//------------------------------// // Arc 1, Part 6A: A Mystery Afoot, er... Hoof // Story: Crimson Heart // by Starkeeper_Ponyfic //------------------------------// Spike began coughing out smoke as he threw his gaze away from his and Frisk’s O&O game. “Le... Letter!” he exclaimed between coughs. Frisk hurriedly made a note of their game’s progress and pulled Spike to the location Twilight had told them her picnic would be. They had been very grateful that Rainbow and Applejack had been helping them do some general workouts to keep them in decent shape, but apparently “decent shape” had become “really good runner” without them noticing. They stumbled to a stop when they reached the picnic and Spike slammed into them, letting him finally burp the two letters out. “Twilight... I’ve got... letters...” he panted out. Twilight opened the smaller scroll first and read its contents aloud. “Twilight Sparkle, Rarity Belle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Spike Velvet, and Frisk Dreemurr, you are cordially invited to the wedding of Captain Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza on Sunday, the fifth of Lunaria, in the year A.E. 1001,” she read, then looked up at her friends. “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is my old foalsitter, Cadance,” Twilight explained before moving on to the second scroll. “Dear Twilight, I am sure you are as excited as I am about the upcoming wedding in Canterlot.” “Well, I’m slightly disgruntled that Shining Armor never told me he was engaged to Cadance, but otherwise I’m excited. He couldn’t have made a better match, honestly,” Twilight admitted. “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 for the ceremony.” “How wonderful!” Fluttershy interjected. “I would absolutely love to!” “Pinkie Pie, there are few in Equestria more qualified than you to host the reception, so I would like you to put it together.” “Abso-posi-tively! I’m gonna give Princess My Amber Cabana the best wedding party she’s ever seen!” Pinkie giggled. Frisk whispered Cadence’s actual name into Pinkie’s ear. “Er, I’m gonna give it to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. My Amber Cabana isn’t a princess!” she amended. “Applejack, you will be in charge of the catering for the event. I look forward to the wedding cake.” “Hoo-wee! I’ll give the princess a cake her tongue ain’t ever gonna forget!” Applejack confirmed. “Rainbow Dash, I would very much appreciate it if you could perform a sonic rainboom as the bride and groom complete their "I do"'s.” “Ha! You bet I’ll perform one!” Rainbow chuckled, twirling in the air. “Rarity, your responsibilities with consist of designing and sewing the bridal party’s attire, including that of yourself and your friends.” “I get to design... the dresses... for a princess’s wedding!?” Rarity squealed joyfully. “Frisk, Shining Armor has told me about your ability to discern if a pony has honest motives or not. I would like you to aid in the wedding’s security in addition to acting as ringbearer.” “Wow, I’d be honored! For both!” Frisk chuckled. “Spike, I would appreciate if you accepted the role of flower... colt? Dragonling? I’m sure you understand my meaning.” “No worries, I got it! “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.” “Spike, a letter, please?” Twilight requested. Frisk handed him a pencil and some paper from their inventory before walking off to text the news to their friends and family. Twilight began dictating her response to Spike. “Dear Princess Celestia, I have spoken with my friends, and we’ve all agreed that we would be delighted to perform the duties you’ve requested. We will see you this upcoming Monday riding the noon train. Yours truly, Twilight Sparkle.” ❤︎ The train ride that Monday was largely uneventful. Frisk and Spike slept through most of the ride, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack bounced ideas off each other for how to coordinate their responsibilities and make a unified theme for the wedding, and Rainbow wasn’t actually on the train, opting to practice and build up some strength for her stunt at the wedding. It all let Twilight be alone with her thoughts. She had time to sink into worry about her brother, and if the shield would hold properly or even matter at all in the end, because Celestia had broken one of her own rules: Never saddle a child with an important task. Celestia had given Frisk; who, if a year for Frisk's world was the same length as one for Equestria, was barely older than the CMCs; the task of helping Shining Armor with the security of a royal wedding. And that meant Celestia either had zero regard for Frisk’s well-being or safety, or that she was scared and very, very desperate. Twilight was willing to assume that it was the latter, which terrified her on a very deep level. Celestia, the mare who had ruled Equestria for more than a millennium, who had faced all manner of terrifying monsters and tyrants and pseudo-gods in her lifetime, who had been through international wars, was scared of a threat that wouldn’t even make itself known. She forced herself to focus on something else before she went through a full-blown panic attack and her mind switched to brooding over the fact that she'd had to hear about the wedding from Cadance and not from her own brother. Eventually, Rarity slipped a look over at Twilight and noticed her spiral. The white unicorn slipped over and nudged Twilight. "Are you feeling alright, darling?" Rarity asked once she had Twilight's attention. "I'm just... worried," Twilight sighed. "I'm annoyed at Shining Armor for not telling me about the wedding before now, I'm worried about the 'Queen' that Swan Song was talking about..." "Twilight, everything will turn out okay," Rarity promised. "I'm sure once you get into your organization groove your worries will positively melt away!" "I really hope so, Rarity," Twilight admitted. ❤︎ "Cadance" strutted the halls of Canterlot's castle with a casual smirk. Guards bowed quickly at her approach until she passed by completely, at which point they would try to let out a stealthy sigh of relief that she heard nine times out of ten. The best part was nopony had dared to mention it for various reasons. Shining Armor stood aimlessly at the balcony until he heard "Cadance's" hoofsteps approach. "Hello, dearest," he hummed jovially. "What brings you to this part of the castle?" "Cadance" faked a look of pity and neediness. "Oh, I just wanted to make sure you weren't working yourself too hard. I'd hate to have to postpone our ceremony because you were too tired," she sighed. Shining Armor chuckled dreamily, a faint green tint coating his irises. "Oh, you needn't worry about that, love," he sighed wistfully. "Nothing will get in the way of our special day." "Perfect," the royal giggled with a grin that teetered on the verge of menacing. "I wouldn't have it any other way." ❤︎ "I've got to get out," the imprisoned alicorn cried, tears running over her mud-coated cheeks. "I've got to save Shiny, and Aunt Tia, and... Oh, Twilight, I hope you can stop her... Before it's too late..." Frisk gasped as they awoke, sweating from their dream. *Frisk, you okay? their narrator asked. "I dunno," Frisk mumbled just too quietly for the ponies to hear. "Had a really unnerving dream and I dunno what to make of it." *Maybe it's nothing, their narrator suggested. *At least, I hope so. "You and me both," Frisk sighed, leaning their head on the windowsill. The train slowly pulled up to Canterlot, passing through Shining Armor's defensive spells without a hitch. Frisk and Twilight simultaneously breathed sighs of relief as the station entered their respective fields of vision. Guards standing at the train station opened the door and analyzed each passenger at the exits. Rainbow Dash pinned her ears back and shuddered once she was out of the eyesight and earshot of the guards. "Those guys make me nervous," she muttered. "Even if I know why they're here..." "Everything makes me nervous, so I can't really say much," Fluttershy replied with a smile, to the amusement of her friends. Spike quickly slipped onto Twilight's back and Frisk did the same to Applejack as the group approached the castle. Light banter shot between Rarity and Applejack over Rarity's insistence on prettying up and Applejack's planned total lack of ornamentation at the wedding. Frisk raised a very interested eyebrow as the shipping potential raced through their mind. All thoughts of such ceased, though, as the group came up to Shining Armor's imposing form. Looks of alarm flashed over Twilight and Spike's faces when Shining Armor met them with a cold, dispassionate stare that quickly cleared when he saw their fear. "Twily! Spike! It's good to see you all got here safely!" he beamed. "Sorry if I scared you a bit, I kinda have to look imposing to get some of these guards to actually do their jobs," he admitted while embracing his sister. "Where's Cadance?" Twilight asked. "She's taking a nap. Wedding planning has taken a toll on her," Shining Armor sighed. "The whole attack situation hasn't helped at all, since it's been dragging me away from her." "Aw, well, Ah hope we can ease some o' her worries," Applejack replied. "Least the princess ain't gonna hav'ta deal wit' anything but the guest list an' the ceremony once we get started." An affirmative grunt rose from the rest of the ponies, Spike, and Frisk. Suddenly, the princess in question strutted from a nearby circle. Princess Cadance cast a haughty look at the newly arrived ponies and dragon but Frisk noticed a wariness surrounding the princess when they met her gaze. Alarm bells rang and Frisk flashed a message of Yo, narrator- The gist of the reply Frisk got was *Yes got it I am CHECKing this snob right now, Frisk, and here it is... Princess Mi Amore Cadenza - ATK 120 DEF 60 LV... 7... - This princess must have gotten her position confused. What's she doing with acronyms? Frisk squinted at Princess Cadance, trying to find a blatant giveaway that would allow them to Phoenix Wright their way into figuring out her deal, but she had switched to a perfectly pleasant expression in the time it took for Frisk's narrator to check her. "Welcome to Canterlot!" she cried sweetly. "I'm so very grateful that you all took time out of your schedules to help me plan my wedding! It's been so stressful trying to manage everything while my Shiny deals with whatever threat is coming." "Well, we can abso-posi-tively help you out, Princess!" Pinkie exclaimed. "You've got the best band of wedding planners you could ask for!" "M-Maybe not the best planners," Fluttershy amended, "but I'm sure we'll be able to give you a lovely wedding!" "Mhm," Frisk mumbled casually. "Sure thing." "Are you alright, Frisk?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You don't sound like yourself..." "Oh, uh... I'm just tired, trains make me sleepy," Frisk bluffed. "Ah! That reminds me," Shining Armor realized. "Lieutenant Stone?" A cream-colored pegasus stallion in shining golden armor trotted up and stood at attention, saluting Shining Armor with a wing. "Yes, sir?" he replied. "Please show my sister and her friends to the rooms prepared for their stay at once," Shining Armor commanded. "Yes, sir!" the lieutenant replied emphatically before walking over to help the Ponyvilleans. "Twily, do you mind meeting up with me later?" Shining Armor asked. "I've got something I want to talk to you about in private." "Sure thing!" Twilight shot back with a nod before following Lieutenant Stone with the rest of her friends. ❤︎ Frisk collapsed on their bed with a defeated sigh. *Do you want to talk about it? their narrator asked. Frisk sighed. "The problem is that there isn't much to talk about. She's... really snobbish for the so-called Princess of Love, but there's no evidence to prove she's not right other than the check, and... well, at that point it's her reputation against a bad feeling and I don't really think I have a chance of winning that argument. At the same time, though... I think I'm as worried as I am because of the dream I had on the train ride here." *What was it about? their narrator asked. Frisk sighed and rubbed their eyes. "There was a pink alicorn trapped somewhere dark, probably in a cave and she was crying about needing to save her Aunt Tia and Shiny, and hoping Twilight could stop some female being." *Pink alicorn like Princess Cadance? their narrator suggested. "Yeah," Frisk nodded. "Very Princess Cadance pink. I-" Frisk was interrupted by a harsh knock at their door. They opened to find a solemn-faced guard staring them down. "The Princess Mi Amore Cadenza requests your presence," he dictated. "Um... any reason?" Frisk asked nervously. "She did not say, and I did not ask," the guard replied stiffly. "She is waiting for you in the castle library." Frisk nodded and slipped the Worn Dagger into their back pocket for safety once the guard was out of sight before heading to the library with a SOUL full of determination. Princess Cadance met them in the history section of the library with a honeysuckle smile. "It's very nice to finally meet you, Frisk." "Thank you, Princess. What did you need?" Frisk asked. "Well, I just... couldn't help noticing you were giving me some really wary looks when you and your friends arrived, and I wanted to know why," the princess explained. "Oh, it's just..." Frisk trailed off, attempting to think of a convincing enough half-truth. "Well, I had a weird dream on the train ride and it was hard to separate what I saw in the dream from real life." "Oh? What kind of dream?" Princess Cadance asked. "It probably doesn't matter," Frisk assured her. "I'm not known for prophetic dreams or precognitive abilities or anything like that. At most I can guess what someone is like based on their body language and tones of voice." "Oh, I see!" Princess Cadance exclaimed with a hint of relief. "Well, that's all, so you can go whenever you like." "Actually, I was thinking I'd stay here now that I'm here..." Frisk said. "I'd like to learn some about Equestria's history, maybe some of the enemies... You know, since part of the reason I was invited was to help Shining Armor with the threat and if it's an old enemy resurfacing, it could only help to read about all of them so I can help figure out how best to defend if the attack comes while I'm here." "That sounds good," Princess Cadance replied with a grin before trotting out. Frisk made good on their research, learning about the enemies of Equestria's past- the dark ram Grogar, Equestria's first emperor, the magic-stealing centaur Tirek, the hauntingly beautiful Sirens, the bitter alicorn Nightmare Moon, and Discord- as well as its past heroes, like the Pillars of Unity and the three ponies who had united the tribes at the first Hearth's Warming Eve. Frisk lost themselves in the volumes of material stored in the library until their narrator started commentating on every movement of anything in their line of sight. At that point, Frisk decided in was in their best interest to take a small break and go for a walk around the castle. The smells from the kitchen where Applejack was preparing a sample menu for Princess Cadance drew them first and they found Twilight overseeing it. "So, what have you been doing this afternoon, Frisk?" Twilight asked as the two of them watched Applejack putting her reflexes through the wringer to get multiple recipes cooked simultaneously. "Mostly research," Frisk replied over the sound of their growling stomach. "Figured if I'm gonna be here to... Uh, sorry, to help your brother with defense it might be good for me to know what kinds of enemies Equestria has had in the past in case it's someone returning." "I mean, the fact that we've had two threats from a thousand years ago return for revenge in, like, the last few months gives very ample reason to think that," Twilight pointed out. "Also, you sound hungry." "Can you blame me?" Frisk chuckled lightly. "Those apple fritters smell like heaven." Twilight shrugged. "You've got a point," she replied before Princess Cadance walked in. Applejack bowed, but Twilight met Princess Cadance with a beaming smile. "I'm glad you got some rest, Cadance!" Twilight fawned. "You look a lot less tired." "I probably should've told you this already, Twilight Sparkle," Princess Cadance huffed, "but only Shining Armor and Aunt Celestia are allowed to not use a title when addressing me." "Uh... okay..." Twilight frowned. "You never made me use a title when you foalsat me... Princess Cadance..." "Well, yes, but you were also, what, six or seven?" Princess Cadance reasoned. "I wasn't about to make a filly upset over something like that." Twilight seemed about to accept this idea before a spark of realization entered her eyes. "Okay, but you were completely fine with me just calling you 'Cadance' when I met you a few weeks ago," Twilight challenged. "There was even a guard there." Princess Cadance momentarily blanched before quickly recovering. "Oh, you're absolutely right. I'm so sorry, it's just been a hectic few days," she explained sweetly. "I've had to reinforce my status with a number of rowdy guards and ambassadors, and it just kind of... how do I phrase it? I suppose I just kind of internalized it." Frisk summoned their practiced neutral gaze as Twilight tried to work through her conflicted feelings. "Okay, I guess that makes sense... Well, I'll leave you and Applejack to puzzling out the menu. Frisk, you mind coming with me for a bit?" she asked. "Sure thing, Twilight," Frisk replied, relieved at the chance to get away from Princess Cadance. After a largely silent walk to Frisk's room, Frisk and Twilight shared a look of concern. "Something isn't right," Twilight insisted to Frisk's agreement. "That is not Cadance's usual demeanor, and wedding stress isn't a valid enough excuse for me to ignore it." Frisk nodded. "For a princess of love... she's got too much LOVE," they murmured. At Twilight's look of confusion they decided they should explain. "LOVE, in addition to its normal use, is a acronym in my world meaning Level of Violence. It's a way of measuring someone's capacity to hurt, and Cadance's is at a full seven." "I assume the higher it is, the more willing somepony is to hurt or kill somepony else?" Twilight asked. Frisk nodded. "Yeah, that's correct. The thing is... from what I understand, someone's LOVE only increases if they gain EXP... which stands for Execution Points." "...So that means Cadance has... hurt somepony? Multiple someponies?" Twilight realized in shock. "At the very least," Frisk confirmed. "And... well, I had a really weird dream on the train," they confessed. "There was a pink alicorn who looked a lot like Cadance, just... with a lot more mud caked on her body... saying that she needed to save her Aunt Tia and Shiny. I'm assuming those are her names for Princess Celestia and Shining Armor." "I remember her calling Princess Celestia 'Aunt Tia,' yes," Twilight confirmed. "And calling my brother 'Shiny' isn't too much of a stretch to understand." "I didn't think a whole lot of it at first other than just being generally unnerved," Frisk admitted, "since I'm not really known for having prophetic or precognitive dreams, but now... I can't stop thinking about it." "Where was the alicorn in your dream?" Twilight asked, grabbing a notepad. "Some kind of cave, I think? It was definitely dark, and there were a lot of rocks, but other than that..." Frisk trailed off before shrugging. "I couldn't tell." "That doesn't narrow it down a lot," Twilight eventually decided, "but I've heard stories about a forgotten system of caverns beneath Canterlot. If we get a break before the wedding then I'll get us down there to check." "Sounds good," Frisk sighed. "I need a nap after all this. You go and meet up with the rest of your friends for preparation updates and I guess keep notes on all of Cadance's suspicious behavior." "Hopefully there won't end up being a reason to," Twilight fretted.