//------------------------------//
// Twilight and the Voice 
// Story: Twilight's NEW Friends 
// by BelleofdaBall 
//------------------------------//

Twilight Sparkle could hardly believe what she had just gone through. A few short hours ago, she seemed to have everything; amazing friends, a great big brother, a wise mentor who helped her grow and supported her through every little pratfall and silly thing she'd done.

Now, she had none of those things.

All because of her actions.

The lavender unicorn could still hear the words of her brother Shining Armor, her friend Applejack, and her mentor Princess Celestia echoing through her ears:

"And you can FORGET about being my best mare! In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't bother showing up to the wedding."

"C'mon, y'all, let's go check on the princess."

"You've got a LOT to think about."

Twilight felt physically ill as those words repeated nonstop inside her hear. She felt as if she were going to vomit up her heart. She had lost everything and everypony she loved.

And why? Because she didn't like her brother's choice of bride. 

When Twilight had first heard that her brother, the Captain of the Royal Guard of Canterlot, was going to wed her former foal-sitter, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza (better known to her as Cadence), she was over the moon excited. Not only would she have an amazing older brother, she'd have an amazing sister-in-law too!

But when she saw Cadence again for the first time in years, something felt...off. The pink alicorn didn't seem to remember their special hoof-shake that they had performed countless times before when Twilight was a filly (though that could simply be chalked up to them not have doing it in years, and Twilight always had a better memory than most ponies did anyway). She seemed to act like a complete...what was the word Rarity often used when reading her bridal fashion magazines? Bridezilla. Throwing away the food Applejack had painstakingly prepared for the wedding banquet, sarcastically "praising" Pinkie Pie's (admittingly filly-ish) ideas for reception games, heaping demand upon demand on Rarity to make her wedding dress more grandiose. Sure, a wedding was a (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, and she could see why a bride would want her big day to be as close to perfect as equinely possible, but she just seemed overly rude and mean, even if her friends hadn't seen it that way.

But what had pushed Twilight over the breaking point into thinking Cadence was evil was seeing her "brainwash" Shining Armor by hitting him with some sickly green magic. What else could she do at this point? She had to confront Cadence and keep Shining from making the biggest mistake of his life.

But Twilight had ultimately made the biggest mistake of HER life by doing just that at the wedding rehearsal. 

She had confronted Cadence about all the "horrible" things she had witnessed that day. She had listed everything she'd done; the harsh critiques, replacing her bridesmaids with her friends, and most importantly, casting a spell on her brother. She had smugly expected the alicorn to admit that she was a wicked witch.

And she had shockedly watched as her former foalsitter burst into tears and ran away in heartbreak.

Twilight felt like manure when she watched Cadence run away. But Shining had stopped her before she could slink away. He had confronted her, explaining what had ACTUALLY happened. The spell? A migraine healing spell to keep his chronic headaches from getting worse. The replacing of the bridesmaids? The former bridesmaids had only agreed to be in the wedding party to gain some clout amongst the mares of Equestria. And the harsh treatment of her friends and their work? Bridal jitters that warped her usually kind personality into a more ruthless one.

As Shining explained all of this, it made sense to Twilight. She had been so very, very wrong. About Cadence. About the whole wedding. About everything. 

And now she was paying the price. She was alone in the grand hall of the Canterlot Castle after her brother, her friends and her mentor all left her to check on Cadence. 

And she had nopony to blame this on but herself.

Twilight collapsed onto the floor, crying quietly to herself. "What have I done? Why did I have to go and ruin everything? I am such an idiot!" 

"Oh, but you're NOT, my little pony."

Twilight's ears perked up when she heard the soft feminine voice. "What? What did you say?"

"I said you're NOT an idiot, my dear."

Twilight looked around the hall to see who was talking to her. She couldn't see anypony in the hall but herself. "Hello?" She walked into the less lit part of the hall, but nopony was there either. "Hello?" 

Oh great, Twilight, now you're hearing things, the unicorn thought to herself. I must be going crazy.

"I assure you, Twilight, you're not going crazy."

Twilight's heart stopped for a second. "You...you could hear what I was thinking? And you know my name?"

The feminine voice chuckled. "But of course I do, Twilight Sparkle, prized pupil of Princess Celestia, keeper of the Element of Magic, defeater of Nightmare Moon and Discord, savior of Equestria."

Twilight felt her face heat up with embarrassment as the unknown voice praised her. "Please, ma'am, I'm not any of those things." Her ears drooped. "Especially not after what I've done tonight."

"Now now, you mustn't beat yourself up over that. Any sister worth her salt would want to protect her brother from such a mare."

"But that mare didn't do anything wrong," Twilight protested. "She was just trying to make her day perfect. I was the one who was wrong. And because of that..."

"You're an outcast," the voice finished for her. Twilight sadly nodded her head. "I know all too well about being an outcast, little pony."

"You do?" Twilight sniffed. "How? And...where exactly ARE you, anyway?"

The voice chuckled. "Oh right, silly me. One moment." 

Twilight watched in amazement as a swirling purple mist began to form in front of her eyes. Before long, the mist had taken the form of a tall, thin female creature with lilac skin, long black hair and red and gold eyes wearing a purple dress. The creature almost seemed to be made of smoke and mist. "Who...who are you?" the astonished unicorn asked.

The female creature smiled. "I, my dear Twilight, am Eris."