//------------------------------//
// A Perfect Day 
// Story: Awakening 
// by punisher143 
//------------------------------//

	“So why are we going to Canterlot so suddenly again?” Applejack asked the group. It had been a rather sudden call for all of them, Pinkie especially, when they were suddenly summoned to Canterlot. Of course they all tried to hide the letter from Pinkie, but she found it and insisted on coming.

“Lying around all day isn’t going to help me,” She had said, “It hasn’t for the past few months and it probably won’t. I need to do something like this.”

“We’re supposed to help put on a wedding Applejack!” Rarity said excitedly. The fashionista had hardly been able to contain her excitement since she found out about the letter. “I’m supposed to make the bride’s dress, you’re catering, Fluttershy is leading her bird choir, and… Pinkie Pie is hosting the reception.”

“I’m right here you know,” Pinkie commented from her seat. The pink mare hadn’t done much more than stare out the train window the whole ride. “And I told you all I’m fine.”

“Oh, we’re absolutely sure you are darling!” Rarity said waving a hoof in the air, “And we didn’t mean to talk about you behind your back.”

“It’s alright.” Pinkie sighed sadly and pressed her forehead against the window, her long mane hiding her face from her friends. “Do you think Twilight and Rainbow Dash will be there? I still want to apologize to them.” Pinkie flinched slightly when she felt a hoof touch her back and looked back at Fluttershy.

“Well, that letter did say they would be there,” Fluttershy said quietly. “I’m sure they wouldn’t miss this.”

“I can hope I guess,” Pinkie said with another sad sigh. Fluttershy shared a worried look with Rarity and Applejack and pulled her hoof away from her friend. Pinkie looked out the window and stuck her head out to look at something. “What the hay is that?” she asked pointing toward Canterlot. Applejack stuck her head out of another window, a hoof keeping her hat in place, and saw that the capitol was surrounded by some kind of pink bubble.

“Well, that’s different,” Applejack said and saw Rarity poke her head out of the window in front of her. Of course, the fact that their train was currently heading right for said bubble was starting to worry Applejack. “Maybe we should get back inside girls,” she told her friends and ducked back inside the car.

Her friends followed her instructions and a few tense minutes passed as they drew closer to Canterlot. And then they hit the bubble, or more accurately, they just passed right through it with only a brief flash of pink to signify anything happened at all. They had all closed their eyes during all of this and, when it had passed, they looked back out at the wall they passed.

“What the hay was that?” Applejack asked out loud.

“I believe it was some kind of shield,” Rarity answered quietly, “I remember Twilight making something similar a few months ago.”

“Not quite as big though,” Pinkie said flatly.

“Wonder why there would be a shield over Canterlot in the first place,” Applejack said scratching her head under her hat. After all, it didn’t take an intellect like Twilight’s to know something was up with the city. Suddenly the car they were in rocked around as the train came to a halt. With that all of Applejack’s friends set about collecting their belongings, Pinkie with some help from Fluttershy, and slowly stepped off the train into the station.

Unlike what the shield over the city told them, life in Canterlot looked to be very much the same as when they last were there as far as Applejack could see. She and her group nearly made it out of the station and onto the streets when a guard approached them looking in what can best be described as flustered.

“Um, excuse me,” he started before sighing slightly, “would any of you happen to be Applejack?” Quite surprised at the mention of her name, Applejack looked back at her friends before stepping forward.

“That’d be me,” she said with a tilt of her hat, “what can ah do ya for?”

“Oh thank goodness, you guys were the third group I had asked today.” He then sighed and whispered, “I don’t see why I have to play messenger today.”

“Messenger?” Rarity repeated questioningly.

“Well, my captain told me to deliver something to a pony named Applejack,” the guard explained as he lit his horn and pulled out a scroll from his armor. “He said this belongs to a friend of yours.” Applejack took the scroll from him and gave it a quick look over while the guards said, “Well, have a nice day ladies. I hope you enjoy your stay in Canterlot,” and walked away from the group with a nod.

Applejack wasn’t really paying attention though, since her attention was more focused on the scroll’s seal. One pink star surrounded by five white ones on purple. She thought she heard Fluttershy ask what the scroll was while she opened the scroll and quickly skimmed it.

“Twilight and Rainbow are in Canterlot,” Applejack said aloud and looked back at her friends, all of whom showed various degrees of surprise.

“T-they are?!” Pinkie exclaimed. Her hair curled up slightly and said, “Where are they?!”

“Just ‘in Canterlot’,” Applejack said rolling the scroll up and sticking it in her saddlebags. “Ah’m getting to the bottom of this.” Applejack waited for the inevitable shouts of ‘what?!’ from her friends, and she wasn’t disappointed.

“You’re leaving now to find them?” Rarity asked lifting one of her forehooves in surprise, “But there’s so much work to do for the wedding!”

“Ah won’t be very long. Ah’ll just find them, knock some sense into them, and ask what’s been taking them so long.” Before Applejack could take two steps, Pinkie Pie was blocking her path with a very angry look.

“No, I’m not going to let you go and ruin our friendship more than it already is,” Pinkie said and took a step toward Applejack. “So please don’t hurt them.” Applejack took a step back from Pinkie and tilted her hat up slightly.

“Uh Pinkie, it was just a figure of speech,” Applejack said cautiously, “Ah ain’t planning on hurting them. Ah just want to talk to them.” Pinkie stared into Applejack’s eyes intensely, very similar to their stare down on her birthday a year or so ago. Applejack didn’t falter though and stared back at Pinkie for the minute they held their gazes.

Eventually, Pinkie closed her eyes and said, “Alright, as long as that’s all you do.” Before Applejack could nod in agreement, she found herself in a death hug from her pink friend as she apologized. “I’m sorry about that, I just don’t want anything to happen because of me. I’ve already done too much.”

“Ya’ll didn’t do a thing,” Applejack replied giving Pinkie a light squeeze, “we all know that. Just relax a little and do your thing ok?” Pinkie nodded into Applejack’s coat and pulled away with a tiny smile.

“If you want,” Fluttershy spoke up and walked next to Pinkie Pie, “I could try to help you if I have some free time.”

“Thanks Fluttershy. I think things are starting to look up a little.” Pinkie turned away from Applejack and started walking to the streets with Fluttershy. Applejack nodded at Rarity as she moved to follow her two friends and, once she was sure her friends had a good head start, Applejack started for the streets as well.

	‘Ok, where would they be?’





“I still think this is a bad idea Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said yet again. Her friend’s opinion on the course of action she had decided on had been well documented and oft repeated. At the moment the two of them were in a public park in the silver district of Canterlot, the ‘middle-class’ district as it were. Twilight dared not to go anywhere near the castle or high end districts in case somepony she knew saw them.

“I know Rainbow,” Twilight said rolling up another scroll, a letter to their friends in case of a worst case scenario, and put it away in her saddlebag before she looked over at Rainbow. “But we should really look at this from our friend’s perspective. What would you think if two of friends just disappeared for six months, with no letters at all, and with only the flimsy excuse of ‘looking for herbs’ as the only reason given?”

“Well, I’d be pretty suspicious,” Rainbow answered and crossed her arms, “though I’d probably think it was for something totally different than what’s going on.”

“Exactly. They deserve to know at least something, even if only that we lied a little about having to leave.”

“I suppose.” Rainbow Dash sighed to relieve some of her annoyance at being outwitted and glanced over at a mare having a picnic with her two foals. “What about you know who? Are we going to tell them about him?”

“No, I don’t want to tell them unless it’s absolutely necessary.” Twilight sighed sadly and got off the bench they were sitting on, Rainbow Dash following not too far behind as she started walking to a nearby street. “I don’t want them to put themselves in unnecessary danger for our sakes. We already talked about this.”

“I know, but I’m getting tired of wandering around aimlessly with no clear goal. It’s frustrating how long we’ve been at this and that we have nothing to show for it!”

“I know Rainbow, I know.” Twilight let out a beleaguered sigh, very much showing how much all of this was wearing on her. “There is still so much left to do though. The girls are bound to be in town by now, and I have already sent them a letter.”

“Ok, what does that mean then?”

“I have a feeling I need to look into some things, catch up with old faces. So can you-?”

“Catch up with all of them?” The duo maneuvered out of the way of a patrol of guards, their armor shining brightly in the sun, and once they passed Twilight looked over at Rainbow and watcher her sigh. “They’re going to be so mad at us.”

“I would expect no less. If it went well, Applejack should be waiting for you at an observation deck not too far from here.” Rainbow Dash nodded and flexed their wings in preparation for flight when Twilight placed a hoof on her shoulder. Rainbow gave Twilight a look and was more than a little confused when Twilight suddenly pulled her into a hug. “Thanks for staying around Rainbow, it means a lot.”

“Um, sure thing Twilight,” Rainbow said awkwardly returning the hug, “it was nothing really. Anyone would have done it.”

“I know, but thanks anyway.” Twilight gave Rainbow one last squeeze before letting her go and adding, “Well, good luck with talking the girls out of killing us.” It was honestly a terrible joke, but Rainbow Dash either found it genuinely funny or was at least courteous enough to pretend.

“Trust me Twilight, you’ll be the first to know if I fail,” Rainbow said. Twilight gave her a nod as Rainbow turned onto a street she needed to go down with a quick “Later.”

With her pegasus friend off to her task, Twilight found herself wandering the white streets of Canterlot alone. With nothing more to do, she ran plan after plan through her head as she slowly drew closer to the towers of Canterlot Castle. That’s when her thoughts became a little more crowded.

“The Starswirl the Bearded wing right? Ever since we came here you’ve had your mind set on those old books and scrolls.”

‘Some of the oldest writings in Equestria are in those halls,’ Twilight replied, ‘so if anything at all related to our situation exists, it’ll be there.’

“As much as I disagree with that, I do agree with course of action. There are a couple of things I wish to look into while there.”

‘Such as?’

“A couple of suspicions I have. I don’t wish to speak more on it as they might turn out false.” Twilight tried to push the question, but Cheshire’s voice remained silent. Twilight hoped that wasn’t the result of some manifestation of inner childishness and decided to focus on the path ahead of her.





Applejack had just reached the western observation deck, one of several in Canterlot to take advantage of the city’s height. One quick look around confirmed that neither of her missing friends were there, so Applejack decided to wait to see if they’ll show up. She slowly walked up to the railing and looked out on the scenery, although the shield wall made that more than a little difficult. If she craned her neck she thought she could see Ponyville in the distance to her left. Applejack didn’t notice the slight ruffling of wings closing or hooves clopping up behind her.

“Whatcha looking at?”

Whoever spoke to her must have had really good reflexes to dodge Applejack’s startled buck. The farm pony really didn’t like to be snuck up on. Her hind legs only hit air and Applejack crashed onto the ground, her stomach undoubtedly suffering for it, and she looked back at a very startled and very familiar mare.

“Whoa chill Applejack, it’s just me!” Rainbow Dash shouted, a foreleg lifted up and her wings spread defensively. “You don’t have to go and kill me just because I asked a question.”

Applejack blinked a couple to times to make sure she was really seeing Rainbow Dash there before standing up and looking over the pegasus. The travel cloak she wore, no doubt the one Rarity explained making, looked like it had definitely seen a few rough patches. Applejack was particularly drawn to a part near Rainbow’s left hind leg that had a large part ripped off. Rainbow’s namesake mane also looked even more unkempt than usual, if such a thing was even possible, and she also looked a little tired.

“Well, this is awkward,” Rainbow said rubbing a foreleg. Applejack jerked a little having realized she hadn’t actually said anything. She fiddled with her hat a little to think of what to say.

“A-ah’ll say. Ah didn’t really expect ya to be here.” ‘Oh smooth girl! First time you’ve seen your friend in a while and that’s what ya go for?’

“Heh, tell me about it.” Applejack at least felt better that Rainbow seemed to take it in stride. The pegasus relaxed a little and walked to the railing next to Applejack. “We stop in to get food and get wrapped up in a wedding. Weird huh?”

“Ya’ll were just here by coincidence? Ah heck, what am ah complaining about?” Applejack shook her head slightly and walked over to prop her forelegs on the railing with Rainbow Dash. “So have ya been here long, taking time off from yer ‘herb gathering’?”

“For about a month, and man what a month it’s been.” Rainbow Dash ruffled the back of her mane and continued, “We’ve met Shining Armor in a day, Twilight got to be his mare of honor, and then that shield. At this rate, the wedding will probably be more entertaining than the Gala.”

“Ya met the groom? How?”

“Get this, he’s Twilight’s older brother.” No matter what would have happened in the next few days, the look of dumbfounded bafflement on Applejack’s face would always put a smile on Rainbow’s.

“Twilight’s got herself a brother?” Applejack repeated.

“Uh huh, and you wanna know something better?” Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but grin widely before saying, “The bride, Princess Cadenza, is her old foalsitter.”

“Foal…” Applejack stuttered out before her brain had to stop for a moment to get that one.

“Yeah, the egghead had a princess for a foalsitter! We have got to egg her on about this from now on!” Applejack was brought out of her confusion by Rainbow Dash’s obvious excitement and, with a few shakes of her head, brought herself back to the matter at hand.

“Well, all that aside, ya two have got some explaining to do,” she told Rainbow Dash and put on her ‘scolding face’ for good measure. Rainbow Dash didn’t even really need to look to know what Applejack was trying to do, but she didn’t say anything. “Ah mean, ya have to admit how downright slippery all this looks to me. What exactly were you doing all this time?”

“You know, this and that. It’s like we can’t go anywhere without getting into some kind of trouble it seems,” Rainbow said, avoiding the question. “Seaponies are real by the way. We found that out.”

“What? What does that have ta-“

“Look Applejack, I really can’t tell you all that much. I’ll try and tell you what I can, but don’t push the issue on some things ok?”

Applejack thought for a moment. At the moment she really didn’t have much of a choice. Maybe if she got Rainbow to talk for a while she’ll spill the beans unintentionally. With some semblance of a plan in mind, Applejack nodded and watched her friend smile a little.

“Thanks. Before all that though, how’s Ponyville doing?”





Twilight paused for a moment as she stared at the doors to the Starswirl the bearded wing of the Canterlot library. Just beyond those mighty wooden doors lay some of the oldest and most powerful tomes in Equestria, save some of the more magical ones in the royal vault. Twilight let the memories of her last, incredibly panicked visit here wash over her for a minute before she shook them off and walked up to the doors. She pushed it open with both of her forehooves and passed through the doorway.

“I remember enjoying every trip here with Princess Celestia when I was younger,” Twilight whispered to herself as she strolled through the rows of books toward the center of the wing, marked by an ornate statue. Once she had reached that she looked around until she oriented herself and started down several rows of bookshelves.

Twilight spent the next few minutes going through various bookshelves and cherry picking things she thought would help, ranging mostly from books on creatures (of which a few she would have dismissed as a crock six months earlier) along with anything else that might help. These amounted to what were basically story books, although they weren’t called that.

After every trip Twilight made, she would drop off every book she took at an out of the way table she had found. During one of these trips, Twilight was a little too distracted with finding a certain book that she failed to hear hoofsteps approaching. She only realized someone else was in the room with her just as she found the book she was looking for and something tapped her shoulder.

In her surprise, Twilight had somehow managed to upend the entire shelf she had been at and found herself underneath the ensuing pile.

“Oh goodness, I didn’t realize you’d react that violently.” Twilight recognized the voice even through at least fifty pounds of old parchment. “I apologize.” Twilight dug her way out of the pile to find herself in the company of Princess Cadence, the bride to be and her old foalsitter.

“Cadence!” Twilight exclaimed and practically leaped out of the pile, causing Cadence to stumble back a little in surprise, “I’ve been meaning to find you, but I guess I lost track of time.”

“O-oh, have you?” Cadence asked awkwardly.

“Yes! I’m still amazed at the luck I had coming in time for the wedding. Oh hey, do you remember this?” Twilight then proceeded to enact the game that she used to play with Cadence when she was a filly. She had long ago memorized the moves and lyrics and couldn’t help but sing them as she did it. “Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” She let out a little giggle and asked, “Do you remember that?”

“Yeah, that’s a nice dance,” was Cadence replied with disinterest. Twilight’s ears perked up and she looked at her old foalsitter in curiosity. “Are you going to clean that up by any chance?” she then asked motioning at the large pile of books at Twilight’s hooves.

“Oh, right. Um…” Twilight looked through the books until she found the one she had been looking for and grabbed it in with her magic before levitating the rest of the books into place back on the shelf. “There, like it never even happened. And Cadence, I am going to be helping around with the wedding, so if you need me I’ll either be here or around the castle. Just keep an eye open for me, ok?”

“I’ll be sure to,” Cadence replied as she turned around and walked to the door out of the library wing. If she had turned around before rounding the corner, she would have caught a quick glimpse of Twilight’s eyes flashing orange before she made her way back to the table.





“So Pinkie’s feeling better?” Rainbow asked once Applejack’s update brought them to that subject.

“Yeah, about as much as can be expected having gone through something like that.” Applejack adjusted her hat slightly and continued, “She keeps talking about you and Twilight though, like how she needs to apologize for something. Ya wouldn’t happen to know what that’s all about, would ya?” Another prod, hopefully with an answer.

“Maybe. I’m still trying to figure some of that out myself, but I know Pinkie doesn’t need to apologize for anything. It’s not her fault all this happened.” A small ping of sadness seemed to pass over Rainbow’s expression before she shook it away and said, “Anyway, what did you get wrapped into doing for this wedding?”

Applejack shrugged lightly and said, “Well, ah’m supposed to help put together the buffet for the we-“ just then Applejack’s eyes widened and she glanced at the sun to judge the time. “Ah tarnation, it’s getting late! Ah was supposed to put together some samples for the groom and bride! Listen Rainbow-“ Applejack was cut off by Rainbow’s hoof in her mouth.

“Don’t worry, I’m not planning on leaving the city anytime soon. Go do your thing and we’ll talk more later.” Rainbow removed her hoof and leaned over the railing again.

“Alright, but ya do know you’re supposed to do a Sonic Rainboom for the wedding right?”

“I can do those in my sleep, but thanks for telling me.” The two friends shared one last nod and Applejack started off to the castle as fast as she could. Rainbow lingered for a second longer, just taking in the sights for the moment, until she stretched her wings and took off a couple of feet.

“I wonder where Fluttershy is.”





‘Why does this always have to happen?’ thought a very annoyed Rarity as she marched through the halls of Canterlot Castle. ‘I stop working on those dresses to use the bathroom, and now I’m lost trying to find one.’ Rarity reached an intersection of hallways and sighed as she judged her options. To her left is an empty hallway save for a few guards. To her right, the exact same kind of hallway without guards.

While she was trying to decide on which way to go, Rarity happened to notice a very familiar pony wandering the halls to her right. She didn’t recognize the pony’s features, but she could recognize her own handiwork from a mile away.

“Twilight, is that you?” Rarity called to the pony and started trotting toward them. The pony continued without looking in her direction and continued past a corner. Rarity rounded it and soon caught up with Twilight, unsurprisingly nose deep in a book and apparently caught up in some thoughts.

“I don’t think it’s that, she never showed any sighs of high stress. Maybe it’s magical in nature?”

“Twilight!” Rarity called out again, this time getting a reaction from the purple unicorn. Even if it was Twilight screaming in shock and flipping forward onto her back, it still counts as a reaction. “Oh dear, I am sorry Twilight.”

“What is with everypony sneaking up on me today?!” Twilight nearly shouted as she stood up , brushed her cloak off, and picked up the book she had been reading. She then turned around and flinched a little when she saw Rarity and said, “R-Rarity? When did you get here?”

“A couple hours ago, but don’t worry about me darling. I’m particularly glad to know you’re safe.” Rarity then pulled Twilight into a hug, which the purple unicorn returned until Rarity let go. “I thought you knew when we were coming though. Didn’t you write that letter we got when we arrived?”

“Oh yeah, I did. I’m sorry Rarity, I’ve been busy with some things. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s good to see you Rarity. Rainbow could be a little tiring.” Both unicorns shared a small laugh for a moment until Twilight asked, “So are you taking a break from working?”

“Oh, uh… something like that.” Rarity looked around a little before leaning toward Twilight and whispering, “You wouldn’t happen to know where the bathrooms are, would you?”

“The ba- oh! Yeah, there’s one nearby. Follow me, we can talk on the way,” Twilight said and started walking in the direction she had been walking.

“Thank you,” Rarity replied and followed Twilight. “So darling, where have you and Rainbow Dash been these last few months?”

“Travelling mostly. Nothing of note has really happened since we left… except for that Seapony.”

“Seapony?”

“Yes, a Seapony. That was certainly a unique way to wake up that morning. What about you?”

“Oh life in Ponyville has been the same as always: uneventful save for the Crusader’s activities. And there’s Pinkie, of course.”

“Oh yes.” An uncomfortable silence filled the air for a few moments until Twilight asked, “Is she here?”

“Yes and I assume she’s trying to busy herself with her task for the wedding. I do admit that she’s doing much better than a few months ago. The poor dear could hardly get out of bed some days.”

A pang of guilt ran through Twilight and she turned another corner and pointed at a nearby door. “There’s the bathroom Rarity, though I’m sure there’s one closer to where you’re working.”

“I’ll be sure to find it on a much less urgent occasion,” Rarity said walking past Twilight, “oh and I also have your dress for the wedding ready. I’m going to need you to come by later to get it fit.”

“Ok Rarity, I’ll be sure to find you later. And Rarity,” Rarity stopped and looked back at Twilight with a hoof on the door, “it’s good to see you again.”

“Likewise darling,” Rarity returned and pushed the door open. Twilight waited for the door to close before turning around and walking down the hall while opening the book back to where she had left off. She had more than the book’s contents on her mind.





Despite the topic of conversation, it was still very welcome to talk to Rarity. When I found Rainbow Dash later I found she talked with Applejack and Fluttershy. Applejack tried to get the truth out of Rainbow, which I had expected, and Fluttershy was too happy to see Rainbow to ask very many questions.

I still haven’t worked up the courage to talk to Pinkie Pie. I don’t even know what I would say to her.

But right now I have Cadence on the mind. I can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong with her. I’m planning on looking further into that tonight. It’s not like I’m making any progress on Carver.





“Hey Twilight, why are we still sleeping on clouds when we could just as easily get a room in the castle?” Rainbow Dash asked while she fluffed up the cloud she had grabbed earlier.

“A room in the castle would draw too much attention Rainbow, and I’d prefer to keep as low a profile as possible,” Twilight replied having already settled on the cloud. “Not to mention I’m still a little nervous after that one night in the hotel.” Twilight shivered a little at the memory of red eyes looming down on her.

“I guess you have a point,” Rainbow said and landed on the cloud, tested the surface a little, and lay down on it, “I just wish we could sleep on an actual bed sometime. Clouds are good and all, but not for long term sleeping.” Rainbow settled into the cloud next to Twilight and got into her ‘cloud sleeping’ pose. Twilight settled down to sleep as well when Rainbow asked, “Hey Twilight, you know the guards right?”

“Yes?”

“How do they go around protecting the princess’?”

“What do you mean? The Canterlot guards are highly trained soldiers with some of the best training and equipment available to them.”

“Yeah I know about that, I’ve seen the spears. What about the guards with those gauntlets?”

“I think I know what you’re talking about. I’m not entirely sure though, it might just be armor though.”

“Huh, alright then. You think they’d let me join?”

“No, and didn’t you want to become a Wonderbolt?”

“Of course I do, I’m just bored and need something to think about.”

“Just go to sleep Rainbow, I’m sure you’ll be a royal guard in your dreams.” Rainbow Dash didn’t immediately respond and when Twilight looked over she found the pegasus fast asleep. “Good job Rainbow, this probably the first time I’ll ever congratulate you on falling asleep.”

Twilight stood up and stretched her legs before looking over the edge of the cloud down at the streets of Canterlot. She took a deep breath before gathering magic into her horn and jumping up. When she got enough height she released the magic in a flash of light and felt smooth cobblestone under her hooves. After a quick look overhead to confirm the cloud’s position Twilight started down the street in a gentle trot, taking a moment to lift her cloak’s hood over her head.

Twilight searched her memory for where Shining Armor’s house was. He did say once that he and Cadence were sharing his civilian house until the wedding, which made it a somewhat good place to gather information. While walking the streets she could have sworn she heard a distant voice.

“Stay indoors my little pony! The night hides many things tonight.”

‘Don’t I know it,’ she thought and focused on the street ahead of her. She had come too far now though and she turned onto the street that Shining Armor’s home was on, or at least she recalled it was there. She turned out to be right once she found the address and knocked on the door, and after a few seconds Shining Armor answered it.

“Twily, there you are!” he said happily, “Where did you hide for the past few days?”

“I haven’t exactly been hiding,” Twilight muttered and lowered her hood, “just a little busy. Listen, I need to talk to you about-“

“Who’s at the door dear?” asked Cadence as she appeared behind Shining Armor.

“Abo-o-out some stuff. Hello Cadence.” Twilight gave Cadence a small wave and only got a flat look in reply.

“Can I talk with you in private dear?” Cadence asked Shining Armor and walked out of Twilight’s sight.

“Oh, ok,” Shining said and looked back at Twilight and motioned behind him., “do you mind if I..?”

“Of course not, I have nothing but spare time. Go talk things out with her,” Twilight replied and backed away as Shining Armor shut the door. Of course Twilight was more than a little suspicious at this sudden interruption and snuck over to a nearby window to peek inside.

Inside she could see Cadence and Shining Armor having a somewhat heated argument, though Twilight could only hear the occasional mumble about ‘her’ and ‘our wedding’ through the glass. This continued for about ten more seconds until Shining Armor’s horn gave a painful burst of magic sparks and sent him onto his knees. Several days of constantly renewing that shield spell had left had left him in a very magically drained state.

Cadence said something about a spell wearing off before her horn gave off a bright green glow and touched it to Shining Armor’s. Once contact was made any stray sparks died out immediately and Shining’s eyes shot open, the whites replaced with a sickly green.

Twilight had seen enough by this point and backed away from the window and made a mad gallop away from the house, leaving only a chilly night to greet her brother when he returned to the door. Twilight wasn’t sure how long she had galloped through the streets of Canterlot or how many night owls she had passed on the streets. Soon enough she slowed down and found herself in one of the many parks Canterlot had, this one more designed with foals in mind if the play set and swings were any indication.

“What was that I just saw?” Twilight asked herself as she moved slowly to a nearby bench. She sat down and ran through every spell she could remember while trying to match what Cadence had used. Every one she thought she immediately discredited for not being useful in the context or for not having the right properties. Even the one spell she knew about that was used specifically to cure headaches was a passive spell that didn’t cause such a reaction in the pony it’s cast on. Against everything Twilight knew, she could only come to one conclusion.

“It doesn’t make any sense for that to be the case, you can’t just hypnotize or mind control a pony,” Twilight ranted at thin air, “at least not without completely destroying that pony’s free will!” She paused in her pacing and thought on it a little more. “Then again, it could be happening. Shining Armor has been acting differently for the past few days. Almost as if he couldn’t do much without Cadence’s help.” Twilight shook her head and looked up at the moon, shining its silver light down on her. She felt a light breeze on her face as she made a decision.

“I have to tell somepony. The girls will believe me, I just have to find them.” Twilight turned toward the gate and started walking toward it, determination in every step.

“I’d advise against that,” spoke a clear and familiar voice. Except this time it wasn’t in Twilight’s head, it was behind her. Twilight quickly turned around and was shocked to find her alter ego on a nearby swing gently rocking back and forth.

“What, how are you?”

“Not important Twilight,” Cheshire said, her orange eyes piercing into Twilight, “what is important is circumstance. You’re one pony who saw something strange with only odd behavior on two ponies parts to back it up, both of which can be attributed to stress. I’m sure you, of all ponies, know what large amounts of stress can do to a pony?”

“Well, I suppose, but-“

“Nopony will believe you if you run around throwing accusations around.”

“Rainbow Dash would!”

“Rainbow Dash is impressionable and not the sharpest knife in the drawer.” Twilight had to admit that small point. “Heck, I’m sure she’d eat a spoonful of dirt if you told her a Wonderbolt said it tasted like chocolate.”

“I’d appreciate it if you don’t blatantly insult my friends,” Twilight said staring down Cheshire.

“Oh, that’s your line? Oh well, that’s a moot point anyway and not related to what I have to say.”

“Then be out with it and stop wasting time!”

“We’re always running out of time Twilight, nothing can stop that. I’m simply saying subtlety might be better suited right now. Just think about it.” Cheshire left Twilight with another crazed grin before a sharp pain grew in Twilight’s forehead and forced her eyes shut. By the time she rubbed the pain and opened her eyes Cheshire was gone.

“I’ll be so happy when all this business is over. She is right though, I don’t have any proof that Cadence isn’t who I think she is.” Twilight sighed and whispered, “I’ll never get to sleep now. I wonder if Donut Joe’s shop is still open?”





Rainbow Dash here. I just woke up and Twilight is nowhere to be found… again. This is the third time she’s done that this week. I really hope you don’t make a habit of it Twilight.

Anyway, since Twilight saw fit to entrust her journal and bag to me, might as well carry them around while I do my thing today. I’ll just give them back when the wedding done or when I find her before that.




Rainbow Dash looked over her writing and she felt somewhat proud of herself given that she had written with a quill without Twilight’s fancy pants magic. She gave the ink a second to dry before closing the journal and putting it and the quill away in Twilight’s saddle bag. She then pulled that and her own bag on and glided down to the front of the castle.

Rainbow Dash’s schedule has been pretty much the same since that shield came up, which was to practice flying and the Sonic Rainboom’s preparations until her wings were sore. But before she would do any of that, she had one thing to accomplish.

She had spotted her targets before she even landed on the ground: the two royal guards stationed at the castle entrance. She was mostly just trying to make small talk with them, but it never worked since the guards must have been carved from granite. That didn’t stop Rainbow Dash however and she trotted up to the guard to the right of the door.

“Hey dude, do you remember me?” she asked the guard, who stared straight ahead as expected. “Rainbow Dash? I came to talk to you for the past couple of days? Or are you a different guard every time? I can’t really tell with you guys always looking the same.”

Rainbow Dash leaned against the wall next to the guard and continued speaking, “Don’t you find it weird how you all look the same except for Shining Armor? I never really got that, but I think I remember Twilight saying it was some property of your armor. I remember hearing that in one of her egghead speeches I don’t really pay attention to. You ever been in a situation like that?”

The most reaction she got was the guard sniffing a little. This, of course, failed to satisfy her and Rainbow Dash flew over the guard and stared him dead in the eyes with no response from him. Rainbow pouted a little and landed in front of the guard to look him over. Her eyes fell on his golden gauntlets and she looked the guard in the eyes again.

“So… those things of yours… how much do they cost?”

“One thousand and five hundred bits a pair,” the guard responded quickly, actually throwing Rainbow of guard.

“Wow really? Why do they cost so much? Sounds like a bit of a waste to me.”

The guard’s response was to raise one of his forelegs and, with a simple motion of his hoof, a collapsible sword extended from the gauntlet. “That is why it costs so much.”

“That is awesome!” Rainbow Dash shouted hardly even trying to hide her excitement, “so you’re saying I could actually buy those if I have enough bits?”

“That… was not the reaction I expected,” the guard said retracting the blade.

“Just ignore her and she’ll go away,” the other one commented quietly.

“Well now that you said that, maybe I won’t! That’s what I would want to say, but I actually have stuff to do. Thanks for the tip on those things of yours though.” Rainbow then took to the skies and flew off for her normal practice.

“Oh thank Celestia she’s gone,” one of the guards said.

“She scares me,” the other one said.





High up in Canterlot Castle, Princess Cadence was going over the events for the day. Almost everything was going as she had hoped and while she looked out the window overlooking Canterlot she couldn’t help but sing lightly to a tune she came up with.


“This day is going to be perfect,
The kind of day I dreamed since I was small;
Everypony will gather round and say I look lovely in my gown,
What they don’t know is that I have-“


“Did you come up with that yourself?” The sudden appearance of a voice startled Cadence and caused her to jump forward and smash her face into the window. When she regained her composure she turned to find Twilight at the door. “Or did you get one of the staff downstairs to make it? I remember Sweet Note who works in the kitchen is good at making songs.”

“What are you doing in my room?!” Cadence shouted and pointed at the door, “and what are you even doing here anyway?!”

“Did you forget that I’m helping with the wedding? You must be stressed if you forgot a conversation that happened yesterday. That aside I wanted to ask you about a couple of things concerning the wedding.”

Cadence sighed and said, “Ok, I can spare a few minutes to review what you need. I hope you won’t mind if I get ready for my wedding while I do so.”

“Go ahead; I won’t be that long anyway.” Twilight walked into the room, shutting the door behind her and walking over to a window. “It mostly concerns the guest list.”

“Whatever do you mean? Everypony who is anypony will be at my wedding,” Cadence said as she focused on applying mascara to her eyelashes. After a couple of test blinks she put it away and turned to Twilight to ask, “How do my eyelashes look?”

“They look great,” Twilight said still looking out the window.

“You aren’t even looking.”

“That’s because I don’t need to.” With that Twilight grabbed the curtains in her magic and drew them shut before beginning to pace around the room. “At any rate, I’m concerned about the guest list because I have the feeling everypony forgot somepony important.”

Princess Cadence gave Twilight a look before shrugging off the mare’s behavior and turning back to her reflection. She inspected it for a bit and casually asked, “Oh, and who would that be? Do you think my hair would look better as is or in a bun?”

“Your hair is your preference, since it’s your wedding, and the pony I’m talking about is Shining Armor’s sister.” Twilight briefly saw Cadence stiffen in her peripheral vision before the alicorn regained her composure. “Didn’t he tell you he wanted her to be his mare of honor? She was supposed to be here today but nopony has seen her yet.”

“Oh yes, I remember her now,” Cadence said as she applied a bit of blush to her cheeks, “I actually had a little talk with her a couple days ago. She said she might not be able to make it because of her job but that she’ll still try to come.”

“When did you talk to her?” Twilight asked with the slightest edge to her voice. Cadence, seeing the unicorn’s reflection in the mirror, thought she had seen something wrong with her eyes but brushed it off.

“Like I said, a few days ago. Maybe a week, I can’t recall. The preparations for the wedding have been hectic,” she replied.

“Where?” This time Twilight let some more hostility show in her voice.

“Oh, just some small restaurant in Canterlot. You probably never heard of it.”

“Well that’s certainly thoughtful of her,” Twilight said walking over to another window, “taking the time out of her busy schedule in Cloudsdale to explain that to you.”

“Oh yes, you should have seen the poor dear. Her wings looked dead tired after all that work.”

‘Gotcha.’ Twilight couldn’t help but let out a victorious smile as she shut the curtains of this window and turned to Cadence. “I find that to be very interesting, ‘Princess Cadence’.” Twilight’s tone of voice caught Cadence’s attention and the pink alicorn turned to her.

“How is it interesting?” She asked, “I simply explained how-“

“What am I ‘Princess’? Am I a unicorn or a pegasus?”

Cadence couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she answered, “You’re a unicorn, unless you happen to be hiding a pair of wings under that cloak. I don’t see-“

“That’s what’s so strange. How can I be a pegasus when you supposedly met with me at this restaurant a week ago? Very peculiar, isn’t it?” Cadence’s eyes widened in realization as she stared at Twilight with jaw wide open.

“What…you…?”

“Nopony ever did tell you what I looked like, did they? Most likely because nopony ever thought they needed to, considering how close Cadence was to me when I was a filly.” Twilight’s eyes locked with Cadence’s, the latter’s eyes practically glimmering in panic. The alicorn was scared, though the precise reason evaded Twilight at the moment. “I know who I am. I am Twilight Sparkle, personal student to Princess Celestia and Captain Shining Armor’s younger sister. And you are not Princess Cadence.”

“T-that’s preposterous! I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!”

“Then why didn’t you recognize me yesterday, especially after all that time you spent foalsitting me?”

“I-I’m a little stressed. I’m having trouble remembering faces right now!”

‘If that’s stress, I’m Princess Luna.’ “Then explain the spell you cast on Shining Armor. That looked rather interesting.”

“That was just a spell to cure headaches!” Cadence nearly shouted angrily, “You try casting a spell as high level as the one he’s been casting and not have a few headaches!”

“I can attest to that. Magic shortage is a very severe condition for unicorns, but I also know what a healing spell looks like. What you used on Shining Armor was not a healing spell.”

“This is an outrage!” Now Twilight could see Cadence was really losing it. Angry ponies make mistakes, which is exactly what Twilight wanted. “I don’t have to stand for any of this! I’m calling the guards.”

“None of the guards saw me come here, and by the time they do get here I’ll be gone. They will think you’ve snapped from stress and will order you to rest. In that time I would have gone to Princess Celestia and explained my theory to her. She trusts me wholly and knows I wouldn’t say anything like that unless I was certain. One thorough look is all it would take for your little game to be exposed, whoever you are.”

By this point ‘Cadence’ was on the verge of angered tears, her teeth clenched firmly and her body shaking from rage. She could barely muster the words, “You have no proof. Who’ll believe you?”

“That may be true,” Twilight relented slightly, “but the proof is somewhere and it will be found. Of course, there is a way for you to dispel any doubts I may have. You must simply do one thing to ease my worries. The real Cadence knows what that is; just do that and I’ll let it go.”

“I don’t have to prove anything to you!”

“And that is why you lose. It looks like your ‘perfect day’ isn’t coming after all.”

That’s when Cadence did something Twilight did not expect: blatantly attack her. She cast a spell so quickly Twilight barely had time to register the green magic until it hit her and launched her off her hooves. She hit the floor hard, knocking the wind out of her, and slid across it until she hit the far wall.

As she gasped for breath and tried to regain her standing, Twilight chided herself for not being prepared. Even a simple shield spell would have at least deflected that blast. That line of thought was brought to an abrupt halt as Cadence closed the distance and landed a swift kick to Twilight’s stomach.

“I worked too hard and too long for all my plans to be ruined by a mare I didn’t even know existed!” she shouted as she stared down at Twilight. The purple unicorn barely opened an eye to find Cadence’s once brilliant blue eyes replaced by a fierce green. “The room has been soundproofed, so don’t think about shouting for help. You’re not going to tell anypony anything anyway!”

Cadence’s horn lit up a bright green and then Twilight found herself surrounded by fire. The fierce emerald flames surrounded her on all sides, even above her, and Twilight could only see Cadence’s hateful glare as she felt herself sinking, sinking, into darkness. In a bright flash Twilight was in darkness and Cadence was once again alone in her room.

“That was just a bump,” Cadence whispered and wiped some sweat from her brow, “my perfect day is still on track.”





Twilight wasn’t sure how long she had been engulfed in darkness, but it had been long enough by the time she had woken up. Her head and body ached and hurt from the punishment she had taken earlier, and her first attempt to stand up was met with a hacking cough as she breathed in stale air.

‘Where am I?’ she thought. She focused as much magic as she could into her horn for a basic light spell and when she could see she got a good look at her surroundings. The walls around her were a rough rock, cave walls no doubt, and all around her she could see the bright shimmer of crystal in the light of her magic. Twilight looked all around her for a way out, but she was enclosed on all sides by rock and crystal.

“Oh Twilight, how stupid could you get?” Twilight asked herself and rubbed some of the pain in her head away, “of course she’d defend herself when cornered. Oh well, enough about that for now, first I have to find a way out.”

“You’ll find that to be quite difficult.” Twilight stiffened up and looked around for the source of the voice, finding it to be Cadence’s face reflected on a batch of nearby crystals.

“Why, where am I?” Twilight asked.

“Have you ever heard of the Crystal Mines of Canterlot? I doubt you have. They were made long ago by the ponies who built Canterlot, because the crystals here were… different. It matters little since they abandoned the effort not too long after they started. Now nopony knows they exist, so nopony will come looking for you.”

Twilight hated that face and that smile she wore, and that was before she heard the laughing. She fired a bolt of magic at the crystals, which shattered them to pieces, but the laughing continued and Cadence moved to another batch. At that point Twilight got into a cycle of destroying crystals, batch after batch all around the room, all while that laughter bore into her head. Then she came to the largest batch in the room and paused.

It might have just been her but that crystal looked different to her. They were somehow jet black in color and Twilight barely saw bright red eyes looking at her through them, the laughter echoing in the room had also somehow grown deeper. That was enough cause for Twilight to fire her strongest spell at the batch, completely destroying not only the crystal but the wall behind it.

That’s when Twilight saw Cadence.

“You!” Twilight yelled and charged at the alicorn. Cadence looked scared and tried to back away just as Twilight tackled her to the ground and aimed her horn at her.

“Wait Twilight, it’s me Cadence!” She cried holding her hooves above her.

“The last pony who called herself that sent me down here, so why should I believe you?”

Cadence thought for a moment before finding her answer. “I can prove it, but I need to get up for a few seconds. That’s all I ask Twilight!” Cadence gave Twilight a small pleading smile while the unicorn’s eyes stared right into hers. A second later Twilight stepped off of Cadence with her horn still on her.

“You get one chance, so make it count.” Cadence nodded and slowly got up to her hooves, which gave Twilight enough time to look over the alicorn. Cadence certainly had been in better shape, if the way her coat was covered in dirt was anything to go by. When Cadence got up she turned to Twilight, took a deep breath, and started dancing.

“Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” While she sang this she did the exact moves that Twilight remembered from long ago. When Cadence finished the dance and song she looked expectedly at Twilight while also sagging a little from exhaustion.

Twilight’s attitude was much different after seeing that. She straightened up and looked at Cadence for a moment before actually smiling widely and rushing over to her.

“Cadence, that’s really you!” she said giving the alicorn a light nuzzle. She backed away and looked over Cadence in more detail and said, “Oh you look terrible. How long have you been down here?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Cadence said and sat down, “it must be at least a few days though.”

“A few days? That means your imposter must have been in Canterlot before the shield went up. Who is she anyway?”

“I don’t know, but she seems to have been making sure I’ll be alive for some reason. I think it might just be to gloat though.” Cadence slumped a little and looked at Twilight. “How did you even find me? She said nopony would ever look for me here.”

“That is a result of my genius plan to stop her,” Twilight said and sat down as well. “I’ll tell you about it later if you want.” Twilight looked around at the cave walls and asked, “Is there any way out of here?”

“I saw a light over there a while ago,” Cadence said and pointed off to her right, “but I haven’t seen it since and I’ve been too weak to try and go after it.” Twilight followed where Cadence pointed and stood up with a look of determination.

“We have to at least try. I’ll help you out along the way, but you have to get up.” Twilight held out a hoof to Cadence, who took it and unsteadily stood up on her hooves. They both shared a smile and started walking toward where Cadence pointed.

Just as Cadence said, they soon saw a distant twinkle in the darkness of the cave. Twilight led the way, her horn lit up to provide some light to the cave. Actually getting up and moving must have done wonders for Cadence as sometimes she would run ahead of Twilight. Once Twilight thought she heard Cadence singing something.


“This day was going to be perfect,
The kind of day I always dreamed since I was small;
But instead of having cake with all my friends to celebrate,
My wedding bells they may not ring for me at all!”


‘She doesn’t deserve this to happen to her,’ Twilight thought as she placed a hoof on Cadence’s shoulder to urge her forward. ‘I suppose that’s even more of a reason to get her out of here. After all of this she deserves the wedding of her dreams.’

Their walk though the caves beneath Canterlot seemed to last for hours. With only that distant speck of light to guide them they ran through seemingly endless hallways of crystal caves. Eventually they came across a mine rail blocked by rocks. Twilight slid to a stop as she stared at the near useless transportation, though Cadence rushed past her and started heaving her entire weight against the cart to little success. Cadence was crying, no doubt thinking of what could be happening with Shining Armor far above her.

“Come on, move!” Cadence shouted and threw herself against the cart again before sinking just a little on the floor. “Oh Shining Armor, I hope you’re alright. That thing wearing my face doesn’t care for you, it just wants to use you!” Cadence hit the cart weakly when the rocks surrounding the cart lifted up with an aura of violet magic. She looked back at Twilight who lifted her into the cart and placed her forehooves on it.

“Don’t worry Cadence, we’ll get there. Just keep an eye on that light,” Twilight said and pushed hard against the cart. It gave way just a little and Twilight used her magic to push it more so it started rolling down the rails. When she realized that she held on as tightly as she could as it sped down the tracks in what she will remember as one of the most ludicrously designed mine cart tracks ever. During that insane ride Twilight somehow pulled herself into the cart.

“Twilight, the tracks are missing!” Cadence shouted back at Twilight. A quick look forward proved that and Twilight hugged Cadence tightly just as they were both flung out of the cart and into the air. She cracked an eye open when she realized she was not falling to her doom and found Cadence flying the both of them up.

“Hold on Twilight!” Cadence said focusing solely on the light ahead of her.

“Don’t worry, I’m not planning on doing that anytime soon,” Twilight replied holding tightly onto Cadence. During the flight Twilight couldn’t help but admire Cadence for being able to fly as she is despite her exhaustion.

The flight up passed with relative ease as Twilight could do little more than ease Cadence’s muscles with some magic. The two of them got up to their next landing sooner than she thought and Twilight hopped off of Cadence’s back and looked around where they landed.

The landing was much more open than the cramped tunnels below. The pit that they flew out of stretched out behind them and to their left and right halfway into the room. Ahead of them they could see the light they had been following shining much brighter than before. Twilight trotted over to the light when a voice echoed from around them.

“The bride said nopony is to get past us,” it said and three pairs of green eyes shone from the darkness in front of Twilight. The owners of the eyes stepped forward to reveal themselves, being a mint green unicorn, a white coated pink maned unicorn, and a blue coated unicorn, all in bride’s maids outfits.

“Even the bride’s maids are evil?” Twilight asked in confusion, “I have not been paying as much attention the wedding as I should have.”

Cadence however was busy looking around for something to use against the bride’s maids and her eyes landed on the one thing no self respecting bride’s maid could resist.

“Look, a bouquet!” Instantly the three unicorn’s eyes were on a rotten bunch of flowers Cadence just happened to find on the floor and, much like teasing a dog with a treat, she wiggled the flowers to get their attention. “Do you want it? You want it? Go get it!” And with that last statement she tossed the flowers over the edge on their left and all three bride’s maids left after it. Twilight and Cadence could only stand flabbergasted at the results.

“I can’t believe that worked,” Twilight commented and looked ahead at the light, “I think the exit’s just up ahead. We have to hurry if we want to make it.” Twilight placed her forehooves on the incline leading up to the light when she noticed Cadence wasn’t following her. She turned around to look at Cadence and found the pink alicorn was staring at the spot where the bride’s maids had disappeared into the darkness. “Cadence, are you ok?”

“…Yes, I’m fine,” Cadence replied and looked at Twilight, “I’m just… worried about them. I hope they’re alright.” Twilight let a small smile slip at Cadence’s reaction, now more than certain this alicorn was the kind and caring foalsitter of her youth. She held a hoof out to the alicorn and helped her up as they started the climb up to the light up above.

It took a good few minutes including the occasional stop for breaks for Twilight and Cadence to reach the top and crawl their way out of the exit. Twilight took a deep breath of fresh air and pulled herself out of the hole. She turned to pull Cadence from the hole as well and they both looked around to find they emerged in a meadow not too far from Canterlot Castle.

“We’re really close to the castle! If we run as fast as we can we might be able to make it in time,” Twilight said pointing at the castle.

“That’s good Twilight,” Cadence replied shaking her head a little. “I’m still a little dizzy, so can you lead me for just a little longer?”

“Sure, just give me a second to orient myself.” Twilight rubbed her chin and checked the position of the sun, which was nearly at its apex of its ascent. “The wedding was supposed to take place in the westernmost ball room. The sun is rising that way, so… we’re not too far from where we should go!” Twilight turned back to Cadence, who was resting as best as she could, and continued, “A couple hallways and a few staircases at the most. We should hurry!”

“Alright, I’ll be right behind you,” Cadence said with a nod at Twilight. Twilight made sure that Cadence would be able to keep up before leading the way through the castle. They both managed to maintain good speed throughout their sprint, though Twilight slowly started to pull ahead of Cadence and was the first to reach the ball room where the wedding was taking place.

When she got right up to the large double doors Twilight slowed down and pressed an ear against the door to listen on the ceremony. The thick oaken doors wouldn’t allow anything more than a light murmur through though, leaving Twilight with the only option of going through uninformed. With hardly any time to think it through Twilight turned around and bucked the doors wide open.

“Stop!” she shouted as loud as she could into the room, causing everypony in the room to turn and stare at her. Her eyes swept the room and she recognized several of the Canterlot higher up intermingled in the crowd, her parents among them. Straight ahead of her though, in front of Princess Celestia and next to Shining Armor, was the mare who had caused all of this and she started walking through the room.

“Twilight Sparkle?” she heard Princess Celestia ask in surprise.

“Twilight!” Twilight glanced over at her friends situated behind the imposter Cadence. They were each in a different dress, no doubt made by Rarity, and she saw Applejack and Rarity staring in surprise while Fluttershy and Pinkie were a mix of that and happiness with Pinkie being the happiest.

‘No Rainbow Dash. She probably overslept again. I hope she’ll be here soon,’ Twilight thought and returned her attention to the bride as she stopped at the steps of the landing. While the imposter’s demeanor was calm Twilight could see the panic in her eyes.

“What are you doing here?” she asked turning toward Twilight.

“I’m here to do what I told you earlier!” Twilight yelled back stomping a hoof, “I’m here to stop this wedding!” Nopony had expected her to say that as everypony but the bride and Shining Armor gasped in shock while Twilight pointed at the bride and looked around the room. “That mare is an imposter! She kidnapped the real Princess Cadence and locked her out of sight and out of mind so she could take her place in this wedding!” She lowered the hoof and glanced at Shining Armor, who hadn’t even reacted to all of this since Twilight entered the room. “And I think Shining Armor is the reason for this whole plot.”

“Twilight,” Applejack spoke up suddenly and took a few steps towards Twilight, “don’t ya think you’re overreacting a tad? Ah know he’s your brother and all, but isn’t-?”

“Maybe before last night, but after what happened this morning I’m more than certain. I can prove it too.”

By this point the bride had clearly had enough and shouted, “Would somepony get this mad mare out of here so we can continue my wedding?”

“It’s not your wedding,” shouted a very similar voice behind Twilight and the room once again turned to the entrance to see Cadence, “It’s mine!” Once again the room was filled with the sounds of mass confusion as Cadence walked down the aisle with more than a few instances of ‘The princess?’ and ‘what is going on?’ following her.

Then all at once all eyes were on the bride, her eyes and jaw wide open in surprise, doing little more than trying to spout vague defenses. Even those stopped when Twilight turned back to her with that smile she gave her earlier.

“I told you you’d lose,” she said, “no matter how hard you try to hide it, the truth will always find its way to the light.”

“I-I,” the bride sputtered trying to regain her footing.

“What is going on?” Princess Celestia asked, her eyes burning into the imposter Cadence.

“Exactly what Twilight said,” Cadence answered, “that mare took my place to steal Shining Armor away. I don’t know for what, but it’s definitely for ill intent!”

“So much for your ‘perfect day’ huh?” Twilight finished.

“ENOUGH!” the bride yelled and slammed her forehooves onto the floor hard enough to crack the marble, “So you ruined one of my plans, that’s hardly a hurdle! Every good strategist has a backup plan and I have plenty of those!” The bride’s eyes glowed bright green and suddenly she was surrounded by green flames. The fire domed around her and everypony could see the bride’s form being eaten away and replaced with something decidedly non pony. Her pink coat was replaced with hard black and her hair turned into string green. By the time the flames fell away the bride was completely transformed, a hideous grin on her face with sharp fangs showing through.

“What is that thing?!” Rarity cried out in alarm.

“I know what that is,” Cadence said, “that’s a Changeling.”





Away from the stunning revelations at the wedding was Rainbow Dash, napping on a cloud and missing on all the fun. Unfortunately for her that wouldn’t last since she was brought back to the land of the waking by a thunderous boom.

“Ugh, stop that Twilight,” Rainbow said batting at thin air, “I’m sleeping.” The boom sounded again and this time Rainbow sat up rubbing her eyes. “Alright already, what did you want Twilight?” By here Rainbow was awake enough to realize that Twilight wasn’t there, leaving the pegasus to scratch her head in confusion. That is, until she heard a sharp crack over head and looked up.

“What in the hay?!” she shouted and stumbled off the cloud. She barely fell a few feet before she caught herself in a hover and stared at a really big problem.

Far over head was a swarm of creatures Rainbow had never seen before bashing against the shield. Somehow they were actually making enough of an impact that they cracked the shield.

“That is not good! That is really not good!” Rainbow shouted and shot toward the castle, making it inside just as the swarm broke through the shield.





“A Changeling? What is that?” Twilight asked Cadence.

“It’s a creature that feeds off of love. They suck out all the love like a parasite, leaving only an empty husk when they’re done,” Cadence replied looking over the Changeling. “They usually move in hives though, so I’m guessing she’s the queen of the hive.”

“Indeed, you can call me Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings,” the changeling said with a small air of pride, “and you’re also right about my hive. Even now is working on breaking the shield that covers your city. If I may say so myself, my plan was quite an ingenious one.”

“What do you want?” Twilight asked, “why would you go through all this trouble to take Cadence’s place?”

“Love, of course.” That grin on her face hardly fell as she paced a little in front of the crowd, “Equestria has an excess of love, enough to feed my subjects for several decades. So I asked myself, why not take as much as we wanted?”

“And Shining Armor? What about him?” Cadence asked.

“He’s just a bonus, though I will admit that I have never met anypony with as much love as him. So much so that I might just keep him.” Just then a booming sound resonated throughout the castle, followed by another one a second later.

“What was that? What’s that sound?” the crowd cried out in panic.

“That would be my subjects. It won’t be long now until that shield comes down.”

“As amusing as your speech is,” Celestia interrupted, “I feel it’s gone on long enough. You’re scheme has been revealed and I think it’s time to stop it.” Celestia unfurled her wings and lifted up into the air as her horn started glowing a bright yellow. “I will not let my little ponies come to harm!”

Celestia then fired a beam of magic at Chrysalis, who fired a beam of her own. The beams met in a shower of magic sparks, yellow fighting back against green. Both combatants were so locked in their struggle that they didn’t notice, the shattering of the shield outside, the sound of mass panic in the crowd as they ran out of the room, or especially a very panicked Rainbow Dash who just flew into the room.

“Problems! We have major problems!” Rainbow yelled landing next to Twilight.

“Where the hay have you been?!” Twilight screamed at Rainbow.

“I should ask you that too!” Rainbow yelled back and pointed at Chrysalis, “And what the hay is that thing?! Why are there a bunch of black things bashing their way into the city?!”

“Alright, short version is-“ just then Twilight was interrupted by a massive bang and a flash from where Celestia and Chrysalis were fighting and everypony turned to see Celestia collapsed on the floor next to Twilight. In less than a second Twilight and her friends were by the fallen princess with shouts of “Celestia!”

At least Celestia was still breathing, though her horn was incredibly singed from the battle. Twilight nudged Celestia and was relieved to hear a small groan from her teacher. Then she heard a cackling laugh from the Queen.

“Shining Armor’s love has made me more powerful than ever!” She shouted and raised her arms in triumph. “Equestria is mine!” In that moment, Twilight gritted her teeth together and stared intensely at Chrysalis. As she stood up slowly she heard Celestia saying something.

“Twilight, you and your friends have to go get the Elements of Harmony,” she said and looked up at Twilight. Twilight didn’t respond and Celestia, Cadence, and her friends gave her a look as she continued staring at Chrysalis as her horn started glowing.

“Twilight?” Rainbow asked and tapped Twilight on her shoulder. The unicorn responded in a way nobody there expected.

“You… BASTARD!” Twilight shouted and jumped over Celestia and disappeared in a flash of purple. When she reappeared it was right in front of Chrysalis, who only managed to see Twilight for a split second before she landed a solid punch on her face. The queen stumbled backwards as Twilight landed and tried to throw another punch only for it to be blocked by a green shield. That threw her off balance enough to give Chrysalis time to counterattack.

She had barely had enough time to see Chrysalis swing her horn upwards and shut her eyes before she felt it slash across her face. Twilight yelled in pain and she suddenly felt herself being blown across the room. She heard Rainbow Dash call her name and a second later she felt somepony catch her and the both of them tumbled on the ground. When they settled Twilight managed to roll onto her stomach and look at a winded Rainbow Dash next to her with the rest of her friends approaching behind her.

“Twilight, are you ok?” Pinkie asked moving to her side with Fluttershy. Pinkie managed to help Twilight to her hooves while Fluttershy gasped when she saw Twilight.

“Twilight, you’re bleeding,” she said and pointed at a cut above Twilight’s eye. Twilight touched her forehead and felt a bit of wetness and pulled it away to see it red. “Are you going to be ok?”

“Yes, I’ll be alright,” Twilight reassured Fluttershy and looked at Rainbow, “are you ok Rainbow?”

“Yeah, just a little winded,” Rainbow replied, “I’ve taken worse falls flying.”

“That’s good. Are those my bags?”

“Huh? Yeah, I’ve been holding on to them for you. Why is that-?”

“Is my journal in there?”

“Well yeah, it’s where it always is. Why are you-?” Twilight didn’t give Rainbow an answer and started digging through her bag and pulled out her journal.

“Yes, that will do,” Twilight whispered weighing the book in her magic and flipping through the pages. “Listen girls, I need you all to go get the Elements.”

“What?! And what about you?” Rainbow asked.

“I am going to take this book and I’m going to use it to squish that bug.” Twilight looked at every one of her friends and said, “While I’m doing that, I need you all to go get the Elements. If I can’t beat her we might still have a chance with the Elements. Do you all understand?”

“Of course,” Applejack said, “but can ya really handle this on your own?”

“Of course I will Applejack. Now go!” Applejack nodded at Twilight and looked at the others.

“Alright girls, you heard Twilight! Let’s go get them!” Rainbow Dash was the first out of the room, followed by Fluttershy after she discarded her dress. Rarity caught Fluttershy’s dress along with Applejack’s and Pinkie’s with a look of distress. After she got her hat on Applejack looked at Twilight and said, “And Twilight, we need to have a long talk when this is over.”

“Of course we will,” was Twilight’s response as she started walking toward Chrysalis.

“Twilight…” Pinkie’s soft voice stopped Twilight in her tracks so she could look at her pink friend. “I…”

“Pinkie, please,” Twilight said in as soft a tone as she could, “I promise we can talk as much as we want when this is done.” Pinkie looked at Twilight sadly before nodding and running out the door with Applejack, Rarity following soon afterwards without the dresses. Then Twilight looked back at Chrysalis and a number of changelings that had entered the room while she was talking with her friends.

“You knocked out one of my fangs pony,” Chrysalis told Twilight and licked the spot with the missing fang with her tongue.

“Good,” Twilight replied and undid the clasp on her cloak and tossed it aside, “I only hope you don’t grow attached to the rest of them.”

“So you really plan on fighting me after seeing what I did to your Princess Celestia? You’re either brave or very foolish.”

“You just caught her off guard. I guarantee in a straight fight Princess Celestia would win handily. Plus you’re supercharged on magic, but charges run out.” Twilight watched as several changelings surrounded her as she held up her journal in front of her.

“As I said, brave or foolish.”

“You know, I always have to hold back just a little bit when I use my magic. I’ve gotten so good at it that I only really lose control when I’m really angry.” Twilight then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I won’t do that here, because…” When Twilight opened her eyes, she saw Chrysalis and some changelings back up nervously. She wouldn’t find out until later that it was because her eyes had changed from their usual dark purple to a vivid, angry orange.

“…You’ve really pissed me off.”





Even though Rainbow Dash had been eager to get the current crisis over with, she had waited for her friends to catch up so they could move together. Outside the castle was utter chaos with Changelings flying around the skies fighting the pegasi royal guard and the cries of alarmed ponies in the distance. Rainbow had been in front of the group making sure the path ahead of them was clear.

It was for the most part until they had reached a plaza filled with at least fifty changelings blocking the way. When they had spotted the ponies they all immediately grinned and took the form of each one of them.

“Uh oh,” Rainbow Dash said and looked down at her friends, “I think we took a wrong turn somewhere.”

“No, we didn’t,” Rarity said, “the way to the Elements is through that crowd.”

“Then ah suppose there’s no way but through them,” Applejack added adjusting her hat.

“This isn’t good, there’s so many of them,” Pinkie whispered and shut her eyes for a moment.

“We can find a way around if you want to Pinkie,” Fluttershy offered the pink pony only for her to shake her head.

“No, I’ll be fine,” she said and opened her eyes and steadied her hooves on the ground. It might have just been Fluttershy’s ears playing tricks, but she could have sworn Pinkie’s voice sounded slightly different. “I’ll be fine.” The disguised changelings started spreading out in front of the ponies, the earthbound ones forming a solid line while the pegasi blocked the air.

“Argh, this suspense is killing me!” Rainbow shouted and shot forward to land a punch on one of her copies, which served to start an all out brawl in the plaza. Some of the flying changelings swarmed onto Rainbow Dash trying to force her onto the ground while the others focused on the other ponies. Though they did manage to weigh her down a little Rainbow managed to shake her attackers off and focused on taking them out. Though she was more focused on her own fights, Rainbow managed to catch glimpses of her other friends during the chaos.

Applejack was managing to hold her own well enough as her rodeo and apple bucking skills proved very valuable. She hopped effortlessly from changeling to changeling landing kicks on every one she could. Judging by how every changeling she got dropped its disguise and didn’t move afterwards, Rainbow was glad she had never really gotten on the farm pony’s bad side.

Rarity must have cannibalized one of her own dresses since she fought off the changelings with a long band of ribbon. Rainbow could hardly follow Rarity’s movements as she fought; it was like the fashionista was dancing through the crowd in a whirlwind of hurt.

Rainbow never did see enough of Fluttershy during the fight, but she could assume she was helping in as nonviolent a fashion as possible: misdirecting the enemy, confusing them, anything to make the fight easier for the rest of them. For all of that, Rainbow was certainly proud of the timid pegasus.

Pinkie was definitely the biggest surprise to Rainbow. She had expected the party lover to treat the whole fight as a game of tag; instead Pinkie was probably the most straightforward and brutal of all of them. She didn’t pull any punches or kicks of any kind and she was also very certain she went out of her way to break some of the Changeling’s limbs. While Rainbow already knew that an angry Pinkie was something to be scared of, she probably would never forget the screams of pain from the changelings and Pinkie’s occasional angry shouts.

Rainbow herself wasn’t doing too badly, even though she was very much inexperienced with actual fights. As far as Rainbow could see, if a Changeling got grounded it was probably no longer a problem. After one mistake of patting herself on the back she nearly got her clock cleaned by a copy of her, though she did manage to catch its hoof and throw it down to Applejack.

“AJ, heads up!” Rainbow shouted down to the farm pony. When Applejack looked up and saw the changeling coming her way she reared up and gave it a good solid kick to the face, knocking it out instantly. Applejack gave Rainbow a nod and refocused on the dwindling changelings on her side.

Rainbow just had one last changeling in the air to take care of and it was easily dealt with. Her friends on the ground were almost done as well and she joined in helping them down there. She would later be glad for this, since it meant she could see one of the most amazing finishers in a fight.

“Pinkie, look out!” Rarity shouted and snagged the last of her copies with her ribbon. The changeling tried to fight its way out but didn’t have enough time before Pinkie saw it and ran toward it. Rarity retracted her ribbon in time for Pinkie to jump, kick the changeling in the face, and send it flying through a nearby window. With no more changelings immediately attacking them Rainbow and her friends were afforded a small chance to catch their breaths.

“I think that’s the last of them,” Rainbow said cautiously.

“For now,” Applejack added, “We should get moving. More might show up if they saw that ruckus.”

“Fine with me,” Pinkie said and started to lead the way, “the less of them we have to fight the better.” Rainbow Dash shared a look with Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy watched her friends follow Pinkie. Rainbow flew up in a hover and started to follow when a small glint caught the corner of her eye. She followed it and found the glint to be coming off a pair of guard gauntlets. Rainbow landed next to them, raised an eyebrow at them, and nudged them slightly with a hoof.

'They must have been dropped during the chaos,' Rainbow surmised. She looked around the street, finding only unconscious changelings, and picked them up carefully. She started flying after her friends while trying to get them on. ‘I’m only borrowing them for a bit. I’ll give them back when we’re done.’





The changelings only faltered for a moment before they rushed Twilight. Sheer numbers might have helped their odds, but not by very much. The first one got a magic shrouded book the face and launched it back into the crowd. The rest of the fight was a blur of smashing books, biting fangs, and frenzied spells. The changelings seemed to be driving Twilight back into a corner and they pushed back as hard as she tried to fight out of it.

Then Twilight got an idea. It was a long shot, but it might work to get rid of all or most of the Changelings. She fought off the changelings until she had enough space for a shield spell. She managed to use her journal as a focal point for the spell so the shield would keep its strength while she gathered magic in her horn. The changelings throwing themselves at the shield weren’t helping her concentration though.

Chrysalis was more than pleased at how well her changelings were faring, as that little pile around Twilight proved. The unicorn had obviously bitten off more than she could chew on this one. She looked up at Princess Celestia in her new cocoon and motioned at the pile.

“So this is your best student?” She asked and laughed, “She’s hardly putting up a challenge.” Celestia glared at the Changeling queen and looked back at the pile. That’s when they both noticed a purple glow between the squirming changelings growing brighter every second. The next moment the whole pile exploded and the changelings who weren’t thrown against the walls unconscious found themselves suspended in a purple aura of magic with Twilight in the middle of it all.

The unicorn’s glare at the Changeling queen was nerve wracking and Chrysalis took a step back. Then Twilight threw her head back and tossed the changelings in her telekinetic grip against a wall, after which only a few were able to move well enough to escape. Twilight let out a breath and flipped open her book.

“That was a bit of a workout,” she said mockingly at Chrysalis, “do you have any more?”

“You think you’re so powerful, don’t you?” Chrysalis shouted and walked down the landing toward Twilight, moving a bound Cadence out of the way telekinetically. “Well let’s see how you fare against me, little pony!”

“I’m scared.” Twilight shut the book and lowered into a ready position, wiped some blood from above her eye, and scraped her hoof against the floor. Chrysalis simply rolled her shoulders and lit her horn, intent on staring down the unicorn.

“Since I’m such a nice girl, I’ll let you go first,” Chrysalis said mockingly and grinned, “After that pitiful performance, it’s the least I can do.”

“Listen bug, you can wax on wax off all you like, I’m still kicking your ass!” Twilight then took off toward Chrysalis in a gallop and the queen put up a shield. Then Twilight teleported and reappeared to Chrysalis’ left, catching the queen of guard. She tried to readjust her shield, but wasn’t fast enough when Twilight landed a punch.

Chrysalis’ magic faltered and stumbled a little when she saw Twilight teleport in front of her and swing her book at her. The book hit her harder than it should have and Twilight managed to land a few solid hits before sweeping Chrysalis’ legs out from under her. Chrysalis was quick to recover and charged Twilight with her horn charged up and firing spells at the unicorn.

Twilight managed to deflect the first few spells, but one of them managed to slip past and stun her enough for Chrysalis to close the distance and tackle her to the ground. The Changeling queen stood over her and tried to stomp a hoof down onto her head, only for Twilight to block it with her book. Chrysalis put as much of her strength into pushing the book out of her way and was suitably surprised when the book started pushing up against her.

Soon Twilight managed to deflect the hoof away from her and aim her horn at Chrysalis’ stomach and fired a powered up version of a basic fireball spell. The force knocked the Queen off of Twilight and gave her enough room to teleport away while Chrysalis screamed in pain. Soon both fighters got each other back into each other’s sights and stared each other down again.

“A soft undercarriage huh?” Twilight asked and scraped a hoof against the floor, “I guess that exoskeleton doesn’t cover everything huh?”

“This matters little Twilight!” Chrysalis yelled stomping a hoof, “my victory is already assured! This is just a game to me!”

“You sure love the sound of your voice, don’t you?” Then Twilight charged again for another round.





Rainbow Dash had managed to get the gauntlets on with little trouble and managed to figure out how they worked on the way to the Elements chamber. Applejack gave her athlete friend a few weird looks along the way, but decided it best not to question the pegasus’ methods. It was only a short dash until they were standing in front of the doors into the Element’s chamber.

“Finally, let’s get to it!” Rainbow shouted and flew up to the doors and shoved them open. The bull headed approach once again proved to be a bad idea as the inner chamber was packed with changelings. Rainbow landed next to her friends as they stared down all of them, the changelings waiting for them to move.

“This is hardly good,” Rarity commented and looked at Applejack, “I don’t think we can fight all of them.”

“I don’t know, I think I can take the ones on the right,” Pinkie commented sarcastically.

“We still have to get through them somehow,” Applejack said and adjusted her hat, “otherwise how are we supposed to stop these things?” They all watched the changelings fly around and communicate in their own language, still waiting for the ponies to make move. That’s when they heard the sound of more of them coming up behind them.

“Oh no, not now!” Applejack said and looked back at the newly arrived swarm.

“Ok, now we might have a problem,” Pinkie added.

“What are we going to do now?” Fluttershy asked scooting closer to Rarity.

“Best way out I can see is getting back to Twilight,” Rainbow said and looked at Applejack.

“What about the Elements?” Applejack pointed out.

“We can’t fight off all these chumps, they’ll be all over us the second we move. If we can get back to Twilight we can come up with a new plan to deal with these guys.” Applejack met Rainbow’s eyes and shook her head.

“Ah don’t like this, not a bit.”

“Same here, but what else can we do?” Applejack thought Rainbow’s word for a second and nodded slowly.

“You might be the only one of us fast enough to get past all of them though, so why don’t ya go do that while we try for the Elements?” The Changelings must have started to get impatient since they started to advance on the ponies while hissing loudly.

“That depends; are there any complaints?” Rainbow asked the others.

“It’s about our only option at this point,” Rarity said watching the slowly advancing changelings.

“I’m with her,” Pinkie said shaking out fatigue in her right arm.

“Be careful,” Fluttershy contributed softly.

“Alright then, we’ll try and keep them off your tail Rainbow,” Applejack said and scraped her hoof along the pavement, “and if that queen is still there, give her a kick to the teeth from me.”

“Gladly,” Rainbow returned with a smirk and stretched her wings out, “and don’t go easy on these chumps!” With that Rainbow Dash kicked off and shot straight through the changeling swarm in front of her, which startled the changelings enough that they all charged the group of ponies with a few breaking off to go after Rainbow Dash.

“Come on, test me!” Pinkie shouted loudly and charged into the swarm as Rainbow flew through the castle. The changelings that had followed her had no chance to keep up with her and Rainbow was more or less in the clear and on her way back to Twilight.

The flight through the castle hallways went by in a near flash for Rainbow Dash and soon enough she could hear the sounds of Twilight and the queen fighting nearby. The door to the room was still open and Rainbow landed softly and peeked into the room.

Inside she saw Twilight and the queen locked in a melee, Twilight’s book and the queen’s horn constantly hitting and bouncing off each other until they locked together. They pressed against each other and Twilight started to lose ground. Chrysalis smirked and pressed down further onto Twilight certain of her victory, at least until Rainbow Dash flew in and landed a kick on her face. Twilight managed to break the lock and fire a spell at Chrysalis’ chest, knocking her back into a wall.

“I guess I came at the right time huh?” Rainbow asked and landed next to Twilight.

“I suppose,” Twilight replied and glanced at Rainbow Dash, “where are the Elements?”

“It was a bust. There were too many of those things around the Elements. I managed to get away while the others held them off. Don’t suppose you got a plan egghead?”

“I’ve been working on it. Those are guard gauntlets right? Do you know how to use them?” Rainbow lifted a leg and extended the blade out.

“I figured that out, the rest is just swinging right?”

“For what I need it will be. Keep the queen busy for a while ok?”

“Can do Twilight!” Rainbow flew up into a hover and shot over to the Queen as she was getting up from her latest knocking around and swung the sword down on her horn. Chrysalis managed to deflect it and dodge out of the way of the follow up strike. She skidded to a stop and watched the pegasus extend the other sword and stare her down.

“You want a fight too? I’m unfortunately busy with your unicorn friend, so get out of my way!” Chrysalis yelled.

“Sorry, I can’t wait for that cockroach!”

“I am not a bug!” Chrysalis charged at Rainbow and tried slashing at Rainbow with her horn, only for her to dodge out of the way and try and land a few strikes of her own.

While Rainbow and Chrysalis were engaged Twilight made her way to Cadence and worked on undoing her bonds. Cadence started struggling against them until they were broken and she rolled onto her stomach to look up at Twilight.

“Listen, can you try and get Shining Armor out of whatever trance he’s in? If you can do that we’ll keep the queen off you,” Twilight said motioning toward Shining Armor still standing in place.

“Y-yes, of course I can,” Cadence replied looking at Shining Armor and back at Twilight, “But Twilight, your eyes…”

“Don’t worry about that, just focus on Shining Armor!” Twilight turned back to Chrysalis and Rainbow and charged at them, leaving Cadence to get up and walk to Shining Armor.

Rainbow Dash was preoccupied with dodging everything the queen was throwing at her and she hardly had time to think of a way to counterattack. When she saw Twilight charging back at them Rainbow got one of her patented crazy ideas and withdrew her swords. Chrysalis saw the opening and attacked only for Rainbow to dodge downward and start flying around her. Rainbow flew so fast Chrysalis was essentially trapped in a tornado until Rainbow grabbed one of her legs. The speed that Rainbow put into flying suddenly went into Chrysalis as she spun around until she got thrown at Twilight. The unicorn slowed down and swung her book as hard as she could at Chrysalis, landing a perfect hit and sending her flying across the room and into a wall.

“Fifteen love!” Twilight shouted happily.

“What?” was Rainbow Dash’s response.

“It’s a tennis joke, now come on!” Twilight ran past Rainbow and the pegasus followed her to the queen.

“That’s it!” She shouted at the pair, “This has gone far enough!”

“Shut up!” Rainbow yelled and swung a blade at the queen.

Cadence on her side was having a slightly difficult time waking Shining Armor up and eventually settled for a simple spell. She touched her horn to his and focused it into him. After a few seconds Shining Armor blinked his eyes and held a hoof to his forehead.

“C-Cadence?” he asked on seeing the alicorn, “where am I?”

“Still in Canterlot, but that’s not important right now!” Cadence said and ducked as Rainbow went flying into a wall behind the couple.

“Ah! You dirty cockroach!” Rainbow yelled and flew back over Cadence and Shining Armor, their eyes following her.

“What is that thing?” Shining Armor asked on seeing Chrysalis.

“A large threat to everypony,” Cadence answered and held Shining Armor’s face, “you have to cast the shield spell again!”

“A-alright, give me a second.” Cadence stepped away from Shining Armor and saw his horn glow for a second before cringing from pain. “Argh! I’m too weak to cast it! I don’t know what to do!”

“I’ll help you,” Cadence said with a nod, “with my power added to yours it should be enough.”

“Yes, you’re right! Let’s do it!”

Back at the fight Chrysalis was on the receiving end of a beat down. Swords and a powered up book constantly struck her and threw her off balance. Suddenly it stopped and she looked down to see Twilight and Rainbow both coming at her, then she felt a hoof and a book uppercut her into a nearby window. The glass cracked under her weight and she slid to the floor.

“Geez, this thing really is a cockroach,” Rainbow said breathing heavily, “It won’t go down!”

“I think we bought enough time though,” Twilight replied and looked over at Shining Armor and Cadence, when Rainbow looked over she saw that they were engulfed in some kind of magic spell and were slowly levitating off the floor.

“What are they doing?!” Chrysalis shouted and tried to get up, only to get a book to the head for the trouble.

Then things got really bright. Shining Armor and Cadence were engulfed in a bright pink light and that light soon shot forward as some form of barrier. Chrysalis hardly had time to give a surprised cry when she got hit by it and was flung though the window she landed against. Twilight and Rainbow were a little shocked when it passed through them harmlessly and they looked out of the window to see the changeling army flying into the distance.

“Yeaaaah! Eat that chumps!” Rainbow shouted out the window and flipped happily in the air. Twilight for her part took a deep breath and shut her eyes, their colors returned to normal when she opened them. “That was awesome Twilight! Just plain awesome!” Rainbow landed and pulled Twilight into a tight hug.

“Thank you Rainbow, it was nothing though,” Twilight said and pulled out of the hug and grabbed her saddle bags from Rainbow’s back. Rainbow looked in confusion and followed her friend over to her cloak.

“What’s up Twilight?” Rainbow asked carefully. Twilight picked her cloak up and threw it over herself, making sure the clasp was secure before putting her journal back into the bag and putting them on.

“We’ve drawn too much attention to ourselves Rainbow. I doubt Canterlot will remain safe for very long now.” Twilight felt she didn’t have to make her point any more clear and looked at Rainbow Dash.

“Wait, you mean you want to leave?!” she asked incredulously. “After all this crap we just did to see your brother’s wedding you just want to leave when it’s about to happen?”

“What do you want me to say Rainbow?!” Twilight asked back, her voice angry and sad at the same time. “I’d be more than happy to know they got married with or without me, but I’d never forgive myself if anyone here got hurt because of us!” Rainbow took a step back and looked at the ground, trying to find a counter argument.

“We could at least stay for a little while, help get the wedding back on track.”

“And when would that be? A day or two? There’s too much to do and we can’t do it all before nightfall.”

“Twily?” Both mares perked up and looked at Shining Armor and Cadence as they walked up to them. “What’s going on? You seem intent on something.”

“Well, that’s um…” Rainbow started and looked at Twilight for help.

“I’m sorry BBBFF,” Twilight said quietly.

“Sorry?” Cadence asked, “For what?” At that Twilight looked up at both of them and smiled softly.

“I guess I won’t be able to see your wedding after all.” Everypony looked at Twilight in shock.

“Won’t…? Twily, what do you…?” Shining Armor stepped toward Twilight and extended a hoof toward her.

“Goodbye.” Twilight turned away from Shining Armor and leaped at Rainbow. The second she held onto her they had both disappeared in a bright purple light. They reappeared high above Canterlot and promptly started to fall toward Canterlot.

“What the hay?!” Rainbow shouted.

“Fly you fool!” Twilight shouted back and held on tightly.

“Dangit Twilight!” Rainbow held onto Twilight and started flying to the north, the only sign of their departure was Rainbow’s signature trail following her. They flew for a few minutes in total silence until Rainbow spotted a lone cloud in the sky and flew over to it. Twilight’s horn shown for a second and Rainbow dropped her off on the cloud and looked at her angrily.

“Why did you do that?!” Rainbow shouted and flew circles around Twilight, “Why did you do that? We could have stayed for a little longer and… helped out a little or something! Why did you do that?”

“I know Rainbow,” Twilight replied and looked the pegasus in the eye, “this isn’t the right thing to do. Running away isn’t even close.”

“So why are we?” Rainbow asked as she sat down on the cloud next to Twilight. “I’m worried about our friends and everypony who could have gotten hurt in Canterlot. I want to make sure they’re all ok.”

“I do too Rainbow. I want to see them and say so many things to our friends, but we just can’t. Not yet. All I could do was leave a letter behind for them. They’ll probably be angry, but I hope they’ll at least understand.”

“I guess,” Rainbow relented and sighed. She then leaned toward Twilight and turned her head to look at her cut. “We should get that cleaned up, or it’ll get infected.”

“Oh, right. I think I remember how to clean cuts.”





	Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned a little more about trust, specifically how much it hurts when you have to break it. My friends trusted me in that I was telling the truth about this journey Rainbow and I were on, but now they know that I’ve betrayed that trust.

I did it for the best of intentions, but that doesn’t necessarily excuse the fact we did it. I’ve chosen my path and all I can do is continue to walk it until it ends. Maybe by the end of it I’ll be able to work on regaining that trust again.

Your faithful student

Twilight Sparkle