"Honey, I'm leaving!"
Princess Cadence was no actress, but she figured that she deserved some manner of award for the masterful performance she'd put on with those three little words. Though to be fair, most of the performance's weight was to be found in that very first word.
It wasn't that she didn't care about him anymore. That was far from the case. Shining Armor was just as important to her as he'd ever been. He was a good stallion who cared for her above all others, even himself. She appreciated that, and she reciprocated his feelings. There was no doubt in Cadence's mind that she truly cared for Shining Armor.
"Alright, honey," Shining replied, trotting up to meet his wife at the door. "You have a safe trip, alright?"
"I will," Cadence replied. "What could possibly be unsafe about it?" She forced a smile, betraying her thoughts. Staring into the loving eyes of her husband was normally an enjoyable experience, but now, she could liken it to the twisting of a dagger in her heart. She didn't want to hurt him. He didn't deserve to be hurt. If it was her choice, she wouldn't hurt him at all. At this point, though, it was too late. The situation was already out of her hooves.
"Don't nearly get eaten by any tatzlwurms this time, okay?" Shining retorted with a smirk.
Cadence rolled her eyes with a little smile. He really did care so much for her. Despite his joking about it now, that incident had worried him terribly. The degree to which he cared for her was both touching and troubling.
"I won't," Cadence told him, although compared to the mental anguish that today's activities would bring, being eaten by a tatzlwurm might very well have been preferable. She felt her husband's cheek against hers, and she returned his nuzzle with a distinct lack of commitment, one that she hoped he would not notice.
"I love you, my Princess," Shining said warmly. The words stung at her heart, but she kept her betraying smile.
"I love you too, my Knight," she responded. It was the response she always gave, but the words were hollow.
She had meant every word she'd sang to Twilight on her wedding day.
"For I oh so love the groom, all my thoughts he does consume."
And therein lie the problem. She had meant those words.
He did still consume most of her thoughts, but much to her chagrin, it was no longer he whom she loved most of all. Not since that day two weeks ago.
~~~~~~~~~~
It was supposed to be a very simple situation, a nice and easy favor for Twilight and her friend. Cadence had barely even thought much of it, to be honest. Her focus for this trip was to spend time with Twilight and nothing else. Not that she was opposed to doing this favor; it simply wasn't something that she thought would have a big impact on her life.
"Are you positive you don't mind, Cadence?" Twilight asked, ever the worrier. Nothing mattered more to Twilight today than making sure her time spent with her sister-in-law was special.
"I honestly don't mind at all," Cadence told her, accompanying her statement with a warm smile. She had hoped to quell Twilight's nervousness with that smile, but she knew from her history with Twilight that it would not be that easy.
"But we were supposed to go to the Princess' old castle," Twilight said, shifting uncomfortably on her hooves. "There are so many twists and turns and hidden passageways to show you..."
"I know, Twilight," Cadence replied, speaking to her with the same soothing tone that she would back when she used to foalsit her. "And we can still go see all of it when we're done, okay? You said this favor was very important to your friend, right?"
"Right," Twilight answered, a bit of her confidence returning. "Fluttershy will appreciate this so much, Cadence. You don't know how long she's been trying to work this out."
"You've only told me twenty or so times, Twilight," Cadence said with a giggle. "Now come on. We're nearly to Fluttershy's cottage, aren't we?"
"Right!" Twilight answered with a cheerful smile. "It's just over that hill!"
Cadence smiled as she trotted alongside her sister-in-law. Any friend of Twilight's was a friend of hers, and she was always happy to help her friends. If she had known what this favor held in store for her, though, she likely would have been eager to decline, for within those cottage walls lie the one who would damage her relationship with her husband, possibly even beyond repair.
~~~~~~~~~~
Cadence sighed to herself as she sat on the train to Ponyville. It was never, ever her intent to harm her husband. She never would have dreamed of doing such a thing. And yet here she was, on a train to go visit the one who threatened to tear them apart. The one who had captured her heart, a prize which she had thought to have already been claimed.
It was rare that she ever regretted being the Princess of Love. She always considered her gift to be just that: a gift, something to be thankful for. After all, not just anypony could control the power of love. Many had tried; stories of failed love potions and spells were scattered throughout history. Every attempt had ended disastrously. She knew all too well of the famous "love poison" story of the prince who had brewed an intended love potion for a princess and the destruction of their kingdom that had resulted from it. She was blessed with a gift that many ponies wanted.
So why was it causing so much trouble now? Why had it backfired on her so? She didn't flaunt her power. She didn't use it frivolously. The only reason she had used it on that day was because it had been requested of her. She felt herself to be quite responsible with her power. So why, then, had it betrayed her? Why was it now taking everything she held dear and putting it in jeopardy?
She supposed the "why" didn't really matter, though. The fact remained that it had happened, and that there seemed to be nothing she could do about it. Deep down, something inside her believed that she could possibly be capable of removing this feeling of love for another. If she could use her magic to foster love, surely she could reverse the feeling. Every time she thought about attempting such a thing, though, she would find herself unable to go through with it. She just couldn't get herself to do anything to remove her feeling for the other, no matter how hard she tried. She had tried focusing on her thoughts of Shining, on everything he did for her and everything he was to her. She had tried focusing on the scandal that knowledge of her new love would create. Nothing was influential enough to break through the emotional barrier that this new target of her desires had erected in her mind. She was incapable of allowing herself to do anything to ruin the feelings that she had for her new love, and it frustrated her to no end. Her gift, or perhaps her curse, was useless to her in this situation, a situation in which it was desperately needed.
As she stepped off of the train and onto Ponyville's grounds, she wondered if the situation really needed fixing. She wasn't sure if it was a perfectly clear head that was thinking these things, but perhaps there was a way that this could all work out. After all, there were some ponies who looked at love as a thing that didn't only have to be shared between two. But how would he ever understand? This wasn't something normal for her. Shining only ever knew of her loving him. He never would have expected her to find love elsewhere at all, let alone with someone so much different. She knew very well that it was a deviant type of love, one that some ponies might disapprove of, and certainly one that was not expected of royalty. A royal figure was supposed to be a role model, one that other ponies looked up to. A royal figure certainly wasn't supposed to be harboring such a deviant type of love.
In the end, though, she couldn't help who she loved, despite the dubious means by which said love had blossomed. The fact remained that she loved who she loved. She wanted to love Shining more, but at this moment, it seemed like such a thing wasn't possible.
Cadence took a breath as she stared at the door to Fluttershy's cottage. She hadn't even realized that she'd walked so far already, her thoughts having occupied her enough to remove her from reality. Slowly, nervously, she rose her hoof and knocked on the cottage door.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh, Princess Cadence! Hello!"
Cadence smiled warmly to the yellow pegasus that stood before her. She had seen Fluttershy many times before, but her kind smile truly touched her this time. This was not just the smile of a typically-kind pony. This was the smile of a pony who was immensely thankful for the favor that she would be doing her today. She watched Fluttershy bow, and chuckled lightly.
"Good afternoon, Fluttershy," Cadence said. "And there's no need for bowing. We're friends, aren't we? "
"O-oh!" Fluttershy exclaimed, pulling herself back to a standing position. "I'm sorry...it's just that you're a princess, and..."
"It's fine, Fluttershy," Cadence told her gently. "You're not the only one who's done that." She glanced sideways to Twilight, who blushed profusely. Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle, a tiny little giggle with all the volume and gentleness of the ringing of a small bell.
"Yes, that's enough about that," Twilight said with an awkward grin. "I believe you had a favor that you needed Cadence for, Fluttershy?"
"Oh! Yes, um, that's right," Fluttershy responded. "I really appreciate you coming to help me out, Princess. You don't know how much this means to me."
"Oh, trust me," Cadence said with a wink. "Twilight's told me plenty about just how thankful you are." The pegasus blushed lightly, adorably. She had such an air of innocent sweetness about her, and Cadence couldn't help but just feel happy around her. She smiled sweetly to Fluttershy and gave her a nod. "Now let's go take care of this situation I've been told about."
"Of course," Fluttershy responded. "Right this way! ...Um, please." She then turned tail and headed into the house, followed closely by Cadence and Twilight.
Cadence had heard tell of Fluttershy's sizeable menagerie, but in her wildest dreams, she couldn't possibly have envisioned it to be quite this large. All manners of fluffy fauna adorned the floors, walls, and even ceilings of the cottage. From aardvarks to zorillas, the place was packed with animals of all sorts. Cadence idly wondered to herself how Fluttershy could possibly live here with room for herself. Then she wondered how she managed to keep the place smelling tidy. Perhaps she would need to inquire about the latter. Shining's workout room could certainly use whatever it is that she employed.
"So where's today's patient?" Cadence asked, pulling a hoof away to allow a wandering ferret passage.
"Oh, he's right over here," Fluttershy said. "Come on out, little Angel."
Cadence watched as a snow-white bunny poked his head out from a nearby pet bed. Cadence was no animal psychologist, but she could swear that he looked none too pleased to have his nap interrupted. Another gentle coaxing from Fluttershy was enough for the bunny to reluctantly leave his bed.
"This is Angel Bunny," Fluttershy said with a smile. "He's such a sweetheart."
As if on cue, Angel promptly blew a raspberry at Cadence and Twilight.
"I'm sure," Cadence said dryly.
"I've encountered a tiny problem with him, though," Fluttershy continued. "You see, I've been looking to have him...erm...mate..." She spoke the last word nearly inaudibly, causing Cadence to grin at her timidness.
"I see," Cadence said with a grin. "And I take it you've found a suitable girl bunny for him?"
"Oh, I have!" Fluttershy answered, her eyes lighting up. She motioned to a brown and white mottled bunny sitting in the corner of the room by Fluttershy's full-length mirror. "This is Patches. She's a darling little one that I found wandering around my cottage some time ago. I think these two would have some beautiful baby bunnies together."
"That's great!" Twilight said, beaming. "So what's the issue then?"
"Well..." Fluttershy began, her ears falling. "Angel just doesn't seem to like her at all, and she doesn't seem to be the least bit concerned about anything."
Cadence looked between the two rabbits. She was unaware that rabbits could be so picky about each other. She watched as Fluttershy attempted to nudge Angel closer to Patches, but sure enough, Angel would have no part of it. It was actually rather amusing to watch the little bunny resist so strongly. Patches, for her part, seemed completely aloof about the goings-on, having not moved a muscle since Fluttershy had pointed her out.
"So I was hoping you could help," Fluttershy continued, releasing Angel from her grasp. "I know that you're quite good with helping others to find love in each other. I normally wouldn't want to use any scary magic on my little animal friends, but they do need to...erm...breed...and I'm simply out of ideas. I tried asking them politely, I tried setting up a nice candlelit dinner for them...I even sprayed Peaches with some of the perfume I borrowed from Rarity. But none of it worked."
Cadence hummed quietly to herself. This was a bit of a gray area for her. She did have the power to foster love between two recipients, but she typically used this power to prompt feelings of love between two who were truly in love but had been going through arguments or other hard times. Using it to create feelings between two who had none to begin with was just a bit questionable. She looked again between the two rabbits. Patches was chewing idly on a lettuce leaf, and Angel was performing a series of paw signals in Patches' direction that nearly caused Cadence to cover Twilight's eyes out of instinct.
"So will you help?" Fluttershy asked. "I know it's a strange situation, but it's really important...and it just has to be for a few weeks, and then you can reverse it if needed. Please?"
Cadence remained unsure of the situation. Who was she to force two bunnies to love each other? Then she looked into Fluttershy's eyes. She wasn't sure whether or not it was intentional, but Fluttershy's expression was just so desperate and hopeful. She couldn't possibly say no to that face. Morals took a backseat in this case.
"Alright," Cadence said. She felt a warmth in her chest as the elated pegasus flapped her wings in delight.
"Oh, thank you so much," Fluttershy swooned, rushing up and giving Cadence a gentle hug. "I can't tell you how happy this makes me."
"You're welcome, Fluttershy," Cadence responded, reciprocating the hug. She chuckled to herself at Fluttershy's eagerness, a giant leap from the timd pegasus she was used to.
After stepping aside, Fluttershy fled the room. As much as she wanted Cadence to use this spell, she still did not want to watch magic being used on her little friends. Cadence focused on the two bunnies. For this spell to work, both of them had to remain right where they were. Considering how still Patches had been, she figured she wouldn't be a problem, and focused her efforts on Angel. Luckily for her, all it took was a bunch of carrots to keep the irritable bunny in place.
Cadence closed her eyes and lit her horn up, preparing the love spell. As she concentrated, something in the back of her head was bothering her, still telling her that perhaps this wasn't the right way to go about things. But the more she thought about it, the more she just wanted to do it for Fluttershy's sake. The sweet pegasus wanted this so badly, and to decline her this favor and break her heart seemed unthinkable. She opened her eyes once more, feeling the magic in her horn gather up into the shape of a heart. The heart split in half, and each half approached a bunny. Things were going just fine.
She watched the first half of the heart connect with Angel. The little white bunny's ears perked up as he looked up from his tasty snack, a look of confusion in his eyes. Cadence then turned her attention to Patches. As the spell neared her, Patches suddenly hopped out of the way. Cadence quickly tried to account for Patches' movement, but it was too little, too late. She watched, unable to do anything to stop it, as the second half of the spell made contact with the mirror that Patches had previously stood in front of.
Perhaps it was possible that something could go wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Hello, Princess Cadence," Fluttershy said with a slight smile. "What a surprise! I hadn't expected you here for another week. I'm afraid the spell doesn't seem to have worked...but I did find another boy rabbit who was willing to...mate...with Patches."
"That's wonderful, Fluttershy," Cadence responded, looking away. "But I'm afraid there's a bit of an issue."
"O-oh?" Fluttershy said, a twinge of worry crossing her face. "What kind of issue?"
"Well," Cadence said, looking past Fluttershy and into the cottage. "It's about the spell I used last week." She watched Fluttershy's ears fall, and quickly shook her head. "Nothing's wrong, I promise."
"Then what is it?" Fluttershy asked, her eyes big and worried.
"It turns out that I need to borrow Angel for a few days," Cadence said, unable to make eye contact as she did so. "There were some...residual spell effects that I need to research and remove."
"Residual spell effects?" Fluttershy asked, her voice filled with worry. "Oh, I knew I shouldn't have-"
"Shhh, it's okay," Cadence said. "Nothing bad has happened to that sweet little bunny, and nothing bad will happen. I just need to...take him for a little bit."
"Oh...I thought he had been acting strangely since last week..." Fluttershy sighed. "He's been ignoring mealtimes and staying alone in bed all day."
"I'm sure it's something we can take care of," Cadence said, entering the house. "Now I'll just be going to get him..."
"O-okay..." Fluttershy said, trembling slightly. "...Do you need Patches too?"
"No, she's fine," Cadence said dismissively, striding past the nervous pegasus. She felt absolutely, positively terrible lying to Fluttershy like she had. She really was a sweet pony and a good friend, and it hurt to be so deceptive to her, but the fact remained that she simply wouldn't understand. Even Cadence didn't fully understand, or at least she had no good way to explain things to Fluttershy. She would need an extra bit of time to figure out exactly what to tell her, but she couldn't possibly spend that extra bit of time apart from him. Yes, she had to lie, but in this specific instance, she felt that it was the only way.
Cadence entered the room where Angel's bed lay. She excitedly trotted towards the bed, lowering herself down to it.
"Angel?" she spoke quietly.
Two white ears instantly poked up from the blankets.
"I've missed you, Angel," Cadence whispered.
The typically-grumpy bunny was all smiles, nodding happily.
~~~~~~~~~~
"So you kidnapped the bunny."
Shining Armor seemed completely bemused by the whole situation as he stared at the bed where Cadence sat, cradling the bunny in her forelegs.
"Y-yes," Cadence responded awkwardly. "Kind of." She had not at all counted on having this conversation so soon. Her initial plan was to take Angel home with her and keep him hidden until she could figure out what to tell both Fluttershy and Shining. She hadn't planned on him being so anxious and rambunctious when she was away from him, and when Shining had found him clawing away at his captain's uniform, there was little that Cadence could do to avoid the topic.
"And you say you love him," Shining continued, staring his wife down. Angel began squeaking, but Cadence put a hoof to his mouth.
"...Yes," Cadence said quietly. She couldn't avoid that admission. She had felt guilty enough lying to Fluttershy and indirectly lying to Shining. Lying to his face was something that she just couldn't bring herself to do.
The Princess of Love looked guiltily between the two that had earned her love. Her husband stood in front of her, her new love nestled in her forelegs. She had really gotten herself into a sticky situation now. Shining had to think her a disgusting pervert now. Her marriage was as good as over, and it wouldn't be long before this scandal hit all the papers. She would be disgraced. Nopony would ever look at her the same again. She envisioned her entire life crashing down around her, with her only salvation being the fluffy little one cradled in her forelegs. A single tear fell from one eye as she found herself unable to look up to her husband.
"I'm sorry..." Cadence whimpered. "I...I'll go if you want..." The disgraced alicorn stood, prepared to depart her former life forever, when she felt a hoof on her shoulder.
"Hold on," Shining said. "Cadence, listen to me. I love you. I love everything about you."
Cadence looked up from Angel to Shining. She truly did still care for him. She had fallen so hard for him, and as his piercing gaze met hers, she teared up, remembering all the reasons that she had fallen for him.
"You are my wife," Shining continued. "Only my family can match you in my heart. I know you...love him. But do you still love me?"
Cadence bit her lip, staring into Shining's eyes. Her lip trembled; she did indeed love Angel, but she could not deny the feelings that she still held for the handsome stallion she'd married. She nodded.
"Then we'll work with this," Shining said. "Love isn't just a two-way street. Love can be...an intersection. Or a roundabout. Maybe even a cul-de-sac."
"That last one doesn't make sense," Cadence said, the corners of her lips beginning to turn upwards.
"I know," Shining said, taking one of her forehooves in his. "But you understand what I mean, right?"
Cadence understood. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, but she understood. She sniffled, looking between her two loves.
"You're my wife, and the Princess of Love," Shining said. "If your heart has room for both of us, then I think I can make some adjustments to accept this." He lowered his face to Angel, giving him a smile. "Do you think you can learn to share, little guy?"
Angel slapped Shining across the face with a paw. Cadence burst into laughter as her husband rubbed his cheek and smiled.
"We'll adjust," Shining said with a grin. Cadence just laughed and hugged her two wonderful loves. There was still the issue of explaining this all to Fluttershy, but for now, she couldn't possibly be happier.
Author's Note
What did I even just do.
