmation. “And three: research…really? Dude, you have some strange issues with my sister that I am glad aren’t violent, but I think should be kept very private behind doors or the bedroom. Look, keep that between you two and not me.” “Alright, alright, dude, I get it! Keep my activities, especially Twilight’s, in-doors. So, you still wanna hang out?” Flash asked, tucking Twilight’s gift under his right wing. Shining Armor had to think for a bit before looking back at the hallway. Somewhere, just somewhere in those narrow depths, he could sense the daemonic embodiment of Lilith. He could have sworn he heard soft giggles and his name being called. Turning back to Flash, he prepared to answer him, but was struck dead in silence once he heard a loud giggle in the background, catching his friend’s attention. “Is somepony in there?” Flash asked. “W-what, no, of course not,” He shouted quickly, “just the television being loud and all! I’m just watching some Power Ponies.” “Dude, seriously…they made a show out of that comic series?” Flash asked becoming unamused. “Yeah~” He said smiling nervously. Flash sighs and says, “Hey, look, I don’t know everything you’re into. Honestly, I was raised on Video games and sports; I have no knowledge of the outside world. I will leave you to your thing, but if you ever get bored…hit me up, ‘kay?” The pegasus asked. Shining Armor nodded his head, wiping the sweat rolling on his forehead off. “Yeah, I’ll keep you in ‘tact. Now see you later, Flash.” “See ya, bro. I’m going to buy a game and hit up any roleplayers on poniroleplay.” He said with a delightful grin, before turning around and trotting away. When Flash was out of sight, he shut the door and locked it. Shining Armor released a sigh before turning to the hallway. He shook his head lightly before trotting into the embedding darkness where his demon waited for his bulk otaku body. Further and further, the darkness grew harder to see. Whatever made it so dark, was a mystery to him since he could have sworn there were two light bulbs—new and bright—on in the hallway. Then, he stopped and heard that terrifying giggle vibrating against his ears as the echoplex became wide and strong. He froze and slowly looked down seeing the pitch black floor begin to move. Once he saw that, he stared up at the ceiling and saw a speck of the light bulb uncover from whatever masses of darkness that confined it, shining bright. Then, hooves wrapped around his neck, before hot air touched against his neck, sending shivers down his back. “You found me…lover.” Mane-iac whispered. “Y-your hair…it…it literally covered the entire hallway?” He muttered in shock, watching the dark tendrils turn green after allowing the two light bulbs to shine brightly down on everything. “Neat trick I learned from watching this old movie called Aliens. The way they use their bodies for camouflage was very unique. So, I mimicked it and it helped me pretty well in my life. I can so easily get into banks without breaking a sweat.” “That’s…pretty scary…and cool.” He admitted, breaking free from her light grip and glaring at her nervously. “So, it’s my turn to find you.” “Umm, let’s not play right now, okay?” He stated. “W-what, but why?” She asked, becoming disappointed and confused. “I have to figure out how you got into this world and how am I going to keep you hidden.” He said, sighing in annoyance. “All of this is really too much for me to handle, but I am not the pony to easily give up.” “Dear, you are confusing me. I’ve always been here, beside you for a very long time. Hiding me just feels like you are trying to get away from me.” She said, frowning at him. The stallion felt a bit bad, but cursed those guilty feelings for existing in the first place. He actually wanted to get rid of her. If she stood here in this world any longer, she would surely to be dis-covered. “It’s not like that,” he lied, “it’s just I don’t want any of us getting in trouble, especially from Cadence and the police. Trust me, “dear”, you don’t even want Princess Celestia on us or…for my sake, we’ll be sent off into the sun or moon, and Celestia forbid Pluto. Nopony likes Pluto, seriously!” Mane-iac thought for a moment before nodding her head softly. “I understand than, my lover. I shall keep low, but I don’t want that Cadence taking you all for her own self.” She said, glaring at him sternly. “Noted.” He stated quickly, becoming frightened by her stern stare. “Good, now do you mind telling me…what’s your sex like with her?