Something You'd Regret

by Flutterpriest


Part 6: The Answer

Twilight flapped her wings hard, putting as much distance between herself and the stadium of the Equestria Games as possible. The air that rushed past her was fast, chilly, and caused her eyes to water. Normally she wouldn't fly at such an intense speed, since she didn't have the luxury of learning how to fly when she was a foal. However this was a matter of major importance, so she toughed through the pain.

It was time to get to the bottom of all of this nonsense. The Crystal Empire passed by underneath her, with it's many streets, citizens and guests decorated to the max for the long awaited Equestria Games. Even the weather was being prepared special for the big event. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and everything seemed absolutely perfect. At least on the outside.


Inside that stadium, built special for these games, was scandal between the royal wedding couple. Shining was lying to his wife. Cadance to her husband. And they were lying to themselves about not loving each other anymore. They had to be.

How could everything have fallen apart so quickly? Was their love for each other really gone? Are they going to let one mistake be the cause of ruination for their marriage? Had they even really given the other the chance to talk it through? Instead, her sister-in-law just calls Anon, the human she knew Twilight had feelings for-

Twilight felt her wings flap harder and her teeth grit she endured the chilly winds on the flight to Cadance's private study. The pain Twilight felt trying to endure the high altitude winds wasn't unwelcome. She knew she had to get there as soon as possible. And if she got the wind in her eyes, well then everything would seem absolutely normal on the outside. So, she couldn't slow down.

The ponies below shouldn't see a trembling Princess. Especially if they look up to see if it's about to rain. Instead, Twilight tried to focus, instead of letting her mind wander to her human. There had to be an answer. There had to be some piece of the puzzle that was still missing. Shining wasn't the type of stallion to cheat on a mare. Cadance wasn't that type of mare either.

At least, not that she knew.

There had to be something else. Even then, their marriage couldn't have just deteriorated this fast over just this. The two of them would have tried to talk it out and make things work. Cadance is lying and she knows it. Twilight just wished she knew how she was lyin.

She let out a sigh and examined the Crystal Palace that grew nearer with every flap of her wings. She hoped that with a little luck, maybe there was still some sort of clue to everything that's has happened. Maybe something on compatibility spells. Or even, the lack of existence of them. At least, then there would be something.

Twilight's eyes locked onto the left-most spire of the castle. There.She had only been there once, and it was after the battle with King Sombra, but that was where Cadance's secret library was.

The Princesses had to keep certain books and tomes safely put away from where those who would misuse them could get to. Twilight and Cadance were no exception. Except that Twilight had a really hard time deciding what books were special enough to her to consider a place in a 'secret library.'
But, that was a new list and even longer reshelving day that can wait until another day. In just a few short minutes, she was hovering outside of the ornate painted glass window of the Crystal Palace's secret study.

The window was custom made by the glass experts of Canterlot as a wedding gift to her. Adorned in whites, blues, pinks, and a myriad of other colors, was a recreation of the scene when Shining and Cadance drove off the Changelings during their Royal wedding. Their love was so strong that they defeated a whole army with just their own combined powers. Twilight examined it carefully and failed to see anyway to open it easily from the outside.

"Well, if wouldn't be secret if anypony could get in," she sighed to herself.

Twilight's horn glows with a bright violet magic and seeped into the window frame from the edges. She pushed her magic through any little tiny hole she could find in the lining and focused it to a the lever on the other side. Once she had enveloped it in a tiny purple aura, Twilight lifted and unlocked the window as gently as she could and pulled the window open just a crack.

'Alright, Twilight. Stay quiet,' she thought to herself.

She couldn't afford to get caught snooping in the secret study of another Princess. Even if was a Princess too. Each study was supposed to be a sanctuary for it's owner; a small part of the world that only they were supposed to access. This usually meant keys or some sort of magical barrier was to be put in place so other ponies couldn't break in. Which put Twilight on high guard as she tried to peek inside. Putting her eye into the crack, she quickly scanned around for any signs of Cadance or trap.

The room was completely unlit with the exception of the colored light streaming through the stained glass window. The walls are lined with shelves upon shelves of books on the lit wall, and a desk where several books sat was pushed against a far wall.

'It... looks like the coast is clear.'

Pushing the window open more, Twilight slipped herself in and closed the window behind her.

'Keep your guard up, who knows what could happen,' she thought to herself.

One last look around confirmed that the study was completely empty. Which meant that the easy part was done. Now the hard part was to figure out what secrets this room was holding. Twilight let her horn glow with magic, lighting up the room that only darkened as the sun began to set for the day.

The study was now in complete view, revealing a few cauldrons along another wall even more rows of books, a few suits of male and female crystal royal guard's armor, and of course the portraits of Cadance and Shining that hung on the walls. Twilight solemnly looked over each one, biting her bottom lip at the memories they contained. The first one was Cadance and Shining's wedding portrait. The next was a picture of them sitting side by side, on the Crystal Throne, just after they defeated Sombra and restored order to the Crystal Empire. Then, the last was a picture of the whole Sparkle family. Twilight, Shining, Cadance, plus Mom and Dad.

Twilight sighed and looked away from the last one, unsure of how much longer the title 'Family' would be accurate. If she really wanted Shining to leave, why did she still have these portraits up? It's not like Shining would ask questions. Twilight pondered this question as she quietly made her way to Cadance's desk.

Tons upon tons of books, plus a map of Equestria and the Crystal Empire, were littered all over the top of the desk. Each book opened to different pages with different markings and notes written in the margins. Twilight tried her best to repress a gag at Cadance's tainted method of writing notes inside these books, but failed.

Steeling herself to her task at hand, she focused on the first book in front of her and brought it into focus. 'The Culture and Heritage of the Griffin People, Abridged.'

So, she was studying for the guests of the Equestria Games. That makes sense, but it doesn't add anything to this problem. If anything, it could make finding a book that she was searching for harder to find. Setting the book aside, Twilight reached for the next one that's closed.

"Mysterious creatures in Equestria, Sixth Edition"

Well, that's odd. Why did she keep this up here? It's not particularly uncommon. Turning the book over and over in her hooves, Twilight noticed a few pages were folded inside. A shiver ran down her spine. Focus, Twilight. Maybe if all of this ends well, she could critique her on her note taking.

Opening to one of the folded pages in the back, she noticed that it's the Appendix for the all of the H words in the book. In the middle of the page, there's a large circle with written in the middle: 'No Human.'

Human? She was trying to look up details about Anon? Maybe she was onto something here. Flipping a few pages forward, monkey is circled three times. Bingo.

Twilight skipped to the page for Monkeys and it detailed a section on Primates and other similar creatures. Most of it was pretty typical science fare, but one underlined area caught her eye. In yellow highlighter, the passage: 'Through psychological testing, we've found that primates generally react very strongly to emotion and imprinting based magic.' was clearly marked.

Emotion based magic?

Were these the spells Cadance cast that Anon was mentioning? It's a start, but it doesn't add much. We just know that Cadance was interested with Anon and his species. Maybe something else on the desk holds the answer. Now if she found a book that detailed compatibility spells... That would mean that-

Twilight paused, shaking her head. Well, then... she would have to try and be happy for them.

Twilight's muscles felt weak and her tail sagged at the mental picture of Anon holding Cadance in the arms that she dreamed of, but she did her best to push on. She flipped through the book one last time and found another folded over page. Changelings.

She gasped, taking a step back and letting the book fall to the floor.

"It would all make sense," she muttered.

But wait. Wouldn't Cadance be prepared for another attack? She would have learned from past mistakes and have been ready for another changeling invasion. But what about Shining? He did attack Anon. That's extremely out of character for him. But Cadance would have noticed that he was acting really differently. So, as long as one of them was prepped for a Changeling invasion, it seemed unlikely that it was Changelings.

Plus, nothing else points in this direction.

Twilight knew she'd have to find more proof if it pointed to Changelings or anything else. Setting the book back down, she looked through the rest of the stacks of books on the desk.

'The Romantic Tales and Tragedies of Past Princesses.'

No.

'Making Your Marriage A Happily Ever After.'

Nope.

'Pushing through Hardship for a stronger, better Marriage.

Nuh-uh.

'101 Ways to Spice up the Be-'

Twilight set the book aside without casting it another glance.

There has to be something else.

If anything, these just support Cadance's story.

She was trying everything she could to make things work and to bring the two of them close together again. At least, these books would probably have been what Twilight would have tried. Twilight looked carefully at the map, but the only markings on it were of each of the cities and towns that were participating in the Equestria Games. She paced on the tile floor and moved past each of the shelves of the books, quickly scanning the titles.

Cadance certainly had all sorts of books in her study, rare and common alike. History books, Science books, and spell books of all kinds, including advanced offensive, defensive, healing, transformation and even dark magic.

'Wait one second. Dark magic? Cadance wouldn't...' Twilight thought to herself.

But it didn't stop her from approaching the shelf. She paused to look at the books of dark magic, but to her relief they had seemed to have grown a thick layer of dust over them. It's probably safe to rule that out.

With a sigh, she moved down the shelves trying to find some sort of lead. After skipping more history tomes about the Crystal Empire, Twilight arrived at the shelf she had been waiting for. Directly next to the cauldrons was Cadance's dedicated shelf to the Magic of Love.

Starting at the top shelf, Twilight looked through selected historical texts where love magic was used to overcome great evils. The next shelf was all books dedicated to theoretical physical sources sources of love and the extents of their power, including how it related to children. Then, the third shelf down was exactly what Twilight was interested in.

Spells that utilized love magic.

This shelf had very little dust on it and it seemed that books all over it were out of place. Which meant that they were being used and referenced often. This was a good sign for Twilight, maybe there was still something she could find. Grabbing a few promising books, she found a nearby stand near the cauldron that was already being used to hold a few books. Twilight took her books and moved to the stand, taking the first one that caught her eye: 'Spells of Passion."

She opened directly to the appendix in in the back and began scanning through each of the spells and terms used in the book, trying to find anything that's synonymous with compatibility. Except, there's nothing.

Picking up the next book and flipping to it's appendix she repeated the process, but there was nothing there either. Grabbing another book, she checked it's contents, but there was also not a single mention of a compatibility spell. Twilight grabbed book after book, checking the appendixes, the tables of contexts, flipping through the pages quickly, but each one held the same number results as the last.
The light that came in through the painted glass began to fade as Twilight realized she had completely ran out of books on her shelf.

Which could only mean one thing. There was no such thing as a compatibility spell. Which meant her gut feeling was right.

How could magic enter the minds of two completely separate ponies, dissect their personalities, and create some... made up number that could tell if ponies were good for each other or not? There's a lot of weird things in Equestria, but there is one thing that magic can't do, it's that. In fact, that's why there was a Princess of Love, to try and make these decisions herself instead of through magic.

The only other possibility would be if it was a spell of Cadance's own design. However Twilight knew Cadance was never good at making her own spells. Those times she had her as a babysitter and Cadance tried to do her homework was proof enough of that. The fire department had both the Castle and the Sparkle home on speed dial.

So, if Twilight ruled out those possibilities, Cadance was completely making up those spells to fabricate a lie. And if the spells were a lie, then there had to be something else. This was a small hole, but the lid wasn't blown off yet. There was still something she was missing. But what?

All the proof of trying to save the marriage was right there. Unless, this was all being planted by her. Except, Shining said that she was trying to save things as well. It's a really intricate plan if everything's being planted. And Shining isn't lying to her anymore either. So, maybe it's just the part about Anon that's false?

Twilight sighed and placed the books back on the shelf with more questions than answers. Sitting down, she scanned over them in the quickly darkening room, to see if there were any she hadn't already read.

"Maybe... maybe I'm just wrong," she said aloud to herself, breaking the prolonged silence in the room.

She sighed, looking around the room and at the setting sun.

"Maybe Anon just loves her, and they really are good for each other. If they're happy now... maybe I just shouldn't get involved. Maybe there really isn't anything going on here and I'm just making this out to be something it's not."

Rising to her hooves, she headed over to the desks and placed all the books back the way she found them.

"I just..."

Her muscles trembled again she no longer had the wind as an excuse for the water falling from her face.

"I just wish he was happy with me and not her," she muttered.

Twilight blinked a few stray tears out of her eyes and felt the warmth leave her body. She really blew it. Since she couldn't tell him how she really felt, she lost him. He's gone none now. He'll never, ever be her Prince. He loved her sister-in-law, not her. All of the nights spent together, the hangouts, the books they had read together...

It just meant nothing in the end.

He didn't see Twilight that way. Taking a deep breath, the purple alicorn thought over what she had to do next. She guessed the next thing to do would be to apologize to Cadance for snooping in her study, return the photo to her, and... and...

Leave Anon alone, forever.

For her own sake.

Twilight sniffed and shook her head. The very idea made the bones in her body ache and her wings sag to the floor.

'Alright, Twilight. It's time to buck up and be a big girl,' she muttered to herself, hurt staining every word.

Twilight looked around Cadance's desk for a tissue to blow her nose. When nothing was on top of the desk, she opened the drawer of the desk, then paused. There was an envelope in the first drawer she looked in. And it had her name on it.

How did she not think to look in the drawers? Well, it doesn't matter.

She pulled the envelope out and examined it carefully.

In Cadance's best cursive, "Twilight Sparkle" was written on the front of the letter. The envelope certainly had a little more than a letter in it, judging by the bulge in it.

'Well, it's addressed to me. I might as well open it. It's not like I can't get in more trouble,' she thought.

Twilight carefully undid the adhesive stamp on the note so she could reseal it if necessary. She pulled out the source of the bulge, a small vial of golden liquid, and what looks to be a letter. Opening the letter first, she read it carefully.

"Dear Twilight," it reads. "If you've received this letter, that means there has been a lot of conflict, confusion, and hurt feelings during the Equestria Games. I'm sure it's been very hard on all of us, but I need you to perform this task. Do not tell me when. Do not tell me how, but after the Equestria Games, you must have Anon drink this. It's tasteless, odorless, and will take effect with minutes. He won't be hurt any more than he already is. I promise."

Twilight looked over the cryptic message one more time. More than he already is? Wait, when was this written? When was Twilight supposed to receive this letter?

"I'm sorry that I'm not strong enough to do this, and that I must ask you to perform this task for me, but it's for the greater good of everypony. I'm putting my faith into you. - Cadance."

Twilight examined the bottle of golden liquid carefully. What is this stuff? Cadance's letter said it would make Anon hurt. Why would she ever hurt Anon? Why was this letter hidden in a place where she should never be? Now there were even more questions.

But these are the correct questions, ones that might be easy to answer.

Rising to her hooves, Twilight examined the bottle in the light of her horn.

"I don't think I'm going to be leaving soon..." she muttered, looking around the room.

Grabbing a candle from across the room, she used her magic to light it.

"Now then, if I were a potion, I'd be born in a..."

She turned, hooves instantly knowing their destination.

"A cauldron."

Looking deep inside, she found that both cauldrons were completely empty. With a hum of disappointment, she looked back to the book stand that she were examining the spell books from before. What happened to those books that were already sitting there. Sure enough, there were two books sitting on the stand, waiting to be read, both opened to specific pages.

Grabbing the top one, she looked at the opened page. Twilight dropped the book after reading the first line.

"The Draft of Love at First Sight"

A love potion. Cadance has been brewing a love potion. But, why? She read through the pages voraciously.

"The contents of the potion would create a three-dose, twp serving potion that will deepen the drinker's love for each other. The potion will require hair from both of the drinkers. Each dose must be drank by both party from the same batch of potion and at the same time. All three doses must be drank with 24 hours to take full effect. The third and final dose will make the love permanent, unless the same brew of potion is also used to create the light golden antidote. If only one drinker drinks the antidote, only the drinker of the antidote will be released from the effects of the potion."

Twilight looked at vial she took from the letter earlier. Sure enough, it's golden. This is an antidote to a love potion? A love potion she's giving to Anon!

Shoving the vial into her messenger bag, along with the two books on the shelf, she realized there may not be much time. Twilight turned on her hooves and headed for the door, antidote tight in the grasp of her magic. That's all the proof she needed. At this point, it doesn’t matter who cheated.

Twilight needed to save her Anon.

And who knew how much time she had left before they take the final dose. Pushing the windows open with ease, she stopped.

Wait a minute. These secret studies were supposed to be protected by some sort of magic. Why was there no defense that she had to break through?

Shaking her head, she leaped out of the window and spread her wings for flight. There's no time for that right now. She needed to get back to the castle as soon as possible.


Panting for breath, the balcony to Twilight's VIP room hovered in the distance as the light faded completely from the sky. Time is of the essence. She had to get to Anon as soon as possible. With a beam from her horn, the entrance to Twilight's room opened and she zoomed inside. Landing hard on all four hooves, Twilight immediately looked up.

"Shining!"

Scanning the room, she immediately spotted her brother. He laid on Twilight's bed, staring at the ceiling, unmoving or reacting to the new guest.

"Shining, we have to go!" Twilight shouted. "There's no time to explain."

He rolled his head, looking at her with concern.

"What? What's so important?"

"We have to go! We have to go find Anon!" she said, as she trotted to the door.

He sighed and rolled over.

"No."

"Come on, Shining. We have to do this! I think Cadance is drugging him!"

"Cadance wouldn't do that," he said. "At least, I don't think she would."

"I have proof though! I know she is! She has to be!"

"She's gone, Twilight. I lost her. I messed up and now I have to pay the consequences. Can't you see that? It's already hard enough for me to accept as it is. Worse that I can't even remember that it happened."

That's it. Trotting to Shining's bedside, a fury rose within Twilight. She couldn't afford to be wasting this time.

"Just go, Twilight."

She raised a hoof in the air.

"There's no point any-"

The hoof came down as hard as it could across her brother's cheek. He sat up and stared at her violently.

"One of my friends is in danger. I can prove that your wife is up to something, and it might finally explain everything that's been happening, and you just want to give up?"

Silence fills the room as the two of them glared at each other.

"The brother I knew would stand up to injustice. He would never take no for an answer. If life shoved him, he'd shove right back and do it with a determined smile. We finally know how to figure all of this out and you want to just lie here in your own misery?"

His muscles tensed up, his attention hanging on Twilight's lecture.

"I know you've been upset and confused about all of this. And you deserve to be sad, but if you want your wife back at all or want to have one last shot at a happy ending, you need to get off that bed and help me find your Wife and my human. So, are you going to snap out of it, or what?"

Twilight's body shook with anger as she stared at the stallion. He raised his hoof above his head and slammed it down on the bed.

"Let's find a guard. They should know where they went," he said in a low voice, rising to his hooves.

"There's the Shining I know," she said, turning to the door.

"Mind filling me in on what's going on?" he asked, rising from the bed as she galloped towards the door.

"I'm still fuzzy on some of the details, but I know for a fact that Cadance is poisoning Anon with some sort of love potion," she answered as Shining followed behind.

Twilight dashed down the corridors as swiftly as she could, making turn after turn trying to find a guard.

"A potion?" he said. "Do you think she's been feeding anything to anypony else?"

"I dunno. Maybe? I don't know how she could have given me anything. I've barely seen her with all of the planning of the games."

"I see her almost every night for dinner," he said. "Turn up here. One should be posted by the Princess balcony."

"Good idea. Have you noticed anything weird lately? Random emotions? Sudden swings in health?"

Making a turn towards where she learned all of this news earlier today, sure enough, a guard stands at attention.

"I don't know. I suppose I've been really moody? Angry. Sad. Do you think she was giving me something?"

"I honestly don't know," she replied. "Sir! Sir Guard."

"Princess Twilight. Prince Shining Armor," the guard answered, standing at attention.

"Tell me, where has Princess Cadance and Anonymous the Human gone? We need to speak to them immediately,"

The guard thought for a moment, then nods.

"They just left to go to a local tavern. I believe the same one we had the party at, Sir. It was right after she spoke to Princess Celestia about a private matter."

"Thank you so much. Let's go, Shining."

Quickly, the two of them galloped towards the nearest set of stairs as the guard called after them.

"Is everything alright, Princess-"

But his voice faded as the two of you push down the stairs of the arena.

"Where is this place, Shining?"

Shining remained quiet.

"Shining, I need you to set your feelings aside and tell me exactly where this place is."

"It's about a block away from the Stadium. Depending on when we left-"

"We'll be there in time," she interrupted.

'I have to be. There's no other choice. I can't afford the alternative. Even if you do have an antidote, I only have one.'

Her muscles felt numb as she strained her body to the limits of their physical endurance. A prickly hot sensation burned the back of her throat as she panted for air. Shoving through security, the crystal ponies, griffons, and other Equestrians watched with muted curiosity at the two's sprint into the town.

"Which way?" she asked Shining.

"Left. Go left and then take a right when I say."

Jumping into the street, she galloped even harder. Cadance can't take him. She couldn't take him. Twilight loved him too much. She'd scrawled his name in the margins of too many of her notebooks. There had been too many dreams about being wrapped in his arms.

'I refuse to let Cadance take my Prince away from me,' she thought selfishly. 'Even if it's the last thing I do as a Princess.'

"Go right!"

Turning hard, Twilight bumped into a tourist mare wearing a lime green sweater.

"Sorry!" she said hastily, continuing to run towards the tavern.

Cadance is going to have to own up to what she's been doing. It's time to finally find out the truth. The real truth.

"This one. On the right," he said painfully.

Twilight locked her eyes on the door. There's no way she was too late. He has a broken leg. They couldn't have been here very long. Cadance didn't give him the final dose yet.

Please.

Twilight charged to the front door as a few smoking stallions out front stared at her in surprise. Leaping towards the door, she placed a hoof on the door and forced it open, pushing herself inside.

"Anon!"