//------------------------------// // Chapter 21: And Love Just Broke All the Rules... // Story: Crystal Heart: After the Swarm // by Betty_Starlight //------------------------------// I furrow my brow at the alicorn, “Okay, for the last time, I just want you to clearly and concisely explain to me why I have to help you plan your wedding and why I have any business being here?” Twilight smiles, “Well, you’re good because nopony knows you!” My eyes widen, “Why does that make me good?” Cozy adds, “I’m not flying with another banner! I hate those things! The wind drag is awful!” Twilight smiles and lowers her gaze, “Because you’re the perfect example of how my reign over Equestria changes things for the better!” I frown and widen my eyes, “But you had nothing to do with my reformation?” Twilight flips her right forehoof in the air, “Technicalities!” Cozy says, “Seems to be a lot of that going around?” Twilight turns her head to the filly and raises her eyebrow, “Oh?” Cozy shakes her head before staring back, “Uh, never mind!” she lowers her gaze. “So, exactly how are we going to help you with this wedding?” I turn my gaze right to the filly, “Cozy! You don’t have to!” She turns back towards me and says vehemently, “Mom, I’ve read the same fairy tale four times already and put together my 500-piece puzzle ten! I’m bored and have nothing to do!” I mimic her speech patterns, “You know, you could just ask me for more books and puzzles?” She blinks, “Um, of course! I knew that! But uh…” “You just want something new to do, don’t you?” Her eyes widen, “Um, yeah okay, maybe!” and she smiles at me with a big toothy grin… Twilight gazes down at the filly, “I don’t know if I should trust you?” “Oh golly gee, Twilight! Give me a break! I haven’t been evil in about four years now!” Twilight widens her eyes, “But you were a statue!” Cozy stares blankly at the princess, “Technicalities! That was another one!” before adjusting her gaze. “Oh, come on! What’s the worst that could happen?” before smiling widely at the princess. Twilight lowers her gaze, “Well, while all the wedding things are going on, you could in theory, steal the artifacts from my safe where I keep them in my office and use those to drain the magick in Equestria again!” Cozy’s eyes widen, “See? I didn’t even think of that! I’m totally reformed now! You can trust me!” before smiling her cheesy grin once more… “You didn’t even know the artifacts were kept there until I just told you!” Twilight’s eyes go skyward. “I should probably move them now?” Cozy sighs, “How about this then! Just put a spell on me that keeps me from entering your office! Would that work?” before frowning in agitation at the large purple superior… <*****> “Why can’t I go into the castle now?” The pink foal asks me as we both stood in front of the large red front door to the castle. I sigh, “Because Twilight cast a spell on you to prevent you from entering!” “Well golly gee, the artifacts are just in her office! Is it REALLY necessary to block off the whole castle?” “I guess that’s what Twilight thought was best?” She nods, “Well, right! But you know the artifacts aren’t in the castle anymore right?” “You don’t think so?” She scoffs, “Oh, please! The shield she put over is just a dead giveaway! She wants me to think they’re in there, but they’re probably actually in the Crystal Empire or something!” I nod, “Actually, you’re probably right?” She sighs, “Well, obviously! But golly gee, how am I gonna get to the wedding now!” and stares up at me with enormous brown eyes. I frown, “Well, I guess I could ask her?” my eyes go up. “Actually, I have an idea!” <*****> I look at the large alicorn, currently wearing a gorgeous white wedding dress, “Twilight, we know the artifacts aren’t here!” She widens her eyes as her neck comes out of the V-shaped top of the sequined white dress, with the slight fringe along the bottom… “Oh? I thought I was sneakier than that?” I smile, “Cozy already knows that since you blocked off the whole castle, that you’ve obviously moved them somewhere else… Can she please come into the ceremony already?” She stares at me blankly before a small smile begins to form on her muzzle… <*****> “Mom?” The pink pegasus filly asks me from below… I look down at the adorable filly as she stares up at me with her brown eyes underneath neatly arranged bluish-white curls, “You know, I told you that I didn’t want to fly while carrying a banner, right?” I nod and try to suppress a smirk as I know the filly is gearing up for another tirade, “This is true!” Her eyes widen right before she irately shouts! “Then why, in the name of Equestria, am I now flying while carrying five streamers?” I try not to giggle while saying, “Well, it’s not a banner!” “How is this better than a banner? There’s still gonna be all kinds of drag!” “Well uh, wind can go in-between the streamers now?” She grimaces in annoyance, “So what? A lot of it is still gonna catch and I’m gonna have to work extra hard with my wings just to move and maneuver!” I frown when sudden inspiration hits me, “Well, it’s either that or being in the crowd and having to make nice-nice with everypony?” Her face normalizes when that sudden thought enters her mind. She glances back at me, “Uh, you know what? I’ll do it for about thirty minutes… After that, I’m flying home!” I smile at my filly, “Deal!” before trotting to her and embracing her in a tight warm hug!” “EEP!” She squeals before saying to me while in my embrace. “You know, I keep thinking about who you used to be, and I’m still not used to that!” <*****> The large congregation gathered in the large stone reception building in the pews there... There was a large aisle with a red carpet neatly draped through it and two smaller aisle’s on either side, so more ponies could easily get into the massive auditorium… Soon, music started to play… The organ sound reverberates through the auditorium as an older brown earth stallion operates the keys with his hooves overhead and Trixie soon emerges from the right side in her white sequined wedding gown with a big smile on her face, underneath a slightly off-white veil, so her white mane doesn’t hide it… She slowly trots down the main aisle until reaching the central aisle leading up to the podium… She turns right to begin trotting that direction… I must admit, for a second-rate former magician, she certainly looked stunning and oddly happy… Next, Twilight emerges from the left side of the aisle and slowly trots as the organ musical fanfare continues to play and resound throughout the room… What I saw in Twilight at that moment, I’m not exactly sure? She seemed happy, but her lips betrayed hesitance… She slowly and graciously trotted down the aisle before curtly turning left to begin trotting down the central aisle… She soon reached the pulpit… Then, the older gray earth stallion in his ceremonial black robes began to speak, “Fillies and gentle-colts! We are gathered here today to witness a most peculiar union! The union of Princess Twilight Sparkle and her consort, Trixie Lulamoon!” Suddenly, Twilight speaks up, “I-I’m sorry! I need to uh…” before turning and spreading her wings before squatting to take off flying inside the auditorium overhead! Ponies stared up aghast as they witnessed the Princess of Friendship, now flying above in her white wedding dress and heading towards the window just to the left! “UGH!” I roll my eyes before I take off in a hurried gallop to the outside through the large double-door entry. I exit just in time to turn my head to the right and witness her heading into a particular tower over Canterlot in the distance… “Gotcha!” I say to myself before I begin to shapeshift and grow a pair of aquamarine pegasus wings at my side and through my pale pink bride’s mare’s dress and squat before I take off flying towards the tower I saw her fly into… Now, please note that I am used to flying with insectoid wings… These feathered wings I was now attempting to fly with behave very differently and I needed to flap slower and with more force in order to gain any altitude! This annoyed me at first, and yet I scrunched my brow and frowned in iron determination! I don’t know what’s wrong, but I think I need to fix it? After some flying, I finally reach the tower window parapet and I land on the balcony there… There’ a railing that I needed to fly over though, and so I of course, landed with a skid! “Ouch!” I say to myself as my right front hoof strains. Doesn’t matter! I need to check on Twilight! I trot inside the small room at the top of the tower… There’s a staircase spiraling downward on my right and a small wooden table there, as the purple alicorn stood there in her wedding dress, with the train, still somehow immaculate and now sprawled across the floor behind her… I look at this and say, “Okay Twilight! Tell me, why in the name of pony did you suddenly decide to get married to this other mare you’ve only been seeing for maybe a few days?” Twilight stared back at me solemnly, “Tell me Crystal. Have you ever talked to somepony who just got you?” I blink, “As a matter of fact, I have… Her name is Starlight Glimmer and we’ve had many intimate late-night conversations while snuggling one another…” Twilight smiles, “Yeah, it’s like that! We actually started talking, you know? I mean, not just official stuff, or idle banter, but actually talking and well, she told me a lot about herself and her life and I’ll admit that while I did feel sorry for her, I also admired her strength and resilience… And you know what she told me? She was jealous of me! ME! Can you believe that?” I smile as I imitate my foal once again, “Gee! Her being jealous of the most powerful and successful pony in all of Equestria? How could that possibly be?” Twilight giggles slightly, “Okay! Maybe I kinda am really successful?” I raise my right eyebrow, “Kinda?” She sighs as her eyes widen, “Okay, yeah! I can see how she might be jealous of me!” I nod, “Okay then! You both admired each other!” She starts before continuing, “Well, right! And like I was saying, we just started talking and well, we really connected, you know?” “Not just sex?” She smiles and giggles, “Well, yeah! That part was kinda nice!” I smile back, “Right!” “Especially when Trixie got back there and put her face inside and I put my face down and let her…” “Okay, Twilight! I get it! You two are passionate and loving! So what’s the problem?” Her eyes widen as her smile lowers, “Well, honestly, I’m scared…” I stare at her as inspiration once again, strikes me! “You’re the Princess of Equestria! Literally nopony could grant an annulment faster than you!” She frowns, “You know, I didn’t think of that!” I nod, “So right! Since you have this connection or whatever, why not explore it? Just try it out and see if you like being married to this mare? If you don’t like it, just annul it and forget about it!” Her face slowly normalizes as she considers my words, “That’s another really good point!” I nod again, “See? It’s cool! You’re Princess of Equestria and can easily get out of a marriage!” “Ugh! Right!” She sighs… She soon spreads her wings and lowers her body somewhat before staring at me and saying, “You ready to head back to the ceremony, Crystal?” I nod, “Right! Because that’s not an abuse of power at all.” before frowning, “Well, I already broke my no shapeshifting rule? Might as well go all out?” before widening my eyes to her, “Allow me!” and we’re suddenly both enveloped in a blinding pale green flash! (To be continued…)