A Mysterious Disturbance

Twilight's POV

Stepping into the room, my ears filled with the whimpers and moans of my sister in law. The pitiful sobs rang through the entire kingdom, and at this point, she didn't care. I stepped over the crumpled tissues that were scattered across the carpet. This was my stupid brother's doing, and I couldn't even stomach the thought. Cadence had threatened everypony that came by her room, and I wasn't about to be an exception. If anything, Cadence would murder me for revenge, and send my wings chopped off as a baby shower gift.

"Don'thurtmeI'monyourside!" pleaded pathetic, cowering me. Cadence, although broken and very upset, wasn't going to let me run around without knowing what my brother had done.

"Sit down beside me, Twilight," sniffled the princess. Her mane was tussled and unkempt, much like the bedroom we were in. Eyes tightly shut, Cadence sucked in the cold air surrounding us. "He cheated."

"I-I know Cadence and-"

"You know? What in Equestria do you mean you know?!"

"Exactly that; I know NOW," I assured. "I never would have acceded it. There was no excuse…there is never an excuse for what he did."

"I agree, Twilight," Cadence acknowledged. "I also don't think there's an excuse to leave your wife for a pregnant sl-"

"Please Princess, mind your words." I asked. She mildly glared at me a moment, and then thought better.

"A mare: with the morals of Smiley Citrus in her new music video, "Pecking Hall,"" she corrected. I cringed; hearing my friend compared to the most ridiculed pony in Equestria really made me upset. Nevertheless, I understood and maybe even slightly agreed.

"Pecking Hall may have not been the cleanest video, but Fluttershy wouldn't agree with anything that occurred during it! She couldn't have watched five seconds of Smiley grabbing that other mare's flank, or-"

"Twilight, we are two completely grown mares, we do not need to gossip over pop stars."

"I wasn't trying to-"

"YOUR BROTHER CHEATED ON ME AND YOU'RE CIRCLING AROUND THE SUBJECT!" I'd never seen Cadence angry with me: the real Cadence anyway.

"Cadence, please calm down! I'm sorry about Shining armor, but he really loves you…he really does. I don't know his reasoning or what he was thinking, but I do know he would never try to hurt you."

"I don't think he would either Twilight, but that doesn't mean he never would…and he obviously has." Tears welled in her eyes, and I felt a sharp stab of guilt in my heart like a dagger.

"I know he can't take it back princess, but you know that he's always loved you…and he regrets his choices. He HAS to!" I know my brother, and I've always known him: he wouldn't EVER do something like this without reason. Something had to have happened. Some sort of fight, or maybe mind control. The royal couple WOULD be the main target for a disgruntled pony with a love potion.

"I don't care about his regrets," she weakly fought. "His child is coming, and he needs to be with his beloved Fluttershy. Not his stupid, unattractive, trap of a wife."

"You're no trap, Cadence," I assured. "You're the most gorgeous mare in all Equestria! You could wrap any stallion around your hoof if you wanted!"

"I want Shining, and I thought I had him," she sobbed. "But, he's too busy wrapped around Fluttershy's hoof to give me a second of his time. He left me for her…I could have given him everything she gave. More actually! I could have given him a home, three meals, love, a family, love…"

"I know, and that's what confuses me," I thought out loud. "He's always been so in love with you. He knows you're mare for him, and he always talked about having a family with you. It never seemed like an act…"

"Well, looks like it was," Cadence coldly corrected. "He didn't want me, and I guess…I guess he got what he wanted." I felt like there was nothing to be said to comfort her. It wasn't true. None of this seems real! Fluttershy isn't herself, and neither is my brother, but even more than that: it's making Cadence lose all her love for life.

Fluttershy's POV

"Five, six, seven bits," I smiled, giving the grocer the last bit. "Thank you!" He turned and left my new crate of veggies, and then Shining bought them inside.

"These sure look good," he smiled with a semi-watering mouth. The poor thing looked starved.

"I'll make your favorite," I smiled, placing a pot of spinach on the stove. Shining yawned and lay down, waiting for the spinach to cook and for me to serve it.

"Can I have some with apples please?" he asked. I smiled, and nodded. Every night Shining would come to my house looking for spinach, and spinach led to dessert, which led to apple cider, which led to kissing, and that led to…our foal. Who knows why spinach did what it did for Shining, but I'm glad it did it.

"Ah!" I gasped, shifting in pain. Shining shot from the couch and appeared by my side.

"Is everything ok?" he asked. I felt a pain like a needle in my stomach. Then it changed into a sting, followed by a squeeze, then not but not least: I vomited all over my stallionfriend. Shining wasn't upset with me, thank goodness, but he ran to get a towel. Angel took the spinach off the stove for me, and Shining helped me lie down. Everything was so sudden, and I started to wonder what was happening. The pain was from the baby, and so was the nausea. My stomach soothed itself a bit, which really relieved me to not have to deal with the pain. Shining stayed by my side, holding my hoof until my pain calmed down. Once It did, I was far too weak to serve his dinner, so he served himself. Sitting down to the table, he eagerly grabbed a fork with his magic. He loved the way I cooked my spinach, and he looked very hungry, but just as the fork reached his mouth, there was a knock on the door.

"Who could that be?" he asked, frustration in his voice. My eyes followed his angered form to the door. Once it was open, my stomach hurt again, but it was different this time. I was in fear: the worst fear of my life. At my door stood Princess Celestia, and she looked as if somepony was about to see the end of their days. I just hoped said pony wasn't me, or Shining.

"Shining Armor, Fluttershy, we need to speak immediately," she spoke. Her voice boomed with anger, almost as if it were spoken by Luna.

"Princess, please," Shining started. "Let Fluttershy rest, I'll talk with you." The princess looked at me, and if I looked nearly as bad as I felt it was obvious why she dismissed me. Celestia and Shining left the cottage and stood outside my newly closed front door. I was so frustrated that I couldn't get off the couch, but maybe it was better I couldn't hear them.

Shining's POV

Celestia's wrathful gaze intimidated me from my horn to my hooves, but I couldn't cower to this Princess. She scowled down at me, and her hoof slammed to the ground with fury.

"Explain to me why my niece, Princess mi Amore Cadenza, is at home sobbing and locked in her room."

"Princess," I began. "Princess Cadence and I were so in love, madly in love! The truth is: I just didn't feel the spark anymore."

"No spark, huh?" Her scowl hardened and her magic powerfully bonded me to the wall. "No "spark" doesn't give you the right to cheat on her, impregnate a friend of hers, and LEAVE HER!" growled the Princess. I wouldn't have been shocked to see foam fly from her mouth.

"Celestia-"

"Listen to me Shining," she demanded. "You are lucky you've yet to be stranded on the moon!"

"Princess, I couldn't tell you what made me do this, but I am in love with Fluttershy. How could you punish a stallion for feeling?"

"I couldn't," she responded without skipping a beat. "I can, however, punish a stallion for committing adultery and for putting the Princess in harm's way."

"Princess Celestia," I felt my head spinning. What was I doing? Fighting, I was fighting. Why was I fighting? For Fluttershy, always fighting for Fluttershy. Why did I care about Fluttershy? That: I don't know the answer too. "Help me, I don't know what's going on with me." My body started to shake and Celestia's rock hard expression seemed to crack a bit.

"Shining, this is no time to play games," she cautioned. I looked up at her with pleading eyes. I needed her to figure out what was wrong with me, because something was obviously going on in my mind. Something frightening and out of my control. I didn't feel the need to go back to Fluttershy, or even a want to make sure she knew where I was going. All the love I felt started flowing from me, and refilled the empty river with guilt. My wife needed me, and here I was with a pregnant mare. There was one question left in my mind: What was happening to me?

Celestia's POV

Shining stood thrashing beneath me. It looked as if he were fighting an invisible bull, or some sort of vicious magic. Unclean, tarnished, and possibly outlawed magic. I lifted him with my magic, and took him as quickly as I could to his sister's house. Twilight's eyes were glued to her book, not budging even by the franticness of the opening door.

"Twilight, you've got to help your brother!" I informed.

"Help him?" she asked. "I'm trying to figure out what causes a perfectly happily married stallion to cheat on his wife!" The anger in her voice was deliberate, and made me think twice about laying his life in her hooves. With everything happening so viciously swift I almost didn't realize Shining Armor's newly unconscious state. Twilight slammed her book down and turned towards me.

"Twilight, he's unresponsive," I announced. Her expression altered abruptly, and she leaped into action. She examined his signs of life, and her panicked expression worsened by the moment.

"H-he's experiencing some sort of toxic infection!" she gasped. "I don't know what he's been having, but it looks like he's been poisoned often for months! How has this gone unnoticed?"

"How has he been poisoned and kept alive this entire time?" I asked, watching Twilight pull together a spell.

"Not necessarily poison, but a bodily harmful chemical. A brain altering chemical," she hypothesized. Upon closer observation, we both saw what we were afraid of: a love potion. There was only one pony I know that would obtain or distribute such a detestable potion. Looking at Twilight, it appeared we both knew.

"We need to go to the Everfree forest."