Shining Armor grimaced as he felt himself being manipulated magically, by the changeling queen. He was at her mercy, and at her control. His vision blurred, the world swimming and doubling, before turning black.
Chrysalis in disguise laughed, a cackle of delight as she stood in the place of the real Cadance. "My prince." She leaned in to nuzzle him, but it was to taunt, not out of any amount of affection. "Marry us, kindly."
Princess Celestia stood before them, as did the entire court and countless witnesses further down the grand hallway. "By the power vested in me by the laws of Equestria, I am honored to officiate this blessed union, between this couple in love."
Blueblood turned to Celestia, ears pinned. "Auntie, dear. This was to be a two pony wedding, but where is Tempo? We cannot proceed without her. To marry one while the other is not here, I cannot in good conscience do this."
Celestia smiled patiently. "Your compassion is noted, nephew. She will be along shortly."
Chrysalis bared her teeth at Blueblood, but she could hardly act out there. "We agreed on the time and place long before now, 'Auntie'."
Celestia raised a brow. Cadance loved Tempo, and was adored in kind. That sort of dismissal felt a little out of place. "Perhaps we could wait a moment."
"We shall wait then." Blueblood stood tall and proud, and alone, only moments before he would be joined by his beloved.
Cadance grit her teeth, digging deep for her resolve as she burst through the doors behind the crowd with Twilight. The two of them charged through them as best they could, calling for the wedding to stop.
Chrysalis abandoned her disguise in favor of laughter, having her brief, if triumphant, duel with Celestia. "Weak little thing, pathetic. I will feed my drones a meal they've long been waiting for."
Shining Armor fell in front of Cadance. "Twily? What's going on?" He winced as he got up. "I think I got hit by something. I passed out."
The illusion on him wore off, showing everyone the full sight of what they were in for. It was also the moment the shield collapsed, Shining unable to hold it up a moment longer under the assault of the changelings battering against it. They broke inside in a wave.
Shining tried to cast another one, but it didn't hold, not with Chrysalis draining his strength to bolster her own. It flickered in and out, and it didn't offer any protection at all. Canterlot was swarmed immediately, ponies fleeing in all directions around them away from the invaders.
Tempo ducked under a changeling as the drone flew over her at high speeds. "What is going on?" She had just reached the hallway to find it partially abandoned, screaming ponies filling the air instead of any sounds of a wedding, paused or going.
"Long story." Cadance worked to create a new barrier to protect the group of them, not that it lasted. The changelings were everywhere. "The changelings are attacking the city. They're capturing ponies." She pointed up at the cocoons already being set up, pods to drain ponies of their love.
Tempo felt something click deep inside her. "Assuming defensive stance." With great pops, damaged portions of herself reset with metal clangs and softer clicks as new things came online. "None will hurt Cadance. Defensive target locked."
Cadance blinked at the strange words and the strange way they were spoken. "Tempo, are you—" She had to duck as a changeling attacked her, but it was batted aside by Tempo. "Are you alright?"
Tempo pushed Cadance behind her. "Secondary defense targets located." Her horn glowed as she took hold of Blueblood and Shining Armor, drawing them to just beside Cadance. "Initiate defense." With an electronic whine, magic she hadn't tapped before came fully online. "Mission objective: Defend Cadance." She launched herself at the changelings, crashing through them.
Celestia snarled. "Why do you do this? What is your aim?"
Chrysalis laughed with wicked glee as her drones swarmed Cadance, her other targets having fled. "Love! Sweet, sweet love. You think I could truly live on such a wretched emotion as your petty kind enjoy? Not without taking it first."
Tempo was on them in an instant, not physically, but fine lasers darted around as if her horn was doing its best to imitate a disco ball, each glittering line striking a changeling down in a rapid takedown. No damage was permitted to fall on her defense targets.
Tempo's new weapons didn't stop at her horns. The ports in her hooves opened, launching lines of magic-laden crystals. They shattered against the changelings, a fine, but highly targeted spray of glittering sand that was soon hardened to rock with a simple spell.
While the chaos was erupting, Twilight and her friends were rushing for the elements. They battled just as bravely against the changelings that came to stop them, but they were not designed for battle. They were not war machines.
Tempo was, and the number of drones in the area kept lowering by the moment with her passionless assault. Not a single drone managed to lay a hoof on Cadance. She was surrounded only by limply struggling drones. "Mission almost complete. Lowering defenses."
Cadance didn't understand any of it, but she smiled in relief as she trotted over to Tempo. "When could you do any of that?!"
Tempo shook her head, her eyes refocusing as her soul pressed back to the surface. "That was scary. May I hug you right—"
Cadance didn't let her finish, pouncing and hugging Tempo tightly with a happy noise. "You're a hero, but we have a whole city swarming with changelings. Can you, um, do that, but bigger?"
Tempo gently squeezed Cadance. "I can try." She wobbled a little in place, and a lot when Cadance let go of her. "I'm not sure." The longer she stood, the less certain she was.
Blueblood and Shining closed with them, each going to their mare with gentle nuzzles. "My lovely Tempo," sang out Blueblood poetically. "My warrior mare. You have saved us."
"She did." Shining nuzzled Cadance, and then Tempo. "Thank you, both of you."
"Of course." Cadance smiled, only for her ears to pin. "But we are still in the middle of an assault, I remind."
Shining slumped against her. "We've done a lot, but I think we're all tired."
Blueblood stomped a hoof. "I have not." He threw a hoof over the slumped Tempo, gently holding her close. "Tempo, my dear and blazing guardian. It is my turn to stand vigil over you in your moment of weakness."
Tempo blinked, leaning into Blueblood's embrace. "I, I will rest then. Thank you." She shut her eyes and slumped to the floor without preamble, little ticks and noises revealing that she was well and truly shut down for the moment.
Cadance snorted, turning to touch her horn to Shining Armor's. "I'm just glad we're back together. I missed you so very much, I don't have the proper words for it."
Shining returned the smile, the painful fog he'd been living in parting before the powerful love that Cadance was offering him. "Me too, um, glad to have you back."
Chrysalis cackled at the two with a snort. "Go on, enjoy your last little cuddle. Your little death machine is worn out, and my drones are just getting started. There's nothing left to save you now."
Cadance frowned as she pulled away from Shining Armor, turning to Chrysalis. "What do you have against love? Why go to all this effort to stop us from having it?"
"Stop you? Perish the thought." Chrysalis waved that away. "Have all the love you want. All the more for us to take from you. We will grow plump from the feast on offer today."
"Then what are we fighting over?" Cadance stood strong against the Queen. "Is it about your kind feeding from mine? Is that all this is? A grudge over what you are?"
"What we are?" Chrysalis raised a brow, her smirk one of assumed victory. "We are predators. You, unfortunately for you, are prey. It shouldn't be that hard to grasp." She turned to a drone that had landed beside her. "How proceeds the invasion?"
"Your Highness." The drone saluted sharply. "We are capturing the ponies swiftly. The pods are full of their loving little hearts." He paused before adding, "And their tears." He grinned wider at that.
"Good, good. That should be enough for us to finally get the meal we've been waiting so long for. Taste that, little princess." She spread her arms wide. "That is the glorious life of a predator."
Cadance withdrew to Shining Armor's side, hugging him. "I'm sorry."
"Me too." He laughed bitterly, squeezing her back. "I have to stop saying that."
Blueblood perked an ear, hearing something. "Tempo, beloved, are you waking up?" He watched her intently. "Is it so? The fate of a city and perhaps a nation rests on your shoulders, my darling, and I have faith you can lift it."
Tempo didn't move, at least not yet. She did, however, make a series of clicks and whirrs that were followed by her opening her eyes and sitting up. "Defense systems restored. Defensive parameters adjusting. New mission." She stood up, marching off on unsteady legs.
Blueblood was on her, practically tackling her. "Not alone! Never alone. I stand at your side, fierce warrior mare that you are. Do you hear me? I am never far."
Tempo pushed him back by the head. "You are at risk, as is Cadance and Shining. I can defend you if you remain here. It is safer."
He reached his hooves up, batting her own off of his face. "I will not sit back in safety while my beloved stands tall against evil incarnate." He rolled his eyes dramatically, then blinked at Tempo, staring into her eyes. "How curious." But he shook off his moment of fascination. "We will stand together!" He struck a dramatic pose, to the tune of Tempo shaking her head. "For we are Tempo and Blueblood, and we are always together."
Cadance lifted a hoof before falling against Shining. "Even in this dark time," she muttered, weakened. "We are together."
She began to glow, as if buoyed by the love of their couples. "We are together." All four of them, Cadance, Shining, Tempo, and Blueblood lifted from the ground. Each was lending their power, glowing at first in their own shades, but it slowly shifted to a unified hue.
A blast of love would save the day, but not one of eros, but one of overwhelming storge, family love that radiated from them in all directions, shoving the changelings away, out of the city and banishing the pods from around the ponies held in them, to let the confused ponies flop to the ground, still covered in goo.
It continued on, pushing Chrysalis herself back with a hissing cry of pain, as if she had been burned. The force of it, a mix of raw magic and pure love, pushed back her and her hive, both vanishing in all directions away from the liberated city.
With the invaders dispatched, there was nothing standing in the way of their wedding. Tempo shrank back, ears flicking back. "I am shown to be even less of a pony. I understand if you want to back out. I will not hold it against you."
Blueblood narrowed his eyes, spinning to face Tempo. "Ponies do not just abandon those they love, Tempo. We are meant to be together. I am yours, and you are mine, and that is forever." He touched his nose to hers. "You are not shown to be any lesser today, nay! You are a hero, standing taller still than I had imagined yesterday."
Cadance was wobbly as she came over to them. "Blueblood is right. I think you're even more of a pony now. I'm glad you're with us. You saved me, you saved Shining, and you saved the whole kingdom! How is that anything less than pony?"
Tempo glanced away, embarrassed. "I have been told before that I am not a pony. I am an abomination, a freak. I am not supposed to exist."
Shining half-fell against her. "By ponies with their heads not on straight. C'mon! Let's get us all married. I can't wait to have such a lovely sister, and a brother." He nodded firmly at Blueblood. "And a wife." He leaned gently against Cadance. "Today's gonna be great."
The quartet did eventually get married, despite all the changes to the planned ceremony and the actual wedding itself. Everypony involved in the wedding had their life changed that day. None would forget it, nor would they wish to.