//------------------------------// // The lost princess // Story: Changing Fates // by Ulthor //------------------------------// Chapter 3 *Some time after Discord was turned back to stone* Twilight was looking at herself in the mirror, as she had often done since things turned back to normal… Well, as normal as could be with a pony named Pinkie living in town. Twilight had been just silently staring at herself, not really doing anything, she didn't brush her teeth or wash her face during this time of the day lately, at least not for some time before she gathered up some courage like she had been doing each day, as she then checked her teeth to see they were normal and let out a relieving sigh, before checking everything else aswell, her mane and tail were normal, her eyes looked like they always looked, no odd materials on her body or discolorations and… Her new wings looked fine… "Ugh, why can't I just get over this already? Is it because of the wings? Is that why I keep thinking something is wrong?" The new alicorn sighed once more before she started the rest of her daily ritual as she now actually took her toothbrush into her magic and started to brush, only to check her teeth once more while she was doing so, but since her teeth were the same as ever she kept brushing till she was done, after rinsing she washed her face and went down for a nice breakfast. Today there was going to be something called the sisterhooves social and Twilight had decided to take the day of to watch it, she was actually looking forward to a simple day for once with everything that seemed to happen lately, not to mention that till she would be officially crowned a princess after she would have learned enough, they had decided for her to hide her wings, which made things a bit harder at times as wearing something over them to hide them was a lot easier, but it had also meant she had to be careful not to accidentally move them as she almost had done once or twice. She told herself that it would be fine now though, since she was just going to relax a little while watching this event, normally she would have read a book or two to do so, but ever since she realized the book that Discord had given her didn't vanish at all, she had been feeling a bit reluctant to read something, what if he had done something else and she would find herself unable to relax while reading anything else? She knew it was a silly fear and would get over it soon enough, especially since a new Daring Do book was coming out next week and she would be damned if she were to miss that. But today she would enjoy something else, so she went to the sisterhooves event, it was surprising to see Sweetie Bell participate in the event with Applejack rather then either of them doing so with their sisters, but Twilight decided not to make too much of it and just watch the event. It had been fun watching them all compete and at the end she was surprised to see that Rarity had switched places with Applejack, Twilight wondered if this was even allowed so she when to ask why they did so and if it was allowed, as it turned out Rarity and Sweetie had had a slight fight before the event and this was meant to make things right again, Twilight also noticed that none of them said if it had been legal or not, but because of the lesson learned and not wanting to cause some new friction, she decided to leave it at that. The rest of the day went by normal and at one point Twilight had even opted to try and read again, letting out a big sigh of relief as she realized everything was fine, before she was slightly annoyed with herself for even thinking she could ever lose her love for reading, no matter what anypony else did to her. Later that night she looked at herself in the mirror once more, this time however, she felt foolish for ever doubting herself. "I can't believe I was worried over nothing, it was obviously all some kind of trick." Twilight said to herself as she started to turn around and head for the door. "It's not like my eyes would just suddenly change just because I wanted to see how they had looked like." She closed her eyes as she chuckled to herself and opened the door, not noticing the small flicker of a lavender flame that had just passed her eyelids as she headed into her bedroom, before she wondered why everything had suddenly seemed a lot brighter even if it was supposed to be dark here, before she closed her eyes once more, yet again not noticing the small flame and when she opened them this time, everything looked as she had expected. *Seven months after Discord was resealed, Hearts and Hooves day* Twilight was humming to herself that morning as she had a certain spring to her step while walking with Pinkie and Dash to get some breakfast. "Wow, I've never seen you so chipper in the morning Twi." Dash said. "Normally at this time of day you'd be grumbling about it being too early and not wanting to leave your bed for several more hours, and that's when we actually have something planned! What made you get up so early?" "I don't really know to be honest, I've always felt more energized on this day." Twilight replied, a smile on her face that could match Pinkie's, which it did. "Oh! Perhaps it's because of all the sweet smells that come from all the pieces of candy and beverages made on this day! I always wake up early to make some for all my super duper friends on this day." Pinkie said with a chipper sound as she took out two small bags. "Speaking off, these are for you two." Dash looked inside the one given to her and took out a small heart shaped piece of candy, before reading what it said. "To my bestest fastest superist flying friend in the whole wide world… How did you manage to put all this on such a small piece Pinkie?" Dash asked before looking at Twilight. "What's on yours Tw… Did you already eat them?" Twilight who had taken one look inside the bag she was given, only to then instantly put her whole head into the bag and scarf down the pieces of chocolate candy as quickly as it would take to blink, and by now had her muzzle covered in chocolate, looked over at Dash sheepishly. "Urm… Maybe?" Dash looked a bit perplexed. "What the? Since when were you such candy lover?" "Oh, is it because I made yours from chocolate? I ran out of regular sugar for personal usage, all the rest was meant for the bakery, so I made yours out of chocolate, I didn't know you loved it so much." Pinkie seemed obviously pleased that her friend had loved them so much. "Hehe, yeah, I do love chocolate, it's my one weakness you could say… Though normally I can at least hold back a little, there's something about this day that just makes me unable to hold back." Twilight thought back to the first time she had chocolate on Hearts and Hooves day. "I think it all started when I was still a little filly and some classmate gave me a box of fancy chocolates, I never understood why he gave me that, I never even saw him that often, just during classes, so it's not like we were friends." "… Seriously Twi? You should be glad that Rarity isn't here." Dash had a deadpan look in her eyes as she looked at Twilight. "Why? What did I say?" Twilight asked, seemingly completely oblivious. "Isn't it obvious? That kid likely liked you Twi, I mean sure friends give other friends stuff like candy and chocolate at times on this day, but it's mostly just obligatory candy, the only other time chocolates are given, especially fancy ones, is when they like you!" Dash nearly shouted that last part but had managed to not shout it too loudly so everypony could hear, as she then crossed her front hooves while flying. "Hmph! I can't believe the egghead even got some candy or chocolates from somepony other then a friend before." Dash then grumbled to herself. This led to Twilight blushing furiously while trying to convince Dash that it wasn't like that, as Dash tried to tell her that she was just oblivious to the whole thing and that Twilight didn't even seemed to notice that both stallions and mares often stared at her, which made Twilight slowly turn more and more red as she told Dash that it was just because she was Celestia's student. *Roughly around the same time, far away in the badlands* A changeling queen named Chrysalis wakes, the love that reached the hive from a nearby village was felt quite strongly, normally such an amount of love would be enough to feed the hive for several weeks, but since it came from that far away it had little nourishment and tasted sour, not to mention that while it may be plentiful, it was spread through the air too much to actually be stored, so they would only eat it if they were starving, but then again, Chrysalis' hive was never starving, she made sure to have harvesters all over Equestria, and after a day like today they would certainly bring back a ton of it. That still didn't take away the sour taste in the air though, and sour love unlike sour candy tasted vile, so she couldn't sleep in on days like these, much to her displeasure. So the queen decided to take another look at some of the old reports she had, especially the one mentioning the return of Nightmare Moon and how she was beaten by a unicorn and her friends who used the elements of harmony, the report had plenty of conjunctures rather then actual facts, but that was to be expected when nopony gave a formal statement as to what had happened, likely to protect Celestia's sister Luna, but the changeling could make a better guess as to what had happened then a pony would, since they knew the truth from so long ago. Princess Luna was Nightmare Moon afterall, the elements had likely been used to destroy the power she had wielded as Nightmare Moon, and Celestia being the optimist she had become over the years would likely had hoped that would make her sister remorseful for what had happened. "Hmph, still the same fool she has always been, if anything Luna would just act like that and then turn on you the moment she would regain her former might, like she did to me so long ago…" Chrysalis said before she sighed, having just remembered an old wound in her heart. "They both deserve to be punished for what they did to us, but with that foolish sun princess still at full power and those element wielders at their beck and call, we can't even get near them, let alone that created alicorn that Celestia sees as a niece now and Luna recovering, there's nothing we can do… If only there was some way to get them all together and let down their guard, then we could just take them all out in one fell swoop!" She slammed her holed hoof down onto her throne. A changeling came running into the throne room looking out of breath, as if having run all the way here from Canterlot in one go, it would certainly explain why there had been no warning through the hivemind. "Fastfoot? Why are you here? Didn't I tell you to spy on that mare Celestia calls a niece?" Chrysalis asked with a raised eyebrow. "You did… I found… Something… You'll find… Interesting…" Fastfoot said out of breath, before holding up a piece of paper and falling to the floor as he tried to get his breath back. The queen used her magic to float the piece of paper towards her as she let him rest while reading it, as she did though, a grin started to appear on her face. "This is… Quite interesting indeed, and your sure this information is correct Fastfoot?" The changeling on the ground was still too much out of breath to respond properly, but he did manage to nod and produce another piece of paper. "This… Is from Nightwatch…" "Nightwatch? Hmm, isn't he the one I had check out the family of that unicorn that holds the elements of magic?" Chrysalis thought to herself as she floated to other piece of paper towards herself and read this one aswell, before a large fanged smile appeared on her face and she connected to the hivemind. "It's time! Prepare yourselves, we've found the perfect time for our revenge! And with the perfect pawns aswell! We have a wedding to attend to! And we only got about half a year to prepare." *About half a year later, give or take a few days, 2001 AH, Ponyville* Twilight and her friends are having a nice picnic on a beautiful day as Spike comes running along, he then stops in front of her as he tries to catch his breath and starts to speak. "Twi... light! ...I... have... Lemme just…" He then belches up a letter and falls to the ground. Twilight decides to let him rest as she picks up the letter and begins to read. "Dear Twilight, I am sure you are as excited as I am about the upcoming wedding in Canterlot." She stops and looks at the others in confusion. "Wedding?" As she then focuses on the letter once more. "I will be presiding over the ceremony, but would very much like you and your friends to help with the preparations for this wonderful occasion. Fluttershy, I would like you and your songbird choir to provide the music." "Oh my goodness, what an honor." Fluttershy replied as she smiled. Twilight continues the letter. "Pinkie Pie, I can think of no one more qualified than you to host the reception." Pinkie does some flips over their picnic, even going over the cake they brought with them in the process. "Hip, hip, hooray!" While fixing the damage Pinkie did to the picnic, Twilight continues. "Applejack, you will be in charge of the catering for the reception." "Well, color me pleased as punch!" Applejack replied. "Rainbow Dash–" As Twilight continues Dash let's out a yawn, expecting it to be boring. "...I would very much appreciate it if you could perform a sonic rainboom as the bride and groom complete their "I do's." Dash suddenly seems really exited as she flies a few feet into the air and yells. "Yes!" "Rarity, you will be responsible for designing the dresses for the bride and her bridesmaids." Twilight then continues and looks towards Rarity. Rarity seems flabbergasted for a moment. "Princess Celestia wants me to–" She seems to spasm slightly while trying to say something that comes out as unintelligible. "...Wedding dress? For a Canterlot wedding... I, ah, ooh, oooh!" She then proceeds to faint with a big smile on her face. Twilight decides to read the last part of the letter however. "And as for you, Twilight, you will be playing the most important role of all: Making sure that everything goes as planned. See you all very soon. Yours, Princess Celestia." Twilight seems a bit confused as she checks the letter once more aswell as the backside. "But... I don't understand. Who's getting married?" "Oh, wait! Uh, I was probably supposed to give you this one first." Spike then says as he pulls out another letter. Twilight then reads the new letter to her friends. "Princess Celestia cordially invites you to the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and…" She then gasps as her eyes go wide. "My brother?!" Everypony there gathers around Twilight as Applejack is the first to speak as she shakes her hoof, genuinely happy for her. "Yer brother's getting' married? Congratulations Twilight!" Twilight however seems displeased as she rolls her eyes. "Yeah, great news. That I just got from a wedding invitation! Not from my brother, but from a piece of paper! Thanks a lot, Shining Armor. I mean, really, he couldn't tell me personally?" Twilight picks up a sandwich and makes it act as if it was her brother and flaps the pieces of bread up and down as if talking. "Hey, Twilight, just thought you should know I'm making a really big decision that changes everything. Oh, never mind, you'll hear about it when you get the invitation." She then drops the fake voice. "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza? Who in the hoof is that?!" She then snorts some hot air out of her nostrils. Fluttershy flies up to her. "Um, Twilight? Are you okay?" Twilight looks slightly sad. "Sorry, it's just that Shining Armor and I have always been so close. He's my B.B.B.F.F!" After a small silence as the others seem confused. "Big Brother Best Friend Forever?" At this point the rest let out a big 'oh'. Pinkie decided to speak up. "It is a bit odd that he wouldn't have mentioned it to you when you told your family about becoming an alicorn, and soon a princess of your own, I doubt anypony would get engaged and married in about a year, so it's not like he didn't have any opportunity there either." Twilight froze up slightly from this. ". . . You did tell them, right?" Applejack asked as she noticed Twilight's odd reaction. "I couldn't! I'm still being trained by Luna to act appropriately and we promised to keep it a secret from anypony else!" Twilight replied in panic, undoing the illusion on her wings. "I even have to keep up this illusion for anypony else to prevent them from finding out to quickly!" "Ah'm fairly certain that don't include family, Twilight." Applejack then said as she put a hoof around Twilight. "And you can't expect them to tell ya if your keepin' your distance and not tellin' them stuff like this yourself." Twilight sighs a little bit in defeat. "I know, but I still hoped he would at least try and let me know he was even seeing somepony in the first place, I don't even know who this princess is." She sighs again. "Before I came to Ponyville and learned how important friendship was, he was the only pony I ever really accepted as my friend." She then went into a little song about her brother. And once the song was over, Applejack mentioned he sounded like a really good guy, which Twilight agreed with as they don't let just anypony become the captain of the royal guard, that in turn made Rarity even more exited and faint once more as the rest besides Twilight herself seemed really exited aswell. =====+++===== On the train to Canterlot, Applejack noticed that Twilight is still looking a bit down as the others are having fun and decides to talk to her. "Why the long face, sugarcube?" Twilight stares out of the window as she replies. "I'm just thinking about Shining Armor. Ever since I moved to Ponyville, we've been seeing each other less and less. And now that he's starting a new family with this "Princess Mi Amore Ca-whatshername", we'll probably never see each other." "Come on, now. You're his sister. He'll always make time for you." Applejack replies supportively. Twilight seems slightly angry as she replies. "Couldn't seem to make time to tell me he was getting married!" "Now that ain't fair, sugarcube, you didn't even tell him about your whole becomin' a princess thing." Applejack bounced back, and stopped Twilight from replying instantly. "And no, the whole we promised not to tell anypony thing ain't gonna cut it, as Ah'm sure family doesn't count, especially if your brother is the captain of the royal guard." Twilight was about to retort with something else, but couldn't really find anything and just sighed. "I know… But it just feels like I'm losing him and I didn't even get to prepare for it, at least with my transformation my life won't change that much, if nothing else it would likely require me to be in Canterlot more often, which would let us see each other more." "Don't worry, Ah'm sure it'll all work out in the end, you'll see." Applejack comfortingly replied. A bit later they arrived at the outer edge of some kind of magical bubble shield that covers the whole of Canterlot and the two guards standing outside of it next to the track make it passable just around where the train goes through, as they pass through it Twilight suddenly gets an odd feeling in her head, and hears some kind of faint whisper. "Ugh, who's whispering at me?" Twilight said to herself as she looks around to find nopony close near her. "What's going on here?" As they stop at the station they notice it's completely filled with guards and Dash mentions it, to which Rarity mentions it's likely because of the wedding and that they should get started on their work. Applejack looks at Twilight. "And you've got a brother to congratulate." "Yeah, congratulate, and then give him a piece of my mind." Twilight retorted. "Now, now, keep in mind your keepin' secrets from him too, ya should let him know aswell by the way, before your mind starts playing tricks on you out of guilt." Applejack said as she turned around to head for the kitchens. Twilight grumbled a bit, but heads for the barracks, knowing her brother will likely be there. =====+++===== Once there Shining Armor, Twilight's brother is busy giving commands, as Twilight then starts talking. "I've got something to say to you mister!" Shining looks over the balustrade and sees her. "Twily!" He then heads down the stairs on the side. "Ah, I've missed you kid, how was the train ride? Did you get bigger? I-" Twilight interrupts him before he can finish as she pulls away from him. "How dare you not tell me in person that you were getting married! I'm your sister, for pony's sake!" "It's not my fault! Princess Celestia has requested a major increase in security. Didn't you see all the guards at the train station?" Shining asked in response. Twilight walks off slightly while angry. "Yeah, there's a big wedding coming up. Maybe you heard about it?" Shining walks up to her. "It has nothing to do with the wedding. A threat has been made against Canterlot. We don't know who's responsible for it, but Princess Celestia asked that I help provide additional protection. This, you need to see." He then proceeds to gather magical energy and feeds it to the giant shield, leaving him slightly dazed for a second before regaining himself. "The burden of keeping Canterlot safe and secure rests squarely on my shoulders. Staying focused on the task at hand has been my top priority." Twilight sighs as she understands it slightly. "Okay, okay, I get it. You've got a really important job protecting all of Canterlot with a force field only you can conjure up. But still... how could you not tell me about something as big as your wedding? Am I not that important to you any more?" Reassuringly Shining stands next to her. "Hey. You're my little sister. Of course you're important to me. But I'd understand if you didn't want to be my best mare now." "You want me to be your best mare?" Twilight then asked slightly more exited, to which Shining just reacted with a yeah as if it was the most normal thing to expect. "I'd be honored! But I'm still pretty ticked you're marrying somepony I don't even know! When did you even meet this 'Princess Mi Amore Cadenza'?" Twilight asked in return. "Twily, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is Cadance, your old foalsitter." Shining replied in turn. Twilight was about to say something about that when she suddenly hears the whispers again, louder this time and almost as if some kind of order was being given, it made her head hurt slightly just trying to ignore it. Shining picked up on that her head suddenly hurt because she moved her hoof towards it. "Are you alright Twily?" "Yeah, I'll be fine, I've just been hearing some kind of whispers and it's hurting my head a little, perhaps I just got too much on my mind right now." Twilight replied while still rubbing the side of her head. "Whispers? Like what? Should we scry for hidden messages?" Shining asked in concern. Twilight sighs as she remembers her conversation with Applejack before. "I doubt it, I haven't been using a spell to detect anything myself in the first place, it's likely more because I've been meaning to tell you something and it's my mind trying to tell me not to blame you for not telling me when I haven't told you either, like my friend was trying to tell me." Shining raises an eyebrow at this. "Tell me something? Your not going to tell me your getting married aswell are you?" He then asks jokingly, before doing a fake gasp. "Or have you already been married!?" Twilight rolls her eyes in response before replying sarcastically. "Sure, that's what I was trying to tell you." "So who's the lucky guy?" Shining asked, continuing the joke. Twilight chuckled for a moment. "Like I'd ever tell you now if there even was some somepony I liked, and who's to say it would be a guy?" "… Alright, now I'm actually interested, do you actually have somepony you like?" Shining then asked. "Nah, don't worry BBBFF, your not getting rid of me that easily." Twilight said as she heard a slight whisper once more. It didn't hurt this time though, but before Twilight could react to it, a pink alicorn walked in on them. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important." The pink alicorn asked, who was then taken back slightly when Twilight looked straight into her eyes. "Those eyes, their almost just like… No, that can't be." The alicorn thought to herself. "Cadance? Oh my gosh! Cadance! That's right, he did say you were Mi amo-" Twilight suddenly grasped her head as another loud whisper she couldn't make out went through her head once more, this one felt like an order aswell. "Ugh…" Cadance raised an eyebrow at this and looked at Shining. "What's wrong with her?" "Twily said she's been hearing some kind of voices and getting a headache." Shining replied. "I'm fine, I think it's just my mind telling me to tell Shining something, don't worry about it Cadance, but why are you here anyway?" Twilight asked while rubbing her head. "Is she another changeling from another hive? A sleeper agent perhaps? Then is the elements of magic already taken care of? And why does she look so familiar to me?" Cadance who is in fact Chrysalis in disguise thought to herself, before deciding to not use the hivemind for a while and told her changelings to cease hive communications for a while, causing another reaction from Twilight and proving it likely to be true. Cadance now walks up to Twilight. "Do you want to rest a bit? We can always pick this up later." Chrysalis was actually a bit concerned at this point, mostly because this could ruin some of the plans, but also because while certain hives didn't always get along as well as others, she always cared for any innocent changelings. Twilight picked up on Cadance's concern for her and shook her head. "No, I'll be fine, I just think I really should tell him by now… Ah! But you likely already know huh Cadance? The princess would have told you already, so I guess I could show him while you’re here… Speaking of, your marrying my brother!" A small sound of glee came from Twilight. "This is so exiting!" This made Shining chuckle for a bit. "So then, what was this important thing that you kept hidden from me Twilight?" "Ah well, I wanted to tell you and mom and dad, but I thought that princess Celestia and Luna had meant for me to hide it from everypony, looking back it seems rather silly that they would have wanted to keep it hidden from my family so…" Twilight was interrupted by Shining. "Twily, your babbling right now, and what's so important that the princesses wanted to keep hidden? If it's some kind of state secret then I'm not sure I'm allowed to know of it." Shining said, slightly concerned. "Also, if this is about the whole apparently your from another time period thing, princess Celestia has already told our parents and me." He then added. "Different time period?" Cadance asked, slightly wondering what this meant. "I'll tell you later, my love." Shining replied, before quickly adding. "Unless that's what this is actually about." "Ah, no, it's not about that, though it is good to know she already told you like she promised to… But no, this is about something else." Twilight said. "Right, so… To tell this I should start at the start, you both know how my friends and I beat Discord a while back, right?" She then asked, making both Shining and Cadance nod, Chrysalis had read about it briefly in one of her reports and assumed Cadance would know aswell. "Good, that will make this a bit easier, Discord did something to all of us at first and I helped overcome what he did to my friends, then once we beat him we turned everything back to normal… Well, besides one thing he did to me, which is why I'm now using an illusion spell on myself that Luna taught me." Shining instantly became worried. "Are you alright? What did he do to you!? Are you in pain!?" Twilight waved her hooves in the air. "No, no, he didn't do anything that hurt me or anything, and we actually reversed what he did, it's more like because we overcame it a part of it turned real for me, but it's not anything bad!" As she tried to calm down her brother, she started by putting up a small illusion barrier around them. "The thing that happened is… Well, this." Twilight then undid the illusion magic on her wings, showing them both she's now an alicorn, causing both to look at her with a baffled look. "Uhm… Surprise?" Shining slowly regains his senses. "Your… A princess now? When were you planning to tell me?" "I'm not a princess yet! I'm just… An alicorn now, Luna is still teaching me to be a princess…" Twilight said meekly at this point, coming close to a good Fluttershy impression. "She became one after they defeated Discord? Then it must have been before she was replaced… Unless the element wielder has been a changeling all along, that could complicate things on it's own… And those wings and eyes, it's almost like… No, keep it together Chrysalis, this is all just a coincidence, she's gone… And why wasn't this in any reports? My changelings followed Cadance around everywhere to know all she knew… Did she not know either? Celestia must not have trusted her enough." Chrysalis thought to herself. Shining looks at Cadance who still has the same baffled look as she was too deep in thought to change it. "You didn't know either my love?" Cadance then snaps out of it. "Oh! Uh… No, perhaps it was something that was being kept from us afterall, it would seem like Celestia would tell you, her captain of the guard afterall, especially since she's your sister." Twilight then started to slightly panic. "Oh no! So I was right afterall?! I wasn't supposed to tell anypony, not even my family, what am I going to do!?" Cadance and Shining both blinked for a moment, as 'Cadance' got a small moment of weakness and felt the need to console her, though that was likely more because she now knew this Twilight was a changeling herself. "Calm down Twilight, deep breaths, I didn't mean it like that, she likely just didn't want to worry us, she won't be angry at you, and we can keep it a secret for now if you really want, right Shining?" "Huh? Oh, yeah, don't worry Twily, I won't let anything happen to you, and I'll take this secret to the grave if need be." Shining put a hoof to his chest to appear as knightly as can be. As Twilight takes a few deep breaths as told, she slowly calms down. "Thanks, but let's not go quite that far BBBFF, I wouldn't want to lose you over keeping a secret." A smile appeared on Shining's face as he headed over to Cadance and put a hoof around her. "Right, well I've gotta get back to my station now, but Cadance will be checking in with all of you to see how things are going. I think I speak for both of us when I say we couldn't be more excited to have you here. Right, dear?" "Hmm? Oh! Right, I nearly forgot about that with all this." Cadance then smiled gently at Twilight. "I couldn't be happier to have you here." She then said as she was glad that this Twilight was at least another changeling like her, though it would mean she would have to work out how to get the hivemind to work without this one noticing at least. Seeing Cadance's genuine smile, Twilight couldn't help but smile back herself as she headed out to do her job aswell, after reapplying her personal illusion on the wings of course. =====+++===== A bit later Twilight was in the kitchens with her notepad that had the checklist on it, as she watched Applejack go over everything she was doing. The first thing Applejack was working on was a giant wedding cake… Okay, perhaps not as big as Pinkie would likely make if she was given the chance, but it was still a giant cake for regular ponies. "Cake, check." She then said before heading to the ice sculpture as Twilight checked it off in her list. "Ice sculpture, check." Applejack said while putting the finishing touches to it and Twilight checked it off with a smile, before Applejack ran towards the oven. "Best darn bite-size apple fritter you ever tasted…" She then said as she took out a tray of them, before shoving one of the earlier ones she had made that had the chance to cool already into Twilight's mouth. "Hmm~ Check~" Twilight said as she swallowed the delicious goodness that was forced in her mouth, before she heard Spike playing with the bride and groom figures for on top the cake and chuckles before she took them from him and placed them on the table. "I didn't know you liked playing with dolls." She then said as she made a little fun of him. "Hey, their not dolls! Their act… Normal figures, I was just playing out how the wedding would go in my head." Spike replied as he crossed his arms and looked away from her, before he heard Twilight chuckle and looked at her once more. "Your awfully chipper all of a sudden, after what happened this morning and all, what happened?" "I found out who the bride is, it's Cadance." Twilight said practically beaming. "Your old foal sitter? That Cadance?" Spike asked as Twilight nodded. "I thought the name sounded familiar, that's great! You've always liked her like a sister in the first place, now you'll actually be sisters." "I know, isn't it great?" Twilight replied as the doors to the kitchen opened and Cadance came walking in. "Hiya princess." Applejack quickly replied before doing a slight bow with her head. Cadance now being in a slightly good mood because of earlier, smiled at Applejack as she recalled what Twilight had called her. "Please, any friend of Twilight can just call me Cadance." "Hiya, Cadance. You come to check out what's on the menu for your big day?" Applejack then quickly asked in reply. "I have." Cadance replied and followed Applejack who then showed her a platter of her special apple fritters, Cadance looked at them as she remembered the nostalgic feeling she had had earlier on and remembered a memory from the past. "Starswirl always loved apple fritters." A small genuine smile appearing on her face as she had that thought, she then levitated one to her mouth and took a bite out of it, remembering even more times from her past and smiling even more. "Their delicious." She then said genuinely meaning it, and nearly letting her voice quiver a bit from the memory, but luckily she had managed to prevent that. "Aw, shucks. Why don't you take a few to go?" Applejack presented a bag filled with them to Cadance, who took them with her magic. "I know how you brides can be. So busy, you forget to get a little somethin' in your belly." She said as she continued with her cooking. Cadance smiled a bit as she walked outside, sneaking one of them out of the bag and biting into it, remembering the past once more. "Perhaps… Perhaps I'll have her make me some more in the future once I take over." Were her thoughts as she headed for the next thing she had to do. =====+++===== Chrysalis had head to a part of the castle where not many ponies came, for a small meeting with one of her changelings in disguise, the changeling in question being one of the castle guards right now, as they closed the doors and checked for any magical spells that could be used to listen in on them, after making sure it was safe the changeling started. "My queen." He then bowed to her. "Why did you tell us to cease hive communications?" He asked, still slightly puzzled from before, as many of their comrades were right now. "I found a sleeper agent and didn't want to cause any internal issues with another hive, as I never gave the order for this position." Chrysalis said as she reverted back to her royal form. The changeling, now feeling comfortable enough to revert to his own form aswell, did so. "But your highness, surely they would understand, and once you've taken control here, you could simply send plenty of love as payment for such a thing, or offer them something else." "The position this one has taken is Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's student, sister to the groom and apparently the one Princess Mi Amore Cadenza used to foalsit, if she were to suddenly make sense of the hivemind and mention what she heard, it could make things quite difficult, Nightwatch." Chrysalis replied. "I see, that would make things a bit difficult indeed, but how will we relay orders then your highness?" Nightwatch asked. "There are quite a few changelings getting anxious right now." He quickly added. Chrysalis seemed to think for a moment. "Let some of them know everything is fine, and that it is merely a precaution measure to prevent detection till it's too late. Also tell them that I trust them to act naturally and that they should pass this on to any other changelings they can, but not go for too many or make it seem obvious, I trust them to not let these ponies notice anything off." "As you say, your highness… Your highness? If you don't mind me asking, but why did you promote me to a commanding rank? I hardly did anything." Nightwatch asked, feeling like he didn't deserve such a spot. "You provided me with some important information Nightwatch, as did Fastfoot, he would have been granted the same position as you, but he said he was better of as a runner because of his speed, so I give him a similar rank as I gave you but for the runners, you've always been a great spy however and I felt like this rank would allow for your expertise to rub off on those under your command." Chrysalis replied with a regal posture. Nightwatch bowed before her. "You honor me, your highness, I will do all I can to make sure not to betray your expectations." "I trust that you won't Nightwatch." Chrysalis said before turning back into Cadance. "Now let us return, before anypony get's suspicious." Nightwatch turned back into his royal guard disguise. "As you say, your highness." He did one last bow before the both of them headed out, Nightwatch heading for the nearest changeling to relay Chrysalis' message to them, while Cadance continued her own duties. =====+++===== "It's been ages since I last seen her, but I'm glad she's still the same caring pony I've known since my foalhood, I'm just so happy it's Cadance that my brother is marrying." Twilight gleefully said as she walked around with a spring in her step while talking to Rarity. "Did I hear somepony say my name?" Cadance said as she walked into the room. Rarity instantly headed for the princess and slid into place before her. "Your highness! Let me just start by saying what an honor it is to play a role in such a momentous occasion." Rarity said as she then laughed slightly nervously. With a small smile, Cadance looked at Rarity. "No need to be so formal, how is my dress? Is it ready yet?" "Yes, of course." Rarity said as she led Cadance to the dress "I've been working on it ever since I was given the assignment, and I think you'll be pleased with the results!" She then smiled wide with her pearly white teeth. Cadance inspected the dress. "Hmm, I was hoping for something with more beading and a longer train…" She said as she looked around the room to look for Twilight. "What do you think Twilight?" She then asked. "Huh? Me? Well, I think Rarity's designs are always really great, though I do suppose a longer train is more traditional for wedding dresses." Twilight replied. Cadance nodded. "Alright, I'll trust your judgement then." She looked back at Rarity. "Could you make it so the train is a bit longer then?" "Why yes, of course, just making it longer should be no problem at all, but if you really want more beading, then I could certainly do so." Rarity replied. "No need, I trust Twilight, and she trusts you, so that's enough for me." Cadance replied, before she wondered to herself just why she trusted Twilight so much, it certainly wasn't just because she was another changeling, right? But she quickly pushed away said thoughts as it didn't matter now that she had already said it, so instead she looked at the bridesmaids dresses. "Hmm, I wonder if these colors would match my bridesmaids, is there any chance we can alter them?" The bridesmaids there all said they liked them, before Rarity looked at them. "Hmm, I suppose there are some colors that suit them better, but that could have them shine more then you, your highness, and we all know that the bride should shine the most." Rarity replied. Cadance was about to say something about it being true and perhaps it should remain as is then, but for some reason she felt generous and happy today and decided against it. "That's alright, I want them to look as best as they can, it's a special occasion for them aswell. "Why yes, of course, your quite right there, princess Mi Amore Cadenza." Rarity said with a newfound appreciation for the princess. Cadance held a hoof to Rarity's mouth. "Please, like I said to Twilight's other friend, any friend of Twilight can just call me Cadance." She then removed the hoof. "Why, if that is your wish, very well then Princess Cadance." Rarity replied, which was greeted in turn by another small chuckle from Cadance, before she and Twilight left. =====+++===== A bit later in the area that is planned to be used for the reception. Pinkie appears behind Cadance. "Okay, let me see. We've been over the games…" Pinkie says as she then heads over to one side of the room and rattles some dice onto a board game before running back to Cadance. "...the dances…" Pinkie activates a record player and polka from Swarm of the Century plays and stops as she does a small dance, before running back once more. "I think this reception is gonna be perfect! Don't you?" She then asks. "Uhm… I don't know, isn't some of this a bit too… Foalish?" Cadance asks, not wanting to hurt the Pink pony's feelings, before also wondering why she doesn't want to, before this day she had planned to not care and just do what she had wanted to. "I mean, it would be perfect for any foals at the party." Pinkie then gasps and says thank you in an exited way, before Cadance continues. "But shouldn't we also have some more mature stuff for everypony else?" Twilight who was looking around the room walks up to them. "Hmm, she may have a point Pinkie, it's not like this is a birthday or anything, perhaps some quiet songs like a slow shuffle could be added into the mix for a more romantic feeling." "Hmm, I'll have to see if I have any in stock." Pinkie said as she pulled out a box filled with records from seemingly nowhere and started to rummage through it. "I'm sorry for not taking into consideration the romantic aspect Cadance." "That's quite alright Pinkie, I suppose you haven't done many wedding parties before now… Oh, you’re the first one of Twilight's friends to call me Cadance from the start." Cadance said. Pinkie bounced around with a smile on her face. "Well of course, you've been going around telling all of us to do so in the chapter so far." "Uh… Chapter? What is she…?" Cadance asked looking at Twilight who just shakes her head and motioned for her to not question it. "Right… Well, I really should be off now, I'll see you at the wedding." Cadance said before heading out, but not before taking out a familiar brown bag and eating something from it. =====+++===== Later that day as night has recently hit, a small hole appears in the force shield that protects Canterlot, before Luna flies through it and closes behind her, she then lands next to Celestia who was keeping watch from the highest tower of the castle. Luna walked up to Celestia. "I will take over the protection for the night while Twilight is here, so you should get some rest while you can sister." Luna told her sister. "Thank you sister, though it would be nice if you could take over a bit more often if possible." Celestia replied. "There are plenty of guards for other nights, I'm only doing this for Twilight, and I can safeguard the night itself while protecting the dreams of ponies without actually being here all the time. Plus I have no intention of being an actual princess anymore sister, so stop trying to get me to come back" Luna coldly replied with a determined look in her eyes. Celestia cringes slightly before sighing. "Very well, but at least come visit me every so often… I really did miss you sister." "Hmm, I will consider it… But go now, you'll need your rest for the morning." Luna said as she took her place to watch over the peace of the night. Celestia then took of with a small smile, as she had gotten at least some hope today. Meanwhile, at a café not too far away from the castle, Twilight walked over to her friends at a table outside with her drink. "Bet I can guess what you're all thinking. Cadance is the greatest bride-to-be ever." She said as she placed her drink down, getting approved looks from all of them. Spike took out the bridal figurine and put on a higher pitch voice, as he tried to make it sound like the figure was talking. "Who me?" Applejack looked disapprovingly at Spike. "Spike! That goes on the cake." She then said, making the little dragon put the figure on the table and chuckling nervously. "She was an absolute doll, not many brides care to have their bridesmaids look as good as possible, to the point that it might in fact make them look less on their own wedding, though I do hope to improve her dress to make sure that doesn't happen." Rarity said with a determined look. "She absolutely loved your apple fritters by the way Applejack, I saw her eat some of them after we were done with Pinkie." Twilight added, which elicited a happy 'aw shucks' from Applejack. "She was really nice to one of my birds when he sang off-key, and he was really off-key." Fluttershy said as she took out a bird who then proceeded to make a sound that a bad horn would make, making the closest nearby act slightly in surprise. "Well I wouldn't know." Dash suddenly said. "I was too busy practicing my sonic rainboom to notice her." "This is going to be the best wedding ever!" Twilight exclaimed. =====+++===== The wedding rehearsal the next day had gone off without any problems, well, almost none, it seemed like Cadance's bridesmaids had apparently only been there because they wanted to meet Canterlot royalty and not for her, so Twilight's friends were asked to be the bridesmaids instead, which they happily accepted. The day after that was the actual wedding, and everything was proceeding smoothly, but in Chrysalis' mind she was starting to wonder if she should go through with it, seeing as the changeling pretending to be Twilight was truly happy for her brother, which made Chrysalis think that if that sleeper agent was to remain as such it could potentially hurt her, plus she didn't really need to marry Shining Armor for her plan to work, she just needed to have all the important pieces together so she could take care of them. Unfortunately it seemed that Luna wasn't there, but seeing as she had kept watch these past few nights she was likely too tired to stay awake, or it might be that she's taking care of keeping watch during the wedding as Celestia couldn't, regardless though, Chrysalis knew that Luna would still be weakened even if she had had this much time to heal up, afterall the elements were powerful enough to completely imprison Discord in stone twice. Then there was the element wielder of magic herself who was now replaced by some sleeper agent, so she wasn't an issue, or she had been long ago and in that case it was a simple case of having her remember her actual roots, so that took care of that problem. Chrysalis had originally wondered if Cadance would pose any issue, but she was taken down the easiest, the young alicorn had no experience with magic it seemed and it had been easy to defeat her, after which a simple anti-magic ring on her horn and tying her up had been enough to keep her quiet, of course the crystal cavern below the castle proved to be a good place to keep her, she had made certain some changelings take care of Cadance while there, it was originally planned just as a backup plan to have a hostage if things went badly, but now she was considering to just release her afterwards, the young alicorn proved to be no issue and Chrysalis had no problem with her personally afterall. So now all that was left was Celestia herself, as long as she took care of her quickly, then Chrysalis knew Luna would be next and her revenge would be soon achieved, the plans to keep Equestria stable by taking control after that were of no consequence either if Cadance would be released afterwards, not to mention that if this Twilight took control after it, then perhaps this other hive would want to become allies for their help, yes, this was a much better plan and all it would take was for her to not actually marry Shining and instead just get her well earned revenge on Celestia and Luna. Cadance then heard Celestia say the magic words. "Do you, princess Mi Amore Cadenza, take this colt, Shining Armor, as your husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish…" Celestia was interrupted by Cadance. "I can't continue this farce." Was all Cadance said, as all there gasped, but before any could ask what she meant or respond in any other way then a gasp or a face that wondered what was going on, a green fire came trickling down Cadance as she turned into her royal changeling appearance of the queen she was. Chrysalis grinned as she stood before Celestia, as she started to focus her magic while Celestia was still in her surprised shock, Chrysalis quickly looked to the side behind Shining for Twilight, a slight wonder if the little changeling would suddenly wake up from her sleeper status, but when she found her, she didn't expect to see what she did though. Everypony was focused on the event happening before them, as all eyes were locked at Chrysalis, including Twilight's eyes, a feint fear suddenly bursting forth from what had happened with Discord, his words having stung so much and her denial of it all now suddenly shattering as in front of her stood something she had thought made up, this meant there had been a truth to his words. So then, had Discord been telling Twilight the truth about herself? And as she doubted herself for a moment, a purple flame crawled over her body, though it was quickly followed by another purple flame, making her appearance change only for a second in a rolling way as her normal pony form quickly followed it, undoing the illusion on her wings. Chrysalis looked shocked and stopped charging her magic however, as what she had seen should not be possible, Twilight's appearances as a changeling couldn't be true, those wings remained as actual pegasus wings, her left hoof had remained the same, the slight discoloration of her carapace, her eyes being like her own yet the color being remaining to be a deep purple and that horn, it looked almost like a smaller version of her own, something that can only be true if they had the same genetics, and then there had been that conversation a few days prior where Twilight had revealed herself as an alicorn and it was mentioned she was from a different time period, she had forgotten to ask Shining later on because of everything else that had happened that day, but it was slowly starting to fall into place. A second passed for her as things clicked in her head, but before she could react, Celestia suddenly blasted her away from the altar, apparently she too had seen Twilight change for a second and had snapped out of her own daze and as Twilight was now sporting the appearance of an alicorn, Celestia hoped that any that saw the change only saw the wings appearing, not wanting to cause a big commotion however, aswell as not wanting this changeling queen to snap out of it and hit her, she had quickly opted to simply take action before Chrysalis and quickly charged a small spell to fire. As Chrysalis slid to a halt on the ground, Celestia's guard quickly saw that moment as a opening and grabbed their weapons as they jumped at Chrysalis, only for changelings in the audience to jump before them in order to protect their queen, they would have likely have been pierced as they protected her had it not been for Nightwatch, who was currently in the guard himself and used his weapon to deflect the weapons of the other guards, who looked confused as they were pushed back by him, before the changeling revealed himself. At this point Chrysalis was standing back on her hooves though and looked at Celestia with a snarl and hatred in her eyes, before she remembered what she had seen and it clicked in her mind once more, this made her heart jump with jo for a second as the hope she had lost so long ago came back, she quickly looked at Twilight, her expression changing almost to one of happiness, until she saw the look of fear in Twilight's eyes as she stared back at Chrysalis, turning her own expression to a more pained expression. At this point Celestia placed one of her wings over Twilight in a protective way, which made a sudden hatred boil inside Chrysalis as she looked and sneered at Celestia with all the hatred she could muster, making her open the hivemind communications once more. "My daughter is still alive!" Nearly it was filled with a feeling of joy, before she continued. "And Celestia has poisoned her mind! She turned my Twilight into one of her ponies, turned her against us!" The hivemind was now filled with a cesspool of feelings and thoughts, ranging from confusion to hatred of Celestia and compassion for their lost princess, this all happened in an instant and was unheard by anypony not connected to the hivemind. Then Chrysalis too one step forward and yelled both in the hivemind aswell as out loud. "I will get you for this Celestia! You may have won for now! But I will have her back and you will pay for everything you did to us! You and your sister!" After that statement she spoke quickly and only over the hivemind. "Retreat for now my changelings! We will have our vengeance soon enough!" Before running though Chrysalis took one more look at Twilight, who had cringed slightly each time Chrysalis had spoken over the hivemind as her head hurt, only having understood the words when Chrysalis had spoke at the same speed as she said the same words out loud. For a moment Chrysalis spoke from the heart through the hivemind at Twilight, nearly in a pleading, gentle and motherly voice. "Please… Please don't be afraid of me, my little Starshine…" And then she looked away and ran towards the window with her changelings who started to jump through it, Chrysalis looked at Shining. "Lower the shield." She said as Shining let it down and Canterlot lost it's protective bubble, allowing the fleeing changelings to escape while taking flight and as Chrysalis took flight herself, she quickly shouted that they'd find a present she left behind in the crystal caverns. Later on after the shock had vanished and they had checked the caverns to find the actual Cadance, who was just glad to be with her loved ones again, things slowly came to a close for that day, Twilight and her friends didn't know what to think of things as they had all seen what Twilight had looked like during Discord's return, but eventually her friends figured it was still just something Discord had originally done to mess with them, Twilight didn't think so however, especially after having heard Chrysalis talk to her in her mind and sounding how she did, but she kept that to herself for now, Celestia however was slightly panicking, but didn't show it in public, as she kept up a stoic face while others were in the room, she knew she would meet with Luna later that day. =====+++===== Luna stared in disbelieve as Celestia had just told her what had happened earlier that day. "You did what!? You mean to tell me that Chrysalis, who you recognized from your fight with her ages ago, was here, then saw Twilight change for a moment and was likely regaining her motherly feelings for her at the time, and you decided to shoot her!?" Luna yelled at Celestia with her royal voice. Celestia flinched slightly from the volume. "Ow, you don't need to shout Lulu, and it's n…" Luna interrupted her. "Do not call me that! Do not pretend to be on friendly terms with me! This was the perfect chance to let her know the truth, to undo all those mistakes and to try to forge some trust once more at least, and you ruined it all by acting before thinking. Again! I was a fool to think you learned anything over the past millennium, you could have tried talking to her first after she lowered her guard, or if you felt like you had to, you could have cast a protective spell rather then attack her straight away! Your as bad now as you were ages ago." "No, please, listen to me sister, I didn't mean to harm her, I-" Celestia tried her best to have Luna listen to her, begging her with her eyes to not judge her. Luna however, interrupted Celestia once more with a cold look in her eyes. "I have no sister, not anymore, your but a stranger to me now." Luna got up and started to walk towards the door as Celestia was starting to cry, the words hurting more then any wound she ever had, Luna then stopped before she left the room and gave her one last look. "And stay away from Twilight while we're at it, you have done her a great injustice, I see that now, I will do what I can to fix the damage you have caused and you will no longer be her teacher, understood?" Luna stated with as little emotion in her voice as she could, not recognizing Celestia as anypony even worthy of her anger any longer. Celestia wanted to reply, wanted to make things right with Luna and go back to how things should have been, but she could do nothing, knowing it would change nothing at all, she knew she had no right to continue teaching Twilight either, as she had used her as a tool to get her sister back to normal, which had been pointless as Luna never truly changed in the first place, and while she had had some good times with Twilight, she never truly saw her for the mare she was till it was too late, so all she could do is just sob in silence as Luna left the room, having taken her sobbing as confirmation.