The only chapter
In Equestria, if there was anything that the City of Canterlot was known for, it was the various events that would take place throughout the year. No matter the size of the event or what it was for, attending such festivities always left a lasting impression on anypony who was lucky enough in order to be there to witness it first-hoof. Of course, putting such events together isn’t an easy undertaking. In fact, there are times where the staff members under the payroll of the family need assistance in making such events as magical as they appear to be from year to year.
For such occasions, the go-to option was Storybook Events. A small group of individuals who had specialized talents in planning and coordinating events for almost any occasion, with their motto being to allow their customers the opportunity to ‘write their own pony tale ending’. They had helped the staff at Canterlot Castle a couple times before in the past. Some instances of their work include celebrations known about in advance, like the Summer Sun Celebration, as well as events that were orchestrated last minute. One primary example being the ceremony to commemorate the bearers of the Elements of Harmony after the defeat of Discord.
However, there was an event on the horizon that was coming… and their next client had some certain specifications for their pony tale ending.
By the time that the mare named Chrysti had returned back from her lunch break, most of her day had been annoying to say the least. Even though she was in charge of Storybook Events, running the business was rather difficult. Not just to meet the specifications of their clients, but to also be prepared for any potential changes that the clients might have. Of course, change was a specialty of both her and her employees and nothing they couldn’t handle.
However, the problem that annoyed her was that as of right now, it would be some time before any other major events. A lack of work meant that there would be a lack of chances for her and the rest of her employees to properly feed. If they can’t feed, then they can’t take care of themselves properly. Not only that, if anypony found out that they weren’t ponies at all, then Chrysti might lose everything that they were trying to establish for her kind.
So, it came as a surprise to her that just as she opened the door to her office and before she could put on a proper disguise or take a drink of her coffee, a pony was sitting inside and in front of her desk. One that had both wings and a horn, pink fur and a cutie mark the shape of a heart. Which could only mean one thing… Royalty.
“Hi there,” she spoke, looking back to her and not even looking deterred by the fact that she was looking at a changeling, “Are you Chrysti?”
“Y-yeah, that’s me… Though, how did you get in my office?”
“Oh, the guy at the front desk let me in,” the alicorn spoke again, “I think his name was… Kevin or something?”
Chrysti grumbled at that. Despite being a good employee, there were times where Kevin’s heart was much bigger than his brain. Now she had a member of royalty in her office who had seen her actual form. “Right. If I may ask, what exactly led him to bring you to me?”
“Well, when I told him that I was looking for somepony here that specialized with planning weddings, he said that you were the right ponies to talk to.”
That had Chrysti pause. A member of royalty… wanting to plan a wedding? Depending on how this conversation went, things could get rather interesting. “Well, he is right about that,” she said, before she looked back at the client, “I’m sorry, but I never got your name.”
“Mi Amor Cadenza,” she replied, before looking with an embarrassed smile, “Though, I prefer to go by Cadance.”
“Alright,” the changeling replied as she took a moment to write her name down. As she took a sip of coffee and felt the rush of caffeine flowing through her, she had a second question for the alicorn, “And how did you hear about Storybook? We don’t get too many clients of high stature such as you, but-”
“Oh, my aunt Celestia recommended you to me.”
That had Chrysti’s brain immediately pump the brakes on her train of thought. This pony, who just so happened to be led into her office, was Celestia’s niece!? She wasn’t even aware that the diarch of the sun even had a niece!! Then again, the changeling wasn’t one to pry into matters about family. Though, it was a bit of a surprise to think that the princess of the sun personally recommended them to her.
“I… see,” the changeling said, before a green glow was covering her horn as she pulled open the door of a filing compartment in her desk, “Well, before we begin, I think we should cover something before we get started. As you already might be aware, my staff and I aren’t exactly ponies. We’re changelings, and I would prefer that you keep that secret confidential. Many ponies lose their minds if they think that a monster has somehow invaded the city. Are we clear?”
Cadance nodded her head, which had Chrysti let out a deep breath, “Alright, that’s good. Now, you said that you wanted us to help prepare a wedding. Is that correct?”
“That’s right,” she replied, “My fiancé and I are finally tying the knot and I wanted to make sure that this wedding is one to remember. Though… I had a specific request, if you don’t mind.”
The changeling paused as she raised an eyebrow at that statement. Requests from customers were sort of normal, but based on how this alicorn phrased it, it seemed like they were unsure if it was a good idea or not. “What kind of request?”
“Well, you see,” Cadance nervously spoke, “Part of me is a bit of a thrill seeker. I’ve read many stories about how brave ponies fought against evil and saved Equestria and I… always wanted to see myself in that kind of role. Heck, my future sister-in-law is one of the elements of harmony! Yet, the only kind of excitement that I have ever gotten had been when I was first learning to fly and that was years ago. I was just thinking that since I’ll be married soon, it would be my last chance to-”
“Be the hero of your own story?”
“Yes! Exactly that,” the pink alicorn beamed, “I know it sounds a bit out there, but since your whole motto is ‘write your own pony tale ending’, I thought I could give it a try.”
It might not seem to have been much, but Chrysti found out a lot more than she thought she would. From what she understood, the client saw the wedding as her last chance to be able to do something heroic before she was married to the love of her life. If she thought correctly, they wanted to go all in on making sure this was a wedding to remember. With that in mind, a few ideas began to surface. Though, she wanted to at least run them by the client first before making any final decisions.
“Well, I think that’s something we can do-”
“Really!?”
“However,” Chrysti retorted, “The real question depends on how you want to do it. Fortunately, we have a few different options for you to choose from,” At this, the changeling levitated a large pamphlet over to the alicorn as she took another sip of coffee, “Feel free to take as much time as you need to think on what you would like. There’s no need to rush anything.”
She honestly thought that the princess would take some time to look at the options that were presented to her. However, after five minutes or so, it looked like their client had found something that caught her interest. “Can you tell me more about these two?”
The changeling adjusted the glasses that were on her nose as she eyed the option that Cadance had pointed to. “The ‘secret kidnapping’ wedding package with the imposter bait & switch add on? That’s… well, it’s an option.”
“How would it work?”
“Well, to explain that, I’ll have to show you something,” Chrysti said as she rose up from her chair. In a flash of emerald magic, the changeling office worker that stood in front of the alicorn transformed into what looked like an identical copy of her. What surprised Cadance even more was that Chrysti was talking in her own voice, “Changelings, like myself, are creatures that specialize in transformation magic. So ideally, this would mean that we could look like anypony and sound like them if we have a good reference.”
Another emerald flicker and the changeling turned back into her normal self before letting out a small sigh, “This package would have it to where somepony important to the wedding can be replaced with an ‘imposter’ that looks and behaves like them. However, with the bait and switch add on, the real pony that was kidnapped would come in to ‘expose’ the fake to prove that they’re lying… at least, in theory.”
That small remark soon had Cadance raise an eyebrow, “In theory?”
“Truth be told, even though we have it as an option, we never actually put it into practice since nopony really seemed interested in it,” Chrysti admitted, “Couples seem to be more interested in things like romantic seaside dining and other less… risky alternatives-”
“I’ll take it then.”
Now the changeling was even more surprised. Hearing that Cadance was a thrill seeker was one thing… but actually wanting to do an option that many other ponies would see as downright crazy? That was something different. “Really?”
“But, I also had another idea if you don’t mind,” the alicorn added, “I noticed a couple other add ons from some other packages that I was interested in and I was thinking that maybe they could all be combined together? Because if this were an actual story, the secret imposter and bait & switch only seem like the beginning of something bigger.”
At this point, Chrysti was curious as to what Cadance was proposing. “Go on.”
“Would it be possible to add the surprise invasion, overwhelming odds and unforeseen comeback add ons to what we already have? In that order?”
At first, such an idea sounded crazy. The add ons that were here were more suited for royal guard celebrations, birthday parties and company paintball tournaments. Yet, the more that she thought about how everything would come together, the more that she realized that this… was actually possible. The narrative for how such an event would play out basically wrote itself, something that Chrysti had never even considered before.
“Actually, it’s possible. I’ll have to do some workshop with the narrative, but that is definitely something we could do.” As she spoke, Chrysti took out a form from her desk with her magic and attached it to a clipboard to write everything down. As the changeling was writing, she began to recite everything, “So, one secret kidnapping wedding package, with the imposter bait & switch, surprise invasion, overwhelming odds and unforeseen comeback add ons. Does that sound right?”
A smile and a nod from the pink princess was enough to tell her what she needed to know as the changeling continued, “Alright. With that in mind, there are a couple other things that we’ll need to discuss. First thing that comes to mind is our timeline. Was there a particular date you had in mind for this special occasion?”
“About seven to eight months from now. It would be sooner, but my husband’s duties with the Royal Guard leave him with a rather tight schedule.”
“Alright, good to know. Now, were there any other details about the wedding that you want to mention now? Like ideas for music or catering-”
At the mention of catering, Cadance’s ears perked up as an idea surfaced in her mind, “Oh, can we bring in a hidden cake? A record breaking one that’s made of pizza? In the shape of a heart?”
That question just had Chrysti raise an eyebrow as she looked back at the client, “You want me… to sneak a cake under Celestia’s nose? With all due respect, princess, I plan weddings. Not miracles.”
“Isn’t a multi-layered pizza cake just technically lasagna?”
Chrysti was going to say something in response. Though, the alicorn’s response just left her with more ideas to consider. “You know what, I… actually haven’t thought about it like that before,” she then shook her head to snap her mind out of that train of thought to refocus herself, “What about the main event itself? Does anything come to mind?”
“Well, there was this one idea that kind of circulated in my head a little for a villain,” the alicorn replied, “I was thinking that the villain was a jealous queen. Somepony who wanted to kidnap the bride so she could have the groom to herself. I even thought of a name for that character, if it works for you.”
“Really?” Chrysti asked, “What did you have in mind?”
“How does the name ‘Queen Chrysalis’ sound to you?”
“I… actually like that name,” the changeling remarked, “But now that I think about it, how are we going to get Celestia on board with this? You know that if we go through with it, she’ll take all of this as an actual threat.”
“I know… and I think I got that covered.”
“So, let me get this straight,” Celestia asked as her niece and the planner for her wedding stood in the hall of elements, “For your wedding, you want to fake being kidnapped, having a ‘villain’ try to seize your future husband after impersonating you, have me pretend like I get defeated by said villain so that the Elements of Harmony go to fight the ‘invading army’ that’s coming in… and then you find a way to push them out using the ‘power of love’. Is that right?”
“Auntie, I know this… seems a bit excessive.”
“Oh, it’s more than a ‘bit’ excessive,” the diarch of the sun replied… before giving off a devious smirk, “And I’m actually all for it.”
“Really?”
“Of course, faking a full scale attack on Canterlot is not an easy undertaking. But honestly, with how quiet things have been here over the last few centuries, I’m surprised that nopony suggested anything like this sooner,” the princess of the sun smiled, “Hay, I might even have this be a future learning experience for Twilight.”
“Huh,” Chrysti said. When she learned that Cadance was going to explain everything they discussed with Celestia directly, part of her feared that she would be adamantly against their plans. However, she did not expect for the princess to actually be on board with their proposal. “I honestly thought that was going to go in a rather different direction.”
As she said that, Celestia just gave her a warm smile. “If it helps any, I happen to know a few places where you can ‘rehearse’ without being seen. There’s even some abandoned tunnels underneath the castle that’s closed off to the public if that works.”
“I think that would work rather well,” Chrysti replied, just as the solar princess excused herself in order to return to day court after her personal recess, “By the way, Ms. Cadance… was there anypony else that we should tell about this? Perhaps your future husband?”
“Nah, if we told Shining, it would just spoil the fun,” Cadance giggled, “Besides, it’s not like he’s going to overreact or anything if he finds out.”
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This was pretty funny!
After seeing that image, I knew it was only a matter of time before someone made a story about it.
Decently humourous, though I’ll admit, I’m not really a fan of nation rulers pulling stuff this petty and ridiculous behind everyone’s back, especially when it has the capability to ruin some creatures’ lives in the process.
I'm writing a chapter and logged onto this website to
procrastinatetake a break when this popped up, and I just gotta say that I really enjoyed this comedic oneshot you wrote.11280483
Glad to hear it. Thanks
That was fun.
Uh oh, she can't act. Either way fun story haha
Yeah, this isn't going to end well for Cadence in the future. When Twilight finds out, and she will find out, she's going to be royally pissed that Cadence pulled this whole thing without her knowledge. She went through her friends and mentor doubting her, faced a grave danger, and nearly lost at the end. Twilight would be absolutely livid it was all an act and that she wasted her time and effort into "saving" Cadence. Her relationship with Cadence and Celestia would either be broken completely because of trust issues, or extremely strained to the point they would only speak in dire emergencies and have no physical contact with one another.
As for Shining, he'd probably be getting the divorce papers ready for letting his wife allow another lady to mind control him and purposefully nearly destroy Canterlot.
Needless to say, when it's all revealed, Cadence is really up the creek with no paddle. There's no way Twilight won't find out eventually through investigation or a Changeling making a slip of the tongue.
I feel a sequel is needed exploring this.
It might be the painkiller than them on but I am truly loving this story
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canterlot_Wedding#:~:text=%22A%20Canterlot%20Wedding%22%20is%20the,and%20written%20by%20Meghan%20McCarthy.
Damn. Celestia knew her guards are awful and can be taken out by some dedicated actors, lol
11280766
Holy baby jesus i'm old
11280797
i.imgflip.com/6kq4dh.jpg
https://imgflip.com/memegenerator/152164837/Matt-Damon-gets-older
11280795
I mean... since when has the guard been competent?
11280579
Or Celestia had to "fake being such a bad actor" to hide the fact that she was mere acting during the invasion. That works, too.
I like this idea.
11280825
Well I'd think the guard would be clued in, as a prank on their C.O. I'd imagine things would go horribly wrong with this set up if competent guards start stabbing actors with spears thinking they were actually under attack
That's such a great idea. And from what we've seen of Cadance, I can see her doing it, too.
Oh hey, upvote number 100 on me!
11281194
Thanks man. I'm glad everypony's liking it ^^
I wonder if there were any other faked events?
Great story, 10/10 from me. :)
11281299
One can only wonder, I suppose
Amore
Cadance [And everywhere else. The nickname is Cadance with an A. One can consider it stupid but that is the canonical way it's written. Probably due to trademark law.]
11280749
Hmm Don't think it would go that way. As Celestia said it IS a training exercise for Twilight.
11281380
That doesn’t mean either of them will be okay with it.
The wedding was nothing but a smokescreen Twilight. Even the explosions were planned. They played us like a damn Fiddle!!!
11280749
Sounds a little like you're describing the big Discord reveal in Season 9...
11281608
Huh... I didn't even realize that until now
Honestly makes more sense than the cannon. Plus, it is vary funny.
hahaha, whoops
I like this version of events.
11280811
Perfection
11282020
Thanks
can I see one made by you ?
https://imgflip.com/memesearch?q=old
Well i think the Changelings are giving pinkie a fight in the party planning
11282544
Or trying.
Something tells me that some of the workers didn't get the memo of the guest list
11281608
Not really.
11281380
I don't think so. Twilight really didn't learn anything from the original timeline. This comes off more like Celestia purposefully messed with her. That's also not getting into how Shining would probably he equally angry at Celestia as he would be at Cadence for letting someone control his mind. This lesson would blow up in her face.
I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel with the aftermath or even showing all of Chrysalis's other appearances were planned as well
Well, with this line of logic, are all the villains running off a script?
I'm immagining Chrysalis as Edna Mode, "Please darling, I'm a professional."
11280579
Chrysti considered all the time and effort that had been put into their dress rehearsal, all the endless hours with Princess Celestia trying to get her to learn her lines... Well, that Kevin put in on tutoring Her Highness, the Princess of Ham Acting. There was only one possible word she could use to describe the fiasco that would unfold in a few hours, and regardless of her Royal Client's Aunt being right there with excited puppy-dog eyes and looking to be patted on the head for the 'good job' she had done in her role, she had to say it.
"Bollocks."
Celestia blinked several times and beamed. "I was that good?"
"You were..." Changelings who were honest did not last long in this business, and Chrysti forced a small smile, or at least exposed her teeth. "You were exceptional. I don't think I've ever had an actress who turned in a performance quite that remarkable. I think we're going to have to go with Plan B for tomorrow."
"Plan B?" Celestia looked contemplative, which had to be a real expression because she could not act her way out of a wet paper bag. "I don't recall that in the script."
At that point, Kevin gave a short but powerful blow downward with the lead pipe he had been holding, and Celestia collapsed to the cool marble tiles like a sack of spuds.
"Plan Bonk," said Chrysti. "Ok, Kevin. We'll cocoon her up for tomorrow and stuff her behind the stage. You know your lines?"
There was a brief flare of green magic and Kevin posed majestically with his flowing pastel mane flowing behind him. "Piece of cake," she said.
11283238
... Okay, I see that as officially Canon now. Congrats
This is Icey! I’m so happy I’ve inspired a story out of something I put out, that’s a first for me. It’s so surreal I love it.
Had a blast reading this ❤️
11283238
Oh, fuck YES! That's even better! PERFECT!!
11283396
I'm glad that you like it as well. Your work is a perfect source of inspiration.
11283023
Maybe. I remember it being a theory back in season 2 that Discord was just taking orders from Celestia.
After all, if the official story was to be believed, and the royal sisters turned him to stone 1000 years prior and he's after vengeance...why in the world would he upon release leave Canterlot where Celestia is completely alone and go rushing off to rain chaos upon Ponyville, a town that hadn't even existed when he was last active?
Watch those episodes carefully, and you'll notice that there are no cotton candy clouds or floating trees or anything anywhere except in Ponyville, which he says he's going to make "chaos capitol of the world. When they're talking outside the hedge maze, and in the scenes where they have to walk between Canterlot and Ponyville...no chocolate rain, no checkerboard ground, no nothing. The "chaos" is all centered on Twilight. Why?
Because Celestia's student needed to be tested.
If he was really trying to win, why was he so helpful? Why would he have taken her back in time to remind her what she needed to do to beat him? If he'd really been turned to stone by the elements 1000 years prior, then he should know that they work. Why would he patiently sit there and wait and let them work their magic on him again? Why would he hide the elements in Twlight's house...in a book, except that it was the one place he knew she'd definitely eventually look? And notice that while he "discorded" her friends, he left Twlight completely alone. Discord didn't turn Twilight gray, she did that to herself when she lost hope, and if you watch that scene you'll see Discord obviously trying to cheer her up, and when she doesn't respond there's a moment where he breaks character and looks worried, like he went too far.
This makes sooo much more sense than canon, so much more so it’s now been assimilated. Fantastic job!
11280749
Oh no. See Shining forgot to tell Twilight he was getting married, but Cadance did. So Twilight was in on it!
This would explain lots of things in canon. Probably seasons 8 and 9 were just one overextended play. LOL.
I liked your story, but if I had to bring up one, overall issue, is that the cover picture was perhaps TOO good. So much, in fact, that it spoiled half the jokes in the story. I get it that it was the inspiration for the story, but maybe the speech bubbles could have been erased? Then the appropriate moments in the narrative would have packed more of a punch. Just a thought.
11281376
Honestly, canon or not, Cadence looks so much better written down. Cadance just makes no sense.
11284425
That is only a matter of personal preference, NOT an objective fact. I’m partial for the Cadance spelling due to its canonicity. Names are usually non sensical anyway.
11284442
I know, but if you always let canonicity define your tastes, you're gonna have a bad time.
This is actually kinda brilliant.