//------------------------------// // Part 5: The Truth // Story: Something You'd Regret // by Flutterpriest //------------------------------// The door closes with a click behind Twilight as she leaves the bedroom. Sorry? What in the world was she sorry for? Your gaze turns to Cadance, who immediately moved between you and her husband as a protective shield when she saw your attacker. Her eyes are stern, focused on the door for any sign of a surprise attack. "I think they're gone," you say to the Princess. Cadance's tense body relaxes at your voice. She lets out a sigh and lowers her flank on the ground to sit. "Yeah," she answers distantly, still focused on the door. Hobbling closer to her, her gaze moves to ground in reflection. "What's on your mind?" you ask, placing your hand under her face and lifting it up to eye level. "Talk to me." The mare's deep violet pools stare back at you, attempting to mask a world of concern that leaks through the corners of her face. She shouldn't have to worry about what's going on behind her back any more. You would do anything to crack open those concerns and let them free. In this room, should be the proof of his infidelity to seal the deal. Whatever it is. All you have to do is find it and all of this can be over with. "It's just... seeing Twilight like that. We were so close..." she starts, her voice trying to conceal a sense of hurt, as one would attempt to pass off a bad cramp as nothing. "I knew that if I went to talk to her about everything that happened, she would get involved and try to make things better... but now I'm just worried that I lost her as a friend, too." Her eyes move from the imprint on the wall of your body, to the spot where she protected you from his onslaught. "She's trying to be supportive of her brother," you reply softly. "Family has to come first... right?" Cadance looks back down to the marble floor. "I suppose so... the closest I have to family is Princess Celestia. I never really knew my parents. I was found in the woods when I was a foal and... Well, that's for another time," she answers. "I understand why... it just doesn't stop it from hurting." You move closer to her and wrap an arm around her, while your other clings to a crutch for balance. Cadance buries her head into your chest and you can feel her horn cradle itself on your shoulder for support. "I'm sure everything will work out fine. Twilight never abandons her friends," you say. However, do you really believe that yourself, Anon? Do you think that after your argument and determination to prove her wrong, she is going to forgive you for all of this? What if you are wrong? What if Cadance is playing you for the fool and she's been right all along? Would you be able to look her in the eye and apologize, hoping everything will go back to normal? Or what about the other way around? What if you are right? Would she be able to do the same? Your gaze looks down to the alicorn in your arms and your heart flutters like a baby bird seeing it's mother come home. Or, is this now your life? Is the short-term hurt going to outweigh what you might have for the rest of your life? The alicorn holds you closely as your mind races with possibilities of things that could possibly go wrong, but you slowly feel your concerns wash away with a gentle wave of reassurance. Her soft, silken hair acts as a pillow for your head. You take a deep breath and waft in the delicate scent of fresh lavender growing in a blooming summer prairie. It filled your head with visions of a bright sunny day, picnics and making shapes out of the clouds that pass by. "You know... you smell nice," she says, rubbing her cheek gently against the fabric of your shirt. Really? Thank god for deodorant. It's almost like... you calm her in the same way that she calms you. "You smell nice too," you whisper. "I think, I could get used to it." She lets out a contented sigh, but breaks the hug to focus. "We need to find those photos," Cadance says while approaching the closet. "Now, when I found them... they were sitting in a box..." She trails off as the doors to the closet light up with a gentle blue glow and the doors open wide. However, the closet lies half empty, a near shadow of it's former self. What was once stocked by the helpful staff of the castle and brought to this facility for the events of the game, has been torn apart as a result of clothes being ripped off of hangars and empty holes of what used to be organized weekly attire left it bleeding and empty. Cadance's body shivers as gravity begins trying to pull her down to the ground so she couldn't get back up. "Oh no..." she whispers, her pupils dilating. She pushes the clothes to each side of the closet and looks deeper inside as you move closer to to her. "What's wrong?" you ask, half expecting the answer. "I think he took them. The photo of him being with... her," she answers, pushing personal belongings aside as she frantically searches. "It was the only proof I had... The guard doesn't work at the castle anymore, so I can't find her to have her attest for her actions." Cadance stops and turns to you. "You don't think he took it in that chest, do you?" she asks. You nod almost instantly. "He has to be covering his tracks. Why did the guard get fired? It's really suspicious that this other guard is just suddenly gone," you reply. "Something about bringing on too many recruits. I don't know," she sighs, sitting down and rubbing her head with a hoof as if she suddenly grew a migraine the size of Ponyville. "That wasn't really what I was paying attention to when I was filled in on the news." "Right... sorry," you reply, hobbling to the closet and peeking inside as well. Sure enough, there wasn't anything resembling a box on the closet floor. "Now what should we do?" you ask. "I'm trying to think," she answers quietly. "I'm not sure there is a lot we -can- do. I mean, right now, we look like the bad ones.” You bite your lip. She's right, it's been pretty apparent to some of the ponies that you and Cadance might be a little more than friends at this point. The guards would probably know something by now. At very least, the nurse that took care of you. If Shining got her to talk to Celestia, they could make it look like Cadance was the one in the wrong. You look up at the Princess as you consider your words. Perhaps, more in the wrong, is the better phrase. What you were doing right now with her is technically wrong. However, given the circumstances... "Maybe we should just try... talking the situation through with Celestia. Maybe she will listen to me and understand some of this," she suggests. "Do you think that we could convince her?" you ask. "I don't think we have many other choices..." she says. You look from her, to the imprint of your body on the wall, and back to Cadance. "I think there is one more option... but you won't like it," you reply. She looks up to you with concern in her eyes. "What's that?" "We get the photos back," you reply. "We'll have to find out where he's staying and take the box back. I thought Twilight told me he'd stay in her room and-" "But, we have to tell Celestia something. Plus, there's no way he'd just give us-" She pauses when she sees the determination in your eyes. "Anon, surely you aren't saying-" "I go into Twilight's room when nobody's around, find the box, get out before anyone can find me, meanwhile, you go talk to Celestia," you answer. "Time is of the essence. Plus, now it might be better if you did the talk without me, since we don't have proof of Shining-" You pause before finishing the sentence and Cadance immediately jumps in. "Anon, that's insane. Your leg is broken. You can barely go through doors. How do you think you could pull off some sort of-" "I don't. I can't even say I could, but if Shining roughs me up anymore, he's going to have to answer to more than you, it only puts more bad light on him. Also, we don't really have a choice. That is the only evidence you have, right?" Cadance pauses tilts her head in thought. Her gaze narrows as her mind races with possibilities, but sighs and returns her gaze to you. "Nothing. Nothing else," she replies. "Then that's what we will have to do," you answer, standing up straighter. "No, it's not an option," she retorts. "I can do it-" "And if you get caught? What then? You're digging for evidence on purpose through your husband's things to make him look bad." "How would it make it better if you got caught?" she asks. "I came with Twilight here on the train. We even shared some of the same baggage. I can at least say that I'm looking for something that could be mine," you answer. "Really?" she asks. "Is that the truth?" "Well, mostly. You know Twilight, how she doubles and triple checks everything. She knew for a fact that all of my things were removed from her bags, but I can always go back and claim I forgot something, swearing I packed it. It's a legitimate excuse," you say. Cadance looks from you, to the closet, then to the floor with a reserved sigh. "I hate this," she says. "All of this. None of this should have ever happened." You wrap yourself around her one more time and gently kiss the top of her head. "It's not what happens to us, but how we react to it that defines who we are." Her warm body presses against you tighter as she straightens up and takes a deep breath. "Then, I'll talk to Celestia, and you go to get the photo. Meet here in... an hour?" she asks. With an affirmative grunt, a gentle nod and one last squeeze, the two of you break your embrace and set a path towards the door. "One last little thing..." Cadance says, moving to her dresser. "What's that?" you ask. Pulling on one of the drawers, and lifting a false bottom to the drawer, she reveals a small, decorated crystal bottle filled with a gentle pink liquid. "High quality, imported. For the nerves," she says. "Is this really the right time for a shot?" you ask cautiously. She looks at you with a smile. "It's not strong. I can't hold liquor at all. After the week is over, I'm swearing off the stuff for a long time," she says. "Just for the nerves." "Well, alright. For the nerves," you answer, hobbling over to her as she pulls out two small crystal goblets. You're sure they would probably seem a lot more beautiful and seem much more ornate if you weren't in a city made of crystal. The bottle wasn't large and was already about a third empty. She carefully poured two small helpings into the glasses evenly and recorked the bottle, replacing it in her dresser where it was hidden from sight. She levitated one of the goblets to you, which had only maybe a gulp or two of liquid in it, and thought to herself. "What should we toast to?" she asks. "A drink this special deserves one." You think carefully over the options in your head for a toast, but nothing seems to come to mind. Toasting to love would seem a tad too cliche. To the Crystal Empire? "How about... to the truth. That we will unveil the truth of this situation to all the doubters and give you a second chance at living again. How's that?" you ask with a smile. She takes a moment to look deeply into your eyes as a smile slowly returns to her face. "I'll drink to that," she says. She levitates her goblet to yours they tap each other with a light clink. Bringing the liquid to your lips, you are immediately overwhelmed by the taste of strawberries and cranberries mixing together into array of alternating tartness and sweetness. You would never guess that there was alcohol in the drink by it's flavor. That said, you were never one for those fancy wine tastings that Rarity had, so after it looked like you truly appreciated the flavor, you gulped it down. "Mmm. Really, fruity," you answered. "It's nice." Cadance nods, then takes the goblet from your hand and replaces them both on the dresser. "Alright then. Let's do this,” she says. After the door closed with a thud, Twilight followed her brother in silence. Shining stared ahead with an expression of stone, unblinking and deep in thought. She held tightly to the picture that was nestled in her wing feathers. What did this picture mean? Has he been lying to her? At very least, he's been hiding something. How can he be hiding something from her?! Still! Twilight felt that she had been doing everything she could to help him, and he still wouldn't give her the whole story. Anger burned in her chest as she trotted behind him, staring daggers at his back. One step at a time, Shining led the way to Twilight's room as his belongings floated in mid-air. "Are we going to talk about what just happened?" she asked quietly. "What's there to talk about?" he asked. "The two of you barely said a word to each other." "What is there to say?" he answered. Her gaze returned to the floor as he trudged onward. Even when he was rejected from the guard for the first time, he never acted like a jerk. Even when Twilight didn't approve of Cadance when she was a Changeling Queen in disguise, he wasn't this harsh. There was acid in his words and spite in his voice. Shining wasn't a hateful person. Then why was he acting this way? What changed? What does the picture mean? What could he have done to have Cadance latch onto Anon so hard? None of this makes sense. It ate Twilight from the inside out that the only person willing to be completely honest with her was Anon. Even then, there was no way that he knows everything either. Yet, with every step she took, the image began to become clearer and clearer. She just needed to hear Shining say it. Her eyes focused on your brother as the two of them approach Twilight's room. Of course, with enough beds for Twilight and the other girls. The only pony who could tell Twilight the full truth about what is going on is Shining. She wouldn't blackmail him... but with this photo, it'll be hard for him to lie his way out of telling the truth. Even then, it's only the part of the truth that he will be willing to share. At this point... she didn't care how terrible what he did was. She just wanted the truth. The lies needed to stop now. With a pink glow, the doors to the room opened and Shining entered. Twilight followed him into the room as he sat his things down against the far wall and leaped onto one of the six nearby beds that were reserved for her friends. Closing the doors behind her as she entered, Twilight moved towards her brother, taking the picture out of her wing with the purple glow of her magic. "So, what are you going to tell me about this?" she asked coldly, displaying the evidence. Shining looked up to her and groans. "What do you want me to say?" he asked. "The truth. Everything. You've been shutting me out and hiding too much from me. I can't help you if I don't know exactly what was going on between you, Cadance and whoever this is." Shining sighed and buried his face in the mattress. "If you don't tell me, then I won't help you," she said. "Fine. You want everything? Every tiny detail? Fine," he said, rolling over and sitting up to face her. "Everything I already told you was true. Everything felt like it was falling apart. We had less and less time together. The spark was fading. I was too tired to really do anything to and mend it, so I just didn't try." He ran a hoof through his mane and sighed, looking away from his sister. "One day, I met this mare named Melody. She was a new guard. Mare guards never tend to stick around long once the stallions start to single them out. I wanted to make a difference and ensure that it didn't matter what gender a pony is, a guard is a guard." He shook his head in shame before continuing. "All I was doing was to try and be friendly and make her feel welcome, but we ended up really just... connecting. I dunno. It was really weird. I hadn't really felt that way since the academy. She picked up the work of a guard like she had watching the drills her entire life. I saw a lot of myself in her, so I began to mentor her a bit. I saw a lot of potential." Twilight nodded as she looked at the picture and studied the smiling face of the white mare with the crimson mane. "It's pretty customary to take the new recruits out for a drink after they pass training. We went out for drinks and it was just like... Just like..." Shaking her head in disappointment, Twilight walked over to her luggage and looked for a bag to carry some things; Her mind working on a plan of action for what to do next. "Like magic?" she suggested with a sigh. "It was almost more than that. I can't remember all of it... but I remember I didn't wake up in the castle. I woke up in some bed in a rent-a-room and she was gone. It didn't take much to piece everything together." Shining sighed and looked to the floor. "When I got back to the castle, Cadance wouldn't even say a word to me. She'd barely look at me. She knew why I didn't come home. I smelled like somepony else. I looked like trash. She knew. She didn't know who, but she knew. I regretted it. I regretted it so much. I promised to make it up to her. That I would do anything. That it would never happen again, but the damage was done." Shining looks back to the floor, deep in reflection. "Is that everything?" Twilight asked, pulling out a messenger bag that she brought from home. "No secrets?" "Yeah. That's everything. I cheated. I messed up. If I could take it back, I would, but I can't, so all I can do is live with it. She left the guard the next day. Stopped showing up to shifts without a word. The guards couldn't find her as a normal civilian either. It's like she just... disappeared. They gave me this picture because they knew we were friends. I don't think they know, but they could just be quiet about all of it. I'd almost be sure that a few know, but won't say anything." She sighed and shook her head. He did. He directly hid all of this from her. Shining cheated and tried to make himself look like the victim to you. "Shining, I'm really disappointed in you," she told him flatly. "However, it doesn't make what Cadance is doing with Anon right either, while the two of you are still married." He stared at the floor and sighed. "Do you think I can save this? Do you think Cadance and I can ever go back to normal?" he asked. Twilight bit her lip, knowing the difference between what's realistic and what he wants to hear. "I don't know. Maybe," she answered in her best attempt to have him not lose hope, but be honest. "I'm not sure if she wants to, based on how she's acting." "Right. I mean- Yeah. You're right." With a sigh, she took the picture of Shining's mistake and placed it in your bag. This... completely supports Anon's story. But, one thing still isn't apparent to you. Why does Anon and Cadance's story have so many weird things in it? What is a compatibility spell? Why can nopony find this mare? "I'm going to hold onto this for now. Once I have the full picture on what's going on, I'll decide what to do with this," she said, referring to the photo. Shining sat up and looked at her with a glare. "Wait a minute, why don't I get-" "I don't think this is 100% your fault, Shining. I mean... The pieces still aren't completely adding up," she answered. "While this is here, it's only going to show people the picture they want to see and there has to be more than just this." Shining looked at you uneasily, then resigned his eyes to the ground, accepting his fate. "I don't know what to do," he grumbled. "But, I trust your better judgment. Alright." "I'm going to fly to the castle and do some research on a few questions I have regarding these stories." "Questions?" Shining asked. "Questions about what?" She looked over to answer him, but held her tongue. Does he really need to know about the details about Anon and Cadance? It seemed like it would only hurt him. "The stories line up, but both of the parts seem to have missing pieces," she replied. He froze, his muscles tense. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I thought that everything was pretty set in stone? My goose is cooked, Twilight. Once they prove what happened with Melody-" "That's only going to happen, when I let it happen," she answered calmly. He stared at you in surprise. "When?" he asked. "When. I'm not going to hide this, Shining, but if you want to give this to Cadance and Anon yourself, I won't stop you." He looked at you, then to the bag. The stallion shook his head. "I can't. Not yet." Twilight turned away from him and headed to the balcony window. "Fair enough. Get some rest. By the time I'm back, I think this whole ordeal will finally be settled," she said confidently. Her words didn't seem to calm her brother. On one hand, she didn't intend to. How could Shining cheat on Cadance? Shining wasn't that kind of stallion. He looked from you, to his belongings. With his magic, he opened the trunk and carefully levitated his small box of pictures to him. "I'll see you when you get back," he said weakly. Twilight pushed down on her wings with all her might, the force pushing her into the air. With another strong push, she set her course for the nearby Crystal Castle. Where, sitting deep inside Cadance's private study, hopefully was a few answers about love magic. "Be careful, okay?" Cadance asks gently as the two of you step outside of her bedroom. "I've got this," you reply. "I'll be in and out of that room, with the proof, in no time." She examines the features of your face closely as she takes a step towards the Princess balcony of the games. "I just hope you're right." "Go ahead and talk to Celestia. I don't expect that to be a fun conversation to be a part of," you add. "Alright. One hour, meet back here," she says. "Deal." She takes another step away, but turns back to you and wraps her hooves around you in a tight hug. "I'll be fine, Caddy." Pulling back, she wears a wide smile. "See you soon," she says. "See you soon," you answer. She makes her way towards her objective as you turn towards yours. Alright, Anon. You can do this. Just put one crutch in front of the other. With a firm grip, you limp forward through the wing of VIP rooms. Twilight took you to her room earlier yesterday and the two of you just hung out. So, you know exactly where you're headed. Hopefully, your guess that Shining is going to stay in Twilight's room is correct. Although, It's possible he could be going to stay in the guard quarters. If he did... that would make your task ten times harder. First things first, though. You have to get to Twilight's room and not get caught. However, the halls are quiet and the guards outside Luna and Celestia's rooms only watch you as you pass by. They've seen you with princesses the last few days. Surely they don't see anything suspicious in you casually strolling the hallway of VIP rooms. Other than this time you are in crutches. That said though, the crutches are getting a little easier to use. Of course, you couldn't run if a pony tried to chase you down, but you could at least navigate the grounds a little bit faster. With her door in sight, you sigh in relief as there is no guard posted. Twilight and Cadance were likely supposed to be out on the balcony right now, which would mean their rooms should be guarded. However, during Cadance and Shining's drama, the guards to their room must have been dismissed. Twilight still wanted a little bit of freedom from the Princess title, so she didn't want guards posted. At least, for right now. Which gives you the perfect chance to strike. Approaching the door, you hear only silence on the other side. Looking back down the hallway, you watch to see if the other guards are still watching you. They remain at attention, staring forward without a word. Perfect. It's go time. Leaning in, you press your ear against the door to listen for any sort of sounds from the inside. Only silence replies to you. You take a deep breath and take a step back. Alright, this is it. Placing a hand on the door, you quietly pull it open and carefully place a crutch in it's path to prevent it from closing on you. Carefully shuffling your weight, you push yourself into the room and take a quick survey of the situation. The room was almost empty, with the exception of the luggage of Twilight and your friends. You quickly spot Shining's luggage on the far wall as you scan the rest of the room. Then, you see the blue maned stallion, laying on Twilight's bed, curled into a ball. You hold your breath as your muscles tighten. Of course. Of course he would not only be staying here, but would be resting in the room at this very moment. That's just your luck. But, you have to get to that luggage. Cadance is counting on you. Watching him carefully, he doesn't stir from his slumber. Maybe if you play this right, you can end up getting the pictures without him waking up. Or... maybe it's too risky. What if he wakes up? You have crutches that clack on the floor every time you take a single step. Scanning the floor, you look for the quietest path. The beds are all lined against the walls of the room. Covering the majority of the floor was a large, colorful rug that was just a few feet away. That would probably mask the sound of your movement. You look to the luggage again and find one of the trunks opened. If you looked in that one, you could probably check it out without making too much noise. Looking back to Shining, he hasn't even moved a muscle. You check the bedside table as your heart drops. Sitting directly beside the bed he laid on was a small, rectangular box. It was probably big enough to hold pictures. Knowing your luck, that's probably the evidence that you need to collect. It would only make sense, if you needed to keep something safe the best options are to hide it or keep it close to you. You take a deep breath and let it out slowly. This might be your only chance. There was no way you could steal something from here if a guard was posted. If Shining is here and trying to protect evidence, it would only be a matter of time that one would show up. You shake your head, in disbelief of what your about to attempt. This is the worst idea you've ever had, Anon. Slowly, you make your way into the room, ensuring that when you press the crutches down the floor, that you let them down softly and then gently eased your weight onto it. Turning around, you gently let the door close by slowly pulling away the crutch. With a gentle click, the door returns to it's home and you look back to Cadance's husband. The azure maned stallion doesn't stir in the slightest. Perfect. Slowly, you work your way onto the carpet. You'd tip-toe if it wouldn't horribly throw off your sense of balance. Setting one crutch on the carpeted area, you carefully make your way onto the safe zone. You let out a deep breath as a bead of sweat slowly forms on your forehead. Step one, complete. You quietly make your way over to the bed-side table where Shining sleeps. Your blood boils just looking at him. He did this to you. A terrible idea enters your head for a fraction of a second. He hurt Cadance. He's asleep. This is your chance to get back. Shaking your head, you toss the idea from your head. What are you? A monster? You're better than that, Anon. At least, you think you are. Standing at the edge of the carpet, you freeze as you stand a mere 3 feet away from your prize. You can do this. Just take it slow. Carefully pressing down on the first crutch, you pull yourself forward one pace. With another glance at Shining, you carefully shift your weight to your crutch and place the next one forward. It hits the ground with a quiet thud, but it rang in your ears for what felt like a century. Shining refuses to budge an inch from dreamland, setting you more at ease. With one last shift of weight, you move your last crutch towards the dresser and pull yourself closer to it. Standing in front of the small box, you take a quick glance at Shining and see a small picture being held in his hoof. There's no way you can take that one. However, if you're lucky, there's more than one. You reach out and slowly open the small box of pictures. Reaching inside, you pull out less than half a dozen pictures and carefully browse through them. You look carefully at the first one. Shining and a unicorn Twilight smiling for a professional photo. Your gut clenches with you see Twilight. If she saw you now, rifling through her brother's belongings- You close your eyes as you shuffle that picture to the back. Breathing slowly out your nose, you open your eyes to focus on the task at hand. You refocus on the picture of the Sparkle family. Shuffling that one again, before you had the chance to study Twilight's face, you find a picture of Shining with several recruits. Perfect. You scan the picture carefully, but... there aren't any mares in this picture. In fact, this looks like Canterlot in this picture and Shining looks much, much younger. Moving to the next picture, you find him and the same stallions decorated in official entry-level guard uniforms, bearing the Canterlot crest and lined up for some form of ceremony. These must have been when he first joined the guard. Are these what Cadance wanted? Shaking your head, you move to the next picture, which had the younger him and his fellow young recruits out of uniform, playing cards and drinking cider. Maybe this one? Maybe this night got too crazy? Except as you study the picture closely, there are still no mares. Maybe it was actually a male guard and it was some weird misconception? Maybe Shining plays for both teams? Moving to the final picture, you find a picture of him and Twilight at Twilight's coronation. Your heart lurches as you recognize the scene. You took this picture for Twilight. Shaking your head, you place the final picture to the back, returning to the front. These are certainly private pictures that Shining would want to keep safe. Except... there's one problem. Nothing looks out of place. Much less anything that indicates some form of cheating. You shuffle through the pictures over and over again, trying to find any sort of sliver of evidence. Panic fills your mind as you strain to look through the pictures for any form of wrong doing from Shining. Then, you look back down to the picture in his hoof. That must be it. But, there's only so much you can do. Shining wouldn't attack you, but then he'd know for sure that you would've stolen these. Looking back into the box, nothing else sits inside. There's only one other option. Shoving the photos in your pocket, you gently close the box and turn 180 degrees towards where you entered. Now, the only thing you can do is to try and get that last picture that Shining has from Twilight. She might be able to bring it to you, if you play your cards right. That has to be the evidence that Cadance is talking about. You move your way back onto the carpet and quickly make your way back out. Adrenaline pushes through your veins as the door comes closer and closer. Almost there, and you will be home free. "Anon." Your heart drops as you freeze in place at the recognizable masculine tone. Run. You try to move your crutch forward, but you can't seem to control your arms. Run. "Don't leave just yet," Shining says. Slowly, you turn to him in horror as he sits up in bed, his eyes opened wide. Was he awake the whole time? Was he just studying what you were going to do? Did he have any intent on harming you? He gets out of Twilight's bed and his horn begins to light up with pink magic. You close your eyes and wince, prepared for the onslaught. "If you're going to take all my precious memories from me, you might as well take my favorite one," he says softly. A weak pressure is applies to one of your hands holding the crutches. Opening your eyes, you look back down to your hand to find a picture, enveloped in a pink aura, seeking to be held in your hand. You look up to him. "Why?" you ask. He sighs. "I'm done hiding all of this. I can't run away from my mistake. If you're going to take all of my pictures, take this one too. I don't think I'll need it anymore," he says solemnly. You reach out and grab the picture he holds out to you. Turning it over, it's a picture of Shining in a spectacular suit and Cadance in a beautiful white and gold wedding dress, locked in a deep kiss. Guilt settles in your stomach as you look at the gift you've been given. You look back up to him as he looks at you in a combination of anger, disgust, but resignation. He looks as if he has simply... given up. If the circumstances were different... Well, there's no point in really thinking about it, is there? "I'm going to confess to Celestia. I think, she deserves it," he says. You sigh, looking down at how happy Cadance is in the picture. "Thanks," you reply. You turn away from him and head towards the door slowly, not having a reason to try to be quiet anymore nor the energy to try to be. "Uhm," he says. You look over your shoulder as you open the door. He looks at you in the eyes and stands up straight and confident. "Do you think you can make her happy?" he asks. You stare at him, trying to understand what his end game might be. Is he trying to guilt you? To get into your head? Well, there's no point now. The game is over. You have all the pictures. "All I can do is try," you reply sternly. Turning away from him, you push through the door, allowing it to close shut behind you with it's own weight.