Hivemind Control

Shining had not dismissed his doubts of Cosmo. If anything, his gut was even more vocal about him. He still couldn't place it, even after spending the whole day watching him, but something was very very wrong with him. Shining was convinced that this earth pony stallion had something to do with Luna's condition and the fight with Celestia.

He even had a plausible argument in his favour. After gathering some history on him, he'd found that Cosmo had come out of nowhere right before Luna began to change, had been interacting with Luna quite often before the rash had begun, and had been the focal point between the royal sisters' argument. He even had a firsthoof point of reference, as he'd seen Luna's demeanor change as soon as he'd showed up.

What he was lacking was proof. He had no evidence that Cosmo had done anything, merely that he had been in convenient places at convenient times, and had plenty of unsupervised contact with Luna, perhaps even with Celestia. That was to end right away. Any time Luna was with Cosmo, Shining would either be in attendance, or have a trusted member of the guard tailing them, listening closely and watching.

To that end, he sat with them through dinner, having one of the guards bring the food from the kitchen. He didn't want Luna and Cosmo alone, but he was not about to trust Cosmo with his food, either. Not that he would say that out loud, as he still had his fake smile on, but he did manage to convince Luna to let him stay under the intent of seeing if there was anything between her and Cosmo that could help to rekindle her relationship with Celestia.

"So we've been over how the two of you met," nodded Shining, accepting the bowl of noodles he was given, "and we've looked at how you found yourselves attracted to each other. We've discussed the first time you went to bed together, and how Celestia acted when you first met. Now I want to hear about this incident that separated you."

"Well," began Cosmo, "I'd been away from Canterlot for about a week and a half, tending to my business. I had some positive cashflow, and wanted to expand my orchard to cover more ground with trees. Luna helped me see that I wasn't living up to my potential."

As Shining brought his noodles up to his mouth, he noticed that they had a strange smell, almost acrid. "Hold for a moment," he commanded, taking their food and smelling it. They seemed normal.

"Something wrong?" asked Luna.

Shining rifled through his bowl again. Something was very off, but he couldn't place it. If he were to guess, he might say it was poisoned, but with what, he couldn't tell. "I saw a maggot in my bowl," he lied. "I'm going to have the kitchens scrubbed, but I think we might want to go out to eat. Take in some fresh air and put my questions on hold until tomorrow. Sound good?"

Hearing that there was a possibility that there was a bug in her food, Luna pushed her plate of pan-fried greens away. "I like the idea of fresh air right now, actually."

"If you're sure," shrugged Cosmo, taking a single bite of his own noodles before setting it down. "I'm sure it was just a mistake."

Shining could swear that he saw Cosmo sneer as he passed. He wasn't sure how, but he had to wonder if Cosmo had just tried to poison his food. The smell was rancid, and had only appeared in his own bowl. That was no coincidence.

He took a deep breath as he followed the two of them. He'd been with them the whole time, and Cosmo was not a unicorn that could cast a spell on the kitchen equipment to add something to his meal. Perhaps he was being paranoid, but he couldn't help himself.

After lodging a complaint with the fort's commander, causing her to scramble the troops and scrub that kitchen clean for Luna's safety, the trio made their way into Ponigsburg, signing out at the front gate. The town was all lit up as ponies young and old rushed to eateries of all variety. It would be a difficult task finding a place that could seat three without forcing somepony else to vacate their table.

"Where do we want to go?" asked Luna. "I'm not picky."

"Pinto Grill?" suggested Shining. "Since we just had a scare from tainted food, how about something they prepare right in front of you?"

"Not a bad idea," smiled Luna. "Let's see if we can find a place."

Cosmo was ultimately the one who found a place that had three open seats. Unfortunately, they weren't right next to each other, and one of them needed to sit on the other side of the bar. While he would have liked for Cosmo to be the one gone from the group, Shining offered to eat separate. He did think that the seating arrangement was not really an issue, and that those seated probably wouldn't mind moving down one chair, but doing so might ruin his ruse of being amenable.

They sat down, and Luna and Cosmo immediately struck up a quiet conversation that Shining couldn't hear. They were whispering, and one of the ponies between them was a schoolfilly who was talking rather loudly about how she had just passed her spelling test, despite almost tripping on the word "grandmother." Not just to her parents, but to the friendly chef preparing her food. He didn't mind not being able to hear, though, because he could read Luna's lips. Meanwhile, he kept an eye on everything he could, watching everypony move, but paying the most attention to Luna and Cosmo.

"He's not so bad as that," mouthed Luna. "I promise, he's just concerned for my safety." They were talking about him. It seemed that Cosmo was suspicious of him, as well. "Well, sure, he could have been lying, but what if he wasn't? That meal was made with me in mind, and this is definitely safer. The chefs here weren't expecting us, after all."

"Are you ready to order?" asked the chef in front of Shining.

"Noodles," answered Shining curtly, not taking his eyes off Luna. "Something simple. Surprise me."

"If you really think so, we can always meet after dark," smiled Luna. "I know he likes to go to bed early. I've seen his dreams."

Shining sighed. This was not going to be easy for him.