Chapter 6
Pre-Wedding Jitters
Once Chrysalis was settled in her own role once again, Twilight thought it best to check on her brother. It was an awkward silence between them. He’d told the servants to leave, making it just the two of them.
“You know Twily,” he said finally, “Some of the things you said growing up finally make sense.” He looked at the full body mirror as Twilight straightened the crest on his chest. “You’d ask some of the strangest things, but I always passed it off as you being curious. Just part of your lust for knowledge. I guess…that’s what you wanted me to think.”
Twilight just nodded at first, not really sure how to respond outside of that. “I…you were the one pony I trusted most growing up,” she told him, “I thought I never needed any other friends, because I had you. Now the girls are my friends.”
“Now or always?” he wondered aloud.
“Not always actually,” Twilight told him honestly, much to his surprise. “I mean, sure we’ve always known each other, but we weren’t always friends. Just…I don’t really know what you’d call it.”
Shining finally looked at her directly. “Why can’t you tell me what the endgame is here?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Twilight sighed. “I almost didn’t believe it myself when Chryssi told me.” Twilight gave him a reassuring smile. “I’ll tell you everything when I can gather the proper proof. Okay?”
Shining was beginning to need more than that. “Can you at least tell me what’s going to happen to Canterlot?” he asked desperately, “I need something here Twilight.”
Twilight hangs her head and looks away sadly. “I...I can’t.”
“Why not?!” he demands, stamping his hoof angrily. Twilight flinches at the outburst. “Twilight, I love you dearly, but you’re asking me to let you commit treason! I have to know what’s going to happen, and I have to know why!”
Twilight shies away from him. “Shiny, I...I really, really want to tell you, but I just can’t.”
Shining looks at her sadly. “Why not?” he begs, “Why can’t you tell me?”
Twilight sighs heavily. “It’s…” She couldn’t tell him the whole truth. “...I’m trying to protect you.”
“Protect me?” he parrots.
Shining was about to question further when Rarity trotted in on them. “Ready to go yet? It’s not polite to keep a lady waiting you know, especially a princess,” the white changeling in disguise scolded.
Shining had been so caught up in his conversation he almost forgot he was going to see Cadence before everything had a chance to go down. “Yeah, let’s go.” As he follows her he briefly stops Twilight at the door. “We’ll talk afterwards,” he tells her before continue.
Twilight stands back for a moment with a heavy heart. “Shining...if only you knew.”
***
Cadence was furious. It was bad enough knowing that she was locked up as barely more than a prisoner of war (albeit still treated like the princess she was), but now she was locked up on her own wedding day!
A knock came. “WHAT?!” she shrieked.
“I’ve heard of pre-wedding jitters, but this is ridiculous,” came a nervous joke.
Cadence looked at the door in disbelief. It has to be a trick. It just has to be. She opened the door slowly and Shining Armor bounded over to her and hugged her.
“It’s so good to see you finally!” he said happily. He backed up and gave a quick once over. “You’re not hurt are you?” he asked with the expected concern. After failing to find a hair out of place he looked at the room he’d stepped into. “How is it you can get taken prisoner and still have a fancier bedroom than I could ever dream of?”
“Focus, Shining,” Rarity chastised from the door, flicking her white mane out of her eyes. “Honestly, I think the stress is starting to break you.”
“I’m in a hole in the ground!” he argued, “Of course the stress is getting to me!” He turned back to Cadence, who was still in shock, and hugged her again. “I’m so glad you’re safe, Cadence.”
A thought popped into her head: If it was really him... “Shining calls me by my full name when a royal is present,” she stated, seeing Twilight at the door, trying to stay out of sight.
Shining looked at her oddly. “No I don’t,” he said in confusion, “Celestia gets on me about that all the time, remember?”
She leaped at him. “It is you!” she cried happily. She leaned back in his hooves with her eyes widened suddenly, a panic overtaking her. “Did you find out what’s going on?” She gasped. “They’re not locking you up too are they?!”
“Yes to the first, no to the second,” he answered hesitantly. Cadence didn’t know how to respond to that other than asking “why”. “To be honest, I’d rather side with my sister,” he answered softly, “I’m not entirely sure what’s going on here, but I do trust her. Not only that, but what I need to know most of all is that my family is safe in all this.” He smiled at her. “Just because we’re not married yet, doesn’t mean I don’t consider you family.”
She smirked. “Only you would say something that corny.” He laughed. After taking a moment to think, Cadence had to ask, “What exactly is going to happen today, Twilight?” Twilight froze outside the door. “Yes, I can still see you over there,” the princess confirmed.
Twilight gulped, still not ready to know what Cadence thought of the real her.
Shining groans. “I’ve been trying to get that answer from her since I confronted them.” He rubs the back of his neck. “She’s been pretty stubborn about it.”
“Oh, captain Armor,” Rarity chided, Cadence gasping as she realized who the other changeling really was, “You really couldn’t imagine what’s going on here. Rest assured we’ve already secured our primary goal. Everything from here is merely going to be icing on the cake as Pinkie would say.”
“Rarity?!” Cadence looked at Shining, who just nodded nervously.
“Yeah, all six of them actually,” he admitted, “I only found out today too. Turned out Spike has been helping Twilight hide her true self the whole time.”
Twilight, still creeping closer to bolting by the second, felt that urge spike all the faster.
Finally Cadence had enough and decided to confront her. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?” she asked sadly, “Twilight?” The young queen’s wings started buzzing. “Are you afraid of me?” Twilight shook her head slowly once. “Then why?”
“I was afraid,” she admitted.
“But you just said—” Cadence started, but Twilight quickly cut her off.
“I was afraid you’d hate me,” she sobbed. Tears streamed down her eyes. “You’ve always been with me, just like Shining, and mom and dad.” She sniffled. “You were always like my big sister.”
“You’ll have to forgive the tears,” Rarity cut in, “Changelings are largely in tune with all emotions around them, making us natural at empathy, but the drawback is that some of us can’t cut ourselves off from that easily. This can give a changeling mood swings from time to time, as well as make them over emotional at other times.” She looked at Twilight’s slowly collapsing form with a touch of pity. “Twilight is one such case. She’s highly emotional at times, and I can’t begin to imagine what she’s going through right now.”
“We don’t want to do this, but we can’t come up with a better plan,” she insisted.
“You’re reinforcing negative stereotypes!” Cadence argued, “If this is your plan it’s a horrible one! They’ll never accept you like this!”
Twilight looked up at her sadly, but with an off look in her eyes. “They?” she repeated hopefully.
“Oh just come here and hug me already,” Cadence said finally.
Twilight scampered across the floor and huddled into the alicorn’s hooves. “I’m scared Cadence. So much is going to happen and I’m terrified of it all,” she sobbed.
“If you explain yourself I’m sure the citizens of Canterlot will understand,” Cadence reasoned.
“I don’t doubt that,” Twilight admitted, “I...I’m afraid she’s going to hate me.”
“Why?” the princess asked in confusion, knowing she was referring to Celestia, “I have faith Celestia would put her care for you and your friends above any prejudice she may have against changelings. She’d listen to you, I’m sure of it. Whatever you’re trying to get or do, I’m sure she’d help you.”
“We don’t want Celestia to help us,” Rarity stated firmly, and a bit coldly, “I love Celestia as much as any other Equestrian, but we cannot have her interfering with our plans. She can’t be trusted to follow our wishes or plan of action.” The young mare sighed in dismay. “This is so clustered, and it would be hard to explain without the book as proof.”
“Book?” the couple parroted in curious unison.
“Rarity!” Twilight yells in frustration of the slip up.
Rarity’s ears splay back. “Um...sorry.”
“Twily?” Shining speaks up.
Twilight groans. “It’s the only proof we have that what we’re trying to do is true. Changelings have kept it safe for years.” Twilight took a couple breaths to calm herself a bit before continuing. “It’s…well, two books really.” She quickly slaps a hoof over her mouth.
“Twilight!” Rarity scolds.
It was Twilights turn to splay her ears back and apologize. “Sorry.” She sighs heavily, trying to get rid of the nervousness. “The second is a record book, sort of a history book too. Changelings have written in it over the years to keep a record of our history for a little over the last millennia.”
“What’s the first book Twilight?” Cadence asked firmly.
Twilight tried to think of the best way to explain it without actually telling them what was going on. In the end she couldn’t think of a satisfactory answer. “I can’t tell you,” she says finally.
“Twilight, why are you so desperate to keep us in the dark?!” Cadence demanded, a sad tone in her voice. “Don’t you...don’t you trust us?”
Twilight’s heart sank. “I-I do, but…”
“She told me she was trying to protect me earlier,” Shining tells his fiance. Cadence and Shining give Twilight a curious look. “Twilight, protect us from what?” he asks.
“That is a very good question, and I would love to answer it,” Rainbow yelled as she zipped through door, “Unfortunately for you pretty boy, it’s just about show time.”
“Have we so little time, Rainbow?” Rarity asked in surprise.
Rainbow landed with a thud and started pushing Shining Armor out the door. “I know it’s hard to tell time down here, but yeah. We’re about out of time and I’ve given you as much as I can. Now let’s move it!”
“Hold on a minute!” Cadence slammed the door shut and put her own lock on it. “Exactly how is this going to play out?” she asked seriously with an eyebrow raised. “Am I really meant to sit here, while what was supposed to be my wedding day is just ruined and associated with a terrible memory forever, and not even told why?”
Rainbow backed up and started prancing about anxiously.
“I don’t like this either, princess,” Rarity told her with a sigh, “But we really don’t have the time and for once I actually agree with Rainbow on the necessity to make a great big scene.”
“Yeah, yeah, big scene, worse than the Gala. Can we hurry this up?!” Rainbow was practically jumping out of her skin with how much she was twitching.
Twilight opened a drawer on the dresser, half emptied a small sachet of calming herbs and passed it to the blue-eyed changeling. Rainbow started breathing into it like it was a paper bag, the lingering scent of the calming herbs working wonders on her nerves. Finally after a large amount of quick huffs [that was frankly starting to worry the other ponies in the room] she slowed down and her wings stopped twitching.
“Hoo…I’m good,” she said finally. She looked at the herbs and then the bag. “I will say I’m a bit tempted to ask if this stuff is legal though.”
“They are very strong calming herbs,” Twilight stated firmly, “I got them from Zecora, and I can assure you they are perfectly legal.” Rainbow just nodded.
Cadence raised an eyebrow at the leaves. “Just curious, but why is that in my room?”
Twilight gave Cadence a sheepish smile. “Well, I honestly thought you’d need it today.” She took on a more serious face suddenly. “Do not eat those. They are toxic and you will get sick.”
“Duly noted, but on to more pressing matters,” Rarity urged while fumbling at Cadence’s magic lock, “We really must be going. We’ve already made it a personal promise to each other and you that we will see your wedding done right.”
Cadence strengthened her lock despite Rarity’s best efforts to crack it open. Magic locks were a curious thing. Like real locks they could be forced open, though only by magical means. Otherwise they work on a tumbler, or code system, and either method can be made more intricate on the fly by the original caster. “Twilight, I’m begging you. Tell us the truth,” Cadence pleads.
“I…have you ever wondered why changeling’s chose Equestria to live in?” Twilight asked out of nowhere.
Cadence and Shining Armor exchanged confused glances, neither one of them coming up with a viable answer. The fact that changelings did in fact live in Equestria was a scarcely acknowledged fact. So much so that nopony ever bothered to question it.
“What if I told you it was familiarity? Because Equestria reminded us of our real home?” Twilight asked the two.
“Real home?” Shining parroted.
“But you told me that it’s unknown where changeling’s originated,” Cadence reminded the young queen.
“True,” Twilight said with a small nod as she left the princess’ embrace, choosing to trot about the room as she spoke, “There is one truth I didn’t really mention though. Changeling’s have existed for thousands of years, granted not nearly as long as the other races of pony, but still pretty long.”
“So what’s your point?” Cadence asked without a clue.
Shining however picked up on it very quickly. “But the first sightings of changelings in Equestria only happened roughly between twelve and thirteen centuries ago,” the captain thought aloud, “So they had to have lived somewhere else first.” He looked at his sister, who smiled sadly knowing he’d already come to the logical conclusion. “Something Celestia did caused the changelings to lose their home. Is that right?”
Twilight hung head slightly. “Luna was involved too, and they still don’t know the entire consequences of what they did, but yes, you’re right.”
Cadence gaped in shock while Shining’s ears drooped sadly.
“Now you begin to fully understand our position in this attack. This is why we can’t afford to have the celestial sisters involved,” Rarity explained, “That book we mentioned is from the ancestral home, but we don’t actually have it. It’s here, somewhere in the castle, and we need it to stop what’s going to come. History cannot be allowed to repeat.”
“Twily,” Shining says softly, “Is something coming? Something dangerous? If there is, please tell us. We can help you.”
Twilight quivers. “N-no. You...you should stay where it’s safe...we’re leaving after the invasion.”
Cadence and Shining Armor gape at her. “What?!”
“The invasion isn’t a takeover,” Twilight explains, “It’s a distraction. We need Celestia and Luna’s focus somewhere else while we execute our true plan.”
“What kind of logic is that?!” Shining demands, “You need to distract them by drawing attention to yourselves?! That’s insane!”
“Believe me, we know how it sounds, but we have a plan,” Rarity explains, finally giving up on the lock and conceding to Cadence’s will, “It’s hard to explain, but we need Celestia and Luna focused on protecting Equestria completely. They won’t have time to notice what we’re really up to.”
‘Twilight, let’s just assume that all this goes the way you want it to,” Shining challenged, “You want Celestia and Luna distracted? How are you going to keep her from tracking you down afterwards?”
“We have a freaking plan! Geez!” Rainbow snaps, her nerves getting worse by the moment.
“Cadence, please. We’ve tried to keep you in the dark because we don’t want you to wind up getting hurt,” Twilight begged, “Changelings have been waiting over a millennia for this. This isn’t your fight. Let us go, I’m begging you.”
Cadence softens seeing the desperation in the mares in front of her. “Twilight, I…”
“Cadence.” Shining Armor put a hoof on her shoulder. “I don’t like this either. This day was supposed to be ours, and ours alone.” A sad smile betrayed him, not hiding his grief in the least. “We will get married, I promise you that. Today though, Twilight and her friends have to do what they feel is right.”
“We swear, nopony needs to get hurt,” Twilight promises, “The swarm can take care of the guards through non-violent means.” Her eyes begged desperately with the princess, whose resolve weakened more and more by the second.
Shining squeezes her shoulder slightly. “Please, Cadence.”
“Shining I…what about you?” she asked, “How do you intend to get out of this unscathed?”
“Shining is supposed to play vegetable during the invasion,” Rainbow explained, “You come in afterwards and ‘cure him’ and he gets off scott free.”
“Then you and I can have a real wedding,” Shining finished. Cadence shrank a bit, but she didn’t falter. “I can’t let Twilight face this alone.”
“Big brother…”
“I…” Cadence submitted. “Oh alright, but promise me one thing,” she bargained. The four of them nodded. “Don’t get hurt.”
Twilight and Shining pulled her into a tight hug. “I promise everything will be fine,” Shining whispers in her ear.
“If not a little chaotic for a bit,” Twilight adds honestly, “But it’ll pass soon enough. Promise.”
Cadence squeezed back for a moment before pushing them towards the door. “Go do what you have to then. And be careful!”
The four of them nodded and rushed out the door as soon as the lock was removed. As the three of them ran, Rainbow flying, Rainbow looked down at Twilight. “Can you promise me something too, Twi?”
“Um, sure,” Twilight responded oddly, “Though I’m not sure if this is the best time.”
“Promise me you’ll get some of those calming herbs for Pinkie…” After a moment she added, “And yourself.”
Shining raised an eyebrow in thought. “It would be good for your panic attacks.”
Twilight groaned, “Fine, I’ll get some for my panic attacks.”
“And Pinkie?” Rainbow repeated.
“And Pinkie, yes. Now let’s hurry!”