> If you end up sandwiched between your sexy wife and her sexy changeling lover every night, do you buy a bigger bed or your own?
>  by TheWraithWriter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you end up sandwiched between your sexy wife and her sexy changeling lover every night, do you buy a bigger bed or your own?

Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd

The Crystal Empire was a nice place to live. Clean air, nice ponies, breathtaking architecture, which could be easily enchanted to block out the sounds of the Empire’s active night life. What more could a pony ask for?
Well, at the moment, one pony, specifically Shining Armor, former captain of the guard of Canterlot and current Prince of the Crystal Empire, could ask for more. Specifically, he could ask his darling wife, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Princess On High of the Crystal Empire, to move her fat pink flank off of him.
Or, if he was interested in ever having sexual relations with his wife, or any mare for that matter considering what she might do to him; he could request that Chrysalis, former Queen of the Northern Changelings, stop using him as a full body pillow. 
But alas, such a thing was unlikely to happen, for the same reasons as the first option. 
And so, Shining was left with but two options. Option A: Deal with it. And Option B: Just get out of the bed.
Shining was considering Option A when Cadance rolled over and he could see her hooves reaching out to find a cuddle buddy. In light of watching her scarf down a vegetarian hoagie earlier that evening and considering her face would be level with his, Shining opted for Option B.
Quick as a mouse, and damn were those bastards quick, Shining extracted himself from the bed, narrowly being missed by his wife’s questing hooves. He landed softly on the carpet and straightened in time to see Cadance pull Chrysalis close in her sleep.
Sighing, the unicorn made his way to the kitchen.
********
One of the advantages of being a prince, you can have any kind of food or drink you want. Within reason of course, you’re not eating baby seals here. Another advantage was that you could always have a ready supply of said food or drink. Within reason of course, you’re not snatching bread from orphanages all the time because orphans make the best bread.
These two things came in handy as Shining strolled into the kitchen. It was the middle of the bucking night and that meant he needed a bucking drink. Luckily his favorite cider was easily obtained through his inside source and his personal messenger could carry a cart of the stuff at a time. So, Shining rarely was without when he wanted one.
He pulled an already opened bottle from the cabinet and his favorite mug from another. The sound of the cider going from bottle to glass was strangely soothing and the aroma of the drink was calming as well.
And, in truth, half the time Shining would just pour the cider back and forth from bottle to glass and vice versa. Or simply hold the mug and enjoy the spiced smell.
Tonight though, he sparingly sipped from the mug as he made his way to the living room. Thanks to magic and crystals, each room could be sound-proofed if need be. So Shining could curl up on the couch and watch his stories without bothering a soul.
Of course, that would require not a soul being up at this time of night as well.
“Hello, Captain, having trouble sleeping?” Truth asked, looking over her shoulder at Shining.
Truth was a changeling like Chrysalis, though she was a Handmaiden rather than a Queen. In truth, Shining couldn’t really tell the difference between her and a regular changeling drone, save for a few discernable features if you looked close.


Truth


The (perhaps a tad lusty) Changeling Maid


Shining began thinking of an excuse, but after a moment he just sighed and nodded.
“Thought so.” Truth turned back to the crystal television. “Well, come on.” she added after a moment, patting the seat next to her.
Shining took his seat next the Truth, slouching in the chair as he studied the screen. The show had something to do with a really buff earth pony with an odd accent looking for his daughter.
“So, what keeps you up, Captain?” Truth asked, not looking away from the screen.
‘Captain’. That’s what Truth always called him. He wasn’t too sure why. She often called Chrysalis ‘My Mistress’ and Cadance usually was ‘My Princess’, but Shining was always just ‘Captain.’ He’d been meaning to ask her about it.
“Me? Uh, nothing really.”
Truth looked at him. “I’m a changeling Captain, I can tell when you’re lying.”
Shining sighed. “Alright, the reason I’m awake is because my bed is made for two, not three.”
Truth nodded. “And whom do you wish was not there, Cadance or Chrysalis?”
Shining sighed again. “I’m not too sure. Probably the least cuddly one.”
Truth giggled. “An ambiguous enough answer, Captain.”
Shining felt a small grin come to his features. “Thanks for noticing.”
Truth nodded. “Anytime.” 
“So, what keeps you up?”
“Myself? I rarely get real down time during the day, so I wake up at night to catch a little late night programming.”
Shining nodded. “Yeah, makes sense. You are a lot of help around here.”
“You let me come and stay here, the least I can do is extend my services to the whole household.”
“Pissing off the Maid’s Guild in the process.”
Truth giggled again. “Well, I suppose a changeling taking your job is rather annoying. But at least I agreed to keep my hooves off their wives and husbands.”
Shining grinned. “Yeah. After several hours of negotiation and a signed contract.”
Truth rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I signed with my real hooves. I signed with yours.”
Shining chuckled. “Loophole abuser.” he said in a mock accusing tone. “They’ll demand I arrest you if you get caught.”
“I best not get caught then.” Truth laughed.
Shining laughed with her and then sipped his drink, turning his attention back to the screen.
“Let off some steam, Bennett.” the muscled earth pony said in his thick accent after he threw a steel pipe through his opponent and the boiler behind him. The stallion then bit into a peach.
“Geez, that guy’s got issues.”
Truth giggled at that and then glanced slyly at Shining. “Hey, Captain, what’s a lady got to do to get a drink around here? Strip naked and sing Winter Wrap Up?”
Shining couldn’t recall the last time he’d spewed so much cider so far across the room.
> The Lusty Changeling Maid or The Buck?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Lusty Changeling Maid or The Buck?

Crystal Tower Royal Apartment
7:23 AM, Hearth’s Warming Eve

Cadance awoke to a peaceful morning, the sun shining gently on her face. She stirred softly and then yawned, stretching her legs and wings. Finishing her stretch, she paused to softly nuzzle Chrysalis’s still sleeping form. The changeling stirred and mumbled in her sleep but did not wake.
Cadance smiled and carefully slipped out of the bed, not wanting to disturb Chrysalis. She didn’t bother dressing in anything and simply left the bedroom in her fur alone. She might cause a scandal and kill a few ponies via nosebleeds should she leave her house in such a state, but within the protective walls she was free to look as she pleased.


Mi Amore Cadenza


She Ships Dilda


Cadance happily skipped into the kitchen and set about making coffee. It had not escaped her that her husband was not in bed with her that morning, but it was likely he had been called away on guard business during the night and had crashed on the couch upon returning.
Silly Shining, passing out on the couch is for young ponies. Cadance thought with a soft giggle as she heated the coffee on the stove. She could easily have zapped it to boiling hot with magic, but it always seemed to taste better of it was heated over a non-magical flame.
Cadance hummed quietly to herself as she waited for the coffee. “Oh, winter wrap up, winter wrap up. Let’s finish out holiday cheer. Winter wrap up, winter wrap up. Because tomorrow Spring is here, because tomorrow Spring is here.”
Why is that bloody song stuck in my head? Cadance thought as she poured the coffee into two mugs. It’s Hearth’s Warming Eve right now. Barely winter. Although, I could do with winter wrapping up right now. It’s bucking cold outside.
Cadance poured the cream into the coffee and stirred thoroughly. She tapped the small spoon on the rim of each mug and then levitated them with her magic. She took a generous sip from one mug, sighing happily. This new cream one of the servants brought her last week was wonderful. Made her feel perky.
She began making her way to Truth’s room, where the changeling maid no doubt lay passed out after a long night of catching up on her shows.
Cadance giggled to herself. The changeling no doubt thought that no one knew what she did late at night, but not much got past Cadance, especially in her own home.
Speaking of which… Cadance thought with an impish grin. Being the Goddess of Love, Cadance was quite attuned to ponies emotions and she had a way of stirring them up. But she was also able to sense certain chemical reactions that happened inside a pony’s body. She could feel certain energies in the air. She could detect the glow a pony had after certain activities….
In short, Cadance knows when you have sex.
(Nice way to get that out there. I’m sure it will never be relevant again…)
“Something tells me somepony got laid last night.” Cadance sang as she opened the door to Truth’s room.
What she did next only counted as singing at a death metal concert.
********
Chrysalis enjoyed sleeping. There were many things the former changeling queen enjoyed, skipping, singing, fighting things, killing things, teabaging things, burning things, blowing up things such as large structures whilst walking away in slow motion. But, if she had to pick her favorite things, she would say they were sex, feeding on emotions, and sleeping. In that order.


Chrysalis


Sweet Love in a Lovely Feels Cream


However, her sleep was quite suddenly and quite rudely interrupted by the sound of breaking porcelain and a scream worthy of MegaGeth.
(A Mass Effect reference? In my FimFiction.net!?)
Sighing, Chrysalis quickly got out of bed and followed the rapid hyperventilating breaths that followed the scream to their source. Which was Truth’s room, oddly enough.
Brood-Mother only knew what had-
“Oh my.” Chrysalis said as she pushed opened the door and looked upon the scene within.
Cadance stood backed up against a wall, still breathing in rapid gasps, the broken remains of two mugs and their brown liquid contents on the floor in front of her. The alicorn’s gaze was fixed upon Truth’s bed, or rather, its occupants. Truth was there, as was expected as it was her bed. However, it seemed her bedmate was causing quite the stir.
“Shining?” Cadance asked, her voice trembling.
“Cadance?” Shining answered, seemingly puzzled. “What’s wrong?”
“Wha… what-” Cadance gulped hard to try and steady her breathing. “What the buck are you doing in bed with her?”
“Her?” Shining seemed oblivious. He turned and saw Truth. “What? Truth what are you doing here?”
The changeling handmaiden just stared mutely for a few moments before answering in barely a whisper. “This is my bed.”
“Your bed?” Shining tried to make it click in his head, which was muddled and hurting. “But that makes no sense…”
“Shining,” Cadance sounded like she was pleading. “Please tell me the two of you didn’t…” she seemed unable to complete the sentence. “And tell me this is all just a horrible misunderstanding.”
“Well I…” Shining paused and brought a hoof to his chin. “We…” he began again before trailing off. All he could remember from last night was bringing Truth a glass of cider. After that, there was just a big blank. It was almost like a barrier in his mind preventing him from reaching the memories.
“I don’t remember anything.” he said hesitantly after a minute.
“Truth?” Cadance turned her attention to the changeling, sounding just a tad hostile.
“Well, of course we didn’t… you know.” Truth said.
“Are you sure?”
“Well…” Truth trailed off. She couldn’t quite recall the previous night. Shining brought her the cider, they drank and laughed, she went down to the kitchens and…. And what? And why did she smell like ranch dressing and butter cream?
“You can’t remember either?” Cadance sounded angry now. It was her defense mechanism. Whenever she became really stressed, instead of breaking down she got fired up. And it was still a tad broken after the nightmare that was her wedding. “So you two, what? Slipped out back and found some hotel? Got drunk on cheap liquor and shagged each other?”
“Whoa there, Cadance.” Chrysalis said, speaking up for the first time since she entered. “Let’s not jump to conclusions.”
Cadance rounded on Chrysalis. “Zip it!” she hissed.
Chrysalis jumped and nearly peed herself.
Cadance rounded on Shining and Truth. “You really have a soft spot for changelings, eh Shining?” she spat.
“Whoa, I have?”
“You let some hag impersonate me without even resisting and then you go and boink her personal bitch!”
“Hey!” Chrysalis and Truth said in unison.
“How could you do this!?”
“This from the mare that had a love affair with the changeling that trapped her in a cave.” Shining said dryly. “No offence.” he quickly added.
Chrysalis sighed. “None taken.” she turned to Cadance. “Listen dear, you’re over reacting. Besides it’s not what you think.”
“And you!” Cadance rounded on Chrysalis. “You’re the one that brought the little gold digger in the first place!”
Chrysalis glanced at Shining. “I’m sorry, but is this something that happens regularly? Cadance has a complete mental breakdown for no reason?”
“I’m not having a mental breakdown!” Cadance shouted.
“Dear.” Chrysalis put a hoof on Cadance’s shoulders. “Calm. Down.”
Cadance roughly pushed Chrysalis’s hooves off her. “I will not calm down!”
Chrysalis tilted her head and tried to get a reading on Cadance’s emotions, but they seemed to be all jumbled and confused. To her Changeling Vision (Trademark), the princess’s emotions were like a psychedelic light show.
“Cadance, honey…” Shining ventured.
Cadance whirled on him again. “You! You no good lying, cheating, couldn’t see a imposter if she danced naked in front if him, poor excuse for a guard! I want a divorce! Out!”
“My Princess…” Truth dared.
Candace shifted her gaze to her next. “You! You husband stealing, backstabbing, lusty changeling of a maid! You’re fired! Out!”
“Pink Ass!” Chrysalis yelled, trying to get through to Cadance.
“And you!” Cadance as she whirled on Chrysalis. “You! …You! ….” she trailed off and scrunched her face in thought. “Fine, I used all my best ones on them! But you too! Out! All of you get out of my country and stay the hell away from anywhere I might go in the future!”
“You’re a diplomat!” Shining, Truth, and Chrysalis yelled in unison. “Where the buck am I supposed to go!”
Cadance scrunched her muzzle again. “I don’t know!” she shouted after a time. “Just get out of my house!”
And with that she disappeared in a teal flash.
Chrysalis, Shining, and Truth all exchanged glances. 
“The buck was that?” Chrysalis asked after a long silence.
Shining opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to puzzle out exactly what had just happened. After a short while, he just shrugged.
And then Truth suddenly began crying.
“Truth, what’s wrong?” Shining cried, which was admittedly all he knew to do when a female started crying.
“She- she was so mean!” Truth blubbered through her sobs. “Wh-why would she say such things? I’m a good maid! I would never do anything bad to her or anypony!”
Shining awkwardly tried to hug Truth, but backed off in light of what had just happened. He desperately looked to Chrysalis.
The former queen sighed and trotted over to her bawling handmaiden. “Truth honey, Cadance didn’t really mean that.” she said softly, wrapping a black foreleg around the smaller changeling.
“But she said I was fired! She fired me!” still crying, Truth jumped out of her bed and out of the (thankfully open) window. Her little wings buzzed to keep her aloft as she descended into the twisting mass of towers below, her shape changing even as she flew.
“Truth wait!” Shining cried, extending a hoof towards the window before letting it drop. He promptly dropped his head into his hooves. “I really fucked up this time.”
Chrysalis, amazingly, scoffed. “Please, you didn’t do a thing.”
“I had sex with the maid! I cheated on my wife!”
Chrysalis scoffed again. “You didn’t have sex with Truth, and even if you did, your wife would be, and is, a hypocrite for calling you cheater.”
Shining brought his head from his hooves. “Point taken, but if I didn’t have sex with Truth, then who did I have sex with? Cadance knows when a pony, or most anything really, has had sex. She wouldn’t accuse me of cheating if she didn’t see the after glow aura.”
Chrysalis scrunched her face. “After glow aura?”
“It’s a…” Shining scrunched his face in thought. “Never mind, it’s too complicated to get into. But how could you possibly know I didn’t have sex with Truth.”
“Easy. You had sex with me.”
“I did!?!”
(Oh shit, he broke out the ‘!?!’!)
Chrysalis nodded. “I woke up last night to have a quick midnight snack and saw you sitting there on the couch, glass in hand. And so, I figured why go out when I can make myself a snack.”
“And we…?”
Chrysalis nodded. “Ooo, it really regret not partaking while I was impersonating your fiancée. Of course you seemed a tad out of it, so I decided to perk you up a bit.”
“Listen, this explaining thing really helps, but I’m very confused. Can we just have a flashback so I can see what happened?”
Oh fine.
**********
(Insert harp strumming and cheap ripple effect here.)
Shining Armor, esteemed former captain of the Royal Canterlot Guard, laid on his back on the couch. His back legs were propped up on the forearm rest while his head was in danger of slipping between two of the cushions. He had a loose grip on the cider glass in his hoof and a goofy expression plastered over his face.
“Oh, miss Governor, we really shouldn’t…” he slurred, giggling drunkenly.
“My, my.” said a salacious voice. “Having a few drinks, Captain?”
“Hey, I’m legal.” he slurred, gesturing in the general direction of the voice.
The voice, which sounded like reeds in the wind, chuckled. “I never accused you of not being.”
“Oh, well then, what can I do ya for?”
“Me? Oh, I think this one is going to be on the house.”
“How’s that?” Shining asked, pushing himself up. It should be noted that he not once commented on being indirectly called a prostitute.
“This is how.” the voice said, changing on the last word to a more familiar voice.
To Shining’s surprise, into his rather hazy field of vision walked a certain lilac unicorn. She was wearing a rather lecherous grin and some silky socks. As Shining watched, mute, a good sized peach was levitated up into the mare’s hooves. She took hold of it and bit down into the fruit’s soft skin and tender flesh, its juices spilling over her chin.
“I have the weirdest boner right now.” Shining said as he-
“WHOA! No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! Stop the flashback!”
(Insert harp strumming and cheap ripple effect here.)
*******
Chrysalis looked disappointed as the flashback faded. “Aw, and we were just getting to the good part too…”
Shining just stared at the former queen. “Are…” he took a shaky breath. “Are you telling me we… while you looked like my sister?”
Chrysalis smiled. “As much as I would enjoy watching you squirm, no.”
Shining breathed out a breath of relief.
“I did however make myself look like your mother and well… that seemed to get you going.” Chrysalis broke into a fit of giggles.
Shining just stared into space.
Chrysalis got her giggling under control and looked expectantly at the unicorn. “Oh come on, we didn’t actually do that.”
Shining just continued to stare.
“…Shining?” Chrysalis said after a while.
Shining.exe has stopped working. Processing the error.
“Oh dear, not again.”
	
	
> The Hoof that Rocks the Cradle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Hoof that Rocks the Cradle

Crystal Tower Offices
8:02 AM

Cadance sighed and rubbed her temples.
“More coffee, Princess?” Asked her secretary, Miss Maplewood.
Cadance nodded and baby blue mare left the steaming mug on the desk next to the alicorn. She knew when the princess needed her space and quietly left the office. 
“Merry Hearth’s Warming Eve, Princess.”
A few moments after Cadance heard the door to her office close she looked up, gazing at the sparkling crystal doors as if they held some sort of answer. They didn’t. Shining had spent a fortnight combing over every inch of the Tower, hoping to find some sort of treasure within its walls. He hadn’t, but he did have fun searching.
Cadance sighed again and pulled the mug of coffee closer. She stared into its steaming depths, trying to figure things out. 
Why had she gone off on Shining, Truth, and Chyssi? There wasn’t too much evidence that anypony had slept with anypony else….
Fine, she had seen the ‘sex aura’. But that didn’t mean that they had sex with each other. And what if they had? Cadance was in no position to yell at anypony over extramarital affairs. Especially since Shining hadn’t gotten mad at her.
Not that she could tell, anyway. When they had gotten home after that fateful day, he had only forced them to make corndogs for him. He had even tucked the baby in bed that night!
Cadance sipped her coffee, feeling very confused and conflicted.
She sometimes wished Shining had gotten mad. She sometimes wished he had yelled. He was quiet a lot. He was friendly to her, to Truth, even to Chrysalis. He also had a special bond with her daughter, Lovebug; even if she wasn’t his own.
Speaking of Lovebug, she still couldn’t believe that Chryssi had thought that was a good name for a filly. And Shining liked it!
Cadance rubbed her temples again. Why did her head hurt? Why were her thoughts so jumbled? Why did her mood swing like a… swing? And why in Tartarus was she caving shellfish?
Wait, am I- 
“Princess?” Miss Maplewood said, scaring away Cadance’s thoughts.
“Wha-? Oh, yes, what is it, Miss Maplewood?”
“There is a pony here that says she’s come for the new position on your house staff.”
Cadance frowned in a quizzical fashion. “New position? What new position?”
Maplewood shrugged. “I’m not sure, but she’s insisting.”
Cadance sighed. “Fine, let her in.”
“At once.” Maple wood ducked out the door.
The door sat still for a moment before being pushed open, admitting the mare in question. She was tall, nearly a match for Cadance, and her coat was also pink, although a few shades darker. Her mane and tail were pink as well, but had strips of black running though them. A pair of wings adorned her back. Her cutie mark was a baby’s cradle.
She strode into Cadance’s office as if she owned it and began glancing around like she was measuring it for something. She strides were long and graceful and she swung her hips in a rather playful manner. She caught Cadance’s gaze, striking gold-flecked green meeting Cadance’s blues. Her lip curled in a smirk that was both seductive and threatening.
Cadance was quite surprised rock music hadn’t heralded her entrance. But then again, she had those speakers removed for a reason.
“Hello.” the mare said, her voice smooth and rich. “I am Juno Eclipse. I’m here about the babysitter ad.”


Juno Eclipse


Yeah, She’s a Hooker


It took Cadance a few moments to respond, entranced as she was. “Huh?” Cadance quickly shook her head. “Oh, the babysitting ad, of course. Let me just-” Cadance stopped. “Wait, what ad?”
*******
“Are you kidding me!?” Cadance hissed over the crystal ball.
“We thought it prudent, giving how you scared poor Truth away.” Chrysalis said.
The former queen and Shining were still in the apartment, huddled close together by the crystal ball that allowed them to communicate to anyone with their own.
And that’s communication in the Crystal Empire.
(The more you know.)
“I scared her away?!”
“She was in tears. I’m actually quite upset with you.” Chrysalis said.
“She jumped out a window and everything.” Shining put in.
“She what!?”
“She has wings.” Chrysalis added.
“Oh, right.” Cadance sounded sheepish. “But why hire a babysitter? I thought you said Changelings mature quickly.”
“Most do, but Lovebug is half pony. She’s still a small child. We cannot simply leave her here alone.” Chrysalis said, speaking like Cadance should have known this already. “What if she found a knife? Or a bottle? Or that box of things you hide from Shining?”
Shining looked at the Changeling. “What box of-?”
“Nothing!” Cadance said quickly. She cleared her throat and asked, “Why can’t one of you watch her?”
“I have to go down to the station. Something about peaches.” Shining said.
“And I have a sobbing Handmaiden to find.” Chrysalis said, sound less than pleased. “Besides, it’s Hearth’s Warming Eve. We’re lucky anypony responded.”
Cadance gave an exasperated sigh. “Fine. I’ll hire the hooker to look after Lovebug.”
“Thank you. Oh, and by the way, Shining didn’t sleep with Truth. He slept with me.”
“He WHAT?”
“Oh, would you look at the time.” Shining said, staring at his foreleg. “Bye honey.”
“Toodles.” Cadance sounded less that pleased.
Shining tapped the crystal ball to shut it off.
“You think she’s still mad?” Shining asked Chrysalis.
The changeling shrugged. “Couldn’t say. She’s been acting really weird. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was pregnant again.”
Shining cringed. “Yeah, if you could not remind me you impregnated my wife before I did, that’d be great.”
Chrysalis smirked.
There was a knock at the door.
“It’s unlocked.” Shining called.
The door swung open to reveal a tall and shapely mare of a deep, luscious pink. A breeze from a nearby window blew her pink and black mane in slow motion.
“Hello, darlings.” Juno said, her voice as smooth as oiled hinges.
“Hi.” Shining said, grinning stupidly.
Chrysalis frowned and smacked him on the back of the head.
Shining yelped and Juno giggled. “Always have to watch them, eh?” she winked at Chrysalis.
The changeling smiled. “You have no idea.”
Shining rubbed the back of his head gingerly. “Ow.” he said to Chrysalis.
She just tsked at him.
Juno entered the apartment. “So, where is dear little Lovebug?”
“She’s back here, let me show you.” Chrysalis said, jerking her head towards the back. After Juno walked past Chrysalis, she mouthed to Shining.
‘Get out of here.’
Shining raised an eyebrow. ‘Why?’ he mouthed back.
Chrysalis jerked her head at Juno’s flank and waggled her eyebrows.
Shining looked confused for a moment and then recoiled. He scowled at Chrysalis and made for the door, closing it a little harder than necessary as he left.
Smiling, Chrysalis turned back to Juno, who was standing in a hallway looking between several doors.
“This one, dear.” Chrysalis said, opening the door to Lovebug’s room, where the baby slept peacefully.
(Hooray for soundproofing.)
“Thank you.” Juno said as she entered.
Chrysalis stared at Juno’s plot as she passed entered the room before entering herself.
“Anything I should know?” Juno asked as she looked at the sleeping filly.
“She’s a biter.” Chrysalis said with a chuckle. “But honestly she really is a sweet little thing. When she wakes up, give her some of the milk that’s the fridge. The one marked ‘Lovebug’, not the one marked ‘Cadance’. That one isn’t milk.”
Juno grinned.
Chrysalis smiled and continued. “After that she usually watches the TV. Nothing too violent and nothing too hot and heavy. If she want’s to go to the park that’s fine, but keep a close eye on her. She’s a runner. And don’t leave her alone too long in a room. She’s quite the escape artist.”
Juno looked back down at the sleeping Lovebug. “Don’t worry, I’m sure everything will be alright.”
Chrysalis nodded and then handed the unicorn a small crystal ball. “If anything happens, just tap that and I’ll answer.” she moved next to the bed. “Mom is going out to look for auntie Truth.” she whispered to the filly. “Be back soon.” she pecked the filly on the head and began walking out.
“Good thing you answered so quickly.” she said to Juno. “We might’ve had to get a guard to watch her. And you know how useless they can be.”
Juno just smiled and nodded. After Chrysalis left, Juno said, “Yes. Yes I do.” an evil grin stretched her lips.
	
> Of Tacos and Terrorists
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Of Tacos and Terrorists

Crystal Tower Kitchens
11:37 AM

“I need exactly three point seven ounces of clovers here now!” an earth pony bellowed across the kitchen to a buscolt.
“Right away, Chef Rider.” the buscolt said before scurrying away.
The brown earth pony snorted and turned his attention back to her preparation table. He smoothed back his almost black dark brown mane and set about moving each ingredient to its proper place. He placed the two slices of bread next to each other and beside them, he placed the lettuce leaves. Squares of cheese were stacked haphazardly next to a bottle of some sort of sauce.
“Where are those clovers?!” he yelled.
“Here the are, chef!” the buscolt huffed as he came skidding to a stop next to the chef holding a bowl of the clovers.
“Thank you.” the chef said as he took the bowl. His hooves suddenly became a blur for a few seconds and when they settled into clarity a perfectly made sandwich sat in place of the ingredients. This act certainly made the stallion live up to the sandwich on his flank.
“Amazing.” the bus colt said.
“Thank you, now go take this up to the party on the thirtieth floor.” the chef handed off the sandwich to the buscolt who once more scampered away. “And merry Hearth’s Warming Eve!”


Reuben Rough Rider


Sandwich Maker


Reuben watched the buscolt go and then suddenly reached out and grabbed a passing cook.
“And just who are you, love?”
The cook, a blue mare, stammered nervously. “I-I’m Fry.”
“No you’re not.” Reuben answered with a near smug tone. “Fry’s a stallion.”
The mare looked confused. “He is?”
“Yeah, I know. He looks really… effeminate. But even if he wasn’t you’ve just admitted to not being him. So who are you?”
The mare sighed and with a small green flash Truth returned to her natural look. She hung her head for a moment before raising it to apologize, at which point Reuben suddenly kissed her.
Truth’s eyes widened and she gave a muffled shout before roughly pushed Reuben away.
“What the buck are you doing!?” Truth shouted at the stallion.
Everything in the kitchen stopped as everypony looked at the pair.
“Hey, I never say anything when any of your ‘friends’ come down here.” Reuben warned.
Everypony began working quickly again, each huddling low to avoid attracting attention.
Reuben turned his attention back to Truth. “So how are you doing, gurl?”
Truth just stared at him. 
“Gurl?” he said again.
“Why did you kiss me?” she asked.
“Because last time we saw each other you kissed me. I wanted to be first this time.”
Truth shook her head. “What in Tartarus are you talking about?”
“Last night?” the sandwich maker ventured.
Truth just shook her head.
Reuben sighed. “Okay then. Last night you came wobbling down here some time after midnight. I was the only one down here and you tackled me saying something about being hungry.” he brought a hoof to his mouth. “Come to think of it you also said you were honk and drunky and no wasn’t on the table.” he grinned at Truth.
“I was drunk!” Truth gasped.
“Near as I could tell. For the record, I did try saying no but then you started eating this peach and I was all like ‘That’s my fetish’ so-”
“What?!”
Reuben grinned again. “Sorry. I was just having a bit of fun there.”
“So what did happen?”
“Well you did say no wasn’t on the table and then you got on the table. And then when I tried saying no you tackled me again. So I tried giving you coffee to sober you up and that just seemed to rile you up more. So then you hit me with a frying pan and I woke up sore.” Reuben nodded to himself.
Truth’s mouth just hung open. “What?”
Reuben shrugged. “Hey, there’s only so many times a lady will let you come around before she whacks you with a frying pan.”
“You mean I-!” Truth couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.
“What? No, no of course not. Quite honestly I was completely fine with some awkward casual late night kitchen sex after what I’ve been through recently. But you were drunk and the one thing I never do is take advantage of a mare. Not that that’s ever stopped mares from taking advantage of me but then again my doctor tells me my pelvis shouldn’t dislocate so easily now.” Reuben smiled broadly like he was having a nice conversation with a friend.
Truth just kept staring at the earth pony. How did a pony this crazy end up in charge of the Tower’s food? Unless… he wasn’t supposed to be here. She shouldn’t be here right now. She should be watching Lovebug, tending to her, not having a conversation about how much of a horny drunk she was with some nut of a sandwich maker.
“Truth? You okay?”
Truth shook her head. “What?”
“You okay? You looked like you were thinking really hard.”
“I, uh,” she needed to find a way out of this now. “I, er, need to go… iron my cat.” and with that she sped off.
“Oh, okay then.” Reuben said as she vanished. “Call me.” he called after her. He really had no luck with mares. Half of them wanted to kill him and the other half would kill him by accident.
He was also thinking about switching to decaffeinated coffee. This new stuff made his head hurt.


Reuben Rough Rider


Doormat


********
Crystal Park
12:07 PM

Chrysalis parted some bushes, hoping to see her handmaiden laying curled up within it. But alas, she found not a single changeling. Or another outdoorsy type couple who dared brave the cold. What? She could always do with a snack and searching made her hungry anyway.
The changeling sighed and sat on her haunches. Where would Truth go? She obviously would want to get her job back but she was no doubt terrified of Cadance. Tartarus, she was terrified of Cadance right now. She knew that the princess could get really angry sometimes, but this was just so… so…. Out of character.
(Oh shit, we’ve gone meta! The fourth wall is crumbling! Abort! Abo-!)
Maybe Cadance is pregnant again.
A tap on her shoulder pulled Chrysalis from her thoughts.
“My mistress?” asked a small voice.
Chrysalis turned and saw her Truth sitting next to her, the smaller changeling looking like she had a headache.
“Truth!” Chrysalis cried as she pulled her handmaiden into a rib cracking hug.
“Mistress! Need air!” Truth cried.
“Oh.” Chrysalis released Truth. “Sorry about that. I was worried about you.”
“Understandable.” Truth rubbed her sides. “I need to speak with you My Mistress.”
“About Cadance?”
“Her as well. But ‘m afraid I’ve done something terrible…”
One, I-kinda-sorta-raped-a-guy-while-I-was-drunk story later.
“…And he seemed happy. Just, glad to be. He was so strange.”
“Was he cute?” Chrysalis asked.
“Cute? Oh, yes I suppose he was.” Truth frowned. “But Mistress, that is besides the point.”
“He just seemed… random. And just odd, like he wasn’t himself. I haven’t been feeling like myself either. And my head hurts.”
“Aw, poor thing. Have you had some coffee yet?”
“Yes, that’s why I was in the kitchens. Well, that and trying to sneak back up to the apartment. But the coffee didn’t help.”
Chrysalis nodded. “It’s why I don’t drink the stuff. You become dependent and then you can’t function without it.”
“I thought you said it was because your ex-girlfriend worked at Star-Bucks?” Truth said innocently.
Chrysalis scrunched her muzzle. “I thought we agreed to never speak of her again.”
Truth smiled guiltily. “Sorry, my Mistress.”
Chrysalis sighed. “Well, might as well go see Cadance now. We need to sort out this whole firing you business.”
“Of course, Mistress.”
Chrysalis turned to go when a pony dressed from hooves to head in tight black suddenly appeared. Truth saw the suspicious pony before Chrysalis did and tried to shout as the pony raised a gun towards her Mistress.
There was a soft thwip as the weapon fired a dart that hit Chrysalis squarely her flank. The former queen yelped and jumped a few feet into the air before crashing down to the ground unconscious.
Truth squeaked and summoned her magic to fight this mysterious assailant, but her horn just fizzled and popped.
Truth could only watch in fright as the black-clad pony turned the weapon on her and fired. The dart pierced her shoulder and Truth felt its payload burning through her veins.
Everything quickly went black.
********
Crystal Guard Force HQ
1:00 PM

The office wasn’t Shining’s favorite place to be when on duty. He vastly preferred to be out on the streets keeping the peace than inside this place filing paperwork. But, alas, as the Captain of the Guard, he had certain responsibilities.
Shining made his way through the bustling office as quickly as he could, dodging detectives and uniforms as he made his way to her personal office. Entering, he found one of his officers waiting for him.
“Hello Blind Justice, how’s the,” Shining paused and looked over the heavily bandaged unicorn as he sat down. “Well, everything.”
Blind Justice chuckled. “Har, har, sir. Honestly I am feeling better. Doc’s still amazed I’m not dead.”
“I think we all are, Justice. You know, most ponies would die after getting a giant spike through their abdomen and all their vital organs, but not you.”
“Yeah well, if I die, who’s going to catch the criminal scum.”
Shining nodded, remembering that while Blind Justice had his heart in the right place, (or did, it’s been moved) he was still a tad… overzealous. Hence the transfer here while he recovered. Not too much criminal scum in the Crystal Empire, just a lot of parties.
“Who indeed. Now, what did you need me down here for?”
“We found an illegal shipment coming through from Equestria.”
“Really? What was in it?”
“Peaches.”
Shining blinked. “Peaches?”
“Yes sir.”
“Just peaches?”
“As near as we can tell so far, but I’m not convinced. I’m having some of the grunts go through it as we speak.”
“Oh, okay then.” Shining tilted his head. “And am I needed to supervise anything?”
Justice thought a moment. “No, I don’t believe so.”
“Then why call me down here?”
“The others insisted I did. Something about, ‘The Captain’s not going to believe this shit.’ or something.”
Shining sighed and nodded. “Yeah, or something. Where are the peaches now?”
“Where we found them. Just outside the Crystal Tower kitchens.”
“Alright, well keep up the good work then.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
After Blind Justice had left Shining sighed and rubbed his temples. This whole day was wreaking havoc on him. First, there was Cadance, then there was the whole taking four or five hours to get here. Why in Tartarus had it taken him five hours to get here? He could see the station from the Tower’s third floor, for Celestia’s sake!
He did suppose stopping to watch that four hour Desperate Housemares marathon had something to do with it, but he wasn’t too sure.
******
Crystal Tower Offices
1:17 PM

Cadance shuffled through some papers, idling taping the crystal keyboard next to them. She was still getting the hang of these machines that the engineers had produced. Computers or something. Unicorns in Canterlot had apparently been working on creating such a machine when the Crystal Empire reappeared and some long forgotten knowledge was uncovered. Within weeks, they had their creation up, running, and integrated.
At the moment, it was simply being used as a means of condensed storage and rapid transit of information, but the growing idea was that within a few years, everypony would have one in their house.
Cadance seriously doubted that.
There were two main hubs for the computer’s network. One was in Canterlot while the other was here in the Crystal Tower. She remembered Twilight blathering on about how important they were at the last Princess Summit, but had quite honestly dosed off.
Maplewood popped her head in through the door. “Princess?”
Cadance looked up. “Yes?”
“I’ve got some things to tend to at home.”
Cadance waved her off. “Go home, Mary. The only ponies left here are you, me, and the partiers on the thirtieth floor.” she smiled at her secretary. “I’ll be fine. Go home.”
Maplewood smiled. “Thank you, Princess.”
“Merry Hearth’s Warming Eve.”
“Merry Hearth’s Warming Eve.” Maplewood closed the door and packed up her things.
Cadance went undisturbed for a few minutes before the doors on her office suddenly burst opened, Chrysalis striding in. “Hello, Cadenza.” she said, not sounding too pleasant.
Cadance sighed. “Hello Chrysalis. I take it you didn’t find Truth.”
“Oh I found her.” 
There was a long silence.
“…And?” Cadance asked after a while.
“And what?”
Cadance groaned and let her head hit the desk.
“Where is Shining Armor?” Chrysalis asked.
Cadance pulled her head up from her desk. “He should be at Guard HQ. Why?”
“No reason.” Juno said as she sauntered into Cadance’s office.
“Juno? What are you doing down here? Where’s Lovebug?”
“She’s safe.” Juno smiled in an unpleasant way. “At the moment.”
Cadance didn’t like the sound of that. As quietly as she could, she eased open a drawer on desk. Shining had insisted she keep a weapon in her desk for emergencies.
“And what do you mean by that?” Cadance asked as she put her hoof on the pistol inside the drawer.
“You’ll see.” Juno said.
Cadance pulled the gun out of the drawer as fast as she could. Somepony better versed in weapons would have easily cleared the drawer before Chrysalis pulled a pistol seemingly from nowhere.
Chrysalis's gun admitted a soft thwip as it discharged a steel dart. The dart hit Cadance square in her breast and the gun slipped from her grasp to clatter to the floor.
Being an alicorn, the drug’s effects were delayed on her. Cadance tried shouting to Maplewood, but her tongue suddenly fell from her mouth to hang comically out the side. Making pointless noises, Cadance tried casting a spell, to send a warning to Shining, but her magic just popped and fizzled.
The gun thwiped again as Chrysalis fired a few more times, quickly putting Cadance down and out.
“Was that necessary?” Juno asked as Cadance’s head thumped against her desk.
“What, she tried casting a spell.” Chrysalis said defensively.
Juno sighed. “Just call Bennett and tell him Shining is at Guard HQ.” Juno began leaving the office. “And change into something else, these bugs give me the creeps.”
Chrysalis just smiled as she slipped her mask off. Once off her head, the mask reverted to its true form, looking rather crude, with a so-so drawing of the former changeling queen’s face taped to what appeared to be a paper plate.
The unicorn, who still looked like Chrysalis from the neck down, adjusted the grey ski mask that hid her face and lit a cigarette.
“You better not, ‘ow they say, knock them before you try them.” Masque Espion giggled in her Prench accent.


Masque Espion


Master of Disguise


(Oh look, a TF2 reference.)
******
Crystal Guard Force HQ
1:31 PM

Shining was in his office when suddenly the doors of the station flew open as three ponies walked in. Two were earth ponies, big and muscle bound, and the third was a unicorn. An oddly familiar one. His coat was coal black and his mane and tail dark grey. A silver knight’s helmet adorned his flank. He wore a black jacket and sunglasses.
Shining blinked. It couldn’t be.
“Blackguard?” he said as he exited his office.
The unicorn grinned as he pulled something from his coat pocket. It looked like a remote of some sort. With a single big red button…
Aw horse apples.
“Hi Shining.” Blackguard grinned as he pushed the button.
There was an explosion. A massive fireball rose from near the base of Crystal Tower, rocking the crystal structure as well as everything within a block. The wave of force was strong enough to crack the windows of Guard HQ and shatter a good many on the Tower.
To add insult to injury, peaches propelled at speeds rivaling bullets splattered everything within a hundred foot radius and a few even smacked against the windows of the HQ.
It seemed as though the whole building jolted from the force of the blast, causing the unprepared Shining to lose his balance. He reached for a desk to steady himself as he saw Blackguard and his compatriots pull cylinders from their pockets.
They tossed the cylinders, which spewed pink colored smoke. But a few of them didn’t. They simply rolled to a stop. Shining’s eyes widened and her quickly dropped to the floor, covering his ears and squeezing his eyes shut.
The room exploded into light and sound, deafening and blinding at the same time, subduing every pony save for Blackguard and his compatriots.
Shining blinked and shook his head. He could hear the sounds of ponies yelling and screaming, but they sounded far away. His vision was blurry and everything looked far too bright. But after a few rapid blinks things started to sharpen.
One of the thugs was coming for him. Shining, still crouched on the floor, waited for him to get close and then leapt up suddenly, driving his head under the thug’s chin. The pony grunted as his head snapped back. Shining dealt him two sharp blows to the midsection and the pony went down.
The second thug came quickly, swinging at Shining before his friend even hit the floor.
Shining ducked the wild swing and his uppercut caught the pony on the chin. The thug stumbled back and Shining kicked him in the gut, sending him tumbling over a desk.
Shining turned to where Blackguard stood just in time to see the stallion bring up a pistol. There was a thwip and Shining felt a needle pierce his shoulder.
His eye lids suddenly felt heavy and his bones turned to jelly. He collapsed to the ground as Blackguard approached.
“Well well, Shining old pal, how are you doing?” Blackguard said smugly as he crouched next to Shining.


Blackguard Bennett


Asshole

> Chapter Five: In Which Some Things Are Sorta Explained
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Five: In Which Some Things Are Sorta Explained

Shining woke slowly, his thoughts swimming and blending, his mind muddled and hazy, his body feeling none too good. He shifted his shoulders and suddenly realized he could barely move an inch either way. Blinking to help his eyes adjust, Shining tried taking stock of his surroundings.
He was looking at a ceiling. A ceiling high above himself and the color of teal.
“Well, look who finally decided to join us.” said a voice.
Shining felt his world shift as he was suddenly brought up into a standing position. Well, he would be standing if he wasn’t tied to a table.
He could see the room clearly now. He was in Cadance’s office, but instead of Cadance sitting behind the big desk, he saw the foal sitter from before, dressed in a brown long coat. What was her name?
“Juno Eclipse, Captain Armor.” the pegasus said, her previous normal accent forgone for her actual, cool Trottingham accent. “Ex-Night-Guard.”


Juno Eclipse


Fomer Night-Guard
Current Terrorist


“I have some business to discuss with you.”
Juno got out of the chair and walked over to Shining.
“Listen, Captain,” she said in an almost breathy voice, sounding like she was trying to seduce him. “I have a problem that you and only you can help me with.”
“Yeah, is that why you’ve tied me to a table?” Shining deadpanned. “Kinky.”
Juno smirked, but the humor didn’t reach her eyes. “No Captain Armor, I’m afraid that isn’t what I’ve come here for. What I’ve come here for is your reputation and access.”
“And what do you mean by that?”
“I need you to go to Canterlot, enter the Night-Guard’s headquarters, and plant a package there for me. They know you. They trust you. You won’t have a problem.”
“Why?”
“Those details are not important. These, however, are.”
Juno took a step back as Shining was suddenly turned so he could see Cadance and Chrysalis tied to two chairs and gagged.
“Here’s the situation, Captain.” Juno whispered in his ear. “If you don’t do this job for me, I’ll kill them both.”
Cadance and Chrysalis looked shaken and Juno grinned. This was too ea-
Shining began laughing loudly.
Juno jumped back, having stood too close to the unicorn and having had her ears assaulted by his mirth.
“Ha!” Shining cried. “You actually think I give a diamond dog’s left butt cheek about these two? One fed off my emotions and nearly killed me and the other cheated on me with the former. You killing them would be like a favor!”
Juno recoiled for a moment but quickly regained her composer. She still had her backup.
“Well if they mean nothing, perhaps this is of more value.”
Juno nodded towards somepony outside Shining’s field of vision and stepped back. A unicorn mare wearing a grey suit and a grey ski mask walked into his sight hold Lovebug tightly. The filly struggled against her captor, however ineffectively. Cadance and Chrysalis strained against their bindings.
“This lovely lady is Masque Espion.” Juno explained. “She’s here to motivate you.”
Masque suddenly pulled a butterfly knife from her pocket, rapidly unfolding it and held the blade against Lovebug’s throat.
Chrysalis and Cadance’s struggles doubled as they shouted, muffled by the gags in their mouths. Shining gulped.
“It’s simple, Captain. We hold all the cards. If you don’t cooperate, we shred them.”
Shining sighed and hung his head. “Fine. I’ll do it.”
Juno smiled like a shark. “Wonderful.” she nodded to Masque, who put away her knife with a look of disappointment. “Now, Bennett will explain the rest to you downstairs. This whole thing shouldn’t take more than a day. And when it’s over, you’ll all be back together safe and sound.”
Liar. Shining thought.
“Sounds reasonable.” he said.
Somepony behind him sliced the ropes holding him up, dropping him to the ground. Rising, Shining made his way to the door, but paused just before exiting. He looked over his shoulder at Juno.
“If anything, anything at all, happens to my family, I will come back and I will kill you. If you run, I’ll chase. If you hide, I’ll search. If you fight, I’ll fight harder. You won’t escape.”
Shining didn’t wait for her reply.
******

Crystal Tower Offices
5:30 PM

“Take the gags out.” Juno said to Masque after Shining left.
The mare handed off Lovebug to Juno and using her knife sliced the gags from behind the mare’s necks, nearly cutting them in the process. Both gasped as the gags dropped away and both glared daggers at Juno, who sat on the desk, cradling Lovebug.
“Monster!” Chrysalis spat.
Juno nodded to Masque, who promptly smacked Chrysalis.
“Hey! Leave her alone!” Cadance shouted, struggling against her bindings.
Juno smiled. “We will be as civil as you allow us.” she said while she fussed with Lovebug’s hair.
Cadance glared at her. The alicorn’s horn began glowing before suddenly popping and fizzling out. “What did you do to my magic?” she demanded.
“Simple, we switched your regular coffee cream with a specially made one laced with a poison that cancels out unicorn magic. Side effects include mood swings and odd cravings if mixed with coffee.” Juno giggled. “That worked rather well with you suddenly firing your nanny.”
Cadance blinked. “My coffee? Mood swings? This is all your fault!”
Juno nodded.
Chrysalis growled and her twisted horn began lighting up with magic before it to popped and fizzled.
“Of course we made sure to give you each a dose while you were out.”
“So what’s this all about?” Cadance asked.
Juno sighed and handed Lovebug back to Masque as she walked over to Cadance. Leaning close, she whispered. “If I told you, it would spoil the fun.”
Smirking, Juno took back Lovebug, who was still struggling as best she could, and left the office, nodding to Masque. The ski masked mare nodded back and sat on Cadance’s desk, idling playing with her knife as she stared at Cadance and Chrysalis.
“And who are you supposed to be?” Chrysalis asked her.
“Whomever I need to be.” she said, her Prench accent thick. She then smiled at Chrysalis. “Although, I must say I enjoyed being you.”
Chrysalis scowled. “Truth was with me last I remember. Where is she? What have you done with her.”
Masque took her time taking a cigarette from her pocket and lighting it with a silver lighter she took from the opposite pocket. The took a long drag from it and then leaned forward to blow the smoke in Chrysalis’s face. The changeling went into a coughing fit as Masque just leaned back.
“She is somewhere where she can cause no trouble.” the unicorn said as she began slicing a peach with her knife.
******

Truth’s head whipped around as the door opened. A single pair of hooves clopped on the floor as a pink pegasus Truth initially mistook for Cadance entered holding Lovebug in her hooves.
“Here,” the mare said, her accent pegging her for one that hailed from Trottingham. “I do believe you are the nanny.”
Truth mutely accepted Lovebug, who had been struggling in the other mare’s grasp. She calmed down as her little black eyes settled on the changeling’s face.
“I’m afraid she doesn’t like me much.” the mare said playfully.
“What’s going on?” Truth asked the mare.
The mare’s voice suddenly became cold. “Nothing that needs concern you.” She turned and left the room, the door slamming and clicking locked behind her.
Truth stared at the door for a moment before Lovebug’s coos brought her attention back to the filly.
“Hush little one. Everything is going to be fine.”
*******

Juno made sure to lock the door securely. She tucked key into her overcoat as she walked away. One of her stallions, Two Guns, greeted her at the end of the hallway.
“Sir.” the black-clad stallion nodded as he fell into step beside her.
“How’s securing the building going?” Juno asked.
“The building is ours, sir. All the civilians have been rounded up and secured on the thirty-first floor. Teams have completed their sweeps and all other floors are empty of personnel.”
“Number of civilians?”
“Thirty exactly. Not counting the high values.”
“And guard response?”
“They’ve surrounded the building but seem unsure of what to do. Theo says he’ll be able to get ears on them soon.”
“Good.” Juno said as she pushed open a door. “Get back to that hallway and guard that room. If the nanny wants anything you call two more in for back up before you even talk to her. Got that?”
Two Guns nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Juno nodded and continued forward. She entered a large open room with several tables piled high with food and drink. A few hallways branched off, leading to the stairs or offices. Several ponies, most armed, milled about, idly chatting or eating. 
Juno rolled her eyes and sucked in a breath. “Lock! Load! Front and center!” she shouted.
Everypony in the room jumped and immediately began going about like they were actually doing something. Two near identical stallions came forward, each gunmetal grey with oil black manes and tails. They had a splotch of bronze over either their left or right eye. Their cutie marks were matching bullets. When they stood next to each other, it gave one the impression of a pony in front of a mirror.
“Yes, Boss?” they said in unison.


Lock & Load


(I see what you did there.)


“Show me what kind of armaments you’ve procured.”
The twins nodded and walked over to a table that had been cleared of food and drink. Several metal cases stacked beside the table. Lock, who had the splotch on his right eye, moved behind the table while Load, who’s splotch adorned his left eye, stood in front. As one they began opening the cases and placing their contents on the table as they listed them off.
“We’ve gotten all the best goodies, Boss.” Lock said. “We’ve got your silencers."
“Your loudeners.” Load added.
“Your grenades.”
“Your bandoliers.”
“Your huge ass magazines.”
“Your rifles.”
“Your shotguns.”
“Your scopes.”
“Your chewing gum.” Lock held up the flavored rubber.
“And this is for shooting down helicopters.” Lock said as he hefted a larger launcher with the cone-shaped rocket sitting in the end.
Juno smiled. “Oh, I don’t think we’ll need that one just yet, but it’s good to have it. Good work boys. Here, have a cookie.” she pulled the pastry from her pocket and tossed it to the two, who began scrabbling to get it before the other.
Why bother when they were surrounded by other treats? Well, when they had first taken over the building, Juno had stolen all the good cookies for herself.
Juno smirked at the brothers and began striding over to the elevator. She entered and pressed the button for the floor she wanted: floor thirty-eight. What’s on floor thirty-eight?
“Computor and Vault.” a cool automated voice stated.
Juno exited the elevator and navigated her way through the maze of humming technology until she found her techie, who was busy tapping away at a keyboard.
“Got anything for me, Theo?” she asked.
Theoretical, or Theo for short, looked up from the screen he had been watching. He was a short and thin sky blue unicorn with a pair of gold rimmed glasses perched on his nose. His cutie mark was a book and pencil.
“I’ve got about three levels of encryption and a SpitfireWall with about five or so ‘fail-safes’.” he made the quote with his hooves. “And after that I’ve still got around four links to find and lock down so they can’t be interrupted as well as introduce a virus to mask our tracks and wipe the security footage when we’re done."


Theo


NERRRRRRRRRD!


Juno stared at the unicorn and then just shook her head. “In equestrian, Theo.”
The unicorn sighed. “In about an hour, I’ll own everything on this side of the op.”
Juno smiled and patted Theo on the back. “Good boy.”
“Less if I have the pass code.” he nagged.
“I’ll see what I can do.” Juno got up and began making her way out of the room.
Thing were going ever so smooth so far.
	
> I Lied
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I Lied

Shining opened the door to the room the armed ponies indicated to him and as soon as he entered his head was snapped back by the force of a punch. His head bounced painfully and comically off some pipes with a clang before he fell to the floor, trying to regain his senses.
“Merry Hearth’s Warming Eve, Shining.” Blackguard said, shaking his hoof to ease the pain.
Shining growled as he got up and had to be restrained by two muscled ponies, which judging by their bandages were the same two from before. 
“Ah, Bennett. I thought you were dead.” Shining said.
Blackguard shrugged. “Yeah, I get that sometimes.”
“Nice outfit.” Shining scoffed.
Blackguard looked down at himself. He had traded his coat from before for a chain mail shirt and a belt that held a knife and a pistol. He wore black leather coverings on his forelegs and had put on a short chain necklace.
Blackguard snorted. “My new employment’s dress code is casual.”
“There’s a fine line between casual and what you’re wearing.”
Blackguard rolled his eyes. “I don’t have to take this. All I have to do is explain to you what’s going to happen. You are going to be taken discreetly to the train station where you will board the train with two of our associates. The train will take you to Canterlot where the exact parameters of your mission will be explained.” Blackguard then got right in Shining’s face. “Oh, and if you deviate from the plan, if you try something, if you make my life even the teensiest bit more difficult than it needs to be. I will kill your daughter.”
“She’s not my daughter.” Shining growled. “But even so, if you even go near her, I will gut you like a griffon guts a fish.”
Blackguard back up, looking surprised for a moment, but quickly covered it up. “I count on it, Shining. Just like old times.”
Shining snorted. “Yeah, which reminds me. Why all this? What is Blackguard Bennett doing working for a feather-brained Night-Guard?”
Blackguard smiled in an unpleasant manner. “Honestly Shinny? They found me and they offered a sizable amount of bits for the job. But when I found out it was you, I said I would do it for free.”
Shining smiled grimly. “You sure know how to hold a grudge, Bennett.”
“Yeah, that I do.”
******

Crystal Train Station
6:15 PM

Shining wasn’t happy to be in a bustling train station under normal circumstances. The whole place was a nightmare to control and keep orderly, mainly because there was no order. And the nightmare was ten times worse the day before a major holiday. Just like today.
Maybe that was part of their plan.
“Okay, here’s our train.” a unicorn called Weasel said. He looked his name too, being dust grey and thin with an angular face that you were sure had whiskers at some point. His cutie mark was even a weasel!
Weasel led Shining and one of the burly earth ponies from before onto the train. They moved to an empty compartment and Weasel spoke again.
“Okay, this guy here,” he gestured to the earth pony. “He’s your foal sitter. He looks after you and makes sure you don’t get in any trouble. Now you two play nice whilst I go make a call.” he made to duck out but then pushed his head back in. “Oh, and don’t think I don’t understand your plight. Two sexy mares that only have eyes for each other. I’ve been there, brother.” he chuckled.
Shining smiled at Weasel. “You know Weasel, you’re a funny guy. I think I’ll kill you last.”
Weasel stopped laughing and left the compartment. Shining and his ‘foal sitter’ exchanged glances.
“Don’t try anything.”
Shining smiled good-naturedly. “Like what?”
The train lurched as it pulled out of the station and Shining’s guard was thrown off balance for a moment. That was all the time he needed. Shining leapt forward and drove his hoof straight into the pony’s snout. The head snapped back, but Shining grabbed it and brought it down so that he could drive his knee into it.
The stallion slumped to the ground unconscious.
Frowning, Shining grabbed the stallion’s head and twisted until he heard a wet snap. He didn’t like the idea of killing a pony like that, but the stakes were too high.
Shining popped his head out of the compartment and caught the attention of a passing stewardess. 
“Excuse me, may I get a blanket and a pillow please?”
“Of course, sir.”
Shining waited a few tense minutes for the stewardess to return with the blanket and pillow, which he accepted with a smile.
“Thank you. Hey, I was wondering. What’s the approximate time to Canterlot?”
“Four hours sir.”
“Thanks. And if I wanted to make a call, where would I go?”
“The back car sir. The engine interferes with calls. Anything else?”
“Just don’t disturb my friend. He’s dead tired.” Shining smiled at the stewardess, who returned his smile as she walked away.
Shining ducked back in the compartment and quickly set up the dead stallion to appear as though he were simply resting. He searched the pony and came up with a black sort of square shaped hunk of plastic with an antenna. Shrugging, Shining tucked it away
Leaving the compartment, Shining began making his way to the caboose.
******
Crystal Tower
6:20 PM

“You’re underway?” Juno asked.
“Yes, sir.” Weasel’s slightly nasal voice sounded over the crystal ball.
“Good. Keep Captain Armor calm and safe. Call me when you’ve reached Canterlot.”
“Yes, sir.”
Juno tapped the crystal ball and leaned back in the plush chair she had appropriated, sipping some of the watered down champagne she had taken from the party. She could get used to this.
Bennett suddenly entered the room. “Miss Eclipse?”
Juno raised a hoof to silence him as she finished her drink. Placing the glass on the table, she turned her attention to the unicorn. “Yes?”
“The Night-Guards have arrived.”
Juno smiled. “Show time.”
*****

Not-So-Ludicrous-Express, Outskirts of the Capital
6:23 PM

Weasel tapped the crystal ball and moved to put it away when he was tapped on the shoulder. He turned around in time to see Shining’s hoof the instant before it connected with his face.
Weasel stumbled back, tripping over some loose boxes and falling.
“Shining!” Weasel cried in fear.
“Hello, Weasel. Feeling chatty?” Shining growled.
The unicorn scrambled to his hooves, slowly backing away from the advancing Shining.
“Shining! Buddy! W-where’s-?”
“Dead.” Shining said simply. “And unless you feel like joining him, you’re going to talk.”
Weasel scrambled to open the door at the end of the car, but Shining slammed into him before he could open it, sending them both out onto the back of the car, Weasel getting slammed into the railing.
Shining looked out and saw that the train was fast approaching a bridge. “Hey Weasel, you wanted to be a pegasus?” Shining shouted over the wind.
The unicorn looked fearfully between the bridge and Shining and shook his head. 
“Then you better talk!” Shining shoved Weasel halfway over the rails.
“Wait! Wait!” Weasel shouted, fore-hooves flailing. “What do you want to know?!”
“The package I’m supposed to deliver, what and where is it?”
“It’s a bomb! It’s supposed to take out the techs in Canterlot! It’s in the car there, box marked for the Night-Guard building!”
“Why?”
“Juno has a tech pony that’s going to hack the server in Canterlot and download a whole bunch of financial data! Empty the coffers, she said!”
The train started over the bridge.
“Why me?” Shining demanded. 
“Bennett said you were the best one for the job!”
Shining sighed and glanced to the side. This was just getting better and better. He looked back to Weasel to see the unicorn pulling a pistol from his coat. Shining punched his a few times and the gun fell away. Weasel gasped in pain as blood leaked from his nose.
“Hey Weasel! Remember when I said I’d kill you last?” Shining shouted.
“That’s right, Shining! You did!” the unicorn said as he clutched his nose.
“I lied.”
Shining let go of Weasel and gravity did the rest, dropping the unicorn like a stone into the deep canyon. His scream of terror faded quickly, drown out by the noise of the train. Shining watched him go with a grim look.
Shining went back inside the compartment and began searching for the box Weasel had told him about. He found the box after a little searching and the unwanted discovery of some more… personal items. He picked it up and gently pried it open. Inside he found a little greeting card that just said ‘Message for you, sir!’. Behind the card was a large pack of explosives and more wires than Shining could follow. The whole package smelled strongly of peaches.
Shaking his head, Shining tucked the package under his foreleg and moved out onto the balcony of the caboose again. He hopped a few times on the tips of his hooves before he threw the package and jumped after it. The landing was sharp and hard and sent Shining tumbling down a steep embankment. 
When he came to a stop he picked himself up and dusted off the mud and twigs he had picked up. He found the package and turned towards the lights of the not too distant Crystal Capital.
The sun was setting and he had four hours to get back and save his family. 
“Merry bucking Hearth’s Warming Eve.” Shining said to the crisp air as he started over the bridge.
	
> Clop Hard
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clop Hard

Base of Crystal Tower
6:45 PM

The base of Crystal Tower was abuzz with activity as ponies in military armor and attire went about trailers and tents, setting up spotlights and embankments of sandbags. Or rather, crystal bags, if one was feeling picky.
Blind Justice watched them work with a grim and somewhat annoyed look as a medic continued to tend to his wounds. He had more than once insisted he was fine, but the medic persisted, fussing over his wounds.
“Damn it man, that wasn’t the first explosion I’ve been close to.” Justice growled at the medic.
“It certainly seems like the worst.” the medic, a crystal pony, fussed.
Justice scoffed. “Please, there was this one time some joker dumped a bomb beneath my carriage. Busted the damn thing open like a ripe peach and threw me clear thirty feet.”
“Oh my, that sounds awful.”
Justice shrugged. “I ate a lot of ice cream while they stitched me up. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.”
“An afternoon!”
“Captain Justice?” a third voice cut in.
Justice looked for the source and saw none other than Captain Sunshine of the Night-Guards walking up to him.
“Sunshine, is that really you?” Justice asked.
“In the flesh.” she answered.
Justice smirked in a rather humorless way. “I guess I should tell you I’m lieutenant now.”
“I’m just surprised you’re not dead.”
“It’ll take more than a giant spear through my gut to kill me.”
Sunshine smiled a little. “Sometimes you make me forget how much I hate your guts.”
Justice shrugged. “Get in line, sweetheart.”
Sunshine chuckled and then her expression grew somber. “Do you know what’s going on here?”
“They didn’t tell you?”
Sunshine’s expression darkened. “The commander didn’t see it fit to share the intel with the grunts.”
“Commander?”
Sunshine jerked her head to the side, indicating a green pegasus in a brown suit. His blond mane was cropped close to his body and his tail was slim. His cutie mark was a crisscross of red tape.
Justice snorted. “I can smell the cologne from here.”
Sunshine smirked and nodded.
Commander Dwayne T Robinsson had not climbed the ladder to his position in the Battlefield Unanimous Crusading Kickers to deal with one little hostage negotiation.
(I see what you did there. You didn’t do it very well, but you did it.)
(…Shut up.)
Robinsson knew that this was the capital of the Crystal Empire and he knew that there had been an explosion, but he seriously doubted this was anything but some disgruntled employee with some knowledge of explosives.
Hardly worth his time.
********

Crystal Tower
7:00 PM

Truth huddled with Lovebug, shivering slightly as the temperature of the room dropped with Celestia’s sun. The room was sparsely furnished, with only a small bed and a short table. The foal had had fallen asleep not too long ago, nuzzling against her.
Truth always found it calming to be with Lovebug. The foal had attached herself to her like she had attached herself to Shining and her… well, Truth supposed they were her mothers. That was going to be confusing when she started talking.
Truth wished Lovebug could talk. She needed intel. Truth was often called just a maid, but she was a maid that used to, and technically still did, serve a Queen. She was small, but at the very least she could give one attacker a hell of a fight.
She could also do with a drink.
Truth tucked Lovebug into bed, making sure the foal would be snug and warm, and then walked over to the door. She rapped it sharply.
After a moment she heard carpet muffled hoof falls come and stop in front of the door.
“What?” asked a gruff voice.
“I’m hungry. And thirsty. And it’s cold in here.” Truth said, using her most innocent and vulnerable voice.
The voice sighed. “Well, what do you want me to do about it?”
“There was a party downstairs. Bring me something, anything. And see if you can’t get you tech to turn up the heat in here.”
Two Guns frowned. “How did you know-?”
“That you have a tech? I guessed.” Truth said sheepishly.
Two guns sighed and stomped away.
“You’re bringing the stuff, right?” Truth called after him.
“I’m doing it, I’m doing it!” Two Guns said as he pulled his radio from his belt. “Bloody nagging nanny.” he muttered. “Ich brauche etwas zu essen und Punsch hier oben.” he said into his radio.
“The buck?” said the pony at the other end of the line. “Speak Equestrian you stupid mother-bucker!”
“Fick dich.” Two Guns growled. To the radio he said. “Just bring up some food and stuff. And somepony tell Theo to turn up the heat. It’s bucking freezing.”
******

Crystal Tower
7:10 PM

“Relax. Calm down.” Juno said calmly to the chattering group of office employees and executives. But despite her requests, they continued to make noise, the volume steadily increasing. Sighing, she nodded to Blackguard, who stood behind her.
The unicorn grinned and pulled his pistol from his belt, firing several shots into the air.
The hostages quieted down, many clutching their ears. Among those clutching their ears was Juno herself. She glared at Blackguard as he lowered his gun. She smacked him on the back of the head.
“I meant yell!” she yelled at him. “Or break something! Not deafen them and me!”
Blackguard sulked and stepped out of Juno’s reach.
Sighing, Juno turned back to the assembled hostages. “Now, I’m sure you are all dying to just go home and put all of this behind you, but my associates and I will not be leaving until we get what we want. So your best hope for making this quick is to cooperate.” Juno grinned sadistically as she looked over the frightened ponies. “Now, where is Big Wig?”
An older stallion with a grey streaked black mane stood up. “I am Big Wig.”
Juno smiled. “Nice to meet you, sir. Follow me.”
*******

Crystal Tower
7:15 PM

“Hey nanny, I’ve got your food.” Two guns called through the door.
There was no answer.
Two Guns exchanged an annoyed look with his companion, a mare called Cookays. Who, appropriately enough, was carrying a plate of cookies.
“Hey, nanny!” Two Guns shouted as he pounded on the door.
The door was pushed forward by his hoof knocks, swinging open. Two Guns exchanged a look with Cookays.
“You go first.” Two Guns said to Cookays, gesturing to the darkened room.
Cookays gave him a look. “Aw hell no.”
Two Guns sighed roughly shoved the bottle of punch he was carrying into Cookays’s already over stuffed forelegs and cocked one his two guns. He slowly edged forward into the darkened room.
“Hey nanny!” he called out again.
Suddenly Truth swung back hooves forward from the ceiling. Her hooves connected with the stallion’s shoulders, knocking him back and into the opposite wall, jarring the gun from his hooves.
“Oh shit!” Cookays shouted as she scrambled to get her gun, but was delayed tripping over the food and punch.
Truth dropped down from the ceiling and took two long strides before leaping forward and tackling Two Guns. The stallion grunted and grappled with the smaller changeling as he struggled to bring up his other gun.
Two Guns managed to pull his second pistol from its holster, but Truth grabbed his wrist in a death lock. Two Guns struggled to bring the gun front and center to shoot the changeling, but her grip was too strong. He did however manage to fire several times. Unfortunately, he ended up firing those several shots into Cookays, dropping the pony where she stood.
“I… barely… got… a line.” she gasped before expiring.
Truth slammed Two Guns’s hoof into the wall repeatedly until he lost his grip on the gun. As the gun fell away she reached back and put all of her weight into a right hook.
Two Guns’s head snapped back and he promptly returned the punch, knocking Truth off of him and onto the floor.
“Are you kidding me!?” Two Guns roared at Truth. A swift kick made Truth cry out in pain. Growling, Two Guns turned his back on Truth as he bent over to retrieve his gun.
Truth was on him in an instant, wrapping her foreleg around his neck. Two Guns growled and tried to throw her off. Truth kicked the back of his knees, making him kneel. Now with his head more or less level with hers, Truth grabbed his chin with her other hoof and jerked sharply up.
She then twisted his head sharply. There was a wet crack and Two Guns went limp.
Breathing heavily, Truth let Two Guns’s body drop to the floor.
“Und tschüss, anfänger bitch.” Truth said to the body.


Truth


Holy Sh*t!


Soft cries soon got her attention. Truth rushed back into the room and got the crying Lovebug from where she had hidden her beneath the bed. She rocked her gently, quietly hushing her. 
“Hush, little one, hush.” Truth said softly. “It’s okay. It’s okay. Truth here won’t let anyone hurt you. You’ll see Mommy and… Mom, I guess, soon. And Daddy too. Hush.”
The foal soon quieted, fixing her little black eyes on Truth’s face.
“There we go.” Truth said softly, smiling warmly at the foal. 
She tucked the foal back beneath covers and went back into the hallway. She searched the bodies, taking three pistols from between the two bodies. She also picked up a pair of what she recognized as grenades and a radio.
“Okay, bitches.” Truth said as she checked the weapons. “Let’s play.”	
******
Crystal Tower 
7:23 PM

“Here We are, Mr. Big Wig.” Juno said as she opened a door for the older stallion. “You’re a businesspony. So let’s talk business.”
Juno and Blackguard followed Big Wig into the room, where Theo waited at a large conference table with a monitor and a keyboard. Blackguard stood next to Theo while Juno and Big Wig took seats on the opposite side of the table, facing each other.
“Theo, tell Mr. Big Wig here what it is you need.” Juno said as she pulled a pistol from her coat.
“I need the pass code for your computer systems.” Theo said.
Big Wig looked shocked. “I don’t have that code.”
Juno smiled in a sympathetic way, but the warmth didn’t reach her eyes. “Please, Mr. Big Wig. These systems are new. What could we possibly do?”
Big Wig snorted. “Please. Anything you think you could learn in out systems is practically worthless to anypony and whatever you might learn will be equally worthless by tomorrow.”
“Then there’s no reason to not tell me.”
Big Wig shook his head.
Theo sighed. “I told you.” he said, more to Blackguard than to Juno.
Juno shot him a look and then turned back to Big Wig. “Okay. I am going to count to… three. Not four, not five. Three.”
Big Wig looked unimpressed.
“One.” Juno picked up her gun.
Big Wig sighed.
“Two.” Juno gently cocked the weapon. 
A small bead of sweat appeared on Big Wig’s forehead.
“Thre-”
“I don’t even know the code.” Big Wig said. “So if you think it’s really going to help, kill me.”
Juno paused and then began suddenly laughing. Blackguard and Theo looked at each other and then nervously began chuckling too. Juno looked over at them, laughing even louder. The two quickly joined in and Juno turned back to Big Wig, laughing even louder. Big Wig looked at Juno like she was insane until she suddenly stopped laughing and raised the pistol back up. There was a look shock on his face an instant before Juno pulled the trigger.
Blackguard and Theo stopped laughing when the gunshot rang out. Juno looked at the body and the slowly growing pool of blood with not an ounce of remorse.
“I don’t know, made me feel better.” she said. She looked at Blackguard and Theo. “How about you two?”
They both shrugged.
“Now Theo, you can crack the code?” Juno asked.
Theo nodded. “Yeah, shouldn’t take more than ten minutes.”
“And then we’re set at this end?”
Theo nodded. 
Juno smiled broadly. “Wonderful.” she looked to Blackguard. “You, clean this up.”
“Why me?”
“Because I’ve just gotten my hooves done.” Juno smiled.
Blackguard groaned as Juno got up and left the room. He felt Theo poke him and looked down at the tech.
“What?”
Theo held out his hoof expectantly.
Blackguard sighed and put a small sack of bits into it.
******
Crystal Tower Ventilation System
7:28 PM

Truth sat scrunched inside a very cramped ventilation duct, trying the keep her breathing steady. She began crawling away from the conference room as fast as she could.
“Why didn’t you stop them?” Truth said to herself as she slowly inched her way through the shaft. “Because you’d be dead too, dumb ass.” she answered herself.
Truth grunted as she pulled herself out of the duct and landed with a thump in the little hideaway she had found and stashed herself and Lovebug. Truth leaned against the wall, sighing.
“What do you think?” she asked the sleeping foal.
Lovebug didn’t answer.
“Fat lot of help you are.”
> Hell Fire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hell Fire

Crystal Tower Ventilation System
7:38 PM

“Commander.” Sunshine said as she walked up to Robbinsson.
The pegasus turned from speaking with one of the police captains to look at her. He said something to the pony, who nodded and stepped away as Sunshine walked up.
“Yes, Captain Sunshine?” Robbinsson said.
“I believe we need to enter the building.”
Robbinsson smirked and shook his head. “And I believe you are mistaken. This is a waiting game Captain. All we have to do is wait for the nut in there to get tired and give himself up.”
Sunshine looked at Robbinsson as if he had just suggested grinding up fillies to make rainbows. “Sir, this isn’t some lone gunman or a depressed office worker. I’ve been speaking with Lieutenant Justice and he’s told me that the bomb that went off earlier was professionally made and set. We’re dealing with a premeditated and well thought out plan here, sir.”
Robbinsson smiled and shook his head like he was dealing with an ignorant child. “I appreciate you input, Captain, but I seriously doubt Lieutenant Justice is a reliable source.”
“Commander,” Sunshine said firmly, growing irritated. “I’m not Blind Justice’s biggest fan by a long shot. But I trust his experience when he says what a professional job looks like. And if we’re dealing with some depressed office worker, why hasn’t he sent a list of demands?”
“Maybe he’s having trouble deciding. Captain I really appreciate you and your team coming here, but I’m afraid this is all really unnecessary.”
Sunshine snorted. “If you don’t act, ponies are going to die. If they haven’t already.”
Robbinsson dropped his smiling act and shoved his face in Sunshine’s. “Captain, your presence is unnecessary. Anytime you want to leave consider yourself dismissed. Now, unless you get me concrete proof that we’re dealing with anything but some pony that’s had a little too much, then I will continue to treat as if that’s the situation.”
Robbinsson turned and walked away, not even bothering to glance at Sunshine. The pegasus growled and pawed the ground.
I swear if this thing ever gets going, the Commander might just get hit by accident. Nothing lethal, of course. Maybe just a bullet in his happy place.
Somepony tapped Sunshine on her shoulder.
“What?” she growled.
“I think we may have something.” Justice said.
Sunshine turned around to see the unicorn holding a radio, with a soft voice emanating from it.
******
Crystal Tower Ventilation System
7:43 PM

“If anypony can here this, this is Truth of the Crystal Empire. I am hold up inside Crystal Tower, which has been taken over by an unknown number of terrorists. They are well equipped and have already killed one hostage. I do not know what they are planning, but I advise immediate-”
A sudden burst of static interrupted Truth’s message. The changeling gasped softly before quickly covering her mouth. If they had heard her…
“Truth? This is Captain Sunshine of the Night-Guards. Can you hear me?”
Truth let out a breathy laugh of relief. “Yes I can.” she said into the radio.
“Is this a party line?” Sunshine asked.
“No, I made sure to keep off their frequency.”
“Good. Now Truth, I’m going to ask you a few questions to just make sure it’s you I’m talking to. What is your full name?”
“My name is Truth Uso.”
“What is your directive?”
“To protect my mistress and her family.”
“What is the average airspeed of an unladed swallow?”
Truth couldn’t help but grin. “Prench or Equestrian?”
*********
Base of Crystal Tower
7:48 PM

Sunshine smiled as Truth answered for the third time. She had no idea if the questions she was given by Justice would actually be relevant. But hey, every jackass has his day. She nodded happily to Justice. 
“Alright Truth, you’re good. Now, what can you tell me about the force of terrorists?”
“The leader is a pink pegasus called Juno. She’s planned this out, covering as many ends as she can. She’s experienced and comfortable with violence and possibly psychotic. She’s brought in a tech and by now they likely own building by now.”
Sunshine nodded as she digested the information. She was surprised that the maid knew how to give intel. “Okay. Well, shit. They’ve no doubt fortified themselves for Tartarus and more. Truth, is there any weakness the building has? Somewhere a small team might slip in?”
There was silence on the other side of the line for a minute before Truth answered. “The kitchens. If you can get their attention focused elsewhere you can get in through the kitchens.”
Sunshine nodded again. “Okay, that sounds like it might work.” she glanced over at Robinsson. “Hey Truth, I’ll level with you. We have a snag. Commander head-up-his-ass won’t do jack unless we have ‘definite proof’ that there’s terrorists in there. Can you do anything to change his mind?”
Sunshine could practically hear the grin in Truth’s voice. “Yeah, I have an idea.”
*********
Crystal Tower Offices
8:00 PM

Juno lounged in Cadance’s chair in the alicorn’s office. The Princess of Love herself and Chrysalis were still bound to chairs. Masque stood off to the side, still playing with her knife.
Juno drank some punch. “You know princess; I really must say I like what you’ve done with this place. I mean, the modernization to nearly seamless. You almost can’t tell that all this added technology wasn’t here when this place was first created.”
Cadance, befuddled by Juno’s sudden friendliness, tilted her head to one side. “Um, thanks?”
Juno chuckled and waved her off. “Think nothing of it dear.” the pegasus bit into a peach she had brought, juices running down her chin. “I mean, sure I’ve kidnapped you and most of your family,” she said through her mouthful. She swallowed. “But, that doesn’t mean I need to be mean to you.”
Chrysalis scoffed. “Yes, you’ve been nothing but courteous.”
Juno smiled. “I have, haven’t I?” she laughed and took another bite of her peach.
“So, what now?” Cadance asked. “Shouldn’t you be… I don’t know, working on something?”
Juno just smiled. “Work on what? We own this building and the police and whatnot outside have their heads too far up their asses to do anything. Really, the only thing we need to worry about is your husband.” Juno ate the rest of her peach and tossed the remains away. “All he has to do is stick to the program and we’ll all be talking about tonight at dinner parties.”
“So everything rides on Shining doing what he’s supposed to?” Chrysalis asked, sounding uneasy.
Juno smiled. “Yes, Chryssi. Because on this end, we’ve left nothing to chance.”
Something suddenly whooshed by the window.
Juno’s smile faded a little and she glanced at each of the staring faces. “What?”
*******
Base of Crystal Tower
8:01 PM

Commander Dwayne T Robinsson prided himself on being a symbol of masculinity. However, whatever illusions he or anypony else had were shattered along with a spotlight as the body of a stallion came plummeting down from Tower. The high note that Robinsson reached would have impressed any singer and the amount of urine he expelled in fear would frighten the Sham Wow guy.
Sunshine, who barely blinked when the body hit the light, leaned over and whispered in Robinsson’s ear.
“Evidence.”
********
Crystal Tower Offices
8:02 PM

“Okay, who the buck just took a dive out the window!” Juno shouted into her radio.
A symphony of voices answered her. Growling, she switched her radio to a different channel.
“Theo, are the police doing?”
“They’re really bustling now. Looks like their setting up a staging area.” 
Juno took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Theo, patch me in to the interior com systems.”
She heard a few clicks. “You’re on.”
“Attention ponies, attention! We are about to have a few party crashers, so get to your battle positions and be ready.” Juno clicked her radio over to a different channel. “Bennett.”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Get up to the roof and take a rifle from Lock and Load.”
“You got it.”
Juno clicked off her radio and turned to Masque, Cadance, and Chrysalis.
“Show time.”
******
Base of Crystal Tower
8:05 PM

“Okay, now what you’re going to do is send six ponies in heavy armor up to the front. They’ll likely take heavy fire, so use the spotlights to blind and point out shooters.” Sunshine said as she mapped out the battle plan in the dirt. “While they draw the terrorists’ attention and fire, myself and three Night-Guards will go around here and enter through the kitchens.” she looked pointedly at Robinsson. “They’ll take out the spotlights and start raining Tartarus down on them. When that happens, you hit them with suppression fire and pull those troopers out. We’ll be in by then and can start make their lives a living Tartarus.” she looked around. “Any questions?”
All the assembled ponies shook their heads.
“Then let’s rock.”
******
Crystal Tower Offices
8:10 PM

“Okay, everypony in position?” Juno asked over the radio as she watched the ground below through the window.
“Yes sir!” came the collective response.
“Good. Now listen up! We are about to teach the Crystal Guard, the Night-Guard, and whomever else a lesson in power.” Juno clicked off the radio and turned to Cadance and Chrysalis. “And you two get to watch in HD!” she said excitedly as she pulled down a monitor from the ceiling.
“I didn’t know that was there.” Cadance said sheepishly.
Juno smiled and turned her radio back on. “Okay Theo, you are the eyes. If you see something, don’t be shy and point it out.”
********
Crystal Tower Computer and Vault Room

“Got it, ma’am.” Theo answered. He cracked his neck, elbows, and wrists and took a drink from a can of soda before tapping away at the keyboard, bringing up several windows that showed the view of cameras scattered over the outside of the building.
“Okay everypony, listen closely.” Theo said, his voice being broadcast on the building wide PA system. “Twas the night before Hearth’s Warming; when all through the house; not a creature was stirring- except for the six assholes in heavy armor moving up on the main entrance in standard two by three formation.”
*******
Crystal Tower Offices

“Okay, hit them with normal rounds first. We just want to wound them for now. We’ll upgrade to armor piercing soon.” Juno said into her radio.
A few curt ‘Yes, sir’s followed her order. Juno smiled. Like clockwor-
She was suddenly blinded by a bright light shining through the window. And judging by the curses coming in over the radio, several of her ponies had been as well.
“Bennett, take out the lights!” Juno shouted into her radio.
“Yes, ma’am.” Blackguard said over the radio.
A loud bang echoed from above and one of the spotlights went out.
*******
Base of Crystal Tower

Robinsson flinched as one of the spotlights was shattered by a bullet. He coughed and tried to regain his composure, only to jump again as another shattered.
“Where are the shots coming from?” he shouted in alarm to one of the officers standing nearby.
The pony shrugged. 
Looking uneasy, Robinsson leaned over the shoulder of a radio tech. “Are they through yet?”
“They’re cutting in now, sir.” the tech answered.
“Well, tell them to hurry up!” Robinsson yelled. “We’re running out of spotlights!”
“What the buck do you mean they’re cutting it!?” Sunshine hissed over her headset.
Robinsson picked up a radio. “I’m sorry, Captain.” he said, not convincing anyone. “But there’s too much at stake here to let it all ride on one team. If team alpha can get in through the front then we won’t need your team.”
“You self serving asshole! They’re sitting ducks if they try to cut in! Pull them back now!”
“I’ll take it under advisement.” 
“You motherfu-!”
Robinsson clicked off the radio. “So crass.” he quipped. “How much longer till they’re in?” he asked the tech.
“Thirty seconds.”
******
Crystal Tower Offices

“Last one!” Blackguard said triumphantly over the radio.
“Wonderful.” Juno answered him. “All lower teams, focus fire on the breaching team.”
“It would appear they’re trying to cut their way in.” one of her mercs said jovially over the radio.
“Make ‘em pay.” Juno said, watching gunfire light up the floors below.
“Looks like we’ve got some party crashers.” Theo chimed in. “A team of Night-Guards coming around back, heading for the kitchens.”
“No-pony worry about them. I’ve got the kitchens covered.”
********
Crystal Tower Kitchens Entrance

Sunshine and three of her fellow Night-Guards moved as quietly as they could around the back of the Tower. They worked their way towards the large kitchen entrance, their hooves making barely a noise.
“Bravo team is in position to breech.” Sunshine whispered into her head set. “Commander Robinsson if you want to be able to piss unassisted ever again you will pull back Alpha team right now.” she hissed.
There was no reply. Figures.
As Sunshine and her team approached the big double doors, a voice she didn’t recognize suddenly whispered in her ear.
“Smile for the camera.” a female voice with a Trottingham accent said.
Sunshine heard a whirl and looked up to see a camera turn and focus on her.
“Fire at will, Bennett.” the voice said.
Sunshine opened her mouth to shout a warning, but she was too late. A bullet whipped down through Thatcher’s shoulder, her number two on this mission. The other two Night-Guards leapt forward as Sunshine grabbed the dazed Thatcher and hauled him under the overhang. She then brought her shotgun up and blasted the camera.
“You two secure the kitchen!” she shouted at the other two Night-Guards. “I’ll give this joker something to think about!”
The two dark furred ponies nodded and ducked inside the entrance as Sunshine tended to Thatcher.
“Okay Thatcher, how do you feel?” she asked as she inspected the wound.
“I’ve been better.” the stallion deadpanned.
Sunshine grinned. “Glad to see your sense of humor is alright. Now, your foreleg is broken. Hold this pad on the wound until the bleeding stops. In the meantime I’m going to borrow your weapon.”
Thatcher grinned cockily as he took the pad. “Borrow my weapon, sir? What, got a hot date?”
Sunshine couldn’t help but chuckle. “You know it.”
The pegasus slung her shotgun over her back and picked up Thatcher’s rifle. She lit a flare and tossed it out into the open. Several bullets struck the ground around the flare as Sunshine leaned out as far as she dared and opened fire at where she thought the shots were coming from.
*******
Crystal Tower Kitchens

A brown earth pony stallion dressed in attire associated with a chef sat napping at a counter in the kitchen.
“Oi!” shouted a voice in his ear.
The stallion snorted and looked around.
“Sqeezey?” he said to the air.
“Got a few Night-Guards heading in.” Juno said over the radio, the bud in his ear receiving.
“Lovely.” The stallion yawned and stretched. “And would it kill you to use my name?”
Juno sighed. “I don’t know your name.”
“Call me… Reuben.” the stallion said.
Two Night-Guards suddenly burst into the kitchen, pointing their sub-machine guns at the stallion.
“Show me your hooves!” one of the Night-Guards shouted.
“Whoa shit man, don’t hurt me!” Reuben shouted in a shrill voice, raising his fore hooves into the air.
The Night-Guard sighed. “Put your hooves down.”
Reuben slowly lowered his hooves. The two Night-Guards walked around the kitchen, checking it for any other ponies. After a minute of searching, they came up empty.
“Area secure.” one said to the other. “Inform the Captain.
“Sandwich?” Reuben said, offering the edible item to the Night-Guard that stood near him.
The pony shook his head.
“Suit yourself.” Reuben shrugged.
The pony spoke into his radio. “Captain Sunshine, the kitchen is secu-Ack!”
The Night-Guard gurgled as Reuben stabbed a knife into his neck. The other Night-Guard scrambled to bring up his gun as Reuben pulled the bloody knife free and threw it at the pony. The stallion went down with the knife lodged in his throat.
Sunshine burst into the room and only by some miracle managed to dodge a thrown meat cleaver. She stumbled as she hit her side on a counter, only just managing to bring her borrowed gun up as some crazed earth pony leapt at her wielding a butcher’s knife.
The knife skitted off the gun with a loud screech and severed the strap. A two-hoofed swing knocked the gun from Sunshine’s grasp. The pegasus managed to dodge a knife thrust aimed at her kidneys and drive a hoof into her attacker’s nose.
Reuben stumbled back, clutching his nose. He growled and picked up another meat cleaver. He came running at Sunshine again, swinging the cleaver and knife wildly. 
Sunshine tried to bring her shotgun to bear, but only managed to use it to block Reuben’s chop with the cleaver. He tried again to stab her with the knife, but she twisted her shotgun and trapped his hooves in the strap. A hard yank sent the two blades flying from his grasp.
Reuben grabbed the shotgun and wrestled Sunshine for it. He managed to pry it away from her, but a double hoofed jump-kick sent him flying backwards over a counter top, the shotgun flying from his grasp.
Sunshine panted. “Who the fuck are you?”
Grinning crazily, Reuben stood up. He pulled something from beneath the counter and raised it up. Sunshine’s eyes widened as she stared at the cone of a RPG launcher. 
“I’m the cook.” Reuben said just before he fired the weapon.


Reuben


The Cook


Oh, and he’s F*cking Crazy


Sunshine threw herself to the ground and the rocket sailed over her head, exploding with a deepening boom against the wall, throwing chunks of crystal and pans into the air.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart!” Reuben called. “I’ve got another one!”
Sunshine popped up, prepared to leap at the stallion in desperation when several pistol shots rang out. Reuben ducked down beneath the counter and Sunshine looked to see Thatcher leaning against the door, pistol in his good hoof.
“Captain!” he yelled as he fired off a few more shots. “Run!”
Sunshine didn’t need to be told twice. She threw herself at the doorway, scrambling to get away.
“Shit.” Thatcher muttered as the slide of his pistol locked open. As he tried to reload, his one hoofed status making it difficult, he saw the crazy stallion rise up, shotgun clutched in one hoof.
“Yippie ki yay,” Thatcher growled as he slammed the mag home and jacked the slide.
With his RPG launcher balanced on one shoulder, Reuben held the shotgun in his other hoof. He raised it level with Thatcher.
“Motherfucker!” Thatcher roared as he opened fire. He felt Sunshine brush past him and took solace in the fact that he had saved his captain. He might get a medal for this.
The shotgun blast was like the roar of an ancient beast. It lifted Thatcher off his hooves and slammed him into the wall. He was dead before he hit the floor.
********
Base of Crystal Tower

Sunshine ran faster than she could ever remember.
“Robinsson! Pull your fucking men back now!” she screamed into her comm as she zigzagged, trying to avoid the sniper as he took shots at her.
The yell was pointless. Robinsson was huddled behind a barricade, shouting orders into his radio.
“Bring in the Boat now!” he screamed.
********
Crystal Tower Offices

“I got three. Last one ran.” the stallion called Reuben reported.
“Good.” Juno replied. “Now get into position with that little toy of yours. I want a nasty surprise for their armor.”
“At once.” came the quick reply.
“Theo, any new developments?” Juno asked.
“Yeah. Blackguard can’t shoot for shit.” the tech snarked.
“Watch it!” the unicorn growled over the radio.
Juno smiled. “Okay you two, you’re both pretty.”
“Hold up.” Theo said. “It would appear as though the police have got themselves a balloon hammock.”
*******
Crystal Tower Roof

The Boat, as it was called, was a newly created airship. Smaller and faster than its predecessors, it was armored and armed to the teeth.
The airship came fast and with less noise than one would expect. If it weren’t for Theo’s warning, Blackguard wouldn’t have seen it until it was too late.
The airship opened fire on the unicorn with a single Gatling gun. The weapon chugged out big bullets with a rhythm you could almost dance to. Blackguard threw himself behind the lip of the roof, the thick crystal protecting him from the bullets.
But the airships cannons….
“I need anti-air here now!” Blackguard roared into the radio.
“Lock and Load!” he heard Juno shout, the bloodshed getting her pumped. “Bring ‘em down!”
*******
Crystal Tower

“Yes ma’am!” the twins shouted in unison as they grabbed up the appropriate weaponry.
A matching set, they charged down the halls towards the building’s front side, where the airship hovered firing Blackguard. They took each turn at a run, skidding and slipping more than a few times, bumping into walls and such, cursing all the way. 
They skidded to a halt just at a large window, the glass vibrating from the backwash of the airship.
As one, Lock and Load used their massive weapons to smash the glass and then stick the ends of the weapons out into the cold night air.
“Are you in position?” Juno demanded over the radio.
“Yes ma’am!” the twins answered as one.
“Fire!”
A pair of what looked like fireballs to those that were ignorant of the weapons’ function and presence lanced from the window and slammed into the airship. A boom and crash echoed throughout the night as large holes were blown in the airship, crippling it.
*******
Crystal Tower Office

Juno watched with a sadistic grin as fire exploded around the air ship.
“Hit it again.” she said into her radio.
“Damnit Juno!” Cadance suddenly shouted. “You’ve made your point! Let them pull back!”
The pegasus suddenly whirled around and struck Cadance, whipping her head back and eliciting a fang filled snarl from Chrysalis.
“I’ll it under advisement, Princess.” she hissed. “HIT IT AGAIN!” she roared into the radio.
********
Crystal Tower Ventilation System

Truth hugged Lovebug close as the boom of guns and the roar of rockets rocked the building. She softly hushed the foal, more in an effort to calm herself than anything else. She then heard the sound of two ponies rushing by, shouting to one another about launchers and airships. 
Gently setting the bundle of blankets that was Lovebug down in a corner of the crawlspace, Truth dared poke her head out to see what was happening. She watched as twin stallions shattered a large window with two big and evil looking weapons.
At the command of a voice over the radio, the twins fired their weapons, massive explosions going off as they hit their target.
“Hit it again.” the voice on the radio, Juno, Truth realized, commanded. There was a brief pause and suddenly Juno was all but screaming. “HIT IT AGAIN!”
The twins began reloading their weapons, struggling and muttering as they loaded what looked like rockets meant for vehicles into their weapons.
Truth ducked back into the crawlspace. What was she to do? What could she do? Her hoof brushed against the grenades she had taken from Two Guns.
She quickly snatched the two spheres up and pulled the pins. She leaned out the vent to the crawlspace as fly leavers sprang out from the grenades’ bodies. She tossed the two explosives at the twins and ducked back into the crawlspace. She grabbed Lovebug, who began fussing in her grasp, and crawled into the largest vent.
She didn’t care how much noise she made as she sped away from the place where the grenades landed.
Meanwhile, Lock and Load paused a moment before firing their weapons as they heard the distinctive tinkle of metal skittering over the ground. In unison, they looked at the source of the noise, which was a pair of grenades that had stopped just between the two of them.
“Oh,”
“Fu-!”
********
Crystal Tower Roof

Blackguard looked through the scope of his rifle, paying no heed to the crippled airship, which was beginning to lose altitude, slowly spiraling down.
He set his sights on a juicy target. Captain Sunshine of the Night-Guard. He had missed once. He would not miss again.
Just as he began to squeeze the trigger, a massive explosion rocked the Tower. The fireball shot up and lit up the night as Blackguard felt the crystal beneath him give way. He scrambled backwards, missing his shot and losing his rifle in the process.
The many pieces of debris fell down to the ground below, scattering the ponies that gathered there. The airship rocked as a large piece hit in on the way by. The assault vehicle fell quickly, crashing into a heap on the ground, but thankfully, not exploding or folding completely.
Blackguard slowly got to his hooves and looked over the edge of the roof, the destruction below looking strangely pretty with so many shards of crystal among it.
*******
Base of Crystal Tower
8:20 PM

Sunshine slowly eased her head up over the partially destroyed barricade, a hoof over Blind Justice in an almost protective manner.
The pegasus mutely surveyed the damage, but eventually found her voice.
“Sweet fucking Celestia.” she said quietly.
	
> Demands
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Demands

Crystal Tower Office
8:22 PM

Juno took deep, ragged breaths. “Theo,” she said into her radio. “What the buck was that?”
“I’m, um, not quite sure.” the unicorn said sheepishly. 
“Hazard a guess.”
“Well, it would appear as though Lock and Load, uh, blew up.”
“I can see that. Why, is the question of the day.”
“Let me check the internal cameras.” there was some clicking on the other end of the line and Juno turned her attention to the crystal screen.
“There they are.” Theo said as a window popped up. The video showed Lock and Load loading their weapons and then the pair of them looking down at the floor between them. There was a bright flash as the video cut.
“Grenades.” Juno growled.
“It would appear so.”
“Who threw them?”
There was more clicking and a different video popped up. It showed the hallway where Lock and Load had fired on the airship from. The two stallions were at the end of the hallway, working on their weapons. Juno watched the video closely, and her eyes widened when she saw a head pop out from a vent in the wall. Small and black, it looked like-
“The nanny.” Juno said softly. And then she was suddenly shouting. “The fucking nanny!” she squeezed the radio so hard it started to crack. “Theo, where the buck is Two Guns?”
“I, uh, can’t find him…” the tech said sheepishly.
“That’s because he’s dead! Probably the one that took the dive out the window!” Juno growled and pulled her pistol from within her coat.
Cadance and Chrysalis gulped in unison and exchanged a fearful glance before closing their eyes. Juno snarled and turned her attention on them. But before she could so much as raise the gun, Masque was suddenly by her side. The unicorn gently but firmly grabbed her hoof.
“Nous sommes à proximité, chère, et ils sont encore utiles.” Masque.
Juno gazed into Masque’s eyes for a moment before sighing and nodding, visibly appearing to relax. “Vous avez raison.” she put the gun back into her coat and picked up her radio again. “Theo, patch me into the building’s external speakers. And then tell Blackguard he’s got a new job.”
*******
Base of Crystal Tower
8:26 PM

Sunshine grunted as she pushed a particularly large chunk of crystal out of the way. She looked over the damage and sighed. The whole op had turned to shit and they hadn’t even gained a single foot of ground.
Suddenly, the speakers on the outside of the building gave off a loud whine.
“Attention police.” a female voice with a Trottigham accent said. “There will be a ten minute cease fire. You may collect your dead and wounded. But those doing the collecting must be unarmed. If any of us see the glint of a weapon, we will open fire. Do not test me on this. I also hope that we now understand each other. We will contact you soon with demands.”
The voice clicked off and most of the ponies looked to Sunshine.
“You heard her, pull them back!” the pegasus shouted at the assembled ponies.
They nodded and all began making their way towards the front of the building, where most of Alpha team lay writhing in pain. Although one or two simply laid there. 
Sunshine approached a group of mechanics. “Can you get that thing in the air again?” she jerked her head at the stricken airship, which had come to a rough yet stable landing near the edge of the staging area.
One of the mechanics, an earth pony, ran a hoof through her mane. “We can maybe get it flying, but we can’t repair the weapons systems. Not here anyway.”
Sunshine just nodded. “It’ll do, go on.”
The mechanics nodded and scampered off. Sunshine made her way through the staging area, nodding to Blind Justice as she passed him. The stallion had appropriated a rifle and was watching the building, making sure the terrorists held their end of the bargain.
Sunshine pushed away the flap of a command tent and entered. Inside was Robinsson, the pegasus holding his head in his hooves.
“Commander?”
“I’m dead.” he said. “I finally get a break in my career and I screw it six ways. I might as well pick up a rifle and join in the next charge.”
“That might not be a bad idea.” 
Robinsson looked up.
“Listen, the ponies out there are looking at me right now. They don’t trust you and they certainly don’t like you. I don’t like you either. But if you want to get through this with a shred of dignity and maybe not be hit by ‘friendly’ the next time bullets start flying, you had better show the troops their lives actually mean something. So yes, grab a rifle and report.”
Robinsson blinked a few times and nodded. “Yes, sir.” he said soberly. “Is there anything else I can do?”
Sunshine nodded. “Get on the horn with High Command and get me everything you can. When this is over, I want that bitch to be a red smear on the ground.”
*******
Crystal Tower Office
8:36 PM

“Guard them.” Juno said to the pair of stallions in the room as she left with Masque. 
“So, what do we do now?” Masque asked her as they walked through the halls.
“We go and have a chat with Theo.” Juno answered as she boarded the elevator.
“Vault and Computer Room.” the ever so helpful automated voice informed them as the elevator stopped.
Juno led Masque through the maze of crystal computer banks until they found Theo’s workstation at the computer interface. The spot was strangely empty.
“Theo, my dear, where are you?” Juno called out in a sing song voice.”
“Where do you think?” he answered from somewhere farther back in the room. “Ma’am.” he added quickly.
Juno smiled and made her way towards the tech, Masque following on her heels. They found the unicorn crouched over some sort of drill machine, working on it. The contraption was pointed at a large vault.
Masque stared. “Juno, chère, what is that?”
“Oh, this?” Juno grinned. “This is the third most secure vault in the world.” she tapped the thick crystal door. “A fusion of old magic and new technology, the Vault of Crystals is an exemplar of security. Which is precisely why it currently houses bonds worth over six hundred million bits.” Juno just smiled broadly. “And they are ours for the taking.”
“If we can get in, that is.” Theo grumbled.
Juno just smiled at him. “Oh Theo, it’s Hearth’s Warming Eve. Anything is possible.”
Masque just stared. “Chère, is this what all of this was for? A robbery?”
Juno just smiled at Masque. “Darling, please don’t make it sound so petty.”
“But… but I thought all this was so we could hack into the Canterlot servers.”
“Oh we’re still doing that. This is just a fallback.” Juno pulled Masque close. “Listen dear, don’t worry about anything. I have everything planned out. Sure, I got a little overzealous and a tad mad, but I am calm and collect now. And by this time next week, we’ll all be sitting on a beach in Prance, sipping peach juice, and earning twenty percent.”
Masque smiled and nuzzled noses with Juno. “That does sound nice.”
Juno grinned.
*******
Crystal Tower Ventilation System
8:51 PM

Truth made her way through the quietly as a mouse. Which is to say not very quietly. I mean, have you ever heard a mouse? Bastards are noisy. The changeling huffed as she pulled herself through a particularly tight opening. 
She reached back through the opening and carefully pulled Lovebug out with her. Truth cradled the foal close as she looked around. She was in a hallway that was empty for the moment, but that might change at anytime.
Picking a direction at random, Truth began walking. She suddenly heard voices as shadows were thrown on the wall from around a corner. Stopping herself short, Truth turned to go the other way, only to run right into a stallion far larger than she.
“Well hello miss. You lost?” Blackguard sneered.
Truth gulped nervously. “Eh, no speaksei equestrian?”
“Nice try.”
“Aw buck.”
*******
Crystal Tower Office
9:00 PM

“Aw look, the gang is all here.” Juno said jovially as Blackguard marched Truth into the room. The changeling was carrying Lovebug.
“Truth!” Cadance cried.
“Lovebug!” Chrysalis exclaimed.
“Quiet!” Juno shouted, eliciting silence. The pegasus nodded to the two soldiers standing by the wall. “Gag all of them.” she picked up the radio. “I’m about to make a phone call.”
******
Base of Crystal Tower

“Attention Police!” the voice from before said urgently, drawing Sunshine’s attention. “Attention Police!”
The pegasus quickly grabbed a radio and activated it. “This is Captain Sunshine of the Night-Guards. Who am I speaking to?”
“This is Juno Eclipse, formerly of the Night-Guard. I have a list of demands.”
“Let’s hear them.”
“In Canterlot, there are five agents of the Hive Heralds. In Zebrafrica, there are four members of the Stripes Forever. In Trottingham, there are six members of the Unicorns United….
*******
Crystal Tower Office

“…In Prance, three agents of the Prance Perfectionaires.” Juno listed off.
Blackguard shot her a look. 
Juno stopped transmitting for a moment. “I read about them in Manes Monthly.” she grinned and started transmitting again. “And here in the Crytsal Empire there are five former Night-Guards, our own brothers and sisters. When these revolutionaries are freed I will release fifteen of the hostages.”
“What if I can’t deliver?” Sunshine asked.
“Captain, I have faith in you. But my faith will only last two hours. After that, the next body that falls out of the building will be a member of the royal family.”
There was a pause. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“I suggest you work quickly, captain. I have over thirty hostages and I only promised you fifteen. If you try another assault, for every pony I lose I will do my best to kill one of yours as well as a hostage. Do you understand?”
“I do.”
“Then don’t test me.” Juno clicked off the radio.
“Do you even think they’ll try?” Blackguard mused.
Juno snorted. “It doesn’t matter. I made half those up anyway.”
Blackguard jerked his head at Cadance, Chrysalis, and Truth, each of whom were near choking on the gags in their mouths. “What about them?”
Juno fished a peach from her pocket and took a bite before answering. “Who the buck are they going to tell?” she said through her mouthful of peach.
Blackguard eyed them suspiciously. “How long until Shining reaches Canterlot?”
“Less than an ‘our.” Masque answered.
“And then it’s less than twelve minutes to the Night-Guard sever room where he will dutifully carry our package. And then,” Juno pulled a detonator from her coat. “Boom.”
Cadance’s eyes widened and she put up a struggle like a trapped animal against her bonds.
Juno glanced at her as if she was a mild annoyance. “What? Don’t tell me you actually still care about him.” the pegasus chuckled and took another bit of her peach.
	
> Coltmando
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coltmando

Base of Crystal Tower
9:30 PM

“Captain Sunshine?” an earth pony guard said as he approached.
The pegasus held up a hoof. “No, she said ‘Prance Perfectionaires’.” she said into the mike of the headset she was hearing. She paused as she listened to the pony at the other end of the line. “I don’t know how she spells it. Listen, just contact everypony you know that has any connections to Prance and eventually you’ll find one that knows something. …No, I cannot share the details right now. …Yes I do realize this is a headache for you, but this is a giant thorn in my plot for me. …Listen, I’m likely going to have around thirty dead ponies in less than two hours if you don’t start making calls. …Honey, I know it’s Hearth’s Warming Eve, so believe me when I say I will personally come down there and shove a candy cane so far up your-!”
“Captain?” Robinsson said.
Sunshine covered the mike. “What?” she hissed.
“May I take a crack at getting you some cooperation? I do deal with these kinds of ponies often.”
Sunshine sighed and took off the head set. “Yes, commander, I do think you’d be a better choice.”
“It’s just Robinsson.” the pegasus offered a weak smile.
Sunshine nodded and hoofed over the headset. She turned and walked away as Robinsson began speaking with pony at the other end of the line.
“Listen, I could have your job on a silver platter right now if I wanted to, so why don’t you start playing ball?” he growled as Sunshine moved out of earshot. 
“Yes?” she asked the guard that had tried to get her attention earlier.
“We have a prisoner, ma’am.” the guard shoved a white unicorn forward. “He was trying to get into the weapons carriage.”
Sunshine looked at the unicorn closely and then her eyes widened. “You idiots!” she shouted at the guard, who took a step back. “Don’t you know who this is?”
The guard glanced around nervously. “Uh…”
Sunshine sighed. “It’s Shining Armor, you foal!”
The guard gaped. Sunshine shook her head and pushed past him. She quickly began freeing Shining, starting with the metal muzzle some kinky nut had seen fit to put over his mouth. Shining sighed in relief as the muzzle came away and rubbed his wrists as Sunshine removed the cuffs.
“I’m very sorry for this, Captain Armor.” Sunshine said. “But everypony here is on edge, so I can understand this.” she glared at the guard. “But I’m still going to punish you later. And not in the good way.”
The guard gulped.
“It’s fine.” Shining said. “What time is it?”
Sunshine glanced at her watch, which she had only recently gotten. “About Nine Thirty. Why?”
Shining looked up at the Tower. “Because right now those assholes think I’m on a train bound for Canterlot. It is supposed to arrive at Ten. That means in half an hour, they’ll know I’m not on the train and they will kill my family.” Shining looked pointedly at Sunshine. “I can’t let that happen and I can’t get to Canterlot in half an hour. So the only option is to kill them back first.”
Sunshine sighed. “I understand, Captain. But I can’t let you go near that building. They said that they will shoot if they see a pony with a weapon come anywhere close and if we shoot back, they’ll start killing hostages. I’m sorry, but you can’t go in.”
Shining’s face became a grim mask as he stared at the Tower. “You’re wrong.” he said.
“How so?”
“It’s not that I can’t go in.” he looked back at Sunshine. “I just can’t let them see me.” 
Sunshine’s eyes widened for a moment and she suddenly grinned. “I like you more by the second, Captain Armor.”
*******
Crystal Tower Office
9:40 PM 

“Say that again. Slowly.” Juno said into the radio, sounding none too happy.
“We have to shut off the power grid.” Sunshine said over the radio.
“And why is that, exactly?”
“Our techs say that a few cables got nicked in the fight earlier. They can’t fix them while the power is on and if they don’t get fixed there will be a surge and everything hooked up to the power will be overloaded.”
“Which means what exactly?”
“It means every light bulb and monitor in that place is going to go off like a firecracker. I don’t think you want that to happen.” 
Juno growled. “If this is a trick…”
“There’s no trick. The Tower has emergency lighting, so you’ll only be in the dark for a few seconds.”
Juno snorted. “Fine, captain, but let’s be clear. This is my show. When I say jump, you jump. When I say run, you run. And when I say do something, you had better do it. Or ponies start dying. That is how this shit works.”
“I understand. We’re working on it.” 
“You’d better be.” Juno clicked off the radio. And then after a thought, clicked it back on. “Theo, did you get that?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You got the computer system on back up power?”
“Set it up ages ago.”
“Good boy.” Juno sighed and stood up. “You know what?” she said to the ensemble. “I’m tired of playing games and we’re going to be out of here soon anyway.” she placed a hoof on her flank, right at the edge of her cradle cutie mark, and pulled.
There was the sound of tape coming off and taking a good amount of fur with it and Juno yelped sharply. The pegasus tossed aside the covering that bore the cradle and everypony got a good look at her actual cutie mark.
It was a peach.
Masque whistled lowly and Blackguard chuckled. Cadance, Chrysalis, and Truth just exchanged glances.
With a happy sigh, Juno sunk back into the chair as she pulled yet another peach from her pocket. “Oh, that feels so much better to get that out in the open.”
******
Base of Crystal Tower

“Did they buy it?” Shining asked.
Sunshine set the radio down. “They weren’t happy, but yes, they bought it.”
Shining nodded. “Good.”
Off to the side, Robinsson was still shouting into a radio mike. “Listen, I don’t care about lay lines. I don’t give two shits about the wattage wash back. You lose a few bits because a gauge was thrown off, so what? Either you lose the grid, or you lose your job. …Yeah, I thought so.” the pegasus turned and nodded to Sunshine. “Ten minutes!” he called.
Sunshine nodded and then turned to Shining. “Okay Captain Armor, let’s get you, er, armored up.”
Shining nodded, a small grin pulling his lips. “Okay, let’s show them how this shit really works.”
******
Crystal Tower Office
9:45 PM 

“I have to pee.” Chrysalis suddenly declared.
Blackguard snorted the punch he was drinking. Not intentionally.
“Come again?” Juno said.
“I have to pee.” Chrysalis said slowly, enunciating every syllable.
“Hold it.”
“I have been.”
Juno sighed exasperatedly. “Then hold it a little longer.”
“I can’t!”
Juno groaned.
“Juno,” Cadance spoke up. “These seats weren’t cheap and they’re the best in the house. Unless you want this place smelling like changeling urine, which you do not, let her go.”
Juno groaned again. “Fine. Masque, you, Hans, and Poker here take her to the bathroom. And for Celestia’s sake, watch her.”
Masque nodded to the two stallions and they all got up from their seats. Masque roughly pulled Chrysalis up from her seat and shoved her forward. The former queen snarled softly, but she walked forward without further complaint. Masque and the two hench-ponies followed her out.
Juno sighed and rubbed her eyes. “I can’t believe the shit I’ve had to put up with during this op.”
Blackguard rolled his eyes. “Please, you’ve never had to deal with drugged griffons in a back alley with nothing but a stick and a box of noodles.”
Juno looked at Blackguard. “What?”
The unicorn just grinned. 
“I can’t wait until Shining gets here and puts a hoof through your face.” Cadance growled at Blackguard.
He just grinned nastily. “Me neither, honey.”
********
Crystal Tower Bathrooms

Chrysalis walked into the bathroom, followed closely by Masque. The two stallions tried to follow, but Masque stopped them.
“Stay back, perverts.” Masque said with a giggle as she closed and locked the door on them. “So,” she said as she walked up behind Chrysalis. “Need a little help with those ropes?”
The bound changeling just glared at the unicorn over her shoulder.
Masque chuckled and undid the knots, rolling up the rope and setting it on the counter. Chrysalis rubbed her arms and quickly went into one of the stalls, securing the door behind her.
“We can talk, if you want.” Masque said as she leaned back against the counter. 
Chrysalis stayed silent. 
“You know, being you wasn’t too bad. I’m kind of sad I could not be you longer. I would have very much enjoyed showing Cadance a good time.” Masque laughed.
Chrysalis growled. Masque laughed again.
And suddenly the room was plunged into darkness.
Chrysalis came out of the stall at a run, slamming into Masque. She threw a hoof, knocking the unicorn’s head to the side. Masque returned with a hook of her own, knocking Chrysalis back. Masque cast a quick illumination spell, finding Chrysalis and putting a hoof in her gut.
Chrysalis grunted as the air was driven from her lungs. Masque was on her in an instant, forelegs locking around the changeling’s neck.
“And I wanted us to just have a nice chat.” Masque hissed.
********
Base of Crystal Tower
9:50 PM

Shining didn’t imagine he would get used to flying in the dark. Flying he could handle. Flying under another pony’s power without being able to see where he was going was not a pleasant experience.
“Ready, Captain?” Sunshine whispered in his ear.
“Ready.”
She released him. He was falling for a brief second before he went through a large window with a resounding crash. A quick shield spell, uh, shielded him from the glass shards.
Shining tucked and rolled into the darkened hallway, jumping to his hooves as soon as he was able to. A pair of flashlights lit up the hallway was two hench-ponies came running up.
“Hey! What the buck are you doing?!” shouted one.
Shining pulled the knife from his belt and tackled the speaker, shoving the blade into his throat.
“Holy sh-!” was as far as his companion got before Shining slashed his throat as well.
Shining searched the bodies as quickly as he could, appropriating the ponies assault rifles and ammo.
“I’m in.” he said into his radio. “You got the package in place?”
“Of course.” Sunshine answered, “Good luck, Captain Armor.”
“Same to you.”
*******
Crystal Tower Office
9:52 PM 

“Finally.” Juno groaned as the lights came back on. They weren’t as bright as before, but that hardly mattered.
Her two hench-ponies returned a minute later, flanking Masque as she entered carrying Chrysalis. The unicorn unceremoniously dumped the changeling on the floor.
“Chryssi!” Cadance cried.
Juno stared at the changeling. “Damnit Masque, what the buck happened?”
“Bitch attacked me!” Masque spat.
“Well what, did you kill her?”
“No, she’s just unconscious.”
“Chryssi!” Cadance shouted again. Truth held Lovebug closer.
“Oh shut up!” Juno shouted. Her radio buzzed. “What?” she demanded into it.
“You’re never going to believe this, boss.” Theo said excitedly. “The vault was set on a failsafe if power grid went out. It’s open! We’re in!”
Juno suddenly grinned broadly. “Yes!” she said happily. “You hear that? we’re in!”
Blackguard and the two hench-ponies grinned. Masque looked less than enthusiastic.
“Oh cheer up dear.” Juno laughed. “We’re rich!”
Masque forced a grin.
“That’s the spirit!”
“Hey boss.” Theo was speaking again. “I’m also all set for the spike. As soon as that package goes off, I’ll hit their network and we can download all the finances in less than half an hour.”
“Wonderful!” Juno said jovially.
Cadance just stared. “Are you serious? Our vault? Financial data? All this was a fucking robbery?!”
Juno just smiled. “Yep. And we do appreciate your cooperation.”
“Oh fuck this.” Masque said suddenly. She grabbed Hans, wrapping a foreleg around his neck, and brought him close, she turned him towards Poker as she pulled the pistol from his belt. The stallion yelped and brought up his gun as Masque fired three shots into his torso. The stallion cried out and accidentally fired his own gun, killing Hans as he went down.
“What the-!” Juno cried as Masque dropped the body and turned the pistol on her.
Blackguard suddenly struck out, hitting Masque in the jaw and sending her into Cadance’s lap.
Truth jumped up and bolted, racing out the door.
“Get the nanny!” Juno roared at Blackguard who bolted after Truth.
Turning her attention back on Masque, she saw her beloved’s body suddenly twist and become that of Chrysalis, while the Chrysalis on the floor became Masque.
“What!?” 
“Changelings can make others appear different too.” Cadance sneered.
Juno opened her mouth to say something else, but she just yelped as Chrysalis brought up the pistol and Juno dived behind the desk as the changeling fired. The pegasus shoved her own gun over the top of the desk, blind firing. Chrysalis pulled Cadance down to avoid the bullets.
Chrysalis pulled the knot holding the ropes binding Cadance apart and pulled the alicorn back out of the office as she fired at random at the desk. Juno pulled her hoof back as the bullets bit craters and furrows in the desk. 
Suddenly Juno’s crystal ball beeped. Pulling it out of her coat she tapped it and yelled, “WHAT?!”
“Armor and Weasel aren’t here, boss.” the voice on the other end of the line shouted.
Juno said nothing. She just began breathing rapidly.
“Boss?”
Juno ended the call and tapped the crystal contraption a few times. It made a sound and she raised it up level with her face. “Weasel! Answer me!” she roared into it.
“Weasel’s dead, Juno.” Shining’s voice said from the other side of the line. “And I’ve got your package. I’m on my way to turn it over to the Guard. It’s over Juno, give up now and we can end this with everypony still breathing.”
Juno took ragged breaths as she tried to speak. Finally, through the rage and fear, she found her voice. “No. This can’t end now. It’s too soon. I can’t just walk away now. And don’t give me some shit about a trial. After what’s happened, I’ll just disappear. I’ll vanish and never be heard from again. No, I will not give up.”
“Then go to Tartarus.”
Juno gave a humorless laugh and reached into her coat pocket, extracting the detonator. “Come with me.” she said as she pressed it.
“Message for you, sir!” she heard an automated voice with a Trottingham accent called out.
The smile vanished from Juno’s face. “Oh fuc-”
********
Base of Crystal Tower

The massive explosion caused by the package’s detonation tore the whole front entrance to shreds, even crumbling the section of crystal between the first and second floors. The whole building was rocked by the force of the blast, windows shattering and glass raining down. A cry of war went up from the ensemble forces.
“How do you like how that shit works?” Sunshine shouted through the microphone she had appropriated. “Let’s rock fillies and colts!” she shouted to her forces.
“Hoo-rah!” they shouted in unison, all save for Robinsson. Even though he had indeed picked up a rifle and joined the ranks of the grunts, he didn’t feel as though he deserved to join in their war cry.
As a wave of bodies, the assembled charged forward, those that could fly taking to the air to enter through the windows.
The Battle of Crystal Tower had truly begun.
*******
Crystal Tower

Shining charged down the halls, stumbling slightly as the explosion rocked the building. He quickly regained his hoofing and kept going forward. As he rounded a corner, a hench-pony spotted him and opened fire with a yell. Shining dove back behind corner and returned fire blindly.
After a moment, he dared to peek his head out and saw he had hit the stallion. Shining rounded the corner again and charged down the hallway again.
As he passed a turn off, a zebra suddenly leapt at him wielding a machete. Shining managed to block the overhead chop with his borrowed rifle, but the well-crafted blade bit deeply into the gun, rendering it useless. 
Well, useless as a gun.
Shining snapped the weakened rifle in half and swung both ends as clubs. The zebra cried out in pain as the gun pieces hit his sides. Shining pulled both improvised clubs back and jabbed both into the zebra’s midsection. The zebra doubled over and Shining dropped the gun pieces. He wrapped a foreleg around the zebra’s neck and twisted and jerked, snapping his neck.
Shining was running before the body settled on the floor. In the next hallway, he actually ran right into the first of two stallions, both toting shotguns. 
He grabbed one he ran into and used him as a shield. His buddy panicked and fired, killing the first stallion and driving the breath from Shining’s lungs. He grabbed shotgun from the dead stallion’s grasp and raised it up in a single hoof. The blast knocked the second stallion to the ground.
Shining dropped his dead shield and snatched up the second shotgun as he ran past the second body.
He pushed through a pair of double doors into a large two level room. A set of stairs on his left led up to the balcony on the second floor. To his right were several large silver tanks. And in between him and the stairs were several hench-ponies, as well as a few more scattered about. They were all talking and milling about. Only a few actually had weapons in their hooves.
All heads turned to him as he burst through the doors.
“Okay, I’m only going to say this once.” Shining said as he did a quick, double single hoof shotgun pump. “Get the fuck out of my house.”
The ponies scrambled for their guns.
Shining leapt into the air and pointed a shotgun either way, firing as he flew, putting two ponies down. He made his landing a roll and spun the shotguns upside down, cocking them using his forelegs and body as a grip. 
He spun and threw himself backwards, firing again and bagging two more bad ponies. He scrambled backwards and onto the stairs, using the rungs as leverage for another pair of pumps.
Shining fired the shotgun in his right hoof back down the stairs as he ascended, hitting another pony. He then brought it up and against the one in his left hoof, firing and pumping both as one as he made his way up the stairs.
As he reached the balcony, the shotguns ran dry and Shining tossed them away. Luckily, the banister of the balcony was solid and he could duck behind it as the ponies still on the level below fired at him. He snatched up a sub-machine gun from a fallen hench-pony and took potshots at the ponies below.
Suddenly a voice shouted and the firing quieted down.
“Captain!” a voice that was somewhat familiar called out.
Shining dared poke his head up over the banister and saw a brown earth pony stallion standing in front of the silver tanks.
“Who are you?” Shining shouted down at him.
“Me?” The stallion said with a shrug. “I’m the cook.”
He pulled a RPG launcher from seemingly nowhere and took aim. Shining ducked down behind the banister as he fired. The rocket whooshed over the banister and exploded on the wall behind Shining, showering him with chunks of rock and crystal. The force of the blast shoved him hard into the floor. His armor protected him from any broken bones or squished internal organs, but was horribly damaged. Gasping for breath, Shining pulled off his now useless armor and tossed it away.
The rest of the hench-ponies opened fire on Shining after the rocket exploded. In desperation, Shining took a few grenades from his belt and threw them over the banister. He had to get the earth pony before he reloaded the RPG.
The grenades exploded and there were cries of death and pain from the ponies below. Shining snatched another SMG from the bodies nearby and popped up, firing both. The earth pony dropped his weapon and pulled a pair of pistols from somewhere. He fired while moving to the side along the wall. Shining fired back, but his shots missed their mark. Mostly anyway.
Shining dropped back down as his guns ran dry. He tossed them away and pulled a shotgun from another corpse. It was the last gun there.
“You missed me!” the earth pony shouted mockingly at Shining.
“Hey asshole! What’s in those tanks behind you?” Shining yelled back.
The earth pony and the few remaining hench-ponies turned to look at the tanks, which were all leaking from multiple bullet holes.


Propane


Highly Flammable


“Aw shit.” the earth pony muttered.
Shining pulled the pin on his last grenade and tossed it towards the tanks. He then scrambled to his hooves and bolted for the door. The ponies below were too busy running themselves to fire at him. He pushed through the door and slammed it behind him.
Taking a deep breath, Shining began stalking forward, not even flinching nor turning around as the room behind him exploded.
******
Crystal Tower

Blackguard perked up his ears as another explosion went off. For some reason, he felt a grin stretch his lips.
“Welcome back, Shining.” he said as he continued down the hallway, not too far behind the nanny and the foal.
******
Crystal Tower Office

Juno regained consciousness with a start and a gasp. She got up, ignoring the trickle of blood coming from her head. She coughed and sputtered on the dust filling the air. The window was shattered, letting cold air blow into the office as the broken light above flickered.
Juno stumbled forward out of the office and caught sight of Cadance and Chrysalis, similarly stumbling to their hooves. Coughing, Juno raised her hoof, only to discover she had dropped her gun. She bent down to search for it.
Coughing and sputtering as well, Cadance and Chrysalis shakily got to their hooves.
“Go, find Truth and Lovebug.” Chrysalis said to Cadance.
The alicorn seemed reluctant to go.
“Go!” Chrysalis ordered. “I’ll hold her off here, go!”
Cadance nodded once. “Fine, but if you die, I swear I’ll kill you.”
Chrysalis smiled. “I love you too. Now go!”
Cadance turned and sped off down the hallway, not looking back as she rushed to save her foal. Chrysalis watched her for a moment before looking forward and stalking down the hallway towards the office.
Juno suddenly threw herself out of the office, wings spreading as she used them to speed her way. She fired wildly at Chrysalis as she flew by, the changeling firing back just as wildly as she threw herself into the office. Both their bullets hit wall instead of flesh.
Chrysalis crashed into the office, landing heavily. She jumped to her hooves only to crash to the floor again as a suddenly awake Masque swung a vicious right hook into her face.
Chrysalis cried out in pain as she hit the floor, but she quickly brought the pistol to bear, determined to end this pony now. The gun clicked on empty.
Masque grinned nastily as she leapt at Chrysalis.
********
Crystal Tower

Juno coughed again as she activated her radio. “Theo! All Tartarus is breaking loose. Disable the elevators and barricade yourself in there. I’ll come get you just as soon as I take care of something.” she clicked off the radio before he could reply. Switching to another channel, she said, “Bennett, if you’re still alive hunt down that little shit nanny and kill her and the girl. Shining betrayed us, now he has to pay.”
“With pleasure.” Blackguard replied.
Juno just nodded to herself and tossed her radio away. She was following Cadance through the halls and up the stairs. She may not have have killed Masque and the Prench unicorn may not even be dead. 
But Juno was going to kill her anyway.
*********
Crystal Tower Office

The thirty or so hostages cowered, huddling together in a stepped dip in the floor as their four armed minders argued.
“I don’t know what’s going on!” one shouted at two others. “The boss won’t answer!”
“All Tartarus is breaking loose and we’re stuck here guarding these fuckers? Let’s just go now!” another shouted.
“We need them! They’re insurance!” the first shouted.
“They’re a liability!” one on the two ponies standing close argued.
“Yeah!” his companion shouted. “I say we waste ‘em! Teach the fucking Royal Guard a lesson!” he cocked his rifle.
The large window that made up one wall of the room suddenly spider-webbed as several shots were fired at it. It shattered as a dark pegasus threw herself threw it. She had a sword clutched in one hoof.
She used her momentum to bring the sharp edge of blade cleanly through the neck of the pony that had just cocked his weapon. Still using her momentum, she spun and brought the sword stabbing through the other pony’s abdomen. Her back was to the third pony, but she shoved her pistol under her foreleg and fired three quick shots that put the stallion down.
She rose and pointed her pistol at the fourth and final pony.
“Drop it or you’re dead.” Sunshine ordered.
The stallion squeaked and dropped his gun as he damn near pissed himself in fright.
“Good boy.” Sunshine smiled. To the cowering and mute hostages she said, “Alright mares and gentlecolts, let’s move!”
******
Crystal Tower

“Hey, Shining, the hostages are secure, no sign of your family though.” Sunshine reported over the radio.
“Right.” Shining replied as he stalked the halls. He had entered the stairwell and was climbing higher, checking off floors as they were radioed in as secure.
At one double backing set of stairs, he managed to spot a hench-pony before the thug spotted him. He threw the shotgun to distract the stallion, which worked perfectly. The pony turned and fired a few pointless shots as Shining stepped out into view, fanning the hammer on the revolver as he brought it up on target.
The hench-pony cried out and pitched forward as the bullets struck him. He fell over the railing, screaming as all the way down to the ground floor. Shining tossed the revolver aside and picked the shotgun back up as he made his way up the stairs.
Reaching the last floor before the roof, Shining kicked down the door and checked for hostiles. Finding none in the drab corridor, he decided to risk a shout.
“Truth! Cadance! Chrysalis! Can you hear me?”
*******
Crystal Tower

Truth’s ears twitched as she heard Shining’s voice call out.
“Shining?” she said as though she didn’t really believe it. “Shining!” She cried happily as she came out of the alcove she had hidden in. Even little Lovebug, awake yet quiet in her forelegs, seemed to get the idea, cooing sweetly.
“Shining, I’m here! We’re here! Shining!” she shouted.
Suddenly a large form pressed against her from behind, a strong hoof clamping over her mouth.
“No, but I think he knows us both.” whispered Blackguard as he pressed a knife to her neck. “Now shut up and come on.”
*******
Crystal Tower

Shining’s ears twitched as he thought he heard Truth’s voice. “Truth?” he called. “Truth!”
He charged towards where he thought he had heard her voice, not taking the time to check around corners first. He past many pipes, wires, and whatnot. This was obviously the boiler room area… thing. Shining wasn’t really in the mood to memorize intimate details about his surroundings.
“Truth!” he called out just as he looked around a corner, exposing his back to the hallway opposite him.
There was the boom of a pistol and a bullet ripped through his right shoulder. There was a scream from Truth and Shining yelled in pain. He dropped the shotgun and managed to throw himself behind an errant pillar.
“Hey Shining.” Blackguard called out, sounding like he was having the time of his life. “How’s the foreleg?”
“Come on over and find out!” Shining called out.
“No, I’ll pass.” Blackguard grinned. “Hey Shining, tell you what. You stick your head out and I’ll put one right between your eyes. Quick, easy, and clean. For old time’s sake.”
“Fuck you, Bennett!” Shining shouted.
“Aw, now you’ve hurt my feelings, Shining. And I may just have to hurt your little friend here.” Blackguard laughed. “You know, it’s been awful for me ever since you kicked me out of your unit. I couldn’t get shit for work with that kind of black mark on my record. Well, not honest work.” he laughed again. “But you know what kept me going? The thought that someday I would get to pay you back for all the misery you put me through. And today is payday, Shining! Don’t ya just love Hearth’s Warming?” Blackguard laughed again.
Shining gasped in pain, trying to think. “You know, Bennett, you don’t want to shoot me.”
“No, I really think I do.”
“No, you don’t. You don’t want this quick, clean, and easy. You want this rough, dirty, and drawn out.” Shining got to his hooves with some difficulty. “You don’t want to shoot me. You want to put a knife in me. You want to make me suffer.”
On a gamble, Shining stepped out into the open “Come on, Bennett. Let the maid and the foal go and throw away that fucking gun.” he stared Blackguard in his crazed eyes. “Come on, Bennett. I’ve only got one good hoof now. You can beat me when I have only one hoof, surely.” Shining drew his knife from his belt. “Come on, Bennett. Let’s party.”
Blackguard looked at Shining as if he was crazy. He suddenly began laughing again. “Oh Shining, you always did have a way with words. And you know what? I think I agree with you. I don’t need the maid.” he roughly shoved Truth away. “I don’t need the gun.” he tossed his pistol away and out of sight. Blackguard drew his knife with relish.
“Oh, Shining Armor,” Blackguard drew a deep breath as he pulled a pair of sunglasses from his pocket and put them on. “I’m going to kill you now!”
******
Crystal Tower Office

Chrysalis braced herself, feeling Masque slam into her with enough force to carry them both back and into a wall. Masque slammed her elbow into the side of Chrysalis’s face, snapping her head to the side and causing her to cut the inside of her cheek on her fangs. 
As soon as Chrysalis managed to bring her head back to the position it was originally in, Masque slammed another elbow into her face. 
There were a few inches of space between Chrysalis’s head and the wall behind her. She leaned her head back and then slammed it forward. Her horn sparked as it brushed Masque’s and the unicorn was suddenly thrown backwards by a blast of energy.
Chrysalis wobbled and had to grab the wall to steady herself as Masque picked herself off the floor. The unicorn shook her head to clear it and then pulled out her butterfly knife. 
Before she could open it, Chrysalis charged forward and slammed herself into the unicorn, causing her to drop the weapon. Masque roared and punched a hoof into Chrysalis’s gut, doubling her over. She tried to bring her elbow down on the changeling again, but Chrysalis managed to slip her head by to and deliver a sharp uppercut to Masque. 
The unicorn’s head snapped backwards, and before she could recover Chrysalis swung her hoof around, hitting her in the jaw. The unicorn brought her head back around and spat blood before grabbing Chrysalis and throwing her onto the desk.
Grabbing her green hair, Masque slammed Chrysalis’s head into the desk twice before throwing her off of it. The changeling landed in a bloody heap behind the desk.
Spitting blood again, Masque bent to pick up her knife. “You know, after I kill you, I’ll make myself look like you again. Then I’ll slip away and nopony will even look twice at me.” she opened her butterfly knife with a few quick motions. “Maybe I’ll steal a kiss from Cadance while I’m at it.” she sneered.
Chrysalis growled and yanked open a drawer on Cadance’s desk.
“Au revoir, chienne!” Masque shouted as she rounded the desk.
Chrysalis brought up the gun that had been inside Cadance’s desk and fired three times in rapid succession. Masque jerked violently as each shot hit her body. She collapsed on the floor, wheezing.
Chrysalis got up and walked over to the unicorn. “You couldn’t pull me off anyway, bitch.” Chrysalis walked away, limping slightly, leaving the unicorn to bleed out.
*********
Crystal Tower

Shining braced himself as Blackguard slammed into him. He rolled with the force of the shoulder slam, managing to twist around and end up behind Blackguard. He slammed the hilt of his knife into the back of the unicorn’s neck, but that only seemed to stun him briefly.
Blackguard back-hoofed Shining, sending him reeling. The unicorn came slashing at him, but Shining managed to match him slash for slash, stopping the blade from biting his flesh.
Blackguard stabbed with his knife, trying to gut Shining, but the former captain of the guard barely managed to dodge the jabs. Blackguard then shoved Shining against a pillar, trying to put his knife through the unicorn’s eye. 
Shining stopped the foreleg with his own, the spear-point of the knife just a few inches from his left eye. As Shining struggled to match Blackguard’s strength, the coal black unicorn suddenly pulled a switchblade from his pocket.
Shining’s eyes widened and he got his right hoof up to block Blackguard’s left, but the switchblade was inching towards his side with frightening speed.
“You’re getting old, Shining.” Blackguard sneered.
Shining responded by slamming his head into Blackguard’s nose.
The unicorn grunted in pain and stumbled back a step. Shining pressed his advantage and slashed a shallow wound on Blackguard’s right foreleg. He yelped in pain and dropped his knife.
Blackguard jabbed wildly and managed to stick Shining in the side with the switchblade. Shining grunted in pain and grabbed Blackguard’s mane. He jerked it to the side and the two went crashing through a door and over a guardrail, crashing to the ground a level below in some kind of boiler room.
Both groaned in pain on the ground.
“What the buck made you think that was a good idea?” Blackguard groaned.
“I don’t know.” Shining answered.
*******
Crystal Tower

Dwayne T Robinsson had never been in combat before. In all honesty, he barely qualified with any kind of weapon. Nevertheless, he soldiered on, yelling and firing wildly at any terrorists he came across. He hadn’t hit one as far as he knew, but he had scared the piss out of them, and that was enough to make them easy picking for the others.
He had ascended the stairs and now found himself in what he could only describe as the boiler room floor. It was strange that this place was so close to the roof.
He made his way through the narrow halls until he heard the grunts of fighting ahead. He hesitated for a moment, but mentally slapped himself and charged forward.
When he arrived at the scene of the fight, he saw no fight. All he saw was a knife laying on the ground, an open door, and a frightened changeling clutching a foal huddling in the corner.
“Miss, are you okay?” he said as he knelt by her side. A few hours ago ho would have balked at the idea of being this close to a changeling. But A-few-hours-ago Robinsson wasn’t scared out of his mind, so fuck him.
“I’m… I’m okay.” she took a deep breath, “Who are you?”
“I’m… er, Robinsson. Just Robinsson.”
“Are you in contact with the police forces?”
He nodded.
“Prove it.”
Robinsson pulled the radio from his belt and clicked it on. “Captain Sunshine, can you vouch for me to a civilian?”
“It’s okay, he’s with us.” Sunshine’s voice said over the radio.
Truth nodded. “Okay Robinsson. I’m Truth and I need you-”
A shot suddenly rang out.
Robinsson grunted in pain, falling forward as he felt a bullet slam into his shoulder. His armor protected him from penetration, but the force still caused him to pitch forward and lose hold of his gun. Truth cried out as she saw Reuben walk up, looking blackened and holding a pistol. A RPG launcher was slung over his back.
“Hello sweetheart.” he sneered as he came forward and grabbed her. 
Robinsson pushed himself onto his back and reached for his gun, before deciding playing dead would be a better choice. He allowed himself to go limp.
Truth cried out and quickly passed the now bawling Lovebug to Robinsson, who she could tell was faking.
“You’re coming with me.” Reuben growled. He pointed the pistol at Lovebug. “Or… well, I’m sure you can imagine.”
Truth stopped struggling. “Fine. But drop the gun.”
Reuben sneered and tossed the pistol aside. But as insurance, he crushed Robinsson’s radio underhoof. He then pulled Truth close and all but dragged her to the stairwell. They ascended the stairs and Reuben bucked open the door to the roof.
The roof was cold and a light snow was beginning to fall. Reuben roughly shoved Truth forward and out onto the platform in the middle of the roof.
“What now?” she demanded as he approached her.
He unsung his RPG and gently placed it on the rooftop. “Now we get ready to fly.” he grinned as he pressed close to her.
“I can’t believe I had drunk sex with an asshole like you, Reuben.” Truth snarled.
“What the hell did I do?” Reuben said as he stepped out onto the roof.
Truth blinked and looked between the pony next to her and the pony that had just arrived. They were exactly the same.
“What?” Truth said, confused.
“Oh, hi Truth.” Reuben waved with a sub sandwich he was carrying.
“What?”
“Hey, jerkass.” Sandwich Reuben said to RPG Reuben. “Let the lady go.”
“What the buck is going on?” Truth demanded.
“Changeling.” Sandwich Reuben said simply.
The other Reuben rolled his eyes and in a flash of green was black and chitinous. “Oh no, you’ve found me out.” he said mockingly.
“Who the buck are you ponies!?” Truth shouted.
“I’m Reuben.” Rueben said. “And this asshole knocked me out earlier and locked me in the meat freezer. So when I got out, I followed the smell of burning changeling.”
The changeling rolled his eyes. “Whatever, you are a wonderful tracker. Congrats. But do you really think you can stand up to the might of Conicer?”
“Who?” Reuben asked.
“Me!” Conicer hissed.
“Oh.” Reuben shrugged. “Listen, just let the lady go and you can fly off to wherever.” he gestured pointedly with the sandwich.
Conicer sneered. “Or what? You going to-”
He was cut off as a loud bang issued from the sandwich and Conicer was thrown backwards and off the platform.
Truth just stared. “Did you just shoot him with a sandwich!?”
Reuben blinked at her. “What? No.” he pulled a shotgun from within the sandwich. “I shot him with the gun I had inside the sandwich.”
Truth just shook her head. “Let’s just get out of here.”
*******
Crystal Tower

Robinsson shakily got to his hooves; fairly certain he had cracked a rib or something. He cradled the white foal close to his chest, loosely holding his gun with his other hoof.
His ears twitched as he detected a voice carrying down the halls.
“Truth! Truth! Can you hear me?” the voice called.
Judging by the tone of voice, the mare calling out either was a good actor or was genuinely concerned for the changeling. Robinsson dared to answer.
“Here! Come here quick!” he called.
The sound of running hooves herald the arrival of a pink pegasus. No wait, she was a unicorn. Wait, she was… both?
“Princess Cadenza?” Robinsson said in disbelief as the pink alicorn ran up, only to stop a few feet away.
“You’re not Truth.” she said as she warily approached. She then caught sight of the foal. “Lovebug!” she cried. She leapt the rest of the distance and Robinsson gently turned over the foal.
Cadance grabbed the foal and hugged her close, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Thank you! Thank you!” she cried happily, embracing him.
Robinsson blushed and awkwardly patted her on the back. “Uh, er, no problem ma’am.”
Cadance backed off. “Where’s Truth?” she asked.
“A stallion took her up to the roof. They’re probably-” Robinsson was cut off as a crazed female voice with a Trottingham accent called down the halls.
“Oh, Princess!” Juno called down the halls in a sing-song voice, laughing manically. “I’m coming for you, Princess!”
Robinsson stepped in between Cadance and the direction the voice was coming from. “Go.” he said as he aimed down the hall.
“But-” Cadance started. 
“Go! I’ll be fine!” Robinsson shouted over his shoulder.
Cadance hesitated and then nodded once. “Thank you.” she whispered and she turned and fled.
Robinsson’s grip tightened on his gun and sweat beaded down his forehead. He didn’t know who was coming, but that voice sure did scare the shit out of him.
*********
Crystal Tower Boiler Room

Shining and Blackguard got to their hooves and exchanged glances before each scrambled to grab a weapon. Shining managed to get a pipe while Blackguard came up with a length of chain.
Blackguard swung the chain, the end wrapping around the pipe. A sharp jerk tore the pipe from Shining’s grip and a sharp punch snapped his head back.
Blackguard grinned and swung the chain low, trying to trip up Shining, but the white unicorn leapt over it. Shining shoved Blackguard back and the unicorn hit a wood burner that was used to heat water.
Blackguard rebounded and punched Shining in the jaw, knocking the former guard captain to the ground. Shining quickly swept Blackguard hooves out from under him before the unicorn could start stomping him.
Blackguard landed heavily but quickly rolled away. He snatched up the pipe Shining had grabbed earlier and came at the unicorn swinging.
*********
Crystal Tower

Robinsson fired off a burst from his gun when he thought he saw a flicker of movement around the corner. He heard a groan and lowered his gun in surprise. Had he actually -
A pistol was shoved around the corner and the first shot hit him squarely in the chest. Robinsson jerked as a pink pegasus came around the corner, pistol clutched in one hoof, firing as she stalked forward.
Robinsson’s body jerked as the pistol bullets impacted his body. Most thankfully hit his armor, but one went through his thigh and dropped him to a knee. The next shot knocked him down.
He gasped and jerked. His ribs were definitely broken now and he could feel warm blood soaking his fur. The pink pegasus stopped firing after he fell over. She walked past him and scoffed as his bleeding form.
**********
Crystal Tower Rooftop

Cadance threw herself through the door to the roof and slammed it shut behind her. She tried for a moment to seal it with magic, but her horn glowed for just a moment before popping and fizzling out again.
She held Lovebug close as she simply ran forward and ascended the stairs to the raised platform in the middle of the roof. She noticed a rocket launcher of some sort laying on the platform, but that barely registered.
Cadance spread her wings. She didn’t want to abandon Truth, or Chrysalis, or Shining, but she had to protect Lovebug. Hopefully there was somepony on the ground that could take care of her daughter while she came back up and searched for the rest of her family.
The hesitation before taking flight cost her dearly. Three loud bangs rang out as three bullets ripped through the thin metal of the door to the roof. Juno kicked the door open and leapt at Cadance, howling like a mad pony.
Cadance grunted as Juno crashed into her. She tucked Lovebug close to her chest as she rolled with the force of the impact. She however lost her grip on the foal as she came to a stop. The bundle of blankets and foal rolled a few feet away, Lovebug bawling once again. 
Cadance reached out with a hoof towards her foal, even though she was out of reach. Cadance then cried out in pain as Juno’s hoof came crashing down on her foreleg.
“You stupid fucking bitch!” Juno roared as she shoved her gun down and Cadance’s face and pulled the trigger.
The dull click was almost mocking.
Juno stared at her gun and then laughed crazily as she began reloading. “You know, it’s really funny, Princess.” Juno said. “This all could have been so easy and so simple. But no. No you and your husband and your changeling and your fucking nanny. You all had to fuck everything up. Well I still get the last laugh! After I kill you I’m going to fly down, raid your vault, and then I’m going to fly away. And from a distance I could easily pass for you.”
Juno then tilted her head at Lovebug’s cries. She glanced at the foal and her lips stretched back into an evil grin. “You know what, I was hasty to try and kill the foal earlier. In fact, I think I’ve grown attached! So maybe I’ll take her with me, raise her as my own.” she looked down at Cadance and laughed as she finished reloading her gun. “Any last words, Princess?”
Cadance looked over and saw the RPG launcher laying just out of reach.
“Just two.” she said as her horn lit up.
Juno scoffed, but suddenly, the RPG was wrapped in a teal magical aura and shot into Cadance’s hooves. She shoved the cone head of the rocket into Juno stomach as she clicked the weapon’s safety off.
Juno had enough time to grunt and widen her eyes.
“You’re fired.” Cadance said just before she fired the weapon.
Juno screamed as the rocket penetrated her body and carried her up into the air. She flew high above the Tower and exploded quite spectacularly with the rocket, the blast cutting off her cry.
Cadance let the RPG launcher fall from her hooves a she stared grimly at the rapidly dissipating black cloud.
A cry pulled her eyes away and she scrambled to her hooves. She levitated Lovebug back into her hooves and nuzzled the foal, who quickly quieted down. It was strange, she only did that with herself, Chrysalis, Truth and…
And Shining.
“Cadance!” 
Cadance turned to see Truth and an earth pony come running up. Cadance remembered what the pony below had said, but Truth saw her look and shook her head.
“It’s okay, Cadance, er, princess.” Truth said. “He’s with us.”
The earth pony waved awkwardly.
“Aren’t you the cook?” Cadance asked.
“Uh, no ma’am. I make sandwiches.”
Cadance shrugged. ‘Alright then. Now, let’s go find my husband.”
********
Crystal Tower Boiler Room

Shining grunted in pain as the pipe hit his sides. He held up his right foreleg to block a swing aimed at his head and cried out. Blackguard grinned and kept pushing on the pipe, trapping Shining’s foreleg.
“You’re dead, Shining.” Blackguard said. “You’ve got one hoof and it’s your bad one. And you’re tired. I had an energy bar before shit started blowing up. I’m fresh. You’re dead.”
“Hey Bennett.” Shining grunted.
“What?”
“I’m not right hoofed.”
A perfect ‘oh shit’ expression went over Blackguard’s face just before Shining’s left hoof smashed into it. The pipe clanged against the floor as Blackguard dropped it. Shining kept coming at him, left hoof repeatedly connecting with the unicorn’s body. 
Shining quickly switched it up and kicked Blackguard with his hind leg. The unicorn went stumbling back, straight into a power crystal.
Electricity sparked and Blackguard howled. Smoke rose from his fur and the air was filled with the scent of burning fur and flesh.
Blackguard came away from the power crystal and charged forward, shouting incoherently. His forehead made contact with Shining’s, knocking the unicorn back. Blackguard jabbed Shining twice in the belly, doubling him over. Grabbing Shining, Blackguard sent him head first into a wall.
“Oh Shining old buddy, I feel good!” Blackguard said jovially as his next hoof strike landed right on Shining’s wound from the rocket earlier.
Shining cried out and sank to his knees.
“I gotta tell ya, a few volts does a body good!” Blackguard said as he slammed Shining’s head into the wall. “Maybe I’ll share that with your wife and that darling little foal of hers.”
Shining growled and spun around, his left hoof coming up with him. Blackguard was stumbled by the punch and Shining kept it up. 
Another uppercut to the jaw. A grab of the head for the perfect head butt. Jabs to every sensitive area on the body of a unicorn. A stomp that broke an ankle. A twist that cracked a humerus. A punch that broke a nose and sent blood spurting from both nostrils.
A final punch sent Blackguard tumbling to the floor to stop in front of a large steam boiler.
Shining looked grimly as Blackguard spat blood. A sudden shout from above got his attention.
“Captain Shining Armor!”
Shining looked up to a hench-pony standing on the balcony above, pulling a pistol from a holster.
“I’ll go down in the history books for bagging you!” the stallion laughed.
He suddenly jerked violently as several bullets went through his body. He slumped against the railing, dead, his gun falling from his hooves.
“Hoo-rah.” Robinsson growled from where he lay on the ground, gun held loosely in one hoof.
The pistol fell from the balcony and landed with a clatter just in front of Blackguard. He snatched the pistol up as he got to his hooves, using the boiler behind him as leverage.
“Oh Shining, I think I’ve changed my mind about shooting you.” Blackguard said as he aimed the pistol.
Shining looked around furiously and spotted a large pipe next to him. He ripped it from the wall.
Blackguard cocked the pistol and fired. Or at least, he tried to.
“Aw fuck.” Blackguard said. “Safety was on-ACK!”
He cried out as Shining threw the pipe through him and into the boiler behind him.
“Shit.” Blackguard gasped as the gun fell from his grip. He spat blood and looked desperately at Shining. “Shining, please. I… I didn’t imagine punching out like this. Please… please let me die with some… dignity. Don’t… don’t cheapen my death and say… one of your… stupid ass one liners.”
Shining smirked. “Let off some steam, Bennett.”


Shining Armor


Has some issues


Blackguard Bennett sighed. “Yep… there it is.” he fell forward onto the pipe as steam issued forth from the end.
“Shining!”
Shining looked up to see Cadance standing there, holding Lovebug, Chrysalis by her side, and Truth standing between them.
He smiled and wiped some blood from his mouth. “What the buck took you so long?”
	
	
> And You Thought it was Over
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

And You Thought it was Over

Crystal Tower Vault and Computer Room
10:15 PM

Theo was not one to panic. To be as good with computers as he was, you needed to have a calm level head, even in the worst of situations.
But when shit starts exploding, you are allowed to freak out a little.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!” Theo said to himself as he furiously tapped away at the keys of the computer interface, the room around him filling with smoke.
With a sudden and loud crash, the monitor of the computer he was working on exploded in a shower of crystal shards. Theo yelped as the shards pelted his coat, more than a few pricking him sharply.
The unicorn dove away from the crystal data banks on the off chance more were going to explode and landed less than gracefully near his equipment. He began hurriedly shoving the things he had brought with him into a black duffle bag, throwing in a few sizable gems from the vault for good measure.
He slung the bag over his shoulder as he picked up his radio.
“Juno, where are you?” he said into the device. “Juno?” he said again, cautiously.
Suddenly a loud beeping came from his bag. Cursing, Theo dropped the bag and shuffled around the contents until he found the source of the beeping.
Had Theo been one to wear pants, he would have likely shit them.
********
Crystal Tower Rooftop

Robinsson groaned as he was lowered to the roof’s surface.
“Watch it, will you,” he complained to Chrysalis, who had been using her magic to carry him. “I kind of took a bullet to the everything back there.”
“And you’re not dead, so quit complaining.” Chrysalis retorted.
Robinsson rolled his eyes. “Hey, I saved the captain back there. I would like to be at least handled by a mare with a softer touch.” he glanced hopefully at Cadance.
“Nope.” Shining said as he walked past Robinsson.
The pegasus sighed. “Very well, sir.”
Shining pulled the radio he had taken off the pony Robinsson had killed and was about to click it on when a voice crackled out from the speaker.
“Juno! Juno, talk to me!” the voice said frantically.
“That’s their tech.” Truth said.
Shining nodded and clicked on the radio. “Listen-” Shining glanced at Truth.
“Theo.” she said.
“-Theo, Juno is dead. You are now talking to Captain Shining Armor and if you have any interest in continuing to breathe you’ll cooperate.”
There was a pause. “O-okay then.” Theo said.
“Now, what’s so important?”
“Well, it’s, uh… It’s the fire bombs.”
“Fire bombs?”
“It was Juno’s getaway plan. After we had gotten all the data and such, we were to quietly pull back and then burn the building. No pony would know we had gotten away.”
“And this is important now because…?”
“The bombs are on a three minute timer. Somepony just activated it.”
“Who?”
“I’m not sure!” Theo said frantically. “Only Juno and I had detonators and I certainly didn’t press it!”
Rueben, who had been munching on a sandwich, looked thoughtful. “Then who-”
“Me.” growled a voice.
They all turned to see a changeling hauling himself up onto the platform. He was bleeding and his disguise was flickering, making him appear to be a pony for brief flashes.
“And who are you?” Chrysalis demanded.
The changeling grinned. “I’m Conicer. Artist extraordinaire.”


Conicer


“Artist”


Reuben snorted. “You’re a loony.”
“I’m also the one with the detonator.” he held up a little black box. “So, either you start doing exactly as I say, or-”
He was cut off as Shining, Chrysalis, and Cadance all pulled guns out and shot him off the platform. The detonator clattered to the ground. Cadance pulled it to her hoof with her magic.
“Theo, how do I stop the countdown?” Shining asked into the radio.
“Uh, well, I could shut it down from here. If the computer hadn’t, er, exploded.”
Shining sighed. “Well buck.” he clicked the radio to another channel. “Sunshine, you there?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Okay, I’ve got a bunch of fire bombs that are going to fry the building set to go off in about two minutes. Get everypony away from the building, we’re going to go down the express elevator.”
“The elevators are all down. We’ve been evacuating ponies down the stairs.”
“Shit.”
“Captain, we still have the Boat.”
“The what?”
“It’s an airship.” Robinsson said. “But it was crippled in the attempt to breech.”
“It’s been repaired. Well, it’s been fixed…. Well, it can fly.” Sunshine said.
“Just get it up here now.” Shining said. 
“Right away.
Shining clicked back to Theo. “Okay Theo, if you want to not die get your ass to the roof now.”
“Yes ma’am, er, sir!”
Shining rolled his eyes.
************
Base of Crystal Tower

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Sunshine shouted to the numerous ponies as they scrambled away from the Tower. She then ran to the Boat, which looked no better than when it had crashed earlier. But the thing was in the air, which was something.
Sunshine spread her wings and flew up onto the Boat, landing on the deck. There were still a few mechanics there, furiously working.
“Are we good?” Sunshine asked one of the mechanics.
“Should be.” she replied. “But we’re going to stay here and make sure.”
“Don’t drop on me.” Sunshine said, not sure if she was talking to the mechanic or the airship.
The airship climbed rapidly, sailing up until it was level with the rooftop. Sunshine peered over the gunwale of the airship and quickly spotted Shining and the others.
“There!” she shouted at the pilot.
The pony nodded and steered the airship as close to the roof edge as he dared.
“Captain!” Sunshine shouted into her microphone. When she saw she had gotten his attention, she pointed down at the opening ramp.
Shining nodded and gestured to the others. They made a beeline for the airship, halting at the edge of the roof. Cadance went across first, wings spread to ensure a safe landing, Lovebug clutched in her forelegs. Chrysalis followed, leaping the short distance easily. Truth followed closely behind.
Shining was about to follow when a voice spoke up.
“Hey, I can’t walk!” Robinsson shouted. “What am I supposed to do!?”
Shining rolled his eyes and looked to the brown earth pony. “Reuben, was it?” Shining asked.
He nodded.
“Help me with the war hero.”
Reuben grinned and nodded. The two stallions lifted Robinsson up and began swinging him back and forth, much to the pegasus’s displeasure.
“Hey! What the-!” he began before Shining and Reuben threw him over the gap and onto the ramp with a jarring thud.
“Ow!” Robinsson shouted with displeasure.
Shining and Reuben chuckled. Shining then nodded to Reuben.
“You next.”
The earth pony nodded and took a running leap onto the ramp. Shining was about to follow when a cry reached his ears.
“Wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!” Theo cried as he galloped as fast as he could across the roof.
Shining sighed and caught the hysterical unicorn. Using his momentum, Shining threw him across the gap and onto the ramp.
“Come on!” Cadance shouted at him.
Shining rolled his eyes and bit back the retort until he had made it on the airship. He took a few steps back and came at the airship running. He pushed off the edge of the roof, flying through the air to land safely on the ramp.
But he wasn’t alone.
On his heels was Conicer. The changeling slammed into Shining, sending them both tumbling to the surface of the ramp.
“Shining!” Cadance shouted as Conicer wrapped a limb around the unicorn’s throat.
“A little busy here!” Shining growled through clenched teeth and he struggled to throw the changeling off.
Meanwhile, Sunshine ordered the airship crew to pull back from the Tower. She then heard a shout. Running, she made her way through the airship to the ramp, where she nearly crashed into a hysterical Cadance.
“Shoot him!” Cadance shouted to Sunshine as the pegasus arrived on the ramp.
The Night-Guard looked in confusion at the fight on the ramp. She saw two Shining Armors grappling with each other.
“Which one?”
They all just looked worried. Sunshine groaned in annoyance and ran back into the airship.
The fight on the ramp was brutal. Each Shining was pulling no punches and both were using every dirty trick they could think of. They punched, kicked, bit, and tried hitting each other with magical blasts.
Suddenly, one Shining tackled the other to the surface of the ramp. His hooves were pressed to the other’s throat, choking him.
“You think you can beat me?” the Shining on top growled. “I’m not going to lose to a whelp like you. I win, you lose.”
A shot rang out and the Shining on top was thrown off, rolling to the edge of the ramp.
Shining rubbed his throat and looked to Cadance holding a smoking pistol in her grasp.
“How did you know?” he asked.
“Your one-liners are better.”
Shining smirked. He got to his hooves and walked over to where Conicer was reverting to his true form. The changeling looked up at him and spat.
“You think you’re so special.” Conicer growled. “You’re pathetic. You have everything and yet you’re unhappy.”
“Don’t pretend to know me.” Shining growled. “Now, surrender.”
Conicer spat again, this time blood. “You know what? Fine.” he staggered to his feet. 
Shining nodded and turned away from the changeling. In the half second before it happened, Shining slapped himself.
Conicer’s kick was surprisingly strong and sent Shining tumbling across the ramp, back into the airship itself. He reached behind his back for something when Sunshine landed in front of him and shoved a shotgun into his stomach.
Their eyes met.
“Seriously?” Conicer asked.
Sunshine grinned. “You know, I’ve always wanted to say this.” she pumped the shotgun. “Get off my Boat.”
The shotgun roared and flung Conicer back off the ramp and into the air. At that same moment, the firebombs went off. The massive fireball grew out of the middle of the building, shooting out of windows and lighting up the night sky. Conicer was swallowed up by the fireball as the airship sped away, its occupants cheering.
And, just before Conicer’s life ended, the changeling had time for one last thought.
I was going to retire after this.
********
Base of Crystal Tower

Shining, Sunshine, Cadance and Lovebug, Chrysalis, Truth, Reuben, and Robinsson walked down the ramp of the airship, smirking and laughing at their good fortune of not being dead. Well, Reuben was carrying Robinsson, but he drew the short stick. 
Theo followed, escorted by a pair of mechanics, loudly complaining. “Hey, hey! I helped you guys! Cut me some slack here!”
Shining laughed as he watched Theo be taken away. Cadance smiled and handed Lovebug off to Truth before sidling up next to Shining. On his other side, Chrysalis did them same.
“I’m sorry.” Cadance said as she nuzzled Shining’s side.
“She’s sorry.” Chrysalis said as she nuzzled Shining’s other side.
Shining laughed suddenly and slipped away from the two. “Excuse me?”
Cadance tilted her head. “What?”
“You’re sorry? After all that’s happened today, you’re sorry?”
Cadance sputtered. “W-what do you mean?”
“You do realize that even before this whole terrorist thing happened you kicked me out of the house.”
“Hey! I was drugged at the time!”
“Yeah, and that’s an excuse?”
“Shining, what do you want from me?”
“What do I want?”
Chrysalis looked uneasy. “H-hey, I think Truth needs to talk to me.” she tried to edge away.
“Oh no you don’t.” Shining grabbed the changeling and pulled her close.
“Shining!” Chrysalis said in alarm.
The unicorn just grinned and pulled the changeling into a deep, teeth clicking, tongue probing kiss. Chrysalis’s eyes widened and she gave a muffled sound of protest. She struggled for a moment before melting into the kiss, pressing herself to Shining. 
Cadance watched with her mouth hung open and her wings flared behind her.
Shining broke the kiss and Chrysalis nearly fell over when he released her, a giddy expression plastered over her face.
“Wha- mmph!” Cadance ended up mimicking Chrysalis and Shining kissed her as well. This kiss lasted longer, eliciting a wolf whistle from Sunshine, who had wandered over to the scene.
Shining released Cadance and smiled at Sunshine.
The pegasus smiled back. “If you try to kiss me, I’ll break your nose.”
Shining chuckled. “Fair enough.”
“Shining,” Cadance asked, looking at him with the best puppy-dog eyes she could manage. “What does this mean?”
Shining smiled and pulled the alicorn close, using his magic to pull Chrysalis into his other foreleg. “It means that I think I can finally deal with the crazy thing my life has become. Because no matter what, I know you know me. I know you love me. And I know Chrysalis is pretty hot. So there’s that.”
Cadance and Chrysalis laughed.
A reporter suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere. The mare forced herself close to Shining, Cadance, and Chrysalis and turned to her camera-pony.
“This is Breaking News here to bring you the latest on the terrorist crisis here in the Crystal Empire. We were kept in the dark before, mares and gentle-colts, but your intrepid reporter has gotten in to bring you the latest.”


Breaking News


Tabloid Rat


She turned to Shining. “Captain Armor, what is your comment on the incompetence of the Guard forces.”
Shining looked irritated and opened his mouth to speak when Truth suddenly popped up and punched Breaking News in the jaw.
“They're having a moment!” the changeling shouted at the mare. She pushed the mare and her camera-pony away, shouting the many things she was going to do to them should they loiter.
Shining, Cadance, and Chrysalis laughed as they watched the reporter leave. Sunshine then tapped Cadance on the shoulder.
“I believe this one is yours.” she said, handing Lovebug over.
Candace accepted the foal and smiled as Chrysalis and Shining. “She’s all of ours.”
“Aw.” Sunshine said almost mockingly as she walked away.
“So Shining,” Chrysalis asked as she nuzzled the unicorn. “What are you going to do now?”
Shining smiled. “What I always do after a long night of killing bad guys and saving wenches. I’m going to have some Celestia-damned corndogs.”
Reuben popped up offering a corn dog. “Captain?”
Shining squealed like a school filly. 


The End

	
> First Bonus Scene and End Credits
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

First Bonus Scene and End Credits

Base of Crystal Tower
Shining Armor was happily munching on his corndog when a fire pony walked up to him.
“Sir?” the pony said hesitantly.
“Yesh?” Shinning through his mouthful of corndog.
“We’ve been going through the Tower now that the threat has ended and it’s been deemed unsafe to live in.”
“Is it going to fall over?” Cadance asked, looking nervously at the towering… structure.
The fire pony shook his head. “No ma’am. But the walls are burnt pretty badly and most of the oxygen was sucked out by the fire on the upper floors. We’ve got rescue ponies taking care of anypony that might still be in there. But the point is it’ll be at least a few weeks before you and your family can return to your apartment.”
Chrysalis shrugged. “Eh, we’ll be fine right? So long as we have each other.”
“Sap.” Cadance snarked.
“Shipper.” Chrysalis smiled back.
Shining just hugged the two closer. “We’ll be fine.” he assured the fire pony.
The stallion nodded. “Alright sir.” he walked away.
“So,” Cadance said after a time. “Where exactly are we going to be staying for the next few weeks?”
Shining looked thoughtful. “We can stay at a hotel for the next few days in case they still need us here for something. After that, I suppose we could stay with Twilight.”
“In Ponyville?” Cadance asked, sounding eager.
Shining nodded.
Cadance grinned.
*******
Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville

Twilight Sparkle suddenly woke up in a cold sweat.
She shivered violently, even though her bed and room were toasty warm. She glanced outside, seeing the moon light up the snow covered roof tops of the buildings nearby. It was a calm, peaceful Hearth’s Warming Eve.
Suddenly, her fireplace belched out a letter. She tilted her head as the letter landed on her bed. Usually Spike was the one belching out letters. Where was Spike anyway?
Shaking her head, Twilight opened the letter and read its contents. It was from her brother. He and his family were coming to stay-
Twilight blinked and read the letter again.
“Oh fu-”


End Credits



Written and Directed by
The Wraith Writer




Cover art by
Conicer






Lovebug's name suggested by
Cookays



Typos pointed out by
Fourpony and SmilingKittens
Fferror




Cast



Nicolas Cage as Shining Armor



Scarlett Johansson as Cadance



Angelina Joile as Chrysalis



Female Jeremy Renner as Truth



Female Alan Rickman as Juno



Tom Cruise as Blackguard Bennet



??? as Masque Espion



with Kate Beckinsale as Sunshine



James Franco as Reuben



And Arnold Schwarzenegger as Blind Justice



Special Thanks to Hasbro and Lauren Faust




ShadowFire Productions presents



A Wraith Writer film


If you end up sandwiched between your sexy wife and her sexy changeling lover every night, do you buy a bigger bed or your own?


All Characters are either copyrighted Hasbro Studios or Original creations
Please don't sue

> Bonus Scene Two: Bonus Scene Harder
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bonus Scene Two: Bonus Scene Harder

Somewhere in America

Nicolas Cage woke in a not so cold sweat. He was a little sweaty, yes, but it wasn’t a cold sweat. He was fine, he had just left the heater on too high. 
of course, this was at the back of Mr. Cage’s mind. What was at the forefront was ponies. Specifically, little ponies. Little ponies that were his. 
Man, that sounded like a great name for a toy line. Nicolas Cage’s Little Ponies. He could make a fortune off of that. But he couldn’t just run ads. No one watches ads anymore. 
No. He would do something better. …A TV show. An animated TV show! No, wait, someone was doing that already. What else could he do?
Hm…. Yeah. Yes! That was it! A movie! A big budget movie! A big budget, live action movie about ponies! Now, who would he get to direct it? …Michael Bay! Who was going to write it? …James Cameron! And who was going to star? Well, certainly not some tanned hussy. Nicolas Cage could probably do it. And Morgan Freeman. And John DeLacie. And that chick from Underworld. 
Yeah. This was going to be the greatest-!
Wait, no. Someone was doing that too…
Nicolas Cage frowned. How could he get young people interested in his toy line? He needed a medium no one else was working on…
Hm… what was no one else using to promote toys?
And that’s when it hit him. Figuratively, of course. An idea cannot literally hit you. Unless of course you’ve entered your mind and everything that happens to you there is translated into the real world. Because when you’re in your mind, your mind makes it real.
Anyway, the idea that Nicolas Cage had was to instead of making a movie or a TV show, he was going to have a writer write fan fiction about ponies, and then slip subliminal messages into the stories, so that when his toys came out, readers would buy them.
But who should he get to write the stories and what should they be about? Nicolas Cage went to his computer and sent out a mass message to all his buddies. Surely one of them must have an idea.
The actor was surprised when he got an immediate reply. Someone on Deviate Art called Fyre_flye. The message was intriguing.
Hello Mr. Cage. Your idea about these ponies interests me. You say you need a writer and an idea? Well, I happen to have both. Tell me, how do you feel about long titles?
“How long we talking?” Cage said into his mike.
The reply came back in text, filtered through a voice changer.
How does this look?
If you have sex with a changeling that looks like your beloved and you didn’t know and you end up having a child together, does it count as cheating?
Hm?
Cage smiled. He had no idea who was on the other end of the line and he had no idea what he was getting into, but he had a feeling it was gonna be good.
Real good.
“I like it.” Cage said. “Now, please tell me more.”
There was a pause before more text scrolled across the screen.
Are you sure you want to play this game?
“Oh, I’m sure.”
You really want this cake?
Cage grinned. “I want it.”
Then let’s begin.
	
> Bonus Scene Three: With a Vengeance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bonus Scene Three: With a Vengeance

Crystal Tower

“Make a hole! We’ve got a live one!” the paramedic shouted as he rushed down the hall, a body on the gurney he was pushing.
The numerous other rescue ponies flattened themselves against the wall as the paramedic rushed by. A few looked hopefully at the body, thinking perhaps it was one of their missing loved ones.
A few other medical ponies peeled off from the group and began galloping next to the paramedic pushing the gurney.
“What do we have?” one medic asked the one pushing the gurney.
“Unicorn, female. Three GSWs to the chest!” the one pushing the gurney rattled off.
They pushed the gurney out through the double doors at the front of the Tower and made a beeline for one of the dozen or so medical carriages that had been parked outside. They opened the carriage and hauled the gurney and its passenger inside. They began hooking their patient up to the equipment while one of the ponies pulled surgical equipment from a cupboard.
“What do you think, Doc?” an orderly asked the doctor that had been waiting in the carriage. “Any hope?”
The doctor’s horn lit up and a light blue aura surrounded the chest of the pony on the gurney.
“Maybe.” the doctor said. “But we have to move fast.”
One of the orderlies nodded and used a pair of surgical scissors to cut open the front of the unconscious unicorn’s shirt…
*******
Base of Crystal Tower
12:00 Midnight

Bleeding Heart stood vigil over the patient. The surgery had seemed to be successful, but the unicorn had remained unconscious. Bleeding Heart could be called a romantic in that the earth pony believed in Hearth’s Warming miracles. She was hopeful that the pony would pull through.
Suddenly the mare stirred. She groaned softly and her eyelids fluttered. She looked around with bleary eyes, trying to sit up. Bleeding Heart was up in an instant, gently pressed the mare back down to the gurney.
“Easy there dear, easy there. Don’t go moving just yet.”
The unicorn mare groaned in an irritable fashion but obediently laid back down.
“There you go. Nice and easy. You’ve had a rough night.”
The mare snorted. 
Bleeding Heart blushed. “Yeah, understatement, I know.” the earth pony reached for the radio on the counter and the unicorn eyed her suspiciously. “I have to check in.” she explained, “Let them know you’re awake.”
The mare looked less than happy.
“Don’t worry, the Guard will wait until tomorrow to ask you anything.”
The mare sighed and laid her head back down on the pillow.
“If you want anything, just let me know, okay?”
The mare nodded.
Bleeding Heart smiled and made herself spoke into her radio, relaying the news of the unicorn’s awakening. The report took less than a minute and Bleeding Heart was soon watching the mare again as she laid on the gurney, eyes firmly closed.
“Water.” the mare croaked after a time. Her voice carried a slight accent.
Bleeding Heart nodded and pulled a small paper cup from a cupboard, filling it with water from a jug inside another. The unicorn took the offered cup and drank slowly. She sighed contently and handed back the cup.
There was a silence as the mare laid herself back down, quiet once more. The mare broke the silence after a time with a question.
“What is your name?”
Bleeding Heart blinked in surprise. A patient had never asked for her name before.
“I’m Bleeding Heart. You?”
The mare propped herself up on one hoof and extended the other.
“Masque Espion.”
Bleeding Heart took the hoof and gave it a gentle shake. “Nice to meet you.”
The unicorn cracked a smile. “Nice to meet you, as well.”
*******
Hearth’s Warming

The carriage where a nurse named Bleeding Heart had been watching a patient that had been taken out of the Tower had been discovered to have vanished in the morning. There was no indication as to where the earth pony had gone, but it had been noted that a number of anti-pain pills and other medical equipment had disappeared with her. On a stranger note, the patient that she had been watching over has vanished as well.
In the flurry of activity following the hostage situation on Hearth’s Warming Eve, the disappearance had been chalked up to a mistake by a tired filer. It was likely the nurse had simply moved to a different carriage or the number of the carriage had been written down wrong.
No further inquiries were made.
	
> Beautiful Day (Alternate Ending)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beautiful Day (Alternate Ending)

Crystal Tower

The Boat was rocked by the force of the explosion. Sensors beeped and alarms sounded as the airship began to buckle under the pressure. Sunshine shouted orders into her radio as the airship went into a deadly spiral. 
Shining Armored watched as the few others on the airship panicked, their shouts and the sounds of the airship breaking apart coming to his ears muted. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. His mind worked at a leisurely pace, figuring out the best course of action.
Shining got up from where he had slumped against a wall and moved towards the others, feeling like he was moving through thick pudding. He softly touched Cadance’s shoulder and nodded to the alicorn. She looked at him with confusion, Lovebug held tightly against her beast. He sighed, picked her up, and then bodily threw her out the hatch.
Cadance shouted several things not fit for foals’ ears after she spread her wings, attempting to give Shining the feather while in mid-flight. 
Shining rolled his eyes and grabbed hold of Truth and Reuben with his magic, throwing out the changeling first followed closely by the earth pony. He quickly checked to make sure Truth had caught Reuben before moving on to Chrysalis.
The changeling eyed him with a look that promised immense amounts of pain should he attempt to throw her from the airship as well. Shining just nodded at Robinsson, who was still laying on the ground. Chrysalis sighed and picked the injured pegasus up, spreading her wings and abandoning the stricken airship as well.
Shining heard Sunshine shouting for the pilots to abandon the ship just before the pegasus came into view. She held out a hoof, which Shining took. Sunshine tried to give him her best reassuring smile as she pushed herself out of the airship’s hold, Shining jumping with her.
They cleared the airships body and debris, but the back draft caught Sunshine as she tried to spread her wings. The pegasus was flipped upside down and Shining held tightly to her barrel as he watched the ground rush up to meet them.
*******
Base of Crystal Tower

Cadance looked desperately towards the crash site. She hadn’t seen Shining or Sunshine since she landed and the ship had met with the ground long before she had.
She looked to Chrysalis and Truth, but they were both simply watching the burning wreckage, expressions nearly blank. Truth suddenly sniffed and looked away, trying to hold back tears.
“Hey Shining, which one of us do you think those tears are for?” Sunshine said.
Truth blinked and looked up to see the pegasus come hobbling towards them from the direction of the crash, Shining supporting her.
“Gee, I don’t know Sunshine.” Shining replied. “Probably you.”
Cadance let out a happy choke, trying to keep her own tears inside, and shook her head. Chrysalis smiled broadly.
A few medical ponies rushed forward to take Sunshine, but the pegasus waved them off.
“I’m fine. Shining here’s just trying to cop a feel.” she smiled at Shining.
“You know me too well.” the unicorn replied. He suddenly pulled Sunshine closer and kissed the pegasus full on the mouth.
Sunshine let out a muffled sound of protest and roughly shoved Shining back.
“Idiot!” Sunshine roared at Shining. There was an extremely uncomfortable silence in the air before Sunshine suddenly grabbed Shining and began kissing him passionately.
Everypony that could see what was happening stared in open mouth confusion as the two ponies went at it for far longer than was acceptable in public. They eventually broke apart, a thin trail of saliva connecting them.
“Idiot.” Sunshine said softly as she ran a hoof over Shining’s chest.
It took Cadance a few moments to find her jaw and reattach it. Her mouth worked a few times before any sound came out.
“What?”
Shining stopped making doe eyes at Sunshine and glanced over at Cadence. “Oh, did I not tell you earlier?”
“What?”
Shining laughed. “Oh Cadance, I’m sorry. I really should have mentioned this earlier.” he wrapped a foreleg around Sunshine. “I’ve been dating Sunshine here for a while.”
Cadance just blinked and stared. “What?”
Shining sighed. “Listen Cadance, our marriage was one of politics. It was fun at first, but we were nothing more than friends with benefits. You found somepony who you truly love and who loves you back, and I’m happy for you.” he smiled. “But, I still want a divorce.”
Shining shifted his gaze to Chrysalis. “Chrysalis, I’m happy that you’re making Cadance happy and that you’re happy with her. However, you still sucked the love out of me, made me go down as one of the worst defense guard captains in history, and impregnated my wife. So, fuck you. I don’t hate you, mind. But still, fuck you.”
Chrysalis sighed. “I suppose that’s still pretty good.”
Shining nodded and shifted his gaze to Truth. “And Truth?” the little changeling’s expression was uncertain. “You’re the best damn maid any family could ask for. Take care of these three, would you?”
Truth nodded.
“Well alright then.” Shining said cheerfully as he looked around at the assembled ponies. “I do believe I have a corndog coming my way.”
Reuben popped up and gave Shining a corndog.
“Ah, thank you.” Shining said as he began munching on his corndog.
He and Sunshine began walking away from the others, most of who were still frozen in shock.
“That went well.” Sunshine said.
“I thought so.” Shining replied.
Sunshine smiled and nuzzled Shining’s shoulder. “You’re an idiot, but you’re my idiot.”
Shining just chuckled.
There was a long moment where neither of them spoke. They just walked along, close to one another, content.
And then Sunshine ruined it.
“Let’s have a foal.”
Shining pulled the corndog from his mouth. “Squeezee?”
Sunshine giggled. “Let’s have a foal. You already have experience and I certainly could use something quieter to occupy my time than hostage situations.”
Shining just stood there for a time, his expression blank.
“…Shining?” Sunshine said after a time.
“Are you pregnant?” Shining asked.
Sunshine tilted her head. “No….Why would you-?”
“Oh would you look at the time.” Shining suddenly exclaimed. “I just remembered I have to go have a talk with Nurse Redheart in Ponyville. So sorry.” he said as he suddenly dashed away.
Sunshine was left standing there for a few moments, her expression confused, when it suddenly dawned on her.
“Get back here you worthless, no good, poor excuse for a guard!” She roared as she spread her wings and took off after him.

*******The End*******


> The Sound of Hooves on a Cobblestone Path (Clop)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Sound of Hooves on a Cobblestone Path

Crystal Clear Hotel, Room 69
8:46 PM, Hearth’s Warming

Shining Armor napped peacefully, laying on the rather large bed in the hotel room. The unicorn had spent most of the day out coordinating with fire and rescue ponies as well and giving accounts of the previous day’s events to more than a few agents of both the Crystal Empire and Equestria. 
He had, quite thankfully, been spared the nightmare of the press. Robinsson had pulled more than a few stings and called in a favor or two to keep the press off him and his family.
Speaking of his family, Shining had a very happy and honestly tearful reunion with them only a few hours before. Twilight and his parents had arrived by train and they had a late lunch together. His parents had the decency of not asking for the details of the events of the tower, nor had they pried too deeply into his personal affairs. Shining loved that about them.
His sister had commented that Princess Celestia was more than a little pissed off that she had only found out about the Takeover of Crystal Tower after the fact. Shining took some pleasure in the knowledge that somepony was going to get the scolding of their life.
His blood family had to leave after lunch, but not before extracting promises of visits soon. Twilight had even offered to put up Shining and the rest in her library in Ponyville. Shining had said he would talk it over with the others, but he was hopeful.
After that he had gone to check on the state of the operation to recover bodies and anything important that had survived the fire. They had told him to go get some sleep. Shining couldn’t have asked for a better Heath’s Warming gift.
So, he had gone back to the hotel room they had rented. He had popped over to the one where Truth and Lovebug were to check up on the two, only to be quickly shooed out by Truth. She had said Shining needed sleep more than Lovebug. Shining took the not too subtle hint.
He went back to the room where he, Cadance, and Chrysalis had gotten, turned on the tv, because he really wasn’t feeling that too tired, and fell asleep a few minutes later. He hadn’t bothered to remove his guard uniform when he had laid down and didn’t bother to take it off in the few instances when he had woken up.
And now, Shining felt himself waking again. He blinked wearily, reluctant to wake again. But he caught the shape of a pony in the room and immediately bolted up.
“Easy there.” Cadance said softly, putting a hoof on Shining’s chest.
Shining relaxed and smiled. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Cadance smiled back.
“Did we disturb you?” Chrysalis asked, standing next to Cadance. Their faces were lit by the light from the tv, leaving the rest of them in darkness.
Shining shook his head and yawned. “Not at all. Just napping.”
“You well rested?” Cadance asked with a twinkle in her eye.
“Yeah, I guess.” Shining said, tilting his head slightly in puzzlement.
Chrysalis grinned. “Good, because me and Cadance here have your Hearth’s Warming present.”
Shining smirked. “Is that where you two have been all day? Shopping for me? It’s not really necessary.”
“Oh believe me, we wanted to.” Cadance said, nuzzling Shining. “We really wanted to.”
Shining held up his hooves in mock surrender. “Okay then. You seem really proud of it. And knowing you know me, I’m sure I’ll love and not deserve it.” he smiled.
Chrysalis smirked. “Oh believe me, big boy, you’ve earned it.”
Shining chuckled softly. “‘Big boy’?”
Cadance turned off the crystal Tv and Shining heard Chrysalis moved over to the light switch. 
“Big boy.” Cadance whispered in his ear, her voice low and husky.
Chrysalis flipped the light on and Shining suddenly found himself biting his lower lip. Cadance was wearing a perverted imitation of her royal regalia, the outfit clinging tightly to her while lacking the necessary pieces to be considered appropriate for public viewing and replacing the hoof shoes with semi transparent socks. Chrysalis also wore an enticing outfit, one of red and black. A lacy red collar encircled her neck while a very short and quite transparent black skirt ‘covered’ most of her body.
“You like?” Cadance asked.
Shining gulped nervously and mutely nodded.
“Aw, I think we’ve scared him, the poor dear.” Chrysalis said in an imitation of a caring nurse.
Cadance giggled. “It’s okay Shining, you didn’t have a stroke.”
“That’s what a stroke would say.” Shining mumbled.
Cadance laughed. “Oh Shining. Trust me, this is real. It’s your Hearth’s Warming Present.”
“Or, more accurately, we are.” Chrysalis said as she walked back over to Cadance and Shining, hips swaying in a provocative manner.
Shining’s mouth worked several times, but he failed to make a sound.
“Maybe he did have a stroke.” Chrysalis teased.
Cadance smiled and leaned forward to give Shining a kiss. The stallion blinked when her lips met his, but he quickly leaned into the kiss, sighing softly. Cadance backed off after a moment, still smiling.
“Are you with us again, dear?” she asked.
Shining nodded. “Yeah, I, uh… what?”
Cadance giggled. “We’re your Hearth’s Warming gift.”
“You… both?”
Chrysalis leaned over Cadance’s shoulder and smiled while waggling her eyebrows suggestively. “That’s right.”  
“But, and I’m really not complaining here, why?”
“I’ve been less than considerate of you, Shining.” Cadance said. “I yelled at you yesterday with no good reason and then you go and save me, Chryssi, Truth, and Lovebug like we’re absolutely irreplaceable.”
“But you are!” Shining interjected.
“And so are you. You’ve worked too hard with too little thanks from me, so I plan to rectify that now.”
“And we’re horny.” Chrysalis interjected.
Shining laughed. “Okay, okay. I guess I can agree. But I’m required to say you’re being too hard on yourself.”
Cadance giggled. “Good boy.”
Chrysalis leaned close to Shining. “Now then, who would you like me to be?”
Shining gave the changeling a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”
Chrysalis smiled. “I’m a changeling, Shining. I can be whoever you want. For example.” there was a flash of green and Shining found himself staring at a lilac unicorn for a second before he shut his eyes.
“Nope!” he said firmly.
Chrysalis tsked, thankfully in her own voice. “You liked this alright the other night.”
“Chryssi…” Cadance said. 
“Oh, fine.”
Shining saw the flash of green though his eyelids and dared to open them. Chrysalis had reverted back to her usual form. 
The changeling put a hoof to her chin. “Now, what would you like? This perhaps?” in a flash Shining was staring at Princess Celestia.
He inhaled sharply for a moment before shaking his head.
“This?” Shining was now looking at Luna.
Again, he shook his head.
“Like athletes?” Spitfire winked at him.
He shrugged.
“A thing for Prench mares?” Fleur de Lis asked him.
“Yes, but not right now.”
Fleur frowned and in a flash Shining was staring at another Cadance. “A fantasy of yours?” Chrysalis Cadance asked as she nuzzled the real one.
“I, uh…” Shining stared, the possibilities flitting though his mind. “…Maybe another time.”
Chryssi Cadance frowned and tilted her head in thought before an evil grin stretched her face. “Oh, perhaps you’re feeling a tad… narcissistic?”
A green flash lit the room and Shining found himself suddenly staring in a mirror. …No, wait. That wasn’t it. The pony looking back at him had pristine white fur and a long blue mane of three shades, but that shape was distinctly feminine. Wonderfully feminine…
Cadance whistled. “Damn…” she said quietly, biting her lip.
“You likey?” the white mare asked in a husky voice.
“I… uh…” Shining shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. “I… have strongly mixed feelings…”
“How strong?” the mare whispered and she leaned close.
“I, uh…” Shining blanked. 
The mare suddenly scowled and sat back on her haunches. In a green flash she was Chrysalis once more. “Okay, I’ve been working on that one for a while. That was the best I could think of. What do you want me to look like?”
“Let him look at that last one again.” Cadance said hopefully.
“Later.” Chrysalis whispered.
Shining scratched his head and then smiled nervously. “…You.”
“Huh?”
Shining chuckled. “I did say you were smoking hot earlier. I meant it.”
“You really want me to… just be me?”
Shining nodded. Chrysalis grinned and glanced sideways at Cadance. She looked back to Shining and said in a stage whisper. “Does your wife know you have a changeling fetish.”
Shining chuckled again. “She may.”
Cadance laughed. “Okay, you two have had your fun.” her grin became libidinous.  “Now, let’s get started, only a few hours before this just becomes a regular old gift.”
Cadance’s horn lit up briefly as she lowered the lights, and she half turned to Chrysalis. “You know Chryssi, I don’t believe I’ve told you why I married Shining.”
Chrysalis grinned wryly. “Let me guess, you loved him.”
Cadance gently placed a hoof on Shining’s belly, pressing the red fabric of his uniform flat. “Well, yes. But it’s why I loved him.” she smiled at Shining. “He’s compassionate. He’s loving. He’s loyal. He doesn’t just accept quirks, he loves them. He’s the kind of stallion you read about in some trashy romance novel.”
“Like the ones you hide in your office?” Chrysalis snarked.
Cadance just smiled. “Yes.” she grinned knowingly at Shining. “But those are just the reasons I married him. And they’re the reason I still love him and are happy beyond belief that he loves me back.”
“You getting to that surprise you were talking about before?” Chrysalis asked playfully.
Cadance just kept on grinning. “Oh yes. Because there’s one more, slightly shallow reason I love my knight in Shining Armor.” Shining’s uniform was suddenly wrapped in a teal glow and all but ripped open.
Chrysalis gapped. 
Cadance’s grin was as wide as ever. “He makes Saddle Arabian princes feel inadequate.”
Shining’s cheeks burned as he watched Chrysalis bring her head level with the bed and his groin.
“Wow.”
Cadance just nodded.
“Brood-Mother…” Chrysalis whispered. “I… I really didn’t notice the other night. The more I think about it, the more I think I may have just rubbed him off with magic while watching a movie.”
Cadance laughed as she knelt next to Chrysalis. “Silly Chrissi. When you roll in the hay with Shining Armor, you do it in a reasonably lit room so you know what you’re feeling is real.”
The redness of Shining's cheeks were approaching a shade similar to that of a ripe apple, and the heat coming off of them could be used to soft boil eggs.
Cadance laughed again when she noticed Shining's predicament, the sound soft and happy. “Sorry Shiny, but it’s not everyday I get to watch another mare’s jaw drop in awe of my husband.”
Chrysalis blushed. “I… mmph!”
Chrysalis gave a muffled shout as Cadance suddenly pressed her lips to the changeling’s. Chrysalis quickly recovered and got into the kiss, hooves caressing Cadance’s body. Shining cringed slightly as his cheeks burned hotter, his stallion-hood stiffening.
When he was sure the two were distracted, he pinched himself. Shining winced and blinked away some tears from the pain. When his vision cleared, he could still see Cadance and Chrysalis, the two of them making out like there was no tomorrow. So, evidently he wasn’t dreaming.
The two mares broke the kiss after a few moments, a few errant strands of saliva connecting them. They looked over at Shining and both grinned.
“Enjoying the view?” Cadance purred.
Shining just stammered, unable to form a response. Cadance just laughed and leaned closer to him, placing a hoof on either of his thighs, gently spreading them. Her hoof softly touched his maleness and she began to stroke it up and down, slowly bringing him to full hardness.
Shining gasped and panted softly. Chrysalis whistled loudly as she stared at his now fully erect shaft.
“Wow… what is he? Twelve inches? …Fourteen?” the changeling said, scooting closer.
Cadance just chuckled. “I’ve never bothered with an accurate measurement.” she leaned her head forward and gave the flared head of Shining’s cock the barest of kisses. “Never really mattered.” she added quietly. “Always big enough for me.” she smiled and dragged her soft lips along the underside of his shaft, getting a groan from the stallion.
“Don’t hog him all to yourself.” Chrysalis said as she pushed her head next to Cadance’s.
The pink alicorn grinned and moved over, allowing the changeling to plop down next to her. Cadance moved her lips to one side of Shining’s shaft, sliding up and down, slowly and sensuously. Chrysalis took to his other side, her tongue slipping from her lips to lick slowly along the underside of his shaft, occasionally flirting with Cadance’s tongue.
They moved up and down his stallion-hood, moaning softly as they pleasured him with their lips and tongues alone. Sometimes they went up and down in sync, other times in direct opposite of the other’s movements. 
Shining groaned lowly in his throat, still having trouble believing this was even happening. Although, it might have had something to do with the lack of blood flowing to his brain.
Chrysalis and Cadance scooted closer together, hooves exploring the other’s body and they pressed their lips farther over Shining’s shaft, tongues extending to tangle with the other’s more frequently. Shining watched, beginning to pant, as the two mares became more and more aggressive towards each other. Their hooves knew no boundaries as they began to practically kiss each other around his cock. Shining hardly believed he would see a sight hotter than that, let alone experience one.
Shining’s panting increased in tempo as he neared his breaking point, pent up cum churning in his balls. As she slid towards his base, Cadance glanced at her husband, seeing the tell-take signs of his impending orgasm. Abruptly, she pulled her lips off of him, nodding at Chrysalis, who reluctantly did the same.
Shining grunted softly. “Pleased, don’t stop.” he said, almost pleading. He coughed and said more sternly. “It’s not right to be a tease.”
Cadance smiled. “Don’t worry, hon. You’ll get all you deserve and more.” she turned her gaze to Chrysalis. “I just wanted to ask Chryssi here a question.”
“What is it?” Chrysalis asked, more than a little worked up from the potent love in the air.
“Well, it’s just that I seem to remember hearing a certain changeling saying there was no cock she couldn’t swallow.” the alicorn nodded to Shining’s turgid pole, glistening dully in the low light.
Chrysalis snorted. “I can handle him.”
Cadance grinned like a spider with a fly caught in its web. “Prove it.”
“I shall.”
Chrysalis turned back to Shining’s cock with a look of smug confidence. She shifted her weight to get more comfortable and raised her head higher so that she was now looking down on the impressive specimen of maleness.
She let her long tongue slither out from between her lips like a serpent. It coiled around Shining’s shaft, surrounding a good portion of it in warm, wet, and soft flash. She worked her tongue up and down his shaft a few times, slathering it in her saliva and earning a low groan from Shining.
Chrysalis loosened the coils of her tongue and opened her mouth wide, giving Shining a good view of the fangs that made him a tad nervous. She went down, taking the flared head of his shaft into her mouth and sucking on the shaft as she took it in. But in spite of her earlier boast, Chrysalis could not get more than a few inches in. The head of Shining’s shaft pressed against the back of her throat and she made several attempts to get it to go down, but failed to manage it.
Growling softly, Chrysalis’s jaws yawned wide and she slowly extracted his dick from her mouth. She contemplated the saliva soaked shaft with a faint frown.
“Hmm, not too bad, I suppose.” Cadance commented.
Chrysalis shot her a glare. “I suppose you could do better?”
Cadance tried to look innocent. “Me? Oh, I don’t know…” she shot Shining a smirk. “But I suppose trying couldn’t hurt.”
Chrysalis moved over to give Cadance better access and the pink alicorn took up position right in between Shining’s spread legs. She took his cock in both her fore hooves, lightly squeezing it as if to test its hardness. She grinned as Shining squirmed under her touch.
Cadance angled Shining’s cock towards herself and darted her head forward, taking his first few inches in an instant. Shining moaned softly as he felt Cadance’s warm wet mouth surround his dick. She used her own hoof to push herself down, managing to get the head of his shaft into the uppermost part of her throat. She strained to take more of him in, tears gathering behind her closed eyelids. Her guts suddenly twisted and Cadance back off, but not before she got the tip of her hoof level with her lips.
The pink alicorn coughed and then turned to Chrysalis, nodding to her hoof, which was positioned a few inches lower than where the changeling had gotten. “Beat that.” she said with a tinge of smugness.
Chrysalis got nose to nose with Cadance and smiled. “Gladly.” she said, flicking her tongue out to lick Cadance on the nose, earning a giggle.
Cadance scooted over and Chrysalis took her place, staring at Shining’s stallion-hood with a determined expression. She opened her mouth wide, fangs glistening dully in the low light, and her long tongue slid out of her mouth. 
She suddenly darted her head forward, startling Shining, who half expected her to bite down on his stallion-hood. Instead, she was simply trying to ram it down her throat and managed to get herself as far down as Cadance had. And yet, the changeling still struggled to go further. She wiggled her head slightly from side to side, mouthed around his shaft, thankfully taking care with her teeth, and her tongue slithered and coiled around his shaft, as though she was trying to coax it into her throat.
Shining couldn’t help but get a sort of kick out of the situation. Sure he was more or less at the mercy of these two beauties, but watching them strain and struggle trying to swallow his cock? It just gave him a sort of perverse thrill.
Eventually, Chrysalis pulled off, more than a few strands of saliva connecting her lips, tongue, and even her teeth to his shaft.
“You aren’t giving up, are you?” Cadance asked, sounding like she was enjoying the show.
Chrysalis slurped her tongue back into her mouth and flicked her head to move her hair. “Of course not.” she looked at Shining. “I just need to go at this from a different angle.”
She told Shining to scoot back, nudging his legs with her hooves. The unicorn complied, scooting back up on the bed until his head rested on the plush pillows. Chrysalis stood and slowly walked around the edge of the bed, eyeing Shining’s shaft hungrily. She laid herself down on the bed and an angle, her back hooves dangling off the top corner of the bed and her head near Shining’s groin. Cadance meanwhile was resting her upper body on the bed, her head cradled in a hoof, watching Chrysalis with interest.
Chrysalis spared Shining a smoldering look. “Are you ready?” she purred.
Shining chuckled. “Are you?” he asked.
Chrysalis just smiled.
The changeling turned her attention back to Shining’s shaft, shifting her weight slightly to get comfortable. She positioned her head so that her mouth lined up with her throat and angled Shining’s cock with a hoof.
She placed a soft and wet kiss on his cock’s flared head before slurping it into her mouth. She worked herself forward, slurping down Shining’s shaft like a perverted noodle. Once more, she was stopped as she tried to get the head down her throat.
Cadance watched with perverse delight, enjoying the sight of her mare-friend struggling on her husband’s cock. Chrysalis pressed herself forward as her throat worked, trying to swallow the flared head.
Cadance bit her other hoof to stifle any sound she might make as she watched Chrysalis’s jugular visibly swell and her throat bulge as she finally managed to force herself down.
Chrysalis had her eyes firmly shut as she began to wiggle back and forth like a fish, forcing Shining’s almost painfully hard dick down her throat. Finally, her stretched lips brushed his base and Chrysalis opened her eyes, blinking away tears until she could get a proper look as the soft white fur only inches away from her eyes. The low groan Shining let out was music to her ears.
She tried bobbing on Shining, but she suddenly choked and pulled herself off as fast as she could. She gasped and coughed a few times before managing a weak and a tad smug smile.
“I win.”
Cadance nodded, feeling particularly hot and bothered by the sight she just witnessed. “Indeed, dear.” the pink alicorn smiled wickedly as she pulled herself onto the bed. “Now, do it again.”
Chrysalis shot Shining a sultry smile and slurped the head of his shaft back into her warm mouth. Another groan escaped his throat as she took him to the root, having an easier go of it this time. Up and down Chrysalis went, swallowing down his cock and then pulling herself back off. The journey down was quicker and easier each time and Chrysalis became adjusted to Shining’s length and girth.
Cadance meanwhile sidled up next to Shining, pressing herself against him and rubbing a hoof on his chest while she watched Chrysalis swallow his stallion-hood over and over again. She panted softly as she felt her nether become even more wet, the heat in her center growing. She felt the heat in her cheeks grow as well, realizing she was getting turned on by watching the changeling she had a love affair and a foal with give the stallion she loved a blowjob. A really hot blowjob…
Cadance tore her gaze from Chrysalis and pressed her lips forcibly against Shining’s. The stallion seemed startled, having been admiring the shine of Chrysalis’s hair as she bobbed up and down on him, but he quickly kissed Cadance back, wrapping a foreleg around her and pulling her close. His other hoof began rubbing Chrysalis’s back, getting a purr from the changeling.
Chrysalis paused as she came back up for air after swallowing Shining’s cock, her lips wrapped around the head. She could practically taste the love and lust in the air. It was as thick as the impressive example of male anatomy she was sucking. But she wanted more. She wanted the satisfaction of feeling Shining really squirm. She wanted to feel him burst, to succumb to her talents. She wanted to taste him and his lust for her.
She pulled her lips from his cock and nudged him to get his attention.
“Hold me down.” Chrysalis purred.
“What?” Shining replied dumbly as he broke this kiss with Cadance, a dopey smile on his face.
The changeling giggled and slid her tongue over his entire length without moving her head, getting a shiver. “Hold me down this time.” She repeated. “You’ll enjoy this. Trust me.” she smiled.
Shining’s cheeks turned red, but his shaft throbbed appreciatively at Chrysalis’s suggestion. “Okay then.”
He moved his hoof from her back to her head, feeling just how smooth and soft her hair was, like pure silk. She winked at him and turned her gaze back to the shaft before her. She opened her mouth wide and plunged her head downward, swallowing him easily now.
As she settled with her lips around the base of his shaft, Chrysalis felt Shining’s hoof softly put pressure on the back of her head. She rolled her eyes, amazed that a stallion with such ferocity in battle was a meek as a kitten elsewhere.
Let’s give him some incentive then. Chrysalis thought.
Shining let out a low groan as he felt Chrysalis swallow around his shaft, her tight, warm throat flexing and squeezing in a way his pleasure-addled mind couldn’t put into words. He suddenly felt her begin moving back up and gently but firmly pushed her head back down. He could swear he saw Chrysalis grinning around his cock.
Chrysalis did grin, glad she managed to coax a bit of dominance out the unicorn. He was too nice for his own good. Cadance had spoiled him. So it was her job now to corrupt him.
Sex first, evil planning later, a voice in her head said. She heartily agreed.
Chrysalis swallowed hard, lashing the underside of Shining’s shaft with her tongue as the moments of her throat masturbated him. He was bigger than she had imagined and despite her becoming adjusted to gulping him down, he was still big. Huge. If she were a mare of lesser skill, she’d be choking. In fact, she was. He was choking her with his cock, her throat convulsing around the intruder, which only served to push him closer and closer to orgasm.
Shining felt the pressure below his belly, the tell-tale feeling. He was close, beginning to sweat as Chrysalis’s lovely throat sent him past the point of no return.
His hoof slipped off the back of her head as he began to cum, a throaty moan of pleasure escaping him. Chrysalis gave a muffled groan as she felt the pressure on the back of her head vanish and felt the first rope of Shining’s hot cum blast down her throat. She pulled herself up but not entirely off his cock, gulping hurriedly to avoid choking on his cum as his cock cleared her throat.
Chrysalis kept his head in her mouth, lashing hit with her tongue as thick spurts of hot spunk filled her mouth. She gulped rapidly, swallowing his cum as fast as she could, lest it overwhelm her. He tasted just as good as she had imagined when Cadance had first suggested this. Musky in good way, sweet and salty, hot and thick. She wasn’t just swallowing it to avoid choking, she wanted every drop. Unfortunately, he was still expelling too much for her, and a good amount of pearly lust slipped from the corners of her mouth to run down the sides of his shaft.
Cadance watched Chrysalis with perverse delight, listening to Shining gasp. The alicorn was enjoying to sight of Chrysalis’s throat rippling and bulging as she took load after load of Shining’s cum. She softly rubbed Shining’s belly cooing softly to him, as his hips spasmed involuntarily.
Finally his orgasm tapered off, Chrysalis collecting the last few spurts of his cum in her mouth. The changeling tipped her head back, exposing her long graceful neck, and swallowed audibly, her throat bulging as it carried the last of Shining’s cum down to her belly.
The former queen belched softly and began slowly licking Shining clean of the cum that had spilled from her lips. 
“Sweet Brood-Mother.” the changeling said quietly. “Pent up much?” she asked the unicorn.
Shining didn’t answer. His head was sprawled on the pillow, his eyes baring a glazed look, and his mouth hung open, tongue lolling out. Cadance giggled softly and Chrysalis just smiled as she continued licking.
“Mmm, quite the stud you’ve got here.” Chrysalis said as she laid her head on Shining’s stomach.
“You only know the half of it.” Cadance purred. “But don’t fret, Chryssi. You’ll get the rest in a moment, as soon as Shining snaps out of his daze in a minute here.”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “He’ll be ready to go that quickly?”
“He’s ready to go right now, if you can’t wait.” Cadance nodded at Shining’s stallion-hood, which still stood proudly tall and stiff.
“What? But he came barely a minute ago.”
Cadance chuckled as she felt Shining stir next to her, coming out of his bliss-induced stupor. “Oh Chryssi, my Shining has more than size. He’s got stamina.”
Chrysalis nodded, staring at Shining’s cock. “So, he can go again? Right now?” the changeling was excited at the prospect.
Cadance nodded. “Right now.”
Chrysalis grinned and moved herself off of the bed. She then began pulling at his uniform, trying to undress him. The unicorn shook his head to clear it and began shifting on the bed as the over eager changeling threatened to tear his garb to shreds to get at him. Chrysalis tugged off the lower portion of the uniform as he sat up and Cadance gently helped out of the upper part.
Chrysalis tossed aside the lower uniform and quickly shed her own clothes before she all but tackled Shining back onto the bed, straddling him with a lustful look in her eye. Shining glanced at Cadance as the latter sat up next to him, a questioning look in his eyes.
“I’ve had you all to myself for a while.” the pink alicorn whispered as she too removed the provocative clothes she wore. “I’ll let Chryssi have the first go.”
Chrysalis growled and grinded her wet folds against the base of Shining’s shaft. “Come on, are you really giving him permission? You owe him enough to let him fuck half the mares from here to Canterlot.”
“I’m trying to make this romantic, Chryssi.” Cadance tutted.
Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “What’s more romantic than sex?”
“Romance is more than sex.”
“Are we really having this conversation now?” Chrysalis said, impatiently grinding against Shining. “You never complained when I just- mmph!”
Chrysalis was cut off as Shining pushed himself up and pulled her into a kiss. The changeling quickly melted into the kiss, probing into Shining’s mouth with her tongue.
“I did that to shut her up too.” Cadance chuckled as to two made out.
They soon broke apart, Chrysalis panting softly. “I take it that means you’d like to move along then.” she said huskily.
“That depends,” he smirked. “Are you ready?”
The changeling smirked back. “Are you?”
“Would you two just move along?” Cadance laughed.
Chrysalis nodded and moved her hips up, gently grasping Shining’s shaft and positioning it towards herself. She sank down slowly, the shaft parting her folds wide. The changeling groaned as she slid Shining’s cock deeper into her, closing her eyes and focusing on the sound of the stallion’s breathing quickening. After what seemed like an eternity, her hips met his, his shaft fully inside her.
Chrysalis let out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding, followed by a moan. She never imagined him being so big. In her mind he was always some limp-dicked idiot who was easily bent to her will. That didn’t really change until yesterday, when she had seen him race past her, fighting for his family, a family he considered her to be a part of. And she was really enjoying it.
Shining groaned softly as Chrysalis bottomed out on his cock. Her insides were cooler than he expected and wonderfully snug. He often thought changelings slimy before he got to know one, and now he could say that at least the one in his laps was deliciously wet. 
Her quim suddenly flexed around him and he let out a gasp. Chrysalis did too, as she felt him twitch inside her. She opened her eyes and grinned at Shining before pressing her lips to his. He kissed her back, forelegs wrapping around her back to pull her closer as she began to rock her hips. Chrysalis went slowly at first, but she quickly increased her tempo, moaning into Shining’s mouth as his shaft moved inside her.
Big. So big! Never felt this full before. Brood-Mother, he’s too big. It’s not fair, Cadance never told me he was this big. Thoughts flittered through Chrysalis’s mind as bolts of pleasure stabbed from her groin. She thrust herself harder and harder onto him, not having much room to work with how close he was keeping her. But she didn’t care. This felt too good.
Shining gasped and moaned, moving a hoof down Chrysalis’s back until it hovered just above her rump. He loosened his grip on her, letting her hips move farther back before he grabbed her rump and pulled her back down on his shaft.
Chrysalis let out a moan and a breathy chuckle, kissing him again as she continued to rock her hips against him, her folds teasing and working his shaft.
Shining suddenly felt Cadance press herself against his back. He had nearly forgotten she was there.
“Mmm, don’t leave me completely out of this.” she chuckled as she wrapped her forelegs around Shining from behind.
“Get your own.” Chrysalis grunted as she thrust herself up and down Shining’s cock.
Cadance laughed. “Easy there, Chryssi.” she laid her head on Shining’s shoulder and whispered in his ear, “Listen dear, don’t think that I don’t need attention too. Watching the two of you? Mmm,” she moaned softly. “I need you right now. And you have more than your cock to share.”
Cadance pecked him on the cheek and Shining felt her grab his shoulders, gently pulling him down. The alicorn snagged a pillow and placed it under his head before throwing a hind leg over him and straddling his head.
“Kiss me, Shiny.” Cadance purred. “Lick me, eat me.”
“You watch too many damn pornos.” Chrysalis grunted as she plunged up and down Shining’s shaft.
Cadance’s laugh became a moan as she felt Shining grab her haunches and pull her rump down. His lips pressed to her lust-slicked folds, his wide tongue parted them slowly. Her moan suddenly became a cry that jumped a few octaves as Shining’s tongue suddenly stabbed deeply into her. Her cry settled down to a wobbly moan as his tongue moved within her, going for the spots he knew drove her wild.
Shining happily slurped away and Cadance’s folds while lifting his hips to meet Chrysalis’s thrusts. Cadance was as sweet as she always was, warm and sticky just like he loved. And Chrysalis certainly was an experience. Shining was never a ‘playa’ and only had a few mares he had ever engaged in sex with, but he had a good idea of what a mare’s mare-hood felt like. Chrysalis was different. Her internal temperature was lower than a normal mare’s, although she was rapidly heating up, and her quim was wetter than any mare he’d ever been with. It was also squeezing him with the dexterity of a griffon’s claws. Had Shining’s mind not been fogged over in a lusty haze, he might have of paused to wonder if the wonderful sensations Chrysalis’s quim was giving him were consciously done or not. 
Of course, he was having sex with two mares that were easily in Equestria’s Top Ten Hottest list, so like hell he cared. 
Chrysalis slipped forward, hooves sweaty from exertion, but Cadance managed to catch her, quickly pulling her into a kiss. Chrysalis moaned into the kiss, her tongue almost automatically slipping into Cadance’s mouth. The alicorn’s tongue began wrestling with the intruder as she steadied herself with a hoof, wings flaring out behind her to keep her balance.
Chrysalis broke the kiss and let out a throaty moan. She then lifted her hips until only the head of Shining’s cock was inside before slamming her hips back down with a cry of excitement. 
“Sweet Brood-Mother, YES!” Chrysalis cried happily before her jaw went slack and her eyes began to roll into the back of her head.
Cadance couldn’t help but join in with Chrysalis, although she managed to stay much quieter by shoving a hoof in her mouth. Despite her promise to herself to not to, Cadance ground her pussy against Shining’s muzzle, creaming herself on his ever so talented tongue. She gasped again as a moan from him sent delightful vibrations through her folds.
Shining gave his wife’s rump a playful smack before shifting hooves to Chrysalis’s hips, pulling her down firmly to ensure he was fully enveloped by her wonderful quim. With a groan into Cadance’s passage, Shining came, pumping cum into Chrysalis while Beethooven’s Ode To Joy inexplicably played in his head. 
The changeling let out a second cry of delight at the sudden explosion of warmth inside her. She felt her inner walls clamp down on the thick intruder and milk him for all his worth, her juices flooding her passage and leaking over Shining’s groin.
Cadance’s fem-cum was staining Shining’s muzzle, the unicorn happily drinking it down as he continued his assault on her folds. There were wet squishes whenever he plunged his tongue back inside her and she bit down on her hoof at the pleasure, nearly breaking the skin.
With a groan a few jerks of the hips, Shining’s orgasm subsided, as did Cadance's and Chrysalis’s. Cadance extracted her spit soaked hoof from her mouth and laughed giddily, her afterglow still burning pleasantly inside her. And Shining was still languidly licking her. Chrysalis let out an airy giggle and moaned, wobbling unsteadily.
Cadance quickly threw herself off of Shining, landing next to him on the bed, as Chrysalis pitched forward. Shining had enough time to get a quizzical look on his face before he let out an ‘Oomph’ as Chrysalis landed on him. The changeling giggled again and gave him a sloppy kiss, the stains of Cadance’s juices on his muzzle an added bonus for her.
Breaking the kiss, Chrysalis stared adoringly into Shining’s eyes. “Sweet Brood-Mother…” she stage-whispered. “I can’t imagine why Cadance would want to have sex with anypony after you.” 
Shining grinned. “Thanks for the compliment.”
Chrysalis ‘mmm’ed and snuggled close, Shining’s slowly softening shaft still inside her. Shining wrapped a foreleg around her, hugging her close.
Cadance rightened herself and snuggled up to Shining’s side. “Regardless of anything else, you  still have a silver tongue, dear.”
Shining wrapped his other foreleg around Cadance, pulling her close too and licking his chops for any drops of her juices that remained.
“Thanks.” he said, kissing her softly.
She giggled.
*******
Morning

Shining stirred softly, gently awakening from a good night’s slumber. He yawned and stretched, well, he tried to at least.
The yawning thing had gone okay, although he had gotten somepony else’s mane in his mouth, but the stretching bit was not as successful. That might have had something to do with his current position.
Shining was snuggled up against Cadance, his chest was pressed against her back, his forelegs were wrapped around her barrel, and had they been vertical, she would have been sitting in his lap.
In short, they were spooning.
(Spooning is hot.)
Shining smirked and nuzzled Cadance’s three-toned hair, listening to the soft sounds of her breathing. However, his nose twitched as he felt warm breath on his ear.
In fact, he could feel somepony spooning him.
Shining craned his neck and found more mane in his mouth. He quietly spat out the emerald hair and smirked again as he got sight of Chrysalis, her mouth hanging open and drool staining her cheek.
Shining just chuckled to himself and laid his head back down and closed his eyes, a smile on his lips. Chrysalis stirred in her sleep, her forehooves tightening their grip on Shining. He didn’t mind though.
He liked how his life was. He was a fool in love and was lucky enough to have somepony that loved him back. Or rather, someponies.
The only question that remained was whether or not he should demand a yearly 'I’m sorry I slept with that hot and crazy changeling that tried to kill you' day present.
And maybe, if he was feeling particularly impish, he could also demand a 'I’m sorry I tried to suck out your life force in a non-sexy manner' day present.
Shining’s smile became a grin. Oh the possibilities…