She spotted him very easily. His electrifying blue mane making him stand out from every other pony in the courtyard. Not to mention the absurd yellow and purple armor that marked him as Captain.
“Shining Armor!” Twilight roared loud enough to rattle the windows and shake the doorframes of the surrounding buildings, “How dare you let me find out your wedding from a Royal Order! No visit? Not even a letter?”
She landed in the center of the courtyard, wings flared aggressively and sent dust scattering away. She only stopped frowning to wave and smile back at a few of the guards that greeted her. No guard looked like they were ready to come to save their captain any time soon.
Her wonderful brother shrieked shrilly and scrambled back so fast, he tripped and fell backward.
Twilight decided to emulate Princess Luna and continue with the Royal Canterlot voice, “I’m your sister for Celestia’s sake!”
When the echo stopped, her brother quickly got back on his hooves and coughed awkwardly.
“It wasn’t my fault,” Shining Armor said firmly, suddenly a far cry from moments earlier, “A threat has been made against Canterlot,”
“A threat against Canterlot suddenly makes you unable to write a letter?” Twilight incredulously hissed, “And nobody thought to warn this dragon about the huge force field around the city either?”
Twilight spun away and put her face into her paws. Everyone in the area winced as Twilight dragged her claws down her face, creating a Celestia-awful noise.
“I don’t even know who your bride is!” Twilight suddenly spun back around, nearly dislodging Spike, “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?”
Without breaking eye contact, Twilight bent down so Spike could hop off. He’d been insistently tapping her to get down for some time now.
“Hi, Uncle Shiny. Bye, Uncle Shiny,” Spike sprinted over to Marshall, the first pony he knew, and caught his eye.
Shining Armor’s expression crumpled inwards, morphing into a frown of displeasure, “Why does he still call me that?”
Twilight performed several breathing exercises Discord taught her to not set her lovely brother’s entire face on fire. Smoke issued from her nose and she ended up sitting like a gargoyle. She hunched herself to bring her face closer to her brother’s, furthering the gargoyle look.
“We are not having this conversation again, dear brother. I will help with the wedding because Celestia ordered it. That is all,” she snarled lowly.
Shining Armor looked as if he bit into a lemon and then bombed Twilight with the most unexpected news she could think of, “My wife-to-be is Princess Cadence,”
“My foal sitter?” Twilight asked blankly, startled out of her anger, “That Cadence?”
Her question was answered when the alicorn in question haughtily walked into the courtyard. All the guards in view saluted with a thunderous clank of armor.
Her foal-sitter and the alicorn in front of her had some key differences, but overall, it looked to be the same pony. She was lankier than the last time Twilight saw her and her mane was no longer pulled into a messy bun. Now, it flowed down in gentle waves and was neatly brushed. Her golden shoes were new as were the neckband and shiny new crown. Her horn was longer, more refined, and her entire body had filled out from the awkward teenage body that most of her friends still had.
Cadence froze with wide eyes at the sight of Twilight. Caught by surprise, Twilight grinned as large as she could and waved a claw.
The last time she’d seen Cadence was before her transformation. Common sense caught up to the dragon and abruptly she ceased her grinning, remembering how Rarity quickly told her to just smile rather than grin when she’d been helping the unicorn model some experimental pieces.
“Hi, Cadence. Good to see you again,” Twilight winced at her voice crack and heat crept down her neck in embarrassment.
Cadence visibly gulped and turned to look at her fiance, “Honey you better start explaining,”
“This is my sister, Twilight,” Shining said in a resigned voice that had Twilight bristling with anger, “I told you about her,”
The alicorn’s eyes widened, “You have a dragon for a sister?”
This Cadence and her former foal-sitter almost couldn’t even compare attitude-wise. Twilight exaggeratedly checked herself over, now very annoyed.
“I’m fairly certain I’m a dragon,”
There was a suspicious sounding cough from the cluster of guards and Shining Armor whipped his head around to glare. Twilight caught Marshall’s eye and he winked discreetly. She snorted in response.
“I guess ‘Sunshine Sunshine ladybugs awake’ don’t ring any bells?” Twilight asked.
Cadence made a face and Twilight rolled her eyes, “The studious purple unicorn filly? Twilight Sparkle? Shining Armor’s sister?”
“Ahh,” Cadence didn’t seem to care and turned to talk to her husband-to-be. Twilight could tell she was still on high alert though.
“Well! I'll go and start overseeing the preparations,” Twilight decided to push away the uneasy feeling that stirred in her belly when Cadence appeared.
The Cadence in her mind would be a lot nicer in general. Her former foal sitter and the alicorn standing across from her brother didn’t seem to be the same pony. When she foal sat Twilight as a filly, she was far kinder and always held a special gleam in her eyes. From the few sentences Cadence had uttered, Twilight could tell by the tone alone that she held the entire courtyard in complete contempt.
Cadence was the Princess of Love. Vaguely she remembered, Cadence once demonstrating her power on a pair of ponies out on a date. The amiable conversation that was shared between the two ponies had immediately turned into gooey eyes and baby talk. Looking back on it now, Twilight grimaced, but she shook it off.
She turned to look at Spike, “Will you be ok with Uncle Marshall for the next few hours, Spike?”
Spike nodded frantically, “Uncle Marshall said he would show me the spears!”
Twilight shot Marshall the look and he nodded, puffing his chest in importance. Somehow, even his black mane seemed to perk up and his armor shine even brighter. His massive shape dwarfed Spike as he led the colt toward the armory.
“Alright, have fun Spike,”
She sent one more annoyed look at her brother and snapped her claws. Twilight reappeared in the kitchen holding a notepad and pencil, only she was a foot in the air, still sitting.
Twilight didn’t notice anything until gravity took hold. She overcompensated and landed on the floor, wings and tail akimbo. Her notepad skidded across the floor and the pencil rolled in the opposite direction. Applejack burst into laughter, not the slightest bit surprised, still stirring whatever was in her bowl as the rest of the pastry chefs stared in disbelief.
“At least you didn’t land in the barn this time,” Applejack teased as Twilight sat back up.
Twilight shuddered at the recollection, “What’s finished so far?”
She nodded absentmindedly at the bowing chefs. That was the one annoying thing about being her mentor’s student. Everyone in Canterlot knew who she was and what she could do. It was a relief to move away to Ponyville where she could still scare some of its residents half to death if she wasn’t careful.
Applejack gestured to the huge cake Twilight managed to overlook. She was sure if she were to stand next to it, it would be just a little taller than her horns. There was a cake decorator piping icing onto the cake using a ladder.
“Just the icing left for that. Cupcakes are done,” a timer rang, “Annd the best apple tarts in all of Equestria are done,”
Twilight checked off each of the boxes as Applejack spoke and snatched the piping hot apple tart that was thrown at her, out of the air. She hummed in delight as a starburst of flavor exploded in her mouth.
“Just the fritters left, but-” Applejack was interrupted by the kitchen doors opening.
Twilight was thankful she finished her tart before Cadence walked into the kitchen. She was almost certain the sight of the pink monstrosity alone would turn the tart sour. The alicorn looked surprised to see Twilight there, but her only reaction was the widening of her eyes.
Her attention was stolen by Applejack who approached her as she was currently the Head Chef, “Howdy Princess!” she bowed as per custom.
“Please call me Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,” the alicorn sniffed.
Her narrowed eyes and pinned back ear frills showed just how displeased Twilight was at the alicorn and Applejack side-eyed her.
“Err, of course Princess Mi Amor-a Cadenza. You come to see what’s on the menu on your big day?” Applejack asked, still keeping an eye on Twilight.
Twilight huffed and sat back down, rolling her eyes, and then childishly stuck her tongue out at her friend. However, her eyes narrowed again when she spied the curled lip on the Princess. Twilight wasn’t sure if it was because of Applejack’s country accent, the way Applejack unintentionally butchered her name, or the fact that she was being served by an earth pony.
“I have,”
Applejack bowed and presented her with an apple tart. She lit her horn to pick it up.
The instant the magic saturated the air, Twilight had to fight the urge to dry heave. Through her watering eyes, she spotted the tell-tale green aura of corrupted magic. Without a second thought, she bowled the obviously fake alicorn over with enough force to send the both of them tumbling head over hooves. Everyone in the kitchen froze as Twilight pinned her on the ground.
“Where is the real Princess, imposter?” Twilight snarled into her face, “You better hope you have an answer,”
“I- What- How did you- How dare- Unhoof me this instant!” the alicorn struggled futilely.
Twilight let a hint of flame curl around her jaws, “Tell me why you’ve been using corrupted magic then, Princess,”
The doors to the kitchen slammed open but Twilight hardly gave any attention to it. Her primary focus was the struggling pony beneath her. The pony froze when Twilight bared her teeth at her.
A huge amount of magic power gathering near the kitchen doors had Twilight’s head whipping around. There stood her brother, a large spell swelling at his horn and the most horrible snarl directed at her on his face.
“Get off of her,” the amount of hatred in her brother’s as he looked at her had her throat closing up, “Now!”
Her mouth opened and closed uselessly, “But-”
“Now!” he roared, the spell flaring brighter.
“You’re hurting me!” the alicorn cried, when Twilight remained frozen, “Shining! Help!”
Twilight barely managed to conjure her own shield in time to absorb her brother’s overpowered banishing spell. Her mind flip-flopped from being incredibly furious with this imposter and attempting to keep from crying.
When the light died down, she spotted her brother’s shocked expression, but it was quickly dismissed and it turned back into a snarl of anger. He spoke when she dismissed her hastily constructed shield.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with you Twilight, but you better get off of her,”
With a surge of strength, the alicorn shifted just enough to scoot out beneath Twilight’s claws. She ran to Shining Armor, sobbing, and buried her face in his fur.
Twilight wasn’t sure if she was impressed by the alicorn’s acting skills, or completely horrified that everyone believed them. Probably both if she was being honest.
After her brain caught up to the situation, she got to her paws and took a step forward as if to tackle the alicorn once more. Her brother charged his horn again and pushed the pink pony behind him. If Twilight wasn’t mistaken, Cadence shot her a smirk before letting her crocodile tears fall.
A growl rumbled in her chest in fury. Her eyes went slited and her fangs glinted in the low light of the kitchen. A hoof on her foreleg had her on pause.
“Come on, Twi. Stop and think first, how bout that?” Applejack soothed her, eyeing Cadence strangely.
The guards behind Shining hesitantly raised their pikes when she took a deep breath. However, her eyes narrowed once again when Cadence whispered something into her brother’s ear.
“Head Chef, please step away from the dragon. We don’t want you getting hurt,”
That immediately took the wind from Twilight’s sails. She sagged on the floor and tried not to cry. After a moment’s hesitation, Applejack stepped away, and Shining directed the guards to shackle her wings, paws, and snout shut.
Many of the older guards shot her looks of pity and/or exasperation while the newer ones sneered and eyed her with contempt. Tears burned the back of her eyes, but she absolutely would not let them fall. If she wanted to cry, she could do it when all was said and done with.
“We are going directly to the Princess with this,” Shining declared solemnly, “She will pass judgment,”