//------------------------------// // Finale: No More Secrets // Story: Something You'd Regret // by Flutterpriest //------------------------------// For just a moment, time stood still. The bolt of purple energy soared through the air for what felt like an eternity. Anon simply watched in horror at the beam of light that flew towards him. Cadance gasped, still reeling from the shock of the unexpected guest. Shining followed along, confusion written on his face as he saw the attack head towards Anon. The bar was silent. Every patron viewed helplessly as Twilight attacked Anon. A glass slipped out of the bartender's hand and fell in the same slow motion that the beam soared in. The liquid poured all over the ground, splashing and creating ricochet trails of drink across the floor. In those tense moments, everyone knew what was to come. All they could do was watch. Cadance tried to light her horn to launch a defensive, but Twilight was too quick. The energy landed directly on it's target. There was a crash of glass that echoed through the whole establishment. Anon yelped as he pulled his hand away and pink liquid fell onto the table mixed with broken glass shards. Cadance's jaw dropped, eyes wide at the result of Twilight's attack. Twilight stood tall, anger etched in her features, wings spread and approaching their table. The bartender's glass hit the ground, shattering across the wooden floor. Then, time resumed. "I would like for everypony to please leave," Twilight announced to the bar. Twilight took step after careful step towards Anon and Cadance. He was probably already under the influence of the potion. 'Which dose did I destroy?' she wondered to herself. 'Two? Three? Does she have more?' After a second of hushed whispers, the ponies in the bar quickly filed out, each in their own varying degrees of distress and confusion. Cadance stared at Anon, then back to her glass, still filled with pink liquid. Tears filled her eyes as she began to shake. "Now then," Twilight said, as the last pony left the bar. "I have questions. And nopony's leaving until I have some answers." Cadance sniffed and held the glass to her lips. Twilight's horn lit up quickly, but Cadance slammed the glass on the table, spilling the contents over the remains of it's sister glass. "What's the point?" she muttered under her breath. "What the hell is going on?!" Anon piped in, rising from the booth. "Sit down, Anon," Twilight said. "No. I want some answers too. How about, 'Why the fuck did you attack me?' for starters." "Fine. It's because she's been lying to you. You're not actually-" "Twilight," Cadance said firmly, interrupting her. "May I at least be the one to say it?" Twilight stared at the pink princess warily, but stopped her advance. Shining walked forward and stood beside Twilight, staring directly at his wife. Anon turns to Cadance, who turned to face him, her eyes darting around the room, trying to find the words to say. She opened her mouth slowly, choosing her words carefully. "Tomorrow... everything is going to be different," she said. "W-what? What do you mean?" he replied. "Tomorrow you aren't going to be in love with me. I know you won't." Anon stepped forward towards Cadance and knelt before her, taking one of her hooves. Twilight flinched and looked away. "That's not true. You know that's not true. I promised I'd-" "I've been poisoning you, Anon," she says shakily, looking away from him. "The pink drink wasn't alcohol, it was a love potion. Twilight figured it all out before I could give you the third and final dose to complete it's effects." Anon remained still, holding her hoof, staring intently at her. Twilight took a few steps forward. "And since... since I'm under the effects too, then I won't love you tomorrow either, if I don't drink the final dose, sitting in front of me." Anon looked from her, to the glass, then back to her. "But..." he said, searching for comprehension. "No. I had feelings before we drank the potion together. If it takes multiple times, we only drank it once." "When do you remember first having feelings, Anon?" she asked. Anon looked to the floor and searched his mind for when he could have possibly began to realize he loved Cadance. "Well, the hospital. After I woke up." Cadance sighed and closed her eyes. "I carefully poured the first dose down your throat as you slept. I intended to do it when I called you to the room, but Shining changed that." Anon stood up, breathing quickly and taking a step back. "Wait. No. Wait. I love you," he said desperately. Anon stood straight and lunged for the final glass of potion. But it was quickly shattered by a bolt of energy. Light blue energy. Twilight and Shining gasped. "There's no point anymore, Anon," she said. "It's done." Anon took a step back, shocked. "B-but, I love you." "I know, sweetheart," she says sadly. Anon begins to tremble as Twilight then stepped forward, her brother in tow behind her. "Please. Cadance. Explain what's going on." Cadance sighs and a feint, pained smile curls on her face. "Well, I honestly don't know how to begin to explain..." A silence fell between the four as Twilight stood resolutely in front of Anon. "I... I suppose I should start by saying... all of this is my fault." Shining stepped forward to say something, but Twilight glared at him. He stepped back, keeping his mouth shut. "I never meant for any of this to get as out of hand as it did. None of this was ever supposed to happen. I was just trying to make Shining happy, and-" "Make me happy?" he scoffed. "Shining!" Twilight interjected. "No, I deserve it, Twilight," Cadance said. "I'll let everyone say what they want to say... just, let me say this, first." Twilight looked to the other two and nodded to Cadance. Cadance sighed and cleared her throat, scanning the broken pieces of glass for any sort of way of explaining what happened. "This country... almost runs itself," she began. "But the guard is needy. Very needy. Shining worked long hours, all the time. We got to see each other less and less. I mean, sometimes work has high demands of you. It's happened in the past to both Shining and I. One week I could be on a trip to some strange land, while the next week Shining could be off for a military exercise. It was just life for us. But, we never minded. Things were fine. It just made the time that we spent together all the more precious." Shining stood straight, furrowing his gaze as she stopped to look at him. He nodded. "It's true." "But... something changed after the wedding. It could have been the constant stress afterward for both of us, or defending the Crystal Empire, or just adjusting the a new lifestyle, but we never had time together anymore. You'd think that getting married would mean more time together, and... I mean, we were." She sighed. "But, even when we were together. We were alone, in our own ways. He was tired and wanted to go to bed. I was lonely and just wanted to talk. To snuggle. Anything. The late nights only seemed to get later for him when he said he would be taking on some new recruits... and I just wasn't sure what to do," she sighed. She looked up at him. "Never once did I question how much I loved him. Never once did I ever want to hurt anyone. I just wanted to find some way to spend more time with him. Any way to spend time with him. So, I went to my study and thought. I thought carefully on what I could do. I didn't want to ask him to leave the guard. He loved it so much and would probably get bored from having nothing to do. So, I figured... If he wouldn't come to me-" Twilight gasps. "The armor. The transformation spells," Twilight said. Cadance nodded. "I would come to him." Twilight grabbed her bag and pulled out the first book, a manual for making love potions. Then took out the one behind it. The book that was directly under the potion book. 'Pony Transformation and Self-Disguise: A Guide for Unicorn Spies' A type of book that would be banned for the general public, but would be allowed to Princesses and specific individuals. "So, then, you were Melody the whole time?" Twilight asked. Shining stands dead still and looks at her as if he was seeing his wife for the first time. "What?" Shining gasped. Cadance stepped out of the booth and took a deep breath. Her horn glowed with bright, light blue energy. The aura from her horn slowly crept across her whole body from head to toe. Then the colors of her mane changed to a single shade of crimson from the roots to the very tip, and her fur turned into a deep white. As her wings disappeared into thin air, she opened her eyes to find their violet shade turns into a bright blue cyan. The color of her magic. "The spell even allowed me to change my voice," Melody said. Shining's legs gave underneath him as he sat down, trying to comprehend what he's seeing. Twilight pulled out the picture from her backpack and sure enough, the resemblance was remarkable. Down to the eye color. "Was that the picture?" she asked. "Yes," Twilight said. "Why did you want it so bad?" Melody sighed. The white fur on her slowly peeled off and fall to dust as pink took it's place again. The red of her hair faded away back to shades of gold, pink and purple. As Cadance's wings reappeared, the blue in her eyes changed back to purple. "You would think that it was me trying to solidify the divorce I was trying to setup, but there was another purpose," she sighed. "To make me hurt." Twilight took a step back and looked down at the picture. "See, I decided to not tell Shining that I was living two lives. I'd disappear and turn back into myself whenever I had royal duties, but when I wasn't needed, I'd come back as Melody. I've watched Shining exercise, practice with the guard, and I've watched guards protect me since my coronation. I knew all the routines. I could perform all the moves. If anything, it was harder to try and make mistakes to look new. Heh, but Shining always said he saw potential in me. And, well. It made me happy. I was finally getting attention. I was worried if I told him that I was actually Melody, I would get special treatment from him, and it would build resentment from the other guards." Cadance took a deep breath and shook her head. "For awhile, it was perfect. When he'd get off shift, I'd change back to myself and fly to where we had agreed to meet up. Of course, he was still tired, but I didn't mind so much anymore. I had already spent most of the day with him. So, I let him sleep. I didn't realize I was making him... fall in love with another mare." Shining looked up, raising a hoof to interject, but opted not to say anything. "The Melody personality and my actual personality began to merge. It got to a point where I wasn't separating the two anymore. I may have looked differently, but I was just being myself. I wasn't thinking about creating mental distance anymore. I didn't realize what was happening until there was an exceptionally fun day we had... but then when I was myself, Shining didn't want to talk about it. I realized what was happening and I didn't know what to do. So, I stopped. I stopped being Melody for awhile." Shining nodded along, like things were beginning to make sense to him. Anon grabbed a chair and sat down, placing his face in his hands. "But, then... not seeing him at all anymore... it hurt so much. So much. I decided... that, well. If I could keep my distance far enough, maybe this was okay. I just wanted to spend time with my husband again. I know I should have said something. I know. I just... I just..." She sighed, looking at the floor. "I suppose it doesn't matter why. It probably just sounds like excuses." Shaking her head she looked up to Shining. "Melody went back to be promoted from a recruit to a full guard. I just wanted to be with Shining again. After the ceremony, we all went out for drinks. Here. We played cards. I'm terrible at cards. But we played all night," she smiled. "All night. In one of those rooms back there. The guards get rowdy sometimes, so it was so we'd all be quiet." She chuckled to herself and looked to the floor. "But, when I woke up the next morning as her. As Melody. In bed. With him," she stutters. "I... didn't know what to do. I wasn't okay with this anymore. I didn't remember anything. I flew back to the castle before he woke up and... I tried to figure out what I could do. I needed to make things right. Somehow." Cadance opened her eyes. "I couldn't stop thinking about how terrible I was. I made my husband fall in love with another mare. To the point that... he'd cheat on me. Even if it was myself. I knew that I was the terrible one. I was the horrible mare that tricked her husband to cheat on her. On accident. I was the worst wife... ever." She sniffed, then shook her head. "So, I decided. I decided to come up with a plan to set him free and make myself miserable." "What?!" Anon said. Shining shook his head, still in shock. Twilight sat down too, unsure of how to react just yet. "I told myself... convinced myself that Shining would get over me. And Melody. He'd be happier and better off with some other mare. So, Melody disappeared. Without even a trace. Her armor is even up in my study, were nopony... well, almost nopony can access it," she said. "I thought that by doing that, maybe he'd grow to hate Melody. Then... since I already knew what happened... I just had to find some way to make Shining hate me." Cadance went quiet and the empty bar was still. She, for the first time since this morning, pleadingly looked to her husband. "So, I forced myself to try and do what I thought would make you hate me. I targeted the human. Who isn't even a pony and was very close to Twilight. It would cause controversy. I kept Shining's infidelity under as close of wraps as possible. No pony in the castle was ever to say a word. However, mine? Would be everywhere. I would have been the unfaithful Princess. I made a love potion, to try and make it even slightly genuine. But... I wanted a potion that wouldn't let me forget how I felt about Shining. I wanted to hurt. It was my punishment." Cadance sighed. "Because. I never stopped loving him... but I thought he didn't love me. So... I'd set him free. But, there was a problem. Then Anon would be stuck under my love potion." Anon looked up at his name, his face filled with confusion and sadness; his posture and liveliness broken. "So, I created an antidote. A dose that would release him. I put it in a place that only two ponies could get to. Twilight and Myself. I knew that Twilight would probably try to figure out what was happening and try to stop this. I wouldn't have a chance to get back to the castle till after the games and the study was the first natural place to look. And, once Anon and I were fully under the potion's effects... I didn't trust myself with giving him the antidote. Because... I only made one dose." The room was quiet once more. "Why?" Twilight asks. "Because, then you would set Anon free, and I would feel the pain of losing two of my loves. I wanted to hurt. It was my punishment. The pictures of them would always be a reminder of what I lost. And the picture of Melody, a reminder of how terrible of a pony I was." Cadance sat up straight. “I had to get myself completely intoxicated to even begin to set everything in motion, but... once the potion started, it all became automatic." She closed her eyes and looked to the floor. "So. Now that the potion will wear off by morning and everypony knows... I don't know what to do next. I thought what I was doing was the right thing... but, in the end I just ended up making everything worse." She looked to Twilight. "I was wrong in not coming to you and asking for advice when I needed it. I just felt so alone. I didn't feel like I could turn to anypony... no matter how close they were to me." Cadance turned to Anon. "I... I used you. I poisoned you, used you, and led you on just to make myself hurt. I know in the morning, you'll probably hate me... and, well. I just hope someday you'll forgive me. If not... I understand. I don't know how I will forgive myself for all of this, either." She turned to her husband and opened her mouth, but choked on her words. "I... I." She closed her eyes and began to tremble. "If you still want to get a divorce... I understand." Tears formed in the alicorn's eyes and dripped to the floor, mixing with the pink potion. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I never once meant any of the terrible things I said. I just was trying to make you the happiest, even if it would make you hurt right now. We'll tell the truth. Everypony can know. It's not your fault. I'm sorry. I just wanted to be a good wife. I just-" She bit her lip and stood up straight, doing her best to swallow her emotions and look serious. "So, that's it. That's the truth. No more secrets," she concluded. Cadance's listeners were silent. Twilight looked down at the photo of Shining and Melody, happily drinking together. Her gaze moved to Cadance and she furrowed her brow. "I don't think I'm the one who's important here," she said, rising from her seat. She searched through her bag for the golden antidote and handed it to Anon. "I'm going to wait outside," she said, more to Anon than anypony else. Twilight then turned her back and walked to the front entrance, but stopped to look at the three of her closest friends. Then, she stepped outside of the bar, letting the door close behind her. Cadance looked to Anon, who held a vial of potion in his hands. "That will undo all of the effects of the potion right now," she says. "You'll be completely back to your normal self again." Anon turned it over in his hands, then looked up at her. "Can I just ask you one thing? Just one question? Will you give me the complete truth, no matter how brutal it is?" he asked. She nodded to him. "Was... any part of what we had genuine?" he asked. Cadance flinched like she was punched in the gut. She took a deep breath and sighs. "I honestly... was upset at how weak the potion was. Even now I can only think about Shining. I'm sorry, Anon. I never... really felt anything," she said. "It was all an act. A cruel, awful-" Anon took the lid off the vial and downed it, then tossed the glass on the floor, letting it shatter. Rising from his seat, he stormed out of the bar, slamming the door behind him. And then, it was just husband and wife. Cadance looked to the floor, resigning herself to whatever punishment awaited her. Shining stared at her, trying to take everything in. He looked to the floor, trying to collect all of his thoughts, while unease filled the whole room. The feeling hung in the air like a toxin, making Cadance only more and more tense. She looked up at him. "Please say something," she pleaded. The silence only continued. "Shout at me. Curse at me. Something," she said. "Hit me if-" "Stop," he said sternly. She looked at him, closing her mouth. "I can't tell you how mad I get when I hear you be harsh on yourself. When you do that, you're being mean to my wife, and I won't stand for that." Shining sighed and rubbed his forehead with a hoof. "And I'm not going to do any of those things. I'm not going to give you more reasons to beat yourself up. This isn't just your fault. It's mine too," he said. "You don't... remember anything from that night, do you?" he asked. "No," Cadance said quietly. "I remember just a little bit, but I think it's one part that you don't remember. I don't remember how the night ended... but I know I told Melody something very important to me." Cadance looked up at him, realizing it was her turn to listen. "I've quit the guard," he said. "I've been off of it for awhile." Cadance sat up straighter. "But you love the guard." "Not when it's keeping me away from the pony I love," he said. "Oh," she replied. The room went silent as the two looked away from the other. Cadance sniffed her nose, then gazed back at him. "Now what do we do?" she asked. He looked up at her. "I don't want a divorce," he said. "Neither do I," she said. The two went still again, looking away from each other. Each feeling miles apart from each other. Cadance took the first step forward, her hoof crunching on broken glass. She winced, but pressed forward until she was next to her husband. He looked at her as she stood beside him. "Do you want me to leave?" she asked. Shining moved one of his hooves around her neck and pulled her in close to him. Cadance's eyes went wide and her wings opened in surprise, but she wrapped her hooves around him, then her wings as well. The two held each other close, trembling in each others hooves. Feeling each others pain. Feeling each others sorrow. But trying to take the first step forward. The Equestria Games came and went without any other incident. Cadance and Shining were extremely hard to get a hold of, but they were both together. In fact, they were inseparable. None of the press noticed anything odd about the royal couple, nor did they question why Equestria's favorite new Princess seemed to be absent from many of the events after that fateful evening. Rumors spread about her human friend, Anonymous, going missing and that she was searching for him, but rumors are just rumors are just rumors. Nopony ever knows what's actually true or not. Why would anypony believe a rumor? "All aboard for Ponyville! 9:00am to Ponyville will be departing shortly!" called the train attendant, watching the platform for anypony who still needed to board the train. "Uhm, sugarcube." "Just five more minutes," Twilight said. "I don't think he's coming," Applejack said. "Just... five more minutes. I'll meet you inside with the others." Applejack looked at her friend with concern, unsure of what to tell her. "Alright," she said. "If you say so. It just hurts seeing you get like this. Are you sure that there isn't something you wanna talk-" "No. Not yet." The earth pony eyed her friend curiously, but nodded her head. "Ahm goin to join the others. Ah'll see you on the train." Twilight nodded, but she wasn't focused on Applejack.She was scanning the horizon intensely, just as she turned the whole city upside down to try and find Anon. After he stormed out of the bar that night, he just... left. She chased after him for awhile, but he screamed that he just wanted to be alone for awhile. So, she let him go. But that was almost five days ago. Where was he? A deep fear sat in the pit of her stomach. Now the last train to Ponyville from the Equestria Games was about to depart. She could always wait another day, but the other girls were ready to go home. They didn't know what actually happened. To them, the most drama they knew about was some big ball of ice. She'd been covering the best she could for Anon, but if things got too out of hand, then the tangled web of white lies would fall into itself. Applejack was already beginning to doubt Twilight and she knew it. Twilight sighed, remembering everything that had happened to him. To her. To Shining. The royal couple talked to Twilight almost every day after that night. Both together and privately. There was a lot of trust that needed healing and Celestia put them in touch with a counselor she knew that could keep a secret. Or, at very least, could be paid to keep a secret. But, it seemed as if the royal marriage might be healed someday and nopony would be the wiser. "Princess Twilight?" She turned on the spot in hope, but was disappointed to see a stallion in front of her. "We're finishing boarding right now," the platform attendant said. "We need for you to get on the train." Twilight made one last scan of the horizon, but couldn't see any sign of her Anon. She sighed, then nodded. Twilight stepped onto the platform as the doors closed behind her. Anon needed space. She was willing to give him the time he needed in order to get his bearings. Twilight moved down the hall, glancing into each of the rooms, reflective of her current state in life. One room had a family, who's parents were entertaining their son and daughter. Another had a young mare and stallion talking to each other. Maybe about the games? Maybe about a future date they would have? Maybe about what they'd do when they got back home? She sighed and continued her path to her train cabin with the girls. Maybe she should just tell them all what happened. Honesty is usually the best policy. Plus, she trusted them all to keep a secret. Even Rarity, though she tended to eat up drama and gossip. She glanced into another cabin, but stopped in her tracks. Inside was a human, staring outside of the train window, sitting alone in his car. Twilight moved to the glass door, and took a moment to look at Anon. He clearly hadn't shaved in a few days, but his clothes weren't dirty. He looked tired more than anything else. Not the sort of tired when you don't get enough sleep, but rather the sort from emotional drainage that comes along with going through tense drama. The sort of tired that just makes you fed up with the world. Twilight placed a hoof to the glass, feeling her heart ache for her human. Anon turned his head, hearing the tap on the glass and Twilight could see recognition painted on his face. He lightly smiled, but turned his gaze back to the window. Twilight wondered to herself if that was an invitation to enter, or if she should still stay away. There was a lot she wanted to say to him. Like, 'WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?' or 'YOU WORRIED ME SICK!', but she knew that this wasn't the time for such things. That would come on a lighter, happier day. Twilight bit her lip and looked down at the door handle. Then slid the door open. Anon didn't react as Twilight stepped inside and shut the door behind her. "Hey," she said gently. He grunted in response, still looking out the window. She moved closer to him and sat down beside Anon, trying to study his body language. "How are you holding up?" He remained silent for a moment, then exhaled slowly. "About as could be expected, I suppose." "Right," she replied, looking to the floor. "That's good. I guess." Anon seemed cold and distant, though Twilight sat within inches of him. She could reach out and touch him, but she wasn't sure if he was even really there. "Do you... wanna talk about it?" she asked. "It usually helps." He remained silent as the train lurched into motion, and the train made it's way back on it's natural course. "I'm not sure. I don't know where to start." Twilight placed a hoof on his leg and leaned closer to him. "I'm here for you, Anon," she said. "You can talk to me about all of this." He broke his gaze from the window and looked to Twilight. A tangled mix of hurt and confusion was behind Anon's eyes, hidden from view but boiling just beyond the surface. "I'm not sure what hurts more," he said. "That everything just disappeared in a few short hours. My feelings. The relationship. Everything about her. Or knowing that I was just a tool in some game. I feel used and vulnerable. Played like some sort of toy that was played with for a day and then tossed into the trash when I lost my shine." He sighed then looked back out to the window. "I just... feel unwanted. I guess," he sighed. Twilight studied Anon carefully as he looked out the window. She closed her eyes and leaned herself on his shoulder. "I think you're pretty cool," she said softly. Anon smiled weakly. Twilight sat up straight again, trying to give her friend the most comforting look she could muster. "Do you want more time?" she asked. Anon remained silent as the landscape out the window moved by. The only sound in the quiet cabin was the thumping of the train on the tracks. Twilight nodded then stood up. "Alright, I'll just be a few cabins down if-" Anon grabbed her hoof and turned to her. Twilight suddenly felt Anon's presence. He looked up at her and his expression had changed. Anon was focused on her, his eyes had a sense of desperation. A sense of longing. "Please don't go," he said. Twilight smiled, holding his hand with her hoof and sitting back down. "I'll stay with you as long as you want me to be." Anon smiled and took a deep breath, looking away from the window and instead at his friend. And Twilight's fears slowly faded away, knowing that her Anon would finally be coming home. The funny thing about the train they were riding on was that it was never meant to go very far. It was a two-way short train that would deliver ponies from Ponyville to Canterlot. However, due to the large migration of citizens to the Equestria Games, the train was veered off of it's course for a short period of time. Yet, now it was heading back to Ponyville, worn and tired, but back on track.