The Prince's Predicament 2: The Princess's Predicament

"Let's talk about that for a moment," suggested Funi. "Do you enjoy being mounted by other stallions?"

Shining turned his head away and said nothing.

After a few seconds, Funi took a deep breath. "I smell confusion. You're happy, you're angry, and you're sad. But mostly, you're not sure how to feel. Walk me through your thought process."

Shining shuffled on the couch. It felt like cheating, having a therapist that could literally smell your emotional reactions to questions. Perhaps it was for the best, as you couldn't truly lie to them and say that something made you happy when it was actually infuriating, but part of the trust barrier was that the patient had the right to refuse to answer. It wasn't quite a truth potion, but it definitely felt like one.

"Can't I just... not talk about it?"

"We certainly could, but the whole reason I'm here is because you won't deal with your problems. You're bottling up the pressure, and if we don't vent it, you're going to explode. Figuratively speaking, of course..."

"Yeah, I know..."

"This is all a very safe space. I have no obligations to tell anypony anything you say in these sessions, unless you wish to do them harm, in which case, I can only tell the specific party, or the guards, or both. Anything else you say is a secret."

Shining sighed. "I'm not worried about you telling everyone how I feel."

"That's a lie."

"Fine, yes, that's a lie. But I'm more worried about something else."

"Should we start there?"

"I would rather not start at all..."

"We can't finish what we don't start..."

Shining groaned. "I don't want to go into this..."

Funi folded his hooves in his lap. "I can't help you like this."

"You might not be able to help me, anyway."

"Perhaps not. But I'd be a really shitty therapist if I didn't try. I'd have to refuse payment and fund my own trip back home."

Shining turned his head. "The trains in Equestria are funded by the taxpayers and are free to use by any and all citizens and visitors, excepting those who are violent criminals, who just aren't allowed to use the trains at all. Are you telling me you're a violent criminal?"

"The train doesn't drop me off at my house. I'd need a cart to carry my trunk, and I'd have to rent one, like I did when coming out here. I was promised reimbursement for that expense, though, and I can't collect if I don't at least try to help with your problem."

"Is it even really a problem, though?" asked Shining. "I mean, I've been doing this for years without incident. Nopony's been hurt, so why is it being made an issue now?"

Funi was silent for a moment, and then a wreath of green flame enveloped him. "I've been hurt," came Cadance's voice. He'd taken her form, as well. "My own husband doesn't want me anymore."

"That's not true," sighed Shining. "Even if it was, there's more to it than that."

"Oh, no?" scoffed Funi, shifting back into his usual shape. "I felt no love for her."

"It's buried beneath something else," grumbled Shining, rolling over.

"I felt that," Funi noted. "Do you want to tell me from whence that pain stems?"

Shining shook his head. "That's a personal matter. I'll deal with it on my own."

"But you're not dealing with it on your own." Another wreath of green fire saw Cinnamon Snap in the chair. "You told me, remember?"

Shining chuckled and shook his head. "No, you told me. I only recently found out that you knew anything about it. Nice try, though..."

Funi changed back to normal. "Okay, well, I can't read minds. I just knew that he found out from your strong emotions toward him on the subject. There were others, there, too. Do they know?"

Shining shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. Maybe they do. They were there when it happened. We had company over, and some of them had left, while others were presumed to still be asleep. He's the only one who knows for sure. Luckily, if any of the others know, they're keeping it under their hats. This is supposed to be kept a secret, otherwise, there's going to be harm brought to the entirety of Equestria."

"Wow. Okay, I felt the love that time." Funi resituated himself in his chair. "Not only love, but a very, very strong protective desire. Anger for whoever hurts them, fear of losing them, anxiety over whether or not you're doing the right thing... All of these negative emotions are fueling your desire to keep them safe. We tend to think of negative emotions as bad, but they're not always as terrible as we may believe them to be. Anger, fear and anxiety can be useful tools to help us along. You said it yourself that you'd learned abjuration to protect your sister; that you were afraid that she would hurt herself."

"That's true."

"You fear that if you tell me what's going on, that if what's bothering you becomes known, that they will be in danger. That something will happen that will harm them."

Shining took a deep breath. "Yeah."

"Let's explore that. How would it cause harm?"

Shining sighed. "Okay. If what I'm holding back is set free, between two and three princesses will lose their credibility in the eyes of the citizens. In addition to that, if the one or two unharmed princesses tries to justify their actions, they will be giving up their credibility. Finally, the citizens will start treating me as if I were a victim, and will stop coming to me and asking for help, because they'll think that I'm already suffering enough. And if they're not coming to me with their problems, then I can't know where the problems are, and if I don't know where the problems are, I can't fix them."

"If I don't know where the problems are, I can't fix them," repeated Funi.

"Yes, exactly."

"If I don't know where your problems are, I can't fix them."

Shining buried his face in his hooves. "Fuck..."

"Indeed. So, let's back up to why you feel such animosity for your wife. Let's find out the cause of the problem, so we can start our solution."