Sister

Shining walked the dimly lit halls with an unsteady pace and a guilty conscience weighing on his mind. Time itself seemed to slow to a crawl and during the last few days all he could do was constantly worry about Twilight. Her cycle was gone and she was able to function properly, but with her no longer in heat, Shining knew she was pregnant. He knew very well how a mare's body worked.

He constantly asked her for the last few days if she was feeling okay and though she was content and happy, Shining couldn’t have been more horrified when she told him the hot and itchy feeling was gone completely. He wanted to ignore it and even tried to convince himself otherwise that her body was just acting abnormally and she would resume her natural cycle as the days went on. The illusion in his mind worked for two days but Shining started to slowly accept what he did. His pace quickened as he focused on the destination in mind. The house library, but not for spells; he needed to talk to his father.

He couldn’t keep this ordeal a secret and he knew it was just under a week until the natural cycle for all mares and blossoming fillies would be in effect. Since Twilight couldn’t experience it, his parents would catch on very quickly and things would snowball out of his control.

He came to the library and though his guilty conscience weighed even harder on him as his father came into view, Shining knew he had to remain steadfast in his resolve. As he walked in, he noticed his father laying on the bean bag cushion, casually reading a book without a care in the world. His father didn’t notice him at first, but as he walked closer, he saw his father’s ears perk up and his attention quickly turned to him.

“Ahh, hello son,” Night Light said in a warm and comforting tone. “Looking to do a bit of reading to wind down the evening?”

“Not exactly.” Shining took a deep breath. “I need to… talk to you about something serious.”

“Really now? Is about why you’ve been distant the last few days with me and your mother?” Night asked, quickly reminding Shining that he had been too ashamed and embarrassed to show his face, much less even talk to them.

“Yeah. I… I had to do a lot of thinking,” Shining let out a sigh as his eyes darted around the room in a vain effort to distract himself as he spoke.

“Nice to see you’re opening up,” Night replied as he closed the book and floated it to the ground. “Your mother and I were worried we did something wrong.”

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t you guys…” Shining’s voice trailed off sheepishly as he sat his haunches to the ground and rubbed his front hooves together nervously. “It-it was me.”

“What did you do?” Night asked softly.

“I… I… I…” Shining couldn’t speak as the words got stuck in his mind. He knew what to say, he had practiced the potential conversation out in his head all day, but actually coming forth and saying it wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought. How could he come clean about what he did?

“This sounds like something serious,” Night said quietly, as his carefree expression turned into a stern frown and his voice took a more commanding tone. “Shining, what did you do?”

Shining tried to speak again, but the words refused to leave his mouth. A loud sigh was all he was able to muster and it transitioned into a groan of shame as he felt the soul piercing gaze of his father. He tried to look at his father’s face, but he couldn’t bear it. He instead looked at the ground and it felt like the weight of the world was crushing his soul into nothing, to the point he felt like he would start crying at any moment.

A hoof touched his shoulder and Shining tensed instantly at the feeling. The touch was surprisingly gentle, and before he could react, his father slowly trailed his hoof to Shining's chin and tilted it upward, allowing both stallions to stare at each other. Shining found a bit of nerve and looked into his father’s eyes, still nervous and anxious. As they locked Shining felt the tension in his body and mind ease up as he could read a bunch of emotions before him. Worry, warmth, affection, and concern. He could see it all, he wasn’t sure why, but the longer he stared, the more at ease he started to feel.

"It's okay, you can tell me."

“Ok.” Shining took a deep breath, and steadied himself, doing his best to muster up the rest of his nerve. “Dad I… Twilight was in heat two days ago.”

The words spilled out finally, faster than he could mentally keep track off. As they left, he instantly regretted his words, and tensed back up with worry as he awaited his father’s reaction.

“Really now? So… Twilight was in heat the day me and your mother were at the summit,” Night replied, his tone shifting to one of a parent ready to scold his child. “And judging from your behavior… I am going to safely assume you did the one thing I told you to not do if Twilight or even your mother, fell into a heat cycle?”

Night removed his hoof from Shining’s chin and the younger stallion looked back at the floor with utter shame.

“I-I tried to be safe about it…” Shining spoke meekly as he felt a whirlwind of emotions building up. “I-I really didn't mean to…”

“Shining.”

Shining tensed up even more as his father’s tone shifted back to a very commanding and unapologetic one. He dared to not look up at his father’s face anymore, knowing full well what awaited him.

“I’m sor-”

“Shining.”

“Dad. I’m really sorry.”

“Shining, look at me,” Night lifted his hoof.

Shining saw the hoof at the corner of his eyes and shut them out of fear of getting hit by it. He winced and brought up a hoof to shield himself, ready for whatever punishment was about to be dished out. Seconds passed and nothing came. Shining kept his eyes closed, but wondered why his father wasn’t yelling or striking him. He knew by default he deserved the former, and then some, but with nothing happening, Shining opened up.

He expected his father to be seething as dilated pupils stared him down with ill-intent and unbridled rage… but it was far from it. His father’s expression was emotionless and Shining couldn’t get a read on him. Shining looked on quietly and did his best to maintain eye contact with him, until his father closed his eyes and breathed in an excessive amount of air.

“Soooo.” Night sighed deeply, his voice almost sounding like it was trembling. “I have questions; several of them, however the biggest question comes first and I want an honest answer: Did you rape your sister?"

Shining's eyes widened as he jerked his head back. He was expecting many questions starting with ones like 'do you realize what you've done?' Or 'what's wrong with you?'.

"What? No, I could never hurt Twilight like that," Shining replied as his nerve returned to him and he looked his father in the eyes with an unhindered look.

Shining stopped talking and both ponies quietly stared at one another for a few seconds, whilst never breaking eye contact.

"Alright, I believe you… for now," Night said at last. "Next question: You're a smart stallion, and you know the risks of pregnancy, so why didn't you pull out?"

Shining's eyes unfocused and he blinked several times as the realization settled in his mind. It was so simple, yet it never occurred to him during the act to pull out and spray his climax into the bed sheets. He was too lost in the sensation that rational thought had been thrown out the window at some point.

"I-I didn't think about it at the time," Shining stammered out as his head went down in shame and he once again stared at the floor. "I was… I knew the risks and tried to put that into effect. I tried to explain that to Twilight as well but… we ended up trying a barrier spell instead."

"Barrier spell?" Night probed.

"Yeah, I thought if I could cover the entrance to her womb, we could prevent it."

"Magic and sex don't mix well for the inexperienced." Night let out a deep sigh of disappointment as he brought a hoof up and rubbed it against his forehead. "Did your magic short out?"

"Yes. It happened right at the end and before I could react fast enough…" Shining's voice trailed off as his body and mind felt weak, before he rested his front legs against the floor to relax himself. "I'm sorry Dad. I know you're mad at me and nothing will change what I did."

There were a few moments of silence as Shining grovelled at his father's hooves. His father showed no reaction to him, and it only made Shining worry more and more.

"I'll be honest; I'm mad, but I'm more disappointed than anything," Night said finally.

Shining's ears sulked down and he let out a defeated groan. Hearing his father was more disappointed than mad should have made him feel better, expect it did the opposite.

"I'm sorry," Shining said meekly as he looked up.

This time Shining could see emotion finally. His father looked distant and distracted while his eyes were very much present with sadness and regret. Seeing all of it made Shining feel like garbage, knowing he was causing unspoken distress to his father.

"Sorry won't fix this mess, Son." Night laid his body down and was head level with Shining. "Though I am upset and very disappointed at your lack of self control, I'll say this; I'm happy you brought this up when you did."

"You are?" Shining asked, confused by the hint of praise in his words.

"Yeah. It takes a grown stallion to admit his wrong doings," Night started as his lips turned into a soft smile. "Considering how big this is, I'm glad you came clean before me and your mother found out the hard way." Night's smile faded and his expression went back to his neutral look. "That being said, now that I heard it from your point of view, I'm going to hear it from Twilight's perspective as well as the full truth."

"Full truth?" Shining cocked his brow and grew confused by his father's wording.

"Shining, how well do you know our nation's history?" Night asked as he stood up and focused his eyes on the bookshelves around them.

"I know the basics about how Equestria was founded," Shining pulled himself up. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"I'm getting to that," Night replied as his eyes scanned the books more closely. "Naturally during the early days of settling, there was conflict with other races and constant territorial disputes that almost always led to fighting. Thanks to constant strife, spells were created for… well let's just say ponies nowadays wouldn't be open to the ethics behind them."

"What kind of spells?" Shining asked as he trotted to his father's side.

"Borderline dark magic," Night replied sharply as he partially pulled out books, before returning them back to their rightful place. "Stuff like mind control, necromancy, and lots of other spells that could punish an enemy both physically, mentally, and even emotionally."

Shining stayed quiet, not looking forward to what the conversation was leading to.

"As ponies settled, the use of such spells became less and less needed to the point that Celestia outright banned and forbid the use of them," Night continued as he pulled another book and Shining quickly noticed it was radiating a green magic shield, very reminiscent of a ward spell. "Ah, here it is. Anyhow, certain spells became lost to time, while others were deemed a 'necessary evil' and were kept around."

Shining watched his father put the book to the floor and conjured up a small magical key, before he laid it flat against the book itself.

"Considering I'm Captain of the Royal Guard, I have privileged knowledge about these spells, along with access to a select few." The spell faded around the book and Shining watched his father open it up. "Now to the point; I'm going to use one of these spells on you." Night quickly flipped through the pages until he stopped.

"Which one?" Shining asked with worry in his voice.

"A spell that lets me read your memories while you sleep," Night replied. "It was a spell created by Princess Luna, and used mostly by the elites among the troops."

"Princess Luna?" Shining asked, unaware of who she was.

"You'll learn about our 'Banished Princess' in your final year at school, but that's a conversation for another time. Back to the point; this spell was created in an effort to expunge brutal interrogation tactics in place for a more civil approach. As you sleep, I would be able to read your memories like a book and would see everything and hear everything from your perspective. Think of it as watching real life from the past, but you couldn't interact or change anything."

"So it's a mind reading spell. That… sounds scary," Shining replied, realizing the full power of a spell like that could easily shift the balance in fights and potential strategies.

"That's putting it mild honestly. Only the princess and high military officials like me have knowledge and access to it." Night finished reading the book and slammed it shut. "You will not tell anyone about this conversation or the fact I'm using this magic for personal interest. Do you understand Shining Armor?"

Shining took a moment to take in everything he learned. The fact that his father told him such privileged knowledge shows that he still trusted him, but he realized it would be another burden to carry.

"Yes sir," Shining replied dutifully.

"Good. Just so you know, I'll be using this spell later on Twilight as well… expect she'll already be sleeping and won't know about the specific of this. Now after hearing this brief history lesson, I'll ask you again; did you rape your sister?"

"No sir, I could never bring myself to do such a thing," Shining replied without hesitation.

"Great." Night flared his horn up. "I better not see otherwise, because if I do… well, let's just say the Princess has no qualms about putting colts in Tartarus."

Shining tensed and swallowed back a large lump of anxiety in his throat. He knew how Tartarus was a prison that housed Equestria's worst offenders along with many different creatures. Hearing that he could end up in that place at a young age wasn't something fond to think of.

"I'm not lying to you father; you can read my memories and see for yourself," Shining told him proudly.

"Excellent… now shall we begin?" Night asked.

"Wait? Right now?" Shining asked in return.

"Of course. The sooner I see your memories, the better. You didn't have plans for the evening right?"

"Other than some homework… I got nothing else," Shining shrugged his shoulders.

"Perfect." Night flashed a smile. "Now close your eyes and relax. You'll feel this almost instantly so lay down."

Shining nodded and did as instructed. The second he closed his eyes, he felt the tip of his father's horn touch his. For a brief second there was an odd numbing sensation, before his body gave out and his mind went blank.