//------------------------------// // Epilogue - A Canterlot Wedding // Story: Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon Team up to Save Everyone // by Codex Ex Equus //------------------------------// Two Weeks Later Cadance hesitated for a moment as she entered the dressing room. The changelings were their friends now. She knew that, of course she knew that. After all, she'd been part of making it all happen. But still… seeing a room full of black figures with holed hooves, their translucent wings rustling as they rushed about… it triggered bad memories. Especially with that buzzing, dual-toned voice above it all, emanating from behind a row of privacy screens. "Pull harder! If you can't get me into this dress I'll use your wings as a wedding gown instead!" "We're trying," came the reply, "but we can only pull so hard! Are you sure this dress is the right size?" "Are you calling me fat?" There was a long pause. "Well… Luna has been giving you an awful lot of love lately…" "I am not fat!" There was an angry huff, followed by several seconds of raspy breathing. "Well, are you changelings or not? Change into something that can pull harder!" Cadance ducked as one of the privacy screens went flying across the room, followed by a small table, several pieces of makeup, a number of boxes, and a changeling or two. "Why would you change into a bear in this cramped little room?! Change into an earth pony!" "Oh… right." There was a series of green flashes from behind the remaining privacy screens. It was followed by the sound of fabric being strained to the breaking point, the singing of steel cables under tension, groans of exertion, the loud sucking sound of someone drawing in their breath, one final grunt, and then an explosion of air as that breath was let out in a sigh of relief. Queen Chrysalis moved out to the center of the room in a half-waddle, half-stagger, a retinue of earth ponies following behind. Her dress was a beautiful construction of green silk and lace, ruffled at her neck, with loops of material falling off her back from between her wings. The legs of the dress had holes hemmed in them, expertly sized and placed to match the holes in her hooves, and gems of different colors dangled in the middle of each one by a silver thread. But the whole thing creaked dangerously as Chrysalis moved, with the sound of a suspension bridge one marching band away from collapse. She was packed into it like a box of cupcakes in Pinkie Pie's mouth. Cadance didn't know much about cloth or fashion, but she fancied she could feel the dress dying as it struggled to contain the Queen. "How does it look?" squeaked Chrysalis, her face turning blue. "Beautiful, yes?" "Stunningly so," admitted Cadance with a nod. "Although… um, your changelings may have been right about its fit. It does seem a little bit… tight." Despite her lack of oxygen, Chrysalis glared and let out an angry snarl "You dare—" Having to take the smallest of breaths to get those words out was too much. There was a cracking sound like a bullet as a single thread popped in the dress's midsection. For a moment, silence reigned. Then several more pings followed, as threads began snapping all along the dress. Changelings disguised as ponies fled as Cadance hurriedly put a shield around the Changeling Queen. It held for a moment under the onslaught of the exploding dress… then popped like a soap bubble. Ponies flew in all directions, turning back into changelings as they soared through the air and crashed into walls. The privacy screens slammed into the ground, flattened by the force of the released tension. Cadance fell back, first one step, then another, as gale-force winds buffeted her, blowing her mane about her head. Every small object in the room fell over, rolled away, blew into a corner, or simply disintegrated on the spot. Somewhere, off in the distance, a foal started crying. "This is ridiculous," growled Chrysalis, standing in the center of the carnage. "Clearly that Rarity pony decided to sabotage my wedding dress. When I get my hooves on her—" "Rarity made that for you?" Cadance stepped closer, inspecting the ruins of the dress. Indeed, the fine stitching and overall quality marked it as one of the unicorn's designs. Despite whatever ideas Chrysalis had about the dress being sabotaged, Cadance knew Rarity would never tolerate one of her dresses being used in such a way. The effort Rarity had put into her work was probably all that had allowed the changeling to get into the dress even temporarily, and that had probably contributed to the spectacular way in which it had failed. "No offense, but I find it hard to believe Rarity would give you a dress purposely designed to fail," said Cadance. Chrysalis growled a few curses, but Cadance continued. "Besides, she would have shown you a rough mockup of the dress while working out how much material she needed. Did you notice any differences between the dress you got and what you saw while she was taking your measurements?" "Taking my measurements?" Chrysalis sniffed disdainfully. "I am a Queen, I have no time for such things. I sent one of my minions. Geniculate, show her." A changeling stepped forward, fire flashing across his body as he changed into his Queen. Or something that looked like the Queen, at least. The body was roughly the same, at least in terms of height and length of limbs. When it came to the size of her barrel though… and not to mention her flanks… "Do you even have organs?" asked Cadance wonderingly, inspecting the changeling. From her perspective, the answer seemed to be 'no'. In fact, the faux Queen looked to be nothing but a set of leg bones connected by a spinal cord, with a head and neck on top. "They're mostly unnecessary when we're transformed," Geniculate replied, in his Queen's voice. "As long as I don't swallow anything it's not a problem." "Beautiful, am I not?" asked Chrysalis. "Er…" Cadance looked back and forth between the two. "You think you look like that?" "Well, that is how all your pony fashion models look, isn't it?" inquired Chrysalis, sweeping a hoof around to indicate the magazines that now lay scattered throughout the room. "And if that's what you consider beautiful, then obviously that must be how I look as well." "Ah, I see." This, at least, was something Cadance was familiar with. Far too many of the problems she dealt with as the Princess of Love were about ponies who had issues gained from issues of fashion magazines. She trotted over to Chrysalis and, only slightly hesitantly, put a hoof on her back. "Now, Chrysalis, you know Luna loves you, right?" Chrysalis nodded, a happy smile on her face, and Cadance continued. "Well, she loves you for who, and what, you are. And she's a Princess. If she wanted a skinny mare, she could have one. But she chose you." "…so you are saying I'm fat?" Cadance let out a sigh. "I'm saying Luna loves you the way you are, and finds you perfectly attractive. I think she's made that perfectly clear, hasn't she?" Cheeks blushing green, Chrysalis nodded. "So you don't need to change anything about how you look. And you don't need to worry about gaining weight, because Luna will love you no matter what." "O-okay," said Chrysalis meekly. "And thank you." Suddenly realizing what she had just said, she blinked a few times, then her eyes narrowed. "Don't even think of telling anyone I just said that…" "Don't worry, anything you say is safe with me," soothed Cadance. "In any case… Rarity's going to have to make you a new dress. With proper measurements this time. If you'd like, I can go with to explain what happened. And maybe we can even make some improvements to your dress!" "Hmm…" Chrysalis studied her for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. I will accept your help. Though why you would offer it is beyond me." "Are you kidding?!" asked Cadance excitedly. "It's a wedding! And I helped the couple get together! This is the kind of stuff I live for!" "Then we're partners! We'll make this a wonderful wedding! A spectacular wedding, one fit for a Queen!" "That's right!" cheered Cadance. Chrysalis reared up on her hind legs, pointing a hoof upwards. "It will be a legendary wedding, one spoken of across the lands for centuries to come!" "Right on!" "It will be the greatest royal wedding Canterlot has ever seen!" "Exactly!" A thought struck Cadance. "Hey, wait a second…"