Shining gives Starlight a shocked look. "I'm sorry… you… what?!" He slams a hoof on the table, armor clinking. About three minutes ago, the mare walked into his office. The admissions are enough to make him believe that he needs to talk with Twilight.

"Exactly!" Starlight gives an exaggerated sigh. Thrusting her hooves forwards, she demands "Now, lock me up!"

Shining charges up his horn, grabbing two pairs of hoofcuffs. "Starlight Glimmer, you are under arrest for Terrorism!" He fastens the cuffs onto Starlight, one pair of cuffs per pair of legs. The magic restrainer required that he used his mouth, however. As he gets on top of Starlight to put on the magic restrainer, Cadence walks in through the door, smile on her face.

"Honey, I'm-" She drops the bags, which had been full of plates to replace the ones Flurry had broke. "What. The. Fuck!?"

Shining finishes putting the restrainer on, then tears back, quickly getting off of Starlight. Starlight sighs in response, finally feeling punished. "Ok ok ok. So, you see-"

"I'm a terrorist," Starlight blurts out.

Cadence would have dropped the bag again had she picked it up. "I'm sorry… what did you say!?" Cadence's nostrils flare up as she feels the rage overwhelm her.

Shining nods vigorously."That's what I thought! So I had to imprison her! Thus the restrainer and cuffs!" He exhales, releasing tension in his muscles. "I promise I'm loyal to you, honey," Walking up to his wife, Shining nuzzles her. "Otherwise I'd be du-,"

Twilight comes through the open door. "Starlight! There you are! Come on we- oh," Twilight looks to her brother, her gaze giving off a feeling of exasperation. "Let her go,"

"What?!" Shining looks mortified. He advances a step. "She's a terrorist, Twi!"

Twilight turns to Starlight, causing the mare to cringe. "Explain to these two why,"

Starlight sighs. Looking sheepishly at the ground, she confesses "I may have had… external motives…" Shining's right brow perks up. "Such as the Twilight Orphanage…"

Cadence frowns, eyes full of suspicion. "How is that a moti-"

"It's… currently rigged to blow…"

Shining sucks in air through his teeth. Eyes filling with urgency, he runs out into the hall, barking orders. "Tail! Tooth! On me!" Three thundering sets of hooves sound through the hallway as the trio leaves, off to assemble a strike team.

Twilight lets Starlight out of the restraint, hoofcuffs already settled. "There we go! You still need to talk with the others, however,"

"I know, it's just…" Starlight lets out a defeated sigh. Her voice is bitter, making it sound as if she is trying to hide her true feelings. "What could have been done there that's worse than… this?"

"Many a things…" Cadence shudders, remembering some of their conversations. "Go talk to the… others. My orders,"

"Bu-"

"Now," Cadence's voice leaves no room for argument. The two other mares teleport out of the room as Cadence stares out of the window wistfully. "Come back safely my dear,"

ACROSS THE CASTLE

"Bloody hell, where is th- oomph!"

Tommy gets flattened as Twililght's spell lands slightly off course. Dusting herself off, Twilight looks at the other three stallions in the room. "Now, you four will talk to Starlight here. I must… study for the contest this weekend," Smooth. "Any questions?"

"Na, we got it from 'ere," James says, frowning. "Though you didn't have to crush To-" Pop. "Ok then, pleasant. Now lets get the talkin' over with, yeah?"

Starlight pouts, still laying on the floor. "Whatever,"

Just down the hallway, Twilight appears with Trixie. The two get in an ideal position to hear the conversation. "Hey, you sure about this?"

"Trixie… must find out," Shuddering, Trixie nuzzles her marefriend. "It is important,"

Twilight lays a wing on her marefriend's back. "Ok. I'll be right here," Trixie presses an ear to the wall as she listens in in the talk.

"I know that you all know of my crimes. Now what could you have done which was worse?" Starlight sits up. "Not much, I be-"

"What does a tree in the forest make you think of?" James' eyes are filled with a roaring hatred, causing Starlight to twitch in fear. This is happening now, might as well go all out.

"Um… a nice walk in the park?" Starlight smiles as she thinks of her foalhood. Good times...

James lets out a bitter bark as his head roars back, once again making Starlight twitch. "To me…" he resumes his stare of pure anger. "Flame. Burning bodies. Destroyed villages,"

By the way he talks, he stares, Starlight can tell that this is not a joke. She gasps in shock. "Wha… ho-"

Hans leans back. "When anyone even mentions magic, my dead friends come back," He takes a deep drink of his vodka. "That's good, I must say. How do you think it feels to live here? Every moment, I see magic. Every moment, I am reminded of him… and I just have to suck it up!" He slams his hoof, causing Starlight to jump back. Her right ear twitches in fear. "Because they don't know how to deal with men like us! Killing civilians was a pastime in the Heer!"

He sighs, head hanging down to hide his tears. "We would kill up to a hundred a day, and don't get me started on the POWs…"

"I…"

Tommy has a turn to speak his mind. "At least those two bloody bastards had an EDU. They didn't teach us Brits how to read!" Tommy is a much more visual speaker, arms shifting around as he speaks. "So I got to watch as my fuck up got a hundred men killed!" Tommy reclines in his seat. "Fuckin' hell… Nazis shot me pa when I was three," A tear comes to his eye. "'Enemy of the people', they said," His hoof slams down as his eyes flood with fury. "He was tryin' to get me 'n' me mum bloody bread!" With a frustrated shout, he punches the wall, leaving a noticable sent.

"..."

Ivan leans forward. "The burning you feel? Is shame. Do not burn," He hangs his head down.

"Bu-" Starlight protests.

"You had fifty kill, nyet?" A nod. "On bad day, my team - sniper - would only get five. You know why?" Now, his head snapped up. His eyes had more hate than James, more sorrow than Hans, and more fury than Tommy. Starlight instinctively recoils in fear. "When I… I unsure, ten? They took father to battle. He was home, in casket, not two month later," A comforting hoof from Tommy rests on his shoulder. "Mother hide us when Germans march into our town. They… burned her alive,"

"I serve in Red Army for Final Trial. Land was… ruins. Towns burnt. People gassed, in graves. The worst, though," Ivan hangs his head again, this time to hide his tears. "Twenty girls. None over fifteen. All bodies desecrated, used by German," He snarls as he raises his head, a tear trailing down his left cheek. "That was when we start to hate German,"

"We would get report of hundred German soldiers dead, and laugh. Because they deserve it. They laugh when they burnt mother! They laugh when they shot father!
So we shoot them in homes, from holes, in air! And we laugh as they run!" He sighs, rage spent as his snarl drops. "And so we fight until Germans dead. But German never truly die, so we fight…"

Starlight was backed up against a door at that point. Each time Ivan had shouted she took a step or two back "I…" A tear rolls down her cheek. "How do you keep it together?"

James walks over and hugs her. "Barely,"

"Why…?"

"'cause otherwise we hurt others, and that ain't ok," James pats Starlight on the back with a hoof. "Aye, it'll be alright,"

Starlight sobs into his shoulder. His warm, soft, shoulder. "How?" she whispers. "How do you forgive me, when you saw… that?!"

"Well, ya didn't do shit, did ya?" James' grin only causes Starlight to break down further. "So that wou'n't be fair, would it?"

Starlight lets go of her grief, cries intensifying. "But…"

"I don't blame ya. Neither do the other three. Right y'all?" James turns his head to receive a wink from Tommy as he leaves. The others had already exited, discussing where to get some food. "Well…" Fuckin hell.

Now he notices that Starlight has stopped crying. Looking down, he sees her laying her head on his shoulder, asleep. "Oh, uh…" He awkwardly walks over to the nearby bed, trying not to drop her. Eventually, he reaches the bed and pulls the sheets back, gently tucking Starlight in. She looks so peaceful. Her breaths speed up as James lets go of her. "Mnngm…"

With a sigh, James slides in next to her. "Come 'ere, you'll be fine," Starlight stops whimpering when James wraps her in a hug. Geez, needy. And sexy. What the- I mean, you're not wrong... With a sigh, James pulls the sheets up as he prepares to make up for lost sleep. Who knows, maybe she'll help me-

Snores reverberate through the room as the two ponies lay there, finally getting some decent sleep. Both wear a little smile, feeling warmer than what their heart could ever hope to achieve.

Author's Note

Not pog

So before I get shouted at for talking downs, this is based on a personal experience. Except in my world, I was Tommy, it was a talk about how painful life is, and the two did the thing afterwards. You know, the secs.

Story two will feature sex, so prepare for that in a while.