> Sparkle Family Secrets
>  by ipwnlocks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> prequel
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“That was fun...” Twilight's father said as he walked to the door of her room. He opened and slammed the door without another word. Twilight lay on bed, her pillow still gripped between her teeth. Her eyes were still clenched shut and she was still clenching the blanket between both her hooves. He hind legs were locked at a ninety degree angle, just as her father had positioned them. She stayed this way for many minutes after her father had left and the room was silent. 

She dared not even open her eyes by the fear that still resided inside her little heart. The heat and pain radiated from her private parts. She finally groaned and opened her eyes before slumping to the bed and rolling over. Tears stained her pillow and rolled down her cheeks as she looked at the ceiling. 

“When will this ever end? What did I do to deserve this? I've been such a good filly. What did I do wrong, daddy?” Twilight whispered to herself as a new tears welled in her eyes. 

~

“Mom stop!” Shining pleaded to his mother as she began stroking his limp member, trying to re-harden it for a third round. 

“Hush young man. I am your mother and you will do as I say, is that understood?” She snapped at her son, skillfully stroking his member. After minute passed and she could not get his penis to stand erect she gave up. 

“Oh, you are no fun... I'll be back tomorrow night.” She said sternly as she got off her bed and headed for the door. Once Shining could no longer hear her hooves clicking against the floor, he rolled onto his side, then curled into a ball. 

“Why do I feel so... dirty?” He asked himself. Every time they did this, Shining had such a feeling of shame afterwards but he did not know why. It was just like his gut was telling him he was doing something VERY wrong.

His mother had been doing this ever since he had come to her with a question regarding all these strange urges he was having. But no matter how many times they did it; or his mother reassured him this was normal, Shining was always left with a feeling of filthy shame. 

~

“Then you add the variable back in, and then subtract and that's it.” Shining explained pointing at the paper in front of Twilight. As they lay on her bedroom floor together.

“Oh, I see now. Thanks big brother!” Twilight chirped, quickly scribbling numbers down to finish her homework. 

“Sure, Twilight.” He said. Shining looked outside, it was late. Around bed time for Twilight. Unfortunately for Shining; puberty has a way of giving young colts erections at the most inopportune times. Shining felt his member start to stiffen under him. He swiveled on his hip from where he lay next to Twilight, turning away from her. 

“What's wrong, big brother?” Twilight asked by his sudden motion. 

“N-nothing...” He tried to play it off, wishing his erection away. He wanted to leave but knew standing would fully display it to his younger sister. 

Twilight, being ever curious, had to learn more about her brother's rash behavior. She stood and tried to circle her brother. Shining saw her actions and tried to turn away from her more but his hind hoof smacked into the wall, stopping him. He crossed his fore hooves in a vain attempt to hide himself but his semi-hard penis was blatantly exposed. 

“B-big brother...” Twilight started, recognizing the thing between her brother's legs as the same 'thing' that always made her hurt so much those nights when her father came to her room. At first she was frightened, thinking Shining intended on using his 'thing' to hurt Twilight like her father had. 

Shining blushed hard as his sister stared at him. He was clearly upset. Twilight noticed that her brother was not near as aggressive as her father had been, atop the fact that Shining seemed upset about the whole thing. 

Twilight then remembered how much her father's demeanor changed whenever he finished, going from aggressive and almost angry to completely relaxed and satisfied. Twilight hated to see her brother flustered. 

“B-brother?” she started. “Do you want me to help you?” She offered. 

Shining looked up at his sister in shock, not sure how to react. 

This was the first time Twilight relieved Shining of his tension. Which became a fairly normal occurrence between the two, in secret without their parents' knowing, fearing what their retribution would be. 

Shining soon found out that the only thing that Twilight was reluctant to do was offer her marehood. But, the few times she did allow him to take her, she was much less afraid then she was when her father had forced himself on her. 
> chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Remember Twiley, you can't tell our parents what we do at night. If you do, they will take me away, that's not what you want, is it?” Shining Armor said.

"B-B-But big bro, I don't like it. It hurts when you hug me from behind..." The young filly said.

"Shh.... I know it hurts at first, but you know that I'd never intentionally hurt you, right? You know I love you more than Equestria itself, don't you?" Shining tried to reassure her.

"Y-Yes big brother, I love you too. But why do you do it? What if we get caught?" Twilight asked.

"What we do isn't wrong, but other ponies don't understand our relationship. They think its wrong for a brother to love his little sister as much as i do. I'm still your BBBFF aren't I?" 

"Of course you are big brother! Don't ever leave me! I won't let them take you away!" She cheered.

"Thanks Twiley, I do it because i love you, and it's something special that only ponies that love each other very much can do to show how much they love each other. How about i read you a bedtime story?" Shining asked.

"A story? Yay! Thanks big brother!" Twiley hopped up and down in excitement.

"I hope you like it... its a love story about a colt and filly that loved each other very much, and even though the whole town thought they should be apart, they stayed together and overcame the obstacles by keeping their relationship a secret." Shining explained.

"Oh, did - did they live happily ever after?" Twilight asked. 

"Of course Twiley, but only after they were able to get away from the town full of hateful ponies that didn't understand their love. they moved far away and lived happily ever after together." Shining Armor assured his sister.

"That's a good story big brother! Let's um, let's pretend we escape too! Oh, but you're too old to play pretend..." She started.  

"You may be right... But, you're not, and I would do anything for my favorite sister." He smiled at the young filly.

"Okay! Twilight climbs onto her brothers back “Let's go far away, where those mean ponies will never find us! Just, um, don't leave the house cause mommy says we can't be out after dark." She said with enthusiasm.

"Where would you like to go, Twilight?" He asked his sister.

"Let's go somewhere secret... the closet! No one will find us in there!" She near-shouted.

"That sounds perfect, Twiley. You are so smart."  Shinging slowly walks to the closet, opening it slowly, peaking in as if expecting to see a beast come jumping out. He walks inside, and closes the door, and the lowers fore-legs to allow Twilight to dismount. "I think we are safe from the ponies that don't want us to love each other now." He finished.

"Big brother... I wanted to ask you something...I saw you talking to princess Cadance the other day, and she's really pretty. Do you, um, like her more than me?" The filly asked her big brother.

"Oh, Twiley... I like Cadance, but I there is not a single filly in all of Equestria i care for more than you." Shining said with a loving smile


Twilight hugs her big brother once again. “I knew you still loved me! Um, * If you want to, uh, h-hug me, the way that you want to, you c-can, because I know you do it out of love.... but p-please try not to hurt me big brother..." The purple mare said in embarrassment. 

Twilight wrapped her hooves around shining for a tight hug. "I'd like that.” he says, kissing her on the forehead before moving down to her cheek, then finally her neck. All the while starting to rub his hooves down her sides to kneed her flanks. "I love you, Twilight." 

Twilight smiles, letting her brother caress her. “I love you too BBBFF.” She kissed his leg and muzzled it lightly, like a child might. 

Shining Armor puts his hooves under his filly sister, lifting her up on her hind legs, pivoting her and throwing her off balance as he pushed her onto her butt. He locked her lips with his own as he slowly pressed his chest into his sister, pushing her to ground. Once pinned he places a hoof on each side of her petite purple frame. He started to kiss down her body, nuzzling her small tuffs of hair, trying to be as slow and gentle as possible. Upon reaching her marehood he looked up into his sister's eyes. "Are you ready, Twiley?" He asked.

She winced at the force of being pushed and pinned, but managed a smile "Y-Yes big brother... I'm ready.” 

Shining Armor looked back down at the tiny vagina in front of him. He licked his chops; salivating at the mere thought of this sweet delicacy. Shining tentatively stuck out his tongue, making it firm and come to a sharp point. He placed his tongue on his sister's skin before swirling around her honeypot, building up her anticipation. Never actually touching the lips of her opening. He slowly started to come closer and closer to her nethers with each rotation of his tongue, before flicking her clit on every other pass over."How are you doing?" He asks his sister in a gentle tone. 

Twilight could feel the walls of her marehood clench, blushing and stretching her back legs outward. “It... f-feels good big brother." she said with an unsteady voice. 

Shining Armor put his hooves to his sister's delicate lips, gently pulling them apart. He could smell her aroma, and could feel his large, marbled shaft stiffen under him, pressing against his stomach. He ignored his growing erection for the moment and used his flat, wet tongue to give Twilight a sloppy lick. He started with almost no pressure, just licking the surface, but soon gets greedy and started putting the force behind it to penetrate her, sliding his tongue into her tight, sweet, pussy. 

Twilight gasped, clenching her legs as her brother's prehensile tongue penetrated her, exploring her vagina. She moaned, blushing a deep red. "Oh, b-brother, you've never done this before..."

Shining Armor pulled his muzzle from Twilight's pussy, his nose matted from the moisture taken from between his sister's legs. "I know, but I knew you would like this, and I want to make you feel good." He answerd his sister, breathing heavily, trying to regain his breath from an extended period buried between his sister's haunches. He slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position in front of his sister. Shining's fully erect equine cock visible by the small amount of light able to make its way into the closet. Shining sported a dick that was black at the base, along with his sheath and a heavy set of testicles. But towards the middle of his shaft, the black marbled into a fleshy pink color

"Umm... Twiley? Do you think, maybe.. you could do the same for me?" 

She stared at her brother's erect cock, biting her lip. She looked up at her brother, with hesitation in her eyes. "Big brother, I don't..." She saw his face, the sweetness, kindness, and gentleness she's always known and loved about him. "...Yes, of course I will."She Finished. Leaning forward, keeping eye contact with him, she slowly brought her mouth to the tip of his member, extending her tongue and teasing it. Twilight did this slowly and awkwardly, looking for his approval, having never done this before. "L-Like this big brother?" She asked.

"Mmm...Yes, just like that Twilight. Try licking it up and down." Shining placed a hoof on her head, running it through her hair and behind her ear, not putting pressure to control her to do one thing or another, simply to comfort her and show her that he approves at all times. "You are the best sister I could ever hope for, Twilight." 


She beamed at her brother's approval, then does as he suggests, moving her tongue down to the base of his cock, then back up to the tip. "You're the bestest brother any filly could ever have, Shining Armor." She returned to licking his member, moving her tongue up and down with greater force and speed .

"Oh yeah, Twilight. That feels really good. Will try to take the head in your mouth and suck on it likea big lolipop?” Shining asked his little sister.

She nods, wrapping her lips around the tip and sucking gently. She moans slightly as she presses her tongue against his member, moving her lips up and down and swathing it with her tongue 

Shining Armor's rock-hard stallion cock burnt with lust. He could feel his heart beat pulse from the veins that art bulging on his dick. The white stallion could feel his cock start to pulsate in tandem with his heartbeats. Shining knew what happens next. He tried to warn his baby sister of his hair trigger but could only gasp as the sudden orgasm racked him from such little stimulation. Shining closed his eyes as he felt a few strands of semen erupt from his bucking cock. He was unaware where they landed. 

"I'm... sorry Twilight, I should have warned you." shining panted as he fell to his back laying sprawled out on the closet floor.

Twilight gasped, the semen drenching her, sticking to her hooves, hair, and face. "Big brother... what is this? Why is it so sticky?". She cocked her head and manageed a smile despite her confusion. "Did - did I at least make you happy?" 

"S-sorry Twiley, I should have warned you...You see, when colts really love a filly and get excited this happens... it just means I love you more than any other mare in the whole land. And yes, you made me very happy." Shining smiled at his little sister, covered in his cum she was still adorable, but with a perverted twist. "We should probably get you cleaned up....” he continued. The white stallion opened the closet door and went into the hallway, going to the bathroom, making sure the way is clear and their parents were not nearby. 

Twilight followed her brother, walking as quietly as possible into the bathroom. "Brother... I'm scared. What if they find out?! They could take you away!" She began to cry and moved to hug him, but stops, not wanting to touch him with the semen coating her. 

"It's Okay, Twilight. Hop in the tub, I'm going to help you wash up. And they won't find out... we will be fine..." Shining armor tried to comfort her as he turned on the water in the tub, putting his hoof under the stream testing the temperature, adjusting the knobs until it was lukewarm. 

'While I'm at it, i need to wash myself off...' Shining armor thought to himself as he looked down at his semi-erect shaft and sheath and were still splattered with his cum. 

Twilight climbed into the tub, slipping in slowly, then submerged herself completely, watching the sticky white strands disperse in the water. "Um, b-brother, are you coming in too?" 

"Uhh yeah." Shining said after a moment's hesitation. He stepped into the tub behind his sister,and quickly washed his still semi-erect cock. Although it was now free of any cum, the rubbing and washing had given Shining another large erection. Shining bit his lip as he got an idea."I'll do your mane and back for you, okay?" Shining asked, scooting forward in the tub before waiting for a response, he felt his hard dick touch the soft, wet, fur of his sister's flank.

Twilight grinned, turning around. "Okay big brother! Gosh, we haven't taken a bath together since I was a really little filly!" she flinched slightly, feeling something touch her rear. "Uh, Sh-Shining Armor? What was that?" 

"Hmmm...? Oh, it seems I never completely stopped being "excited"." Shining Armor levitated a brush that was near the tub and brought to his sister's mane. He began to stroke the wet hair, making sure no cum was left in her cute mane.

'I need to make sure she is clean before i get side-tracked with anything else'. He told himself, ignoring his erection that was starting to throb; subconsciously started to grind against his little sister's thigh as he began to sway his hips forward and back. 

The purple filly let her brother brush her mane, smiling up at him. She feels his cock brushing up against her. "Um... b-big brother, does this mean you want me to, want us to... y-you know” She blushed, looking away from him.

Shining kissed Twilight's freshly brushed mane. Before casting aside the brush."Yes.” He whispered into his sister's ear. Shining shifted his cock so that it is pointed at the ceiling. He scooted as close as he could to Twilight, so she was in between his hind legs. Shining wraped the purple mare in a loving embrace, pulling her back into him so his large meatrod was sandwiched in between the two bodies. He slowly rocked his hips, letting his little sister feel his strong body. "Are you ready, Twiley?" 

Twilight blushed, then relaxed, melting into her brother's embrace, feeling his security and assurance. "Yes brother, I'm ready." 

Shining armor nudged her into a standing position. He stood with her, then once at the right distance away reared up on his hind legs. He planted his left hood on the edge of the tub to not put his full weight on his small sister, his right hood however, curved around Twilight's right thigh to hold her in place. Shining Armor lined his cock up with his sister's pussy; wet from water and leftover excitement in the closet. He slowly leaned forward, until he could feel his cock head at her extremely tight and delicate entrance. "I love you Twilight!" Shining near shouts as he thrusts an inch, just enough to penetrate her tiny lips with his too-big dick. Shining leaned farther into his sister, barely moving his hips forward and back, making for the slightest of movements inside his sister's vagina. 


Twilight gasped as soon as he penetrated her, wincing at the pain, though she knew he was being as careful and caring of her as possible. The sensation of her brother's cock created mixed feelings of shock, pain, and pleasure in the filly, unsure of what to make of the experience yet confident that her brother had her best interests at heart. She lurched forward slightly and let out a moan. "I-I love you too, b-big brother." 

Shining nibbles Twilight's ear while she gets used to the penetration of just the head of his large member. Once her moans stopped sounding painful, he leaned back so be more at a perpendicular angle from her. His right hoof slides from under her thigh to around the base of her small tail. His left hoof barely touching the edge of the tub in the new position. Ge began to pump her a more regular speed, lacing his marbled cock with her filly juices. Shining slowly started to push harder, trying to go deeper into his sister's pussy 

Twiligh moaned, the shock of penetration having well worn off. Still, the feeling of her brother's cock sliding in and out of her, deeper into her body with increased pressure, filled her body with strange new sensations. Unsure of what will come, she considers asking him to stop, but she trusts him, and instead asks, "B-Big brother? Will... will this hurt?" 

Shining stoked her tail with his right hoof. "No, Twilight." He gave her a big smile; before thrusting back inside her. Shining knew Twilight was tiny, but was surprised when he felt himself touch her cervix when he was only halfway inside her.

'looks like this is her limit...' Shining said to himself. Since he was able to fully penetrate his baby sister without her crying it pain he decided he could go all out. The white stallion started slow and quickly picked up speed, trying to determine how hard he could thrust without penetrating her cervix, that was the last thing they needed. After finding the ideal power he began to pick up speed to really pound her filly pussy. The sounds of her young marehood squelching permeated the room. His filly sister's cunt was like a velvet vice around his cock as he pounded away, actively trying to suck every last drop of cum out of his large balls. In such a tight, wet, hole Shining knew he would not last long. 

"Uhhg... T-Twlight.... I-Im about to cum again." Shining was able to mange to moan between haggard breaths this time. 

Twilight's whole body was rigid now. She felt no pain, but could feel her brother deep inside of her, and was scared he might do something bad. Still, she trusted him, holding on as he informed her that he would be cumming again, this time inside of her

In an act of both self-pleasure and curiosity, she closed the walls of her clitoris tightly around her brother's cock, and was surprised by how good it felt. "G-Go ahead brother, I want it..." 

Shining Armor took a sharp breath in as Twiley's pussy suddenly tightened even more. He shuddered as his cock pulsed. His whole body tensed up.

"Oh... FUCK!" Shining swore, not something he did normally. He felt as spurt after spurt of thick, voluminous cum shoot out of the end of his now-flared cock that was buried inside his filly sister. This cumshot was much larger than his last, that much was easy for Shining armor to tell just by how much better the orgasm felt. Unfortunately, his massive load was simply too much for the little filly and soon with every new spurt of cum that erupted out of his cock, an equal amount of cum would be ejected out of her pussy into the now-cool bath water.

As his cock started to soften, and his orgasm-induced high was wearing off, Shining armor dismounted, letting a flood of his semen escape his sister's pussy. He then collapsed into the tub, his back against the back of the tub. 

"That... was amazing, Twilight. YOU are amazing." Shining told his sister in the afterglow of his orgasm.

Twilight didn't move for a while, taking in the sensation, feeling her brother dismount yet still feel his warm juices inside of her. Slowly, she attempted to sit down in the bathtub, allowing the strands of semen to leak out into the bathwater. She turned around to her brother, blushing and crying, and hugs him tightly 

Shining stroked her wet mane. "I love you twilight...." He coos in her ear, caressing her hair. Shining kissed her on the forehead.

"I suppose we should get you cleaned up... again;" He says, a little embarrassed. "But, then its off to bed, its past your bedtime, you know.." he said, gaining a light smirk. 
> chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“We should do this more often, Twilight.” Shining told his sister. 

“But what if w-we get caught big brother? You said mommy and daddy would take you away if they knew...” She sobbed. “I love you so much, I don't want you to go!” 

Shining armor stroked Twilight's mane. "I know, but as long as you don't tell them, or any pony else. I will be safe. Now come on, let's get you to bed." 

Twlight climbed on her brother's back, yawning slightly. “But I'm not... t-tired...” 

The white stallion smiled at his little sister as he took her to her room. "But little fillies need their rest." He argued, before tucking her tightly into her bed.

The purple filly smiled, laying down in her bed. The softness and warmth immediately triggered a second yawn, through her closing eyes, she watched her brother turn to walk out the door. Her eyes flew  back open."N-No big brother! Please don't go! Could - could you stay with me tonight? Please?" Twilight pleaded.

Shining was surprised at the request and turned around slowly, not sure how to respond. "You mean... like, sleep with you tonight? In your bed? Twilight, I don't know..." 

She frowned, raising her hooves pleadingly. "Y-You know I'm scared of the dark... what if the Olden Pony gets me?!" 

Shining wasn't sure if Twilight was legitimately afraid, or just using it as an excuse. "Well, I guess one night couldn't hurt... scooch over." He said, making his way over to the bed.

Twilight moved closer to the wall, allowing her brother enough space in the bed, which creaked under their combined weight "Oh, um, I'm sorry if it's a little small for both of us..." She turned over and began to cuddle him.

Shining's hind hooves hung off the end of the bed; and he would easily take up the whole bed by himself. "Oh, its okay, Twiley." Shining said as he wrapped his right hoof around his little sister to hold her close. 

Twilight wrapped her hooves around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder, placing her hind legs around his waist. "You're the bestest brother ever..." 

He smiled down at her, not answering, simply allowing his sister to get comfortable. He slightly shook his head, trying to ignore the fact that his sister's body was so soft and warm nestled up to his own. He thought about school and sports, anything to try to get his mind off the sensation. But, no matter how much he suppressed it, his body acted on it own, he could feel his penis start to bud out of his sheath. He simply continued to stroke her mane, ignoring his body's desires.

As she nuzzled against her brother's body, she felt the tip of his cock press against her flank. "Oh, uh, a-again big brother? You really like this huh?" 

"I-I'm sorry, Twilight... We really shouldn't, it's getting late and Mom and Dad might hear...." Shining said getting worried, he knew that his parents checked on twilight sometimes before they went to bed themselves.

She smiled, pulling the cover away, and petting his erect cock. "Okay, but can we still cuddle like this?" 

Shining gritted his teeth as her little hoof stroked him. He knew he shouldn't allow this, he knew there was a chance of getting caught.

'why does that make me more excited?' He complained to himself. 

"Well, okay... but only for a minute..." Shining tried to convince himself it wouldn't turn into the scene in the tub. As he slowly moved his right hoof down her back and started to stroke her back and rear. 

Twilight blushed, kissing the nape of her brother's neck "Sh-Shining Armor, I think I hear-" 

Suddenly the door flew open, and Twilight's mother stood outside, silhouetting the frame "Twilight dear? I thought I hear-... what... Shining... you... g-get out... OUT! GET THE HELL OUT!" 

Their mother charged over to the bed and grabbed Shining Armor's neck "I always suspected... you - your father is to blame for this... but I have no choice, tomorrow morning you're getting gelded, and then I'm sending you off to that behavioral center. You can forget about cadet school, boy." 

"Wha- mom! no wait stop! it's not how it looks!." Shining yelled in a pathetic attempt to defend himself. His mother pulled him from his little sister's small bed. He stood there, his colthood plainly visible, shame burning his cheeks red as he awaited his mother's wrath.

Twilight leaped out of bed, crying "M-Mommy! No! Don't take brother away!! Please! I love him mommy!" 

Her mother spun on the spot, gripping her son and looking down at him, noticing his throbbing cock. She looked back at her daughter blushing, then grinned. 

"Okay dear. Mommy won't take your brother away... but you're never going to be alone with him again, and..." To Twilight's surprise, she reached her hoof down and stroked her son's cock. "...Mommy gets to have fun with him instead." 

"M-Mother!" Shining Armor gasped in shock, trying to back away but finding he was against the frame of the bed. "W-what are you saying?" He asked, shocked at her suggestion. Once again, his body refused to respond the same way his brain was; and he felt his member throbbed by the foreign touch. 

Shining Armor's mother grinned down at him mischievously. "Oh, dear, you know I love you.... your rotten little sister will never touch you again. It will just be the two of us..." She kissed his head, his horn, his back, then turned him around, kissed him full on the mouth, and pinned him on the bed, feeling his throbbing cock between their bodies. "I'm going to have so much fun with you, and Twily will watch." 

"Wha- mom no! stop..." He whined from under his mother."Not with Twiley watching..." He said, looking over at his sister with despair in his eyes. 

Twilight gasped, watching with tears in her eyes as her mother began to kiss her brother, rubbing his shaft and and grinding her inner thighs against it. "Mommy... wh-why... you're hurting him!" But her mother paid her no attention, continuing to grind, pressing her marehood against the tip of his member. "Put it in. Now.... NOW! Do it Shining Armor, or you'll spend the rest of your life as a gelding! Is that what you want?!" 

"N-no..." Shining Armor said weakly. He reluctantly pushed his hips forward to penetrate his mother. The feeling was different than twilight, much different. She wasn't nearly as tight as Twilight, but felt... stronger, and wetter. "D-don't watch, Twilight..." He squeaked out to his sister. 

Twilight covered her eyes, crying, when she heard a loud smack, opening her eyes to find that her mother had smacked Shining Armor across the face. 

"No! Shut up! She will watch! Now pound me harder, harder dammit!" She leaned over further, pressing her body tightly against Shining Armor's and turning him over so that he was on top of her. "I'm waiting..." 

Shining bit his lip, knowing if he didn't he would be castrated if he didn't comply. He closed his eyes and turned his head away from his mother, swallowed hard and then began to push his colthood in and out of his mother. "I'm sorry, Twilight..." Shining whispered. 

Twilight cried, unable to bear the sight of her brother being raped, but knowing they could both be punished if she looked away. 

As his head turned, her mother grabbed it and directed it at her. "Look at me. I want you to look me in the eyes." She moved her hips in tandem with his, maximizing the depth of each thrust into her marehood. "Don't look so upset son. You were born from this." 

Shining grimaced, looking into his mother's amethyst eyes that were clouded with lust as he reluctantly pumped her full of his horse cock. "M-mom... i really don't want to do this, please let me stop...." Shining pleaded. 

His mother frowned, biting her lip. "I don't care, you selfish boy. Ever since you were born I've loved you dearly. As you grew, you became so handsome, the perfect boy. You're no stallion yet, but you're stallion enough for mommy. You won't ever leave this house again. You're going to stay here and love mommy until you die. And Twilight? Daddy can have her. We were getting a divorce anyway." 

"Wha...." Shining stared down at his mother in disbelief. He stopped humping in his shock. 

She frowned, slapping him. "Don't stop boy! Keep going!" She arched her back, grinning as she continued to thrust her hips up and down, moaning, the walls of her marehood contracting around his cock. 

He drooped eyes with the pain of the slap. He gritted as his mother's marehood turned vice-like in nature. He followed his mother's order though, continuing to pump even with the increased grip of her pussy. 

"Uhh, ahh, m-mom... I-I think I'm about..." Shining panted, his breath ragged as he continued the rhythmic gyrations of his hips. 

Twilight watched as her mother pushed her brother up and away from her body, his marbled cock now resting against her mother's chest. "Dot it Shining Armor! Cover me in it!" She commanded. 

Shining moaned and kicked his back right leg, hitting part of the bed's frame. He grunted and gritted his teeth as he felt the warmth of an orgasm creep up the length of his dick. shining clamped his eyes shut.

"Uhhhh...." Shining Armor grunted as he felt himself go over the edge, several spurts of cum erupted from his tip, landing on his mother's stomache, chest, and marehood. Shining peeked down at his mother and was utterly disgusted with the site of his mother painted in the white of his baby batter. He gazed over at Twilight, sadness filling his eyes. 

Twilight frowned, wanting to speak, but not sure of what to say. She sobbed, then began to cry, laying on the floor and heaving.

Her mother rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up!" She turned to her son. "That was amazing... far better than your father. Mommy loves you Shining Armor. Do you love mommy?" 

Shining got off his mother. "Y-yeah..." He muttered, looking away from the mare. He got off the bed and sat down beside Twilight, staring at the floor. He raised a hoof to try to comfort his little sister, but wasn't sure if it would do any good, or if it would even make the situation worse. 

Twilight looked up at her brother, gasping at the pained look on his face. She threw herself on her brother, hugging him tightly and crying still. "I'm so sorry... this is all m-my fault..." She was shocked when her mother pulled Shining Armor away. 

"No! You two are going to be kept apart from now on. And besides, someone is coming to see Twilight..." The door opened, and Twilight's father stepped in. 

"Well well well, what do we have here?" Their father said flatly as he stepped into the room. "It seems our children have been screwing right under our noses, dear." He announced to his wife. 
"And without even the courtesy to invite their dear old dad? Now, we didn't raise them like that, did we? No... i think a punishment is in order..." His steely gaze drifted down to his small daughter, her eyes still wet with tears. "You love your big brother? and want him to stay with you?" He asked the little filly. 

Twilight gasped, then stuttered. "Y-Y-Yes daddy, I love big brother so so much! Y-You're not gonna t-take him away, are you? I'll do anything daddy!" 

"Good." Her father smirked "Come here and show me what you have been doing with your brother, you naughty filly." He sat back and exposed his genitals to the underage pony, revealing penis marbled much the same way as Shining's but with a dark blue color for his sheath and scrotum that faded into light blue towards the tip of his shaft. 

Twilight's eyes widened and she trembled, slowly backing away. "N-No... daddy please no! No!" 

He stood and walked towards his daughter until he forced her into a corner. "You will do it, or you will never see your brother again. Is that what you want?" He said, scowling. 

She shook, tears streaming down her cheeks. "N-No... no I love big brother b-but..." she looked at her brother with desperation in her eyes, not knowing what to do. Her mother was holding her brother tightly, restraining him, and something in her left hoof glinted in the sliver of light coming from the hallway. 

"Don't look at him, he can't help you. And if you don't get to work, I'll make sure you never see him again." He snarled as she once again presented his equine shaft to the filly. 

Shaking, Twilight gradually brought her hoof to her dad's erect shaft and began moving it up and down, though she was still sobbing. "L-Like this d-d-daddy?" 

"Not quite..." he said as he reached out and grabbed her horn, pulling her small maw inches away from his stiff shaft. "Lick it." He instructed. 

Upon seeing his little sister being told to service their father, Shining Armor was furious he began to try to stand up, to protect his sister, to stop his father. "Stop!" He shouted at the man holding his sister by the horn. 

Shining Armor's mother's grip tightened as she extended her left foreleg, bringing a blade against her son's stallionhood. "Don't struggle boy, or I'll do the job right here!" she snapped. 

Twilight flinched at her father's harsh tone and forcefulness, and slowly brought her mouth to his member, placing her tongue on the tip of his shaft and bringing it down to the base, then back to the tip, licking it slowly while trying not to cry. "D-Don't struggle brother... I don't w-want you to get hurt..." 

Shining Armor reluctantly relaxed his tense muscles at the threat. Knowing even if he was able to over-power his mother, he would be no match for his father; and he would never be able to see Twilight again if he resisted. He clenched his jaw before turning his head away and letting a single tear roll down his cheek through a closed eye. 

Twilight's father smiled at the happenings between his wife and son. He nodded at his wife in appreciation for keeping Shining from intervening. He turned his attention back to Twilight, still hold her horn. “As long as you keep this up, he won't." The blue stallion told the filly. 

Shining Armor's mother pursed her lips and grabbed her son's head, redirecting it back at the horrid scene before him. "Don't you dare look away boy. Don't even blink. You're going to watch it. All of it." She smiled maliciously at him, then went back to watching her soon-to-be ex husband and daughter.

Twilight shuddered, continuing to lick. She accepted what would happen and told herself that if she just did it, it would be over soon. Soon, she placed her lips around the tip of her father's shaft and began to suck lightly, though she was still visibly trembling. 

Shining kept his eyes squinted, intentionally blurring out the scene, his jaw quaked by the force at which he was clenching. 

"Twilight's father smiled down at his daughter. You're not half bad, been practicing on your brother, you little whore?" 

Twilight flinched at the insult, stopping momentarily, then returning to sucking, moving her lips up and down his throbbing cock. Her watery eyes shifted to her brother for a bit, then looked up at her father.

Shining Armor's mother held her son's head with one hoof and a knife to his balls with the other. She chuckled, stroking his mane. "Are you having fun honey?" 

After the head of his tool was slick with his daughter's saliva; Twlight's father let go of her hown and pull his cock away from her before standing.

"Turn around." He told her. "and present yourself to me the same way you would with him." He instructed with a jerk of his head to indicate Shining Armor.

"Of course not..." Shining said just loud enough for his mother to hear through clenched teeth. 

Twilight gasped, shaking her head. "D-Daddy, no, p-please..." she shook, before slowly turning her body around, her heart racing and sweat dripping down her face. The anxiety was destroying her. 

The white mare grinned, pressing the tip of the blade against his scrotum, drawing blood. "I'm sorry honey, I didn't quite hear that. Are you having fun?" 

Her father ignored her pleas and grabbed her slender flank, pulling her back so he could penetrate her. Her tiny frame was completely under his body when he was ready to begin. He pressed his hard cock against her tight, underage lips. 

Shining Armor grimaced from the pain; then gulped hard. "Y-yes, mother." He lied. 

Twilight groaned, feeling her father's massive cock penetrate her, not with the slightest modicum of slowness or gentleness, but forcefully trying to push as far as he could go in the first thrust. She screamed as she felt the tip press against her cervix, and yet still he tried to push further until his entire cock was inside of her. "D-DADDY! NO-Y-YOU CAN'T.. PLEASE IT HURTS DADDY STOP! STOOOOOPP!!" Twilight was screaming in pain, unable to form words anymore, unable to even open her eyes. 

Her mother, who was keeping a firm grip on her son, blew upwards on her mane dismissively. "She is so loud... what a baby." 

Twilight's father found grim humor in the words of the white mare. "She sure feels like it, much tighter than you..." He scoffed. Without skipping a beat on his abusive pounding of her daughter's snatch, beating his dick against her cervix, trying to force his way inside. 

Twilight continued to yell and struggle, not wanting to escape at the risk of losing her brother, yet every muscle in her body screamed for relief. She felt a painful tear inside of her, and as her dad thrust in and out, blood began to drip from her clitoris and onto the floor. "Daddy... no.... wh-why...." 

Her father relished the fact he had penetrated her cervix and was able to bottom out inside her daughter. He was even turned on by the fact he had made her bleed. "Because, twilight. You are a filthy whore that fucks your brother." 

Twilight cried, harder than she ever had, because she had now lost complete hope. There would be no escape. There would be no rest or reprieve. She would never feel her brother's loving embrace again. She no longer flinched at the physical pain her father inflicted on her, only stood there, allowing herself to bleed, refusing to look anyone in the eye, no longer wanting to open her eyes again. 

The incredibly tight passage that Twilight's father was violating; along with the excitement created by the taboo was getting him close to releasing his load inside her. Another minute inside her would push him over the edge. 

Twilight's legs shook violently. They were going to give way at any moment. Still, she struggled to keep herself stand, lest her father punish her for not doing as he asked. The pain was unbearable, but she still kept trying, letting her front legs fall to the ground while keeping her back raised. As her face was planted to the floor, she slowly lifted her head and turned to her brother, whispering the words "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry big brother." 

Her father smirked. "Because of you, he will get to stay... that is if you hold still while daddy cums." He told her, his hooves digging into her soft flank as he picked up the tempo on the pounding. getting ready to cum inside his daughter. 

Shining armor let the tears flow from his eyes freely. "No twilight. I'm sorry, this is my fault." 

Summoning all of her strength, Twilight forced her back legs to lock, taking slow, ragged breaths to conserve energy. She lowered her head and tried not to show pain, wondering just how many years she would have to endure this for. 

With one final thrust, accompanied by his vulgar grunt, Twilight's father fired his load inside her, the semen being injected directly into her cervix. He didn't move as he emptied his balls inside his daughter. Once his orgasm subsided he pulled out and looked down to find a pool of cum mingling with the pool of blood under Twilight. 

"Come, 'dear'. i think we have given the kids enough to think about for tonight." He said to his wife, turning his back on his children without a shred of concern for their well-being. 

Twilight finally collapsed on the floor, whimpering. She didn't dare move, and though she longed to embrace her brother one more time, she lacked the energy to move to him. As the door closed, she heard a firm lock, and moving of furniture. Their fate was sealed.

Twilight's mother stood outside the barricaded door, smiling. "We'll still need to feed them though." she said haphazardly. "Then again, you just gave Twilight quite a lot to lick up off the floor..." she laughed and went to bed, her husband trailing her. 

Shining waited until he could no longer hear the sound of his parent's hooves clattering against the floor to move to help his sister. He jumped up and rushed to her side. 

"Twilight, are you okay? can you move?" He asked her still body. He reached down and touched twilight's shoulder's very gently. "Twilight?" 

Twilight moved her head very gently, extending a hoof toward Shining Armor and raising it, unwilling to speak. She didn't know what to say. Rather, she refused to say what was in her head. She just wanted to reassure her brother, and feel his reassurance. 

"Come on twilight, I'm going to get you cleaned up." He pulled a towel over to him with magic and wiped up the blood and semen pool before pulling a second towel out and laying it flat. "Okay twilight, this might feel funny, but it shouldn't hurt."

Shining tried to comfort her as he focused his magic to surgical precision. He focused on all the blood and cum that was still inside twilight and grasped it with his magic, he delicately floated it out of her body and onto the flat towel.

Twilight's backside looked demolished, fresh blood trickled out of her, and rage bioled in his chest. 
"I'm sorry I didn't protect you, Twilight." Shining Armor gulped, his anger making him shake all over. "But, this will never happen again. we are leaving. Tonight. pack your saddlebags with essentials." He said walking over to the small bedroom window. Opening it as silently as possible. 

Twilight struggled to her feet, using what little magic she had learned to bring her saddle bag over to her. She put a book, some food, Smartypants, and quills inside, and then sighed. "Big brother... no... my fault... wanted you to stay... should have gone to your bed... I deserve it... Don't escape... mommy will find you... take you away... never see you again..." she could no longer cry, but instead looked totally distant and unresponsive. 

"Don't say that Twilight, it's not your fault." He told he looked out the window, making sure no one was around. He slowly and quietly climbed out before once again looking around. "Come on twilight, I'll help you up." He told her as he put his fore-hooves back through the window. 
> chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight slowly and quietly approached her brother, putting her hooves on his back for leverage. "H-How are we gonna get down?" she asked, noticing the rather long drop. 

He smiled down at his sister before pointing at his horn with his hoof. "Magic, what else?" He explained before levitating and lowering himself to the ground 

Twilight leaned over the windowsill, trying to us her magic to levitate down. Suddenly she heard a noise in the hallway. "What are those kids doing?" She heard sliding furniture and panicked. "Brother! H-Help!" 

"Shit!" shining cursed before grabbing his sister with his magic. He hastily picked her up and lowered her to the ground with his magic. "Come on twilight, we have to go. now!" He said as he looked down the dark, cobblestone streets of Canterlot. Before taking off in a slow gallop to get away from the the house. 

Twilight wobbled after him, unable to move very quickly. "B-Brother... wait for me...." 

Shining armor looked back at his sister, then up to the window they had left from to see his mother poke her head out and look around. He turned around scooped up twilight. He turned around again but this time, sprinted away from the house. 

Twilight's weight on top of her saddlebags, as well as his own, slowed his pace, but he knew his conditioning from sports would help him now. Even as all the muscles in his legs burned he continued his run at the highest speed his body would allow. He ran for blocks, more than he could count. He hadn't looked back, but could tell he had lost his parents. there is no way they could have kept up with him. 

As his legs were finally on the verge of giving out on him, Shining Armor slowed down to a walk, he was breathing heavily, huffing and puffing trying to regain his breath. He sat Twilight down. and observed his surroundings. As luck would have it, he had wandered into a train station. 

"T-T-Twlight..." he huffed. "Th-this is perfect... we-we can get a train... out of here." 

Twilight climbed off of her brother, then placed a hoof on his back. "A-Are you going to be okay?" She asked, leaning up against him. "Do we have any money for the train?" 

Shining slumped over in exhaustion. Still breathing heavily. "Y-yeah, check my right saddlebag... I should have  some bits in there. Will you go buy us a two tickets for The next train? It doesn't matter where it goes." 

She dug into her brother's saddle bag, grabbing a few coins and running over to the counter, buying two tickets for the train that would be leaving soon. "Look brother! I got them... come on, now just get on the train... you can do it..." 

Shining struggled to stand up. He slowly walked over to the train. He gave the pony standing at the door his ticket stub and the stallion ushered them aboard. Shining armor led Twilight to some seats on the dead train. He fell into his seat with a loud thump. 

"Wake me, when we get to... where ever we are going." He yawned and quickly fell asleep. 

Twilight lay on her brother, feeling his slow, rhythmic breaths, yawning as well. Though her head was a storm of anxiety and worry, she found that she fell asleep rather quickly as well. 

Shining's rest was troubled with dreams of his mother and father, distorted into hideous monsters, clawing and biting at his limbs. 

He awoke with a start to find twilight laying upon his chest; still asleep. there was the orange light of sunrise coming in through the train window as they approached the town that was the train's destination. He stroked twilight's mane as he watched the silhouetted buildings slowly come closer. 

Twilight's sleeping face was contorted, and her back legs twitched. "N-No... daddy... daddy! DADDY PLEASE NO! BROTHER?! WHERE ARE YOU?! NO DON'T GO! DON'T LEAVE ME! BROTHERRRR!!" Her eyes flew open and rested on her brother, She began to hug him tightly. 

"Shhh... Calm down Twilight, you okay. Big brother is here with you." Shining held her close and whispered into her ear. Trying to comfort his baby sister. 

Twilight smiled, for the first time since her mother had walked in on them, and she looked up at her brother. "I know... because you're here with me. It will all be okay." She nuzzles him as the train began to slow and approach its destination. 

"Let's go and see where we are, huh?" Shining asked Twilight as the train stopped. He led Twilight off the train and got a good look at the foreign train station. He noticed the sign over the ticket salesman that read 'Ponyville Train Station'.

"Ponyville, huh?" he looked back at the tracks from the direction they had came, and could still make out the outline of Canterlot in the far distance. "We didn't get as far as i thought..." He muttered to himself. "Twlight, are you hungry?" 

It was only them that Twilight noticed the rumbling in her belly and looked up, smiling. "Uh, yes big brother, I guess I am..." 

"Alright, well I still have some bits, let's see if we can't find something to eat. What would you like?" Shining smiled at his little sister. 

Twilight thought for a moment, about all the wonderful food and sweets she used to eat at home. Then she realized they were on their own, and didn't have much money. "Uh, j-just hay is fine." 

Shining looked at his sister with surprise. "If you say so." Shining went up to the older gray pony sitting behind a plate of glass selling tickets. 

"Hello, We just got here from Canterlot, and I was wondering if there was somewhere we could grab breakfast." The white colt asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. The feedbag is pretty good, if you walk out of the station and take a left, about a block down on your right." He told Shining. 

"Thanks." Shining Armor said as he turned towards the exit. He walked out of the train station, observing his surroundings in the morning light. and headed to his left, as instructed and began to walk down the dirt path. 

Twilight followed her brother closely, shifting her eyes at the unfamiliar buildings and ponies. "Um, big brother, where will we stay? Where will we sleep?" 

Shining thought about it for a moment. "Well, a hotel of course, like when we go on vacation." He told his little sister. He thought about the coin purse in his saddlebag that was already lighter than when they had left. He knew he would not be able to buy more than a night at a hotel. He furrowed his eyebrows trying to think up ways to make more money to keep life as normal as possible for Twilight.

'A job?' The stallion thought to himself. As he walked down the road, looking at the dirt under his hooves. 

He shook off his depressing thoughts, at least until they had something to eat. He looked up and saw 'The Feedbag' in gold lettering on a black wooden sign. hanging above a thick wooden door.

"This must be the place. You ready to eat, Twilight?" Shining asked, looking back at her. 

Twilight nodded, though she seems apprehensive to enter. She wasn't sure what it would be like, or whether they'd be welcome. Still, she trusted her brother, who looked like he knew what he was doing. "Yes big brother, I'm so hungry..." 

"Alright, lets fill that tummy, then." He said as he opened the door to the building. he walked in and looked around. It seemed like a rather plain and regular restaurant. A young female pony, a tad older than Shining was the hostess.

"Hi here, and welcome to the feedbag. just two today?" She asked with a smile.

"Yes, we are it." He told her back in a low tone. 

She led them to a table before saying. "Your server will be with you shortly." and laid the menus on the table in front of them.

Shining picked up the menu and flipped through it. "What are you gonna get Twilight, still want just hay?" he asked her, looking over his menu at her. 

Twilight sighed, fanning herself with the menu. "Yeah, probably.... Big brother, how can you be so calm? What's going to happen to us? What if Mommy and Daddy eventually find us? How will we eat? Where will we live? I'm... I'm scared brother..." 

"Well...I'm not sure Twilight..." He said, putting his menu down and looking down at the table. "For now, i can afford to put us up in a hotel, and feed us...."

He looked at his little sister, seeing the worry in her eyes. "But don't worry! I'll ALWAYS protect you, I won't let you go hungry, I will do anything I have to do to keep you safe! I'll.... I'll get a job, we will be fine." 

Twilight, frowned, then looked up at her brother, placing her hoof on his. "...Thank you. For everything. I don't know where I would be without you... I won't ever leave your side." Tears formed in her eyes as she reached across the table and hugged her brother tightly. 

"Of course Twilight." he said, a worried look on his face as he thought about their situation.

Their breakfast was over quick, and drained Shining's bit supply slightly. By the time they left the restaurant; the sun had rose over the buildings, bathing the streets in light. 

He walked around the town square bit, looking at the buildings. He found the town hall along with a sweets shop called "Sugar Cube Corner." By the town hall was a guard pony standing near the entrance. 

"Excuse me, could you tell me where the nearest hotel is? Preferably a cheap one?" Shining asked the pony.

The guard was a black Pegasus in gold armor with a blue star on this chest. His muscles rippled under his skin as his chest heaved with his heavy breath. He looked down at Shining and his tiny purple sister. He lifted an eyebrow. 

"Were are your parents? Children shouldn't be allowed to wander the streets alone."

Shining's eyes squinted at the guard's questions. Although, his quick wit helped him in this situation.

"They are over there, getting some food..." He pointed to a couple of ponies next to a vendor 50 feet away from them. "They asked us to ask..." He explained.

The guard rubbed his chin with his hoof, still looking at the duo suspiciously. He finally pointed a hoof to his right.

"Take Chestnut Street down three blocks, on your left will be the 'Ponyville Inn'." He told the children. 

"Come on, Twiley." Shining said as he started to head in the direction the guard had pointed. 

Twlight followed her brother down the street, keeping close to him. She remembered how her brother would always want her to have fun, but she had never been in a position where she depended on her brother for survival. She looked at the serious expression on his face and remembered the sweetness, kindness, and gentleness, which were now masked by the scars of the previous night. She wondered if she would ever see his true self again. Slightly, she trotted a little further from him. "Are we there yet big brother?" 

"Yea, this is the place." he said seeing a large wooden building with a sign once again above the door that read 'Ponyville Inn.'

Shining Armor entered and walked up the main desk, a green mare was the attendant at the time. 

"Hi, umm. I was wondering how much a room is for the night." Shining asked the mare.

"20 bits a night." Came her reply. Shining pulled out his coin purse and looked inside, he had maybe 25 bits left. 'It would buy us food and a bed for today, but after that we will be broke...' He thought to himself.

"Okay." The white colt said as he pulled the correct amount from his purse. He traded the mare money in place for a room key.

"Well, alright Twilight. Let's see where we will be sleeping tonight." He told her with a forced smile. "Why don't you go try to find it? It's room number twenty eight" 

Twilight levitated the key with her magic and trotted off down the hall checking the doors and numbers. She didn't like this one bit... but she didn't exactly feel comfortable in this town, and she was worried about what would happen in the future. Slowly, she turned the key in the lock walked into the rather small hotel room, threw herself on the bed, and cried. 

Shining followed his baby sister, he heard her throw herself on the bed, before hearing her muffled sobs. He came into the doorway and flipped on the light. He sat down next to Twilight. He reached out to her and laid a hoof on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he asked. 

Twilight sobbed, looking up at her brother. "What's wrong?! What's WRONG?! Everything's wrong! We're homeless! We're alone! I miss my books! I miss my bed! I c-can't believe... why did this happen?! Why did you have to do this to me?! Y-You... you ruined everything Shining Armor!" She hopped up from the bed and stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door. 

"Wha..." Shining muttered watching his sister storm off. He felt a pit in his stomach for making his sister angry; but, the more he thought about it, he started to get irritated. His brow furrowed and he got up. He walked to the restroom door. 

"If it wasn't for me, you'd still be with 'them'. I saved you, Twilight, and I'm trying my best!" He said through the door in heated voice. 

His tone softened considerably. as he continued to talk. "I know it's different, and you are uncomfortable, maybe even scared... But you need to know I'm here for you. I won't let anything bad happen to you, Twiley." 

She sobbed quietly through the door, not wanting to say anything. Yes, they were in a rough situation, but there was nothing more they could do. Shining Armor was helping her as best as he could, and she needed him. Slowly, she approached the bathroom door and opened it, then hugged her brother. "S-Sorry..." she said, wiping her tears. 

"It's okay..." He reassured her. "But, we are almost out of money, so I'm going to go into town to look for somewhere to work. Is that okay?" Shining asked his little sister. 

Twilight looked up at him and nodded. "Yes, of course big brother, and thank you... you're the best." She smiled, telling herself to be patient. That one day, they will both be able to return to their innocence. 

"Well... on our ride into the town, I saw a large apple orchard, I was thinking about trying to get work there. And if not, I'm sure I can find some work somewhere... will you be okay while I'm away for today? I'm apprehensive about letting you wander around alone, but I can't expect you to stay in the room all day. Just be careful, okay?" Shining explained to his baby sister. 

Twilight frowned, but nodded. "Oh, okay big brother, I promise I'll be careful. And you be careful too, okay?" She smiled, placing a reassuring hoof on his. 

"Of course." He reassured her. Shining got ready to go try to find a job. He washed up and made sure he looked good before he set out. He bid Twilight farewell and walked into the street of the town. After breakfast and checking into the hotel, it was already mid-morning.

He made the long trek to the outskirts of the town, going to the apple orchard. He walked up the dirt path and could see a large red barn in the distance. Both sides of the path were surrounded by apple trees. As he walked along the path, he found it led to a farmhouse close to the barn. 

Shining Armor tentatively walked up to the door and knocked. He waited, and finally a red colt about the same age as Shining answered the door. Shining was surprised at first. But proceeded to ask his question. 

"Umm, might your parents be home?" 

The red colt chewed a piece of wheat between his teeth, he looked shining over, sizing him up. He was slow to respond. When he spoke, he had a thick southern draw; audible despite him speaking only a few words.

"Eyup, round back." He jerked his neck the right, indicating the barn. 

Shining knew he would get nothing more from the rather dense red colt and thanked him. The red colt dipped his head and turned back into the house. 

Shining walked around back, despite the feeling in his gut that he was trespassing. He came around the back of the house and heard the quiet click of metal on metal coming from behind the barn. He went to investigate. 

Shining found a stallion with a coat of deep crimson working on the metal harness of a cart. 

~

Twilight sighed, laying down on the bed. She never had this kind of freedom before. She could go anywhere, do anything. Despite her unease about leaving and exploring the town on her own, the hotel room was unnervingly silent. After several minutes, she hopped out of bed and left, walking down the hall and out of the double glass doors.

The sun was high and shining, and there were several ponies in the streets busying themselves. Some where pushing karts, some were just talking, and some had huge bags full of odd things the filly had never seen before. Her sense of curiosity overpowering her fear, she quickly turned down the road, eager to see what she could find. 

As she turned down a street, she ran into a tall green mare, who gasped. "Are you alright?" she said.

"I-I'm fine." said Twilight, rubbing her head. To her surprise though, the mare was scowling down at her. 

"A new student? You know you should be in class by now, right?"

Twilight squinted her eyes. "Huh? What do you mean? I don't go to school here!"

The mare rolled her eyes. "All fillies and colts in this town are required to attend school, you're probably playing hookey. Don't worry, I'll contact your parents, come on."

Before Twilight knew what was happening, the mare was dragging her down the street until she was walking on her own. She considered running away, but she knew she'd just be caught anyway. Sighing, she followed the green pony to a red schoolhouse. "Get on in then, hurry up!" said the mare. Twilight nodded, and trotted through the doors of the school. 

~

"E-excuse me..." Shining said, getting the stallion's attention.

The crimson stallion looked over at shining with surprise. "Howdy." He greeted shining before adding, "How can I help ya?" 

"Are...are you owner of this farm?" He asked.

"I am, so what brings ya 'round these parts?"

Shining went on to explain how him and his sister were new to the town, he fabricated a story as to why they were alone and their parents weren't there with them. He ended his story trying to play on the stallion's sympathy, telling him how they were running out of money and without a job they would soon be on the streets. 

After his story, the stallion rubbed his chin and pawed the ground...

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, son. But the fact of the matter is that this is a family-run farm, and we don't need anymore help around here. Even if we did, I couldn't afford to hire you."

Disappointed, Shining left the farm after thanking the farmer for his time. He went back into town and went around the various businesses around the town and got similar stories. 

As the sun was starting to go down, making the sky a violet red. Shining was forced to go back to the hotel with no money, and no job to show for the day. 

~

Twilight had spent the day at school, and was surprised by how easy and simple the lessons were. Her advanced studies in Canterlot put her well ahead of her classmates, which left both the students and the teacher, shocked and surprised. She was given a test on the basics of arithmetic, which she aced, stirring up jealousy amongst her fellow classmates. Still, she never said a word and kept quiet during class, not wanting to make friends with the unfamiliar ponies around her. 

When school ended, Twilight returned to her stroll about town, this time being careful not to bump into any more ponies. She found she contradicted herself often; when ponies asked her to buy something, she said she had no money, and when ponies asked where her parents were, she said that they had sent her out to buy food. As the sun began to set, she returned to the hotel room, finding her brother looking despondent. 

Shining was laying on the queen-sized bed, thinking about their situation when The hotel door creaked open. He raised his head to see Twilight enter the room. He was relieved to see his little sister after a long day of disappointment. 

"Hey." He said with a smile. "How was your day?" 

Twilight sighed. "I was dragged to school, didn't learn anything, had to avoid ponies all day, not very fun. Yours? Did you find a job big brother?" 

"Uhh... no. but im going to look again tomorrow." He told her. "But, it's getting late... And I'm wanting to hit the sack. There is only one bed, so i guess you'll be bunking up with me tonight. Is that okay, Twiley?" 

Twilight bit her lip and nodded. "Yes, sure brother." She slowly climbed into bed, though she was visibly shaking, and made sure to stay as far away from her brother in the bed as possible. 

Shining noticed Twilight was shaking and staying on the edge of the bed. 

"Twiley? Are you okay?" He asked as he began to reach hoof out to his little sister, trying to comfort her. He gently touched her shoulder with the tip of his hoof under the covers. 

Twilight nodded, but she didn't turn around. "Yeah... I'm fine, I just... it feels weird, last time we were in bed together, and mommy came i-in..." she gasped, pulling the covers tightly around her. "S-Sorry big brother... I just want to sleep over here." 

"I-I understand, Twilight... It's okay, just try to get some rest, we will probably have a big day tomorrow..." He told her, retracting his hoof. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep with ease after an eventful day. 

Twilight yawned, unsure of that tomorrow would bring, but hopeful that this nightmare would soon be over. "Goodnight... BBBFF." she said gently, and drifted off to sleep. 
> chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shining's eyes fluttered open. He looked around, unsure of his surroundings. Yesterday's memories came flooding back to him. He sighed and looked to his right, towards the window in their room; the curtains were pulled, but the early morning light was able to peek through. Shining gazed over at his sister to find her still asleep, and still on the far edge of the bed.

Twilight twitched slightly, unconscious yet reacting to movements around her. In typical childlike fashion, she did not groggily wake up but instead her eyes flew open and she sat up, looking around. "B-Big brother? Where are we... oh, yeah..." the memories suddenly began to come back to her, and she yawned. "What... what are we going to do today, Shining Armor?"

Shining looked over at Twilight.
"Well, we are totally out of money, so I need to look for a job, and use today's earnings to feed and house us for another night... hopefully it will pay well enough that I can put some back every day and save it. As for food, you packed your saddlebags with some, didn't ya?"

Twilight nodded. "J-Just a little, you can have some if you want."

Shining got up and flipped open Twilight's saddlebag. He took provisions for them both and sat back down on the bed. They decided to just have their meager breakfast in the hotel room.

"Take the rest for lunch, I’ll figure something out for myself. But we have to check out of the hotel, so gather your things and we will set out," Shining told his sister.

Twilight put as much as she could into her bags, looking around to see if there was anything in the room she could take with her. She took a small washcloth from the bathroom and a bottle of water, then followed her brother out of the hotel room. Shining Armor walked up to the reception desk. The same mare was working again. He told her they were leaving and returned the key to her. She thanked them and bid them good day.

"I'll be good today, brother." she said cheerfully. "I'll stay out of the way and look for things for us to use. When you get back, we'll have so much!" She smiled up at him, trying to find some way to return to the innocence they had just a few days prior.

Shining looked down at his sister, not sure what she meant.
"Well, okay. But aren't you going back to school today?" He asked the purple filly.

Twilight shook her head. "I need to help you! I have to do something for you..." She walked out of the hotel room with him. "I won't steal anything, I just want to find stuff for us."

“Well, what do you mean ‘find stuff for us?’ I mean, of course we could use it, but where are you going to find it?”

Twilight shrugged. "I could look through what ponies throw away, in the garbage, isn't that a good idea, big brother?"

"Yeah that would be a good idea... I mean, if that's okay with you."

Twilight smiled. "Of course, big brother, I want to make you happy!" She hugged him, burying her face in his mane. "Promise me you'll be careful again today, please?"

"Of course, I'm just going job hunting; it's you that needs to be careful..." he told her as they walked towards the town square.

Twilight walked with him, looking at the ponies who ran around the fountain, played with each other, went to work, went home - they had no idea what they took for granted. She was jealous of them. "I'll be okay big brother, I promise."

"Well, okay. I need to go find a job. I'll see you this evening, Twilight," he said as he started walking down one of the many streets that branched off from the town square.

Twilight stood there, waving farewell to her brother, then turned down the street, looking for dark, empty, forgotten places, which aren't easy to find. She decided her best bet was to leave the center of town and go off to the outskirts. She trotted back down the road, looking left and right. As she neared the edge of town, she found a dumpster overflowing with garbage. She quickly attempted to scale it, using a pile of boxes beside it to aid in her climb. As she leaned over, however, she accidentally fell into the giant canister. Rubbing her head, she began to search for bits of food and clothing they could use.

Shining looked around at the different shops as he walked through the town, going into all the shops that had a 'help wanted' sign in the window. He inquired about jobs but was getting nowhere. Either the job required some specialized skill, or, since he was obviously a minor the owner wanted a parents permission; which of course, he could not provide.

After the tenth shop with no luck in getting a job, Shining noticed a group of guards around an information board on the corner of the street.

"I guess I'll never be like them..." Shining sighed to himself, remembering how he was to set off for cadet school in a matter of weeks.

"Well, oughtta get back to work, sun-ass gets pissed when we slack off." One of the guards said with a huff.

"Shh... they say she can hear everything, you never know what freaky magic those alicorns are working on. Did you hear about that guy that spoke out against her during one of her meetings?" One of the other guards said in a hushed voice.

The first guard raised an eyebrow. "No, what happened?"

"Apparently his head was found on a pike the next morning," The second guard said.

"No shit...? Damn..." He said as the group started to walk away.

Twilight sat there, pulling out scraps and items, stuffing them in her bag. At the bottom of the dumpster, she found several fresh blades of hay, as well as apple cores, which, though dirty, smelled okay to her. She also looked for cloth to use as a blanket for her and Shining Armor tonight. Unfortunately, she couldn't find any in the dumpster, and so crawled out with her saddle bag full of food.

It wasn't long before she found another dumpster, which she immediately dove into in search of more food or clothing. At the bottom of the giant metal container, she found a ripped, filthy, grey dress, which she threw over herself. The fabric wasn't particularly thick, but it would at least keep her somewhat warm. When she tried to climb out, however, she bumped against the lid, and it slammed shut, trapping her inside.

Twilight panicked. She pressed against the heavy lid and the sides as hard as she could, but she could find no way out. She considered yelling for help, but she was supposed to stay hidden today, lest the green come by and take her back to the school. After several hours, she stopped trying, and opened her saddlebag to nibble on what she had salvaged.

As she ate her food, she heard voices outside. Deep, male voices.

"Quit slackin', it's almost sunset and we still haven't found the Sparkle kids!"

"Look, I doubt they came this far from Canterlot already, this seems pointless."

"Yeah, well, their folks are offering a huge reward, doesn't that motivate you?"

"Not really. I know someone else will find them first."

"Pfft, you give up too easily."

The voices trailed off, and Twilight stayed in the dumpster, shaking. They were hunting for them. They would be found soon. She struggled not to cry.

Once the guards moved away from the board. Shining walked up to it, looking to see if there were job listings. What he saw though, struck a pang of fear deep within his heart.

Missing: Sparkle children

Twilight and Shining Armor

Reward for their return.

The wheat-colored paper read in bold, black ink. it had a picture of them each under the title with contact information of their house in Canterlot. Shining looked around before ripping the piece of paper off the board. He ducked his head and turned back to where he and Twilight had agreed to meet that evening.

"I have to let her know about this before somepony spots her..." he said under his breath as he ducked in and out of back alleys, trying to take the most roundabout route possible to get to the meeting point without being seen.

Twilight dared not move, despite the awful smell inside the dumpster. It did occur to her that she would have to find a way out at some point. She had a sudden image of her being dumped into a garbage compactor, which refueled her desire to leave. She climbed back up to the top and pressed against the lid with all her might. She managed to open it just a crack, allowing her to get a breath of fresh air as well as a view of her surroundings. It was sunset, and there were only a few ponies in the streets. She tried to lift the lid up more, but she fell back, causing the lid to close with a bang. She gasped, hoping she wasn't heard. "Oh no... what will I do?" she said to herself.

Shining made it back to the meeting point and Twilight was nowhere to be found. He knew that she was always punctual; if she wasn't there on time it meant something was wrong. He headed off in the direction Twilight had gone that morning. As he went down the back alleys he softly started to call for his little sister.

"Twilight, Twilight!" he quietly yelled.

Twilight was curled up in the bottom of the dumpster, half asleep, when she heard her brother's voice calling for her. "H-Here!" she choked. "Big brother! Where are you?! I'm in here!" She banged against the side of the dumpster to try to get his attention.

Shining ran over the dumpster and strained his magic against the heavy lid, slowly flipping it up. He looked down to find his dirty sister, he plucked her out of the garbage with his fore hooves.

"How did you get in there?!" He said as put her on the ground.

Twilight panted. "N-Never mind that! I overheard the guards, they're looking for us, Shining Armor! Mom and dad sent them after us! What are we gonna do?"

"So... you heard too, huh?" Shining said looking down at the ground. "Well, we are going to have to stay out of places where we will be easily recognized, and it would be great to find a cloak or something to wear to hide your face... I suppose we could try to move to a town further from Canterlot where the word hasn't spread of our escape yet... but there would be some problems we would have to overcome..."

Twilight frowned, hugging her brother. "We'll be okay, won't we? I just... I'm scared big brother. I'm so scared."


"Yes, we will be okay... we just have to lay low. Let's try to find some cloaks, to hide. And; I think we should take the train to the next town over.." He said.


Twilight blinked. "Oh!" She opened her saddle bag and produced the long, tattered dress she found in the dumpster. "Will this work for a cloak?" She threw it over herself, covering her entire body.


"hmmm... perhaps, just need to find a way to cover your face... as for me, I’ll find something tonight, I suppose. We will leave as soon as possible, I just have to... 'collect' the money first." He said looking down the alley in the direction he had come.


Twilight pulled the fabric around her and moved back into a corner of the alley. "I'll wait for you here... please be careful big brother."


"Well, its just now getting dark... i have to wait until it’s fully nighttime... let's set up somewhere for us to sleep here... We-we can't go back to the hotel; I'm sorry, Twiley." He looked around the alley trying to figure out how to make a bed or shelter for themselves. "I'll stay with you until you fall asleep tonight, then... I'll get the money we need tonight and we can leave in the morning."


Twilight's lip trembled. "Y-You're going to leave me here? Alone?! No big brother, y-you can't! Please don't leave me!"


"Shh... He said, embracing his sister, hugging her close to his chest. Okay Twilight... I'll stay with you all night. I'll find the money tomorrow.." He lied, plotting how to slip away from his sister once she fell asleep without waking her.


Twilight smiled up at him. "Thanks big brother, I knew you wouldn't leave me." She laid back against a wall, behind the dumpster, and wrapped the dress under her as well, forming a makeshift bed and blanket. "Oh... there's not much room for you..."


"It's fine, Twilight..." He said softly, laying down beside his sister. He hugged her, pulling her in tight as they lay on the ground together. He nuzzled her hair,trying to comfort her in such a dire situation.

"I'm sorry,Twilight, for all of this... But, tomorrow will be better." Shining whispered into her ear. He closed his eyes and began to breath slow and steady, feigning sleep. He waited until he felt her do the same, her little chest bobbing up and down as she tried to catch up on some sleep.

“Twilight...” He whispered under his breath, opening his eyes and pulling his head back to look at the filly. He waited for a moment. No response. She was indeed asleep. Shining very carefully began to scoot away from his sister, being as quiet as possible. He stood, looking down at his sleeping sister.

“I’m sorry Twilight..." Shining said as he turned his back on his sleeping sister. He threw on his saddlebags, after unloading them of the meager supplies he had packed before they had set out; mostly camping supplies, matches, a survival knife, not much they could use in the city. He slowly crept away from Twilight, walking down the alley towards some of the vendor stands. 

Shining stepped into deserted area of the town set up for vendors to show their wares. He quietly looked around at the stands.

“Must be really trusting around here...” He whispered to himself, seeing one of the vendors had simply covered their produce with a tarp for the night, weighed down be a few rocks. “They call this security?”

Shining made note of the unprotected food and looked around the stalls for lock boxes, or anything where he could find the money for the train tickets. He found nothing. He walked back to the stall with the tarp.

Shining glanced around. Not a soul in sight. He redirected his glare at the tarp. 

'What am I doing?' He asked himself, staring at the tarp, contemplating his actions. 'There has to be a better way...' he thought, turning away from the tarp.

“I'm hungry, big brother.” Twilight's voice echoed in his mind. Shining shook his head. Trying to rid himself of the pit in his stomach; the guilt of not being able to take care of her.

'I have no choice....' He turned back. He kicked two of the rocks off the tarp, and flipped it back, revealing a pile of Apples. Shining stuffed his right saddlebag with apples and then snapped it shut. 

Shining once again looked around, and once again saw no one. 

Shining set back to twilight, wanting to drop off the apples, so she would at least have breakfast if he wasn't back by the time she woke up. 

He pulled the coin purse from his left saddle bad and opened it, he had only a few bits left, not near enough for a train ticket.

“Those are some nice looking saddlebags you got there...” A gruff voice came from behind Shining as he walked down the alley.

“Wha-?” Shining spun around confronting the voice. 

A frazzled looking brown earth stallion materialized out of the shadows behind Shining Armor. He wore a  brown cloak with a drawstring keeping it fastened at his neck. 

“I said, those are some good looking saddlebags...” He repeated, showing genuine interest, taking a step forward.

Shining remained silent still holding the coin purse in his hoof at his chest, he looked down at it before levitating it back into his left saddlebag. He backed away. 

“Where ya going? I just wanna TALK.” He emphasized the last word, at the same time pulling a crude blade from an unseen pocket in the cloak.

Shining bumped into a wall. He was cornered, the way he had come was blocked by the stallion, he looked to his left, the path he had to go down to get back to Twilight. 

“Don't even think about running...” The pony warned, centering himself between the paths of escape for shining, not giving him a safe way to get away. 

“Why don't yall just put down them fancy saddlebags and we all walk away from this without a scratch?” He instructed, waving the knife around. 

Shining swallowed hard. But said nothing.

“I know you are with your sister...She's a cute little thing. Now, you'll do what I say, or I'll make sure she never wakes up.” He threatened Shining with a menacing voice.

Shining unfastened his saddlebags and slowly put them on the ground. Grinding his teeth together, his rage boiling inside him from the threat on Twilight. He took a few steps towards the pony, so the saddlebags were behind him.

The greedy stallion was reckless. He approached Shining's left side without waiting for him to move away from the saddlebags, almost completely ignoring the white stallion as a potential threat. 

The hoof with the blade hung loosely at his side, Shining watched it steadily bob in line with the stallion's walking as he got closer to Shining Armor.

The stallion didn't take his eyes off the saddlebags as he approached, his greed made him oblivious to his surroundings. 

Shining's heart pounded as the brown pony was a mere yard away from him, his breath was heavy and the adrenaline made the seconds pass like minutes. His eye's were wide and nostrils flared, his muscles tense, ready to spring into action as soon as the opportunity presented itself. 

As the Brown stallion passed dangerously close to shining, he shot him a glance, challenging him. As the stallion broke his fast gaze with shining, Shining could feel it, the moment had arrived. 

Shining brought his left hoof up with adrenaline-enhanced speed, landing a crushing blow to the brown stallion's throat. Shining reared back and side stepped to his right, before bringing his right forehoof to the jaw of the dazed pony. 

The brown stallion's head smashed against the the brick wall of the alley. The blade dropped to the cobblestone ground with a soft clink. 

Shining didn't stop there, though... He stood over the stallion who slumped to the ground. 'I'll make sure she never wakes up.' His threat echoed in Shining head. The white colt's jaw clenched and his teeth gritted against one another. His anger boiled over. 

Shining reared up again, this time his hooves right next to each other. He put all his strength and weight into his fore hooves; bringing them down onto the stallion's head. There was dull thump as his hooves connected, follow by a groan from the unconscious stallion. 

The white colt repeated his action, this time acquiring a sound that was similar to a window cracking. A gurgle escaped the ponies throat. Shining hit a third time, finally getting a loud crack from the skull of the stallion. 

Shining backed up from the still, silent, black mass of pony laying in the dark corner of the back alley. The only sound was the Shining's heavy breathing. Shining looked around not sure what to do, he decided to strap on his saddlebags once more. 

Once they were secure, shining looked at the brown stallion. He hadn't moved. Shining cautiously approached him. He saw the stallion was not moving, he gingerly removed the brown ponies cloak, wrapping it around himself, inside the cloak he found a coin purse with more bits then he expected.

Shining walked back to Where he had left Twilight, and found her safe and sound. He walked up to his sister and nudged her. 

“Twilight.... wake up.”



> chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight budged in her sleep, letting out a low moan as her eyes slowly fluttered open. "Big... Brother... what is it? Did something happen?" She looked up at him, noticing he was filthy, but was was covering him? Dirt? Mud? It looked somewhat reddish, and Twilight peered closer, trying to get a good look at him in the darkness of the alley. "Brother... is that... blood?"

"Huh?" Shining muttered, looking down at his hooves. He picked up his right hoof and pointed it towards his face, he was finally able to see what his sister was talking about. Blood covered his fore hooves, splattering up a few inches past his first joint.

"I..." He muttered, not sure how to respond.

How did i get all this blood on me? He asked himself. An image of the still mass of the brown stallion laying in the back alley flashed in his mind.

Did he cut me? Did he cut himself? Shining asked himself.

"I'm not sure... I-I need to go check something now, get up and follow me," he told his sister before turning around to go back to where the stallion had confronted him.

Twilight stood up and followed Shining Armor. "Brother... I'm scared, that's not your blood, is it? Are you hurt?" She placed her hoof lovingly on her brother's side, checking to see if he was bleeding.

"I-I'm not sure... I don't think so..." he stated, lifting his cloak and looking at his ribs, checking for gashes. After he found none he began to walk back to the to spot where he had last seen the brown stallion. "I need to check something..." he told twilight over his shoulder

Twilight kept close to her brother. "What... is it? Brother I'm scared, what's happened? Why are you covered in blood?" She had a flashback to the night her parents raped her, how she bled all over the floor afterwards, how much it hurt. She felt an uncomfortable knot in her stomach.

“I have a hunch, but I'm not sure yet... That is what I need to go check." He told Twilight as he rounded the several corners to the spot.

As he took the final right, Shining froze. As the sun began to rise, the town became increasingly more visible. Now Shining could see details that were all just a black blob before.

Shining knew where the blood came from now, the deep lacerations on the brown stallion’s face and neck. The blood was now dried, turning his brown fur black.

The cracking Shining had heard last night was from the deep indentation of on the pony's forehead, where Shining had crushed that portion of his skull, sending fragments of bone into his brain.

Upon further inspection, Shining saw all the gashes on the stallion's skin were from where Shining’s hooves had landed and torn his skin apart.

The stallion's eyes were still open, looking glassy, glazed over, and exceptionally haunting. His jaw was slack, dislocated from Shining's assault. His tongue splayed out of his mouth and lay in a dried puddle of his own blood.

Shining gulped, suppressing his gag reflex, his stomach knotted up, wanting to expel everything he had ate in the past twelve hours.

He suddenly remembered Twilight when he heard the soft clunk of her hooves against the ground.

"Stop Twilight... don't come around here..." he said weakly, barely able to speak without vomiting.

Twilight had already begun to round the corner as Shining Armor said those words. "Why, what is it? Did something happ-" Her eyes found the body, its mangled form covered in blood. She took a deep breath and stifled a scream, tears forming in her eyes.

"I...I didn't want to believe it; but this is why my hooves were covered in blood...I-I killed a pony..." He trailed off, staring at the body.

I have to report this to the guards... he thought. before remembering Twilight and himself were runaways, and they had to avoid guards.

No... I can't report this... but I can't just leave him here... what do I do? He asked himself.

Shining knew the guards made it routine to check back alleys. He also knew once the sun was high in the sky, the body would be visible by anyone who looked down the alley from the main road. Shining considered moving the body out of sight, hiding it. Although, he knew it would mostly likely just incriminate him more once the scene of the crime had a full investigation going on.

"We have to get out of here..." he said aloud. "Twilight, I have the money for the train, we need to get out of this town."

Twilight stood there, dumbfounded by the body. simply staring at the lifeless, blood stained form.

“Brother... you didn’t do this.” She whispered, more to herself than Shining, trying to convince herself this couldn’t be real. Shining was silent, unsure how to answer.

“H-He, didn’t do this, you couldn’t have. you didn’t do this.” She repeated outloud, her voice gaining strength.

Twilight began to hyperventilate, shaking and crying, Still staring at the bloody mess that was the corpse in front of her. "N-No... No Big Brother didn't do this! He didn't do this! HE DIDN'T DO THI-I-I-I-ISSSSSS..." she began to sob loudly.

Shining spun around. He lowered himself so his fiery eyes stared straight into Twilight's.

"Twilight, you need to calm down. We have to get out of here, and you can NEVER tell anypony about this." He sternly told his sister, grabbing her shoulders with his blood-stained fore hooves. "Do you understand me, Twilight? NEVER!" He re-stated, giving his sister a hard shake, never once breaking eye contact.

Twilight swallowed hard. "Y-Yes big brother, I won't t-tell anypony..." She was visibly traumatized by what she saw, and stared up at her brother as if looking at a stranger.

"Okay..." He exhaled, standing back up, and as his hooves left her shoulders he could see the red he had left in her fur. Shining looked gaunt and even paler than normal.

"We need to get out of here as soon as possible, out of this town, out of this area. but I can't go to the train station like 'this'" he said, looking down at his blood-splattered hooves. "Let's find someplace to clean up, then we can leave..." he thought outloud.

Twilight wiped her tears. "O-Okay..." She followed him out of the alley, terrified that they would be seen or caught.

"A-alright... when I was looking for a job the other day, I saw a river that runs at the edge of town. We can wash up there." He set off in the direction of the river.

She followed him, still visibly shaken, looking at the blood covering her brother. She felt like she didn't know him anymore, that the silly, soft-spoken colt she knew was dead, and replaced by an embittered, violent stallion. Twilight knew the difference between right and wrong, and she knew that only bad ponies hurt others.

But, only bad ponies hurt others... she thought.

But I’ve never thought of Shining as a bad pony... He was always so nice.

But... if he could do THAT to somepony... What else will he do? What if he does that to me? She thought, her head down with a deep frown on her face.

Shining left the alley, ducking in and out of hiding back alleys and constantly looking for hiding places in case a patrol came around a corner. It was still dawn and there were very few ponies up and about, none of which came closer to Shining than 50 feet, too far away to see the blood covering his hooves under the cloak

Twilight was silent on their way to the river, and once Shining heard the rush of water over rocks he began to relax.

"You alright?" he asked over his shoulder, finally seeing the river where he was going to scrub the grime from his body.

She shuddered. "...No! I'm not alright! We're alone, dirty, hungry, and you just murdered somepony! I... I don't even know you anymore..." she laid against a rock and started to cry.

Shining stopped and looked at his sister.

We don’t have time for this. he told himself.

"Look, can we maybe just... I don't know, talk about this on the train? We still have to leave this town and soon, as fast as possible. Before the body is found."

Twilight wiped her tears. This was a chance. Not much, but maybe soon... maybe things could change. "Alright... f-fine," she said indifferently. She still didn't trust him, but she didn't exactly have a choice.

"Okay..." He sighed, turning back to the river. He stepped into the soft-flowing stream, watching the blood flow off his hooves. He splashed the water up his forelegs and scrubbed the blood from his coat.

He looked himself over, cleaning any splatter he found on his chest, sides, or legs. When he was satisfied he turned his attention to Twilight, remembering he had left a stain on her shoulders when he grabbed her.

Twilight hadn't followed him in and was standing on the bank of the river.

"Come on, you need to wash off, too." He called to her.

Twilight sighed, stepping into the cold flowing water. As she walked deeper in, the river splashed and played against her side, pulling off bits of dirt she had accumulated in her sleep last night. She lowered herself into the water and scrubbed her shoulder with her hoof. It took quite a while before the stain was completely washed out into the stream. "Am I clean big brother?"

Shining circled Twilight, looking over her clean form. Taking note of her cute flank. His gaze wandered for a moment, appreciating her tiny body. He bit his lip, seeing her like this made him remember all nights they had spent together.

What am I doing? His mind snapped at him. How could I be thinking such thoughts at a time like this?!

Realizing he hadn't answered, he let out a meek "Yes"

Twilight shivered, shaking off the cold water. "Good, I just want this to be over with." She groaned and climbed out of the river, following her brother.

Shining shook his head, trying to rid himself of those thoughts, yet they left a residual feeling in the back of his mind.

"Now... let's get to the train station. I can buy us some tickets and we will be out of here." He announced, heading back to Ponyville. "Although... it is a train station, I expect a good amount of guards to be there. So, always keep you head down, never make eye contact, and always keep that dress on." He lectured Twilight as the buildings came into view at the edge of town.

Twilight threw the dress over herself, looking rather silly, but concealing most of her face. She trotted along with her brother to the train station, keeping close. "Um, Big Brother? Where are we going?"

"I'm-I’m not sure..." He admitted. "I'll see what is the soonest departure time for someplace far away."

As they walked, getting close to the train station. Shining gazed back at his sister. He smiled at her.

"Ya know... we should really get you a different disguise once we get to where we are going. That dress is better than people recognizing you, but you stick out with it on... It’s filthy and ragged, it makes you really look like a runaway..." He explained. "Maybe we will have enough money after the train tickets to buy you something in the next town.”

“Umm.. thanks.” She forced a weak smile.

The entrance to the train station was now in sight. He stopped his pace and put a hoof out to signal Twilight to stop as well.

"Alright, this is going to be risky... but it's the best chance we have of getting out of this town quickly and quietly. Are you ready? I'll NEED you to stay close to me, and do anything I say without question, alright?"

She nodded then followed her brother onto the platform. "Where are we even going?"

Shining saw the pony selling tickets. “I’m about to find out. Go sit on that bench while I get the tickets” He instructed, pointing to a row of benches on the far wall of the station for ponies to sit and wait for trains.

Shining pulled his hood low, concealing his horn. He walked up the pony sitting behind the glass selling train tickets. Above the pony sat a schedule for the trains coming and departing from the station.

Looking at the board, he quickly found the train that would be leaving the soonest. He then looked down, avoid eye contact and said in a gruff voice.

"Two for Manehattan."

The pony that had been eyeing Shining since he came into the station and was hesitant. "Thirty bits." The pony said, sure the rough looking kid could not afford it.

Shining dropped the heavy coin-purse onto the counter between the two. At the site of the large amount of money, the train station pony's eyes widened before hastily getting the tickets Shining had requested.

Shining paid the pony, never making eye contact, always keeping his face covered. Shining turned away without even thanking him.

Twilight quickly followed her brother onto the train, sticking close. "Manehattan? Why are we going there? I've heard bad things about Manehattan..." She shivered, keeping the dress over her.

Shining intentionally went to the back of the train, 3 carts from the caboose. Most of the passengers were at the front of the train, and avoidance was the name of the game.

"I know, but... its the destination of the train that is leaving the soonest." He explained. "Plus, it's rather far away, the news of us being runaways won't have reached there. And even if it does, the city is so big it won't matter. No one will recognize us."

He chose not to bring up the fact that the murder investigation would be localized in Ponyville, and wouldn't stretch to other towns. Shining knew that doing so would only upset Twilight.

Shining looked around the cart of the train, finding a few other ponies, some in similar garb to the two siblings.

Other homeless ponies? Shining asked himself. He sat down in one of the seats and ushered Twilight down besides him, keeping his hood up and over his face

Twilight sat next to him, curling her forelegs under her. She tried not to look at the other ponies, but curiosity got the better of her. She peeked out from under her dress and saw an elderly stallion peering around the train car. He looked straight at her and winked, and she hid back under her dress. "I'm scared, big brother...."

Shining wrapped his hoof around his little sister, trying to give her as much comfort as possible in the train, but said nothing.

Shining peered out the window of the train, looking at the entrance, keeping an eye out for a guard. He saw a few random ponies file in and get in line for train tickets. He wished the train to start, to pull out of the station, to leave this place.

Shining pleaded in his mind to hear the brakes of the train release and for the engine to start moving forward.

Still watching the entrance, he saw a pair of guards walk into train station. His stomach dropped as he saw the duo in sparkling gold armor trot towards the pony selling tickets.

The guards cut in front of the all the ponies in line and spoke to the ticket salespony for a minute, sliding him a picture. The pony behind the glass waved his hoof and shrugged his shoulders to the two guards’ questions.

Shining watched the conversation play out slumped over in his seat, trying to stay low.

The guards turned away from the pony, then looked at one another, trading a few words. Then walked back to the entrance of the train station, watching the ponies file into the station for their daily trains.

The train finally moaned and Shining could feel the tension that had formed a knot in his throat fade as the train lurched forward. Shining sighed, relieved.

The train cart he and Twilight had been sitting in was half-way filled with ponies heading the same way they were. An uneasy smile formed on Shining's lips as he glanced down at Twilight.

"We made it..." He said in a soft voice so only Twilight could hear.

Twilight was petrified, her hooves shaking. It was really starting to sink in for her, what happened to them, what Shining Armor did, where they were going, and just how much danger they were in. As the train departed the station, she hugged her brother, crying softly.

"I'm... I'm so sorry. I've been so selfish. I just wanted my life to get better, and I kept blaming you. Even still, you chose to risk your life for me, and I never... I was never grateful for what you did..." she wiped her tears on the gray, tattered dress. "I love you, big brother. I always will."

"Shh..." Shining whispered, hugging Twilight close with his right hoof. He stroked her mane, trying to comfort her the same way he had when they had got on the train to Ponyville.

"It's okay, I'm not mad at you. I love you, Twiley." He spoke in as comforting voice as he could muster.

Shining then remembered the fair amount of bits left over after he had bought the train tickets. He pulled the coin purse out from the pocket on the inside of his cloak. He showed it to his little sister.

"I have enough bits to buy you a new cloak like I said earlier, once we get into the next city. After that, I will probably still have enough left over to stay a night or two in a hotel until I can find a job there... with it being such a big city, I'm sure it will have job openings." He talked, deep in thought. "Does that sound good, Twilight?"

The purple filly nodded. "That sounds great! What do you want me to do when we get there? I really want to help you." She shuffled her hooves under the dress.

"Hmm..." Shining stroked his chin, contemplating his answer. "I'm not sure, I know that once we get there the first thing we should do is get you a proper cloak. Then get a hotel to have as like a temporary home. I'm going to do the same thing that I did once we were in Ponyville, go around looking for a job. But as for you, I just don't know...." Shining trailed off, still thinking deeply. "Unless... You want to try going back to school?"

Twilight shook her head. "N-No! I want to stay with you and help you! Well, even if I can't be with you, I can still find stuff! It's the city, we're bound to find all kinds of things, aren't we?"

Shining crossed his fore hooves, looking down at the floor of the train between his hind legs.

"Well, yes, I'm sure there would be plenty of things to find, and I'm sure you would be able to do it. But I just don't want you getting hurt or lost, it is a big city after all." Shining wasn't sure how to convince Twilight, but he just had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach when he thought about his little sister walking around the back alleys of a big city alone.

Before he could let her argue anymore, he decided to change the subject.

"Are you hungry?" He asked. "I have some apples for breakfast."

Twilight nodded. "Oh, thanks, I'm starving!" She looked out the window as the train left Ponyville, and she got one last glimpse of Canterlot up by the mountain. "Do you... do you think mom and dad will find us?"

Shining sighed. "I don't know... I hope not. But I think with us going all the way to Manehattan, we won't have to worry about it."

The white colt dug out two apples, one each to start them off.

Shining bit into the apple and was delighted by the flavor, he had never had such sweet apples from the fruit stands in Canterlot. Shining quickly devoured several apples, realizing how hungry he was, leaving only the cores.

Shining laid back, his stomach now satiated. His night of no sleep was catching up to him. He yawned and his eyelids felt heavy.

A young filly her age was sitting across from the duo,she was next to her parents. She was smiling and laughing, while her mother hugged her. Twilight saw this and shivered.

Shining felt his sister shake. He followed her eyes to the family sitting across the aisle. He himself had a pang of longing in his stomach as he saw the mother embrace her child.

An image of Twilight flushed, crying face while his father mounted her flashed in Shining mind. That image morphed into an image of his mother holding a blade to his balls, threatening to castrate him.

Shining grit his teeth together, anger once again rising in his chest. He had been questioning if all his choices were wrong. But with these unwanted memories, his confidence in himself was re-established.

Shining tightened his hug on his filly sister. "It's okay Twilight, we will get through this."

"I know Shining Armor, I just want this to hurry up and be over." She retreated back inside the folds of the tattered dress, pressing against her brother. "Let's look at the positives... you're still here, I'm still here, and we have a chance. That's all I need."

"You're right... but I can't shake the feeling that i could have done better, like i have failed as your older brother. Maybe you would have been better off without me, if not for me, you wouldn't be in this mess." Shining said, look down at the floor.

Twilight shook her head. "No, you've done more than enough for me. I wouldn't be here without you." She hugged him again, smiling, admiring how handsome he was, despite his relative dirtiness. "Think things will get better in Manehattan?"

"I hope so..." Shining muttered.

"Will you be okay if I take a nap on the way there?" Shining suddenly asked his sister, changing the topic.

Twilight polished off her apples, shaking her head dismissively. "I think I'll take a nap too..." She yawned and stretched her hooves out, then laid her head against her brother, closing her eyes.

"Heh, okay." He smiled, pulling her close. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to get some sleep.

~

The train began to slow down, the brakes began to squeal. Shining was abruptly awakened by the shrill sound.

"Huh? Are we there already?" He asked, rubbing his eyes. Twilight was still laying her head on his chest. He peered out the window and saw a train platform.

He spotted the exit to the terminal, above the exit was a sign that read Trottingham.

Twilight stirred slightly, not yet waking up. "Brother... don't go... need you..."

Shining was about to ask what was wrong but saw his sister was still asleep, probably dreaming. He just left his hoof around her shoulder as reassurance.

That was when the train conductor’s voice came over the intercom system of the train.

"We are now at Trottingham station. Next stop will be the Manehattan terminal." The intercom turned off.

Just passing through then, huh? Shining thought. He saw nearly every pony in the cart stand up at the mention of Trottingham over the intercom, apparently this was their stop. Shining looked out the train window and saw a decent number of people sitting on benches waiting for this train, he knew they would soon board.

Twilight shifted, her eyes fluttering open. "Huh? Where... where are we? Are we in Manehattan big brother?" She watches as several ponies boarded the train.

"No, the train made a pit stop in another city called Trottingham. From here it's a straight shot to Manehattan, though." He told her.

As he watched the ponies board the train and sit in the carts ahead of them, he saw something that made his heart race. A royal guard was coming from the front of the train, looking at all the passengers as he slowly walked.

"Twilight." Shining said in an exasperated voice. "Keep your head down, act like you're still asleep." Shining pulled his hood up and lowered his head, watching the guard approach.

She quickly laid her head on her brother's side, shutting her eyes and slowing her breathing, but she had seen the guard too, and her heart was racing.

The guard walked into their car on the train and began slowly looking around. When he neared Shining, he lowered his eyes to the floor, hiding his face.

“Aha! found you!" The guard announced. He was right outside the aisle where Twilight and himself sat. Shining held his breath, his heart pounding. They had been found. Shining lifted his eyes towards the guard.

The guard walked past them and grabbed a scruffy looking pony out from the seat behind them.

"Think you can escape the law, criminal? Not on my watch!" The guard proclaimed, holding tightly to the apparent criminal.

"Hey, man. You got the wrong pony!" He protested, struggling in the guard's grasp. The guard promptly escorted the pony off the train, cuffing him, and Shining watched them exit the train station.

Only once he could no longer see the gold of his armor did he relax, he sighed. he couldn't believe how close they had just come to being found out.

Twilight was still shaking. "I c-can't take it anymore! I want to get out of here! I want to be safe! I hate being scared." She hugged her brother tightly. "Y-You're all I have left... I don't want to lose you too."

"I-I know Twilight, I won't ever leave you." Shining tried to comfort his little sister, he wasn't sure what the right thing to say was. She was right, being on the run like this was terrifying, it was no way to live.

"But... once we get to Manehattan, we will be safe." As if to reaffirm Shining's claim, the intercom buzzed to life. The conductor's voice came through.

"We will now be departing for Manehattan. We expect to arrive in a little over an hour. Everypony please fasten your safety belts." His voice died and the brakes holding the train in place released as the train began to move ever so slightly.

Shining smiled down at his sister, still trying to comfort her. "See? we are going now, we will be safe there..."

She sighed. "I can't wait... I'm so scared." She sat still, looking forward.

Neither could sleep the rest of the train ride, it had been rather uneventful. The only ponies left after the trottingham stop and the guard incident were himself, twilight, and two other ponies. One of which moved to a cart farther up on the train fifteen minutes after they had left the Trottingham station.The siblings had nothing to talk about that hadn’t already been said.

After around forty-five Minutes, Shining felt the need to use the restroom. He told Twilight before sliding past her into the aisle of the train cart. He walked to the restroom at the back of the cart. He entered the tiny room. There was a small mirror above the sink.

He quickly emptied his bladder before turning on the water. He ran his hooves under it and splashed the cold liquid onto his face. He laid his hooves on the small counter top, leaning on them as he got close to the mirror to look at himself.

The white colt had bags under his bloodshot eyes, his eyelids were heavy with the sleep he had not been able to catch up on, despite his earlier nap.

He shook his head, sending water droplets all over the restroom floor.He quickly shut off the water and went to exit the restroom.

As soon as he left, Twilight scooted over, taking her brother’s seat by the window. While her brother had been absent, the tall, elderly stallion that had been in their cart had taken the seat twilight had been sitting in. Twilight opened her mouth to ask him to move, and was shocked when he put his hoof around her.

"Well hey there, sweet little thing." The stallion said in a soft voice. "What are you doing all by your lonesome?"

Twilight gasped. "I... I uh, don't think... my brother, he-" The stallion wheezed, and Twilight assumed it was supposed to be a laugh.

"Who needs him? I'll take good care of you, sweet little thing." He placed both of his hooves on either side of her, and Twilight struggled. "No! G-get off of me! Help!"

Shining heard Twilight's voice pierce the air as he opened the door from the restroom.

"Twilight?" Shining called, worry coating his voice. He half-ran into the aisle of the cart, scanning the area. He looked at where he and twilight had been sitting to see it vacant. In the aisle with his back turned, heading to the carts farther back in the train, was a stallion with something purple h under is foreleg.

Shining heard Twilight scream again, the sound distinctively came from under the stallion's right foreleg.

"Hey! Stop!" Shining called, starting to run after the stallion.

The old stallion turned his head, he spotted shining and took off as fast as his three old legs would carry him. He quickly opened and slammed the door separating the train carts behind him.

Twilight failed her legs but was unable to get herself free of the stallion.

Shining nearly slammed head first into the door, unable to stop fully to open the door at the speed he was running. Shining followed the Stallion through a few carts without being able to close the gap.

The old stallion stopped in the last cart, the caboose. It was filled with cleaning supplies to be used by the workers on the train. The only exit to the car was the door he had just came in from. The stallion spun around, Twilight still tucked under her leg.

The doorway was blocked by a large, white, angry colt.

"Put. Her. Down." the last word was so menacing it made the stallion take a step back. Shining took a step forward, his head was down, he glared at the stallion, his pupils at the top of his eyes.

The stallion looked down the purple filly, he hated to give up such a cute prize but he knew he was no match for a colt in his prime.

"O-okay. Here." He said, releasing Twilight, who quickly ran behind Shining leg. "There. No harm done... No need to have any trouble."

"Oh yes, there is definitely a need." Shining answered quietly, keeping his head lowered along with his tone cold and menacing. He took a step towards the stallion, causing the old pony to take a step back.

"You try to nab my sister, and there is no need for trouble?" He took another step forward, and the stallion took another step back.

"You think I'd just let you go?" Once again Shining advanced, and the stallion retreated. This time he bumped into the back wall of the caboose, he could no long retreat. Shining saw this and took another step, putting only a foot between the ponies.

"Luckily for you, I'm a kind pony, and I can forgive..." With this, Shining turned his back on the old pony.

"Oh thank-" The pony began with a sigh of relief.

"But... that doesn't mean I will forgive you." Shining Spoke, whipping his head back. At the same time he lifted his back hooves up, putting all his weight on his forehooves. He bucked. His hard hooves landing on the unsuspecting pony's windpipe.

With that one hard thrust, shining heard a crack. The old pony reared up and brought his hooves to his throat, his loud gasps for air were audible throughout the entire cart.

He looks as if he is drowning under the water, simply unable to breath. Shining mused in his mind with a grim smirk as the Pony fell to the ground, writhing and holding onto his throat.

Twilight turned away, plopping on the ground and covering her eyes with her hooves, mentally singing a song to try to drown out the noise of the dying stallion.

Shining simply stood there, watching as the life slowly exited the body of the stallion as all his organs suffocated. His eyes went glassy and he finally stopped trying to gasp for air.

Just as the stallion finally lay still, the intercom was heard from the cart ahead of caboose.

"We will be arriving in Manehattan in about five minutes, everypony make sure your safety belts are fastened as we begin to slow down the train." The intercom died out.

"Come on Twilight... let's go." Shining said in a tone only slightly warmer than how he had talked to the Stallion that now lay lifeless on the floor.

Twilight peaked at her brother’s newest victim. Before forcing herself to look away, she watched Shining walk past her and quickly followed behind.


> final chapter-april fools day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the train pulled into the station, Shining exited the train with his sister trailing behind. He saw an information kiosk and picked up a map of the city. Shining quickly found a nearby hotel and led Twilight to it. 

He entered the seedy looking establishment and checked in, the old pony sitting behind the counter eying Twilight the entire time he was checking the white colt in. The pony gave Shining the key to his room. Shining turned his back and began to walk to towards the room. 

Twilight gave one last glance to the pony behind the counter who was staring at her. Seeing her look at him, the old stallion licked his lips. Twilight promptly followed her brother. 

Shining opened the door and flicked on the light. It was a cheap motel, a full size bed, probably covered in juices hastily cleaned without the proper chemicals. A lamp with no lamp shade, and a busted Television that no longer worked. 

Twilight walked into the room and grimaced. She heard the click of the door as Shining shut the door behind her. 

“Twiley...” His voice floated into her ears. 

“Y-yes, big brother?” She looked over her shoulder, seeing his large white form looming behind her. 

“Let's fuck.” He said calmly.

“W-what?” She spun around only to be picked up by the colt. Shining promptly slammed her onto the bed. Twilight's head hit the hard metal springs and she found herself dizzy, laying on her back, with her brother's foot long, salami sized cock pressing its head against her lips. 

“Mmmm!” She groaned through tightly shut lips. 

“Open your mouth, you whore!” Shining shouted down to the small filly. Shining grabbed her horn to keep her mouth straight as he pushed harder, forcing open her maw and jamming his cock inside.

“Mmmrrr!” She moaned around his cock, the pain of her jaw being stretched making small streaks of tears run down her cheeks. 

Shining replanted his hind hoofs by Twilight's sides and gave a hard thrust of his hips. 

Twilight felt a sharp pain and heard a pop as her jaw dislocated and her brother's cock slid farther into her mouth and started to bend down her throat. She gagged on his huge meat, but was able to keep her breakfast down. 

Shining pushed until his cock was all the way down her throat, threatening to probe her stomach. His pelvis was pressed into her little snout and his heavy balls rested against her chin.

Twilight couldn't breath between the dick down her throat, and his coat smashed into her nose. She felt light-headed and began to moan in protest, beating against her brother's stomach try to get him off. Just as she was ready to lose consciousness, and her strikes softened to laughably weak; Shining pulled his cock was pulled out of her mouth.  

“What a good little slut.” He mocked looking down at his sister. “But now it's time to fuck your tight little filly cunt.” 

Shining lowered himself and aimed his dick for her tight hole. He pressed his rod against the dry opening of her sister's pussy and thrust, forcing himself inside, lubricated only by her saliva and his own precum. 

Twilight cried out at the rough abuse of her snatch. Cries that were ignored by the colt. He kept trusting, hard and fast, ramming his thick pole inside her, a large bulge visible from the impossible insertion. 

Tears fell from Twilight's eyes from the pain in her loins and insides. Her jaw had gone numb and she no longer felt the pain, but could not talk, either. She was still breathing heavily, trying to get her breath back from her brother's rough throat fucking. 

Shining kept up with his abuse, ramming his entire length inside his sister, despite the little lubrication. He tore open her cervix with only half of his length inside, but it wasn't enough for his sadistic lust. He ignored the cries of his sister, along with her blood running down his shaft and tried to go deeper. Another two inches, and he hit the back wall of her womb, pressing against it. 

He pulled out and pushed his hardest, slamming her cervix, over and over he pumped into her, trying to go deeper into her destroyed hole. Finally, he felt what he wanted, the thin lining of her womb ruptured and let his cock push through, into squishy, gooey intestines. 

At the first touch of those sweet organs Shining came, blowing his load inside her. Painting his sister white from the inside. When Shining finally pulled out, he could see his cock was covered in blood and seamen from his ball-draining load. Shining looked up and found that Twilight had long since passed out.

“Heh...” He said to himself with a smirk. He put his hoof to her throat, pushing on the area where he knew the carotid artery is. He waited for a moment and felt nothing. 

“She bled out? Good, now I won't have her following me everywhere. Better get out of here before anybody finds her.” He said to himself. “Trottingham sounds good. I can start a new life there, no parents and no snot-nosed siblings.”

Shining exited the hotel and walked back to the train station. He bought a ticket back to Trottingham. The train arrived shortly after. The train ride was uneventful. He got to the city and found work with a butcher, a job he quite enjoyed. 

He lived happily ever after with no family.

~fin
> chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Shining walked back into the cart directly ahead of the caboose. The cart was empty but had a door that they could get off the train onto the Manehattan platform.

Shining sat down with Twilight by his side as the train began to slow. Once the brakes squeaked and the train finally stopped, he stood up, ready to flee the train before the corpse was discovered.

He went to the side door and opened it, immediately looking around, taking in his surroundings. On the platform were around fifty ponies. Ponies exiting the train from carts farther up, ponies waiting to board this train, and ponies waiting for a different train to dock.

"First thing's first." Shining said as he looked back over his shoulder to his little sister. "Let's get you a proper cloak." He turned towards her, but did not look at her, he looked more like he was trying to not be noticed than actually paying attention to Twilight.

"Then we find someplace to sleep."

Twilight nodded, keeping close to her brother. "Where do you think we'll find a cloak?" She asked, trying not to trip over the tattered dress that dragged behind her. "And you should find something to wear too."

"I suppose some kind of clothes shop... a tailor, or something." Shining said as he noticed the distinct lack of guards around. He walked toward an information board that was placed conveniently in the middle of the terminal.

He quickly found what he was looking for, a map of upper-half of the city designed for tourists. It detailed locations of hotels, restaurants, and attractions. At least the first two were useful.

"Come on Twilight, lets go find a store." Shining said as he began to walk toward the exit of the terminal.

Twilight followed her brother out of the terminal and out onto the busy street. When she looked around, really taking in just how massive the city was, she clung to his foreleg. "Big brother, this is scary... what if we get lost?"

Shining knelt down and showed his sister the map.

"See this? It tells me where we are at all times so even if we get turned around, I can figure out where we are." Shining smiled at Twilight and put a hoof on her head, rubbing it and messing up her cute little mane. "Now, let's go shopping, huh?"

Shining began to walk down the busy road with his sister, keep mindful of her position in relation to him at all times; he didn't need another incident like in the train. As they walked they came to an intersection of roads, Shining looked at the signs and made note of what street they were on.

"Spare some change?" A voice came from behind Shining.

"Huh?" Shining said, without thinking. He turned around to see a dirty looking stallion sitting with his back against a building. He wore old, dingy clothing and held a tin can that rattled with bits as he shook it.

"Change, spare some change for an old stallion down on his luck?" The beggar repeated himself.

Shining felt Twilight push against him at sight of the pony, he pushed back as little, letting her know that he was there for her.

"Hmm, yeah sure." Shining said levitating a couple bits out of the coinpurse nestled inside his saddle bag. As they were about to place themselves in the cup they retracted and hung in the air. "That is, if you can tell us where to go to get some new clothes..."

The Homeless pony was obviously not amused. "No one does anything out of the kindness of their heart anymore, do they?" He grumbled. "Yeah, sure... Take this street down a block." the stallion gestured through the building his back was against, indicating a right turn at this intersection they were currently on. "Then take a left, across the street, and go down another three blocks. There is a clothing store called The Sharp Needle on the corner."

"Thanks." Shining said, placing the bits in the cup and beginning to walk in the direction the pony had indicated.

Twilight remained at her brother's side. "But, we don't have much money, why did you give that away?" She turned and looked at the stallion with a sneer.

"We have a decent amount of money... enough to buy some clothes, some food, and a bed to sleep in tonight, but after that I think we will be broke again..” Shining tried to explain as they walked down the crowded sidewalk of the city. “And the reason I gave him money was because he told me exactly where we need to go,"



They arrived at the next intersection and took a left as they had been instructed. They crossed the street and continued walking, dodging passing ponies. Shining took note of some of the shops and buildings they were walking past. A barber shop, a spa, a toy shop, all of which were of no use to them now, non-essential to survival and therefore worthless.

"One...Two...three." Shining muttered to himself, counting the blocks of the city as they passed by.. He looked at the corner of the streets and found the shop.

"There, Twilight." Shining announced, pointing his hoof at the entrance of the store.

Twilight eagerly bound into the store, her jaw sliding down as she looked at everything around her. "Big brother, this is amazing!" She ran down one aisle before stopping and running back to Shining Armor. "Sorry, forgot. I have to stick by you..." She gulped, knowing how easily she could get lost in the enormous complex.

"Mmhm." He nodded at the filly. His voice was half of confirmation and half of a scolding. "Now come on, let's go find you something to wear."

Shining looked around,taking his eyes off his sister, trying to figure out where he should look to try to find something for Twilight. He looked at the far walls of the store for some kind of hint.

'Mares', 'Stallions', 'Colts', 'Fillies', and 'Foals'. These words were printed on large signs that hung from the ceiling over their respective areas, slicing the stores into sections.

"Hey, Twilight... I think I found where we will find something for you...." He turned to where she had been standing to find he gone.

"T-Twilight?!" Shining called out, he swung his head around, his heart beginning to pound in his chest as anxiety, fear, and panic welled up inside his chest.

"Twilight?" He called out louder, starting to half-run down one of the aisles; quickly brushing past an older mare that was in the aisle


"Twiley?" Shining asked out loud as he got to the end of the aisle, turning to his right to where he had heard His sister call out for him.

“Brother! I’m over here!” Twilight’s voice came from a few aisles over.

Shining turned the corner and found Twilight in front of a dress that hung at the end of a an aisle.

"Twilight!" He sighed in relief. He got down to her level and wrapped her in a tight embrace.

"Don't EVER do that to me again, you nearly scared me to death!" He pressed the left of his neck into hers, grinding it up and down as he held her tight in the hug.

Twilight hugged her brother back. "S-sorry big brother, I just got distracted." She pointed a hoof at the blue dress. "Isn't it pretty?"

Shining followed his sister's hoof to the brilliant blue dress hanging alone from a hangar. He walked up the elaborate dress and spotted the price tag hanging down from the shoulder strap. He spun it around. '120 bits'.

He turned around to his sister with a deep frown. "But we don't have this kind of money." He sighed.

"Come on, Twilight. I found where we should be able to find a cloak for you." He huffed, turning his back on the beautiful article of clothing.

Twilight sighed. "Yes, big brother." She followed her brother down the aisle toward the cheaper clothes. She cringed when she saw the ugly dresses, patterns, and cloaks. "These things? Really?"

"Well...." Shining started slowly. He heard the disdain in her voice as she scoffed at the clothes. "We don't have THAT much money, and we still have to have enough after this for food and shelter..."

"You don't want to sleep in an alley again, do you?" Shining continued trying to convince his sister that the blue dress wasn't important.

Shining picked up a dark gray cloak and held it up, spreading it out and looking it over. "What about this one? It's your size..." Shining asked placing the material loosely over her slender frame. "And the color will be good for blending into the darkness."

Twilight sighed. "I... suppose it's nice." She understood that her brother didn't have much money and didn't want to sound selfish. "Don't you need something too?"

Shining brought a hoof to his chin, stroking. "Hmmm..."he hummed. His sister's unexpected question made him look at himself for the first time in a long time.

"I suppose this cloak makes me look a little... imposing?" He asked.

"I hadn't thought about it, but if I had nicer clothes, maybe I'd be more likely to get hired somewhere...." He reasoned out.

He put his hoof back on the ground before saying, "Alright, let's go look at the colts’ section, see if I can find something fitting.... That is, if that cloak is okay for you...?"

She nodded. "Yup!" Admittedly, she had wanted something nicer, but as she looked at the cloak, she began to appreciate how she would look in it.

"Good, I'm glad we found something so easily... seems to be the only thing that has come easy in these past few days." Shining said with a sigh, his eyes half-closed, staring at the floor as he recounted the events that had uprooted his life.

Snapping himself out of it, he looked back at his filly sister. "Let's go see if we can go find something for me now, okay?"

Shining led Twilight to the section marked 'colts'. He quickly grazed over the shirts, not finding anything he particularly liked. "What do you think, Twiley?" shining called over his shoulder as he held the sleeve of a dress shirt in his hoof. "Do you like any of these clothes?"

Twilight cocked her head as she looked at the outfit. "Oh wow, I bet you'd look great in that!"

"Really, this one?" Shining asked, looking again at the shirt in his hooves. It was a long-sleeved, red, light dress shirt.

"Hmmm... well, it is my size... okay, I'll get it. But only because I need it to get a job..." Shining blurted out, not wanting to sound greedy or vain.

He took the shirt, along with Twilight's cloak to the register. The small pink mare that was working the register looked no older than Shining.

"Hi!" She greeted the siblings. "Did you find everything okay?"

"Umm... yeah." Shining said, instinctively dipping his head and not making eye contact.

'Why am I doing that?' he asked himself. 'We are in Manehattan now, no one will recognize you' he told himself.

Shining forced himself to look up into the mare's eyes. Before placing the two articles of clothing onto the counter.

"Alright, that will be 25 bits" The mare said with a smile after looking at the tags, she typed in the amount into the register and it sprung open.

Shining paid her the amount and thanked her before heading towards the door of the store.

"Come on Twilight... let's go get a hotel room." He yawned, the lack of sleep finally catching up to him.

“What about food?” Twilight frowned. She wasn't hungry, but was instead thinking ahead towards tomorrow and the day after.

She cheerfully left the shop with her brother, smiling. "You know, this is kind of like, a fresh start for us. Don't you think?" She kissed her brother's cheek lightly.

Shining got a slight tingle from the small peck on his cheek. He smiled down at his sister. "Yeah, You are right, it is." He answered as he pulled out the map to search for a hotel.

"There." He proclaimed, sticking his hoof into the paper. "The Feedbag, Bed and Breakfast. It's just around the corner here."

Shining led Twilight around the corner and into the small hotel. He approached the front desk where a young unicorn with spectacles sat reading a newspaper. Sitting perpendicular to him was a middle-aged male earth pony looking at what appeared to be a book full of numbers.

The young pony had not seen the siblings come in and began to talk to his co-worker.

"Did you see this? Down in Ponyville they found some stallion murdered in an alley. 'When the guards found him his skull had been split open. They said he suffered massive blunt trauma. The cause of death was a brain hemorrhage.' it says there are no suspects yet, but they suspect it's gang related. The dead guy had red fang tattoos. " The stallion finished reading aloud from the newspaper, turning to the other pony before putting the newspaper onto the counter in front of him.

"Damn... sounds pretty brutal, think it was the Black Talon gang?" The middle aged pony answered over his shoulder, still trying to concentrate on his work.

"I don't know... maybe. But I didn't think Black Talon branched out past Manehattan, though? For that matter, I didn't know red fang has set up shop down in ponyville, that place is pretty quiet, isn't it?" the younger pony continued.

"Yeah, it is just a small town, my cousin lives there and he said murder is almost unheard of there. As for black talon,maybe they set up a new chapter?" the middle aged pony answered.

The young stallion turned back to see Shining standing there, eavesdropping on their conversation. "What can I do for ya?" He asked the white colt standing in front of him.

Shining swallowed hard, sweat still collecting on his forehead from hearing the article about his crime.

"Uhh.. yeah, can we just get a room for the night?" Shining forced himself to say.

"Sure, 40 bits for a night." The guy said, cocking an eyebrow at the strange-acting colt. Shining handed him the money with a shaky hoof and got his room key in return.

He sauntered towards his room, opened the door, turned on the light and collapsed on the bed.

Twilight walked in behind him. "B-big brother? I know you're scared... but, everything will be okay, won't it?" She placed a hoof on his shoulder. "I... I should be there for you, just like you're there for me." She climbed on the bed and kissed him right above his horn.

Shining felt another dull tingle as his sister's lips met the area around his horn. He turned over onto his back to look at Twilight. He took her hoof with both of his, holding it close to his chest. "

"Yes, of course it will be okay, Twilight. We will always be there for each other." Shining paused for a moment looking over his baby sister, noticing the small smudge of dirt on her cheek. It reminded himself of his own probable filth. "We have a shower in the bathroom, why don't you go in there first and I'll go after you?"

Twilight smiled and nodded, remembering now that she had been wanting to get cleaned up for a while now. She put her new cloak on a hat-hanger in their room before turning and going into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Once twilight had disappeared into the bathroom, shining had rolled onto his stomach and snuggled his head into the pillow on the bed, steadily losing awareness of his surroundings. Dozing, just barely on the verge of consciousness. He simply laid there, wanting to fall asleep.

Looking at the bathtub, Twilight practically gasped. She didn't realize how much she had missed this. She quickly turned on the water and hopped inside, not even waiting for the water to heat up. She sat there for several minutes, letting the lukewarm water soak her coat and mane.

“I can’t believe how much I’ve missed bathtime...” Twilight whispered to herself, closing her eyes and remember back to when she would dread having to take a bath every day. “It’s so strange, how much different it is now...”

On the side was a single bar of soap, which she used her magic to levitate to her, cleaning and scrubbing her body with surprising dexterity. Intentionally derailing her train of thought.

When she was sure to have scrubbed every spot, and sat for several more minutes, relaxing in the hot water, she turned it off and hopped out of the tub, shaking herself dry. She looked at herself in the mirror. Yup. Same old Twilight. She slowly opened the door and walked into the bedroom, clean as a whistle.

Shining heard Twilight open the door but didn't react in his state or limbo.

"Brother! I'm done!” She announced

Twilight jumped on the bed and the shock of her small frame bouncing roused Shining.

"Hmm? oh, okay." He smiled, sleepy. He rolled out of the bed and slowly walked to the hat hanger, racking his cloak before going to the bathroom himself. The air was still moist and steamy with the previous shower, he stepped inside the tub, not bothering with the curtain and turned on the hot water, letting the heat bathe his muscles. He moaned slightly as the water relaxed and woke him up at the same time. The heat was making steam rise in the shower as the water splashed down on the back of his neck. After a few minutes of focusing on the feel of the water he looked for the soap and found a bar sitting on the edge of the tub. He levitated it and began to scrub himself

Rubbing the bar up his forelegs, all around his chest, his neck, face, behind his ears. then his stomach. Then he got to his loins, he rubbed the bar slower, making sure to get an even deeper clean on his dick. He payed special attention to making sure he washed the entire shaft along with his balls.

it felt surprisingly good, and he started to stiffen up. He tried pushed it out of his mind but ended up with his penis in between fully erect and flaccid. He finished washing his body. He turned the water off after rinsing himself and walked out of the bathroom, still semi-erect.

Twilight lay on the bed, her body stretched across the blanket with her head against the pillow. She shifted and looked up at her brother, gawking. His previously filthy mane was now sparkling and smooth, and his coat was white and clear. "Wow... brother, you look so... so..." Twilight blushed, shifting her back legs slightly.

"Hmmm?" Shining cocked an eyebrow at his sister, not sure what she was trying to say. He looked down at her splayed out on the bed. "That looks comfy, can I join you?"

She nodded eagerly. "Sure big brother!" She scooted over, smiling, trying not to appear awkward or goofy. It was then that she realized she actually cared about her own behavior and appearance in front of her brother. She looked at herself in the bedside mirror and saw that her mane was still damp and slightly ruffled. She tried to adjust it with her hoof, but stopped when she felt the bed sink under the weight of her brother laying down.

Shining wrapped a hoof around his sister, bringing her in close to his body, her back to his stomach. He snuggled her warmly atop the blankets. breathing in a deep breath of her freshly washed main, savoring the sweet aroma it was giving off.

Twilight giggled as she felt her brother's breath on her. "Shiny, what are you doing? Aren't you sleepy?" she asked sweetly.

"Mmm..." He moaned through his smiled, then into his sister's ear whispered. "Not since the shower." He nuzzled his snout into his sister's neck, trying to tickle her.

Twilight laughed and struggled a bit, wriggling in her brother's grasp. "Sh-Shiny, stop it! That tickles!" She rolled her head from side to side, trying to escape from the tickling muzzle.

Shining grinned with his eyes shut, ignoring his sister's wail for mercy. He dug in hard, forcing her to laugh until she on the verge of tears. Just as she was at the height of her laughter, shining stopped and pulled back, Twilight still in his firm grip. He looked down at his sister with a warm smile and gave her a light peck on the cheek

Twilight tilted her head up and gazed at her brother's handsome face. "I love you big brother." She kissed his chin softly, fluttering her eyes.

As Twilight retreated away from the kiss Shining sprung forward, locking their lips for a brief second, ending it before Twilight had time to realize what he had done.

"I love you too, Twiley." He said, he eyes at half-mast and clouded with a combination of lust and love. He moved in again before she could react, melding their lips together once more.

This time he was a bit for aggressive, his tongue slithered out of his mouth like a snake, flicking and licking at Twilight's lips, seeking entrance.

Twilight's eyes widened at the sudden aggression, but allowed the tongue to explore her mouth, giving little resistance to the foreign member.

Shining's tongue greedily danced with his sister's, testing her ability despite her lack of experience. Shining began to pull back, but gave Twilight another peck on the lips before completely retreating. He had a seductive, sultry look in his eyes as he stared at his little sister. He went in for another kiss but aimed it right under her left ear instead of at her lips.

Twilight cocked her head slightly, still blushing. "B-Big brother... what are you trying to do?" She blinked, unsure of her brother's intentions.

"Shh.." He whispered into her ear. He continued with his assault on her soft coat, going down the back of her neck and then returning up to her ear, he took her earlobe in her mouth and slowly, gently ground the rubbery flesh between his front teeth, tugging ever so slightly.

Twilight's legs shook slightly as she loosen her body, laying against her brother. "Please be gentle Shining Armor."

'God, why does that turn me on so much?' Shining's dwindling shreds of conscious mind asked him. He released her ear, positioning himself higher up so his head was completely above hers now. He could feel the heat in his loins and his cock expanding, nearly brushing his sister's shoulder. He saw her horn protruding from her head and gave it a quick kiss.


Twilight gently nuzzled the tip of her horn against her brother's chin, being careful not to poke him. A small spark of light emerged from the tip. "Oh, that felt good big brother." She smiled, kissing the top of his hoof as she lay against him.


"You like that, huh?" He asked looking down at her from the corner of his eye. He leaned forward and planted a longer kiss on the upper part of her horn, near the sharp point. He held it for a second, darting his tongue out for just a moment to make contact before pulling back.

She released a purple spark from her horn. "It t-tickles." She sighed, tensing her forelegs. "I can feel it all over me... it's so strange."


Shining smiled deviously at his little sister. He leaned forward once again, but did not pucker his lips for a kiss this time. He opened his mouth and pushed out his flat, long tongue and pressed it against her horn, dragging his muscle up the length.


Twilight moaned, arching her back slightly as the touch of her brother's tongue sent a tingling sensation down her back and into her hooves. Her horn began to glow as she shuddered. "Big brother... I love you”

"Mmhmm." Shining murmured his agreement unable to form words while working on her horn, running up and down the length of the hard substance. After he was satisfied that the horn was nice and wet he took it in his mouth, lightly suckling on the sharp tip.


Twilight closed her eyes, releasing warm sparks into her brother's mouth. "Ooh, gentle big brother, it feels... h-hot." She opened one eyes and blushed, feeling her brother's rhythmic movements with his tongue.

Shining continued his work, sucking up and down her horn. He took it deep into his mouth before slowly pulling it back out, dragging his tongue on the ribbed horn. He let his teeth graze the grooves as he pulled the horn from his mouth.

Twilight clenched her teeth, feeling the warmth and dampness on her horn. For some reason, she felt compelled to release magic, though she didn't want to with the horn in her brother's mouth. Still, her horn glowed, and the blanket around them began to ripple and wave slightly as it glowed with her magical aura. "Brother... wh-why is this happening?"

Shining knew he was on the right track when felt her sister tense up beneath him, along the heat emanating off her horn inside his mouth. He had found from his own 'experiments' that unicorn's horns are sensitive, and given the right stimulation can work the same way as a sexual organ.

He pulled the horn from her mouth and whispered into his sister's ear, soothing her, "Shh... just enjoy it, it feels good, right?"

Twilight gasped, then smiled. "Y-yeah, it kinda does." She closed her eyes, leaning her head against her brother's, allowing her full weight to lean on him. She felt herself sink slightly into his course, thick coat, sighing to herself.

Shining smiled before taking her horn back into his mouth, sucking all the way to the hilt, the tip of her sharp horn ending just before his uvula. He began to take the entire length in and out of his mouth, in one fluid motion, scraping his teeth over the indentions of her horn.

Twilight arched her back as she felt another surge of magic building up. The blanket began to glow and ripple once more, and the pillows started to float up into the air. As Shining Armor's tongue worked its way from the tip to the base, Twilight knew she could no longer control what would happen. "Brother... I feel like, like something's going to happen. I feel it in my head!" Her horn began to glow brightly, emitting purple light from between Shining Armor's lips.

Shining knew what was going to happen next. He quickly released her horn from his lips and then wrapped his hooves on either side of her horn, stroking furiously on either side while rapidly lapping at base of her horn.

Twilight shuddered, breathing heavily, she felt the magic surging in her horn. There was a bright purple flash, and she felt herself being lifted into the air, along with pillows, lamps, and furniture, as her eyes glowed and the room was filled with the bright light of her aura. She hovered for a moment, then fell back down on the bed, as the various objects in the room also fell back down onto the floor. Twilight sputtered, gasping for breath. "That... that was... incredible...."

Shining watched with a smug grin as his sister went through the stages of her orgasm. Only once she was back on the bed, gasping for breath did he begin to talk. "Incredible, huh?"

Twilight sputtered, catching her breath. "Yes, you're amazing big brother! I never even knew I could do that." She hugged him tightly, burying her muzzle into his white coat. "I love you so much Shiny." Despite herself, she yawned, spent from her exertion.

“Sleepy?” Shining's smooth voice asked, a little amused.

“Mhhm...” Twilight hummed, still smiling into her chest. Shining kissed her on the forehead, intentionally avoiding her sensitive horn and held her close to his body. After no more than two minutes Shining noticed her breathing was deep and steady; blowing warm puffs of air against his chest

'She fell asleep.' His common sense told him. He looked down at this sister. 'She is so adorable...' He thought before hugging her even tighter into his warm embrace. He sighed and nestled his head atop Twilight's and allowed himself to drift out of consciousness.


> final
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 A loud crack and the door flew off the hinges. Shining shot up in bed, looking through hazy, sleep-addled eyes, trying to find the source of the sudden interruption. He was met with two burly unicorn guards barreling towards him, their horns glowing. He was met with two burly unicorn guards barreling towards him, their horns glowing. Before he knew what was happening her was pinned on the ground of the hotel room with the guards strapping his front hooves together with metal shackles, along with a magic-dampening ring around his horn. As shining lay, he saw the pony who had given him his room key earlier that evening standing at the doorway.
As Shining was roughly pulled up on his shaky legs he heard Twilight. She was still on the bed, wrapped in the covers. She was scared and shaking, trying to make out what was happening. When she realized they were going to take her away, she swallowed the lump in her throat and leaped at the stallions.
“Let go of him!” She shouted, rearing up on her hind legs in front of the nearest guard so she could assault his armored chest with a fury of tiny punches. “Let go of my brother!”
She was quickly picked up in a dark golden glow. Floating in the air helpless, she did the only thing she would think of: cry.
“Why are you doing this? Where are we going? Please stop! Let me go!” She lamented through strangled sobs as she was hauled through the abandoned lobby of the hotel. Her calls were mostly ignored by the guards who escorted her and Shining out of the lobby. The siblings were taken out into the cool night air before being led to the back of a law enforcement chariot. It was a horse-drawn carriage with no room for riders, just a large box that locked from the outside.

Shining was roughly thrown into the back of the carriage, sliding to the back wall of the containment area. Twilight was placed near her brother, being abruptly dropped from the magic glow onto her rump. The two doors slammed shut and the click of a lock echoed through the carriage.
“Big brother!” Twilight scooted over to her slumped brother. “Are you okay?”
Shining looked up at the back window across from his current position. The guards were already gone, but he snarled anyway, clenching his teeth to the point his jaw ached. “I’m fine…” He said through his teeth. He took a second to compose himself.
“I’m sorry.” He said, tears starting to well up in his eyes. He brought his head around to encapsulate his sister’s, trying to hold her close without the full use of his hooves. “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise…”
Twilight didn’t respond at first. She pushed back on her brother, getting close to him. “Are we going to be okay?” She finally asked in a whisper.
Shining took a moment. “I don’t know.” He whispered back as the carriage lurched forward, the wooden wheels creaking under them. Shining stood, walking to the doors that held them prisoner. He looked down out the window,. He didn’t have a good view, but could tell that the mechanism holding the doors together was a simple hook around a post with a flattened head.
Shining focused his magic, trying to open the door to make a run for it. The glow flared up around his horn. but nothing happened, the ring around his horn did it’s job.

~

The carriage came to a stop and the two siblings went to the windows to look out and see where they had been taking. From their spot, all they could see was lush, green foliage. He could hear the low murmur of running water somewhere to his right, out of eyesight. The door to the carriage swung open, the guards that had wrestled Shining to the ground now escorted him out of the vehicle. It was dark, around mid-night or so, the only light coming from the full moon. As Shining looked around while being escorted to his destination, wherever that might happen to be, he could make out a garden of some sort. 

One of the guards pushed him forward, and Shining knew instantly where he was. The royal castle, home of the princesses of the entire land. Shining’s stomach sank as he tilted his head up, looking at the gigantic spires that tore into the night sky. His hooves planted themselves in the ground as dread overtook him. It stopped the guards for a second before they forced him to keep moving, pushing him more than he was walking. 

“S-Shining?” Twilight’s voice came from behind him. “Where are we, what is this place?” 
The answer came from the single guard that was escorting her, his voice dark and gruff. Very drull and to the point. 
“The royal palace.” 
“W-why are we here?” She asked.
“You and your brother will stand trial for your crimes.” 
Shining imagined it, the princess herself passing judgement on him. It made his stomach sink even lower, he felt like getting sick. “But, how much do they know?” Shining wondered to himself. 

“Your trial will be held first thing in the morning.. For the night, you will be held in the dungeon.” 
“Dungeon?” Shining said, as he along with his two ‘escorts’ start their ascent up the carpeted stairs to the castle’s main entrance. The stallion to his left simply nods. Shining doesn’t ask anymore questions, the less he knows about the following chain of events the better.. You  can’t worry about what you don’t know what will happen, right?

The siblings are taken through the dead halls of the castle, the only souls those of the night-shift guard.The only sound was the breathing of the five ponies, and steady hoofsteps on the polished marble floors. Twilight was surprisingly quiet throughout the walk. 
‘Fear, maybe?’ Shining pondered.

The siblings were taken down a hidden winding staircase into the dark, damp cellar-like dungeon where they would spend the night. Rusted wrought iron bars swung open with a creak when they arrived at the the Sparkle’s accommodation.The guards uncuffed the stallion, but make sure to leave the dampening ring in place. Shining drudged forward into the cell, his hooves scraped against moss-covered cobblestone that made up the floor. The only nice way to describe the cell was quaint. it was small, cold, smelled of mold, and there was a thick wetness in the air that was palpable. there was only a small cot in one corner of the cell. 

“Hey wait…” Shining spun around as the door slammed closed, and the key locked him in. Twilight however, was on the other side. “My sister!” He ran up to the bars and grabbed hold of them. 

“She will be in the cell next to you.,” the guard said as he opened up the adjacent cell that was just as infested by green lichen as the previous one. They plopped Twilight onto the cobblestone with a ‘thunk’ before locking her in the cell as well. 

The guards walked out of the basement without another word, Shining could hear the wooden door at the top of the staircase that led down the dungeon click shut. All they could to do now was wait. 

“Shining, what is going to happen to us now?” Twilight asked, walking up to the set of bars that separated them. 

“I’m… not sure. My magic doesn’t work and these bars are strong. Even if we escaped, we are in the royal palace, guards are everywhere… And who knows? The Princesses might have magical barriers all over the place, letting them know who walks in or out,. They could have this entire place monitored day and night.” Shining huffed, before leaning against  the wall closest to him. He slid down to all fours, and then rolled over to his side, looking up at the ceiling. “I don’t know what to do.”

Twilight just sat there, deep in contemplation, trying desperately to find a solution to a hopeless problem. They sat there, mere feet apart, for several minutes, in utter silence., before Shining spoke, in a hushed whisper. “You should get some sleep.” Twilight had been wired since the disruption, and exhausted from being on the run for so long. Even though the dingy cot did not look cozy, it was better than hard cobblestone. She lazily crawled into the cot, under the singular blanket, and snuggled in.	
“Good night, big brother.” Twilight said. She didn’t get a response though, and was asleep in mere minutes.

~

Morning light awoke the sleeping filly, sunbeams breaking through the shoddy stone walls. the same reason the drafty basement was so cold, most likely. Twilight yawned and stretched and reached over in her bed for her brother’s warm body. She felt nothing but air. Her eyes peeled open and the memories of last night came back to her. She huffed and pushed herself out of bed, onto the floor before going up to the bars between her and her brother’s cell, still rubbing her eyes.

“Morning, Shining.” She began before stopping,, Her heart jumped into her throat with what she saw,; or more accurately, didn’t see. Shining was gone,: his cell door ajar. Twilight ran to her cell door and tried to open it. Of course, it was locked tight and didn’t budge at her tiny pushes. She started calling out for her brother, a guard, anyone. 

“He is already in the throne room, he asked to be taken there before you woke up.” The guard says as he goes for his set of keys, unlocking Twilight’s cell door. Letting her out, she scampered away, sprinting up the staircase and out the wooden door at the top. She stopped at the blinding light of the palace when she emerged.. After a second to clear her eyes, she still didn’t have her bearings,. So she started to go left, but backpedaled, dashing to the right... but halted again. Twilight doesn't know the palace. Shining could be anywhere.

“This way, through that door.” The guard said, pointing to a large set of doors with another set of guards on either side of the doorway. Twilight booked it over there, and threw herself against the door, barely making it swing open. The two guards gave her a questioning look, then pushed the door open for her. Twilight squeezed through the opening and wasn’t sure what she saw at first.

The room was massive, windows lined each wall, letting radiant sunshine brighten the room naturally. a long capet extended from the foot of the throne to the door of the chamber. There was only one entrance/exit to the room. There were at least a dozen armed royal elite guards on the perimeter of the room, all holding razor sharp spears near their breasts. Shining stood before the throne, at the bottom of the steps that led to the royal seat. Upon that literal seat of power sat the Princess herself. The incandescent embodiment of the sun herself, flawless and emanating light and warm with her very presence. Celestia, goddess of everything the eye could see. 

She was studious staring at Shining, her chin resting on her customly tailored horseshoe. She was clearly taking in and digesting what Shining was saying. Twilight remembered the reason she has come and ripped her eyes from the god to focus on her brother. His cheeks were stained with tears, He was sitting on his haunches. His hooves were once again bound, the dampening ring still affixed to his horn. She could finally make out what her brother was saying.

“...That was when we arrived in Canterlot, and quickly exited the train…” He was in the middle of the story of how their lives had been uprooted and in less than a week, Shining was a wanted criminal. It looked like he was spilling everything, not pulling any details. Twilight ran to him. 

Shining heard her coming and stopped his retelling to turn around and catch her as she threw herself into her brother’s arms. 

“Ahh, this must be Twilight, then?” Celestia’s soothing tone wafted through the air. 

“Yes, this is my little sister, the reason why i did all this.” Shining said, nuzzling Twilight. 

“I see, go on.” She reclined back into her throne. So Shining continues, regaling her with their epic. As he finished with getting arrested, Celestia put her hooves together, staring at the seam between them. Her brow furrowed, contemplating. Even when she had your life in her hoof, she was still so soft and warm, motherly, even. She stood up, and walked to her right, to the window, before speaking. 

“Murder is not a crime we see very often in this land,. In all my years, i have had to deal with this less than ten times. Of course the normal and easiest option is execution.”  She said , staring out the window, looking down on the courtyard below. Shining’s stomach sank once again. 

“E-execution?” Shining stammered. He saw two guards tighten their grip of their spears tensing up, their eyes fixated on him.

“The last few cases, that is what we came to a consensus on, yes.” Shining just sat wide-eyed. “However, this is a special case. You are young, just a colt budding into a stallion, and it sounds like you did it for your sister… You didn’t have an easy childhood, am i right?”

“Y-yes ma’am, at home I was always afraid… and it wasn’t any better for Twilight, but after that particular night i knew we couldn’t stay...” Shining explained, his breath becoming ragged as his adrenaline started pumping from fear.

“Well, it sounds like you got dealt a bad hand, and you say you did your best to protect your sister.” The sun goddess stopped for a moment. “I don’t believe execution is the correct answer for this situation.” 

Shining sighed, relief washing over him. “So, what is, then?” 

“I want to see if you are telling the truth.” Celestia’s smiled, turning back around towards the siblings. “I want to offer you… a job.” 

“A job?” Shining asked, dumbfounded.

“Yes, a job as a groundskeeper, here in the palace, you will be monitored by the guards and it will be tiring, back-breaking work, but you will be spared.” Celestia says walking up to Shining, towering over him. 

Shining just stands there… not sure what to say, he mouths the word ‘groundskeeper’ shiningbut no words actually pass his lips. Celestia suddenly stoops down, right beside Shining’s ear.

“This is where you say ‘thank you Princess, I accept.’” She whispers before standing back up to her full height. “Oh, and i will send some guards for your parents, we will do an investigation of what you claimed to be happening, and bring justice if we find anything.” She says before starting back up to her throne. 

“Now, you will start your work as a groundskeeper immediately, go down to the courtyard and find a brown earth pony by the name of Colton. he has a fern cutie mark, he will be your supervisor and tell you what to do. As for you sister… I see she is a unicorn, perhaps we can find something for her to do.. Has she had any formal magic training?”

“Uhh, yeah, she used to have a tutor, her teacher in Canterlot said she was exceptional for her age.” Shining said, relaying memories he had not thought of since this whole ordeal began.

“Interesting…I’ll make arrangements for her to see the royal tudor to test her ability. Now go along, i have many other appointments to attend to today, Shining Armor.” Celestia says. 

“Wait, what about my sister?” Shining said, stepping forward. 

“As i said, I will call for the tudor. You needn't worry.” She reassured

~

That’s how our new life started, i started working the gardens with Colten and his crew while Twilight went to unicorn school, apparently she astounded the tudor with raw power and was instantly put into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. I’m Glad for her. Twilight and me were given a room to share in the servant’s quarters. It’s cozy, if a bit small to share. Our parents were brought in and charged with multiple offenses, they confessed, about everything. They are still in those dingy cells we called home for a night.
It been about three months since we were taken into custody by those guards. Twilight is happy here, she likes the schooling. I can’t complain either, the work is exhausting, but sometimes, when i am in the palace garden i see this pink mare, she is gorgeous and about my age. But she is some kind of princess heir, she is way out of my league.. but it’s fine to dream, right?