//------------------------------// // A Canterlot Wedding, Part 2 // Story: Mrs. and Mrs. Dash // by LoriLoud //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash started soaring through the cave system the moment she could. Cursing Princess Cadance or whoever that pony was, the pegasus shelved her intrusive violent thoughts in favor of keeping her eyes sharp and her head on a swivel. Rarity. Rarity and Twilight. She needed to look for any smidgen of purple (either dark mulberry or lavender, if Rainbow had to name specific shades) within this giant crystal mirror fun-house of a cave. Maybe even a deep magenta, or a dark fuchsia. Or an off indigo? Wait. Moderate violet! Maybe that was Rarity under different lighting? It was dark in here, and Rainbow was solely relying on her night vision. Screeching into a U-turn, the blue rainbow horse rounded back to her target. When she saw the pony up close, though, all those intrusive violent thoughts from before came rushing back. “You!” Rainbow pointed a shaking hoof at Princess Cadance, grinding her teeth. “I’d planned to bury my hoof past your ribs later, but we can do it now! Now open your mouth, we’re going the long way!” “No, wait, please!” The Tartarus-spawn begged, holding her hooves up in defense. “I’m the real Princess Cadance: the fake one tossed me in here!” “As if I’d believe that again.” Rainbow Dash growled, before pouncing on the pretty pink sack of fertilizer and trying to wrestle her hooves away from her face. “Now. Mouth. Open. Wide! Like the dentist.” “Wait! …That smell! You went to the Bitter Apple Bar? The one with the chickens? Have you seen Shiny – HURK!” Now with one hoof down the stack of dimes that Cadance called a neck, Rainbow Dash was determined to turn her well-polished hoof sideways and shove it straight down her – “Dd hm cm ym hmm mmn mrr?!” Cadance yelped frantically with watery eyes, and Rainbow Dash paused. Fluent in ‘mouth-full-of-stuff-ese’ thanks to Pinkie Pie, she was pretty sure the pink horse had said, “Did he call you his main mare”? “…What if he did?” Cadance ptooy-ed out Dash’s hoof. “He does that to everypony he drinks with. Mainly because he can’t handle his drinks at all. Also, he barely has any friends outside of me, so he just brings his work buddies along whenever he goes. It’s kind of concerning, and I tell him about it, but he just swoons and says I’m all he needs, which is really not healthy and somewhat co-dependent; we’re kind of working on it…!” Man, what was with pink horses and talking fast? Then again, Rainbow Dash was inches away from giving her a severe case of heartburn with the tip of her foreleg, so maybe that played into it. Anyways. There was one trick up her non-existent sleeve she still had: a trick she’d learned from Gilda, for what little good that griffon did for her in the past. Magenta eyes seared into Cadance’s own. “Tell me something nopony would know about Shining Armor.” “Wh-What…?” “Answers, lady! Tell me something about Shining Armor nopony would know! Something that could hurt him. Real bad.” “I…!” Cadance stuttered for a few moments, before something in her eyes hardened. Like a sword being drawn, or the thunder before lightning. “…No. I’d rather get turned into an upside-down muppet. Like the dentist, right? Let’s do it.” Rainbow Dash’s heart dropped for a moment as she got off Cadance. The real Cadance, who’d probably been trapped in here forever. Trying to hide her surprise, the pegasus held a hoof forward to help the princess up. “You pass.” “Huh…?” Cadance muttered, before taking her hoof. “Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty, future Wonderbolt, and currently missing one wife and one best friend,” Rainbow introduced herself bitterly, “pleasure to actually meet you this time, Princess. Sorry for the surprise ENT inspection.” “Just call me Cadance. And it’s fine, I was just as furious when she tossed me down here too.” Cadance sighed, looking down. “I get it.” “So, shapeshifting and brainwashing unicorn…?” Rainbow Dash gestured vaguely, not sure how to broach the topic after being elbow-deep in the other mare’s mouth only seconds ago. “No, a changeling. Princess Celestia called for the city-wide security barrier because one was discovered in the castle itself and confessed to a future invasion. Not like it helped,” Cadance grumbled, “since the main queen is currently masquerading as me.” “Well, let’s find Rarity and Twilight, bust out of here, and kick her flank, then!” Rainbow provided the obvious answer to the problem. “Twilight? As in Twilight Sparkle? The impostor had enough time to drain me of my magic, but if Twilight was thrown in here recently…” Cadance furrowed her brows in focus. “…Your wife is Rarity, right? We can find her first, at least.” “Yeah, definitely! …Pretty quick to assume my wife isn't Twilight.” Not that Rainbow minded, per say, but it was funny. “I know her. There’s no way she gets in a relationship that quickly, let alone married. You got hitched young, huh?” Cadance giggled. To Rainbow, however, it just brought a deep pang of awfulness down on her chest. A burning need for revenge, mild panic, but mostly concern. Rarity was still down here, somewhere. “That’s what everypony says.” Rainbow’s own eyes steeled, just like Cadance's before. “I love her, Princess.” “Good. Keep focusing on that feeling, this is one of my few love spells that isn’t straight-up mind control or pheromone manipulation.” Cadance clenched her teeth and channeled the measly bit of magic she still had, before a crimson string of pure love magic shot out of Rainbow Dash and zigzagged through the cave. Like a migrating bird, Rainbow felt the unthinking need to follow that thread now. She squinted at Cadance, who gave her a sheepish grin as they both readied for takeoff. “…Okay, so the Red Thread Redemption spell is a little mind control-ly. Let’s go find your wife!” Twilight had a killer headache, and her body hurt all over her everything. As the world slowly blurred into focus, Twilight did her best to stand on all four hooves, trying to fight past her migraine to conjure a simple illumination spell. The moment her horn lit up, she yelped and immediately jumped back as she was surrounded by an infinite number of ponies. ...No. Not that. Mirrors: or, rather, reflective crystals, all over just about every wall she could see. Where even was she? Oh, Tartarus: what time was it even? Twilight, almost automatically, twincast two of the first spells she ever learned: The Where-Am-I and the What-Time-Is-It spell. As more focused magic rolled out of her horn, Twilight created a projection of her global positioning, as well as the current Equestrian time. She got her answer: Somewhere in the mountains attached to Canterlot, and it was mid-morning. The ceremony would be in roughly three hours. “Hello? Is anyone there?” She called out into the infinite mirror void, the abyss endlessly reflected around her. She knew some of her philosophy professors would have a field day with this place. “Twilight? Twilight, is that you?” Rarity’s voice echoed through the mine. “Rarity! I’m over here!” Well-manicured hooves galloped in the distance, and Rarity appeared from behind a mirror, her horn also lit. Her perfect mane was mildly out of place. “Oh, thank goodness! I’ve been trying to find either of you for an eternity. My hooves are cracked. My hair is wretched…! I’m hideous!” “I just woke up. I hope Rainbow Dash is okay,” Twilight looked around, trying to find any other sign of life, before venturing forth into the cave system, “We can’t let that impostor win. We have to warn everypony as soon as possible!” “Should we split up?” Rarity asked, following. “You find the exit, while I get Dashie. Goodness knows if we need the Elements of Harmony.” Twilight almost retorted with her faith in Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s ability to subdue any shapeshifter in Equestria, but two parts of that statement struck her as queer. (In the sense of being unusual, but also in the other way.) Firstly, that Rarity was absolutely the Element of Generosity. She was immediately willing to grant Twilight the most immediate path to freedom and offered to dive back into an unknown labyrinth of mirrors and crystals, possibly the size of the mountain’s interior, with no source of food or water at all, just to find Rainbow Dash. It was incredibly touching. Secondly… “Why do you call her Dashie?” “Strange question to prioritize, Ms. Sparkle,” Rarity raised an eyebrow as they cantered along abandoned mine carts and old makeshift crafting tables, “but that’s been my nickname for her for years. Just because I’m also a Dash now doesn’t change those memories.” “Sorry. It’s just… with everything that’s happened in the last few weeks, it feels like I don’t know anypony around me at all.” “Darling, that’s not true…” “Except it kind of is, isn’t it?” Twilight sniffled, as reality hit her after a very hard day and a personal betrayal. Scratch that: multiple personal betrayals. “My friends have been married this entire time, and everypony thinks I’m silly for never seeing it. Shiny’s having a Las Pegasus wedding with my princess babysitter. Half my friend group thinks I’m the colt who cried wolf, and said babysitter was an impostor who kidnapped me and my friends!” Rarity stopped walking. “Twilight…” “I’m sorry, I know it’s a really bad time to unload all this, but… It’s all been too much…” “You don’t have to apologize for anything. In fact, it’s the other way around.” Rarity said, putting a hoof on Twilight’s back. Was she crying? She didn’t even register that she was crying. “I can’t speak on behalf of the others, but I personally regret that Rainbow and I never had the time to complete that discussion. We should have taken your doubts seriously at the time, just as our doubts about the wedding should have also been considered.” Twilight wiped away her tears with the back of her hoof, doing her best to look Rarity in the eyes. “I’m sorry, Twilight. And Rainbow is too, I just know it. And, married or not, we’ll always be the best of friends. I’m sure that your brother and his wife-to-be feel just the same.” Twilight hugged Rarity tightly, caving into her warmth and burying her face in the other unicorn’s neck. “Thank you, Rarity,” Twilight said, before noticing the red thread now sticking out of her back. Was that one of Cadance’s self-patented spells…? “Any time, deaaaaaRRRRR?!” Upon seeing a blood red source of unknown magecraft erupt from her back, Rarity fainted with her hooves up, making a goat sound. “Cadance, oh, you have no idea how happy I am to see you! Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake…” “Clap your hooves and do a little shake! Twilight, thank goodness you’re here!” Ugh. Who was making all the racket this early in the morning? It better not be Sweetie Belle… wait, this wan’t her bed. Rarity woke up to the smell of faint ozone and cheap cider and deodorant and love. Memories rushed back into her brain, and were quickly shelved away in favor of what was right in front of her. “Dashie, my love? Have you come to rescue me?” She said faintly, instinctively cupping a hoof over Rainbow’s cheek. “All day, every day.” Dashie chuckled, her voice an octave lower with her signature growl. Without needing any more words, Rarity lunged forth and claimed a righteous kiss from her wife, melting into her mouth. Once they separated, Rarity’s eyes trailed slowly from her favorite pegasus in the world to Twilight Sparkle and, presumably, the real Princess Cadance, seeing how Dashie wasn’t attempting to cave her face in. Twilight had a bright violet blush on her face, smile awkward as her eyes looked to Mi Amore Cadenza for guidance. Oh. That would be the first time she saw them share a kiss, wouldn’t it? Well, she’d better get used to it: Rarity was going to make it a point to be more public about her feelings. Princess Cadance, on the other hand, had her eyes widened, and glowed with pink magic. She looked like she took the first breath of fresh air after days in a coffin. Half-starved, dirty, and unkempt as she was, the Princess had a sudden, almost startling vibrance. Like a mare who’d trekked through the Appleloosan Desert and had just gulped down her first mug of water in days. Cadance stepped forward, bowing as gracefully as she could in these trying times. “It’s a pleasure to meet both of you. We need to be quick, though: the ceremony is starting soon, and I am not missing out on my own wedding!” “Oh, yes,” Rarity scrambled to her hooves, “Yes, of course! We still haven’t found the exit, though.” “No need. I know where it is,” Cadance cut her off, before suddenly extending her wings, “I had all my magic drained, so I could never get past the guards there, but with the latent love coming off you two? I’ve got this. Hold on tight!” Then, Rarity was casually reminded of the fact that alicorns had the traits of all three pony tribes, when Princess Cadance picked both of the unicorns up with her forelegs and took off like a cherubic arrow. “H-Hey, no fair on the head start!” Rainbow yelped, before following. A brainwashed Lyra, Minuette, and Twinkleshine all stood guard at the only exit from Canterlot’s abandoned mines. With both Minuette and Twinkleshine’s magical prowess as a result of being CSGU students (Lyra was just happy to be included), they had an easy time keeping the magically inert Cadance at bay. Until the pretty pink pony princess blew past them like they were bowling pins. Lyra had the Ponyville-trained sense to duck at the last moment, but the other two were thrown off their hooves instantly and knocked out. Sticking her head back up, Lyra looked around in wild panic, before a rainbow dashed past her and also knocked her out. "Ugh, only a spare," Cadance snorted.