//------------------------------// // An Unexpected Turn // Story: Wedding Bell Blues // by Darth Link 22 //------------------------------// If it happened in a work of fiction, most would call it a cheap deus-ex-machina. But Twilight wasn’t complaining, it had worked. The love her brother and her old foalsitter had for one another was somehow harnessed and had conveniently ejected the changelings from Canterlot, save for one. Queen Chrysalis had been in front of a wall when the spell had gone off, causing her to become inordinately familiar with what the cross-section of polished marble looked like. Moaning, she attempted to pull herself from the Chrysalis-shaped hole she had become lodged in to no avail. It wasn’t like there was a point to it. She was weak, there would be no escaping Celestia’s wrath now. Shining Armor and Princess Cadance hit the floor, looking at each other with warmth and affection. Twilight looked on with her friends in a happy daze, her heart melting. Then, however, she remembered her mentor. The Power of Love had dissolved all the changeling slime in the area, giving Celestia her first rough landing since an unfortunate incident when she and Luna were fillies that they swore in royal blood never to indulge to anypony. Rushing to her, Twilight offered a foreleg to help her rise to her hooves. “I’m fine,” she assured, “don’t worry about me. You have a real wedding to put together.” Twilight smiled knowingly. She then turned to her friends. “Think we can get the wedding back up and running in three hours?” “I know I can!” Applejack said happily. “You betcha!” Rainbow Dash winked. “Ooh! Ooh! I’ll get the party cannon ready!” Pinkie cheered. “Well, I’ll have to fix those dresses you just threw aside...” Rarity grumbled. “Um, I think I can get my birds ready...” Fluttershy mumbled, though a smile was across her face as well. “What wedding?” They all turned to the speaker, gaping at her. Which was understandable, because the speaker was the bride herself, who looked as if she had walked into a movie at the halfway point and was trying to figure out the plot. “O...our wedding,” Shining said, sounding a little hurt. “The one you just fought to save? The one we set a date for a month ago?” “Which I only found out about a week ago?” Twilight couldn’t help but snark. “Shining...I’ve been in those caves for nine months.” Everypony just gaped. “What?" Shining Armor sounded like he had just been handed a death sentence. "That's...since our first date...what I thought was our first date. I...I’ve been brainwashed that long? That could give me a tumor or...” Cadance put a hoof on her shoulder reassuringly. “Relax, I felt the amount of toxins in your brain. It couldn’t have been more than three weeks’ worth.” “What? But...” Celestia was looking equally stunned. She turned to Chrysalis, still wedged deeply into the wall. “You managed to act like Cadance until three weeks ago. Why such a break in character?” “I told you, I was under a lot of stress! I was about to marry a wonderful stallion!” Celestia, and everypony in the room, just looked at the Changeling Queen, gaping. “...What?” Shining said softly, his eyes wide. “It started off as just a way to get closer to Canterlot’s defenses, I admit it, but... it didn’t stay that way. Shining Armor was such a gentlecolt... he treated me right... I felt such strong and powerful love from him... I still went through with the invasion for the sake of my subjects, but my love was never fake! Shining Armor, I love you!” ... “Okay... this is messed up,” Rainbow Dash said. “Wait, wait,” Twilight said, turning to Cadance, “back in that cave, you said this day was going to be perfect. The day of which you dreamed since you were small? What was that about, if not marrying my brother?” “Twilight, today was my birthday, remember? I wanted to invite you and all your friends to Canterlot to meet them, and then we could have cake and celebrate.” “That sounds incredibly contrived,” Rarity sighed. “But... ‘to care for, love, and cherish him each day’? What was that about?” “I care for, love, and cherish all my friends... as friends.” “‘All my thoughts he does consume’?” “He was in mortal danger, Twilight. Of course all my thoughts would be on him.” “So what was that about wedding bells ringing?" Cadance twirled some hair around her hoof. “Well... I’m in love with somepony, and I was going to confess it.” “With me! Me, right?” Shining Armor said hopefully. “No, Shiny!” Chrysalis said, tears in her eyes. “I love you!” “Then why’d you brainwash him?” Celestia demanded. “My subjects needed food. He was still Captain of the Guard, I needed to keep him in the dark. Please... you’ve doomed the changeling race, don’t take him from me now! He’s all I have left!” “Well, you’ll have no competition from me. I don’t love him,” Cadance said sadly. “At least, not in that way.” “But... the spell!” Shining Armor said, shocked and hurt. “I said ‘not in that way.’ I love you, Shiny... as a friend. You’re like a cool older brother.” “What? But... I’m in love with you!” “No, you’re in love with Chrysalis... apparently.” “She forced me to love her!” “No, I never did,” Chrysalis pleaded. “You proposed to me all on your own. You loved me! We were meant to be!” “But... you’re a changeling and he’s a pony!” Pinkie said, as confused as everypony else. “True love knows no boundaries!” “...Aww, that’s sweet,” the earth pony sighed. “Pinkie!” Twilight snapped. “I’m sorry, Shiny,” Cadance apologized again. “I’m in love, but... it’s not with you. The truth is, my feelings are for somepony else. And after spending the last several months fighting for my life, eating nothing but the gruel the changelings gave me, I can’t hide them anymore.” With that she trotted down the stairs, toward where Twilight and Celestia were standing. “Cadance, I...” Shining stuttered, tears in his eyes. He brought a hoof to his head, he looked dizzy. “How could you do this?!” Twilight demanded. “You broke my brother’s heart!” What happened next surprised not only Twilight, but everypony else present. She put a hoof under Twilight’s chin and made her look into her eyes. “I guess we always hurt the ones we love.” And then she kissed her. It was a deep kiss. With tongue. She pulled away with dreamy love-filled eyes. Twilight pulled away with wide, terrified eyes, eyes that matched everypony else in the room. Even Chrysalis looked a little disturbed. "...I take it back, this is messed up," Rainbow Dash corrected. And then both Sparkle children fainted.