//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Five Days // Story: Spike vs Bridezilla, Destoroyah of Marriages // by TheMessenger //------------------------------// Scenic hills and quaint little towns rolled by as the train chugged along, their charm having worn off hours ago. The great green, uninterrupted plains and rounded, wooden buildings of Equestria had been a nice change of pace from the jagged crystalline structures and rocky landscapes of the Crystal Empire at first, but it didn’t take long before Flurry Heart grew tired of the view outside her window. The beautifully clear sky above held her interest a little longer as she amused herself with what shapes and images she could spot out of the clouds that flew above, but eventually that became dull as well, and she found herself feeling resentfully envious toward the birds she saw in the skies. Every so often, the young alicorn would stretch out her wings and give them a small flap as she looked up into the clouds. A small part of her that slowly grew in tandem with her boredom was tempted to move to the caboose’s exterior rear end and take off to see how long her wings could keep up with the powerful steam locomotive. She really should have brought something with her to read, but her initial excitement in seeing her favorite aunt and uncle/cousin/whatever Flurry felt Spike was to her that hour for the first time in what felt like a long time had clouded her judgment during the packing process, leaving her with only the necessities, a fancy dress, and regret once the early excitement had worn off. Sure, she could’ve begged her parents to buy her a magazine at one of the stops along the way or even strutted in on her own and thrown her royal weight around until she got some reading material for free, but in the face of either pitiful option the proud imperial princess preferred the boredom. At least it wouldn’t be long now before they reached their destination of Canterlot. Already the train was beginning the long, winding climb up the mountain. Flurry Heart turned away from the window and looked to her father and mother. Prince Shining Armor sat right across from her with a newspaper in front of him and several empty bags of potato chips at his side. The page facing towards her had the results of some major sports game and the predictions for the players’ futures, but Flurry could see that behind the sports section, Shining Armor’s attention was on the comic strips, the ends of his lips twitching. Her mother, meanwhile, was absentmindedly leafing through what was likely a romance novella if the cover of a mare swooning in the forelimbs of her lover as the wind swept their manes back was any indication. Her focus clearly elsewhere as Princess mi Amore Cadenza let out a sigh. Shining rolled his eyes as he flipped to the next page of funnies. “Still upset that Twilight’s officiating and not you?” “I’m not upset,” Cadance said with an annoyed sniff. “Twilight is a wonderful speaker, I’m sure she’ll do fine, even if she’s not exactly the most experienced when it comes to this sort of subject. I’m just, a little confused to why Spike didn’t even think of asking the princess of love to play a bigger role.” She slammed the paperback shut as the pink feathers of her wings ruffled irritably. “It just feels like a missed opportunity, that’s all.” “Uh oh.” Shining Armor rolled his eyes again as he peeked over at Flurry Heart, lowering the paper to let her see his playful grin. “Yeah, she’s upset. Your mom feeds off of weddings, you know. Guess it’s been a while since we’ve last been to one so she’s feeling extra moody.” The book levitated over and batted Shining gently below his horn. “Oh, this coming from Mr. Waterworks himself?" said Cadance with a light sneer. "Are you going to at least wait until the wedding starts before you start leaking liquid pride everywhere." "Hey, that's Prince Waterworks, thank you very much," Shining Armor responded with an exaggerated pose, his nose held high and his hoof raised, which won him some giggles from his wife and an eye roll from his daughter. The unicorn settled back down and hummed. "Hey, you know what's a little, well, weird?” he said. “I've never really thought about Spike getting married before. Well, actually, for the longest time, I never gave him much thought at all. I always remembered him being that little dragon who hung around with Twilight all the time, always taking up her time, needing her to do something for him, so I was never really sure what he was to me. Of course, then he managed to outmaneuver me and Twily both, the both of us, can you believe that, in our last Sibling Supreme competition so. I wonder if he still has the crown anywhere. I'm sure he does." "Dad, where are you going with this?" "I'm just, so proud of him." Shining Armor sniffed and dabbed a hoof at his eyes. At this, Cadance groaned and motioned towards the crying stallion as she gave Flurry Heart a disbelieving look. Flurry winced and flattened her ears against her head as their cabin was filled with loud sobs that drew the curiosities of the neighboring passengers. Eventually, Shining's cries quieted to some sniffling as he ran out of tissues and the train came to a gradual halt. A sharp whistle echoed through the entire transport that was immediately followed by an announcement of the train's arrival in Canterlot. The family of three picked up their luggage and joined the rest of the passengers as they disembarked and made their way onto the station's platform. There were the usual stares and points that naturally came with the sighting of a pair of alicorn princesses, but Flurry ignored them as her attention was pulled elsewhere. This was not her first visit to Equestria's capital, and she couldn't recall ever seeing so many royal guards in Canterlot all at one time and in one place. Everywhere she turned she could spot a crested helmet or five, with pegasus guards patrolling the skies right above as their earthbound comrades stood at attention at what appeared to be every nook and corner of the station. A glance towards her father, the captain of the Equestrian royal guard prior to his promotion to co-ruler of the Crystal Empire, confirmed her suspicions as the confused and unease look the unicorn shared with Cadance all but screamed that this was no routine escort. Cadance suddenly nodded as her expression of worry was replaced with one of surprise, and following her mother’s gaze, Flurry Heart discovered the possible reason for the added security. There, amidst the crowd, were three other alicorns, one as white as a snowy hill lit by the dawn sun, one of the same dark blue that a clear evening sky could boast, one a light purple that could be seen painting the horizon as the day gave way to night. Each carried themselves with a regality that the young princess could only hope to one day achieve, though the blue and the white ones had set aside their titles years before Flurry’s first coherent sentence. Their majestic manes still flowed and waved, carried by a perfect and continual personalized breeze, as they approached her and hers, sharing a laugh in response to whatever the purple alicorn had said mere moments prior. “Twily!” Shining Armor exclaimed, and at his outburst, Princess Twilight Sparkle’s small smile grew to a great grin as she broke into a charge towards him. Flurry started to smile back and raised a hoof to wave, but before she could do so, Twilight had swept her, Shining, and Cadance all up with her wings into a tremendously tight hug. “Oh, how I’ve missed you all,” Twilight cooed. “It’s been way too long since we’ve last seen each other.” “I’ll say,” Shining gasped as he struggled to escape his sister’s hold. “Did you grow another few inches since the last submit? At this rate, ponies are going to start thinking that I’m the younger sibling.” “It’s wonderful to see you, Twilight,” Cadance said once she had been given some room to breath. “And you two as well,” she added with a polite low nod to the other two alicorns. “Aunt Celestia, Luna. I hope retirement’s still treating you well.” “It certainly has its moments,” Celestia said, smiling warmly. “Though I will admit that there are times when I miss the busyness of court life.” “Everypony wants what the other pony has,” her sister spoke up with a sagely shake of her head before turning to Cadance. “I am certain that you are already counting down the moons before this one will be ready to take your place.” Luna gestured to Flurry Heart, causing the youngest of the alicorns present to blush and duck her head down. “And how is my favorite niece?” Twilight beamed brightly as she zeroed in on Flurry. Again, the poor young mare was thrown into a bone crushing embrace as Twilight’s magic pulled her towards her. “Everything going well? I haven’t gotten any new letters from you recently.” “Yeah, sorry. Just, you know, stuff.” Flurry rubbed the back of her head. “I’ll write more often, I promise. I’ve just been busy.” A tap on Twilight’s shoulder caused her to turn away from her niece. “Perhaps we should finish catching up at the castle,” Celestia suggested. A second gesture from her old mentor pointed out the crowd growing dangerously on the platform as even more ponies were stopping to stare at the congregation of alicorns, a rare sight to behold even for those local to Canterlot. “Good call,” Twilight said with a thankful nod before she motioned to Shining, Cadance, and Flurry Heart. “You must be tired from your trip. Here.” The luggage with them started to glow before the bags vanished completely. “They’ll be waiting in your rooms. Right this way.” With another wave, Twilight led the way into the city, toward the royal palace in the distance. A squad of guard ponies led by a griffon of blue fur and feathers followed after them, doing their best to keep the curious crowds from gathering and getting too close. “Well, I guess that would explain all the guards,” Shining said as they walked through Canterlot’s streets. “Having all these high profile ponies in one place could definitely cause some trouble if you’re not careful.” “Hm? Oh, right, the guards.” Twilight shook her head. “Actually, Celestia and Luna flew in unannounced only a few minutes before your train arrived, and we just happened to bump into each other while I was waiting for you.” “Wait, so us all meeting there was completely unplanned?” asked Cadance with an eyebrow raised. “A complete coincidence,” was Twilight’s answer. “We had no idea you’d all be coming in on the same day.” “Well I doubt you’d have had all this heightened security up just for our sakes.” The ends of Shining Armor’s grin lowered slightly. “What’s going on?” There was a moment of hesitation. “It was Spike’s call,” Twilight finally said after the moment passed. “We had an incident a couple of weeks ago. Some creature or creatures vandalized the wedding venue and messed up a bunch of the decorations.” “That’s horrible!” Cadance gasped as the others murmured their agreement to her assessment. “Do you know who? Or why?” “The investigation is still ongoing, but from the clues we’ve already gathered, we’re thinking it might have just been some youth on a real bad sugar rush.” Twilight sighed. “Still, Spike wants the guard on high alert in case anything else happens. I was fine with posting a few extra patrols around, but this?” She made a sweeping motion towards the surrounding city, and in the short span of the gesture, there was not a moment where her hoof wasn’t pointing at or near a helmed and armored pony. “I think he’s overreacting a bit.” Celestia stifled a giggle as Shining and Cadance shared a look. “Yes, I know, I get the irony.” Twilight rolled her eyes and put on a weak, rueful smile that didn’t last long. “The extra guard presence is putting the whole city on edge. Some of the older ponies are comparing it to Chrysalis’s first invasion attempt.” Flurry watched as her mother rubbed the back of her neck and turned to look in some odd direction as Shining cleared his throat. “So, uh, speaking of Spike, where is the little guy?” he asked. “I figured he’d be with you waiting for us.” “Spike’s been busy. I saw him last in the kitchens, trying to resolve some issue with Applejack,” said Twilight, and after a long moment, she let out a sigh. “He’s been, difficult these past few days. You know, he read through my ceremony script the other night, without my permission, and told me I had to redo the whole thing because he thought it was too heavy on friendship.” She shook her head and huffed. “I get it, he’s going through a lot right now, but these days he’s been acting awfully demanding. I barely managed to talk him out of telling guests what specific wedding gifts they were each allowed to bring.” “Odd.” Celestia frowned. “That doesn’t really sound like Spike. Would you like me to talk to him?” “No. If anypony should be confronting him, it’s me,” Twilight declared with another sigh. “I’ll get to him eventually, hopefully before the actual wedding. I’m sure it’s just nerves getting the best of both of us, though I am glad that you of all ponies are here now, Cadance. I think we could really use some of that love expertise of yours.” Cadance blinked, and her lips parted slightly in surprise as Twilight nodded to her. “Oh? Oh my. Spike and Rarity aren’t having problems with their relationship, are they?” “Huh? Oh no. They’re doing fine.” Twilight paused for a moment and frowned. “I mean, Rarity’s been griping about how they haven’t spent as much time together as they’d like to, what with Spike being so busy with everything, but that’ll probably fix itself once the wedding’s finally here. No, I meant I was hoping you would review my latest draft for the ceremony.” She started to smirk as she clapped her hooves together. “I’d like to see Mr. Demandy-Pants complain about a speech with the princess of love’s own stamp of approval.” “We sure we’re talking about Spike, right?” Shining Armor interjected. “And not the bride? Rarity, wasn’t it? I remember her being kind of.” The stallion seemed to struggle for an appropriate word. “Theatrical,” he finally decided on. “Then again, it has been a while. Maybe she’s changed.” The castle entrance could now be seen. “Not really,” said Twilight as she continued to guide the group forward. “She’s pretty much as dramatic as ever. I mentioned her talking about she and Spike not always being able to be together, right? Well, trust me when I say that you do not want to get her started. It won’t take long before the tissues and fainting couch come out. Not to mention how she’ll breaks out into giggles if you mention anything remotely related to weddings or marriage. Or Spike.” “Sounds a little like how Shining was when we first got engaged.” Cadance stopped to link her foreleg around her husband’s and leaned her head against his shoulder. Shining, with a large goofy grin plastered over his face, in turn bent over to kiss Cadance’s offered lips, much to the disgust of Flurry Heart as she rolled out her tongue and threatened to jam a hoof down her throat. “Please tell me Spike and his fiancée aren’t going to be like that in public,” the young alicorn groaned to Twilight. “Otherwise I don’t think I’ll survive until the wedding.” “Oh?” Luna exclaimed with a curious tilt of her head. “Not a fan of romance? How peculiar, considering who your mother is. Perhaps you are more like Celestia then. She also much preferred stories of adventure over those of love when we were but young fillies.” Seeing that she had suddenly drawn the attention of the two most senior and possibly most accomplished of the alicorns present, Flurry Heart immediately lowered her head and tried to contain her stammers. Here were mares as old as Equestria itself, mares she barely knew outside of legends, who were now displaying interest in little old her. She forcefully pulled back her wings that she had thrown over her face, a nervous habit that had carried over from infancy, and dared to peek. Finding comfort and encouragement in the sight of Celestia’s warm smile, she slowly raised her head back up to return the smile. “I-I guess so,” Flurry managed to say. “Yeah, I’m, not big on the, um, romance. Stories about adventurers going on adventures and knights fighting huge monsters, that’s more of my thing.” Celestia nodded and had just opened her mouth to speak when everypony suddenly found themselves pitching forward as the ground beneath them started to quake. Panicked screams briefly filled the air only be cut short as a deafening, horrific roar drowned out all other sounds as its sheer volume ripped the skies asunder, tearing clouds to shreds and knocking those airborne to the ground. The guards rushed forward, putting themselves between Twilight, her family, and her friends and the castle before them, as the griffon of the group held out a claw and helped Twilight stand. “Thanks, Gallus. What’s going on here? Earthquake? Another magically blown up creature? A storm summoned through a dubious artifact?” She felt a tap on her hoof. “Uh, Twily?” Shining Armor said, his eyes wide and pointed toward something up and out in the distance. The gazes of everypony else were also in that same direction and angle, and when Twilight followed Shining’s raised hoof toward whatever they were all staring at, her eyes mimicked her brother’s as her mouth fell wide open. A great winged beast clung to one of the castle’s spires, its scaly tail digging into the structure as it wrapped tightly around the tower. The palace keep was dwarfed by the creature’s mass, with each finger of its massive claws greater in length than Twilight’s own entire body. The uneven green jags atop its elongated head pierced the clouds above it as the mere shadow of its purple body left the castle grounds in a cool, foreboding shade. Terrified ponies sprinted out of the castle, with only a few sparing the group of royals, former royals, and their guards a second glance before fleeing for the safety of the city, a sharp contrast to their earlier reception back at the train station. Every upright ear fell flat as the monster let out another loud and mighty roar that forced some to bow under the weight of the very sound itself. “New addition to the castle, Twilight?” Celestia said with an intrigued hum. “I’m not exactly seeing its charm. What do you think, Sister?” Luna was already hovering above the rest of them, her initial look of awe and surprise replaced with a glare of distain. “It is an eyesore that will soon know its place,” she declared. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, we shall leave the safety of our little ponies to you and yours.” Celestia sighed as she watched Luna fly off towards the beast looming over the castle, but she too soon took to the air. “Well then, let’s hope these past few years of idle retirement haven’t dulled us.” She turned to her old student and nodded to her somberly. “Be careful, Twilight.” “Me? You’re the one about to go fight that, and she’s gone too.” Twilight brought her hoof to her forehead as Celestia joined her sister. “Okay, let’s see here. Gallus!” The griffon guard immediately came to attention. “What do you need me to do?” “Go into the city and grab as many guards as you can,” she instructed. “Keep everypony away from the castle until this has been taken care of. Let everypony know that I’m dealing with whatever this is personally. That and mention of Luna and Celestia’s involvement should help reduce panic.” Her expression was a stern one as she turned away from the raging colossus and looked to the screaming city behind her. “We can’t afford to have fear running rampant right now, not while I’m still trying to get a grasp on what in Equestria is going on here.” Shining Armor stepped forward. “What about us? How can we help?” Shining’s offer was met with evident hesitation from Twilight, but the steely, determined look that both he and Cadance wore as the pink alicorn stepped up to join her husband’s side caused Twilight to change her mind. “Shining, I want you to go with Gallus and help maintain a parameter. Your barrier spell ought make things much easier. Cadance?” She turned to the mare she was addressing. “Can you help me evacuate the castle? I could use the extra set of eyes, wings, and magic.” “Of course, Twilight.” “What about me?” Flurry Heart piped in. “Should I help Mom and you with evacuations? Or, what about Ms. Celestia and Ms. Luna? I can fight too, Dad taught me how to—“ “Absolutely not!” Shining Armor immediately interrupted. “Young lady, I didn’t give you those self-defense lessons and let you take up guard training so you could get hurt playing hero. You’re going to find a nice safe place to hide out until this is all over, and that’s the end of it.” “What? You can’t be serious. I’m an alicorn too! I’m stronger, faster, and more magical than you’ll ever be, Dad.” Flurry turned to Twilight, her eyes wide and pleading. “Please, Twilight, let me help.” The princess looked to her captain. “Gallus?” “Another flier would definitely help, not to mention her status as a princess could help calm some folks down,” Gallus said after a second of self-deliberation. Twilight nodded before returning to Flurry. “You heard him. I know it’s not as exciting as fighting a monster, but the best way for you to help right now is to try to restore order in the city. Listen to Gallus and your father, alright?” Flurry nodded. “Good. Now get going, and stay safe.”