The next thirty minutes passed in silence as both Applejack and Twilight went about their assigned tasks. Twilight did what might have been the fastest research of her life, trying to find a way to escape her bindings. Applejack stayed in the kitchen, cooking a meal for the two of them and, after realizing he'd be back soon, Spike.
Twilight was juggling between looking through her magic books and making a list of the ones who would try to pull such an elaborate prank on them. She had listed everypony with a grudge against them, then applied it to logic.
Trixie? No... she’s all better after we got that amulet off of her. Gilda? I doubt she has the resources... Chrysalis? This seems pretty petty for someone as big as her...but depending on what these bands do, I shouldn’t rule her out. Discord?
That actually got her to pause. The Spirit of Chaos had claimed he was turning over a new leaf, but Twilight still didn’t trust him. The only reason she had agreed to be drunk last night was that the Princess had him scouring a particularly dangerous region for Chrysalis and the changelings, part of his “public service”, in a word. Whatever the draconequus might be planning, he wouldn’t jeopardize it now.
That train of thought barrelled down a new path. Could Pinkie be responsible? She often does things she thinks are good without thinking them through... no, she wouldn’t be pretending not too if she did, and she doesn’t have the resources besides.
She sighed, returning to her books. There was nothing about about removing the bands, not yet, anyway...
"Soup's on, Twi!" Applejack called, pulling the unicorn out of her pages and beckoning her to come down. Laid out on the kitchen table was biscuits and gravy, freshly squeezed apple juice, and wheat toast.
"It looks good, Applejack," Twilight noted, taking a seat.
"Yeah, well, I wanted to make more, but you don't seem to have much in the way of ingredients here."
The unicorn shrugged. "We really don't eat around the table much. I'm usually studying, so we mostly eat sandwiches."
"Aw, that's no good, Twi," the cowpony shook her head. "Ya should be eatin' together, it's important."
"I just don't have the time, Princess Celestia always sends me more work to do."
"You have time to hang out with us," the earth pony pointed out.
"Yes, I make time for you girls, I make time for Spike too. Almost any time I'm not with all of you I'm with him."
There was a bit of a silence as the two started eating. "Hey, Twi? ...Do you ever think that maybe you work Spike too hard?"
Twilight shook her head. "He always speaks up if he thinks he's been treated unfairly. Believe me, he wants to work like that."
Applejack rubbed her head with her hoof. "Why? I can't get Apple Bloom that excited about her chores."
Twilight just beamed. "He just wants to make me happy. The day he was born he clung to my leg and wouldn't let go. I had imprinted myself on him, and he wouldn't let anypony else raise him. He always wanted to be around me. I let him be my assistant so he could have an excuse to help me."
The cowpony chuckled. "He don't seem that clingy now."
Twilight smiled a warm smile. "He's grown out of it... mostly. He still wants to sleep in my room instead of his own. That's why he always sleeps in that basket."
Applejack couldn't help but chuckle. "Silly dragon. Always wantin' to be around his mama, huh?"
Twilight blushed. "Something like that, yeah. You see..."
She was cut off by the front door opening, the bell above giving a pleasant ching as it did so. Twilight began to excuse herself to attend to the customer, but the sound of claws on wood stopped her. A moment later, a familiar baby dragon walked into the room.
"Hey Twilight, I'm back!" Spike greeted. "Oh, hey Applejack. Did you stop by for lunch?"
"Well, somethin' like that..." she said slowly.
"There's plenty for you, Spike," Twilight jumped in, not wanting to explain this just yet. "Have a seat."
Spike moved to obey, but stopped. "Hey, Twilight, since when do you wear rings?"
Twilight flinched. Spike reacted the same, afraid he had just done something bad.
"Oh, well..." Twilight said slowly. "You see, last night, me and Applejack... we had a lot of a special big pony drink..."
"You got smashed?"
Twilight's eyes widened. "How do you..."
"Twilight, I'm not sheltered. I grew up in the same place as Blueblood, remember? You and Applejack got drunk. What happened?"
Twilight made a mental reminder to give the spoiled prince a good kick in the flank...or another area, if it could be reached, perhaps while wearing bladed shoes. "...Well, you see... we... kind of... got... married."
Spike's eyes opened wide at this. Applejack and Twilight held their breaths in anticipation.
"Why haven't you gotten it cancelled?"
Both ponies blinked. That was not the reaction they had expected. It hadn't just been a tone of curiosity. It had been panic... worry.
"We tried," the cowpony stepped in, "but th' mayor said it takes three weeks to annul a marriage."
"...But you're going to get it cancelled? It's not real?"
"That's right," Twilight confirmed.
"Oh. Okay." And with that Spike happily sat down and began making himself a plate. He was about halfway through it when he noticed that neither of his tablemates had said anything. He looked up and saw the two ponies gaping at him.
"What? Is there something on my face?"
"Sorry, Spike," Twilight apologized, "but... everypony else has been laughing their tails off at us. You just seem... relieved."
And it was true. There had been a sense of relief in the young reptile. Scratching the table awkwardly, he spoke. "Well... I was afraid I had missed your wedding. I'd want to be around to see it."
"Oh," Twilight responded as memories of her brother's wedding kept flooding back. "I guess that makes sense." She returned to her meal.
Applejack, on the other hoof, wasn't convinced. There was just something a little... off about the explanation.
"Whoa, Spike, smaller bites," Twilight scolded as her charge swallowed a biscuit nearly whole.
"Aw, come on, Twi," the dragon muttered.
"You know, Spike," Applejack said slyly, "I don't think Rarity would wanna date somepony... or somedragon... who ate like a slob."
Spike stopped. He looked at his plate. Then, he grabbed another biscuit, extended his pinkie, and brought the food to his lips, taking a tiny nibble.
Smiling, Twilight looked at Applejack. "You're good."
In truth, Rarity probably would have welcomed ghastly table manners as opposed to where she was now. She was seated in front of Blueblood's desk, shifting nervously while the stallion leafed through a few papers.
"Alright, here's the deal. Are you aware of our progress with locating the Changeling Queen?"
Rarity shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I daresay that subject seems to have leaked out of the news."
"That was quite intentional," the prince explained. "Because we haven't gotten any significant results."
Rarity was a bit shocked. "You've been forbidding the newspapers from reporting on that?"
Blueblood shook his head. "We don't have to. One of us in the Elite just makes a donkey out of himself in front of the paparazzi. It gets the news off of things that could spread paranoia. The last thing we want is ponies attacking other ponies because they think they're changelings in disguise."
"That still seems a bit... dishonest."
"That's politics, Beautiful."
"Don't call me that."
"That's politics, Sexy."
"...Call me Beautiful," Rarity said through gritted teeth.
"If you insist," Blueblood said with a smile that he had spent years practicing to get the maximum amount of smug self-satisfaction out of. "Now then, we have been hoping to get a lead on the changelings for months, and luckily, I happen to know where to look next."
Blueblood slid a piece of paper across the desk, stopping it directly in front of the mare. She saw it was a flyer, reading 135th Annual Manehatten Fashion Designer Showoff.
"The showoff?" Rarity said, stars appearing in her eyes. "I've always dreamed of having my fashions shown off there!"
"Well, here's your chance," Blueblood responded. "Several members of the Elite are going to be there, but Princess Celestia will not. This makes it the perfect time for the changelings to swoop in and replace some key figures in society. We need somepony on the inside to keep an eye out and report back any suspicious behavior."
Rarity blinked. "Shouldn't I go get my friends for this? This sounds like Element of Harmony business..."
The prince shook his head. "If all of you are there, the changelings will know something is up. If you're alone, they'll think you're just showing off your fashions."
Rarity nodded. "I suppose that makes sense... but what if they try to replace me?"
"We'll have you under guard. They try anything we'll be right there to save you. All you have to do is go there, show off your fashions, keep a few eyes out, and you'll be a free mare, with a few new prospects too as an added bonus. See? Not that bad, is it?"
Rarity couldn't argue. This did seem like a good deal... almost too good. Still, the alternative was worse. "I suppose... am I going to have time to put together some new designs?"
"Are you kidding? That's all you're going to be doing over the next week, aside from learning how to spot a changeling in disguise. You're no good to us if you don't complete the primary objective.”
Rarity blinked. “I don’t think I can learn about that and make dresses all in a week.”
“Oh, it’s easy,” Blueblood said. “And besides, I’ll be with you. I’ll be posing as your escort for the evening...”
Rarity felt her eye twitch involuntarily. “Well...I suppose we can keep up appearances...”
“Oh, and to keep up appearances, we’ll be bunking in the same one bed hotel room.”
“...You will be sleeping on the couch.”
“I am a prince, you’re a commoner. You’ll sleep on the couch.”
Rarity buried her head in her hooves. “...Is it too late to have some of that scotch?”
"I'm afraid so, you have to be sober to work."
And with that, her head made a dent in the desk.
"And you're paying for that."
Fluttershy giggled as Rainbow Dash's kisses moved from her cheek down to her neck. She felt herself shiver a bit. Her kisses reached her collar bone. She began squirming. Her partner went lower...
"Stop!" the pegasus squeaked.
Immediately the command was obeyed. Rainbow Dash removed her lips and replaced them with a hoof. "Right here, then? Here's where you feel uncomfortable?"
Fluttershy blushed, but nodded. "Y-yes. I'm sorry, Dash..."
The cyan mare groaned, flopping down next to her. "Don't apologize, that's your problem. You shouldn't have to do anything like this that makes you uncomfortable."
"But... you'll want to eventually."
"You better believe it,” she uttered, wiggling her eyebrows in a way that made her partner giggle and blush. "But it isn't about what I want right now."
Fluttershy smiled. She wrapped her forelegs across her foalhood friend, placing her head on her chest. Rainbow Dash returned the hug, kissing her on the forehead.
"You still need to grow a backbone, honestly," the cyan mare said. "You can't live like this..."
"I've been fine so far..."
"Whenever I wasn't around in flight school, you were picked on all the time," Rainbow Dash reminded. "And after we moved to Ponyville, you hardly had any friends other than me and Rarity until Twilight moved into town."
Fluttershy found herself unable to counter that claim. She snuggled into her partner's chest, hoping she'd stop talking and just let them cuddle. Unfortunately, she kept going.
"You're just too afraid to say no to anypony. That's why we did what we just did. I was on pins and needles worried I'd take it too far."
"I... I..."
Rainbow Dash finally noted her lover's demeanor. She fought down the urge to point out that her argument had just been validated and held her more tightly.
They stayed that way for a while. So long that Fluttershy fell asleep. Dash didn't mind, she just held her close. She looked at her, truly looked at her for the first time... she was so beautiful. She hadn't noticed before. It was...
And then the powers that be, apparently being bored with running the universe, decided it would just be funny to ruin the moment. A carrot suddenly flew and hit the sleeping Fluttershy in the head. Giving a small yelp, the yellow pegasus flew straight up and out of Rainbow Dash's grip.
Angel stood, tapping his foot impatiently. Holding a pocket watch, odd for Fluttershy to own since she hardly wore clothes, he angrily pointed to the time.
"Oh my, it's feeding time, isn't it?" Fluttershy said apologetically. "I'm so sorry, I just got so caught up resting with..."
Wishing he had a whip to crack, Angel did the next best thing and stomped angrily, pointing toward the kitchen.
"Oh, yes, of course," Fluttershy said apologetically. "Sorry, Rainbow Dash, I've got to feed the animals, and..."
Rainbow Dash suppressed a groan. As rude as Angel had been, Fluttershy had neglected her duties for nearly an hour. Still...
Dash flew up. "No problem, I'll help you," she assured, glaring at the rabbit. Angel just blew a raspberry at her. He then turned and hopped toward the kitchen, waving his tail in a mocking manner.
Well, Dash thought as Fluttershy followed, here's obstacle number one...