Project C.A.F.R

It had been a few days since the kiss… and Shining Armor found himself unable to think of anything else.

It was surreal. He fought with himself on whether the memory was sincere or just some twisted creation of subconscious unearthing some shallow, unacknowledged desire. He could recall with perfect clarity the softness of his lips, the subtle smile on his lips, the warmth of his hand as it was embraced by the Chieftain. Something so vivid in his mind couldn’t be fake, could it? He never sought out To’Achuu to clarify why it had happened, although strangely, To’Achuu did seek out him. Shining could almost admire the lack of awkwardness from the zebra, how he could continue to talk and act as such a thing had never happened. Whilst they conversed about culture, history, even cuisine - despite the unicorn’s lack of experience - Shining could not push the act from his mind. Each time the striped stallion departed, be it in the privacy of the dinner hall after dark or the public space of the library during the day, Shining could never be sure if he would receive another peck on his cheek from the enigmatic zebra.

Despite how much time he devoted to unpacking the meaning behind the zebra’s kiss - if any were to be found - he noticed something… odd, about the guard. They looked normal, in their uniforms and wielding their spears, however more often than not they no longer stood diligently alone at their posts. Everywhere he went, be it to his chambers to retire or the barracks to take roll call, a zebra was accompanying them. Be it off or on duty, a guard would be in the company of a zebra. Some had clung to their sides one of the slimmer, more androgynous examples. Others, whilst trying to suppress their blushes, had their shoulders latched to by the larger, more domineering specimens. Sometimes it was the other way around, which had more characteristically brawny and stoic guards suddenly struggling to keep a stern expression as a zebra almost an entire foot shorter than them doted against their bicep.

What was going on?

The unicorn’s gait was hurried, his mind a flurry and farrago of questions - all without answers. He couldn’t find Cadance, but he knew where one stallion was who could at least who could possibly ease his state of mind. He approached the tea room, his face bearing the weight of a deep frown as he reached the door. This would be the first time he was the one to approach. The zebra always assured him that his door was open should they ever want to chat but the reluctance inspired by the simple kiss always stayed him from doing so, even though he, begrudgingly, came so see him as a friend.

Sighing, Shining opened the tea room door slowly, poking his head inside to check. As the zebra said, he was indeed there, sitting reservedly in a chair. sipping tea from a saucer whilst his golden eyes scanned left to right an unknown book. Flanking him were two of the larger zebras, their thick trunk-like arms crossed over their stonewall chests, glancing passively towards the unicorn with slight, impatient frowns. They visibly wanted to be elsewhere.

“H-hey, uh...” Shining started, entering the room with several uneasy steps, his fire lessening in intensity. “I was wondering if we could talk…”

To’Achuu let out a boisterous laugh as he set his saucer down. “Of course we can talk, my friend,” the zebra’s jubilance dripped from his words. He looked to his bodyguard with an assuring grin. “You can leave us. I believe you both have someone waiting for you, yes?.”

The two Zebra stallions glanced at each other, flashing knowing smirks before they marched away from their leader, passing by Shining and closing the doors behind them; leaving the unicorn alone with the zebra, a pleasant breeze coming in from the open window as sunlight fluttered through the thin, transparent curtains. Shining approached when their privacy was assured; his steps placed somewhere awkwardly between hesitant and glad, unable to keep serious when staring at a face of welcoming and elation.

“What is it you wanted to speak of?” To’Achuu asked, voice familiarly friendly, the curious glint in his eyes sincere. “We could continue our conversation about your kin. Twilight, was it? I’d quite like to meet her someday.”

Shining could only smile at such enthusiasm. He hadn’t met someone so taken with his ‘story’ since Cadance, and she was already a large part of it already considering he babysat his sister. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to be as eager as he was to talk, not with several questions burrowing in his mind. “Sorry, I’m not here to chat, uh, To.”

To’Achuu’s smile deepened at the awkward evoking of his nickname, “Then what is on your mind Shining?”

“My wife. I need your help finding her…” Shining said with a sigh. Merely asking damaged his pride. “If that’s not too much of a burden?”

The mention of Cadance caused To’Achuu’s disposition to shift. He frowned and set his tea down on a nearby end table. “Excuse me for saying this Shining, but I am not so sure-”

Shining cut him off with a raised hand. “Please. I’ve come to think of you as a friend but the last time I saw Cadance was with you,” he pointed out, his hand dropping as he crossed his arms. “She’s avoiding me. I think… I think you know why.”

To’Achuu stared at him, the pause lingered, before his shoulders sank. “She’ll be in the throne room soon. She’ll be making an... announcement.”

Shining furrowed his eyebrows. What announcement? He never even got a hint of this. To’Achuu knew before he did? He nodded, confirming he understood as his jaw tightened. “Right,” he said curtly, dropping his arms and turning towards the door.

“I’ll accompany you,” the zebra proposed, stopping the unicorn in his tracks. Shining turned in time to see him stand. There was a rigidity in his form that Shining had never seen before, normally he was fluid and relaxed in his posture.

“Why?” the unicorn inquired, some bite coming across in his volume, remaining still as the zebra approached him. “Does it have something to do with you?” he asked, almost accusingly.

Rather than answer, To’Achuu reached timidly for one of the unicorn’s hands, maintaining eye contact with him as he did so. Shining didn’t know why he remained still, maybe it was because he discerned no threat whatsoever from the smaller stallion, or maybe it because it was easy to become sedated by such a gaze. Much like he did a few days before, Shining’s hand was enveloped by the zebra’s own. It was almost controlling, yet there was something assuring, controlling about it. His palms were warm, yet they cooled the unicorn. Shining waited, his fire extinguisher.

When Shining’s scowl faded, the zebra’s quaint smile returned, although a sadness remained in his eyes. “You don’t look happy.”

Shining didn’t know how to reply to such a statement. It was the truth though, as Shining loathed to admit. In recent memory, the only two times his cheeks were pulled back into a simper was in the presence of Flurry, and the presence of the stallion standing right before him. “I just need to talk to Cadance...” he deflected, voice quiet.

“Then let's go together,” the zebra offered, giving the unicorn’s hand a tender squeeze. “I want to be there for you.”

“Thank you,” Shining said, unsure of what else to say in the face of such kindness. The only other thing he could do was return the smile, squeezing the zebra’s palm back in reciprocation. The pure look of delight that appeared on the zebra’s expression right after made his heart flutter inexplicably, forcing him to slide his hand free of To’Achuu’s tender hand wrap. “R-right, let’s go then.”

“Lead the way,” To’Achuu grinned, gesturing towards the door.

Shining gave a nod, his cheeks flushed for whatever reason before he turned his back on the zebra, striding forwards in rigid march as his face became perplexed.

What was going on?

For the past few days, Thorax had been consumed by an attraction. Large, brawny and striped all over, he was enamoured deeply with a stallion whose name he never even caught. He kept replaying that half-minute over and over in his head, attempting to relive the sensation of his touch in his most depraved dreaming. He’d oft daydream about being held in his arms, of being curled up in bed together. He’d oft giggle to himself at a joke the powerful hunk made while the two were at a fancy restaurant on a date. Of course, the exact joke and the exact restaurant were never made clear, not as impressively vivid as the zebra hunk in his mind, which was all that mattered. He wondered what sort of reaction that would gauge. A changeling and a zebra out in public together. More often than not he found himself nervous at the prospect of being around so many eyes, paranoid about the looks he’d receive. Yet, funnily enough, he felt no fear when he pictured himself in such a scenario with his zebra crush around. He was strong, yet from the way he had gripped the changeling, he could be delicate also.

However, such vivid images of the striped stallion weren’t all borne from their singular meeting. Day after day, Thorax had to put his inherent changeling subterfuge into action. He’d take various shapes, just so he could pass by the friendly hulk without arousing suspicion, trying to steal self-serving glances at the zebra in order to add fuel to his ever-burning desire. He’d pass by him in hallways disguised as a maid, or stride on by as a clerk. In particularly risky instances, he’d steal the form of another zebra in order to justify getting a closer look.

That afternoon, he wasn’t able to find the zebra. Or, any of the others really. It was almost like they had all upped and vanished. It was a big castle after all, so in his search, he dared to venture outside the comforting walls of the big blue spire. He went undisguised, as he was assured to many a time by Spike, Shining, Sunburst, etcetera. Still, his steps were apprehensive, even though he never ventured too far to be surrounded by many curious eyes. It was a paranoia by this point, he knew it, but he couldn’t help but imagine each sideways glance, every cursory look to hide something grim and unpleasant behind it. It was as though his peripheral vision blocked off their smiles, which he was only able to place to their face a day after he allowed himself to roil in anxiety. It was this same anxiety that kept him from approaching his crush for real. He feared rejection and possible cruelties that would follow it. A derisive laugh, a disgusted sneer, mocking leers from passing strangers who had heard the rumour that a dumb bug attempted to ask out the prime specimen that was… that was...

Thorax sank into the bench until his back was where his ass once was, groaning into his hands as he hid his face behind them. He never even learnt his crush’s name. It was a further mark on his self-image...

"To'Achuu's plan is working. I can't believe it!" a masculine voice exclaimed, stopping just a short distance away from the bench.

“He’s going to become ruler of an entire country! Are all pony mares this idiotic?” a stallion’s voice tinged with a mare-like cadence added.

"They’re both idiots you ask me," another, familiar deep voice retorted. "The Princess is a special brand of stupid, but that moron who calls himself our chief has, time and time again, almost screwed things up for us! Six hundred beds…”

“Bah, don’t be like that, Hajaa. To’Achuu has never steered us wrong before, has he?” the other masculine voice reasoned.

"He is steering us wrong now. Constantly, he keeps taking greater and greater risks, threatening to undo everything he set out for. He is going to push us back into the old ways, pairing us off like this. I thought he was supposed to be better than the chiefs of the homeland."

“You’re just mad that you had to get… intimate, with the Princess.” the feminine voice giggled, which earned a growl from Hajaa. “If you found yourself a Jala, maybe you wouldn’t be so tense all the time.”

"Shut your holster, Qaruu. I am not an Irra whore with nought but sex in my head."

"Fine then, " Qaruu replied, flippant and sassy. “I’ll have you know, I’ve already found a stallion to be my Irra already. Educated, proficient in magic with a fiery orange mane. He’d look wonderful with some stripes down his chest. I even learnt a new word: Indignant."

Hajaa grumbled. “I do still think we need to be more careful. Things are going too fast."

“Eh, I say enjoy it,” the other masculine zebra added, smirking. “Free food, free lodgings, any pick of any stallion we come across. I say we have it good for now - even if it could be temporary.”

“I hear To’Achuu has a plan to make this arrangement… permanent,” Quarru revealed cryptically.

“I was never informed of any such plan,” Hajaa replied, doubtful.

“Of course he wouldn’t tell you. You would only try to stop him.”

“And he told you?” Hajaa replied, sceptical.

“No, not directly,” Quaruu answered coyly, “but I saw the chains, and pink fur marked with desecrating stripes. You should have heard what she had to say about her own citizens...”

“We already got a taste of that on our first day,” the other stallion added drily.

“So I take it the announcement isn’t going to go as planned - figures,” Hajaa tutted, unimpressed.

“Well that’s not entirely fair. Every zebra will be in that throne room - as planned. And every Irra and Jala, big and small will be there - as planned,” Quaruu assured, “and speaking of plans, where’s your catch, and will you be needing a net to assist you?”

Hajaa snorted. “Is that a pun?”

“You’re the one who took a liking to him. And it’s you. Of course I’m going to make jokes,” the feminine-sounding stallion giggled. “I never took you for the type.”

“The ‘type’ to do what?”

“Like someone,” he answered slyly.

Thorax could hear Hajaa’s face turning red. “I don’t… he’s just a… the Princess said-!”

"Do you know where he is anyway?" The masculine voice asked, interrupting Hajaa with a worried tone. “Every stallion she spoke of has to be there.”

Hajaa sighed. “Yeah… I got an inkling…” Hajaa answered forebodingly, a small pause following. “But don’t worry about me. Go. Get your prizes.”

Thorax heard the two sets of hooves depart without question, their hooves audibly clacking against the stone road. Thorax remained frozen. Plan? Catches? A n-net? It was a lot to process, and the changeling was a hundred percent sure he had just heard something he wasn’t supposed to. He needed to tell someone, anyone!

Slinking off the bench, he fell onto his hands and knees. The stone and its unpleasant hardness and texture was nothing compared to the possible danger he and the Empire were in. He pivoted on his knees and began crawling forwards, head lowered as to keep himself looking as small as possible… until he bumped into a pair of legs.

"Hello there," a voice greeted over him, familiar and fruity.

Thorax gulped, saying nothing. If he were capable of sweating, he would have begun right then. He looked up, meeting the amber hues of the large stallion, unable to stop his heart from fluttering at his large gregarious smile.

“Aren’t you a bold one?" Hajaa remarked coyly, releasing a deep chuckle. “Spying, following- now you drop eaves. You’re an intriguing one, that’s for sure.”

"H-how did you know?" Thorax stammered, embarrassment ripe in his voice, cheeks blushing a light blue. He didn’t know what to feel. Antagonism towards a stallion who was partaking in a nefarious plot, or affection for his crush?

"Please. I may be a foreigner but, I know what a changeling is. I also know a fake Zebra when I see one. I will give you a little hint," he offered, kneeling down. "Zebras are white with black stripes. Your disguise was black with white stripes."

"I-I’m sorry… " he half-mumbled, almost forgetting how to speak - afraid. "I promise I will leave you a-alone- all of you! I w-won’t tell anyone, I swear! A-and I only followed you because I was just too s-scared to talk to you at first and… and…"

Thorax wanted to express further guilt, make further promises to guarantee his own safety- he couldn’t help it. Too many emotions conflicted within him. He was good at recognising their flavour but he was inadequately prepared to handle them all at once. Fear, attraction, self-doubt and desire. It overwhelmed him, enough so that he felt tears threaten to run down his cheeks as they welled up in the corner of his eyes. It’s why he flinched when Hajaa reached out slowly towards him, and why he was unable to summon a reaction when all he did was cup the changeling’s cheek in his large stripy paw.

"What if I didn’t want to be left alone?" Hajaa said with a deep smirk, stroking his thumb down the black cheek.

"Y-you didn't?" Thorax asked, completely dumbfounded, the tears in his eyes instantly evaporating.

"Yes. I was hoping to run into you but, you know, I didn’t want to hurt your pride by seeing through your disguises," Hajaa replied with a humoured tone, rising up; bringing Thorax to his hooves along with him. “Although now that I know you’re interested, why don’t we get more… acquainted.”

Thorax felt his heart galloping against his ribcage, which only exacerbated his condition, especially when Hajaa reached down for his hand. What was he afraid of again?

“Y-yeah,” he stuttered, unblinking as Hajaa brought him closer, wrapping his big burly arm around his own lithe limb.

“Great! We can walk and talk. Accompany me to the throne room?” Hajaa requested, his smile warm, like a summer breeze.

“Y-yeah,” Thorax stuttered in compliance, walking with uneven steps along with the zebra back towards the castle, mentally rebooting as his own lips bent into a dreamy grin.

Spike gave a deeply delighted grin as he dragged his forked tongue across the sizable mound of ice cream before him, a large dollop of blue raspberry ice cream, sprinkled with small sapphires, balanced precariously atop a large wafer cone. Between long licks, he glanced over to his new friend, Dansaar. The zebra was wholly indecisive on what to order - ‘indecision’ being a trait the young dragon was quickly growing familiar with - so he ordered for him. A vanilla swirl with thick black pieces of liquorice. Spike thought the combination was humorous, his chest swelling with pride at his own wit. Although, much to his chagrin, Dansaar’s face remained unchanged. He wasn’t offended at the lack of a smile but in his company, the zebra’s cheeks remained in perpetual flush - his cheeks a deep, crimson red. Spike had grown used to the zebra’s particular… mannerisms. It was the third day they had shared together and Spike was sure at this point it would have been more accurate to get the stallion strawberry instead of vanilla. This time, Dansaar's change in hue was provoked by his quiet ‘thank you’ after being handed the tasty treat.

That wasn't the only strange piece of behaviour the dragon observed from his stripy friend. He noticed that every long, savoury lick of his forked tongue across the large blue mound of ice cream prompted the most curious reaction from the zebra. As he licked off gems, the zebra suddenly consumed himself on the sight. Most times, Dansar could barely look at him, now he had trouble keeping his eyes away. The reason could be that Dansaar was simply in awe of the dragon’s appetite - not even fully grown stallions could complete with the small dragons’ appetite. Although, there was one other cause...

Spike wasn’t, contrary to popular belief, an innocent little baby who didn’t understand sex. For one, he was only a few years younger than Twilight. And secondly, his understanding could be described as ‘fluent’. His understanding was borne of osmosis from large numbers of magazine articles, Rarity’s ‘lost’ explicit love stories and Twilight’s regurgitated sex-ed lessons. It might have been his constant surrounding by mares but apart from one filly in his life - Rarity - his attitude towards them, especially in an arousing sense was… ambivalence. Whenever he procured one of his… magazines - he was fascinated by the articles only, of course - he found his eyes able to concentrate on both mares… and stallions. Obviously Twilight informed him that such a thing was completely natural during their talks, so Spike thought nothing more of it. The dragon wasn’t really driven by his sexuality, it was merely just a trait, an aspect of himself he regarded with apathy, like the colour of his scales or his appetite for gems.

However, this did mark the first time his sexuality gave him a firm understanding of what was going on. This provoked from Spike a short-lived fit of giggling. He was driving Dansaar positively crazy. Was this why the zebra kept following him? Attraction? Spike finally understood what Rarity must have felt like at that moment, to have someone so helplessly attracted to you that they couldn’t keep themselves away. Spike, admittedly possessing of a large ego, wasn’t aversed to the idea of being on the receiving end of such attention. Dansaar’s infatuation with him wasn’t much different than his adoring public in the Crystal Empire. It just afforded him another avenue of fun.

With this in mind, Spike punctuated the next lick of his ice cream with a deep, satisfied moan. He wasn’t one for teasing although how could he deny himself? The fork of his versatile muscle was far too flexible a sight for the imagination and if he was correct in his assertion, then there would only be one image coming to the zebra’s mind...

Splat

Dansaar, so encapsulated by Spike's pantomime, his lost sensation in his fingers. Both cone and ice cream dropped to the floor, and the zebra’s attempt to catch it only sent it flying forwards. The vanilla-liquorice treat fell to the floor with a wet, messy thud that left Dansar’s mouth ajar in rictus whilst Spike could only look at the mess with a pang of guilt and a tincture of well-earnt pride. He had only witnessed such absorbing displays of sultriness in Rarity, such displays that made him forget the pain - which made him a more than serviceable pincushion - and the entire world around him. He had done the same to Dansaar, which left him smiling inappropriately.

“Dammit,” Dansaar muttered quietly, cheeks continuing to blaze as he scowled at the splattered mess.

Spike waved his hand dismissively. “Oh, don’t worry about that, somepony will-”

Before Spike could finish Dansaar already moved forwards to sort out his mess. Spike had spent so much time walking beside the zebra that he never actually watched the fem-stallion’s saunter. His normal gait did a ludicrously good job of showing off his breeding hips, the sow-handles of a fertile broodmare bolted oddly befitting to the stallion’s waist. Spike, entranced, watched the rolling plump rump of the zebra’s posterior as he approached the white, creamy mess on the floor. If Spike thought the sight couldn’t get any better, he was proven beyond wrong with what came next. As the stallion bent over, his two striped globes jutted out towards him, swallowing some of the loincloth like a thong and giving the dragon just the faintest outline of the stallion’s black wrinkled ring. Spike quickly realised that with such a holy sight before him, the world just seemed to watch away in a tide of black and white. Not even his ice cream was so appetising in the presence of such a perfect ass. For the first time, probably in dragon history, Spike experienced a heat he couldn’t quite deal with; scorching on both of his cheeks.

“Bad idea…”

Spike agreed with one part of the sentence - bad - for as quick as the dragon was graced with the sight of heaven, it was taken away from his as the zebra stood, half turning and giving the dragon a view of his profile. The zebra’s hand was raised close to his face, frowning like an uncomprehending foal as he stared as his cream covered fingers. Before Spike could croak out any words from his suddenly dry throat, Dansaar tackled another mess. Over his striped hand, his pink tongue traced the edges of his fingers, scooping up the white melted trickles of cream with savoury delight. Spike, whose imagination was unmatched in its over activeness, very quickly conjured forth a few choice scenes at such amusing image, each one more lip-biting hot than the last.

Dansaar’s eyes opened for only a moment but when they met Spike’s, he stopped, turning towards the dragon with his arms reclusively crossed. “You d-dropped yours too?” Dansaar’s timid comment was delivered with a weak point towards the floor, the fat blue dollop by Spike’s scaly feet.

“Y-yeah, I did,” Spike confirmed pointlessly, allowing the cone to drop from his hand as he sent one to scratch the back of his head and the other to join the arm in half shrugging.

“Oi!” a shrill and aged feminine voice cried from behind them, yanking them from the moment.

The squeaky wheel of a cleaner’s cart approached. Spike was frozen, assaulted by a burgeoning lust and the surprise of the new pony. A mare, rotund and frowny faced, grey maned and brown-eyed, pushed up beside the two of them. Her cart was stacked with a menagerie of cleaning products - garbage bags, zip ties for said garbage bags, sponges and soap. She stopped her squeaky wheels beside the two of them casting harsh glares to them both.

Spike looked to his mess and then the cleaner. “Uh…”

“What do you have to say for yourself?” the mare spoke in a level voice, one which hid the emotion she evidently wore on her wrinkled countenance.

“Um… I…” Spike stammered; his head a farrago of thoughts, the images of lust battling with the framed face of the stern mare, leaving him too confused to speak.

Before she could continue to lambast him with well-deserved ire, Dansaar rushed forwards, skidding a halt as he bowed his head, obscuring his face. “Please accept my humblest apologies! On the names of my ancestors and my unborn progeny, I won’t ever make another mess ever again!”

“Y-yeah, what he said!”

Moreso taken aback by Dansaar’s impassioned apology than Spike’s pathetic tag along, the maid’s lips flapped in confused comprehension before she hardened her face once again. “Righty ho, then. And don’t let me catch you making messes ever again.”

“We won’t,” Spike hastily promised before rushing away from her, going back the way she came from; keeping his eyes straight ahead and not looking back.

He soon heard the slight pants of Dansaar as the zebra caught up to him, soon walking astride. Spike couldn’t bring himself to look at the zebra either. He dropped his ice cream because of him, a statement that went both ways, much like Spike. The dragon didn’t want to confront the implication. It wasn’t an uncomfortable or unsettling one, just one that made him slightly nervous. If Dansaar was attracted to him, and he Dansaar, does that mean… something ought to happen? Now, he was experiencing a familiar blaze in his gut that wasn’t just dragonfire.

After a few minutes, silence reigning, Spike worked up the nerve to speak; far out of sight and hearing of anyone.

“H-hey, so... am I sensing a vibe here or-”

Before Spike could finish, he heard a mouse-like squeak from the zebra. Suddenly, Spike’s world was suddenly shrouded in black, his nose filled with the smell of polyethene… now what? With his brow raised, Spike’s claws fumbled until he was able to raise the trash bag over his head

“Uh… what’re you doing?” Spike inquired, bemused.

“I-I’m… I’m…” Dansaar stammered, his face visibly pained. He was dying on the inside, until he squeezed his features even tighter - then, lazarus! For the first time, the zebra found some mettle, his features ironing. Spike had never seen such a face on him before. “I’m k-kidnapping you!”

Spike blinked, not sure how to take the news, except with scepticism. Despite his bolstering of apparent courage, the zebra kept his hands close to his chest, his cheeks continued to burn and he trembled from the neck down. “Uh…”

“Because you are my Jala, and I am your Irra!” the zebra proclaimed, resolute and for the first time unwavering in his speech. Spike would have admired the zebra finally finding the courage to speak, but…

“Huh?” the dragon raised his brow. It was almost like being on the receiving end of Twilight’s monologues. Same language, yet completely alien at the same time.

Dansaar mumbled, frowning at his incomprehension. “It is the way of the tribe! Because I am b-big, you are small, that’s why-”

“Hey, I might not be the tallest dragon around but you don’t have to make fun of height, Danse. I thought we were friends?” Spike rebuked, his brows lowered, voice betraying some degree of hurt and anger over his damaged ego. The dragon wasn’t particularly fond of sleights against his stature.

“We are!” his hands flew out from his chest, palms opening to disarm the dragon’s lit fuse. “Oh, I’m sorry- No! Dammit,” the zebra then cursed at himself, clenching his fists as he brought them back to his sides, head lowering. “I can’t do anything right.”

The dragon barely heard that last part but there was no denial that the zebra had said it. Spike was torn when he knew that he shouldn’t be. He knew that any claim of kidnapping should be met with a harsher rebuke, that he should run to a guard for assistance or, at most, send a letter to Twilight. Yet he didn’t. Something kept him rooted, looking up with skewed lips at the frowning zebra. Maybe it was the zebra’s confirmation - albeit accidental - that he viewed the dragon as a friend. Maybe it was even the freshness of his newly realised attraction to the zebra that stayed his stubby little legs. Heck, it might have been because he felt sorry for Dansaar and his admittedly pathetic attempt to kidnap the dragon. Of course, Spike denied all hypotheses that put him into a position of icky sentiment. His own claims to his stillness were curiousness, even bravery. If he fell onto the lap of a conspiracy that would destroy the empire, he was going to vanquish it. After all, saving the Empire twice meant double the potential fame.

“So, uh… why are you trying to… ya know,” he led on awkwardly, flicking the garbage bag off his tail.

“W-what?” Dansaar was withdrawn from his clenched features and sadness, looking down at the dragon with his eyebrows meeting.

Spike crossed his arms. “Kidnapping.. attempted kidnapping.”

“O-oh, that…” Dansaar acknowledged, scratching his arm anxiously. “W-we weren’t told expressly to do that, I j-just thought it’d make me look good if I brought you there… w-with force. I thought it’d make me look… strong.”

Although he would never admit it, Spike understood the sentiment. He piqued a brow, intrigued with something. “So wait, you were told to bring me?” Spike inquired, his ego experiencing a little boost. “Firstly: who wants me? Secondly: why?”

“O-oh, well it’s not just you, it’s… everybody, I think,” Dansaar answered, scratching his chin. He didn’t look entirely sure. “We were supposed to be in the throne room soon for an announcement.”

Spike’s features hardened, only a little hurt he wasn’t deemed the only real threat. “Did Toe’Achoo put you up to this?” Spike interrogated, recalling the chief’s name from an overheard conversation back to his quarters.

Dansaar pursed his lips. “I don’t know if I should tell you that.”

“Should you be telling me any of this?” Spike reasoned, wearing an unsure smile.

“Um… no,” Dansaar nervously gripped the string holding up his loincloth.

Spike felt a tincture of pity but continued on regardless. “So if the harm is already done…”

Dansaar gulped, giving a meek little nod. “It was only half his idea… P-Princess Cadance was responsible for the other half.”

Spike’s eyebrows would have flown off his head… if he had any. “Princess Cadance?” he said, his disbelief audible if not outright discernable from his expression.

“She wanted every zebra, every stallion - important or otherwise - in the throne room,” he elaborated. “To’Achuu didn’t want any spectacle but she… insisted,” he ended, shivering with a grimace on his face.

Spike didn’t want to believe the zebra. Cadance was a friend- family, even, considering his closeness to Twilight. If he was being honest, however, this held disturbing implications. Maybe too big for even him to deal with. But… what would happen to Dansaar if he got Twilight’s help? An ill-timed memory of Sombra appeared, the vanquishing of a tyrant, sundered to shadow and gone, forever. Looking at the adorably red countenance of the zebra standing over him, Spike didn’t want to envision such a fate for his new stripy friend… of course, he refused to acknowledge the sentimental underlining to his next idea. With a puff of his chest, he resolved to save the empire, even if it was by himself.

“Then do it,” Spike ordered vaguely, raising his digit in a triumph only he recognised.

Dansaar blinked. “D-do what?”

Spike crossed his arms, chin raising, he smiled with self-assurance. “Kidnap me...”

Shining arrived at the grand doors of the throne room. Even on the other side of such thick doors, Shining could pick up voices on the other side. To’Achuu met his gaze as he looked down at the zebra, his brows meeting. There was something dire about the situation but Shining couldn’t fathom what.

"Shining… you’re a good stallion," To’Achuu informed him out of the blue.

“What?”

“I just wanted to tell you that,” he answered.

Shining could only tut. This wasn’t the first time the stallion was cryptic. Wasn’t the first time he assured the unicorn of his morals either. “Right… so Cadance will be making an announcement.”

“Yes, although it’s best if-”

"I don't care how important it is, I need to speak with her," Shining interrupted as he pushed open the imposing doors; the laborious creek gave birth to countless voices on the other side.

Parted, he found himself stilled by the sight. Flocking to either side, leaving the route to the throne clear, a mass of stallions - both striped and without - filled the room. Made up of equal parts zebra and pony, Shining didn’t know what to make of such a bizarre sight. He found himself walking free of volition, looking from side to side, thankfully ignored by everyone there. He didn’t fail to notice how blatantly… intimate some of them were with one another. He recognised one of his own guards being handled like a piece of meat by a zebra of a taller stature, groping him through his shirt as the guard’s face became flushed red although still rigidly idle at his post. He also saw a butler, the situation inexplicable reversed as he peppered kisses on one of the more waifish stallion’s cheeks. What made that instance particularly odd is that he was sure that stallion was as straight as an arrow. He glanced down to To’Achuu, the zebra wearing a whimsical grin, a few seconds away from a cackle it would seem.

As Shining made his way to the throne, walking past the chattering mob of stripes and affection, Shining’s brows rose in visible surprise. He recognised every stallion before the throne, each and every one of them a close friend and confidant. That wasn’t what surprised him, however. It was their predicament. Much like the mob they were paired with a zebra too, but unlike the rest, their wrists were tied and bound behind their backs! The further heaping of surprise came in the form of their faces. Not a single one of them appeared alarmed by this.

Spike was standing in front of the first Zebra he had encountered - the feminine one who read the scroll - suspiciously but optimistically looking around the room, as the Zebra behind him looked around with a mix of exhilaration and nervousness. When Shining looked back at Spike, the dragon had the gall to wink at him!

Thorax simply looked dazed, dreamily staring over his shoulder at the large zebra who was currently and lazily tying his wrists together. Shining recognised this zebra too, the one Cadance had mistaken for the chief. His face was covered in a blush that ill-suited him, downright shy at that moment. When Hajaa - the stallion binding him - gave the changeling a smile, the little drone smiled back dopily, practically euphoric.

Sunburst was the last of the lot, eagerly talking to a zebra Shining did not recognize. The feminine stallion was much like the one lording over Spike, although he was less… reserved, in his candour. He was practically hanging off the bespectacled unicorn as the two enjoyed a conversation that he couldn't quite make out. As he neared, the smaller male said something. What exactly Shining couldn’t discern, not even by reading his lips, but whatever it was it caused Sunburst to gasp, blushing beat red.

Shining looked at To'Achuu with a face contorted several directions in shock. "What's going on?" he asked, unable to bring himself to look away.

The zebra didn’t answer.

Shining was brought before the throne, having no idea why he didn’t just bolt. He was made to line up with the others, although unlike them, he was neither bound or flanked by a zebra. His escort instead sauntered over to the throne, leaving the smell of lavender and the sound of rattling jewellery in his wake. He looked around, feeling as though the world had just stopped making any sense…

Suddenly, the room became bathed in silence. He saw every pair of eyes in the room direct themselves towards the doorway. Before he even looked for himself he saw the shock on their faces, awe and disgust, rolled into one engrossing image. He shot his eyes to the otherside of the room and he immediately understood. His heart stopped in his chest. Icy thorns coiled around his beating organ, turning all the blood in his veins to ice. It lasted only a second but it stretched into forever, for the image her saw was permanently etched into his head.

His wife, the love of his life and mother to his child, was completely naked. She looked like a debaucherous icon, her obscene form captivating as it was revolting. From her cheeks all the way down to her fetlocks, her body was covered in a criss-cross of black stripes. The cutiemark on her flared, motherly hips was crossed out with the same stripes, a forsaking of herself, of all she was. She was being led by an escort of four, visibly reluctant stallions, dragging her along by chains connected to a collar tied around her neck. Shining almost galloped forwards, wanting to save her but… she was smiling. She wore a simper he had seen before but never on her face. Chrysalis, Sombra. It reeked of a malevolent aura he couldn’t bring himself to ignore. As she got closer, his nose pricked with a scent, one familiar, one he was barely able to discern over the flooding of testosterone.

Arousal.

A glance down to her thighs revealed with every stride her matted down thighs; her clit exposing itself from the hood - a signal betraying her lust. Although from the way she smiled so brazenly, it was apparent she didn’t intend to keep her arousal a secret. This wasn’t Cadance, it couldn’t be. Shining’s mind was a motley cocktail of emotions. Anger, humiliation, sorrow and hate. This was what she was doing? This was why she invited them here?

"What… what did you do?" Shining’s voice was quiet but audible considering the lack of other voices in the room. Despite its low volume, it was merely a subdual of the pure rage that boiled in his chest. The question was as much directed at To’Achuu as it was Cadance, although his wife was the first to answer.

"This was all me, husband," Cadance answered, pure disdain dripping from her voice at his matrimonial title.

"W-what? But…" Shining started, lips flapping uselessly at the new information. “T-that can’t be, it just can’t!”

She smirked. That was all she needed to reply with to silence him. That was all she needed to do in the face of her husband to make him realise this wasn’t just some sick joke. “There was a reason I invited the Zebras to the Crystal Empire," she began, her sharp voice carrying throughout the room. She stopped just before the throne, turning her shapely ass towards her throne as she looked over all gathered. "The reason is simple: I wanted them here to replace the weak, pathetic ‘colts’ that dare call themselves stallions in my empire! Ponies are pathetic - nothing in comparison to the emasculated shrimp dicks who deserve nothing more than to be bred out of existence by superior zebra cocks!”

Shining was too stunned by what he was hearing to even try and retort. He knew everything that flew from her throat was a bold faced lie, delusion fostered by some base part of her psyche.

“And. I think no one exemplifies their superiority better than these four!" Cadance declared as she turned to face them, her handlers awkwardly shuffling along with her. She started with the smallest of the four, Spike, who met her dastardly glare with a scared, unsure look - a far cry from his confidence just a few moments prior.

"Spike. What are you exactly? Besides a failure?” she opened rhetorically, the young drake recoiling at such a vitriolic remark. “Completely atypical of an otherwise perfectly masculine and powerful race! And look at what he became after being raised by ponies. A stunted, androgynous… ]thing," her words were that of a cobra, delivered with venom and hiss. "If you ask me, we should have shattered your egg the second we found it. It would have been a mercy compared to letting you grow up into the pathetic specimen you turned out to be."

Shining watched as Spike’s jaw fell, his mouth moved as he tried to say something, anything, but the words wouldn't come out. How could Cadance say something like that to him? The look of betrayal and clarity on the drake’s face was something Shining had never hoped to see..

"Hey! Don't speak about him like that!" cried Thorax. Shining had never heard anger come from the changeling’s throat before. He had to restrain a wince as. Cadance turned on him next.

"Oh? What are you gonna do about it? Are you going to cry perhaps? Look at you. Such a useless little bug. No wonder you were abandoned by the rest of your hive. It’s hard to believe that anyone was afraid of such a miserable little creature!”

Thorax's mouth flapped open and closed uselessly before he settled on steeling his jaw shut. Shining saw a wetness begin to glaze his compact eyes, tears threatening to emerge. However, something piqued Shining’s brow. Hajaa, the lumber zebra behind him, simply rested a large hand on the changeling’s lithe shoulder, constricting slightly in what was unmistakably a comforting squeeze. The changeling then lowered his head, his tears subdued.

"And then there's you," Cadance said, directing her hatred towards the autumn-maned unicorn.

He met her gaze with connected brows, wanting to recoil but kept in place by the androgynous zebra behind him.

“You fail to even meet the minuscule high a pony can reach, an utter failure with magic. What? Do you make up for your lack of masculinity with intelligence? Psh. A big brain can’t make up for a small cock,” she spat at him, her malicious smile baring her pearly whites, which may as well have been sharpened to fine, dagger-like points she was so predatory.

“Enough!” Shining barked at her, teeth bared in anger. His clenched fists trembled at his sides. The zebras holding her chains looked at him warily before sharing looks with each other. “How could you do this? You’ve betrayed everything you stand for? What of love, our daughter, our friends-”

"Friends? Hah!" Cadance scoffed as she turned to face him, crossing her arms over her bared, stripy bosom. "Are they really? An inept scholar, stunted lizard and abandoned bug are what goes for friends nowadays? You’re as pathetic as they are, more so in fact."

Cadance stalked towards him, a maddened smile on her face. "You have never satisfied me. Our life together - if you can even call it that - was but one disappointment after the other. Trapped in a squalid cave on our wedding day, knowing you shared your bed with a harlot assuming my image. And after? I return home, to find my empire besieged by an ancient tyrant. At least life was exciting back then. Now, what did my life become? A stagnant day-to-day of mind numbing repetition. Although, each of those paled in comparison to my greatest disappointment: Flurry. I can’t believe I ever let you close enough to birth such a thing.”

Shining's mouth went dry. Not in a thousand years would he have ever been able to imagine Cadance, his wife who he had shown nothing but unconditional love for most of her marriage, to utter any of what she was saying to him. By now his nails threatened to cut into his skin he had his fists clenched so tight. His emotions bubbled over in his chest, a cauldron of simmering hate battled with the love her one held onto so tightly. He wanted to defend himself and his friends, rebuke everything so she said, everything he knew to be wrong. But he felt far beyond words at this point. She had stomped their love into the ground, showing nothing but derision towards its manifestation in their daughter. He stepped towards, his biceps tensing as he looked at her smug, deplorable expression.

He was suddenly taken out of his stupor, a hand landing on his shoulder. Delicate and small, warm and soothing, he looked to his side. To’Achuu was beside him, looking at the pink alicorn with a neutral expression. "Do you declare the secession of your powers?"

Murmurs erupted throughout the room at the question. Shining sneered, looking at the zebra’s blank expression. Was this his doing? He wanted to throw himself at the lithe zebra, deliver unto him some slim slice of his vengeance and anger. Yet, he remained still, frozen surprisingly by the zebra’s soft grip on him. It was disarming, assuring.

Cadance smiled. deep and depraved. Her legs quivered visibly with her smouldering arousal, her cheeks flushing. "I do, I do! The Crystal Empire now belongs to Prince To'Achuu. The papers are signed, my abdication to you is complete! The superior species now controls these lands!"

Shining blinked, his anger faded away to nothing, crestfallen. She was serious, wasn’t she? Flurry’s future. Security. Gone. There was no hint of remorse or hesitation on his wife’s… her face. The ensuing silence after her declaration made him uneasy, although, oddly, he wasn’t alone. Cadance’s expression dropped from a large, self-satisfied grin to a mix of bemusement and worry, looking out over the gathered stallions. Suddenly, the zebras who had their hands wrapped around her chains tightened their grips, the chains clinking as they were pulled taut.

The alicorn’s hands flew to her collar, a carnal smirk appearing on her features. “You’re not going to show me any mercy are you? Yes! Treat me like the inferior whore I am!”

Shining saw To'Achuu smile at her plea, although it was devoid of lust, unlike Cadance. He released his hand from Shining’s shoulder, looking down the aisle to the throne, Shining following his gaze after. The armoured ponies who once played the role of guarding Cadance, no longer distracted by the zebras that clung to them, wore faces of seething hatred, although their eyes weren’t directed at the zebra that appeared to have orchestrated it. Shining saw each pair of eyes aiming at the princess... former-princess.

To’Achuu stepped towards the alicorn, her hole leaking with delighted anticipation, stopping in line with the throne that was now by all accounts his. "You know, I don’t feel any different..." he mused aloud, smirking, although not arrogantly. He then directed his sights to the mare. “You’ve got the chains and guard, all that’s left is to put you in a cell.”.

The mixture of arousal and fear became warped with confusion, Cadance stared at the chieftain-now-prince with widened eyes. “W-what?”

He looked down the aisle, the guards appearing to wear faces of both confusion and joy at his remark. “What? Didn’t you hear your new prince? Take this…thing to the dungeons where it belongs."

Cadance's eyes widened at his command, her horn glowing as she instinctively attempted to summon some trickle of power to defy against the zebra’s order. However, it became clear to Shining that, in her hubris, she crippled her capabilities. The collar around her neck glowed with the same pink as her horn did, and immediately all the power she conjured fizzled away into nothingness.

Shining would have felt something when she erupted into a state of panic, trying in futility to escape. However, he only felt numb at the sight of her feared expression. The zebras held her still despite how she rattled against them, four crystal guards marching with satisfied faces as they took the chains out of the zebra’s hands. In trying to struggle free the tiara, which was nought more a mockery of her former station, fell from her bedazzled mane; rolling over to To'Achuu's hooves.

“H-Hajaa!” Cadance cried looking at the Zebra second in command, who was still latched to the changeling’s shoulder. The zebra stared at her passively, an utter lack of interest in his dull gaze. “Please! You can’t let them do this to me! You swore! After I gave everything up you’d give me-”

Hajaa silenced her with the raise of his open palm. It was then Shining saw the slimmest hint of emotion on his face. It came in that of a small yet contemptuous smile, which managed to say a million things, even if not a single word came from his throat.

Her pleading eyes scanned those around her for mercy. She scanned the crowd, the guards which latched onto her chains, even the males to whom she had just insulted their entire being. Finally, and perhaps worst of all, she finally looked at her husband.

“Shining, please!” she pleaded, trying to run to him but kept in place by the guards.

Shining didn't say anything, continuing to stare at her desperate, pitiful face with deadened eyes. Her hands reached out, trying to grab and grip onto the sanctity he could once offer… he would not give her the privilege anymore.

She was dragged away, kicking and screaming. He watched her, unable to look elsewhere than her pathetic naked and desperate form. The guards were yanking her harshly but he couldn’t even summon a shred of pity for her. All the while the spectators lobbed insults and jeers at her. Ponies and zebras alike called her ‘traitor’, ‘harlot’. He looked to others by the throne, seeing their bindings already being undone. Thorax threw himself into Hajaa’s brawny chest for comfort, whilst Spike’s companion kneeled to rub his scaly shoulder in assurance. Sunburst was quickly assuaged by the stallion’s lips, a sight which prompted the raise of one of his brows.

"Shining! Please! I'm your wife!" she cried out in desperation. "I love you!"

That made him wince. How hollow those words were now. Her pile of lies had collapsed into an avalanche that succinctly crushed their love. He couldn’t bear to look at her, his gaze averting as he closed his eyes shut, waiting until he could hear the slam of the throne room doors before opening them again.

He found himself looking at To'Achuu, unsure of what to think of his so-called ‘friend’ at that moment. The zebra simply dragged his fingers down the armrest of the throne. Despite the amount of he just came into, Shining noted that his face was entirely absent of joy. For the shortest of moments, their eyes met.

His smile came back.

When To'Achuu turned to face the mass of ponies and zebras, they erupted into cheering. The volume no doubt penetrated the thick walls of the castle. Shining was unsure what to feel at their reaction. Mixed, was apt.

Shining blotted out the zebra’s ensuing speech, eyes falling to the floor. He felt a distinct emptiness in his chest, a feeling not all too unfamiliar to the after effects of the changeling queen sapping him of his emotions. He heard clapping. A meek look up afforded him the sight of a salacious orgy of affection. Wet kisses, embracing, subtle-yet-unsubtle flirtatious whispering. And that's when everything clicked for him finally, making him feel all the more a fool for not realising it earlier. An all-male tribe? The way the zebras latched onto stallions? The kiss… He would have been reduced to hysterics if not how crumbled his psyche already was. It was obvious now. Cadance allowed them in not because they fucked her, but because Cadance thought they were going to. It should have filled him with relief but only helped hammer home Cadance’s claims of his supposed inferiority. She betrayed him, and everyone else, all on the hope she would become someone else’s.

This was the final nail in Shining's coffin.

Shining fell to his knees. Not to weep like one would in a pantomime. He was suddenly struck with exhaustion. It didn’t stop the applause but another racket took its place in his mind. A thousand thoughts, a sea of self-loathing and hate planted by his wife.

"Now go! Enjoy your delights, your Jalas and Irras This our home now! Enjoy the fruits of our labour. And to the ponies, I only ask that you feel no fear towards my rule. I’ll be every bit as gentle as a lover," he proclaimed, assuring and ordering, both cheery and commanding as he raised his arms. Cheers were prompted, the doors opened and the cohort of striped and unstriped coats left the room.

Shining saw the others by the throne follow out. Hajaa carried the blushing changeling over his shoulder, smiling both eager and timidly at once. Spike was being led by the voluptuous zebra that was flanking him, and although Shining saw that the intent was to drag the dragon, Spike had no issues with keeping up. Finally, Sunburst merely walked, striking up a new conversation with his androgynous 'friend'.

The doors slammed shut, then all was quiet except for the inside of the unicorn’s head. Not long after he felt a hand on his shoulder, the familiar warmth and softness of the grip prompted the unicorn to look up at the zebra, who wore a slight smile although worry lingered in his eyes.

"Now then..." To'Achuu started wearily, his small smile deepening into something warmer. "Let's talk..."