Melody had her cards face down on the table, and wore a smug grin. She looked like she had all of this figured out. Her confidence radiated to the other three stallions at the table, including Shining Armor. The other two guards kept looking over their hands, and checked back to the cards in the center of the table.Shining wasn't sure of his hand either, but he tried harder to not show it.
Instead he focused himself at studying his competitor. Melody had became an amazing friend to him the last couple months of her training and he was proud that she was finally graduating, but that was the last thing he was focused on right now. He was focused on her ice blue eyes, trying to find any sort of movement or nervousness. He watched the way she held herself, hooves folded in front of her, confident. He studied her face for any sort of twitching.
Shining wasn't sure if he was actually beat or not.
He didn't have too many hands left in him. At some point, he has to go home to Cadance.
He had something to discuss with her.
He reached to his bottle of cider and downed the last of it, then set it on the floor beside him. Except, 'set down' might be too gentle a phrase. 'Tossed' might be a bit better.
Almost all of the ponies at the table had put down at least six drinks that night and the biggest offenders were Melody and Shining. Heck, for most of the night, the guards were having a competition of who could collect the most bottles.
Melody and Shining tied.
There was a photo to commemorate the occasion and it was sitting right with Melody's pot of chips.
"Oh fine, whatever," one of the guards groaned. "I've got to watch the Princess during morning shift tomorrow, so I'll make this my last one. All in."
"I guess if that's what we're doin, then I'll go all in too," the other guard chimed in.
"Dude, you skipped me!" Shining interjected.
"Eeehhh, whatever," the last guard said. "Melody's been cleaning house with her bluffs all night. I don't think she has it."
Shining looked back at Melody, who smiled at him mischievously.
"Come on, Shining," she said with a hiccup. "You in? Or out?"
Shining exhaled and studied her again. There was nothing. No signs. He couldn't find a tell on Melody all night.
Shining groaned, then tossed his cards into the middle.
"I'll try the next one."
"All right, read 'em and weep," Melody said proudly. "Straight flush."
The other two guards groaned and tossed their hands in the middle, showing a two sets of two pair.
"Welp, that's it for me," one guard groaned.
He tried to stand up, but immediately stumbled over himself.
"O-ok. I got this. I'm gonna walk home. I'll talk to everypony later."
"How about I help you home, Cedar. I'm not too bad," the other guard said, helping his buddy's hoof around him.
"Thanks, man. I owe you one."
As the two stallions exited the back room of the little pub, Shining called after them.
"Don't worry about the tab, guys. The Guard has it covered."
The two guards exited without a second word and the door shut behind him, leaving Shining all alone with Melody. He looked at her carefully as she downed her last drink and swayed in her seat.
"I'm having so much fun!" she said with a wide smile. "One more hand. Please?"
He looked down at his chips, compared to the large mass she's compiled.
"I don't even have close to enough chips for an all-or-nothing hand."
"Oh... come on!" she said with a wide smile. "Where's the fun in that."
Shining sighed.
"Alright, but I'll make this interesting. All my chips and a secret, against all of your chips and the photo."
Melody looked down at the photo, then back at him.
"You're on!" she tossed everything into the center of the table as Shining gathered the cards.
Shining couldn't stop looking at Melody. There was something in the way she talked, something in the way she moved and acted that just felt right. There was some quality that he couldn't put his hoof on, but this mare brought butterflies to his stomach.
And he knew it was wrong.
He asked himself why he was still here. Why was he still spending time, all alone, in a back room of a dingy pub, with a mare that made him think... things.
He shook his head and focused on shuffling the cards in front of him. On top of a massive pile of chips in between them was a single quick-develop photo. A photo of him and Melody, arm in arm, celebrating the night. He smiled at it, knowing he probably couldn't really keep the photo. If Cadance saw it, well.
Those are some questions he'd rather avoid.
But he knew what he had to do and tonight was when he was going to do it. He cracked open a new drink, and so did she as he dealt out the cards. He already put the other five cards of their game on the table. While there wasn't a lot of point for rounds of betting, he could still build up the tension. Shining looked down at his cards and smiled.
This was a good hand. A great hand.
He set down his cards to find Melody was already confident and staring directly at him.
"Reveal?" she asked.
Shining blushed, but he tried to stay focused as he revealed all five cards on the table. He did the math in his head for what his hand was. After a quick minute, he smiled and looked back at her.
Three-of-a-kind.
Not the best, but certainly not bad. He studied her carefully, unsure of how to proceed. Her eyes were still laser locked on him. But then, he noticed something. Melody's right ear twitched.
A full range of emotions went through his mind as he leaned back in his chair. That tell. There was no way.
He needed to be home right now.
"I fold," he said, tossing his cards onto the table.
"What?" she said in shock. "That quickly?"
"Yeah. I already know who won. There's no fun in it."
Melody eyed you quickly and stood up.
"But, don't you even want to see?"
"You had nothing. You were bluffing. I know it," he said it confidently.
Shining turned over his cards and Melody eyed him carefully. She turned over her cards and showed him that she had nothing.
"How did you know?" she asked.
Shining smiled and rose from his seat.
"I knew, because my wife has the exact same tell, whenever we played games as kids. And on that note, I think I better go."
Melody rose from her seat, almost tripping over herself.
"No! Please! I'm having so much fun. Please!"
Shining sighed and moved around the table closer to Melody.
"Listen, Melody. You're a great friend. I'm having fun too. But look. It's almost 1AM. I'm married. Do the math. I have to go home," he said.
She looked down at the ground and hiccuped.
"Then, at least tell me your secret," she said. "You lost, so tell me your secret. I wanna know."
Shining sighed.
"Alright. You won't like it though," he said.
She looked up at him with those wide, ice-blue eyes, hanging on his every word. Shining felt a fire burning in him that he immediately tried to put a damp towel on.
"I'm quitting the guard."
"What?! But you love the guard!" Melody said.
"Yeah, but not when it's keeping me from the pony I love," he said. "Plus, I think I know what my real dream job is."
Melody sat down, trying to absorb the new information and to recapture her sense of balance.
"Dream... job?" she asks.
"Yeah... I've been thinking about it more and more. I love the guard... but I think I'd really love to be a stay at home Dad. I've been dreaming about it lately, actually. I just haven't been sure how to tell the 'boss' you know?"
Melody looks up at you, with an unreadable expression. Is she... happy?
"The point is, I don't know what you think is going to happen here tonight, but I've got my two weeks in. You probably won't see me anymore. That's probably for the best."
"Shining," Melody said tenderly.
"I'm going to go talk to my wife and try to make some things right. Things have been rough lately and it's time for me to do something about it."
"My Shining Armor..."
Shining sighed and shook his head. He swayed on his feet, the room spun way faster than it should as he moved toward the door.
"On that note, I have to go. Goodbye, Melody."
"Shining, I'm not Melody," she said.
Shining stopped and turned his head.
"Melody was never real," she said. "Hold on, hold on."
Melody tried to control the magic in her horn, causing blue sparks shot out in varying bursts of energy.
"No wait, hold on. I can do this," she said.
"Melody, you're drunk. You can't do magic. Just go home."
"I can't go home!" she said. "I can't change back!"
Melody stuttered while looking for words.
"Remember the nights when I'd would come over to take care of Twilight?"
Shining's stomach dropped.
"When I'd put Twilight to bed, the two of us would go downstairs when your parents weren't home. All alone."
He stared at her intensely.
"Then, the two of us would play Hyper Spacebattles until ten minutes before the parents were supposed to be home? It was because downstairs had a better atmosphere and wouldn't wake Twilight. The two of us got caught once by your parents, but it was because I had rolled a 20 and everypony else thought that we were fooling around."
Shining turned away from the door.
"How do you know that?" he asked.
Melody smiled as she tried to stand up.
"Because I'm Cadance," she said. "It's my secret. I've been disguising myself so we could spend more time together."
She swayed on her feet and fell on the ground. Shining tried to trot over to her, but he found that walking was way more difficult than he remembered as well.
"Alright. I think it's time to me to sleep this off. This is ridiculous."
"I would love if you'd be a stay at home Dad," she said. "I miss you so much. So much."
Shining helped Melody to her feet.
"Alright. It's time for you to sleep this off too. You'll have your wits about you in the morning," he said.
He picked her up into his hooves and helped her lay down on the bed.
"Do you believe me? Shiny?" Melody asked.
Shining sighed and closed his eyes.
"I'd rather not take that risk."
"Do you love me anymore?" she asked.
Shining looked at Melody carefully, as she stared up at him.
"I only love my wife," he lied. "I'm going to head home. Sleep well."
He headed for the door of the room, but stopped as he reached the handle. Quiet, just by the bed, was the sound of sobbing. A sound he recognized as clear as day. The pattern, the breaths, the intervals, the hushed tone and way it was buried into a pillow. It was the sound of a princess trying her hardest not to let anypony else know how much she hurt inside.
And he'd only heard it once before.
He turned to the bed and eyed Melody carefully. The tell was the same. The cry is the same. She knew a private story that only you and your wife knew.
"Cadance?" he slurred.
The mare turned in bed to stare at him, and she smiled.
"Shiny. My Shining Armor."
He chuckled and left the door alone.
"You know, I suppose it makes sense."
He stretched his hooves.
"But I'm way too bad for this. Let's talk about everything in the morning, huh?"
Melody nodded and closed her eyes. Shining moved to the bed and clumsily climbed in. Melody moved closer to him, but he pushed away.
"Still, better not. Not... while you're like this."
Melody chuckled to herself.
"Right. Good night, Shining."
Shining closed his eyes, unsure of how to respond.
"Good night, Cadance."
The sun shines through the only window of the tiny, cramped room. Melody turned over in bed, gradually rising herself out of slumber. Then, the dry mouth hit. She groaned, because as she sat up, the headache struck as well.
Rising to her hooves, the mare groaned as she began walking straight ahead, dazed and groggy. But she wasn't able to get too far before she was greeted with a wall.
Then, her eyes open wide. This was not her room in the crystal palace.
Melody turned on the spot to take in her surroundings. This was a dingy, run down hotel room in the back of a pub.
She gasped, as she saw her husband laying in bed, resting peacefully. But when she looked to her hooves, she didn't see the meticulously cared for pink fur. Instead, she saw the average, uninteresting whiteness of her guard disguise. Cadance, took a few careful steps away, trying to remember anything about last night, but the soreness of her head made trying to remember difficult and nauseating.
Her breathing quickened as she remembered being alone with Shining in this room. Being held in his arms. Her eyes widened. Did they...
She felt her world crushing down around her.
Shining... cheated on her.
With, herself. And she caused it.
What had she done?
Melody's horn glowed with energy as she opened the window to the room, transforming herself back to her true form. Spreading her wings, she looked back at her husband.
She had to do something. But, she didn't know what. Not yet, at least.
With one swift motion, Cadance took to the sky and flew out of the room. Her eyes filled with tears and regret.