Earlier That Morning
Celestia’s sun shone through the window, casting its light throughout the room. Two ponies stirred under the covers of a multiple pony sized bed. Shining Armor rose slowly, stretched and used his magic to open the curtain. He looked to each side of the bed. Noticing the side of the bed to the right was empty he went to the left and cuddled close with the mare still laying there. He heard a soft purr as he put his hooves around her.
“Good morning Shiny.” Twilight pushed herself closer to her brother, pulling his hooves close to her chest.
“Good morning to you too, Twily.” He gave her a tight squeeze and tried to pull away to no avail, so he settled in, resting his head just above hers. If Twilight didn’t want to let him go just yet who was he to say no? “How are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling ok.” She yawns, “Still sleepy though. Let’s go back to sleep.” She uses her magic to close the curtain.
Shining Armor laughs and starts to rub Twilight’s shoulders. “Cadance is already up Twilight and you know we have court soon. We have to get ready.”
“Cadance can take care of court today can’t she? I just want to stay here in bed with you.”
“I’ve never known you to shirk on any responsibilities. Did you really have that much fun last night?” Shining Armor continues rubbing her shoulders and continues down her flank. A blush comes to Twilight’s face and her wings stiffen, pushing up against Shining’s barrel. He laughs again, “I’ll take that as a yes. Well, I’m going to get up and take a shower. You’re more than welcome to join me.” With that he uses his magic to raise the covers over him and climbs out of the bed.
“I uhh… It’s ok I’ll take one after you.” Twilight pulls the covers up over her, still embarrassed from her brother’s teasing.
Shining Armor shrugs as he makes his way to the bathroom. “Suit yourself, Twily. Still, you should get up. Maybe see where Cadance went?”
“Yeah ok,” She called out to Shining. She waited until she heard the shower start. With a groan she pulled the covers off her and got out of bed. She made her way to the bedroom door but stopped short when she heard voices. They were muffled, but she didn’t quite recognize them. “The maids? I thought Cadance told them not to clean these quarters in the morning. Well I guess I can’t leave the room now.” She sat down and rested her head on the door unsure of what to do. Her ears perked up when she heard what they were talking about.
“Her room is always immaculate.”
“Well of course it is. What about Princess Twilight makes you think she’d have a messy room?”
“Its not that, the room is just the way it was before she started living here.”
“What, so you actually believe the rumors?”
“If she’s not sleeping in her room then where is she sleeping? And those symptoms Princess Twilight has been suffering lately? Same symptoms I had when I was pregnant with my little one.” Twilight knew there were rumors out about her relationship with Shining, but she hadn’t heard anypony talking about them personally. She also had thought that she was hiding her pregnancy well enough, but apparently not. Her heart was beating fast as she listened to the maids gossip, still unsure of what to do.
“Maybe she just has another room somewhere that we don’t know about. And she might be pregnant that doesn’t mean that Shining Ar—”
“Shush!”
“Ohh, we can talk about the rumors, but we can’t say who they’re about?”
“Not when they could be in the next room!”
“You brought it up! The Princess is already out and the Prince is in the shower, no pony is going to hear us.”
“What about the other Princess then?”
“I… I already told you she’s not here.”
“Ohh you sound so confident. Are you willing to risk it? I’m leaving, we could already be in huge trouble, I’d rather not risk anymore.”
“Ugh fine. But you have to explain to the Princess why we didn’t finish cleaning her room.”
Without another word the maids were gone, leaving Twilight alone with her thoughts. “We were being so careful. How did this happen?” With tears in her eyes she teleported to her room to use her own shower, hoping it would help clear and settle her mind.
After her shower she made her way to their personal dining room. Shining Armor was already seated, helping himself to the many selections provided by the kitchen staff. The few workers and Shining looked up as Twilight entered the room. Twilight smiled when she saw her brother, but the smile faltered when she noticed everypony else looking at her. Did they know? Did they hate her now? Shining Armor pulled the chair next to him back waiting for Twilight to sit down, but she sat as far as she could away from him. Confused, he pushed the chair back in.
“Did you find Cadance?” He asked, chalking it up to absent-mindedness.
“Ohh no I didn’t. I’m not sure what she’s up to,” Twilight was slow to answer. She grabbed an oat waffle and a few pieces of fruit.
“She didn’t say anything about what she was doing this morning last night, right? I guess we’ll have to find her before court starts,” He continued with his breakfast shooting glances at Twilight and the others in the room. He watched Twilight move the food around in her plate for a few minutes but not eat any of it before he spoke up. “Are you sure you’re ok, Twilight? You’ve barely said anything since you walked in here and you’re not eating.”
“I... I’m fine. I’m sorry Shining. I guess I’m just not hungry right now,” She flashed a smile, but it wasn’t convincing enough for her brother.
Shining looked up from Twilight and addressed the kitchen staff. “Could we have the room please?” The kitchen ponies bowed and made their way out of the room. He got up from his seat and walked over to Twilight. “Come on, Twily. What’s wrong?” Twilight looks away as her eyes start to water, but she turns back and rests her head on Shining Armors shoulder when she starts to cry.
“They know Shining. Everypony knows!” Shining Armor raises a hoof around Twilight and holds her as she cries into his shoulder. “We were being so careful, but they know.”
“Ohh Twilight. It’s just rumors. It happens with everything. Nopony actually believes them.”
“I heard the maids talking about them! They even know I’m pregnant. Nopony but us knows that!”
“Twily, you’ve had the symptoms of it, the maids were the first to figure it out when Cadance was pregnant with Flurry Heart,” He hugged Twilight and ruffled her mane with one of his hooves. “It’s really not that big of a deal.”
She pulled back. “Not a big deal? Shining what if your ponies found out? What if Celestia found out? You would be outcast, and it would be my fault! This is a big deal!” Her voice got louder as she was talking and Shining looked to the door that the kitchen staff had left from.
“Ok sis, look if you don’t quiet down then everypony will know. Why don’t you head back up to the room? Me and Cadance will take care of court today and then we can talk about this after. Does that sound good?” Shining smiled at his sister but she was still upset.
“We have to figure this out now, Shining! I can’t lose you. Not now.”
“Twilight, nothing is going to happen. I’m not going anywhere,” He looked up again to the door to the dining room. “Well, I do have to go, but just to the throne room. I can’t just skip it, it’s important. And no offence, but you’re not exactly presentable right now. If you showed up like you are right now, the press would have a field day.” He started to walk away after giving Twilight another hug. “Please Twily, go back to the room and relax, I’ll come up when I can, and we can talk about this.”
Shining made his way to the door and when he opened it the ponies on the other side suddenly stopped talking and looked between Shining Armor and Twilight. He sighed and started walking down the hallway to the throne room. Twilight quickly followed, avoiding the gaze of the other ponies.
“Shining you saw them just now; what do you think they were talking about? Why did they stop when they saw you?” She caught up to Shining as they neared the door to the throne room.
“The weather? I don’t know Twilight, but it wasn’t us. Why don’t you just trust me on this?”
“Trust you? You’re not taking this seriously, Shining!” He opens the door and continues to the throne room. “These rumors are getting out of hoof Shining Armor and you aren’t doing anything about them!” Once she enters the room herself, she notices that they’re not alone. She turns her back to the guards at the other end of the room and lowers her voice. “See! They stopped talking as soon as we walked in here! They’re talking about us, Shining.”
“Twilight, my guards are above gossiping. Besides, they probably just don’t want to get in trouble. They’re not supposed to be talking at all when they’re working,” He paused for a moment, looking at the guards. He recognized them as being his personal guards since his days in Canterlot. “Come on Twily, what can I do to help you relax?”
“Relax? How can I relax when my whole world is coming crashing down on—”
Shining steps towards her and locks his lips to hers. She melts into the kiss, the world disappearing around her. Her wings stiffen again as she revels in the kiss. He pulls back after a few moments, “How’s that for relaxing?” He laughs and smiles at Twilight. She giggles to herself before she remembers where she is. Her head twists quickly to the guards. Her horn starts to glow and Shining starts his too, cursing his impulsiveness. He blocks the flash and blast from himself but can’t protect the guards in time. He watches Twilight turn and run back through the hallway they had just came through.
“Buck me.” Shining lowers his shield and walks over to the guards, trying to figure out what to do next.