After Spike and I bought a bucket full of emeralds, Katie had caught up to us really quickly. I don’t know how, given we literally ran to the other side of the whole convention, but it was probably a good thing. The three of us had to get ready to head down to the main stage so I could introduce myself, my students from Ponyville, and my own family since they were technically magic students, my magic students. However, I didn’t care for that right now, and with how Button’s friends were reacting to him having a cutie mark, I say it’s safe to say they don’t care that much either.

Besides, the whole ‘introduce yourself on stage’ thing wasn’t for another few hours. That was plenty of time for the three of us to goof off.

“So,” Katie said, looking at Spike on my back as he crunched an emerald in his jaws. He happily looked down at my sister from his perch on my back. “You’re a dragon?” She asked.

“Oh yeah, I am. Why are you asking?” Spike asked. “...Oh right, you’re not from Equestria. Or Equus for that matter.” He proudly pointed a thumb at his chest. “Spike the Dragon at your service!”

“...Are you a baby dragon, or are they just really small here?” Katie asked.

“I’m a baby dragon,” Spike deadpanned. “I’m supposed to get pretty big when I get older.”

“Oh… You’re adorable, so I was hoping you weren’t fully grown.”

My man started blushing when my sister said that. “O-oh, uh…” he chuckled. “Thank you, Katie? That’s your name, right?” He asked.

“It is,” Katie reached out and nuzzled the dragon which only served to make his blush even stronger. “How’d you and Kodi meet?” My sister asked as we stopped at a line for some food. Actual food; Spike had his emeralds, but it was nearing lunch, and I skipped breakfast. Spike didn’t take very long to hop on my sister’s back, and I started snickering the whole damn time. My sister just looked confused, before she turned back to Spike. She ‘oh’d and raised an eyebrow.

“Spike, my man, my bro,” I laughed. “Literally one compliment is all it takes for you to start crushing on my sister?” I chuckled. “You’d probably have a higher chance with her than with Rarity, but c’mon! I didn’t expect you to be such a sucker for being called cute by the cute lil’ filly?” I asked.

“Shut up d-dude… YOU KNOW!?” Spike asked.

“Dude, your crushes are about as subtle as a shotgun to the chest. I could tell you had a thing for Rarity, then it was Sweetie Belle, which woulda been adorable if she wasn’t interested in my kid, and now it’s my sister. Shit, it’s so obvious that you’re crushing on my sister that my sister found out by just looking at you a second time.”

“How would that work, legally, anyways?” Katie asked. “Spike’s a literal baby and I’m fourteen, going on fifteen.”

“I dunno, actually,” I hummed. “Dragons age very differently from any other creature made of flesh and blood. If I recall correctly, Dragons can age naturally, but if they see more ‘adult’ stuff, they can grow faster. Essentially if Spike saw what I went through on my first excursion, he’d be an adult by now. Instead, it may take him… what? Twenty years for him to even be considered a ‘teenager’ by dragon standards.”

“Something like that, yeah. Twilight and I spent a while researching it when I asked her about it.” Spike shrugged. “I think the law states that dragons, no matter what, are capable of giving consent. I may be a baby dragon, but you know I’m pretty independent and could easily hold down a job if I weren’t Twilight’s number one assistant.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” I admitted. “You’re what? Five years younger than Twi?”

“She hatched me when she was ten, and she’s about to turn twenty two,” Spike answered.

“Ah, I see… Twelve years old?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Spike shrugged. “So… Katie?”

“You want to set up a date?” Katie asked.

“...Uh, what? Source, you said that the males of your world usually made the first move.”

“But also, my sister knows you got a thing for her, and I think she may agree to a date just for the hell of it.”

“It could be fun,” my sister mused. We got to the cart and walked away with three haydogs, three per able-body. “Though I’m not sure about a full on relationship just yet, Spike. Nothing against you, this is the first time we’ve properly got to talk, and you seem cool, after all. I got dumped… what? About a week and a half ago. I’m also going to want a moment to adjust to this,” she gestured to all of herself. “But we could hangout sometime in the future.”

“That… would be nice,” Spike nodded.

“By the way Katie,” I chuckled. “Clothing is more provocative than not wearing clothes, for ponies. Makes’em wonder what’s underneath, aye? Me wearing my suit, like I was the day we left for the Crystal Empire? Yeah, Celly was imagining what was underneath them. Pony imagination can get pretty wild. Spike was literally raised by ponies and probably thinks a lot like a pony does, despite being a dragon.”

“SOURCE!” Spike yelled. “STOP-”

Katie giggled. “I figured as much. You know how many colts have been staring at me?” Lo and behold, a few colts were stealing glances at my sister, especially the more teenaged looking ones. They were staring at Katie for longer than usual, they didn't just glance at her, since Katie was wearing… well, her sundress and boots. Granted, it made her look adorable, but every one of those colts, and a few fillies, probably found it 'hot'. “So, Spike, how’d you and Kodi meet?” She asked.

“Kodi?” Spike cocked his head, and started thinking. “Oh, Source! Oh yeah, so I met him while he was still officially learning from Princess Celestia. Since I’m Twilight’s assistant, I met him through her, and then it sorta… snowballed from there. The next thing I know, he bought me comic books, with what little money he had at the time, and asked me to help him create a spell that you’ve probably heard of by now. It’s something called DragonFire.”

Katie chuckled. “I just now heard of that. Source,” that’s the first time she called me that. “Can you show me what DragonFire is?” I stared blankly at her. “...What?”

“You called me by my pony name,” I hugged her. “Honestly, I kinda prefer it over Kodiak; Kodiak’s too complicated of a name. Source Code, though? Source is pretty simple, pretty easy to say.”

“...Well, don’t you prefer being called your pony name over your actual name? I thought you’d be happier if I started calling you Source”

“They’re both my actual name, Katie, both my human and pony name. I don’t mind if you or the rest of the family still call me Kodi, it doesn't make a difference whatcha call me. I’m just happy to have ya, to be able to speak with you again. Feck, I’m lucky because I get to watch you, and the rest of the family grow up. That’s something I never thought I’d get to experience.” I hugged my sister pretty tightly.

“Then why are you hugging me, Source?” Katie asked. She just did it again!

“Because you’re very huggable, can you blame me?”

When we sat down at a crystal picnic bench, Katie pulled out a notebook from a saddlebag that I just now noticed that she had. She grabbed a pencil, something from home, and started sketching in it with her horn. I will say, her Levitation is pretty damn quick and precise if she’s confident in drawing in any capacity with it. I glanced over her shoulder while shoving one of my haydogs in my mouth, after putting mustard on it. Mustard only belongs on hotdogs, or things that mimic hotdogs. That’s a law. Katie was sketching Spike when he had taken a bite of his hotdog, and seemingly… she just sketched a flipbook animation pretty quickly.

“It’s a little rough; I had to sketch really quickly to keep up with your chewing, but… I did it. How is it?” Katie asked.

I kissed her cheek. “You always impress me with your art, sis,” I chuckled as Katie giggled and leaned into my side when she turned her focus back onto the flipbook animation where she started adding more details to it. Oh, so now my sister’s a huge cuddlebug? I chuckled and draped a wing over her as she focused down on detailing.

“I’ve never seen anypony do that… ever. A… moving picture?” He asked.

“Y’all never used a stack of sticky notes to make a flip animation?” Katie asked. “Even Kodi’s done it before, and he can barely draw, let alone actually animate anything.”

“...Damn. Twilight is going to freak out when you show her that,” Spike scratched the back of his head. When did Spike start cursing? Granted, it’s not a hard curse like ‘FUCK ME’, but it’s still a swear.

So as it turned out, Trixie was in fact, here. In fact, I found out only because she fucking tackled me and knocked me onto my ass. I was gonna yell, but then I saw that familiar blueberry-colored mare with the wizard hat and started smirking. Katie, however, didn’t take too kindly to me being tackled, and proceeded to tackle the larger mare off of me. Trixie yelped and ‘acked’ as she also got knocked on her ass.

“Why the fuck are you tacklin’ my brother!?” Katie asked.

“Trixie was just saying hello… YOUR BROTHER!?” Trixie asked. “SOURCe, YOU HAVE SIBLINGS!?”

“Yeah,” I chuckled as I helped her up. “Katie, this is Trixie, an old friend of mine. We met because I saw her perform magic, called it ‘okay’ and she tried to kick my shit in.”

“And Trixie believes it ended in us sharing a bedroom.”

“No, it ended with you crying, and I felt bad,” I rolled my eyes. “Seriously, the moment you found out who I was dating, you had a fucking panic attack.”

Katie blinked a few times. “So ponies greet each other by tackling each other into the ground like it’s a game of rugby?” She asked.

“Only the really enthusiastic ones,” I corrected. Spike walked over and helped the mare up. Trixie was surprisingly gentle with Spike when she took his claw. D’aw, so she can be nice and sweet, and can tone down the bravado enough to be likable. Granted, I already knew this; she was just being really gentle with Spike and it was kinda cute.

“Thank you, I believe I know your name, Spike?” Trixe asked.

“Yup!” Spike bowed. God, Rarity’s a bit of a dickhead. She knows Spike’s had a crush on her for a while. She got free labor out of that. I know it’s a dragon thing to ‘help out those you are loyal to’, which would explain why Spike is so ready to help Twilight when she asks. They’re also like siblings, parent and child, something, something, family. Rarity just got free labor out of Spike because he thought she was purty. Rarity’s a great mare, but god if she can take advantage of somepony to get her work done a little faster, she will.

Trixie didn’t think too much of Spike being the gentlecolt he strived to be, and I don’t think Spike was expecting as much; he was just helping her up. He woulda tried helping me up, but I sat up immediately after Trixie was knocked off of me.

“So, Trixie, how’s the show business going?”

“Oh, Trixie believes it’s been going well; Trixie was already in the Empire playing a show, making bits, and enjoying herself. Hence why I am here. At least I do not have to contend with you and Sparkle this year. That would be a nightmare.”

“Okay, I get Twilight, but how would I be a nightmare in the magic show competition?”

“Trixie watched you beat the snot out of three other ALICORNS! You’re also an alicorn if you haven’t noticed.”

Oh. Right. Everypony watched that.

“God dammit,” I muttered. “Now I feel like an ass again.”

Trixie cocked an eyebrow. “You do not look like a donkey-”

“I beat the shit out of Celly and I immediately run off to go hangout with Spike.” I shook my head. “Celly doesn’t care, or mind, she’d encourage me to go spend some time with a friend. I’d invite her to come along if she didn’t have to take care of Princessy things that involve the event.”

“Kodi, your wife can literally blow up the planet if she wanted to. I’m sure she can handle being beaten by her husband in an exhibition match; she seemed proud that you could even pull that off in a sparring match anyway.” Katie pointed out. “Out of everyone there, you looked worse for wear anyways. Celestia, Luna, and Cadance looked a little tired, if they were tired at all. You were panting, I can tell you were aching in a few places, and you looked like you just hit your wife across the head with a baseball bat.”

“So maybe I was worse for wear, but I still felt a little bad for hitting my wife. Heck, you saw how she looked when she slammed my fake self into the ground. Neither of us particularly enjoy fighting each other, and I know Celly didn’t enjoy having to slam something that looked like me into the ground. I mean… she didn’t have to, but she did because of how many precautions I set up to avoid being touched by spells to avoid relying on my mediocre shield spells.”

“Yeah, I grew up around Princess Celestia my whole life,” Spike nodded. “I don’t think anypony has seen the princess frown like that. Or flinch when she was seemingly winning a fight.”

Trixie tilted her head. “You and your wife are such drama queens. Neither of you would’ve felt anything because of the dueling enchantments placed on everypony involved; they were there for a reason.” She shook her head and groaned. “Seriously, Source, quit being a sad sap about it-”

“Nah. Again, me and Celly hate fighting each other in any capacity. I’m lucky that I didn’t have a fucking panic attack during that.” I hummed. “Say, how would you like to meet Celly face to face? It’s been a minute and I wanna hug my wife again.”

“Uh… Trixie may have to see you around.”

“No, no, Celly has wanted to meet you in person, while you aren’t knocked out because I scratched your ears, for a while now. Come on,” I picked her up in my magic, which felt a lot easier now, and started trotting along. Katie scooped Spike onto her back, and hummed at the face that Spike was running his claws through her mane, effectively brushing her… and petting her.

“Spike, if you keep that up, I am going to cuddle you so hard,” Katie threatened. Spike continued to brush her, and moved onto scratching her ears… He had to drag Katie along because she was very quickly out of it. Nah, he actually put her on my back somehow, so that her dress wouldn’t get dirty.

We found Celly pretty quickly, she was sitting next to the stage. That’s where she had been for the last few hours, actually. Trixie just sat there, slack jawed, staring up at my wife. I, on the other hand, quickly managed to get Celly to lay in the grass with me and get our daily dose of cuddles in. I was actually purring at just the idea of being like this forever; I am comfy, and I am safe. I am with my Celly and that’s all I care about right now. Celestia was eying the sputtering unicorn.

“You know, Source, when you told me that you got into a duel with a mare, on your first proper day in Ponyville, I did not expect the mare to be Ms. Lulamoon. I always attend these little conventions, and she always struck me as rather gifted with magic in terms of raw application; her power left something to be desired, though.” She nodded. “It is nice to meet you, Trixie. I believe you know my husband?”

“...Please don’t kill Trixie for sleeping on your husband’s back.”

“Because you accepted my husband’s friendship? Why would I kill you for that?”

“Trixie… Wuh?” She asked.

“Please, I know that Source wouldn’t date, or attempt to even court, another mare unless he asked me first. That’s assuming he’d try courting another mare at all. Granted, I do wish I could have that experience, being carried home on my big, loving stallion, but unfortunately I am rather large, and my husband is very fun sized, so it’s often me who carries Source home after a nice, long day if we’re ever out and about.” She giggled at how I was practically laying on top of her side, shoved into her wingpit, grooming her neck.

“And if Source chose to court Trixie?”

“Well, you’re a rather pleasant shade of blue. You are a bit rough around the edges, but I do like a mare with a little confidence in herself. But that’s a different story for a different time. It’s nice to meet you Ms. Lulamoon; I wish you luck during the magic show competition.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Trixie not so subtly ran off, pulling her hat over her head and muttering something about how embarrassed she was.

Katie was laying beside us, despite our efforts to keep her dress from getting dirty, she laid down in the grass, saying it was just a dress and she could clean it later. She was showing the, now, detailed flipbook animation of Spike eating a haydog. Spike was sitting there, genuinely impressed. Katie may not have seen it, but she’s got her cutie mark now. It’s the tip of a paintbrush... I couldn’t see the rest of it. Her getting it may not have been as flashy as Button’s, but the point is… she has her mark now.

With how her sundress was, you could easily see Katie’s flanks if she was laying on the ground, in a sploot. I didn’t pay attention for long, but I was gonna ask her if she would mind showing off her mark to the rest of the family. Celly definitely noticed, before she beckoned my sister and Spike on over.

“Oh…” Celly sat there, genuinely amused, and pleasantly surprised; I don’t think she’s seen anypony do this before either. “Oh, that is wonderful!” She scooped my sister into a hug, luckily, Spike was holding the notebook so it wasn’t crushed. “Oh, you are such a talented little lady!” Katie smiled and a little ‘squeak’ left her mouth as she did. She hugged my wife back.

“Thanks Tia,” she chuckled. “It’s not my best work, since it’s been a while since I’ve actually used pencil and paper to animate something, but… I think I did well.”

“Hey,” Spike pointed at my sister’s butt. “You’ve got your cutie mark.”

“Oh…” Katie smiled. “Neat.” She shrugged. “Kodi, you had enough of using your wife as a pillow! Let me use her now!”

“But… she’s my wife. I get priority after Luna!”

“And I-”

“Katie, do not fear,” I got slipped off Celly, by Celly, and Katie took my spot. “I am in full support of cuddling with my sister in law. Source, you can still cuddle near my belly, but your sister gets the spot under my wing.” I huffed and crossed my hooves. I wanted to be there until the convention really got ‘underway’.

The introductions went over about the same as last year. The only difference was I was introduced as a teacher to Sweetie Belle, Button and Dinky Doo. Wisely, Celly suggested I also introduce my family but not say they’re related to me in any capacity other than being my students. Because after my performance during the sparring match, everypony isn’t willing to hurt me directly. The problem is now everyone is willing to hurt the people around me to get at me. If everyone knew Katie was related to me, there’d be a target on her back.

Same with everyone else in the family for that matter.

The sleazeball of a shithead from Fillydelphia ended up going just before me and gave the stink eye the whole time I was on stage.

When I got off the stage was when we had issues. Katie, Dan and I started hanging out. Dave chose to stick with Button and the rest of my students, who were sticking to Luna like glue at my suggestion. They weren’t happy about being babysat, but Luna was a good foalsitter, and also I told them a very censored version of why they should; Shooting Star is a bad guy, so they should stick with Luna.

They agreed to that, as in they dragged Luna along with them to the various booths of everypony here.

Ma stuck with Celly, because for as ‘gifted’ Shooting Star was, Ma’s still as strong as Twilight is. With that in mind, she could still deck a majority of the ponies here through raw power alone. In fact, this is what my Ma told me when I told her she should sit out this year.

“Nah, I’m going to join the fighting tournament this year and kick everyone’s ass!” Ma can make a shield now, which is really all you need to have a fighting chance in a duel anyways.

“Ma, god dammit,” I chuckled. “I suppose you and Twilight will be competing together, since you’re learning from Celly, too. It’s a two on two competition this year, instead of one on one.” I added.

“Oh,” Ma hummed. “So we win?”

“No,” Twilight said immediately. “It’s widely accepted that I’m the most gifted unicorn of this generation, and I still struggle sometimes. Not because I can’t outright overpower anypony, but look at Source. In a combat scenario, he has me beat because of how unorthodox his magic application is. I’ll be the first pony to admit that I am very textbook when it comes to the application of most combat spells. Then add in my lack of combat training, and Shining Armor could beat me, and I’ve got significantly more magic than he does. And technically better training to boot.”

“She said after kicking Shiny’s ass last year,” I snickered. “That was fun, waking up in the infirmary next to Shiny after you opened a can of whoopass on him.”

Ma chuckled and nudged Shining Armor. “Who’re you workin’ with this year?”

“Oh, Pharynx wanted to join me this year, so he’s doing so while disguised as a unicorn. I say we have a pretty solid chance at winning.” He then felt Ma’s magical signature again. “Assuming Source’s mom doesn’t kick our flanks. Seriously, with how Source, Twi, and Celly are talking, you’re already a prodigy, Mrs. Code.”

“Mama’s gotta learn how to kick ass so she can protect her babies,” Ma hugged me, Katie and Dan all in one go. Dave was fortunate enough to be hitching a ride on Luna’s head on the other side of the convention from us. “My babies,” she cooed and kissed each of us on the face, depending on where she could reach our face. So I got kissed on the cheek, Katie and Dan got kissed on the forehead. None of us fought back; this was a nice change of pace after Ma literally didn’t have the time to do stuff like this with us.

After about twenty minutes, me and my eldest siblings broke off from the group to go grab a snack. I was feeling up for hay fries for once, so we went to a booth that was selling them. They were crystally and sparkling and shit. We all had our own buckets, because it just felt right, full of fries. I sat at a picnic table and hummed. “I hate carnival food, or convention food, expensive as balls and not very filling,” I sighed. “Me and Katie had three haydogs, each, and I’m still hungry as fuck.”

“It sounds like you just need to stop skipping breakfast,” Dan said, not looking up from his bucket. He lifted a fry in his magic and took a bite. “Oh, what the fuck?” He asked. “That is so fucking wrong.”

“What?” Katie asked. “It’s a fry. How can you fuck that up?”

“By not using potatoes!” Dan shook his head. “It’s actually not bad, but it lacks the creaminess of an actual fry.”

“That’s what she said,” Katie snickered and giggled when Dan gently bopped her on the top of the head. My sister then stuck a fry in her mouth. “Oh what the hell?” She shook her head. “Kodi, when we get to the castle, we’re raiding the kitchen and making actual fries. This shit’s awful.”

“Cadance doesn’t have any spuds in the cabinets if I’m not mistaken. It’s kinda like a laxative for ponies. A laxative that can kill ponies.”

“Feckin’ pussies,” Dan grumbled. “Can’t handle a potato?”

“Hey, don’t throw my wife and Button in that group. They may be ponies, but their eyes have been opened to the wonders of using potatoes instead of hay in fries.” I chuckled heartily and stuffed a few fries in my mouth. “Oh. These don’t even have any salt on them. No wonder they suck shit.” I looked around the packaging of the fries. No ketchup, no salt, no pepper. I stared blankly before slowly looking up at my siblings.

“Oh great, Irish, wannabe Gordon’s coming out,” Dan groaned.

“Oi, shut up. You and I both know how sinful it is to not at least put salt on your fries, unless you have an issue with digesting sodium.” I sighed. “God fucking dammit.” I put more of the sad sacks of shit in my mouth. “Just flavorless flower, just awful.”

“Why are you eating it, then?” Katie asked as she did exactly what I was doing. Dan was too.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I’m hungry and it’s one of those days when you’re out and about, it’s twelve in the morning, and you find a Maccas. You’re hungry and about to chew on the steering wheel, so you grab a Big Mac, a four sides of fries, and a fizzy drink if you’re feeling particularly suicidal at the moment. Then you get a quarter pounder and half your order’s missing,” I sniffed. “And then I drive under a bridge and eat my food, and can’t be asked to get my order right and eat everything.”

“Kodi, that sounds oddly specific. Also, you worked at Maccas.”

“Yeah, and sometimes a night just calls for McDonalds and a particularly shitty mood.” I sighed. “Good times. So, how’re y’all liking the convention so far?”

“Ma was right,” Dan said, his mouth full. “You know how many old guys just sat and bragged about their accomplishments on that stage? Your wife’s a billion years old and bragged less, and she does more than half those old farts everyday, by literally just raising the Sun.”

“DAN!” Katie punched my brother’s shoulder rather hard. “Don’t insult Kodi’s wife!”

“I was just saying facts! Besides, she’s old, but looks twenty according to Source.” Katie and I blinked. “What? Source rolls off the tongue better.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” I chuckled. “You know, we just sat here, ate a shit ton of fries we didn’t like, and talked about basically nothing.”

“Isn’t that normal for us?” Katie asked.

“Yeah.” We all chorused.

If you don’t have siblings, you won’t understand moments like this.

“Oh look at it here!” Shooting Star just grabbed MY FUCKING SISTER! “The great Source Code has a little sister he cares so much about!” Katie started squealing and trying to get out of the stallion’s grip.

Dan got up, but I forced his ass back into the chair.

“Kodi!” Dan whisper-shouted.

“If you approach him too quickly, he could really hurt Katie. Remain calm. I’ve got an idea.” I cleared my throat after I whispered to Dan. I could see the fear in my sister’s eyes as Shooting went from gripping Katie with his hooves, to grabbing her neck with his magic. He didn’t see me use the bit I kept strapped to the bottom of my hoof as a wand. “So, Shooting, what do you want? Wanna murder me again?”

“I want you to suffer for taking Twilight from me.”

“Man, don’t insult Twilight by assuming you’re worth her time. By the way, you aren’t going to be alive in twenty seconds.”

“Why do you say that?” Shooting asked. Katie just looked shocked at how calm I was. That was until I used the bit-wand to snap Shooting’s horn off. Completely off. Star started screaming as Katie was dropped to the ground; he couldn’t cast spells anymore. Blood started spewing out of the fucker’s horn stub as my sister quickly scampered back. Dan was just standing there, jaw slacked, and Katie’s did too when she turned to see how her captor was doing.

My sister turned to me. “Kodi, what did you do?”

“He was gonna break your neck if my horn lit,” I lifted my hoof up. I didn’t care if everypony was looking our way. “You can use bits to channel magic through them. I put all my magic through it, and broke off Star’s horn, clean off. He’s probably gonna bleed out pretty soon…” I heated my hoof up and tapped the stump on Star’s head. Damn, it didn't cauterize the wound like I thought it would… nah, I didn’t even heat my hoof up enough to do that. I looked my sister up and down. “Are you alright, sis?”

“I am…” Katie shivered. “I don’t like seeing that much blood.”

“I don’t either,” I admitted. “But I hated the idea of you getting hurt more than I hate the sight of blood.” I hugged her, and Dan started snarling now that Star was unable to fight back. He spun around and bucked the bastard in the jaw, instantly breaking it. The stallion fell over, basically dead. Several guards came over, cauterized the wound, and dragged Star off.

A yellowish pegasus guard walked up to us and saluted. “Your highness, are you and your siblings okay? We would have acted sooner, but we couldn’t risk your sister getting hurt.”

“We’re good,” I saluted the stallion. “Go make sure Star can’t hurt anypony. If it were up to me, he’d bleed out on the spot.”

“You could’ve ordered that sir, he’s made several attempts on your life, and your foal’s life, and now your sister.” Flash, that’s the guard, said.

“Meh, I’mma let Celly have her way with him.”

“Yessir.” Flash saluted and walked off. “Everypony, this was simply a matter of self defense. Please return back to your business,” Flash ordered before wandering off.

Dan slowly turned to me, before he tackled Katie and hugged her. He cried into her mane. Katie also broke down, and soon, I had my siblings under my wings, holding them close as my own tears gave way. I was so close to losing my sister after being reunited with her again.

In a cold, dark chamber, Shooting Star sat, now conscious, though still in a lot of pain. Before him stood all of Equestria’s rulers, save Source Code. He was off comforting his sister, and he himself was being comforted by his mother. He’s lucky that he is, as he would’ve been dead by now. Unfortunately, that didn’t guarantee he would be set free. Princess Celestia stood, glaring down at the stallion. This was a facial expression that not many ponies can say they’ve ever seen on the Princess of the Sun.

“Pr-princess!” Star bowed very quickly. “Thank you for healing me; your husband is crazy-”

“Several eyewitnesses say you were about to kill my sister in law,” Celestia pointed out. “Source even provided a crystal, with the memory of the event inscribed into it.” Luna held the crystal in her magic as her big sister spoke. “You’re quite lucky that you’re even alive; Source has the authority to let you get killed, but he didn’t outright let you bleed out. Even if he didn’t voluntarily stop your bleeding himself. Do you understand how lucky that your head is still attached to your body?!”

Luna spoke up next. “You threatened Source’s little sister. He adores her and just wishes for her the best. And don’t think nopony’s here hasn’t heard of you hiring mercenaries to kill Source, or his foal, either.” She growled.

“B-but…”

“You wanted to do this because Source kept you from asking Twilight Sparkle out,” Luna added. “Or doing far worse to her. You do understand where this is going, correct?”

“Will I be banished and imprisoned in the place I’ve been banished to?” Star asked.

The door cracked open and Source came in right after. His face remained stoic as he approached the former unicorn.

“You are so fucking lucky that Katie’s completely unharmed, or I woulda fuckin’ tortured you, Shining Star,” he turned around. “Celly, do as you please to him. I know you wanted me to give the verdict, but I was gonna skin him.”

Celestia nodded and gently kissed her husband. “I will be out shortly, Source. I know you could use a hug from everypony.” The Princess of Sun’s heart sank when Source just walked out; she figured almost losing Katie did more to him than she had suspected. She turned her gaze to Shooting Star, the coward had the gull to silently beg for a lighter punishment, since after all, his victim was unharmed!

The Princess walked up to the stallion, and gently brought her hoof up to his cheek. “I suppose your punishment will be quick and painless. Be fortunate that Source didn’t choose to enact what he had in mind for you.” Snap.

Author's Note

and so, the biggest threat, so far, to Source's family is gone. I wanted to have Shooting Star just bleed out, but figured an execution, a straight execution, to show just how far this asshole overstepped by constantly threatening Source, and his family, just to get at Source. I wanted Shooting Star to get killed off pretty early into this little arc, purely to show how truly pathetic this guy is. he deserved what happened to him.

he managed to push Princess Celsetia into believing he wasn't worth redeeming in any capacity.

I hope the 'sibling banter' is entertaining at least, and realistic. I've actually got a sibling and figured 'might as well put one of those long, drawn out, innocent conversations that lead nowhere' would be fun to have. and have it happen just before Shooting Star struck to add some shock value. Imagine enjoying your day, and suddenly your sibling gets a gun held to the back of their head.

it's really unfortunate that Shooting Star chose to go after Katie; Source is a very protective older brother. especially after what he's been through. He'll drop dead before he lets anyone harm his family.

also, split day one into two parts, for obvious reasons. the exhibition match on its on deserved a chapter, and so did Shooting Star Royally fucking up deserved its own chapter.