//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Of Boredom and Co-Conspirators // by Nightmare723764 //------------------------------// Of Boredom and Co-Conspirators Chapter 1 <<>> As the Alicorn of Love; Cadence is full of love. Love of life, family, friends, nature, etc. But above all things, she loves the two foals she adopted as her own. A rather small but burly unicorn colt named Shifting Space, and one Alicorn colt named Inanis. Two brothers in everything but blood, but then again pony genetics are a funny thing so they actually could be blood siblings! "They still haven’t told us, honestly..." Oh but they sometimes were a trial. For some reason beyond Cadence’s comprehension they simply do not like Shining Armor, often going out of their ways to taunt, prank, and generally pester him. It seemed they were equal-opportunity mischief makers, though one of their primary targets being Prince Blueblood. Or rather Blueballs as they call him. They seem to be on a campaign to make Blueblood out to be a coltcuddler! "I swear some of the things they do, I honestly forget they’re just foals!" They also seem to have a crush on Auntie Luna! Everypony finds the fact so insanely cute! They would get into the fiercest scuffles over her affections! Just so cute~! But of course with the good comes the bad. Given how they act when provoked, their utterly perverse and depraved sense of humor, and their willingness to use violence leads Cadance, as well as Auntie Celestia and Luna, everypony really, to believe they were heavily abused in the past. Thankfully nopony other than a few know the extent of the abuse. “SHIFTING SPACE! INANIS!” “Oh Auntie… what have they done now!?” At this rate Cadence wouldn’t be surprised if she started finding gray hairs in her mane! <<>> Inanis and I ran like the Furies of Tartarus were nipping at our hooves, well I ran. Inanis, that smug bucker, flew beside me. His wings allowing him to keep pace with me easily. I’ve never been so envious of ponies with wings as I am right now… Anyways, we’re making our grand escape after another great prank on Pompous Armor! This time we not only put hot pink coat-dye in his shampoo, but we also laced his armor with itching powder! Granted not the most sophisticated prank but still… prank’s a prank when it all comes to it. “So, what are you gonna do to get out of this one; Shifty?” Inanis asked with a smug grin. “Well… I was thinking about hiding out in the caves below Canterlot for a while. Besides I’ve been meaning to explore them for a while anyway.” I reply barely out of breath, sometimes being a pony’s kinda cool. “Meh, they’re boring… just crystals, crystals, more crystals… and a single mouse skull for some reason…?” “Dude! We can make it our Bat cave or something! Growing up didn’t you always want a secret lair? I sure as Tartarus did!” I refuse to admit I whined at that. “For us, it’d probably be more of a Cuddle-Cave… actually, that could work. We just need copious amounts of pillows and decorative fluffy blankets; and I can start you in your own Hugging-Brothel!” Inanis contemplated. “Dude… you already pimp me out for cuddles… granted I enjoy myself but still…” I said somehow rubbing my chin as I ran. How? I don’t know pony = buck logic. Though I’m not as bad as the Pink Devil herself! Oh if only she’d teach me her ways... I’d so be crushing on her if a certain lunar mare hadn’t stolen my heart! “Ah, but it could be the VIP room, for the High-rollers… they could even pay for both of us at once if they’re willing the extra charge.” He supplied. “... As long Shooting Star is still blacklisted.” I deadpan. Ah Shooting Star the biggest cuddle-bug at school and yet… the biggest bully as well. Honestly if my mom, not Cadence, hadn’t taught me to never strike a female I’d have already put her in the ICU! “She’s not… completely… blacklisted. Blacklisted from yourself and from the VIP room most certainly… but… well… she pays well…?” Inanis answered, slightly embarrassed. “... Somehow… I’m not surprised…” I deadpan. “Inanis couldn’t possibly have a crush… could he? I’m pretty damn sure he’s smitten with Luna like myself...“ Huh? Oh about my mom? Well ya see me and Inanis? We’re not originally ponies! In fact we’re from a different world entirely! See we’re actually full-grown humans in the bodies of foals! Granted it was bucking confusing as Tartarus at first but… meh I don’t know about Inanis but I’m kinda enjoying my “second chance” as it is. Heh… the shrinks think me and Inanis were severely abused and shit. That one pony still thinks I’m completely insane! Gods it’s great! “... We can raid Blueballs apartment for pillows and stuff!” I said grinning, “Maybe short-sheet his bed, put some cherry bombs in his toilet, oh and lace his clothes with itching powder!” Inanis sighs lightly, “Just what is it with you and itching powder…?” “It’s easy to either get ahold of or make. It gets EVERYWHERE. And honestly? Back on earth I wasn’t a prankster and I’ve always heard about itching powder in pranks! I’m open to other suggestions though.” I answer honestly. “... My suggestion is to dissolve that itching powder into a bottle of pepper-spray, sneak up behind Blueballs, and spray him with the concoction in his blue balls. He can’t stop scratching, and each scratch will make it burn more.” Inanis suggested with a slightly sadistic grin. “That is petty, vindictive, cruel, and just plain evil.” I deadpan, “Gods you’re the best brother ever!” I add with a too-happy grin. “Yup, Brother in all but Blood, Body, Mind, and Spirit!” He chuckled, “So, basically, in name only.” “True enough, true enough…” I admitted, thinking back to when we met. <<<8 Months ago>>> <<>> I groaned as I pushed myself off the ground, ”Wait a minute… wasn’t I just....?” The dust settled and I looked around, somewhat wildly I admit, and there was a few things wrong. One: Everything seemed a helluva lot bigger. Two: I felt a breeze and I know I put on clothes this morning. And finally three: I couldn’t feel my hands! I look down at my… hooves. I have hooves. And apparently either I grew a shit ton of body hair or something cause my arm was covered in dark blue fuzz. Is that fucking fur!? What the fucks going on here!? I was about to have a breakdown, though I’m not sure if it was mental or nervous, when I heard someone groaning not two feet away from me. I looked over and saw… a winged unicorn… yep. I’m either drugged off my ass. Insane. Or have died and this is some twisted afterlife where I’m surrounded by horses… I’m totally unashamed to say I fainted. <<>> “Hmm… this feels harder than my bed…” I thought as I opened my eyes and looked around me. ”Well, I’m not as tired as usual, so that’s somethi- oh, that’s why.” “A lucid dream, is it… been awhile.” I said, testing out my voice. “Ah, a child this time, how quaint… is that a hoof? Yup… a young quadruped. It’s quite rare to experience a new one, so I’d better enjoy it while I can.” I stood up, and look around for more details… such as the blue, horned equine sleeping beside me (”I guess that confirms my species…”) and the scorch-marks surround us. “Scorch-marks, is it… so the most likely scenarios are ‘Chosen children appearing in a flash of light or power’ and ‘magical amnesia-inducing accident’... possibly both. Does magic work in this one?” I ask out loud, trying to conjure a fireball through the usual dreaming means. “Nope, magicless. Disappointing, those are the best dreams. Welp, better wake up my partner for this time around- or not, there are soldiers coming… how amusing.” I state while sitting down to observe what’s about to happen. <<>> I woke up hearing hooves coming towards me and… whatshisface. I pushed myself off the ground and shook my head. “I just fainted… like a bitch…” Hello rage my old friend, how nice to see you again! While I slowly worked up to an epic, in my opinion, rage I couldn’t help but wonder what happen to my emotional control. Not to say I am one of those ancient ninja masters with total control over my emotions, but I’ve always been damn good at controlling my anger. Or repressing it rather, I do have a decade plus worth of rage and hate pent up. School was not fun. Anyways, I looked towards the opening of the alley as a trio of horses in armor… marched towards us? Okay Jake don’t flip your shit yet, they’re probably just… checking out… whatever. I don’t know. God I need a drink… “Foals? Foals are responsible for that magic surge!?” “Is that an Alicorn!?” “Sweet Celestia it is! Ignore the shrimp, take the young alicorn to the hospital this instant!” … And like that Mount Jack erupted with that jab at my height. And with my anger coming forth everything went red and I charged the first of the horses that fell in my crosshairs. “Foal what are you doing- Sweet Celestia! He just knocked Sergeant Stone out cold!” “Perhaps it is unwise to ignore a child then, no matter if they are an ‘Alicorn’ or not, hmm?” The winged unicorn guy said. “ARGH!! The little bucker broke my leg!!” “How the buck is a Celestia damned foal so strong!?” The winged unicorn just sat there chuckling as he watched, “My, my… you are a violent one.” the creepy fuck almost purred. After the armored horses stopped moving, I know they’re not dead, I looked at the winged unicorn guy. Fucking hell those eyes are fucking creepy! Kinda cool being all mirror-like, but still! And… is his hair… what the fuck is up with his goddamn hair! I tilted my head and probably had the most epic “dafuq” face ever. “Dude… look in a mirror or something…” I said somewhat shrilly, honestly for whatever reason I found this freaky looking winged unicorn guy kinda intimidating… which is kinda stupid ‘cause before I woke up here I was often called a fucking grizzly bear! Not because of my size, but my temper sadly enough… <<>> “Do you see a mirror around here? I don’t.” I reply amused. I must look really awesome, or really freaky… Here’s hoping for the latter! “Well… your eyes are all mirror-like, I can see myself in them! And you’ve got a dark gray coat of… fur. Your hair and tail are solid white and half-ethereal, all wispy and shit. Oh and you got wings and a big ass horn that doubles as a spear on your forehead.” The blue unicorn equine said somewhat dazed. “... I see, but may I ask why you felt the need to describe my own appearance in full to me?” ”Even if it was quite useful… but meh, dream-logic. “Umm... well…” the blue child stammered, “You were sleeping next to me when I appeared here… so I kinda… assumed you were in the same boat as me…? Not knowing where we are or what’s going on?” ”Hmm… that’s a bit interesting…” “That’s quite the assumption to make…” I say, staring at him, “But not untrue. Shall we trade information for now?” “Yep.” the blue unicorn said, “The name’s Jack, twenty-nine year old man in a horses body.” He added dryly. “Pleasure. I am Ermingild deBláca, twenty years old, and apparently in an ‘Alicorn’ body. Also, judging by your horn, I’d say that you’re a unicorn, not a horse. Now, going by previous experience; we’re gonna want to figure out the naming conventions in this place, and come up with appropriate aliases in order to fit in… feel like waking up the beaten-senseless-by-seafood guards so we can ask some questions? Or should we not chance it?” I ask, attempting to judge my partner’s temperament. “Meh, sure! If they start anything I’ll knock them the fuck out again!” Jack said with a vicious grin. “Good man.” I complement, then lazily gesture over to the armoured idiots, “Do wake them kindly, they’ll be more forthcoming that way.” “Okay!” Jack said before walking, trotting, over and proceeded to kick a stallion hard. I winced in sympathy as the stallion let out a high-pitch screech. “Oi! Shut the fuck up! You answer our questions, or I will break you in ways you can only imagine in your fucking nightmares!” Jack snarled I can’t help but snort in amusement, “Oh my… perhaps I should have specified; ‘wake them kindly’ as though they were children whose parents would sue you at the first excuse they could find.” “... Ermin. I’ve just woke up. I’m in a body I am completely unfamiliar with. In a place that’s completely alien to me. I’m terrified. And angry. And I have years of suppressed rage surging out for the first time in years. To be quite honest you should be thankful I haven’t killed them.” Jack deadpanned. “Yes, and you just spat out that whole tirade, right in front of the soldier you so kindly woke up; who now likely has labeled you as unstable, crazy, and/or delusional. I must thank you for the entertainment likely to come though, Brother.” I pointed out, making sure that there was no room for argument on our ‘relation’ to one-another. “Okay three, no four things. Unstable: yes I admit it. Crazy: not so much. And delusional: I haven’t suffered from that for a couple years. And finally four: Head Trauma.” Jack said with a crooked smirk, “But you should know all that, bro…” He added with a chuckle. “Of course, I’m the never-caught but most-likely cause of all that; after all.” I added with an amused smirk. “So, ‘Mister Armour’ I’ll call you until you supply a new name; may I ask some questions? I do hope my brother’s sadism hasn’t dampened the chance of that too much, but we are quite confused as to what’s happened.” I ask the conscious soldier, with a mostly-innocent look on my face. Jack didn’t look innocent whatsoever though… meh, works for Good-Cop, Bad… Thug I suppose. “He called me a shrimp… I take offense to that!” Jack said rather petulantly, which is rather disconcerting given his previous savage showing... “Brother, you take offense to cheese if it isn’t aged right…” Jack simply pouted and crossed his forelimbs, “Anyway, Bloodlust-on-a-stick aside; are you willing to answer our questions, sir?” “Sure… just keep that madfoal away from me!” The guard shrieked. Jack grinned madly, emphasis on madly. ”Ah, Good-Cop Bad-Thug… never fails… except when it does, and the real fun begins…” “Alright, first: where are we, exactly? Even the name of the continent if you would?” I ask. “You’re in Canterlot, Capital of Equestria, on the continent of Elysium!” The guard said quickly. “Thank you. And may I ask why you were so surprised at my being an ‘Alicorn’?” I asked, with a measured cute confused tilt of the head. “There’s only four Alicorns currently, aside from you! Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and Princess Twilight Sparkle!” He answered. ”All female, interesting… that could be fun later on. I should make sure if there are different types of Alicorns as well, just in case...” “So these four Princesses, they all look like me…?” “Shouldn’t foals already know this? What rock have you been living under!?” The guard asked shocked. ”What backstory to choose, which one to choose… Well, with my “Brother” being as… disturbed… as he is, an abusive one? Yes, that’ll be fun.” “A rather deep, dark one… one that I’m still not sure how we got away from, but no matter.” I answer a bit curtly, “Can you please answer the question?” I add, acting annoyed at the subject-change. “Only Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, they’re True Alicorns. Princess Cadence and Princess Twilight are ‘Lesser’ Alicorns. You’re a True Alicorn, only True Alicorns have ethereal manes and tails.” “My, that’s rather informative! It seems I should choose a latin name… Inanis seems fitting.” “Thank you. And may I ask your name?” I politely ask. “Sergeant Black Stone.” He answered warily. ”Alright, it appears that my ‘Brother’ should have some combination of English words for a name… his type often spends time on computers, especially if they repress anger constantly like he said… I got it.” “Nice to make your acquaintance, Sergeant Stone. You may call me ‘Inanis’, and my brother ‘Shifting Space’.” I said, glancing to Jack to make sure he got the hint. “Yeah… nice to meet ya I guess…” ‘Shifting Space’ said lightly scuffing the ground with his hoof, obviously wanting to either knock Sergeant Stone out or wanting to leave. “Now, do you want us to go get help for you and your comrade’s injuries?” I inquire courteously. Sergeant Black Stone nodded warily, keeping his eyes firmly on Shifting Space the entire time. Smart equine, maybe I’ll give him a biscuit. I motioned for Shifting Space, I’ll lovingly call him Shifty for short, to help me. He looked rather mullish but did so, grumbling all the while. “Now, is there a specific place we should go to ask for help? Or should we just look around for more ‘Soldiers’ such as yourself and inform them of your location?” I ask. “Just step out, there should be more guards wandering about.” Sergeant Stone said, closing his eyes tiredly. “Yeah, hey you might have a concussion. I wouldn’t go to sleep.” Shifty pipped up. “Hate to admit it, but you’re right…” Stone replies, yawning, “Would you mind getting help quickly then, I’m not sure how much longer I can keep myself awake like this.” Shifty smiled, trotted over, and proceeded to stomp on one of Stone’s legs. Hard. The crunch was rather stomach churning and the scream grated on my nerves. “SON OF A HALF-DEAD WHORSE!!!” “Yeah, don’t worry about sleep anymore!” Shifty chirped, oh now that’s right twisted right there, effective though. “Crude, but it’ll have to do for now. I do apologise for him again though… he doesn’t much care for adults. For good reason, admittedly, but still.” I apologise, while starting to walk away to find more guards; and motioning for Shifty to follow. “Lead the way bro!” He said happily. ”Issues upon issues this one has. Compliant though... a fine minion he will make…” <<>> I followed Ermin- er Inanis out of the alley deep in thought. Letting all that rage out… felt good! ”Honestly if I knew it’d be this… liberating I would’ve let it out years ago! But then again… it’s probably for the best that I didn’t.” I thought. “I wonder… why are we even bothering helping those guards? I mean… if they’re so incompetent they get their asses beaten by a kid, aren’t they getting what they deserve?” I wonder. When we stepped out of the alley I look around all wide-eyed, “Damn… that’s a lot of horses!” Inanis went about trying to find a guard whereas I looked at all the horses! A lot of them wore real expensive clothes too, “Why the fuck would horses need goddamn clothes!? Does nothing in this fucked-up world make any fucking sense!?” When I finally stopped looking around I noticed Inanis wasn’t with me, then I remember that guard asking for us to get help. I shrugged, ”I can take care of myself! Besides these horses look too busy with their noses in the air to notice a little unicorn kid anyway…” “Hey little foal. Come here I got some candy for you.” ”… I spoke too soon it seems.” With a sigh I turned and looked at the one talking to me, oh yeah… nothing about this screams “Stranger Danger” what-so-ever… with a put upon sigh I approached the stallion, completely willing to commit horrible acts of violence if he does what I think he might do. “Hey if you follow me I’ll give you all sorts of candy.” God, this guy reeked of perversion, shame, and disappointment. And I could probably oil an entire armory just from the grease dripping from his tone alone! “... Try what I think you’re going to try and I’m going to do something I won’t regret.” I deadpanned, “In fact I’ll possibly enjoy it entirely too much!” “Oh that’s alright, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it too.” He replied, with a very perverted smile. I was just about to go all “Hulk SMASH” on his ass when Inanis showed up with a guard. And I’ll admit, I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I know what I’m going to do now! Shooting the pervert a very evil grin I quickly bound to the guard and Inanis. “Mister! There’s this stallion asking me to follow him into an alley, he promised me lots of candy but my momma said never take candy from strangers!” I said in a painfully cute voice, “He also said something about enjoying pain! What’s that mean mister?” “Can you point this stallion out foal?” The guard asked his eyes narrowing dangerously. Inanis just watched with an amused glint in his eyes. I smiled and pointed right at the stallion in question, who paled drastically. The guard motioned for two other guards to apprehend the pervert. I watched painfully amused as two guards fucking tackled the pervert in a way that’d make liner-backers jealous! ”That was AWESOME!” “Now, with that problem dealt with,” Inanis spoke up, “Shall I bring you to the original problem, sir?” “Inanis is it?” Inanis nodded, “You said some ponies asked for assistance?” “Yes, other guards in fact. There was a… misunderstanding… and they got injured. I think one may have a concussion, and had been having difficulty staying awake.” “A misunderstanding? How so?” The guard asked curiously. “They made the mistake of only focusing on me while my brother was present… He doesn’t like adults at the best of times, and doesn’t act kindly when others blow him off like he’s nothing.” He supplied, “Both of us were in the same situation, but they blatantly said to, and I quote; ‘ignore the shrimp, take the young Alicorn’... Shifty took exception to that.” “What did he do?” The guard asked, not believing the foal could do anything serious. “Knocked out all three, and broke one or 2 bones… so admittedly he did go easy on them.” Inanis answered innocently. The guard looked at me wide-eyed and slack jawed, I grinned sheepishly. “Uh… I don’t know my own strength?” I offered meekly while scratching the back of my head. “Pfft- Oh, you know your own strength alright… what you don’t know is how to hold back.” Inanis teased. I growled, now if I was human it would’ve been menacing, now it just sounds cute. Goddamn it. With a sigh I pouted, “I can hold back!” God… I can’t even convince myself… now that’s just sad. Grumbling we lead the guard to the alley we woke up in, “... I think we’re going to be in trouble regardless…” <<>> If there’s one thing Cadence loved more than anything it was foals, so much so she often visited the foal clinic to check up on sick foals. So imagine her shock when she found the place filled the guards! “Guard! Tell me what’s happened! Are the foals alright!?” She asked worried. “No, the foals are fine ma’am.” The guard answered, “However, some guards found two foals, one a unicorn and the other an Alicorn, but they’re proving… difficult.” “An Alicorn?” “How so?” Cadance asked curiously. The air was suddenly filled with streams of curse words that would make a seasoned soldier blush and a back-alley whorse balk. Following the cursing was the sounds of a scuffle then the high pitched screech of a guard! “THAT LITTLE BUCKER GORED ME!!” “SO WHAT! LITTLE MONSTER NEARLY GAVE ME A SEX CHANGE!!” “IT’S NOT A FOAL! IT’S A SADISTIC DEMON FROM THE DEPTHS OF TARTARUS!” Cadence blinked, wide-eyed and slack jawed. “Oh dear…” “NEXT TIME YOU COME NEAR ME WITH A NEEDLE I’LL BREAK YOUR FUCKING HORN OFF AND STAB YOU IN THE HEART WITH IT!!” The young voice of a colt roared, well as much as a young foal could roar. “Calm down Shifty, it’s just a needle. You’re already in enough trouble as it is without committing pony-slaughter over a little prick like that… though, I suppose you almost did earlier to that pervert as well, over a different kind of ‘little prick’.” A calm young voice said, ending with a light chuckle. “BACK! BACK I SAY! AVAST YE SCURVY DOGS! I COME TO PILLAGE YE BOOTY THERE MISSY! HOIST THE COLORS I’M GOING IN!!” The silence after that was deafening, before the calm voice spoke up again. “Well now, that can’t be good… I told him not to eat anything strange, but going by how he’s acting… seems similar to how he reacted to those mushrooms we found once. At least he isn’t declaring himself ‘King of the Horn-Dogs’ and humping everything in sight this time...” “WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS MY FRIENDS!~ WE’LL KEEP ON FIGHTING TILL THE END!~ WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!” A slight pause, “Weee aaaaareeeee ttthhheee...” The air is suddenly filled with loud snores that honestly sound like they sound be coming from a Manticore then a foal. “Thanks Celestia you found those tranqs, Nurse Golden.” “I’m not bucking paid enough for this…” Grumbled one of the guards, Cadence assumed. “... Got anything stronger? I’ve been looking for something to stop his incessant snoring for a while now…” the calm voice asked. Cadance looked at the guard standing by the door, and in truly out of character outburst, screamed. “What the BUCK is going on in there!?” The calm voice answered without missing a beat, “Oh, just a daemonic ritual to summon some amazing tea from Tartarus, my brother didn’t seem to like the idea of being a sacrifice though…” Cadence has very rarely heard guards on duty snort, but that statement seemed to do it… though she wasn’t too happy about what a guard said afterwards. “If only, then we wouldn’t have to deal with the little monster…” an injured guard said, shortly before being punched in the snout by a prissy pink pissed pony princess. Growling Cadence stomped to where all the commotion was going on. Needless to say nopony tried to stop her. Never get in the way of a Princess on a mission! While she wasn’t a magical powerhouse like Auntie Tia or Luna, let alone Twilight, Cadence isn’t to be dismissed as not a threat if her ire is raised. In this case she wants to find out what is up with these two foals! And to see if she could help the guards and staff if she could! After all she’d been a foalsitter for several years and knew how to handle unruly foals. “Oh… my… Auntie…” Cadence gasped gaping like a slack-jawed idiot. The Alicorn colt was calmly sitting on a bed, his entire expression showing how amused he is over the situation. His coat was dark grey, with an unkempt pure white ethereally-flowing mane and tail, and eyes that reflected like mirrors more than having their own colour. Three guards were confined to beds, each with a limb in a cast, and only one of them conscious. Another trio were in rough condition, one obviously gored, another with an ice pack on his head and both his eyes blackened, but the third was pale and obviously terrified. And everypony was looking at the “little monster” of a foal that raised all this chaos. Without using a bit of magic, Cadence assumed from the look of things. The foal had a dark blue coat of fur, his mane and tail white and grey. Whereas his tail was somehow neatly straightened and maintained his mane was wild and very reminiscent of a certain deejay. The foal was currently snoring like a Manticore and drooling, what made this scene even more bizarre was the fact that the foal wasn’t only in a straightjacket but also strapped down to the bed! “Somepony explain what happened!” Cadence barked in the rarely used ‘Princess’ voice, “And will somepony please tell me why a foal is restrained like that!?” Many of the doctors, nurses, and guards gulped. “Well… Princess Cadence…” One of the doctors started. Cadence knew instantly she was going to be in desperate need of a migraine reliever later, she just knew it… <<>> Black Stone had seen a lot of incredible stuff since joining the Guard. He had been on the frontline, for the lack of a better word, during the Changeling invasion. Witnessed Discords first escape and capture. Point is, Black Stone has seen some weird bucked-up horseapples in his time. But a foal brutalizing three full grown stallions? Not even in his most bucking up, hard cider induced, dreams! Let alone nearly twice in one day! However Black Stone knew he was going to be witness for another unheard of event. The eruption of Mount Princess Cadence, something he never imagined could possibly happen! The princess is always so nice and generous with everypony! “But a lot of fools forget just how vicious love can be…” Black Stone thought dryly. Tartarus Hath no Fury like a Mare Scorned, his father once told him. And Black Stone firmly believed it, truly mares can be the far more vicious of sexes… Looking over to his right Black Stone observed the foal Inanis, “It’s like all this is just a grand play for his amusement!” Black Stone could see how it can amuse, really he could; what with Shifting Space’s momentary slip into dementia and all. “... Something about that foal just doesn’t seem… right…” Any further pondering were interrupted by the eruption of Mount Princess Cadence. “WHAT!?” The princess bellowed in the royal canterlot voice, making everypony’s ears pin back… except Inanis’, somehow, which only twitched… though the colt’s smile did get slightly wider. “We had to restrain the patient as he was suffering from a severe onslaught of paranoia and anxiety attacks, that lead to his assault on three of the guards and his dementia-induced ramblings, your majesty.” Wow, that doctor didn’t look cowed one bit! “And he will remain restrained until we’re completely sure he will no longer violently lash out.” The doctor added with that ‘and that’s final’ tone that they seem obligated to use. “... Well, I see no problem with it. And besides, I have it on good word that he enjoys being restrained so long as it’s for… ‘fun’... and it’s not like he’ll be waking up for a while anyway.” Inanis supplied. “Don’t be so sure foal.” The doctor said snootily, “For a foal, Shifting Space has abnormally large magical reserves, in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if he woke in the next ten minutes!” “Yes, but you aren’t taking into consideration how mentally and physically exhausted he may have been in when you tranq’d him. And even then, I never elaborated on how long ‘a while’ was anyway.” The colt retorted, seemingly interested in some aspect of what the doctor said. The doctor bowed his head, conceding to Inanis’ words. The doctor motioned for Princess Cadence to follow him, no doubt to speak in privacy. Possibly over the two foals and what may happen to them. “I know without a doubt Inanis will be taken to the Palace where the Princesses will take him under their guidance; either as a student, or possibly adopted depending on his situation. They’ll probably look for their family to return them if they can be found, though I figure Inanis will be commuting from his home to the Palace should one of the Princesses take him on as an apprentice.” Black Stone figured, though it really didn’t matter to him. “WHAT!?” Cadence bellowed again. “Damn… Princess Cadence heard something she didn’t like…” Black Stone momentarily felt some pity for whomever rose the Princess of Love’s ire. “Celestia have mercy, for Princess Cadence will not…” With a shrug Black Stone relaxed and closed his eyes, though he knew he wouldn’t get any sleep he figured what happens from here on isn’t any of his concern. <<>> “... So you’re telling me… that those two foals are either currently being or have been abused in the past correct?” Cadence said flatly, “How can you be sure? There is no physical evidence to support your claims.” “It’s in their behaviour Princess.” The doctor said quietly, “Victims of abuse either withdraw entirely into themselves, becoming agoraphobic and skittish. Or they lash out, violently. And I’m sorry to say but Shifting Space is most definitely the victim of harsh abuse for him to react so violently, and that’s before I became aware of his altercation with the guards that found him!” “And what of the other one, Inanis I believe? He hardly seems withdrawn or violent.” Cadence asked. “Inanis is… difficult to put it mildly. While his behaviour suggests he’s well adjusted, what suggests he’s abused actually IS his behaviour. He’s entirely too in control of his behaviour, foals his age are suppose to be impulsive and immature. Inanis, other than sarcastic comments, shows no impulsiveness or immaturity… almost as though he feels he can’t afford to take childish actions. And while his jokes and statements can be taken innocently enough, a lot of them also have some… phallic… undertones. To be quite honest Princess, between the two of them I’m worried about Inanis the most. I can’t imagine what could have made him this way!” The doctor explained, mincing his hooves lightly in discomfort. Cadence grimaced, she had noticed that actually. She was hoping, rather naively she mused, that he simply wasn’t aware of the adult nature of his words. For the first time in a long while Cadence actually felt disgust towards whoever abused those two cute little foals! “How could anypony possibly abuse two little cuties like them!?” Cadence thought frowning, “Well what do you suggest now?” Cadence asked after a moment or two of thought. “Well I suggest launching an investigation regarding the foals’ family!” The doctor said with a scowl, “I have two little fillies of my own and the thought of anypony abusing them fills me with a sense of outrage and disgust!” “It’s not certain that the foals family are the abusers. But there will be an investigation I assure you! Even if I have to lead it myself!” Cadence said sternly, “Now I just need to ask Inanis some questions about his family and then I’ll get the investigation in motion.” She added, “Oh Auntie, give me strength to overcome this trial!” Cadence exited the room and entered the recovery ward where everypony was and looked at the two foals; Shifting Space and Inanis. Thankfully Shifting Space’s snoring had stopped and now the foal looked rather peaceful now, whereas Inanis was watching her with a calculating gleam in his eyes. “... Auntie… I’m going to need all the help I can get…” For whatever reason Cadence felt a chill run down her spine… Gulping slightly, Cadence approached Inanis in a manner you’d normally see used with injured predators. After a few moments Cadence used her magic to pull up a seat and sat down watching Inanis. Putting on her best foalsitter expression Cadence decided to start talking. “Hello Inanis, I’m Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. But please call me Cadence. Can you tell me where your family is?” She asked softly, though whether to comfort Inanis or herself she honestly didn’t know. “I’ll be honest Cadence, I have no idea. I could say something vague like ‘home’, but I don’t know where that is. I have no clue as to how we got here, or where we were beforehand. All I can tell you is that there was more often than not frost on the ground, and some sort of dock could be seen through the front window.” Inanis answered, after a slight pause of thought. “Okay, now for the hard question...” Cadence cleared her throat, “Did your family… ever hurt you or your brother Inanis?” She asked gently. “... Define ‘hurt’ please,” the colt requested tentatively, “We were never beaten or anything along those lines.” That caught Cadence flat-hoofed, “... They were never beaten or otherwise physically abused so… how…? Oh dear Auntie!” Cadence closed her eyes and shuddered, “Did they ever… touch you?” She asked her face tinged green. “... They? No…” Inanis answered with a cold grin, “Too valuable for that… but, at least we got a portion of what they made. And a fair bit too, due to the ‘rarity’ in question.” Cadence gave a sickly smile, that faint green tinge now more than just a tinge, she stood from her seat and quickly trotted to the restroom. A few minutes the deafening silence was broke by the sounds of Cadence retching… “By the Princesses!” Everypony muttered, all wide-eyed and horrified. Meanwhile, Inanis disturbingly snickered at the reactions, as though he didn’t care what had happened to him. “*yawn* What happened? Huh? Why the fuck am I restrained! Let me go goddamn it!” And then Shifting Space woke up. “Oh shush, you’d think you’d be used to it by now.” Inanis said, turning to his brother. Soon Cadence was joined in her retching, only they didn’t make it to the restroom! <<>> Princess Celestia Solaris, Diarch of the Sun, immediately knew something was wrong. Normally whenever her dear niece Cadence visited she was all lively and happy! But something was weighing heavily on her mind. Celestia didn’t need to even use a low-level telepathy spell to know something’s wrong, Cadence’s own magic was in upheaval due to her emotions! “Cadence dear, what’s the matter?” The solar mare asked in her normal motherly way, “What has upset you so? Shining Armor hasn’t forgotten your birthday again has he?” Said day was only a month away, so it’s a valid possibility. “Auntie…” Cadence eyes teared up, “It’s just awful!” She cried before flinging herself into Celestia’s barrel and started crying. “Oh there, there.” Celestia cooed, “Let it all out, and then tell me what’s wrong, okay?” The younger alicorn nodded as she cried, Celestia wrapped her wings around Cadence making soothing sounds. After a few minutes Cadence’s cried turned into sobs before turning into hiccups. Celestia gave Cadence a few moments to collect herself. “Auntie… the guard found two foals at the site of that magic surge earlier…” The pink alicorn rubbed her nose, “And… they… oh Auntie!” She cried. ”Oh dear, I hope that surge didn’t kill the foals… it was certainly strong enough.” Celestia thought. “The foals, they were… they were…” Cadence closed her eyes, “... Used!” She spat. “Used? Used. USED!?” Celestia’s eyes widened and grew enraged and wild. Cadence quickly freed herself when Celestia’s body temperature skyrocketed and her mane and tail flickered as if trying to burst into flames. Celestia snorted and it might’ve been Cadence’s imagination but she swore she saw two gouts of fire! “Auntie...?” Cadence asked meekly. Celestia didn’t hear her, she didn’t notice guards pouring in, or the fact that her sister and Twilight teleported in. Her mind was too clouded by rage to notice, the entire palace could explode and she’d probably ignore it! There are many crimes that Celestia and Luna stomped down hard on. Slavery, rape, and murder being near the top of the list, however two crimes she abhorred more than any other is Foal Abuse, and Foal Molestation! Out of all crimes, Celestia came down on them the hardest; more often than not Luna had to be the voice of reason when criminals guilty of said crimes came to trial! And Luna’s suppose to be the impulsive one! “And these foals are receiving the finest treatment?” Celestia asked, her voice as dead as a graveyard. Cadence nodded, her eyes wide in shock having never seen Celestia react so violently before. Luna and Twilight shuttled the guards out, despite their protests, but they knew the last thing Celestia needed was overzealous and borderline-fanatical guards right now. “Sister? What hast raised thy ire so?” Luna asked, slipping into her old speech patterns accidently. Seeing as Celestia was in no condition to explain, Cadence took it upon herself to explain the situation much to her displeasure. “Auntie, Twily let’s go somewhere quiet. I don’t want this to get around.” Cadence said softly. The Princesses of the Moon and Friendship respectively looked at Cadence curiously and nodded. They then followed Cadence out of the throne room leaving Celestia to mull over her thoughts and hopefully calm down. The silence was broken by two mares screeching out “WHAT!?” Outside the throne room one guard looked towards his partner. “Somepony out there royally bucked up.” One guard said. “Yep.” His partner replied nodding his head. <<>> I tried to wiggle around, but the fucking restrains held solid. “Goddamn it! Let me out! I need to go to the bathroom and my nose is fucking itching!!” I bellowed at the top of my lungs. I looked over at Inanis, the smug fucker, and he took amusement in my situation! Goddamn asshole! ”Wait, is he…? Yup, he just scratched my nose… with A FUCKING FEATHER! Asshole...” I looked at a nurse that walked by, “Can you let me out of this! I need to scratch my nose and go take a piss like mad!” I don’t care if I begged like a bitch damn it. “Oh you poor dear! I’ll let you go, if you promise you won’t throw a fit like you did earlier!” The nurse said sternly. I nodded so fast I’m shocked I didn’t get whiplash, and I didn’t bother correcting her because my “fit” was more just some rampaging paranoia and anxiety that lead to a bout of dementia, quite common. And I need to piss right the FUCK now! She quickly undid the buckles and straps holding me down. I was so thankful I full-on French kissed her before running off to the nearest restroom. In my hurry to get to the restroom I knocked over this horse on crutches, I would’ve thought ‘dafuq’ if I didn’t have to piss so bad! “ARGH! MY LEG!” Entering the bathroom, which thank god mirror the ones back home, I quickly entered a stall. “Oh thank god!” I moaned. Five minutes later I exited the restroom with a skip in my step- er trot. Whatever. Anyways now I walked back to my bed, hopped up on it, and… I just kissed… a horse… with tongue… “I KISSED A… ARGH!!” Enter: Epic Freakout. It goes without saying I’m quickly restrained, again, and sedated, again. “Fugging bullshid maaan…” I slurred. Inanis, the son of a bitch, was laughing at me! “That’s what happens when you break promises like that. I do thank you for the laugh though. The nurse’s blush soon after you left was adorable and hilarious.” He said, smugly. “Duuuuuuudddddddeeee! I needed to piss!” I whined, well as much as I could really. Inanis simply laughed and laid down to go to sleep. Not five minutes later, “Goddamn it! My nose is itching a-fucking-gin!” Then a nurse came by, “Hey! Can you scratch my nose please!?” The nurse smiled, “Sure sweetie. Afterwards I’ll just set up your catheter.” What? GODDAMN IT! “Hey, maybe if you’re ‘lucky’, it’ll be a urinary one; so you won’t kiss any more nurses in gratitude!” Inanis said, before collapsing in a fit of giggles.