I must Scream

With three little ponies down and two more to go, PAM decided quickly on the next two. Using his Spotlight, PAM quickly shined the light over none other than Shining Armor. Soon, Shining Armor is taken to his own scenario.

"Now Shining Armor, I would not want you to think for a moment that I am an ungrateful god." PAM began speaking to Shining Armor.

"For 109 years I have kept you alive so that I could savor your feelings of guilt of what happened to Cadence. But... now to show my kindness I will put you in a adventure of sorts. I will now finally allow you to... rejoin your lost wife. HAHAHA"

"Rejoin my wife?" Shining Armor asked, confused by the machine god's sudden act of kindness. "Cadence? But... I don't think she'd ever want to see me again... not after what... what happened .."

Shining Armor took a few moments to examine his new, yet somehow familiar surroundings. There were barbed wire fences all over the place, alone with light poles every now and then, making shining brightly.

"This place is like one of the camps that held griffon POWs during the war. But why would PAM send me here to look for my wife?" Shining Armor asked himself

On the otherside of a fence, there stood a stallion that was saring at Shining Armor. This stallion was plainly starving to the point of death. You could see his skeletal structure without the use of an X-Ray.

"If this is a prison camp for griffons, why are you imprisoned here?" Shining Armor asked the stallion.

The starving stallion merely ignored Shining Armor for a few moments. It was as if this pony was deliberately ignoring Shining Armor. A few brief moments later, the pony turned back to Shining Armor.

"Captain Armor? Is this an official interrogation? Or are you mocking me?" the starving stallion responded with hate in his voice

"You... know me?" Shining Armor asked

"I thought I did, until you arrested me for refusing to condone the experiments!" the stallion said

"Experiments? But I... I know nothing of experiments!" Shining Armor said annoyed and confused by what the pony was telling him.

"Your sense of humor is as sick as your methods, Captain. How can you act so innocent, after helping others kill or maim hundreds of innocent ponies and griffons in the name of science." the pony said

"Are you saying we used to work together?" Shining Armor asked, now confused and frightened by what the pony was telling him.

"Shining Armor... There's no need to distance yourself from me. I was once your friend and ally, now... I am your enemy." the pony said, eyes full of hate.

"But why would I have even bothered to have you imprisoned like this?" Shining Armor asked

"After Celestia was overthrown, the new Regime needed answers. But I stood their way. But now you have them!" the pony said

"But... have you seen Princess Cadence? I must find her!" Shining Armor pleaded

"Havn't you and the regime taken enough subjects for your unholy experiments?" the pony asked. "Or do you want your wife to join the others to fill more mass graves?"

"That's it!" Shining Armor roared. "I. KNOW. NOTHING. Of what you speak about! This convesation is over!" Shining Armor angerly said

Shining Armor was now very angry, and he stomped away from this pony. Sure he may have driven his wife insane, but that pony who asked if he wanted his wife to join the other 'specimens' as well, just really stuck into Shining Armor in a bad way. But what concerned Shining Armor the most, was that this pony was accusing him of collaborating with some evil regime that experimented on ponies as well as griffons. Deciding he had enough, Shining Armor marched over to a gate, and have the Military Police Pony let him through.

"You must let me leave soldier. I have business elsewhere." Shining Armor said to the guard.

"I cannot allow you to pass, Captain Armor. You're due to oversee a surgery. It's the commandant's orders." the guard said "If you have forgotten you're way to the hospital, here is a map." The guard said showing Shining Armor a map.

The guard pointed to where Shining Armor was, and where the hospital was. It wasn't that far away, just walking distance. Shining Armor thanked the guard, and headed over to the hospital. If this commandant was here, maybe he would have answers on where to find his wife Cadence.

It didn't take Shining Armor five minutes of walking, until he reached the hospital. It was a tall, stone structure, with a dome in the center. After climbing a series of marble steps, Shining Armor approached the double doors, and entered the building.

"Where have you been, Shining Armor? We've been waiting for you to arrive to... work with the specimens." A tall, muscular pony in an officer's uniform said to Shining Armor

"You.. were waiting for me?" Shining Armor asked

"That's Commandant, to you, Captain, yes we were waiting for you to arrive. Your expertise in handling specimens has renown. Unfortunately, this may be the last surgery we can get, before the end of the war with the griffons to... finish our research." The Commandant said

"Ah... the research? What is it about this … research that's so special?" Shining Armor asked the Commandant

"There is no time to discuss that here, Captain. Meet me at the bunker later." The commandant said before walking out the door.

Seeing as how he had no other option, Shining Armor walked over to a white door, that held the surgery room.

Inside the surgery room, there was an operating table next to series of chemicals and surgical equipment. Shining Armor noticed on the table, was a young pegasi filly.

"Finally Captain, we've been waiting for you." A doctor said to Shining Armor

'What.. am I to do?" Shining Armor asked

"Today's procedure requires the removal of the lower section of the subject's spinal cord." the doctor said. "Your job is to hold down the patient, as the war called many materials away, we need a unicorn to make sure this little filly doesn't kick around. And that will ruin my handy work. We will process the spinal fluid from this and the other subjects. All to formulate the serum."

Shining Armor looked over at the the little filly.

"This... filly can't be anymore than eight years old. If you remove her spine! She won't be able to fly! Or even walk!" Shining Armor said

"Yes, but she does not seem like the athletic type." The doctor said with a laugh. "She probally won't miss the use of her legs or wings."

"I can't carry out this procedure!" Shining Armor said

Realizing the doctor was serious about mutilating this poor filly. If Shining Armor could not save his wife, then he would at least save this filly. Noticing a sharp scapel on a tray, Shining Armor knows he'll only have one shot, to save this filly.

"GUARDS!" The doctor yells. "Come here quickly! Captain Shining Armor has gone berser- AH" The doctor says as the scapel goes through his neck

"I've saved the filly. But now I must leave before the guards catch me." Shining Armor said

Noticing a backroom, Shining Armor hurried towards it. A second too late, and the guards would have gotten him.

"Ah.. that stench" Shining Armor says before turning on the light.

"This... must be the recovery room!" Shining Armor says as he sees multiple bodies on beds.

Each bed seems to be occupied by either a griffon or a pony. But these were not ponies or griffons harmed in battle, rather 'patients' harmed by surgery. None of them looked like the surgery accomplished something other than mutilating their bodies. Griffons had their beaks, wings, and claws torn out. Ponies had legs, wings, and horns sawed off.

"These... patients are too damaged... and will never recover. If Cadence is here, I have to find her!" Shining Armor yelled, and went to the otherside of the room.

"Oh sweet Celestia, I smell burnt flesh in this room." Shining Armor said.

On the wall, there were a series of ovens, each having a particular bad smell to them. The smell was nothing like what Shining Armor had ever experienced before in his life. Even through all the years with PAM, Shining Armor never experienced this. Shining Armor took to a corner, and hurled what little his stomach contents held onto the hard, brick floor.

"What sort of activities went on here? Cadence! Please be safe!" Shining Armor said.

Seeing a door, Shining Armor, had to get out of this … tartarus of a building. The door was heavy, and made of iron, it took Shining Armor quite some time before he could summon the strength to push the door open with his hooves (His horn still weak from the totrures of PAM).

Shining Armor was relieved that he was once again back outside, in the fresh cool air. The smell of of death, blood, and ash soon left Shining Armor's nostrils as he walked back away from the building. However, something was clearly wrong, to his left about a couple of meters away, their was a earth pony hanging by a fence, very obviously tapped by the barbed wire. Shining Armor walked up to this pony that was caught. The pony had a face of sheer agony, the barbed wire pressing in deeper into his skin by nothing more than his own body weight. Shining Armor had felt similar situations himself with PAM.

"So, tell me, how could you be caught in the barbed wire?" Shining Armor asked the pony.

Deep in pain, the pony did not seem to hear Shining Armor, and still writhed and squirmed before looking at Shining Armor, yet just another soldier to him.

"I was trying to escape from this hellhole. But I was too weak, I fell and got caught in the barbed wire" The pony said, who was more interested in getting free from the barbed wire than talking to Shining Armor.

Shining Armor was once again confused by what this pony was telling him. This pony, was in no shape to be climbing over a fence, much less escape from the prison camp. He looked like that at any moment, that pony will keel over and die.

"By why?" Shining Armor asked. "Why risk escaping when you are in no physical condition to do so?"

The pony tried lifting himself out of the wires. But no matter how much he struggled, no matter how much he pulled at the wire, this pony wasn't getting free.

"I hardly had time for an opportune moment to escape!" The pony said, still struggling to get free. "I learned I was the next among a batch of 'Specimens."

The pony gave a grunt of disapproval.

"'Experimentation' they say. Redeem ourselves in the eyes of the regime they say... Genocide and extinction is more like it." the pony said

Shining Armor wondered how he could help this pony. It seems like this 'regime' was out not only to destroy the griffons, but also anypony that stood in their way. Perhaps there was something he could do.

"I could... Summon a doctor?" Shining Armor asked

The pony's eyes grew as if full of fear. His heart pounding faster than the ponies at a race track.

"NO!" The pony yelled in a panic.

"The doctors here will only put me under a blade. Most likely without any anasthetic!"

"I could call a guard, maybe he can let you down?" hining Armor gave a second option

The pony merely shook his head, in an act of disapproval.

"Why?" The pony asked "So you and the guard can laugh at me as I slowly bleed to death?"

"But I … Thereis nothing I can do for you then... I'm sorry." Shining Armor said looking away from the pony

"Then you can at least help me end my misery. You're unicorn, can you unravel the barbed wire?" The pony pleaded

Using all of his strength, even though it hurt him much to do so. Soon, Shining Armor was able to brighten up his horn, and unraveled the barbed wire that was hanging the pony. Unraveled, the pony dropped to the ground.

"Thank you, thank you." The pony said "Listen, I overheard some of the doctors while they thought I was sleeping. 'Waken the sleeper. Utter the truth... and kiss him'."

After speaking those last words, the pony who was once caught in the barbed wire passed out. Soon, a familiar face walked over next to the pony on the ground. It was the starving pony that Shining Armor talked to in the camp.

"Well Captain Armor." The prisoner pony said. "I hope you're happy with the Regime you helped set up. Your love for your wife could've saved the world. Instead it conquered it."

"What do you know about what happened to my wife?" Shining Armor demanded

The pony merely raised an eyebrow

"Oh? Don't even remember, I see. Well I hope you never forget the attroctities you helped the Regime commit."

Shining Armor was more annoyed with this pony than before. Shining Armor had no memory of ever participating with a Regime, or an evil one for that matter. All he could remember, was hitting his wife, and her going off to the insane asylum.

"I'm done here." Shining Armor said. "Good day sir!"

Shining Armor marched off. He had only one thing in his mind, finding his wife, and getting her out of this hellhole.

"Where ever she is..." Shining Armor thought to himself. "I hope she's safe."

Shining Armor continued walking around the camp for sometime. Some areas (as he was an army captain) he was able to enter. Others, not so much. All that was on his mind in the camp, was his beloved wife, Cadence. PAM mentioned that she's somewhere in the camps.

"Is PAM giving me an opportunity to rejoin my wife? But PAM has never been this nice before..." Shining Armor thought to himself as he walked along the road. As two other guards walked past him, a loud explosion was heard.

"KABOOM!"

The explosion could be heard miles away. A large fireball in the sky had erupted whole sections of the camp into the flames. Screaming and gun shots were heard going off.

"ATTENTION!" The loud speaker began to play. "The prisoners have seized the compound! Evacuate to the bunker! EVACUATE!"

Taking that as his cue to get out and find his wife hopefully in the process, Shining Armor ran back towards the bunker, only to be stopped by a gang of prisoners.

"Kill the bucker!" one screamed

"I'll tear him to pieces!" a griffon roared

Shining Armor paniced. He remembered absolutely nothing about his life in the army. All he remembered... was that night he hit Cadence.

"You must let me through! Maybe I can remedy the attrocities that I or the Regime have committed!" Shining Armor said as he pleaded with the mob to let him through

A certain familiar pony walked amongst the mob, pushing away the angry ponies and griffons who were ready to tear apart every regime pony.

"You can't fool me Shining Armor... You... are an unredeemable butcher like the rest of the soldiers here." The prisoner pony said

Shining Armor's heart was pounding many times harder than before. Not only would he never be able to see his wife, Cadence, again. But he was going to be ripped apart by the mob.

"But... you are one of us... Like it or not." The pony said

Confused by what this pony meant 'one of us', Shining Armor had to ask.

"What do you mean? 'One of us'?" Shining Armor asked

"Don't you remember? I am your brother-in-law. Shining Armor. It's me, Prince Mi Amore Obsidian." The pony said

"Thanks to you, my own Big Sister Best Friend Forever was locked away in that tiny room. I hope your happy for that. But you are still a member of the Crystal Empire's Royal Family... that makes the crime all the more heinous."

Now Shining Armor started to remember more. Here he was, in flesh and blood, Prince Mi Amore Obsidian, or just Prince Obsidian. Shining Armor's brother-in-law never quite got along well with Shining Armor, after he found out that his older sister was sent to an Insane Asylum.

"Does that mean... because we're family of course." Shining Armor began speaking. "Allow me to go?"

"It means we will give you a head start." Prince Obsidian said. "Then we will hunt you down, and gut you like the pig you are!"

When Prince Obsidian had finished, the mob opened the gate, and shoved Shining Armor through. In record time, they sealed the gate once more, once more barring passage to anypony.

Shining Armor found himself on the otherside of the gate. Some walking distance away was a bunker of sorts.

"I have to leave this place!" Shining Armor said. "My brother-in-law wishes to kill me!"

Looking at the bunker, it seemed rather sturdy to Shining Armor, strong enough to withstand any physical blow... well at least any a prison mob can muster. Shining Armor entered the bunker, through its great steel doors.

Inside the bunker was a series of tables, and strangely, a old phonograph. But what was even stranger, was the fact that the phonograph's disk, was titled "Cadence and Me". Shining Armor put the disk on the Phonograph and began playing.

"Of course I'll love to go with you. I'd love to get to know the older brother of little Twily." the voice said

Shining Armor laughed a little, remembering the old times with Cadence.

"That's when Cadence still babysat my LSBFF. I never thought she'd actually say yes." Shining Armor said

After a brief pause, the phonograph began playing again.

"This really is a great wedding. I love you Shining Armor." The voice in the box said.

"That's when Cadence first said she loved, but as wife!" Shining Armor said

"Why do you have to go?" The phonograph began playing again. "I don't trust this new regime."

"That's... that's after the coup on Celestia... Why did I have to be a coward and work for them after it happened?" Shining Armor yelled out

"I can help you if you'd just tell me what's wrong! Shining Armor please!" the phonograph stopped there

"Oh... Oh Faust! That's what Cadence said to me... before... I … I hit her!" Shining Armor screamed. "WHY DID I HAVE TO HIT HER?! I'd rather die than hurt my beloved Cadence!"

Shining Armor turned off the phonograph, and backed away from it. In his mind, Shining Armor didn't deserve to hear his wife again. All he wanted now was to die, to ease his pain.

"Hey..." Shining Armor said noticing a series of written documents. "What's... this?"

Shining Armor looked over the documents. They were a series of documents detailing the names and ages of every single test subject. Normally Shining Armor wouldn't have any interest in these documents, however, he had to find out what the prisoners were talking about him. About him being an unredeemable butcher. Soon however.. it had become clear.

"Oh Celestia! They... they used my wife! My beloved wife! As a specimen for experimentation! My sweet innocent Cadence is... dead!"

Realizing that he is indirectly reposnible for his wife's death, Shining Armor broke down crying. Not only did he sentence her to an insane asylum, but death. When he finally recovered, Shining Armor looked around, and noticed a jar of eye balls.

"Oh Sweet Celestia! They took... they took her eyes!" Shining Armor screamed as he saw that the eyes in jar, were none other than Cadence's.

Shining armor immediately grabbed the jar that held his wife's eyes. He couldn't let them defile her anymore.

Shining armor continued his journey into the bunker. Standing before him, was a pony, yet a Golem.

"The Golem needs eyes..." Shining Armor said to himslef as he read a series of notes about it. "But... I can't just..."

In a twisted way, Shining Armor realized that this could be a sort of redemption for him. Perhaps that if he couldn't save his beloved wife, then perhaps he could use the Golem to save the prisoners from the Regime.

"These eyes fit perfectly into the Golem's eye sockets..." Shining Armor said softly.

With the eyes now properly in place, Shining Armor began to try and wake up the Golem.

"Golem!" Shining Armor yelled. "Wake up!"

As much as Shining Armor tried, nothing seemed to work. The Golem just stood there, his eyes (or Cadence's eyes) just staring back right at Shining Armor, giving him an uneasy feeling.

"Wait... the pony said to utter the truth. And.. kiss him?" Shining Armor said

With a deep breather, Shining Armor spoke his own truth.

"The truth is that for me, I can never be forgiven." Shining Armor said

With those words, the Golem rose up. He stood tall, well over eight feet. All ready to receive orders.

"Golem follow me!" Shining Armor ordered

"Shining Armor!" a voice said. "I thought I had lost you back there!"

Shining Armor turned around, and saw that it was indeed his old boss, the Commandant.

"And I see you brought a new friend." the Commandant finished

Shining Armor felt a feeling of rage dwell up in him. Though Shining Armor knew he sent his beloved wife to the mental asylum, there was no way he could have known she was experimented on, and later mutilated for her eyes.

"Tell me, Commandant, sir." Shining Armor spoke up. "What was the point of all these experiments? And … this serum?"

The commandant knew that this was no longer a broken and drunk pony he could control, however he still had a trick up his sleave.

"Ah yes... the youth serum. The research required the deaths of many foals, but our hard work was successful! Eternal Youth! For those that deserve it!" The commandant said

A spark grew into a flame inside Shining Armor. How could these ponies, no... MONSTERS could live knowing that killed foals.

"And of my wife?" Shining Armor asked. "I know the Golem... has my wife's eyes. Tell me, why did you remove her eyes, and why couldn't I tell her about the attrocities that were committed here?!"

The commandant knew he was cornered. One wrong move, and the Golem would be over him in a flash. No amount of magic would stop the Golem once he was on a rampage.

"I cast a spell on you and the other guards. A sort of tongue binder if you will." The commandant spoke up. "The spell prevents unneccessary information from leaving ponies. After all, we wouldn't want riots and panics to break out from a result. Unfortunately for you, it worked too well. You turned to drink to try and relive yourself of the pain... Knowing that you wanted help, but could not get it." The commandant laughed.

"But it was good for us that you hit your wife." As the commandant continued speaking, Shining Armor was more enraged every moment he continued talking.

"We were able to pick her up at the insane asylum. Of course we knew she truly wasn't crazy... we just needed a reason to dump her there. Once we got her on our hooves, we sapped every amount of love we could, after all... what else could power these golems. This Golem, is made from the parts of your wife … Mr. Armor."

"GOLEM! Kill the commandant!" Shining Armor yelled as he had enough of this monster in pony skin.

"You can kill me! But you're still an accessory! One way or another the mob outside will kill you!" The comamndant said before the Golem crushed his skull.

"He was a monster..." Shining Armor said looking down at the Comamandant's body.

"The commandant was still a monster yes. But we're here to make you pay for what you did to us Shining Armor! To Pay in blood!" A voice called out from beind Shining Armor

Shining Armor turned around to see his brother-in-law, Prince Obsidian standing in the doorway of the bunker, surrounding it with his mob of prisoners.

"Please... Obsidian... Let me hear my wife's words one last time." Shining armor said calmly before turning on the phonograph that played his wife, Cadence, speaking.

"Don't worry my beloved Shining Armor... I forgive you. You never meant to harm me." Was what came out of the machine

Knowing that his wife forgave him was all that Shining Armor needed to hear in the last 109 years.

"Golem... I now transfer control of you over to Prince Obsidian." Shining Armor said

As if he was surprised, Prince Obsidian looked at the Golem, then back at Shining Armor.

"Ah so yo admit your crimes. But that does not release you from punishment. Now the Golem will serve the purpose for which he was created. GOLEM! Kill Captain Shining Armor." Prince Obsidian roared

As the Golem appraoched Shining Armor to kill him, Shining Armor just looked towards the heavens as if Princess Cadence was looking back at him.

"Thank you Cadence." Shining Armor said, his last words before the Golem crushed him. His internal organs bleeding beyond that which anypony could endure. His death was comforting in the fact, that his beloved Cadence, had indeed forgiven him.

"It seems like you're made of stronger stuff Shining Armor. Here is a new torture for you to endure" PAM said as he returned Shining Armor to his cell to continue being tortured.

PAM looked over the last pony left, Pinkamena Pie. Hopefully, she would not be as much of a disappointment as the others.

"I've saved you for last Pinkie Pie. Do not fail this game... as the others have failed.