Applejack was hard at work in the castle kitchens, cutting up some vegetables with a knife. A unicorn chef standing nearby watched her with both wonderment and concern.
"Ma'am," the chef spoke, "I think it would be best if I did that cutting. I am far less likely to cut my hoof than you are."
"I'm fine," Applejack answered rather curtly to the unicorn. "I done sliced my hoof enough times doin' this as a filly ta know not ta cut mahself as a grown mare."
The mare was a bit miffed by the earth pony's response. "I was only offering you my assistance."
"And ya can offer it by doin' what I ask of ya and when I ask ya ta do it. Leave this cuttin' ta me and go git a pot ready. A good spoonful of oil in the bottom oughta do."
Grumbling, the unicorn turned and went to get a pot. "A stew pot, is it?"
"Hay no!" Applejack yelled at the mare. "All this is gettin' sweated and added to another dish! A sauce pan oughta do."
"Well, you said you wanted a pot. Why not say you wanted a sauce pan?"
"Cuz if y'all was readin' the recipe I put out on that counter there, y'all woulda seen what I was makin' and what pans it said ta use."
"For the umpteenth time, I, nor any other pony who works in these kitchens, can not read that Celestia-forsaken chicken scratch!"
"Hey!" Applejack faced the mare with a scowl. "I'll have ya know that Rhoda is a dang fine scribe fer a chicken!"
The unicorn blinked. "Please tell me you were joking when you said that just now."
Applejack turned back to her cutting. "Just get a darn saucepan and put a little oil in it."
The mare grumbled as she did what was asked, reminding herself that Celestia, for whatever insane reason, had given this earth pony run of the kitchen. She just had to live with it for the time being.
As Applejack continued cutting vegetables, Pinkie made her way into the kitchen. "Hiya Jackie!" she called to her friend.
"Heya Pinkie. What are ya doin' in here?"
"Getting ready for the reception dinner, silly!"
"But the reception dinner's after the weddin'. I'm the one takin' care of it, and I got all the food goin' now, so what are y'all doin' down here in the kitchens?"
"Because I need to make the cake!"
"...But you already made the cake."
"No, silly! The real cake that both Captain Shining Armor AND Princess Cadance want."
Pinkie then produced a scroll and unfurled it onto a clear counter. Applejack looked at the scroll with the cake design, and then looked over at a second scroll that had been pinned up and was displaying a design that the changeling queen had decided on.
"Pinkie, they both look the same ta me. How is this new cake gonna be any different than the one we already got?"
"Because it's gonna have the flower decorations and flavors that the real Princess Cadance wants, and not the ones that mean old queen wanted."
Applejack was going to try and make her point again, but gave up arguing as she watched her friend gather up a set of mixing bowls, sack of flour, a dozen or so eggs and a few other ingredients and set about whipping up a new wedding cake.
"So, Jackie, what do you think the princesses are gonna do with that Thorax guy?"
Applejack looked over at her friend, who was mixing ingredients with a whisk using her tail as she was leaned over a recipe book reading. She shook her head at the antics of the pink pony, reminding herself how Twilight had nearly driven herself insane from trying to understand her.
"I dunno. After what that queen and them others did, I'd think most ponies would want him punished."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Those things near took over the city, and who knows when they would've stopped. Can ya imagine one of them things burstin' into Sugarcube Corner and tryin' ta make off with the Cakes?"
Pinkie stopped and thought on the idea for a moment, then a smile screwed onto her face and she stopped stirring batter and started rolling in laughter.
"What's so dang funny?" Applejack asked the pink mare.
"Hahaha!" Pinkie continued on for another few seconds. "I just... thought of... a changeling... trying to carry off... Mrs. Cake!"
The pink mare went into hysterics again. The country pony wasn't amused.
"Pinkie, that ain't a nice thing ta be suggestin' about yer boss," Applejack told her friend.
"But it's funny!" Pinkie answered through a giggle fit.
"Pinkie, how would y'all feel if somepony thought it'd be funny ta imagine you gettin' hauled off by a changelin'?"
"...I'd still laugh my flank off! HAHAHA!"
The pink mare kept laughing as Applejack rolled her eyes and kept up with her work. Eventually, Pinkie's laughter died down, and she became surprisingly serious.
"I don't think he should be punished."
Applejack looked at her friend with surprise. "Y'all know what them things did, right?"
"Of course, Jackie. I was there too."
"So ya know they can't just let 'im walk outta here all free and clear like. Even if he didn't do anythin', ponies is gonna wanna hurt him just because he looks like one of them that was doin' awful stuff."
"And that's wrong too! So what if he looks a little scary? Does that make him a criminal?"
"No, Pinkie, it don't, but that don't mean other ponies will see it like that. In fact, I'd wager a barrel of apple cider from our next harvest that if that changeling walked out into the streets right now, he'd get a whoopin' so quick that his eyes would keep spinnin' long after his flank stopped glowin' red from all the hoofs kickin' it."
Pinkie pouted as she stopped mixing up the cake batter; it had been more than ready a few minutes ago. Applejack saw her expression and let out a sigh.
"Next time we see the princesses, I'll ask 'em if ya can come down with me ta go see 'im. I think I remember 'em sayin' about givin' all of us that special clearance thing. Besides, maybe ya can get some info outta that critter nopony else can. Maybe that helps keep him from gettin' roughed up so bad?"
"Okay!"the party pony replied with a smile as she poured batter into a large round pan. The country mare finished up her work and set about gettin' her ingredients ready for the dish she was working on.
The unicorn chef watching them simply shook her head and walked off into a pantry.
"How in the hay did these crazy mares get picked to be the ultimate defenders for all harmony?"
Fluttershy sat in her suite tending to her birds as she prepared them for their performance at the wedding in a little while. The songbirds were arranged on two tiers, with those having higher-pitched calls on the rear-upper tier and the ones with lower tones on the front-bottom tier. They were all singing along to the tune of "Here Comes The Bride". After finishing, the pegasus commended her birds.
"Good job, everyone. You're all going to sound amazing when we finally get to have the wedding."
The birds all chirped in response, happy to be receiving praise.
Fluttershy smiled, but then frowned. "If only I knew how I could help Thorax," she said to herself. Her brain had been trying to come up with ideas as to how she could help, but nothing was coming to mind that could help in the here and now.
According to Princess Luna, ponies who tried to help were taken advantage of and drained to the point of becoming unfeeling, and warned her against pursuing an avenue for which to offer assistance to the changeling. But she couldn't let him suffer with starvation either. It seemed that no matter what way Fluttershy looked at the problem, there wasn't a good solution.
Then, in the midst of all the worries and ideas, a thought popped into her head.
"The library!" she exclaimed. "Maybe there's something there that can help me help Thorax!"
With her goal in mind, she dismissed her bird friends and told them to meet her at the wedding chapel in a few hours, then took off from her balcony and flew to the large domed building that was the Canterlot Public Library. Landing on the steps outside, Fluttershy went through the doors and straight to the librarian.
"Excuse me?"
The librarian, an older mare with a graying mane, turned to face the new patron. "Yes, miss?"
"Would you please tell me where any books you have on the subject of potion-crafting might be?"
The librarian put a hoof to her chin as she thought, then pointed a few moments later. "Go down that way and then turn left. All of the potion-crafting literature is there on those shelves."
"Thank you," Fluttershy replied as she trotted the way the older mare said to go. As she turned left, she saw a pony standing in front of some shelves reading a book.
Only, they weren't a pony. In fact, they actually looked a bit familiar to the pegasus.
"Zecora?"
In front of her was a zebra with a set of golden rings around their neck and some jewelry on their ears. The zebra's ear turned her way and the zebra's head turned to face Fluttershy. As soon as she their face, Fluttershy turned beet red; the zebra she thought was Zecora was actually a stallion.
"O-Oh! I-I'm so sorry!" she quickly apologized. "I thought you were a zebra I knew from back home."
"'Tis fine," the zebra replied. "Confused for many a zebra am I."
"Um, what is your name?"
"My name is Zorro, my fair maiden, and perhaps I can help your worried mind be unladen?"
Fluttershy fidgeted in place, her usual shyness popping up at being around somepony she didn't know, but quickly disappeared as she remembered her purpose for coming to the library. "Do you know how to craft potions?"
"Of course I do. Compared to I, there's none who can make a better brew."
"Do you... know how to make... love potions?"
The zebra was caught off guard just a bit. This pony was looking to make love potions?
"I'm sorry, miss, but that's something I will not do. If you want this young colt's love, then he must love you for you."
Fluttershy blushed and became defensive. "N-No, not like that! What I meant was..."
She paused for a moment, which caused the zebra to raise a brow.
"Is there a potion I can brew that will let me give a pony love in a physical way?"
"I... am confused," the zebra admitted, breaking his loose pattern of rhyming.
"Well..." Fluttershy began but trailed off. "One of my friends... they were attacked yesterday, and the doctors said they're not well because of what the changelings did; something about they stole love from them. When they let me see them, they didn't look any kind of good at all, and... I want to help them get better. Do you know if there's any way I can do that?"
The zebra placed a hoof to his chin in thought. "I had about the same idea as you, which is why I am here. There may be something, but there is no guarantee. Fortunately, all of the required ingredients can be found here in Canterlot, so a batch can be made in order to test us this idea of yours."
Fluttershy drew circles in the floor with her hoof. "Could you help me? I really don't wanna mess this up."
The zebra smiled as he settled back into rhyming. "Of course, my dear. You should have no fear. By the end of the day, or at worst, tomorrow, you will have a finished potion made by the one and only Zorro!"
Twilight and Rarity had just left Cadance's quarters and were heading back to Twilight's own room. As the two walked side by side, they held a conversation.
"I still don't quite understand what you are stressing over, darling," Rarity said to Twilight.
"I just don't understand it!" Twilight shot back. "I talked to Cadance and Shining and nothing about what they did regarding that spell was out of the ordinary. They both used the same spellwork and cast it with the same intent, but somehow that one changeling was spared from being sent flying like a pebble flung from a slingshot!"
"Perhaps you should give this little conundrum of yours a break? After all, your brother and the princess are going to be married very soon, and I don't think it would do any good to be fretting over this matter during the ceremony."
"I know! It's just... I wish I could make sense of it."
"Maybe it has something to do with the Elements?"
Twilight looked at Rarity. "We haven't used the Elements since Discord. What do you mean?"
"Well," Rarity began as she rolled her hoof in the air, "perhaps the Elements somehow knew that we would need one of these creatures to help us stop another attack of theirs in the future, so they turned on and spared one to allow us to question it for the information we need to do so?"
Twilight deadpanned at her friend, who responded with a huff of indignation.
"I was only trying to offer you some help, darling!"
Twilight let out a sigh. "I know, Rarity, and I'm sorry. This whole thing with the changelings and the shield spell not totally working has me a bit frazzled."
"Like I said, it might just be best to forget it for the moment and focus on your brother's wedding."
Again, Twilight sighed. "You're right. I need to focus on that. Besides, we're almost to the room anyways."
The two turned a corner and saw a pair of guards standing outside Twilight's room.
"What's going on?" she asked them.
"The captain ordered us to keep watch of your room until he returned," one answered. "He said he needed to go back to his office for something."
"But we were just there a little bit ago. What could he have forgotten that was so important?"
"I'm not sure," the second answered, "but he was muttering something about a 'good luck charm' and kept looking at the ends of his sleeves."
Twilight brought a hoof to her face as she realized what it was. "Of course! My dad's lucky cufflinks! He gave them to Shining at his graduation from guard training and Shining wanted to wear them for the wedding."
"Shouldn't they have been with his shirt?" Rarity questioned.
"He took them off and put them back into their case," Twilight explained. "He didn't want them getting lost when the tailor pressed his clothes for today."
The first guard cleared his throat. "He said he would be back in a moment and you could walk to the chapel together."
Twilight nodded to the guards. "Thank you for telling me. You may return to your post."
"This is our post, ma'am," the second guard informed her. "The captain said to stand watch here until he returned."
Twilight wanted to protest again, but thought the better of it. "Very well then. Please permit us entry."
"What was your favorite doll as a foal?"
The guard's question caught Twilight off guard. "Excuse me?"
"The captain is concerned about changelings still being here in the city. Since the shield spell earlier missed one for sure, he's working under the impression that more were missed as well. He wants us to conduct a test to make sure anypony coming into your room is who they say they are. To that end, he gave us some personal information that only those close to Miss Twilight would know."
"Do I really have to do this?"
"I'm afraid so, ma'am. Captain's instructions."
Twilight let out a huff. "Fine. His name was Smartypants."
With the correct answer given, the guards moved away from the door and allowed Twilight inside. Rarity followed after answering her own question, apparently having to do with the Prince Blueblood incident at the Grand Galloping Gala.
"Remind me to tell your brother thank you for reminding me of that horrible stallion," Rarity told Twilight with a heavy amount of sarcasm.
"Your date was bad enough," Twilight countered. "I just had to confess to the identity of the doll I enchanted that made practically all of Ponyville nearly kill each other because I started panicking about a friendship report that I didn't actually need to send!"
Twilight took a breath and looked at her friend apologetically. "Sorry. Didn't mean to go off like that. Anyways, I'm sure he didn't mean to remind you of that night. He's just trying to be safe after everything that's happened."
"Well, he could've given them a different question for me to answer. I am more than just the mare who gave that royal pain the tongue-lashing he deserved."
"Well, he may not know as much about you as I or the other girls do, so he only went with information he knew to be accurate."
Rarity huffed as she trudged over to a wardrobe. "Well, that knowledge is pretty well known, so I think he should consider getting to know all of us a bit more personally so he has better information for this question and answer system he's come up with.
Rarity then turned around and presented Twilight with her gown for the wedding. "But enough about that. We're here now, so let's see you put this dress on so I can make sure that everything fits correctly."
Twilight let out her own breath, knowing that the fashionista would not be satisfied with the fit, even if Twilight herself was.
"Very well. Let me see it to put it on."
Rarity presented the gown to Twilight. Her blue magical aura was replaced with Twilight's magenta-colored aura. Twilight then guided her head and front hooves through the garment and made sure that it fell on her back as was intended.
"Satisfied?" she asked Rarity, but was dreading the mare's response.
"Well, Twilight," Rarity began, "You are correct that the dress fits you as intended. However, you didn't quite lay it across your back correctly. May I?"
Twilight gave a nod and Rarity began fiddling with how the garment was set across her back. Knowing Rarity would be taking her time to make sure everything looked as good as possible, Twilight closed her eyes and thought back to the conversations that she had with Cadance and her brother.
"...the same shield spell taught to new recruits..." Shining had told her.
"...It was the shield spell Shining taught me. He said it was one the royal guard recruits were taught in their training..." Cadance had answered.
"...just wanted to get every last one of those evil things out of this city..."
"...I simply wanted those evil changelings cast out of Equestria..."
"...same shield spell taught to new recruits..."
"...He said it was one the royal guard recruits were taught in their training..."
"...wanted to get every last one of those evil things..."
"...wanted those evil changelings..."
"...evil things..."
"...evil changelings..."
"...evil..."
"...evil..."
"EVIL"
Twilight gasped as her eyes shot open.
"I admit that I am prone to overly dramatic displays, darling, but please don't be so dramatic yourself," Rarity chastised. "I'm not even using any pins or sewing needles for this."
"Not that, Rarity!" Twilight exclaimed as she stepped away from her friend. "Tell Shining I'll be back as soon as I can. I need to speak to Princess Celestia about something right now!"
Rarity made to protest, but Twilight was already out the door. "The nerve of that mare!" she cried out as she sat down in a chair and crossed her forehooves over her barrel in a sign of frustration. "She could've at least waited until I was finished."