Sins of the Father

by TornadoBlitz


Unexpected Warmth

The weight on Shining Armor's back began trouble his thoughts as he lead his soldiers home. Hours of marching behind them, and hours yet before them, he had little else to occupy his mind. How would Cadance and the rest of the empire react when he brought back a foal with Sombra’s horn? He was sure that his wife would want to help him, but the other ponies might not be as understanding. Looking back at the sleeping foal, Shining frowned. ‘That horn, what did it mean?’

“Cute little thing, isn’t he? If you ignore the horn, anyway.” one of the guards said, interrupted Shining's train of thought. “It’s amazing that somepony this small could cause so much trouble.”

“The biggest things often start out small, Private,” said Shining, remembering how he and his sister had gone from humble beginnings to royalty. “What is important now is finding out what going on with this foal. We must not, however, tell anypony that he has a horn that looks like that. This stays between us, understood?”

“Yes, Captain,” his squad said in the perfect unison only soldiers could manage. Shining looked over at Peytral, who gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

Hours later, the battalion finally crested the last hill between them and home. In Shining’s youth, stories about the Crystal Empire had ranged from it being a legend, a fable of hope. Now, with the evil presence that once controlled it gone, the empire’s true brilliance could show. At the centre of the city, stood the palace itself. The beautiful building that seemed to pierce the heavens with it’s sheer magnitude.

"Alright guys, we're making a beeline for the castle. I want you all to stay surround me as we go, so nopony can get a look at our little friend here…”

Shining sighed, floating his helmet off, and smiled. It was good to be home. Placing the foal safely in a guest bed, he once again turned his mind to the reception this foal would receive if his secret was discovered. Any way he envisioned it, the only result for the foal was vitriolic. Keeping the foal locked in the palace was also a lost cause. Any foal’s natural curiosity would take hold soon enough, and if he wondered unescorted, his secret was bound to be discovered. The only true way he would be safe is if he would be taken to Canterlot, under the care of Celestia and Luna.

Shining’s train of thought was once again interrupted by a knock on the door. He knew that out of all the ponies currently in this castle, there was only one that would be one anticipating his return so eagerly; his wife. Shining Armor steeled his resolve, normally meeting his wife would be a time he greatly looked forward to. When they were together, Shining felt like they occupied their own special space, where nopony could touch them. But today, he faced the difficult task of explaining the foal with Sombra’s horn. The task was made even more difficult considering the only one with the full story was the foal himself, and he seemed either reluctant or scared to talk about it.
Shining wished he had another chance to talk to the foal before this meeting, to get a few more details at the very least. Their previous conversation had only left Shining with more questions than answers and now he feared the foal would react in a similar fashion now that he was going to face more scrutiny.

Shining knew he was just prolonging the inevitable, so he made his way to the door and opened it. Standing in the doorway, just as he predicted, was Cadance. Coming home from a particularly hard couple of days work and knowing that waiting for him was this resplendent and loving mare, Shining had to admit, he was probably the luckiest stallion in all of Equestria.

“Welcome home, Shining,” Cadance said with a hint of relief in her voice. Stepping beside him, she nuzzled her husband.

Shining let out a laugh, and leaned into his wife. “I’m glad to be home.”

“So...” Cadance moved to meet Shining's eyes. “Did you find the “monster” the ponies were talking about?”

“It’s funny you should mentioned that.” Shining said, to which Cadance tilted her head in confusion. Shining directed his wife towards the bed.

Cadence followed this direction with her eyes, then walked towards it and peered inside to find the sleeping foal. “Shining?” Cadance asked “Who is this foal?”

“This foal...is the monster.” Shining replied “I didn’t believe myself at first, but then I saw this...” he moved towards the foal and gently reached for the tablecloth bandage Ginger Bread had made. “Brace yourself” he said and removed the bandage, revealing the horn.

Cadance immediately grasped and backed away from the foal with a horrified expression. Much like with Peytral’s reaction, Shining couldn’t blame his wife for hers.

“That...horn…” Cadence quavered, struggling to grasp the situation “But... Shining, how?”

“I don’t know, Cadance,” Shining explained, resting a hoof on hers. “Before I could ask him about it, Sergeant Peytral... reacted badly, and I had to use the dreamless sleep spell. Maybe he’s an unwilling pawn in Sombra’s plan, maybe he’s Sombra reborn, maybe this is just something that happens every now and then. I just know the townsfolk didn’t take to kindly to him.”

Letting go of his wife’s hoof, Shining returned to the bedside. “They hurt him pretty bad right before we found him,” Shining said, pulling back some of the blankets to reveal the tablecloth bandage that Ginger Bread had made for his wing.

Cadance stared at the foal for another moment; each second her wings relaxing from near flight, to a sad droop. Pity mixed with fear, and she took a step closer to the foal. Shining knew his wife well enough. There was a battle of expressions across her body. Part of her wanted to coo and coddle the little foal, and part wanted to toss him out the window and forget about it by lunch.

“Even if he is part of one of Sombra’s plans, he’s still an innocent foal,” Cadance said, undressing the wing, to check the damage. “No child deserves to be treated like this. The poor thing.” Cadance looked at Shining. “Do we know his name?”

Shining shook his head “The only name I got out of him was Monster, he says that all he has been referred to by others. He referred to ‘Father’, but if that’s, biological, adoptive or otherwise, I don’t know.”

Cadance looked over the rest of the foal’s wounds. It was clear that he had been living rough for a while. Shaking her head, she picked up a towel to clean the dirt from a cut.

“For now, we don’t know whether this foal is an unwilling pawn of Sombra, or if he’s part of something bigger. We’ll have to wait until he wakes up to hear this story.” Cadance tucked the foal’s wing back into place. “First of all, we need to hide that horn.”

Summoning up her magic, she wove a spell at the tip of her horn, then passed it to the foal.
An aura surrounded the foal’s horn before bursting apart in bright sparks. When the glow faded, the red crystal horn was gone, and in it’s place was the fluted horn of a common unicorn.

“That should help him blend in. It’s a temporary measure, but it will help,” Cadance said, turning back to her husband. “I’ll call for a couple of nurses to clean his wounds, and give him some food. After that, we’ll see what all he has to say about himself. In the mean time, I will write a letter to Auntie Celestia. She’ll want to know about this.”

Shining nodded, mentally preparing himself for the worst the foal could offer. He had theories, but they were really only guesses on how the foal had gotten Sombra’s horn on his head. Assuming is even was Sombra’s horn; maybe there was a whole valley of those things out there somewhere.

“But for now...” Cadance said, leaning against Shining. “This is the first time I’ve seen you in a week, I’d like to have some time with you.”

Shining smiled, then kissed his wife. “Lead the way.”

/ / /

Consciousness slowly crept over Monster. The world around him was unbelievably soft, and delightfully warm. Wherever he was, it definitely wasn’t a barn. He swam dizzily into full wakefulness to see that he was in some sort of living quarters. The bed he was lying in was a luxurious piece of furniture, almost luring him back to sleep, but too many questions remained unanswered for him to relax. The last thing he remembered was talking with that pony, Shining Armor, and then that other pony entered the barn and…

Monster jumped as a knock at the door echoed through the room. Two ponies, a mare and a stallion, entered the room before he could hide. He closed his eyes, waiting for their inevitable gasp and for them to attack him, but it never came.

“Hello there, little one,” went a chipper voice. “It’s good to see you awake.”

Monster opened his eyes to see the two ponies smiling at him. They both had on clean white gowns, and saddlebags loaded with gauze and medical supplies. Monster wasn't a stranger to medical exams, they had been a daily part of life back when he lived with Father. Still, the two unnerved him, he had never seen ponies like them before. Their coats seemed to shine like jewels, but there was no hardness to their appearance. He could help but want to touch the shining softness.

Still, too many bad memories haunted him. He tried to bolt from the bed, towards a nearby window, but the bedding foiled his escape. The sheets slipped and tangled beneath him, while the blankets clung to the rest of his body.

“We are here only to help you, don’t be afraid,” said the stallion taking slow ever steps toward him. “Prince Shining Armor told us about you. We’re here to clean you up, and make sure you’re going to heal properly.”

The mare nodded in agreement, moving quicker than the stallion, but with a grace that mesmerized Monster. “After we clean you up, the prince and princess want to invite you to dinner with them,” she said, setting her bag down by the bed

Monster marveled at their calm demeanor. Other than Ginger Bread, they were the first ponies to treat him like his family had. They reminded him a lot of Mother, when she was in a good mood.

Seeing no reason or means to flee, Monster just nodded his head, and let them unwrap him from the bedding twisted around him. He nodded and obeyed their gentle request for him to sit on the edge of the bed, and allowed them to go over every cut and scrap.

He followed them to the room’s bathroom, and let them bathe him in warm soapy water. It was a wonderful feeling to have his coat scrubbed, and his wounds washed clean. He was careful not to wince or hiss when the medicine stung his wounds, staying still so that they wouldn’t mess up because of him.

After the bath, the two ponies applied salve and bandages to his wounds, and placed his wing in a splint.

“Don’t worry,” the mare said “Nothing is broken, but we want to brace it to help it heal faster.”

“Feel better?” the mare asked, cinching the wing-brace tight, then stepping back.

Monster stretched his legs, and looked over his bandaged body. It had been a long time since he had felt clean, and the two ponies had taken most the itch and ache from his body. “Yes, thank you.”

“Oh, he’s polite too,” the stallion said, grinning at the foal. “Ready for a bit of dinner now?”

Monster nodded. The oatmeal Ginger had scrounged from him had been his only meal in days. He had tried sneaking into town to raid the baker’s rubbish bin, but that had resulted in a beating that nearly killed him.

“Good, you’re too skinny,” the mare said, walking towards the door. “We need to fatten you up a bit.” Stepping into the hall, she motioned for him to follow.

Not waiting to be asked twice, Monster stood and trotted into the hall. Anticipation knotted his stomach as he followed the mare down the corridor. He knew Shining Armor was at least a pony of his word, but the princess...

Father had never had kind words for her or the crystal ponies. “They are fools, child… Completely ignorant of what they could have been.”

Monster put Father's usual rant out of his head, but he couldn't help but worry about meeting these new ponies.

What questions would they ask? How much did they know already? Ever since the family had been captured by those ponies in gold armor, Monster had lived in fear of ponies seeing him. Yet here were ponies giving him a roof over his head, and treating his wounds. Maybe they were secretly part of the family, and he would be reunited with the others and things would go back to normal.

“Little one,” the mare said, jogging Monster’s attention. “The royals will meet you now.” She had stopped in front of a door that looked no different than the many doors they had passed.

Monster took a deep breath, preparing himself for the inevitable.

“Don’t worry. They’re nice ponies,” the mare said, before opening the door.

Nodding to her, he stepped into the warm glow of the cozy little room. The smell of fresh bread lighting his hunger ablaze.

Taking another breath, Monster gathered his self control, and looked around the room. It reminded him a lot of Father’s study back at home. A fireplace glowing brightly with bright orange flames, shelves lined with books about various subjects and various comfortable looking chairs. But instead of Father’s imposing presence, there was Shining Armor and sitting beside him on one of the divan sofas was the most beautiful mare Monster had ever seen.