I am Twilight Twinkle, daughter of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Comet Chaser. Some might say I almost deserved that name, others that I hadn't done anything to earn it.
This is the story of how I managed to time-travel, completely by accident. This is the story of how I met a mare called Twilight Sparkle, and her friends. I wish I could say it was some epic tale of war, and heroism, and making the difficult choices. But it isn't. It's the story of how a teenager screwed up over and over again.
It's a long story, with pranks, and japes, petty insults, unfortunate choices. It's been so long, and I'm not the same pony I was when it began, and I'm not sure whether that's a good or bad thing now.
And here is how it ended, with the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and Shining Armor.
And that began almost a week before then, as I told Twilight Sparkle a horrible truth.

Twilight Twinkle stared at the seven ponies (and one dragon, and his phoenix) in front of her. Rainbow Dash and Rarity were looking at each other in confusion, while Pinkie Pie was just sitting and staring back, a box of popcorn between her legs.
"Yes?" Twilight Sparkle asked. Twinkle shook her head.

"Sorry," she mumbled, "Still trying to think of the best way to phrase this."
She frowned, and clenched her jaw. It was far too late to turn back at this point, and she was fairly certain that even if she was offered the chance, she wouldn't take it.

"Your brother is getting married" she said. There was a sudden pause as everypony (save Applejack, who was standing away from everypony else, and had covered her face with her hat) turned to look at Twilight.
"A wedding?" Trixie asked, "I love wedding. DRINKS ALL ROUND!" she declared, rearing onto her hind legs. She looked at Twinkle. "No?"

"Congratulations" Rarity said, after a pause. Twilight frowned.
"What?" she asked, "And he didn't tell me?"

"Hold on to that one," Twinkle said, "Because we've got a lot of ground to cover, and only so many days left."
"Who's he tying the knot with?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"That would be one pony by the name of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza."
"WHO THE HOOF IS THAT?!" Twilight yelled suddenly. "Sorry" she quickly added.

"I've heard that name" Rainbow Dash said, slowly. Rarity turned to look at her, and raised an eyebrow.
"Where? When? In what capacity?" she asked.

"Your little sister and her friends met her, on the day me and Rainbow Dash went to see that Wonderbolts show."
"Oh, yeah," Rainbow Dash said, before realisation sunk in. "You mean she exists?"

"Canterlot's worst kept hidden secret: the third Princess" Twinkle said, "Everypony knows she exists, but nopony ever mentions it because..." she frowned, giving this some thought.
"Well, because it's Canterlot. Why make a fuss?"

Twilight was staring ahead into space. "Did you say 'Cadenza'?" she asked, her voice incredibly quiet and her eyes wide.
Twinkle nodded, and as everypony looked Twilight's mouth quickly became a bizarre mixture of a broad smile and utter confusion.

"Cadance? Shiney's marrying Cadance?" she said, incredibly loudly. She grinned, and then began hopping around in a circle.
"She was Twilight's foalsitter" Twinkle explained as Twilight continued hopping, chanting to herself. Rarity's eyes went wide, and then a sly grin overcame her face. Quickly the fashion designer's hoof moved to her face and wrenched her mouth back into a rigid mask of impassiveness.

"And before you ask, Rarity, it is one of those childhood meeting things."
Rarity suddenly showed an alarming degree of self-control by not swooning, or even uttering any comment about it being 'romantic'. Then, Twilight stopped.

"Actually, that does... huh" she said, as she started apparently recalling things. "Okay... wow, how did I not notice that?!"
Twinkle decided to ignore the obvious comeback.

"So, what's the bad news going to be?" Fluttershy asked. Twinkle just grimmaced.
"I'm getting to that," she said. Twilight stared at her, then looked over to Applejack, and her smile vanished, replaced with concern.

"Bearing in mind," Twinkle said, "Everything I know of what followed is second-hoof at best, and not from unbiased sources. You see, in my timeline, you didn't learn of these upcoming nuptials until a few days from now."
There was a sudden silence as everypony in the room stared at her. "From Princess Celestia sending you a message asking you to help with the wedding. Shining Armor never sent any letter telling you."

"He what?!" Twilight snapped. "He couldn't be bothered to tell me personally? He let his boss tell me?"
She suddenly lowered her voice, "'Hey, Twilight, I just thought you should know I'm making a big decision that changes everything. Oh, well, nevermind, you'll find out when you get the invitation.'"

Everypony stared at Twilight with concern.
"That was terrible," Spike said, "You didn't sound anything like him."

"So," Rarity asked, turning back to Twinkle, "'help with the wedding', you said."
"Yeah. And here's where logic is clearly edging its way towards the door. You see, Rarity, you and Pinkie Pie are the only ponies for whom Celestia's decision-making process makes sense."

Rarity's eyes went wide, and a delighted grin overcame her face. "I get to help make the dress!" she squeaked, "I... dress... wedding... royal, Canterl-" she collapsed, though there was a pillow directly beneath where her head landed.
"And the brides-maids dresses as well. All eight of them."

"Eight?" Pinkie Pie asked, inbetween a mouthful of popcorn.
"Getting to that" Twinkle said.

"You, Pinkie Pie, were asked to plan the reception."
"Hold up," Rainbow Dash said, "Pinkie Pie was chosen... for a royal wedding reception? Really? Was the Princess looking for a repeat of the Grand Galloping Gala or something?"

"I've never planned a reception before" Pinkie Pie said, her voice hushed. Then she grinned, and cheered.
"As for everypony else... well, Applejack, who to my knowledge has no experience with such things, was put in charge of catering."

Everypony looked at Applejack. After a few seconds she stared back, and bristled.
"Hey, ah can bake. No need to go lookin' at me like that."

"No offense, Applejack dear, but it does seem... incongruous for you to be in charge of catering" Rarity said.
"Wouldn't Pinkie Pie be the better choice?" Twilight asked. Twinkle shrugged.

"Ah can see ah'm among friends here" Applejack muttered.
"Fluttershy was chosen to be in charge of music."

"What?" Fluttershy asked, "You mean, me, and my animal friends were providing the wedding march?"
She seemed to shrink, "Well, that's nice, but isn't there some orchestra that Princess Celestia wasn't using? I wouldn't want to put anypony out of a job."

"And Rainbow Dash-"
"Let me guess, I was in charge of security, or something. Nopony ruins a wedding on my watch!" she declared proudly. There was a small pause.

"No, your job was providing a Sonic Rainboom after the "I do's"."
Rainbow Dash nodded, "That's cool" she said. Then something occurred to her.

"Wait, hold up. Everypony else gets to have a big part in this big fancy wedding, and all I get to do is make one rainboom? I could do that in my sleep!"
She looked hurt, "How come I don't get to help? I mean, not that this wedding doesn't sound awesome, but... one Rainboom? That's all?"

Everypony looked at Twinkle. "So," Trixie asked, "I'm guessing from your mood, this wedding did not go off without as much as a single hitch? Were there shenanigans? Mischief? Hijinks? Perhaps even, dare I say... wackiness?"
"Did I tear my brother's head off for not telling me he was getting married, to Cadance, of all ponies?" Twilight asked.

There was a noise as Rarity woke, and righted herself, while beside her, Pinkie Pie was scribbling away in a notebook.
Twinkle frowned. "Wacky hijinks would probably have been nice" she said. She sighed, and looked at Twilight.

"The reason Shining Armor didn't tell you he's getting married, aside from the fact that apart from being noble, dashing, and generally a brilliant guy, he is a bit of a, and I use the technical term here, 'doofus'."
Twilight paused as she gave this some thought. "Maybe a little bit" she eventually accepted.

"And he wasn't entirely himself" Twinkle said. She paused for a moment.
"And as for Cadance... well, this is where things get unpleasant."

"Had she turned into a jerk since she last saw Twilight?" Spike asked.
"No, Spike" Twinkle said, "She... that is..."

"Yes?" Rarity asked.
"She'd been replaced by a shapeshifter who feeds on emotions, a Changeling, who had been drawn to Equestria by all the love and harmony everypony feels, and Shining's love for Cadance in particular."

"And somehow my brother didn't notice?" Twilight asked.
"Well, that might have had something to do with the mind-control" Twinkle muttered. Twilight's expression suddenly shifted into overblown fury.

"What?" she hissed. Twinkle raised a hoof.
"Don't you dare go anywhere!" she said quickly. Twilight stared right back.

"If my brother's in da-"
"If you rush in there without a plan, just intent of fighting this monster and getting your brother back, you will A) Lose, and quickly, and badly, and B) Endanger Cadance, and I will not have that."

"How will she lose? She's the most powerful pony alive" Trixie asked.
"And she'd be against a pony fueled by True Love. And I can assure you, not even Celestia herself is more powerful than True Love."

There was a pause. "Oh, my" Fluttershy whispered. Everypony looked at her.
"Celestia tried to fight this Changeling at some point, didn't she?"

Twinkle nodded slowly.
"Alright, so tell us what happened after we went to Canterlot."

"You were the first to encounter Not-Cadance, and she... was apparently anything but subtle, apparently somehow having forgotten you, and..." Twinkle blushed.
"Well, that thing of yours."

Twilight paused for a moment, before blushing and smiling nervously. "Oh yeah, that."
"That, what exactly?" Rarity asked.

"Long story" Twilight quickly blurted out.
There was a small laugh from Spike. Twilight glared daggers at him.

"Sorry" he muttered, though from where Twinkle was sitting, he sure didn't look sorry.
"Of course, you weren't exactly in the best of moods about this whole wedding in the first place, what with the not-being-told thing, and... well, from what I was told nopony seemed to grasp that you felt upset about this."

"Question!" Trixie said, "Does this wedding have anything to do with that massive purple barrier we saw? The one that made you freak out, or whatever it was you did, this morning?"
"Yes. Apparently a 'threat' was made against Canterlot, and Princess Celestia demanded an increase in security. Due to his skill with forcefields, Shining Armor was put in charge of it. And apparently this taxing task was giving him some nasty headaches."

"And... it didn't occur to him just to go see a doctor?" Rarity asked. Twinkle rolled her eyes.
"It's that wonderful tendency of everypony in the family to be tenacious to a fault. He wouldn't take a minute off his job, even if he could barely walk in a straight line. And he had 'Cadance' on hand to heal him."

"So, you meet Shining Armor, you're concerned, and then you see Cadance, who doesn't remember you, isn't interested in talking with you, and you start feeling just a bit concerned."
"You don't say," Twilight said, her face a rictus of concentration.

"So, you go to check in on Applejack's apple-related reception foodstuffs" Twinkle said, everypony looking at Applejack with bemusement.
"Apples? Colour Trixie surprised. Not."

"What's wrong with apples?" the farmer asked. Trixie shrugged.
"Don't you ever get... tired of them? Haven't you ever tried a nice carrot dipped in chili sauce? Or corn on the cob, fried in chocolate?"

Pinkie Pie, well-know for her iron stomach, looked like she was having a hard time finding that appetising.
"I like my apples just fine and dandy, thank you very much" Applejack said coldly. Trixie shrugged.

"Anyway," Twinkle coughed, "At this point 'Princess Mi Amore Cadenza' walks in, and makes pretend she likes Applejack's food. By which I mean she hurls it into the bin the minute Applejack's back is turned. And this repeats itself throughout the day, 'Cadenza' showing up in the middle of Twilight talking to her friends about her suspicions, being demanding and, in some cases, rude. Although, admittedly, Pinkie, grown-up ponies don't usually play childrens games at a reception."

"What do they do?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"I am reliably informed that they dance" Twinkle said, before shaking her head. "Anyway, the end of day one, everypony meets up at a little cafe to discuss things. And here's where the problems start."

"Problems?" Fluttershy asked.
"Twilight, by this point, is convinced Cadance is unpleasant, and indeed, the first thing she says is that Cadance is clearly the 'worst-bride-to-be ever'. To which you six respond in shock."

"Six?" Pinkie Pie asked, looking up from her notebook again.
"Trixie wouldn't have been there." Twinkle sighed.

"Because I'd still have been planning my doubtless overly elaborate attempt at revenge on Twilight, of course, since I'm only here because of Twinkie over there stealing my hat."
"Correct. Anyway, Twilight points out Cadance has been demaning and rude, and Rarity, bearer of the Element of Generosity, points out that, hey, a lady has the right to ask whatever she wants for her wedding preparations. Applejack, meanwhile, just assumes Cadance was trying to spare her feelings. And apparently she decided not to bother asking Pinkie Pie if she noticed Cadance calling her planned reception to be 'for six year-olds'."

Rainbow Dash raised a hoof, "What about me? You know, Element of Loyalty and everything."
"Apparently you were too worn out from practicing your rainboom to pay attention to anything. Actually, I'm not sure you had any interaction with 'Cadance', anyway."

"That answers that" Rainbow Dash muttered.
"And then, Rarity offered that Cadance, who I have never seen be so much as angry, and whose talent is encouraging and strengthening love, was simply acting like a jerk out of 'nerves'. Apparently Twilight's reaction was that she was just an 'awful pony'."

Twinkle sighed, before staring at Applejack. "I'm afraid at this point I'm going to start getting noticably more aggravated. And I am very sorry, everypony, but this won't be pleasant. Applejack, you see, leaned in to the conversation with the suggestion of Twilight being 'a tiny bit possessive of her brother.'"
There was a noise from Applejack that sounded amazingly like a vulgar euphemism. Twinkle frowned.

"Actually, Applejack, you've got a massive family, don't you? Haven't you ever been to a wedding?"
"No." Applejack intoned, looking up at everypony else, "Most of my family lives too far away, and Granny Smith ain't... she ain't up to travelling."

There was a pause, as everypony gave that some thought, then they turned back to Twinkle. "So, what happened next?" Spike asked.
"Twilight went to talk to Shining Armor. And she'd barely said anything before Cadance appeared, which isn't much of a surprise, considering they lived in the same house."

"Wait, he moved in with her (Or more likely she moved in with him)?" Twilight asked. "How long has he been seeing her? And how the hay did I not notice this?"
"Anyway, Twilight overhears the two arguing, another giveaway that something's wrong."

"How so?" Rarity asked, "After all, everypony argues sooner or later."
Twinkle shook her head. "Cadance and Shining Armor don't. They're the sort of couple who seem to have absolutely no problems whatsoever, and are just so perfectly in synch, it's actually a little terrifying. True Love, after all. Plus, I'm pretty sure Shining Armor would rather zap himself than dare hurt Cadance's feelings."

She coughed, "Anyway, Twilight then watches as 'Cadance' starts zapping Shining Armor with a weird green-glowing magic. Twilight, care to point out the problem there?"
"Yes, Cadance's magical aura is blue."

"Hold on," Rainbow Dash asked, "This Cadance, she's what, exactly, to Princess Celestia?"
"Niece."

"So, Princess Celestia didn't notice she's changed, like, completely?"
"She was probably busy. Royal weddings are kinda hectic, lot of paperwork and such. Lot of important ponies wanting access, look, I don't know, I wasn't there, Rainbow."

Twinkle stared down at her hooves. "Sorry," she muttered, "But what happens next is just the tip of a massive bit of coprolite."
"Language" Pinkie Pie said sternly.

"What happened next?" Twilight asked.
"You saw your brother being brainwashed, which apparently was what was causing the headaches, and rushed to tell everypony that Cadance was evil. And what you found was..." she trailed off.

"What? Had we been brainwashed as well?" Fluttershy asked. Twinkle sighed.
"Not exactly" she paused, and rolled her eyes, "Sorry about that, but no. You hadn't. Instead, Twilight found you all wearing dresses. Brides-maid dresses."

"Uh-oh" Rainbow Dash muttered.
"Let me guess," Rarity said, "It turns out this deceptive Cadance's other bridesmaids (since you mentioned there were eight where there are but five of us) had proven unsuited for the task. Just... out of curiosity, who were the other three?"

"Well, I only know one of them, and that's Lyra Heartstrings."
There was a sudden pause. "You're telling us that Lyra, who barely does anything," Rarity said slowly, "Got to be a bridesmaid at a royal wedding?"

"That's not fair!" she wailed, before burying her face in the cushion. Everypony waited for her to finish before she looked up. "Do go on" she said.
"Would I be right in guessing," Fluttershy said, "That at this point nopony was willing to entertain Twilight's concerns?"

Twinkle nodded. "Yes. Not that it's entirely shocking, I mean," she looked over at Twilight, whose expression was grim, "you do have a history of overreacting."
She turned to look at everypony else, "But you would think that Twilight Sparkle's friends would be at least willing to hear her out, before declaring Princess Cadance an 'absolute gem'."

Rarity looked like she wanted to burst into flames at that point.
"Not that Twilight actually told anypony what she'd seen Cadance doing to Shining Armor. Apparently she concluded that you wouldn't listen to her at all at that point."

She frowned, "And here's the absolute worst part of the story. The wedding rehearsal. Fluttershy, could you hug Twilight for me?"
Fluttershy stared at her for a moment, and then slowly walked over to her. "It'll be okay" she said, as Twilight just stared straight ahead, not responding.

"So, the next morning, Celestia is going over what will happen in the ceremony, and Twilight is nowhere to be seen. And then Twilight shows up, and she's in a bad mood."
Twinkle took a deep breath, and ignored the fact that her legs were beginning to tremble slightly. She was getting worked up about it.

"She declares she will not take part in the ceremony, and that nopony else should either. She then declares that everypony present should listen to her. Now, given that Twilight has solid proof that 'Cadance' is not the most suitable choice for her brother, and the suspicious timing of Cadance's change in bridesmaids, what do you think she does next?"
Everypony's face went pale. Twinkle looked at Fluttershy, "You did at least ask if she was alright, Fluttershy. That was nice. But Twilight brushed you off, and... well..."

She stared at Twilight. "You... said that Cadance was... 'evil'."
It would, perhaps, have been nice if anypony had reacted at this point, but they didn't. No-one even looked embarrassed.

"You then went on to state Cadance had been mean to your friends, pointed out she'd done 'something' to her bridesmaids (which, by the way, is accurate), and finally that she'd been casting a spell on your brother. At which point 'Cadance' began to cry, asking why you were doing what you were doing. To which you apparently said," she coughed, and cast her voice-emutaling spell, "'Because you're evil. Evil! And if I don't stop you you're going to ruin my brother's life!'"

There were a sudden slumping noise as Twilight collapsed into herself.
"And then," Twinkle said solemnly, "Shining Armor intervened on his love's behalf."

"Oh, buck" Rainbow Dash uttered, a statement mirrored on everyone else's face.
"In short order, he quickly explained away every point you'd raised. Cadance was trying to cure his migranes, the bridesmaids were apparently just toadying up to Cadance-"

"What." Pinkie Pie uttered, "I know Lyra. She's not a toad, and she's certainly not a 'y', and since when is she an 'ing'?!"
"And the 'reason' Cadance was being a jerk? was because while he was busy with his migranes, she was in charge of the whole wedding, and was just stressed from trying to make everything perfect."

Twinkle scuffed a hoof against the floor, "I'd love to say that the remarks Shining Armor was making were the result of the brainwashing. I really would, but... I don't think they were, and he evidently didn't think so either. And after all this, he made remarks towards you which... well, I don't what he said, actually, but he stormed out after that to go comfort Cadance."

There was a sudden silence, as everypony was huddling around Twilight, save Applejack, who looked like she was an instant away from setting herself on fire.

"And then came the absolute worst part of all this."
There was a horrified gasp from Fluttershy, who seemed to have guessed what was about to happen.

"Twilight Sparkle has just managed to antagonise and alienate her brother, seen her concerns torn apart, and is begin to feel some pretty damn serious regret. So, at this point, perhaps her friends, the ponies she fought Nightmare Moon and Discord alongside, would jump into to defend her from her big brother's harsh words."

She stared at them, and then looked at Applejack. "Without a second's hestitation, somepony spoke up, and in a loud, clear voice declared: "Come on, y'all, let's go check on the Princess."" There was a clear smell of something burning filling the room.
"And at that, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Spike all walked right past her, and left her alone with Princess Celestia."

There was a whimper from Fluttershy. Rarity, meanwhile, was turning an alarming olive-green colour. Twilight, meanwhile, wasn't moving.
"Who didn't even raise her voice. She just said one thing, which... nopony seems to recall, and walked out."

She would have prefered it if there was some reaction. An overly-dramatic wail from Rarity, streams of tears from Pinkie Pie, something, anything. Accusations that she was lying, outright denial.
There was nothing.

"I think... IthinkImgonnabesick!" Rarity announced, before rushing towards the stairs leading to the bedroom, and more important the bathroom.
"Why did-? ... What did-? How could-?" Rainbow Dash shook her head, staring down at the floor.

"What happened next?" Twilight asked, her voice like a thunderbolt in the quiet.
"Not-Cadance came back. Some other things ensued."

"Such as?"
"Running, fighting. Half-baked apologies. It did all work out in the end. The real Cadance was found and the day was saved, and all was set right and you did what you are so good at. You forgave everypony."

"She what?" Rainbow Dash asked. "She actually forgave us? After that?"
"You're my friends" Twilight said quietly. "And it does sound like I gave myself a lot of rope to hang myself with."

She stared up at Twinkle, who raised a hoof.
"If you're going to thank me, don't. If you're going to ask if I have a plan, I don't. Well," she shrugged, "Not anything concrete. I have a few ideas on what I could do, but I don't know if it would make much of a difference."

She frowned, "But I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try. But, I should point something out. We can't take any direct action against the Changeling."
"Why the hay not?" Rainbow Dash snapped. Twinkle stared at her.

"Because, Rainbow Miriam Dash, I don't know how to get to where she put Cadance, and as long as she's the only pony who knows how to get there, she can use that as leverage. I will not risk Cadance's life."
Twilight nodded, "Or Shining Armor's."

"Or Lyra's" Pinkie Pie chimed, her voice lacking its usual energy.
"Indeed" Twinkle nodded.

Rarity walked back into the room as everypony remained quiet in thought.
"Actually," Twinkle said, looking at Rarity, "I think I have an idea of how to do this."

Twilight frowned, "Shouldn't you tell us what happened after I made a complete moron of myself?"
Twinkle stared at her. "Yes, yes, I should. But I won't. We get to planning."

It wasn't the best plan ever made, but I'm not really a plan sort of pony. Charge in, zap 'em all and let Luna sort 'em out, I say. I told them that Shining Armor and Cadance drove off the Changeling Queen, althought I did perhaps miss out the mention of the army, and the singing (if that actually happened).
Didn't stop Rainbow Dash asking about what happened.

"Sorry, I just really want to know."
"Well, you're going to find out anyway," Twinkle said, "so just focusing on practicing that Rainboom of yours. Hey, maybe you could ask the Wonderbolts to help you."

At this, the mare's body went rigid, and she toppled over.
"Drama queen," Rarity muttered from across the room.

Applejack, meanwhile, walked over towards Twilight, who was staring out of the window in the direction of Canterlot.
"You okay?" she asked, before shaking her head and adding, "I mean, outside the obvious?"

Twilight nodded. She was more annoyed by the fact that everypony was avoiding her more than the shadow of what they would have done.
"Penny for 'em" Applejack said. Twilight stared at her.

Twilight sighed, "I was just thinking about Shining Armor. We were always so close. He was my B.B.B.F.F."
There was a sudden chorus of confused noises from everypony, save Twinkle and Spike.

"Big Brother Best Friend Forever?" Twilight said. The confusion was replaced by nods and noises of understanding.
"Before I came to Ponyville, Shining Armor was the only pony I... really accepted as a friend."

"What about Cadance?" Twinkle asked. Twilight shook her head.
"Cadance was more of a big si-" she gasped in realisation, "If Cadance marries Shining Armor, she'll be my sister! Well, sister in-law!"

"Very good, Twilight Sparkle. That education from Celestia's practically paying for itself."
Twilight didn't seem to here that, as she moved about the room, not really looking at anything.

"When I was just a filly, I found it rather silly"

"To see how many other ponies I could meet,
I had my books to read, didn't know I would ever need
other ponies to make my life complete.

But there was one colt that I cared for,
I knew he would be there for me..."

"My big brother, best friends forever!
Like two peas in a pod, we did everything together!

He taught me how to fly a kite,"

Twinkle was sure she could hear a chorus repeating the words 'best friends forever'.

"We never had a single fight, (we did everything together!)
We shared our hopes, we shared our dreams."

"I miss him more than I realised,
it seems..."

And then everypony else joined in singing the (admittedly catchy) chorus, as Twilight stared into the middle distance.

"And though he's oh, so far away,
I hoped that he would stay,
my big brother, best friend
forever...
Forever..."

Everypony stared at Twilight, and a melancholy mood settled over the room. Twinkle shook her head.
'Must resist emo thoughts!' she told herself, before fixing a beady stared at Twilight.

"He's only one hour away by train. That's hardly 'far, far away'. And at least you know where he is. I don't have a clue where my big brother's gone."
Twilight stared at her, and said nothing. Spike meanwhile, just stared down at his feet. Twinkle sighed.

"I know how that feels though. I really do. And we're all here for you. (except maybe Trixie.)"
"Hey!" Trixie yelled.

Twilight smiled weakly. Twinkle nodded.
"Okay, I think we've got everything sorted out. All we need to do now is... wait, I guess."

"For what? Why don't we just go there now?" Rainbow Dash asked.
There was a sudden quiet.

"Those arguments aside, we'll wait until tomorrow" Twinkle said, "Then we'll go to Canterlot, and light a fire under this bug's butt."
There was a chorus of "Yeahs!" to this.

"Now, then, I think I mentioned I was going to take everypony for a meal earlier, didn't I?" Twinkle said. Pinkie nodded.
"Alright, then. Shouldn't have really made a dramatic explanation, then planned a wedding on an empty stomach."

There's nothing that needs to be said of that meal. We went to the most expensive place in Ponyville, celebrated, relaxed. A lot of assurances were made towards Twilight that nopony would 'betray' her this time. Applejack's mood seemed to have lifted. The only real problem came at the dessert course. You see, Pinkie Pie hadn't actually forgotten what had happened to the Marizpan Mascarpone Meringue Madness at the teeth of Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack...

"What's this?" Rarity asked, as a large cake was placed in front of her. Two identical cakes were placed in front of Rainbow Dash and Applejack. There was a truly terrifying grin on Pinkie Pie's face.
"You wanted cake" she said, "You have cake. It's a gift, see."

"That's... that's real nice of ya, Pinkie Pie," Applejack said, nervously, "But... ah'm kinda full right now and..."
Pinkie's eyes began to water. "I thought you wanted cake, especially since you were so eager to eat the MMMM, after all the work the Cakes put into making it."

"I couldn't possibly eat this" Rarity said quietly. Pinkie stared at her. Rarity suppressed a shudder.
"But you liked the MMMM, didn't you?" Pinkie asked, "It was delicious, wasn't it?"

"Yeah?" Rainbow Dash said nervously, eyeing the cake as it were about to explode.
"Then surely," Pinkie Pie said, "You wouldn't object to trying some more cake that the Cakes made?"

"(I wondered where Pinkie Pie had slipped off to)" Spike muttered. Twinkle nodded. Pinkie had claimed she was going to the washroom, and had then vanished for a good long while.
"Well, I..." Rarity looked towards the Twilights or Trixie for help, or even Fluttershy, "I suppose I could... manage a few small slices, perhaps..."

"A few?" Pinkie asked, a subtle undercurrent to her voice that wasn't there before, "Rarity, you wanted cake. Now you have cake. And nopony is leaving the table until you three cake-thieving fiends eat all your cake!"
What followed was a tortous process, as over half an hour of cake-eating ensued, Pinkie not-smiling at her friends whenever they looked like they were slacking off from eating.

Eventually, they finished the cake, and in quick order collapsed.
"Did you enjoy that cake?" Pinkie said. There was a pained groan from Rainbow Dash.

"And what are you not going to do again?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Eat cake what doesn't belong to me ever again?" Applejack muttered.

"Yes" Pinkie Pie smiled.
The bill was quickly paid for, with the resturaunt paying extra for the cakes Pinkie had brought in, and the three stricken ponies were slowly lifted up.

"I shall never look at a cake again" Rarity muttered, as they left, "Not as long as I live."
"Less hyperbolic declarations, Rarity," Twinkle said, "You've got dresses to make tomorrow."

Rarity started smiling. "So I do! That will be enjoyable, even if I am technically designing one for a horrific monster."
Twinkle looked over at Applejack, who gave a weak smile back.

"Okay, everypony," Twilight smiled, "I think we should all find something to occupy our time, and remember to get up early tomorrow."
"I'm pretty sure it's going to be a nice day tomorrow," Rainbow Dash said, "If I remember the schedule correctly."

"Shame we couldn't go for one little picnic" Rarity said.
"We could have a picnic in Canterlot" Pinkie Pie smiled, "Or we could have one before we leave."

"No time" Twilight said, "Although... we could go relax in a field for a while. Just hang out, as friends."
"Sounds good to me" Rainbow Dash said.

"I'm for it!" Trixie declared.
"If that's what everypony else wants, I don't mind" Fluttershy said.

And so, they went out to one of the fields, and sat down, with Twilight occasionaly talking about the things she and Shining Armor had done, and the occasional bit about Cadance. It was actually incredibly relaxing, and on one occasion involving a recollection involving a biscuit barrel, funny. Eventually, however, they all went their seperate ways, some of them having things they needed to do before they could go.

Applejack slowly made her way toward the farm-house, feeling remarkably unencumbered, truth be told. It felt good, but, she said, she'd feel even better if she got a bit of work done today. As she got closer to the house, she was certain she could hear giggling. She saw a light pink tail sticking out from behind a tree, and a familiar voice.
Cheerille's voice. Applejack paused, and shook her head.

"-and by this point, we think we're home and dry, and then we turned around, and-... oh, helllo, Applejack" Cheerilee said. Applejack turned to face the schoolteacher.
"Afternoon, Cheerilee. Didn't 'spect to see you around here."

"Well," the mare said, blushing mildly, "MacIntosh and I were just... talking about things, weren't we?"
"Eyup" the stallion said quickly.

"And, anyway, I was... just about to leave. And go back to my house. Where I have... reports to fill in. A great many reports. Alone. With nopony to talk to. Goodbye."
And with that, Cheerilee quickly moved away. Applejack turned to look at Big MacIntosh, who said nothing. Applejack just grinned, and smiled.

"Don't remember? She said she an' her friends won a competition, or some such. Got invited to Canterlot. Big fancy thing going on there. Surprised Twilight Sparkle ain't been invited to it."
Applejack looked at him. "What?" he asked.

"Just smilin' fondly at ya, big brother" she said, as she looked over at the orchards, before glancing at him, "And wonderin' how come you ain't got a girlfriend yet."
She grinned at his alarmed expression, and tried not to break down into laughter as he quickly muttered something under his breath and walked away.

The rest of the day passed without much in the way of incident, although Rarity and Rainbow Dash probably had to make more trips to the little fillies room than usual. Eventually, Twilight declared it was time to go to bed.
"Seriously?" Twinkle said, "Bed-time?"

"Well, we do have to get up early tomorrow, don't we? Even if we're dealing with a shape-shifting, mind-stealing monster, we still need our sleep" she said. Twinkle stared at her.
"So do you, Twilight."

She nodded. "I know."
Twinkle stared at her, "Don't you worry about Shining Armor, Twilight. I know it's difficult not to worry about him, but it's not going to do you any good going half-mad from worrying."

"Yeah" Twilight nodded.
"Now go to bed, young lady" Twinkle laughed. Twilight stared at her.

We laughed. I laughed, if only for a moment. As I went to sleep, I tried not to weep, or scream at myself. I should have told them sooner. Perhaps, if I had...
No. There is no point thinking on what could have been. But I do not think either of us got much sleep that night. I think perhaps the fact that I knew what Chrysalis looked like made my nightmares easier. I think I heard Twilight yelling in her sleep at one point. Yelling at Cadance.

The moon slowly began to sink towards the horizon. Luna watched it beginning to move.
"Anything to report?" she heard her sister say. She turned to look.

"Nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary, at least" Luna smiled. Celestia nodded.
"Although... there have been a number of nightmares in Ponyville tonight."

Celestia frowned.
"Twilight Sparkle and her friends have been having nightmares" Luna frowned. She looked at Celestia.

"And there is... something amiss with our niece, Cadance."
Celestia said nothing, but turned to look at Luna. "Amiss?"

"I cannot see her dreams, sister. They aren't shrouded from me, they just... they aren't there. And as for Shining Armor..." Luna sighed.
"I have concerns, sister."

Celestia frowned. "I'm sure they are fine, if a bit excited about their upcoming wedding, Luna."
A rogueish grin briefly graced her face, "They are young, after all."

Luna nodded. "Does Cadance not remind you of somepony? Somepony who was often bursting into song whenever the mood struck her?"
Celestia's face betrayed nothing, but her voice told a different story. "I haven't any idea what you mean, Luna. Are you sure you haven't gotten into the cheese supplies again?"

"And besides," she added, "I find Cadance reminds me of another young pony."
Luna shook her head, "I was never that young."

Celestia looked towards Ponyville. "Twilight Sparkle, and her friends. Do their nightmares share a common element?"
"Yes. Each of them is feeling tremendous guilt over some misdeed, but I did not pry further. Twilight Sparkle, meanwhile, is concerned about her brother. And I haven't dared look into Twilight Twinkle's nightmares"

"I was going to tell her the good news tomorrow, ask them to assist with the wedding. Cadance suggested it, the other week, a means of getting to know Twilight's friends," Celestia said, absent-mindedly.
"Sister, do you not feel something is... amiss?" Luna asked, "Outside of the your faithful student's time-travelling daughter, of course."

Celestia frowned. "Yes. Something isn't right. But..." she turned to look at Luna, "If there is a problem, then Twilight and her friends will uncover it."
Luna turned to leave, her eyes moving to the bright purple barrier above their heads, then back to her sister. "Good morning, 'Tia."

Everypony got up, got prepared, said goodbyes to everypony and made arrangements for the next few days, and then gathered in the library by half past eleven.
"Okay," Twinkle said, "Everypony ready?"

"I've brought some sewing supplies" Rarity smiled.
"Good. Okay, then, everypony."

She tried to think of something impressive to say, something that could be repeated at some later point, something bold, something dramatic.

There was a derisive snort from Rainbow Dash, but that was it. They quickly walked towards the train station. Every now and then Rarity made odd giggling noises. Eventually, they set off towards Canterlot, each lost in their own thought. Then Twinkle grinned, and laughed.
"What?" Twilight asked. Twinkle turned to look at her.

"Well, I was just thinking about something. Time-travel, and everything, and then I wondered if perhaps we'd get there, after all this, and find out nothing's happened at all, that for whatever reason, the Changelings haven't shown up, and Cadance is completely fine, and that massive shield is just the result of an accident."
"That would be a bit of an anti-climax" Trixie opined, "But, at least then there'd be no ridiculous drama, right?"

Twinkle nodded, and then her smile vanished as she saw the distant purple light of Shining Armor's shield spell. "That'd be nice. But I doubt that's what will happen."
She looked at Twilight. "Still, we've just gotta be rational about it, just in case."

"You mean in case this Changeling actually puts some effort into her disguise this time?" Rarity asked. Twinkle nodded.
"So no direct accusations, everypony. Just in case."

Twilight frowned. "What do you think the Changeling would do if discovered? You don't think she'd try and take hostages?"
Twinkle laid back in her seat. "I'm praying that's all she'd do."

There was a pause, before she added, "I've never been to a wedding before."
"They're pretty much the same" Trixie said, "But then, I've always been more interested in the receptions. And... 'dancing'."

For the next few minutes, all was quiet, until there was a small belch from Spike, and a small letter appeared in his hand.
"Wedding invitation" he said, handing it to Twilight, who nodded, and calmly folded it up and placed it next to her. There was a small hum from Pinkie Pie.

"I think I'm gonna need a professional for the wedding reception" she said quietly. Everypony else exchanged glances, none of them sure they wanted to know what Pinkie's statement meant.
After another few minutes, Spike belched out a larger scroll, bearing the seal of Princess Celestia. Twilight opened it, scanned it, nodded, and then set it aside. The rest of the journey continued without incident, until they came to the barrier. It felt strange, not cold, not warm. It left an odd taste in the back of the mouth. And once they were through, the train slowly began to halt. Rainbow Dash looked out of the window.

"What's with all the guards?" she asked.
"Just taking necessary precautions" Rarity said, as they walked out onto the train, "Royal weddings do bring out the strangest ponies."

At this, Pinkie Pie sneezed confetti.
"Indeed," Twinkle said, "But no matter what, when it comes to Equestria, for all our faults, we love our royalty."

They stood together on the platform, and then Rarity spoke up. "Twinkle, dear, why are the guards staring at you in that fashion?"
"Because some of them probably helped arrest me the first day I was here?" she shrugged. "Hey, it was just after the whole Discord thing, and they were a bit twitchy about a mare teleporting through the castle barriers."

"You did what now?" Twilight asked. "That... that doesn't sound possible."
Twinkle just stared at her, then turned to everypony else. "Let's just get going. We've all got work to do."

"Trixie doesn't" the showmare pointed out. Pinkie smiled.
"You can help me! Trixie and Pinkie. Hey, that really rolls of the tongue!"

There were nods, and everypony set off, the Twilights heading toward the guard quarters, as Trixie was dragged off by Pinkie Pie, looking to anypony else.
"So, what's the plan?" Twinkle asked, "With Shiney-hiney, that is?"

Twilight stared at her. "Do I want to know where that nickname came from?"
"Probably not," Twinkle grinned.

"Well, anyway, I'm going to ask him why he didn't tell me, then congratulate him."
"Ah, good plan" Twinkle nodded.

As they approached the guard quarters, Twinkle noticed a lot of them giving her filthy looks.
"I might also have maybe accidentaly landed in their mess-hall in a seperate incident" she quickly stated.

"Really?" Twilight asked.
"Yes. But it was all the way back in November. You'd think they'd have forgo-"

"HALT!" a commanding voice declared, as several spears were pointed at them.
"Who goes th- Twily!"

A familiar stallion in purple and golden armor rushed down towards Twilight, before hugging her.
"I've missed you kid."

His eyes moved to Twinkle, who just smiled and did a small curtsy. He leaned out, and then looked at Twilight.
"So what's this nonsense about you getting married?" Twilight said, "And why didn't you tell me, in person? I'm your sister, for pony's sake!"

Shining Armor looked bashful. "It's not my fault! Princess Celestia ordered a major increase in security. Didn't you see all the guards at the train station?"
"Yeah," Twinkle said, "Apparently there's some high-toned and fancy to-do of a wedding coming up. First we heard of it was yesterday."

Shining Armor stared at Twinkle, and then at Twilight. "It has nothing to do with the wedding. A threat has been made against Canterlot. We don't know who's responsible for it, but Princess Celestia has asked that I help provided additional protection."
"She didn't ask that you shut your sister out of the loop," Twinkle said, "And you know that, so spare us the 'it's-not-my-fault' song and dance."

Shining Armor glared at her for a moment, "Hello again."
He turned to look at Twilight, his expression one of brotherly concern. "Interesting company you're keeping these days."

"It's..." Twilight turned to look at Twinkle, "It's difficult to explain. And she's right. You aren't on duty twenty-four seven. You never even told me you were seeing Cadance."
Shining Armor's expression softened, "Yeah, guess I kinda did forget to mention that. I was going to, but... we haven't really been seeing much of each other lately, and I didn't want to just tell you by letter. Guess I messed up there. So I get it if you don't want to be my best mare."

Twilight paused as her brain processed this, and she turned to look at Twinkle, who just tried to raise an eyebrow. It was difficult with Twilight's expression.
"I... I'd be honoured" she smiled. Then Shining Armor looked at Twinkle again.

"Though this doesn't explain what she's doing here" he said.
"Me?" Twinkle said, "I'm helping Twilight organise the wedding. You know, that wedding of yours, to Twilight's former foalsitter."

Shining Armor grinned briefly, as he always did when thinking of Cadance, before shaking his head. "I'm guessing Princess Celestia asked you to do that" he said, "I don't know why. Everything's under control."
"I know," Twilight said, "Because you are marrying Cadance."

"Yes, I am" he nodded, doing that smile again.
"You're marrying Cadance! You're marrying Cadance!" Twilight said, beginning to hop around Shining Armor. Then she stopped. Twinkle's eyes moved to see why, and she saw a mare slowly making her way down the stairs. A mare with pear-pink fur, and instantly recognisable purple and pink hair, atop of which, just behind the horn sat a tiny tiara. However, there was no way that this mare, with her expression of practiced apathy, was Cadance.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything important" she said, as if being massively inconvinienced. Twilight turned to look at Twinkle, who was glowering daggers. Twilight walked over and, as they had agreed, began the test to confirm Cadance was who she said she was. Which meant... the Dance.
Cadance stared at Twilight the same way most ponies stared at Pinkie Pie on first meeting.

"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Cadance, it's me, Twilight!" the mare said, with a heartbreaking amount of hopeful enthusiasm.

"A-huh" the mare said, before walking past Twilight and making her way over to Shining Armor, who just wrapped a hoof around 'Cadance', smiling, as Twinkle resisted the urge to scream at him, or lunge at the evil mare next to him, or set her on fire.
"I gotta get back to my station, but Cadance will be checking in with all of you to see how things are going."

He shot another uncertain look at Twinkle before continuing, "I think I speak for both of us when I say we couldn't be more excited to see you here. Right, dear?"
'Cadance' shot them a look so blatantly aggresive it could've started its own war. "Absolutely" she hissed.

"Well," Shining Armor laughed, "I'll let you two get right to it" he said, as he took his leave, taking one last glance at Twinkle before he did. Cadance just absent-mindedly walked away, not looking at either Twilight as she went.

The two mares quickly walked out of the guards' barracks, and headed towards the castle.
"Well?" Twilight asked.

"Let's go find the others."
They were barely halfway to the castle when Twinkle saw something.

"Over there" she motioned. Twilight looked. Two familiar looking ponies were walking towards them. Those two ponies being Twilight Velvet, and Night Light. And they'd seen them.

From her mother's side of the family, Twilight Sparkle got her drive, her tenacity, and regrettably, the family tendency to go insane with very little provocation, and an unwillingness to listen to reason. So, it was only natural that she got her desire for calm and order, her rational mindset, from her father. Looking at Night Light, some might have assumed he never spoke at all. This wasn't true. When he wanted to be, Night Light could be a great conversationalist. It was just that his wife was more expressive, and as a result he tended to stay quiet and do most of the talking.

He was the one who had a solid guess as to who Twilight Twinkle was first, though all things considered, he only figured this out a few moments before his wife did. Like Shining Armor and Cadance, Twilight Velvet and Night Light had an amazingly uncanny rapport.

They were also bearing down on Twilights Sparkle and Twinkle like a shark on an incredbly tasty-looking dolphin.
This was sort of thrown off by Twilight Sparkle's cheerful greeting. "Mom! Dad!"

The young mare embraced them. "Can you believe it? Your big brother's getting married. To a Princess, of all things" Twilight Velvet beamed.
"My former foalsitter as well" Twilight added.

"That too. Do you still remember that dance you two had?" Twilight Velvet said, not willing to let her suspicions of the royal blue mare next to her daughter get in the way of being a mom.
"Yes, I remember" Twilight said, clearly fighting a losing war against the blush.

"So, will you be helping out at the wedding, or will you just spend all of your time catching up with Cadance?"
Twilight Sparkle's expression flickered. "No, no," she said quietly, "I'm going to be in charge of organising everything for them."

Twilight Velvet nodded in approval, before turning to look at Twilight Twinkle. "And how are you, Midday Eclipse? That is your name, is it not?"
Twilight Twinkle frowned. She was already dealing with one shapeshifting monster, and wasn't in the mood for mind-games or subterfuge.

"I think you've already got a good guess as to who I am" she said.
"Maybe we want to hear you say it" Night Light said. Twilight looked at Twinkle, who took a deep breath, and sighed.

"Sorry, granddad."
There were a few seconds where nopony said anything, and then Twilight Velvet smiled.

"Well, now I don't have to worry about grandchildren anymore."
"Mom!" Twilight said quickly.

"What? Your father and I aren't going to be around forever, and it took Shining Armor forever to actually propose to Cadance. I was afraid you were never going to find a young stallion before we kicked the bucket."
"Time-travel" Twinkle said quickly. Twilight Velvet nodded slowly.

"That'd do it, I suppose, even if it does seem slightly implausible."
Sparkle and Twinkle exchanged glances, but neither decided to comment. Twilight Velvet looked at Twinkle again.

"So, what is my granddaughter called, then?"
"Twilight Twinkle" she said. The mare looked to Twilight Sparkle, then back to Twinkle, and an odd smile went across her face.
"That's a good name," she said, her expression going through several micro-changes in an instant, "Well then, if that's all settled, my husband and I have things we need to do today, and I'm sure you two do as well. Have fun with the wedding" and with that she set off, Night Light following after her.

"That... was not how I was expecting that to go down" Twinkle said, after a while. Twilight nodded.
"Where were we going?" Twinkle asked.

"Castle" Twilight said.
The two walked in silence to the castle, the guards letting them through without a word.

"Now," Twilight said, "We just need to find the kitchens."
Then she frowned. "Which I seem to have forgotten the way to."

"Then we find Spike, and we find the kitchens" Twilight smiled.
"Marvelous plan."

"I can only be brilliant so many times in a day" Twinkle said.
"Besides, it'll probably be somewhere on the ground floor or the basements, right?"

The two began walking through the multitude of corridors, and managed to make it almost a few feet before they encounter a problem. There was the sound of a pony in distress. Without a word they rushed off, and after a few moments, found a pony in distress sitting in one of the larger halls (The one which, as it turned out, was to be used for hosting the wedding), the pony was a mare of dull grey colouration with a musical note for her Cutie Mark. Twinkle also noted the bowtie, and that something about the mare seemed familiar.

"Can we help you?" Twinkle asked. The mare looked up at them.
"I don't know. Do you have any experience with babbling bright pink demons?" she asked coolly, in an accent that would've made Rarity's look barely sophisticated.

Twilight and Twinkle exchanged glances, recognising the sound of Pinkie Pie instantly. "I can probably handle this," Twinkle said, "If you want to find Applejack."

Twilight nodded, "alright then. Good luck."
Twinkle turned to the mare. "Alright, Miss...?" she hazarded.

"Octavia" she said, politely. Twinkle nodded, then realised where she'd heard the name. She started grinning.
"The Octavia? Really? Wow!" she smiled, "It's a pleasure, it's... wow, it's an honour!"

"Thank you," the mare said hesitantly, though graciously.
Twinkle tried to reign herself in. "So, what happened?"

"Well, I was just practicing, you see. I had been told that my associates and I would be providing the music for both the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor, and the resulting reception. And then... she appeared. The mare with the balloons for her Cutie Mark"

Octavia coughed, "I have encountered her before, and neither time resulted in anything less than total chaos. And this time, she appeared and declared she wanted to know what sort of music my associates and I played. Regrettably, they did not have the fortitude to withstand her thousand and one questions, and fled the minute she said she would have to find 'professionals'. And while I do not blame them, I will not abandon my post simply because of her arrival. I shall endure it."

There was a pause, and the mare's face drooped. "I am, however, going to kill my partner for putting me up to this."
Twinkle frowned, "I know Pinkie Pie, ma'am, and while she may be a bit... rambunctious, her special talent is organising parties. She does have the talent for organising a wedding reception. And she's not likely to produce the music herself. She'll get somepony else to fill in."

Octavia nodded. "But, if you know this pony, who would she-"
There was a sudden crash as the doors to the hall burst open, and two ponies entered. One was Pinkie Pie, grinning and carrying a dangerous amount of party supplies, including what looked like a record player, and another pony behind her, with white fur, and hair of a brilliant cobalt blue colour, with bright cyan stripes in there. There was an eager grin on her face, most of which was covered by a pair of glasses that were tinted bright purple.

"YO! YO! YO!" she declared, "DJ Pon-3 IS IN THE HOUSE!"
"Oh, bugger" Octavia sighed, burying her face in her hooves.

Then the mare noticed Octavia and rushed over to her.
"Hey, beautiful" she said, before kissing the musician, whose look of annoyance seemed largely for show, "How's work going?"

"They were going fine, up until she" Octavia pointed a hoof at Pinkie Pie, who was carefully decorating the room at a lightning pace, without so much as a balloon in sight, "showed up."
"Hey, 'Tavi, lay off Pinkie Pie. I know her, she's awesome. She said she was gonna need some help with this big wedding reception she's got going on, just asked me to lend some help."

"Oh, good" Octavia sighed.
"Just the reception?" Twinkle asked. The DJ did a double-take.

"Sorry, didn't see you there" she stuck out a hoof, "Hi. I'm Vinyl Scratch, but I operate as DJ-"
"Yeah, I... heard you say so" Twinkle said.

'And I thought Trixie was loud' she tried not to think. Then she wondered where Trixie had gotten to.
"And I see you've met my girlfrien-"

"Partner" Octavia said firmly.
"Whatevs," Vinyl said, waving a dismissive hoof, "So, you helping Pinkie with this thing, or do you just work here?"

"No, I'm sort of with Pinkie Pie. Or she's with me. Or..." she frowned, "Technically, It's somewhere inbetween. But I'm just staying out of her way and letting her work."
"Hey, Viny!" Pinkie called out, "When I'm done settting up the decorations, I'm gonna need to check your amps!"

"'kay."
She turned to Octavia, "I'm gonna go scope out the place I'm working at, maybe check my songs lists, see if I've got anything Princess-y and True Love-y on 'em. Probably not, but it never hurts to check. See ya later, gorgeous."

And with one more kiss, she headed off towards the door.
Twinkle turned to Octavia, and after a few seconds asked "You going to be alright?"

"Well, so long as I can round up my associates, convince them that this 'Pinkie Pie' will not try to make them play electric guitars and wear tye-dye, and keep their nerves intact long enough for them to play the wedding march on the day, I should be fine. And provided Vinyl doesn't drive me mad first, as well."

Twinkle stared at the retreating mare. "How did you two-?"
"It is, as they say, a long story. And I must admit, sometimes I'm not entirely sure how it all happened."

Twinkle looked at her. "Something an aunt of mine once said. I suppose she'd have know."
Then something occured to Twinkle, and despite herself, she couldn't help but comment. "Uh, by the way... you know that wedding march? I... well, that is to say..."

Twilight and Applejack had been occupied in the kitchens, with Spike 'helping', mainly by playing around with the little figures of the bride and groom, while Applejack prepared the food.
"So, what exactly are you going to do with this cake?" Twilight asked. Applejack stared at her.

"Ah don't know why none of you think ah can't cook," she muttered, "Ah can cook. Ah'll cook yer shoes off."
"I didn't know apples were an ingredient of cake" Spike said, looking up from playing with the figures.

"Well, that's exactly the point. Ah'm gonna not use any apples in the cake. At all" Applejack said, giving an evil grin as she did. There was a horrified gasp from the pony behind her.
"You hush up an' get back to work, ya overactor."

The gasping pony, who Twilight vaguely recognised as one of Applejack's many, many relatives, rolled her eyes and got back to work.
"Of course, this does mean there's gonna be a lot of bite-sized apple fritters to go round."

At this point, any further conversation was forestalled by Twinkle sloping in.
She gave a small grunt as she collapsed next to Twilight.

"What happened to you?" Applejack asked.
"Apparently musicians don't like being told they've been replaced by choirs of birds."

Twilight and Applejack shared a look.
"You got something against Fluttershy's birds?"

"Well, aside from the fact that she could be helping Rarity with her 'freaky sewing knowledge', no, but I'm not certain what Celestia's thinking with that."
Twinkle paused, before adding, "Although it could just be her trying to be funny, I suppose. Though right now I'm more concerned about the fact that I didn't Pinkie Pie setting up balloons in the hall. That, and has anypony seen where Trixie went to?"

"She wasn't with Pinkie Pie?" Twilight asked. Twinkle shook her head.
"Yeah, Trixie followed us to the kitchens," Applejack said, "Then left. Said she was gonna look for a drink, or something. Ah wasn't paying attention, ah was just trying to figure out where everything is."

The Twilights watched as Applejack set about preparing the cake, a staggering amount of fritters, and for some reason, an ice sculpture.
"Applejack, why is there an ice scuplture? And more importantly, why's it in the kitchen?"

Applejack shrugged. "Don' look at me, ah'm just doin' what Twilight's checklist says."
Twilight nodded, and then looked over at Spike, who was still sitting on top of the work-surface, and worse still playing with the tiny figures of Shining Armor and Cadance. Once spotted, he quickly set them down, grinning nervously at Twilight.

Then there was a noise at the doors.
"Hiya, princess!" Applejack declared. Twinkle turned to see 'Cadance' walking into the room, looking like she was suffering from a fatal bout of ennui.

"Please, call me Princess Mi Amore Cadenza" she said, with as much haught as could possibly be mustered. Twinkle was amazed she wasn't including haitches where they didn't belong.
"Come to check what's on the menu for..." Applejack's eyes darted, "Your big day?"

"I have" she said, and for an instant she looked almost like Cadance as she smiled. Applejack picked up a plate of fritters. One was wrapped in a pale green glow, and the changeling took a bite. She looked uncertain for a few seconds.
"I... love, love, love them!" she said, smiling nervously.

"Aw, shucks" Applejack said nervously, "Nice ta hear that. Cooks like to know their work's appreciated" she said, as 'Cadance' quickly turned and left.
After a few minutes Applejack asked. "She gone?"

"Yeah" Spike nodded.
"Was she even trying?" Twilight asked, "I 'love-love-love' them? Who speaks like that?"

"Ponies suffering from love poisons?" Twinkle asked.
"An' yer saying ah would've bought that?" Applejack asked.

"Apparently. But, then, it's not like you knew she was an emotion-eating bug-being. It's not really the sort of thing you expect, is it?"
"Yeah, it's like your lodger revealing she's your daughter from the future! Who'd see that coming?" Spike laughed. Twinkle stared at him, then turned to Twilight.

"Sounds fun" Twinkle said. She looked at Spike, "You going to join us, or say here and play with your dolls?"
Spike glowered at her briefly, holding the tiny figures close to him. "I think I'm gonna stay here, with the food."
"Alright then" Twinkle smiled. "Have fun."

It took some amount of walking to find the room Rarity was working out of, which was located in one of the smaller towers of the castle. The mare was currently in the middle of brain-storming, and therefore was utterly focused on the task at hand. Unfortunately, with the weather being incredibly lovely outside, despite the massive purple barrier in the sky, this meant, what with the warmth and the utter quiet, and their nightmares from last night, that at any minute either Twilight was likely to fall asleep.

"Well?" Rarity asked, looking over at the two mares, "Is this not simply wonderful?"
They looked at the design that graced the mannequin, which had been designed with an alicorn's physique in mind. Twinkle's mind wondered why anypony would design such a thing, although doubtless there were ponies who designed clothing for alicorns, just in case one day Princess Celestia or Luna decided to buy some, which was unlikely, given their usual dressing habits.

'Coronations notwithstanding' she added, grinning to herself at the thought of that. Then she noticed Rarity looking at her.
"It's not finished yet, of course," Rarity said, "I decided to start on the bridesmaids dresses, but I do think perhaps that Princess Cadance will just love it!"

She gave a small squeak. "I still can't believe I'm designing a wedding dress! For a royal wedding! Me!"
Twilight and Twinkle exchanged glances, and then Twinkle thought of something.

"Did you bring all this with you?" she asked, motioning to the boxes of fabric lying in the corner.
"What? Oh, no, no. Well, I brought one or two things, like that dress you asked me to make and haven't worn" she said, icy disapproval seeping into her voice, "But most of these I had to ask for. I think I noticed a few items from the lovely Fancypants."

"Oh, yeah, I remember him," Twilight said, while looking over the bridesmaids dresses sitting to the side, "Do you still keep in contact?"
"Oh yes," Rarity said, "Apparently he will be attending this wedding as well. With his... 'business partner'."

Both Twilights looked at each other, to momentarily confirm they heard the small weary sigh in Rarity's voice. They had, and moved on.
"Oh," Rarity breathed, "I think Princess Cadance is going to adore this dress when it's done."

"Did I hear someone say my name?" All three mares turned to see 'Cadance' entering the room, flanked by three other ponies. Twinkle recognised Lyra, but she couldn't tell who the other two were.
"Your highness!" Rarity gasped, rushing over to 'Cadance', "Let me say what an honour it is to play such a role in this momentous occasion!"

She bowed for good measure, not-Cadance just staring at her with the look of disinterest that Twinkle was beginning to consider the Changeling's default expression.
"A-huh," she sighed, before looking up, "Is my dress ready?"

Rarity stammered, "Ah, well, almost. I have been working at it since I was given the assignment, and I think you'll be pleased with the results!" she gave an over-eager grin, as 'Cadance' examined it.
"I was hoping for someting with more beading and a longer train" she sighed. Rarity nodded, as Twinkle wondered where the mare had taken acting classes from. Then Cadance's eye fell on the bridesmaid dresses.

"I think they're lovely," the first one, who had a cream-coloured coat and a pink mane and tail said.
"Me too," added the second, who had a bright blue coat and a notable stripe going through her mane.

"I love them!" Lyra smiled eagerly. Twinkle looked at the dresses, guessing that the one next to the wall, which looked oddly toga-like, was probably Lyra's, which, Twinkle had to admit, did look like it would suit the musician just fine.

'Cadance' did not seem to share their opinion, glaring them into submission, before turning to Rarity.
"Make them a different colour" she said.

"Somepony's got a bug up their ass" Twinkle muttered. The mare found herself being glared at by the changeling, who then stormed out without a word, Lyra and the other two mares following after her, each looking incredibly hesitant to be the first out of the door.
After a pause Twinkle turned to look at Rarity, "'Working on it since you were given the assingment?'" she asked.

Rarity shrugged. "Well, I couldn't say I started working on designing the dresses for Lyra, whatshername and Twinkleshine first, could I?"
Twinkle paused, "Sorry, could you repeat that last name?"

"Maybe we should call her Princess Demand-y-pants" Twilight glowered. Rarity and Twinkle's expressions suddenly mirrored one anothers' as they turned to look at Twilight.
"What?" the mare asked.

"Genius-level intellect, tutored by one of the Princesses of Equestria, and that is the best remark you can come up with?!" Twinkle asked.
"Well, I do also have to remember every aspect of this wedding I'm supposed to be checking on, in addition to worrying about my brother, and whatever she's doing to him" Twilight frowned.

"What is she doing to him, anyway?"
"Feeding on his love" Twinkle said, nervously, "Admitedly, she would be feeding on his love anyway, but... from what I know of changelings, they don't need to feed directly, just by proximity, and they can, in theory at any rate, survive on regular foodstuffs, but... it'd be like expecting a bear to survive only on tofu."

"Doesn't Fluttershy have a bear she looks after?" Rarity asked, "I doubt she feeds him meat."
"That's different. The bear's probably terrified of Fluttershy being angry with him for eating meat. Or even worse, being upset."

Twinkle frowned and shook her head, before turning back to Twilight, "So, yeah, draining him of his love, violently, because she can."
Twilight frowned, and then looked at Twinkle. "Shouldn't we get the Elements of Harmony, or something, just in case?"

Twinkle gave this some thought. "I don't know. I mean, in theory, they might be useful but... her behaviour aside, she's just looking to feed her subjects, so I don't know if the Elements of Harmony would actually do anything to her. Although..."
"What?" Twilight asked.

"I suppose it might turn out to be akin to force-feeding her, and now I can't stop thinking of a bunch of changelings pleading for stomach mints."
There was an irritated sigh from Rarity, "If you two don't mind, I'd rather not have to hear the words 'force-feeding' any time soon."

"Sorry, Rarity."
"It's not like I set out to eat as much of that cake as I did..."

Twinkle opened her mouth to say something, before she found one of Twilight's hooves jammed in her mouth.
"We'll just leave you to get on with the dress then, Rarity" Twilight smiled, as she began nudging Twinkle towards the door, "While we go... check in on Pinkie Pie."

They were halfway through the castle, to the hallway where Pinkie Pie had last been sighted when they found Trixie, wandering around looking confused.
"Familiar faces!" she called out, "Finally!"

"Hey, Trixie," Twinkle said, "Where've you been?"
"Lost. I can't figure out where I'm supposed to be going in this stupid castle, and I wasn't sure where everypony was, and then I needed to use the..." she trailed off.

"Anyway, not important. Found it eventually and nopony was hurt" she gave a nervous grin, "Anyway, I'll just follow you two to wherever you're headed."
"We're going to the main hall to check in on Pinkie Pie's progress."

Trixie's expression soured. Twinkle leaned in towards her.
"Don't be so gloomy, Trixie, this is important stuff. Gotta get everything right."

"I get that," Trixie sighed, "But there's only so long one can spend around a mare like Pinkie Pie before their brain starts going funny."
Twinkle just stared at her. "I don't follow."

Trixie stared at her, opened her mouth and then shook her head. "Forget it, forget I said anything" she muttered.
The three continued onwards until they found the hallway where Pinkie Pie had been working. They found the mare sitting in the main hall. She waved a hoof at them as they entered.

"Hi, Twilight, are you excited about this wedding because I am even if there is that thing we all said we wouldn't talk about but I'm just so excited I can't believe it because it's going to be the best wedding ever!"
"That's nice, Pinkie Pie. So, there are no problems?"

Pinkie Pie's ears twitched. "Well, there was the grumpy lady with the cello yelling about things, and Viny's having problems with her amplifiers, but apart from that, I'm doing super-duper-fine-a-rooney!"
"Fine-a-rooney?" Twinkle asked. Pinkie nodded.

Then there was a cough, as a slightly less than annoyed-looking 'Cadance' entered the room, absent three terrified bridesmaids. Twinkle leaned in towards Twilight.
"Do you know if Bon-Bon tagged along with Lyra?" she whispered. Twilight looked at her.

"Bon-Bon? Probably, why?"
"Just a feeling. But I think we need to start searching the basements at some point. Also: we need to find Princess Luna."

"What about Pinkie Pie?"
"- and dancing, and cakes! I think this reception's going to be brilliant! What do you think?"

Twilight, Twinkle and Trixie stared as 'Cadance' gave Pinkie's words some thought.
"It's... alright. But I don't know... could it be better?"

Pinkie frowned, and considered this. "Better... better... better how?" she asked.
"I don't know. Just..." 'Cadance' gave off an annoyed sigh, "Just make it better, okay?!"

She turned to glance briefly at the three mares, staring at Twilight like she was something to be scooped off the ground with a little shovel.
"Hey, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie called out, bouncing over to the mare, "At some point I was gonna ask if you could look over this song Viny and me were gonna play at the reception, you know, once we've gotten all the dancing out of the way and it's time for the real partying!"

"You sound like you're taking this seriously" Trixie noted. Pinkie stared at her with a glare that would have made armies flinch.
"Parties," she said, "Are serious business."

Her smile and good mood instantly returned, "So you three go off and have fun and let your aunt Pinkie Pie deal with this reception."
And with that the mare bounced away, leaving them standing there.

"So, what now?" Twinkle asked. Twilight frowned.
"Well, I don't think we need to micromanage everypony, and I don't think that not-Cadance is going to examine Rainbow Dash's flight practice, so... I don't know. Should we review the notes over everything? Why don't we warn Princess Celestia?"

"Well..." Twinkle frowned, "Twilight, I get that you think it's a good idea, but... I don't know how to find Cadance outside of the fact that she's in a massive cavern underneath the palace, but I do not know how big those caverns are, how long they stretch out for, anything. It could take hours of searching to find her, and the minute we do find her, the... imposter will probably figure it out and she might do something to Shining Armor, or her bridesmaids. As I have said already."
Then she paused, as she remembered somepony who she recalled being told about a pony who hadn't shown up to the wedding at all.

"Although... I think I know somepony whose help we can ask for" she grinned, "We just have to find her. Maybe we should just ask Celestia where she is..."
"You can" Trixie said, turning in a different direction.

"Where are you going?" Twilight asked. Trixie paused, giving this some full consideration before responding.
"For a drink."
As she walked away, Twinkle was certain she heard Trixie add "Good, long drink."

Meanwhile, across town, a group of ponies hovered in stunned silence.
"Did you see-" one stated.

"Yeah" another said, one with bright orange hair poking out of her flight suit.
"She-"

Spitfire just nodded, agreeing with her team-mate's sentiment, if not the wording. She had been uncertain about letting the pony going by the name of Rainbow Dash practice on what was technically Wonderbolts turf, but she remembered the mare had tried to speak to her and Soarin' during the Grand Galloping Gala, so she figured allowing the mare to fly with them was a way of making up for it.

Rainbow Dash had promptly left the Wonderbolts in the dust. Soarin' currently seemed to be in a state of shock, and he wasn't the only one.
"Why don't we just give her a uniform and all quit right now?" one pony, by the name of Fleetfoot, joked, though her laughter quickly trailed off with Spitfire glaring at her.
"Sorry, boss."

Elsewhere, in the castle, a concerned mare look about the fifth room she'd looked through. Seeing no sign of her quarry, she frowned. In twenty minutes she'd move on to being concerned. In half an hour, Bon-Bon would have moved into full-blown confusion, followed shortly after by rising panic.
She'd lost her Lyra.

One top of one of the observation towers of Canterlot Castle, Celestia heard the approach of wings, and the sound of Shining Armor's force-field opening, then closing.
"Rest, my sister," she heard Luna say, "As always, I shall guard the night."

She tried not to roll her eyes at Luna's usual greeting, and made her leave. Luna, meanwhile, stood watch over all of Canterlot. Despite the warning, and the vigilance, there seemed to be nothing usual going on. She wasn't sure yet whether she felt safe about that or not.
There was a small cough, and Luna turned to see Twilight Twinkle staring at her.

"What is it, Twilight Twinkle?"
The mare frowned, and looked out over the city, then to Luna.

The Twilight Child

by Detectivefish

You are Cordially Invited