The Equestrian Monomyth - Book 2 - Complexs of Disharmony

"It's not fair!" Screamed Shining Armor, enraged. "How I'm going to get bucked out from the Royal Guard, while he's earning his citizenship?! It's not fair!"

"Don't worry, big brother. Celestia is forgiving and kind. I'm sure she'll let you to come back when she cools off." Tried to cheer him his sister.

"And if she isn't?! And if she isn't?!! And where is Cadance?! Why she isn't here, supporting me up?!! Why everypony has abandoned me?!!" He protested with tearful eyes.

Twilight opened her muzzle, perplexed: That's right: Why Cadance wasn't here too? "Brother, I haven't abandoned you!! BBBFF, remember?!"

"Do you want to know what I think? Do you want to know? It's all his fault!" He accussed me, pointing me with a foreleg.

"Great. Right. Now everything is my fault." I made an annoyed gesture.

"Of course it is!!" Roared Shining Armor.

"No, big brother, no! It isn't his fault! Everything was a misunderstanding, trust me! And everything is gonna be set right! Just be patient, please!" Assured Twilight.

"Patient, you say? I can't be patient with this... thing, screwing everything up, and now messing with my family too." Continued Shining Armor, with clenched teeth. Then, he slowly walked near to me: "I want you to step away from my sister... at once!" He angrily screamed.

"Brother! That's enough! You're going too far! Now behave yourself or I'm gonna tell mom and dad!" Twilight tried to 'threaten' him.

Shining Armor chuckled: "Little sister. What do you think that I am? A foal? Now listen to me, and listen well: I don't want you to see that filthy monkey... ever again! Am I clear?!!"

"You can't forbid me that, big brother! I'm gonna marry him in three days! Remember?!"

"You're not marrying him!!"

"Ah, no? Says who?!"

Shining Armor closed the eyes and angrily huffed: "Twilight, if you marry him, you'll lose me."

Twilight shrugged an eye: "Lose you?"

"Yes, you'll lose me, because you're going to let me with nothing to live for!" Almost cried Shining Armor.

Twilight got pale and started to sweat cold and hyperventilate: "No, brother... you can't be serious... please..."

"Twilight, look at me. I've lost everything... My place as a Captain, the respect that Celestia had for me, even my marefriend abandoned me... all I have is you... please... don't abandon me you too." Sobbed the formerly proud and self confident stallion.

I faceslapped: Damn, It's... Twilight Sparkle... male version...

"But big brother... I'm not abandoning you... how could you think such thing...?" Sobbed Twilight, with tearful eyes too.

"Yeah? Then, choose. He or me!" Shining Armor pointed me with a foreleg and pointed himself later.

Twilight looked nervously at me, and then looked to him back: "No, brother, no... don't make me do this... You know I love you both, and you know I can't afford to lose any of you... big brother, please, don't." Her last words were almost unhearable.

At this point, I knew that I had to interfere, so I walked to him, snapping my fingers: "Hey, dude! Stop putting your sister between the wall and the sword! If you're so whiny, I sincerely don't know how Cadance hadn't bucked you out before!"

"What?!!" Shining Armor's sadness inmediately turned back to anger. "Are you telling that I'm not worthy for her?!"

"Neither for her, neither anymare else!" I pushed even further. Maybe I shouldn't have done that.

"All of this... all of this is your fault!!" He screamed, heartbroken.

"No, brother! I've already told you..." Tried to explain Twilight again.

"Yes, it's his fault!" Shining Armor interrupted her. Then, he turned his head to me again: "If you never had shown up, Luna wouldn't never had turned against Celestia, and she hadn't injured her, and the gryphoons will still be thinking that she was indestructible...! And my marefriend wouldn't ever have found out that I'm not worthy... So it's your fault!!" He exclaimed with crying voice, pointing me with a foreleg.

I looked to a side, starting to get upset too. Then, I looked to him again: "Look, dude..."

"Stop calling me 'dude'!!" He interrupted me.

"Alright, alright. Look, brother-in-law..."

"I'm not your brother-in-law!!" He interrupted me again.

I made another annoyed gesture with both arms: "Alright! Shining Armor! I swear that I'll do anything within my power to make that Celestia gives your position as a Captain back! Happy now?!"

"That's not the point!"

"What?!" Twilight and me looked at him at the same time. "How's that's not the point?"

"No! The point is that you're using me and my family to earn favors from the royalty, you shameless freeloader slug!"

I faceslapped again: "Shining Armor... I'm not using..." I put my fingers in the base of my nose. "And stop speaking nonsense, will you? You're gonna kill your sister of a heart attack." I pointed Twilight, who was still pale, sweating and hyperventilating, with a hoof in her chest.

That made Shining Armor to back off: "Oh, little sister... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, big brother. BBBFF, remember?" Twilight smiled, hugging him and relaxing at last.

Then, Shining Armor broke the hug, and sternly looking at me, suddenly blurted: "There's only a way to solve this... I'm hereby challenging you to a duel of honor... to the DEATH!"

"What?!! NO! No brother no please don't do this please think on me please." Quickly spoke Twilight, scared to death.

"Silence! This is no longer your concern!" Shining Armor harshly interrupted her. Then, he looked back to me: "What then? Are you afraid, chicken?"

"Yeah. Super afraid. Look how I tremble. Ohhhhhhhhh." I made a fake body shivering. "Now go to eat some hay somewhere, and don't forget to clean your flank after that, whiny boy." I replied in my most despective tone.

I guess I shouldn't have said that.

Shining Armor trembled of anger and clenched the teeth, and teleported outside. Twilight drooped to the floor, panting.

I kneel at her level "Are you alright, love?"

She nodded and smiled. But then, the loud voice of Shining Armor was heard:

"Hear me, citizens of Canterlot! I, Shining Armor, former captain from the Royal Guard, have just defied the monkey to a duel of honor..."

"What the...?" I asked, and walked out the hotel, followed by my dumbfounded marefriend, seeing her brother already surrounded by a crowd of curious ponies.

"... and if he refuses to do it, he'll always be known as a dishonorable, unreliable and untrustful coward, who doesn't respect the laws and customs from this kingdom, and I'll ponially travel to the last city, town and corner of Equestria, to let everypony know about this shameless freeloader slug!" He pointed to me with a foreleg.

That was it. This damned stallion is messing with my pride. And no one, or nopony, messes with my pride! EVER!

"You want to have it?! You'll have it!" I angrily walked to him, pointing him and later angrily waving my arm back. "Bring it on!" I raised my hands, making the 'bring it on' gesture as well.

"No, love, no, please!" My marefriend tried to stop me.

"Step aside, Twilight!" I pushed her back pretty roughly, almost making her to fell to the ground.

"Choose your weapon, monkey!" The white unicorn kick the ground with a foreleg.

"I don't need a weapon to get rid from a big mouth like you!" I angrily pointed him and waved my arm again, walking nearby him.

Twilight put both forelegs in her head, scared to death: "Oh no, oh no, oh no! This's a disaster! Now what do I do?!" She started to turn around two or three times, desperate. Then, she stopped short: "Wait, I know! Celestia, she can stop this!" And she quickly galloped back to Canterlot Castle.

I was already in Shining Armor's range, when each of my hands ended within a yellow sphere, each one pulling my arms, causing them to stretch away from my torse, and effectively disabling me from perfoming any spell. I raised my eyebrows: Whoa, clever move!

Then, being sure that I wasn't able to fight back, Shining Armor galloped to me, trying to pierce me with his horn. But he forgot something very important: I still had my legs free. I waited until he was close enough, and gave him an up kick in his muzzle that made him to backflip, and stunned him enough so the magic grip of my hands faded. Then, realizing that ranged spells will be his best bet to defeat me, I decided to pass to close-quarter combat.

I came closer him and started to punch his head, trying to break the shield he had cast there, then he teleported to some distance, and I did it too as well, and we repeated that tactic four or five times. Finally, he did what I was expecting to: He stood on his hinder legs, trying to buck me with the forelegs. Then, I took the chance, and casting a magic dispelling glove, I launched an uppercut right to his jaw. My fist pierced the shield, but it slowed the punch enough so I couldn't knock him down. Nevertheless, it made him to stumble, and I turned around, took his forelegs and, with a quick judo bending, tossed him loinside to the ground. Then, I jumped over him and started to repeatedly punch his shielded head again.

However, he quickly recovered and teleported away again. Then, he started to gallop around me, shooting me with a conical-shaped magical projectiles. I dodged the first two or three, and then I retaliated with my multi hadou-ken. Due my higher rate of fire, he soon begun to take hits on his magically shielded body, and, being a clever pony as he is, he soon realized that if he continued with that tactic, he'll be defeated.

Then, he started to teleport and attack me from different angles and heights, and so did I, until we appeared close enough, then I grabbed him and tossed in the air, and teleporting over him, I tried to push him against the ground, but he telported before I could. Then, I rolled in the ground and, taking the chance that I was close enough, he tried to buck me with his hinder legs. I quickly stood up and gave some turns around him, dodging his attack, and, using the impulse given by my motion, I hit his head with my elbow. Even it didn't broke his shield, the impact was strong enough to stun him a bit.

Then, I cast another magic dispelling glove and grabbed his horn, effectively preventing him to cast any spell. There, I passed to my favorite part: The punching bag. With my free hand, knees and legs, I unleashed on him a beating that'll surely take down Muhammad Ali. But he simply wasn't going down. Finally, and fearing that he could be taking too much damage, I grabbed him with a neck lock, trying to make him to give up, and we both fell to the ground. Now, everything was reduced to how long he can struggle using nothing but brute force.

"Give up Shining Armor! This fight is over!" I warned him.

"Never! I'm going to kill you, filthy monkey!" He shouted, his face red from the air lacking.

Scared to death, Twilight arrived to Canterlot Castle, and the standing guards, as usually, crossed their spears on front of her:

"Please, I need to see Celestia! It's an emergency!" She yelled with a frightened high-pitched tone.

"Sorry, miss Sparkle, but Our Highness has departed a while ago. She had some important matters to attend in Manehatten." The guard informed her.

Twilight, horrified, put both forelegs in her head, and later gave about a dozen quick turn arounds in the same place, yelling in despair: "Oh no oh no oh no now what do I do now what do I do now what do I doooooooo?!" Then, she just stood and, sitting in her haunches, she screamed, desperate: "SOMEPONY HEEEEEEEEEELP!!!"

"Twilight? It's that you?!" Cadance, with tearful eyes, galloped from the garden to the castle's entrace. "Let me thru!" She ordered to the guards, who hesitated a bit but finally obeyed the order. "Where's Shining Armor?! What happened to him?! Please, tell me!" She asked to Twilight with a cracked voice, extremely concerned.

Twilight looked at her, perplexed "What?"

My struggling with the unicorn was coming to an end, as the strenght was slowly abandoning his body. However, as I've learned recently, I was worried he'll try a last second self-destruction spell, so I need to stay on my guard. I won't ever forgive myself if I had to carry with Shining Armor's death in my memory.

"My love! No! Stop! Stop please!" Cadance landed near us, just on time. "Stop fighting him, I beg you!"

"Cadance?" Shining Armor reacted. "Cadance, my love!" His face brighted with happiness.

"My love! Where were you?! I was looking for you everywhere!" Said Cadance, filled with happiness too, so I released him, and he and the alicorn hugged and kissed passionately.

"My love, I thought you had abandoned me!" He said with trembling voice.

"How could I, my love?! Celestia just said she had dismissed you, but never told me where! I was dying of sadness, I thought you had abandoned me too!" Said Cadance between tears.

I sat back, panting from the effort, and looked to Twilight, who trotted to my side, smiling of relief.

"Whoof. That was close." I commented, sweeping the sweat on my forehead and hugging her with the other hand...

A pretty long while have already passed, when a group of pegasi guards come to look for Cadance, as she was taking too long in returning to the castle. They also brought a message from Celestia: That I come with them to the castle, and waited for her there, as she had something important to discuss with me. Shining Armor stood up too, but they told him:

"Not you. Just the monkey, citizen."

When Celestia finally arrived, she gave me Shining Armor's badge, and blessed the incoming marriage of Twilight and me, but her gloomy face and dull eyes told me that she wasn't entirely fine with that. I felt a bit doubtful, like marrying Twilight... wasn't right. Luckily, the anointement don't lasted too long, because seeing Celestia like that was really breaking my heart...

Walking all the way back to the hotel where Twilight and Shining Armor were staying, I couldn't help myself but to keep thinking on Celestia's kiss. I mean, it was a fortuitous event, driven by a rapturous moment of embarrasment and recently rediscovered feelings, isn't? Isn't...? Or there were... something else? What about if... Celestia had true feelings about me? Well, she mentioned that she felt 'weakened' and 'vulnerable' with me, and when a girl says that, it definitively means something. Besides, seeing Celestia with her two eyes again made me felt so... fulfilled? That was what I felt? Damn! Now I'm not sure! I think it'll be the best to shake all that doubts away, as they will only lead to no good. I guess I'll do some joke for a change.

Deep in that thoughts, I arrived to my destination, and walked to the room where the brother and the sister where. I put the key in the keyhole, and opened the door, finding Twilight unsuccessfully trying to cheer her brother. As soon as I entered, he raised his head, and stared at me, hopeful. Then, I made a negative movement with the head and a fake sad grimace: "Dude, really, I don't know what to say..."

Shining Armor's hopes faded like a shadow in the night, and he dropped his head on the table: "Ohhhhh noooo... I want to dieeeeeee." He cried.

"No, little brother, no! No please, no! Don't say that, don't say that pleaaaaaaase!" Twilight hugged her brother and they started to cry together.

"But to give your badge back!" I concluded joyfully, putting the badge in the table.

"What?!" They said at the same time, looking at me with perplexity.

"That's right! You can go back to work tomorrow, Shinny! You're a captain again! Now, stop crying like somepony had died!"

Shinning Armor looked like he was gonna have an attack or something.

Twilight gave me 'that' furious look: "I swear that 'somepony' is gonna die now..." She threatened me with a dreadful tone.

"Ha! Do you want to have it?! Come on!" I raised my fists, getting in a fighting stance.

Next, I teleported out the hotel, and Twilight did the same, shooting me with her purple beams and spheres, and I, laughing and enjoying as hell, dodging it or stopping her shots with my shielding spells. Finally, thinking that I had enough by just getting hit, I retaliated with a harmless Bull's Eye spell. I thought that Twilight will do something to avoid or dodge it, but she took the hit directly on her face, making a faceslaping sound. I couldn't help myself but to cackle:

"Ha ha ha ha ha! Love, you're supposed to avoid tha ha ha ha ha ha!"

But my laughter quickly dissapeared, when I saw my marefriend sat in her haunches, crying with a foreleg in her face.

"Oh, no no no. I'm sorry, my love, I'm sorry, let me see it, please." I ran to her, and kneeled at her level, concerned.

Suddenly, she surprised me with a purple blast that threw me twisting in the air, for some meters backwards. When I fell backside to the ground, she jumped over me and started to buck me, trying to hit my face, angrily yelling: "I'm gonna kill you, you filthy ponynapper! I'm gonna kill you!!"

Some ponies came closer, concerned, but I told them, among laughters: "Don't worry, folks, it's just a couple fight, it's just a couple fight!"

Finally, Twilight got exhausted, as she haven't the stamina to keep her bucking for too long, and we laughed together, until she dropped her head on my chest. Then she raised the head again, and looked me with a smile, still laughing a bit:

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ahhhhhhh... Love, if you do something like that again, I'll kill you."

I smiled: "Really? Will you be able to kill your dear love, honey?"

She just smiled again, and bucked me with her hinder leg on my crotch:

"OHHHHHHHRRRRRRRGGGGGG!!"

Ball two! Strike two!

The grated door come open, and Trixie, not without some struggle, was thrown into a large jail. There, in the center, Celestia's copy was standing motionless, still wearing the magic dampening bridle. Trixie looked at the clone alicorn, frightened to the death, and quickly turned around and started to buck the jail bars:

"Let me out! Let me out, please!"

"Silence!" A badass looking gryphoon guard menaced her with his claw. "Stop whining and do your job, because if it turns that you're useless to us, you'll be the main dish tonight! Now, go and take out the bridle! MOVE!"

Trixie trembled at the perspective of being eaten, and gulping, turned around and cautiously walked near the clone. Then, closing the eyes and sweating cold, she removed the bridle. Soon, the alicorn turned into a living fireball, and started to walk to her. Trixie, completely sure that was her end, quickly walked backwards until her flank hit the jail bars. Then, she drooped to the floor, covering her head with the forelegs, shivering of fear.

The fireball slowly walked up to her, and when her face was only a mere inches from Trixie's:

"Hi! How are you! What are you...? Ah! A pony, no? I'm not completely sure. I'm not completely sure of what I am, either!"

Trixie take apart her legs from her face a bit, surprised of being still alive, and risked to take a look: In front of her, a friendly Celestia twin was featuring a wide grin.

"Oh! Did I scared you? Sorry sorry sorry. It's just that I was chilling, and I figured that I could warm myself a bit. Are you alright?" Asked the alicorn, concerned.

Trixie was still too scared to give a coherent answer:

"I... well... actually... kinda... maybe... not... yes... I mean..." She mumbled.

The alicorn then stopped listening to her and started to look around: "And where are we? A jail?! Oh no! Did we do anything wrong? What did we do? I can't remember! I can't even remember my name! Tell me, pony! What's my name? Do you know it?"

"You're a Daybreaker!" A gryphoon told her from outside the cage.

"AH!" The alicorn startled, realizing that were others beside Trixie and her. "Hello... what are you...?" She puts a hoof in her temple and bumped it a few times, making memory.

"We are gryphoons, and are your owners!" Said the guard.

"Oh... then... I'm some sort of slave?" Asked the alicorn, putting a hoof in her chest, horrified.

"That's right." Confirmed the avian.

"And what did I do? I commited some horrific crime, and now I'm being punished for that?!" Asked the clone again, frightened.

The gryphoons looked to each other, smirking, and told her: "Exactly. You commited an unforgivable crime, and now you're being punished for that."

"Ohhhhh nooooo..." The clone cried and dropped to the floor to cry. That made Trixie to react:

"No, no, no. Don't cry, Daybreaker. They told me that... if you obey me, everything will be alright."

"Ah!" Daybreaker stopped crying. "Then, that's all I have to do? Obey you?"

"That's right!" Trixie joyfully confirmed, recovering her composture bit to bit. "If you do all what I say, they'll let you free!"

"OW!" Daybreaker puts a hoof in her chest, relieved. "But what about you? They'll let you still imprisoned?"

"Oh, no, no, no! They'll release me too!" Assured Trixie, then, she turned her head to the gryphoons and loudly added: "Doesn't it, guards?!!"

"Yes, yes, sure! We will!" Confirmed the guards.

Then, Trixie looked to Daybreaker:

"Daybreaker. Do you know who I really am?" She asked her in a murmur.

"No." Daybreaker answered in a murmur too.

"I'm your mother..." Lied Trixie. "But don't tell them until I say you to..."

"Why, mommy?" Asked Daybreaker, scared.

"We're in danger, my daughter." Trixie half-lied.