//------------------------------// // Episode 5-1 // Story: Domain of Friendship // by Cold Bolt //------------------------------// "Guys!" The front door burst open as a diminutive dragon rushed inside. Skidding to a stop, Spike looked around the living room. Only one of the ponies he was looking for was present, sitting on a couch nearby. If she had noticed Spike's entrance, she gave no notice of it; one wing outstretched, she appeared to be picking insistently at her feathers with her teeth. Scowling, she spent several seconds on one feather in particular before finally giving up, flapping her wings a few times in frustration before lying back against the couch and crossing her forelegs. "Um... you okay there, Waterwing?" Waterwing finally looked up, her expression brightening as she caught sight of Spike. In an instant, she leapt off the couch and scurried over, scooping him up in a hug before he could react. "Oof! It's... nice to see you too," said Spike in spite of the forelegs squeezing him just a little too hard, "but can you put me down now?" With a sheepish grin, Waterwing released her grip on him, her wings flapping as she signed a proper response. Eyes narrowed, Spike glanced over his shoulder to make a quick head count of his own wings - all zero of them. "Yeah, I totally know what you mean," he deadpanned. When Spike turned back to face her, Waterwing smiled again. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" Spike snapped his claws. "We got an important message from the princess this morning, and Twilight wants to gather everypony in the library." He glanced around. "Um, so... where are Scarlet and Tank?" Waterwing pointed a hoof at the bathroom behind her. The door was slightly ajar, the faint sound of splashing water coming from beyond it. Curious, Spike quirked an eyebrow at Waterwing before nudging the door open and walking in for a better look. The two ponies in question were in the bathtub, steam rising from the warm water. Scarlet sat with her eyes closed and a contented smile on her muzzle; behind her, Tank gently massaged shampoo into her cerulean mane with his forehooves. As Spike stepped into view, their eyes met. "Oh! Hey Spike," said Tank. "What's up?" Spike stared for several seconds. Suddenly feeling as though he had intruded on something private, he turned to one side, scratching his head. "Uh, well, um... Oh! Twilight wanted everypony to meet in the library. We got an important message from Princess Celestia this morning." Scarlet opened her eyes, still smiling. "Is this something that can wait a few minutes, or is it urgent?" "Um, probably?" Spike coughed once. "I mean, it can probably wait. Twilight's still on her way to go get Applejack and Fluttershy." Scarlet tilted her head back and closed her eyes once more. "Of course. We will hurry over as soon as we are finished here." "Right." Spike twiddled his claws. "I'm... gonna go, then." Without another word, he retreated from the bathroom, pulling the door most of the way closed as he went. "Is... that normal?" he asked Waterwing, pointing at the bathroom door. Waterwing tilted her head. "Those two, uh, bathing together." Waterwing nodded vigorously. She hesitated for a moment. To be fair, Spike realized, he had shared a bath with Twilight plenty of times in the past, but that had been mostly when he was much younger, before he had learned how to do it for himself. In the end, he shrugged. "I guess not. Well, meet us at the library when you're all ready, okay?" Eight ponies stood in a semicircle around Twilight and Spike in the main room of the library. "Go ahead, Spike," said Twilight. Spike cleared his throat, holding up a small scroll. "To Twilight Sparkle and associates: You are hereby cordially invited to the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Captain Shining Armor, to be held in Sardonyx Chapel in Canterlot on - " "Your brother is getting married?!" All eyes in the room suddenly locked onto the speaker, who turned out to be Rarity. Rainbow Dash's gaze flicked back and forth between Twilight and Rarity. "Wait a sec. Twilight has a brother?" Tank quirked an eyebrow at Rarity. "And you knew this somehow, where the rest of us didn't?" Rarity tossed her head back. "Darling, if you're not up to speed on the latest gossip, you have no one to blame but yourself." Tank rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever." Twilight cleared her throat. "To answer your question, Rarity... though I wish I had been informed at some point before the official invitations were sent out, yes." "Your own brother didn't tell you he was getting married?" Fluttershy's ears drooped. "That's awful..." "Well..." Twilight sighed. "To be fair, he hasn't told me much of anything in several years now, nor the other way around. I suppose I should tell you all the story..." Clearing her throat again, Twilight began pacing back and forth. "I'm sure it comes as no surprise when I say that I wasn't the most sociable filly; I just didn't see a point to getting to know other ponies when I was perfectly satisfied with just my books for company... but there was still one pony whose companionship I wouldn't have traded for anything: my big brother, Shining Armor." She stopped pacing and sat down. "We played games, we flew kites... We were inseparable, and we always got along. I don't think we fought over anything even once." "You and your brother never fought? Ever? Seriously?" Tank glanced around. "I mean, that sounds fake to me, but okay." Twilight carried on, paying no heed to the interruption. "But all that changed one day, when he told us he wanted to join the Royal Guard. Our parents supported his decision, of course, and so did I... but things were never the same after that. We went from best friends forever to near strangers practically overnight - he had so much studying and training to do to qualify for enlistment that he just didn't have any time to spend on me anymore." Waterwing resisted the urge to gallop forward and hug Twilight, settling instead for sitting back and wrapping her forelegs around herself sympathetically. "For a while after he left, we used to get letters from him every now and then, but they stopped coming even before I left for Ponyville," Twilight continued. "I haven't heard from him in years... and I'm terrified that there won't be anything left of the Shining Armor I remember from my foalhood when I see him again." At this, Waterwing gave up her resistance, rushing forward and nearly bowling Twilight over in the process of giving her a fierce hug. "Aww, don't you fret, sugarcube." Applejack adjusted her hat. "No matter how long you been apart, he'll always be your brother. Not even time and distance are gonna change that." Twilight leaned into Waterwing's hug. "I wish I could be as confident as you about it, Applejack." "When is the wedding, precisely?" asked Scarlet. "Three days from now," said Spike, peering over a second scroll. "And there's some extra instructions from Princess Celestia here. She wants you guys to help out with the wedding." "Ooh!" squealed Pinkie, bouncing in place on elastic legs. "Does that mean I get to plan the reception? I haven't done a wedding reception in ages! This is gonna be so much fun!" Rarity's face lit up. "Oh, designing dresses for a royal wedding is the opportunity of a lifetime...!" Tank scratched his head. "You figure they need any help with security? You get all kinds of weirdos at events like this..." Ignoring the hubbub around her, Fluttershy approached Twilight. "Don't worry, Twilight. Everything will be okay in the end, I just know it." Waterwing nodded her agreement. Twilight sighed softly. "Thanks. I really hope I'm worrying over nothing, but... I can't shake the feeling that something is going to go badly, so I'll just have to do my best to be prepared for it." Turning toward the group once again, she raised her voice. "And speaking of preparation, we've got work to do if we're going to pitch in for this wedding. Everypony, be ready to leave on the first train to Canterlot tomorrow morning!" Twilight stared out the window at the landscape far below. The train was a ways up the mountain now; they would be reaching Canterlot in just a few minutes. Unfortunately, the dread building up inside her was dampening any excitement she may have had about the whole affair. Pushing thoughts of her brother from her mind, she focused instead on the other pony in the equation. Who was this 'Mi Amore Cadenza,' anyway? She'd never heard of such a pony, which struck her as odd considering she was supposedly a princess. At least that, she found, didn't seem too intimidating; Twilight knew how to handle herself around royalty... though she at least wished her brother's bride could have been someone she knew. "I still don't see what's so weird about it." Snippets of the nearby conversation drifted through Twilight's ears. "Well, it's a tad... how should I put this?" Rarity raised a hoof to her chin in thought. "Intimate? For a pair of simple friends. Unless... there's something else going on that you three aren't telling us?" She leaned forward with a conspiratorial smirk on her face. Tank's eyes narrowed. "Whatever you're thinking, I can promise you that's not it." Scarlet ran a hoof through her mane. "While I hesitate to describe our relations as 'simple,' I still fail to note the distinction. I suppose it must be one of the many aspects of our respective cultures that do not overlap." Pinkie grinned. "I think it's cute! I want a bath buddy now. Well, besides Gummy, I mean. He's not the greatest at getting those hard-to-reach places on my back," she admitted. Distracted as she was, Twilight hadn't noticed the pony suddenly sitting next to her until she jumped slightly at the feel of a wing gently draped over her shoulders, and turned to look. Though she had all but mastered the use of her wings for signing, there were still times when Waterwing would 'speak' with just her body and expressions. So it was that she tilted her head at Twilight, her eyes wide with concern. "I'll be fine, I promise," said Twilight, turning back to face out the window again. "I just need to... get this thing over with, I guess. I can't know how things will go until they happen, but it's hard not to worry about it anyway." She felt a face against her neck as Waterwing scooted closer, the better to offer what wordless reassurance she could. True to the conversation going on behind her, Twilight had been rather baffled at first by how strangely affectionate these three former humans could be at times. She had since grown to appreciate it, however; sometimes there was just no substitute for the gentle touch of another pony when she was worried or scared. Without warning, an ethereal pink screen passed from the front of the train to the back, leaving a strange tingling sensation in the passengers as it went. Rainbow Dash shuddered. "What the hay was that?" "A filter...?" Twilight stood up. Applejack blinked. "Say what?" "That was a filter," Twilight explained. "It's a sophisticated type of shield spell that blocks only what it's designed to block, and lets everything else through. It's..." She hesitated. "It's one of Shining Armor's specialties." Fluttershy wrapped her wings around her body. "Why is there a shield around Canterlot...?" Tank peered out the window. "I want to say it's probably just a precaution what with the wedding and all, but even then, this seems a bit excessive. That thing is enormous." The train car lurched as the brakes engaged. Rarity brushed idly at her mane. "Well, seeing as we're pulling into the station now, I hope we'll be finding out sooner rather than later. Undue stress causes split ends, you know." The train slowly ground to a halt. Before any of them could make for the door, it opened of its own accord, and a pair of armor-clad guards walked in. "Esteemed guests," declared one of them, "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza has come to receive you." Really? Twilight spent several seconds baffled by this, pulled from her reverie only by a gentle shove courtesy of Spike encouraging her toward the door. Once out on the station proper, her jaw nearly hit the floor. A pink alicorn stood before the party. Only barely taller than the ponies themselves, her sparkling regalia matched the purple and gold highlights in her otherwise pink mane. A crystalline heart adorned her flank, and her smile was broad and inviting. "Welcome, everypony!" said the alicorn, inclining her head in a small polite bow. "I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but you may call me - " "Cadance?!" Twilight blurted out. Cadance's eyes lit up. "Twilight!" The two rushed forward, embracing the instant they met. "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake~ Clap your hooves and do a little shake~" Their rhyme was accompanied by a series of hoof claps and the two of them wiggling their hindquarters at one another, and followed by a fit of giggles from both parties. Tank wrinkled his nose. "That's embarrassing." This earned him a scowl and a punch in the shoulder from Scarlet. "I had no idea my brother was marrying my old foalsitter!" Twilight beamed, her earlier apprehension evaporated. "This is amazing! I haven't seen you in so long... oh, we have so much to talk about!" "We definitely need to catch up," said Cadance. "But we should get you all settled in at the castle first, and I've got lots of work to do organizing the wedding." "Well you can count on us then," said Applejack, "on account of we're here to help!" "Oh, that's excellent news!" Cadance smiled at Applejack before turning back to Twilight. "So these are your friends then?" Twilight nodded, pointing a hoof at each of them in turn. "This is Applejack..." "Howdy." "Rainbow Dash..." "How's it hanging?" "Pinkie Pie..." "Hiya!" "Rarity..." "Charmed~" "Fluttershy..." "Um, hello..." "Scarlet Starbeam..." "Well met." "Tank Buster..." "Yo, what's up?" "Waterwing..." "Oh, uh, she days it's - " Twilight began. came Cadance's silent reply. Waterwing grinned. "And last but not least: my number one assistant, Spike!" She gave the dragon in question a quick pat on the head. Spike grinned, waving her hoof away. "Twilight, you're embarrassing!" "It's so nice to meet you all," said Cadance. "The guards will take care of your bags, so if you'll follow me, I'll show you to your rooms!" Twilight happily fell in step beside Cadance as the party marched on toward the castle. What was she even worrying about before? Everything was totally going to be fine!