//------------------------------// // Guardian by Taranth // Story: Magic of Love: A Twidance Prompt Collab // by ArguingPizza //------------------------------// by Taranth ~~~ Pink-purple magic lit the room, filling it with an eerie but warm glow as it coalesced into the centre. At first it seemed there was simply gathering, without actually acting on anything; but as it grew stronger, the very air itself seemed to buckle and twist… Twilight gave a cry of effort as she completed the spell, tearing the very fabric of reality asunder. Suddenly, where once there stood a mostly empty room, there was now a tear, through which a familiar pink pony could be seen. Cadance lay in a heap in the middle of the floor, gazing up in confusion and horror at the rip in the air... but that immediately stopped as soon as she saw the spellcasting princess. Giving a desperate cry of delight, she surged through the portal in a blur of bedraggled feathers, and pounced onto Twilight, disrupting the spell and leaving the portal to collapse behind her as the two princesses tumbled across the room. Cadance regained her bearings first and wasted no time, capturing Twilight’s lips with her own in a downright hungry display of passion, pinning down the slightly smaller princess and twisting their muzzles together. All six limbs wrapped tightly around Twilight, and she would have had to struggle hard to escape. Not that she seemed to be trying particularly hard. Indeed, between recovering from the portal spell and Cadance’s ministrations, Twilight could do little more than melt in the grip of the Alicorn of love, basking in her passion and attention, pressed tightly together along barrel, limb and lips. I sighed and cleared my throat loudly. ...And again. ...On the third time, it seems Twilight heard me, and struggled enough to actually get Cadance’s attention as well. It was a little longer still before she seemed willing to actually relinquish her prize, but eventually Twilight managed to direct her attention my way, and finally she composed herself and got off, letting them both stand up. “Oh… hi, Shining.” Cadance grinned, rubbing the back of her head. “Sorry, it’s just been… wait…” She stared at me a long moment, before spinning around to Twilight, giving her a closer inspection as well. Twilight, on the other hand, was still trying to catch her breath, while also trying to avoid my gaze, which might have been just a touch harsher than I intended it to be. “You’re not Shining Armour! And you’re not Twilight!” She hissed, backing off a bit from us both. Her horn lit up, but it was obviously flickering - her incarceration had not left her in the peak of strength. “N-no.” Twilight responded shakily. “We’re… just different. Hang on. Sorry. I’ll get you home properly.” Before Cadance could protest any further, Twilight cast another spell. This one was a lot easier, though no less impressive - the magic twisting open the doorway again, lighting up Cadance and the area before showing another scene, with… Another Twilight and Shining Armour, looking just as ragged as we were, staring in surprise as we looked over to them. There were subtle differences in the way they held themselves - as well as their colours, which were a little lighter across the board than ours. That matched the Cadance before us, too. She cried out again, staggering through to the wide smiles of the two others. Other-Twilight embraced Cadance, and Other-Shining gave a heartfelt smile and a salute, which I wearily returned. And then the gateway closed, and it was just the two of us again, one of each. Twilight sank down, still not looking at me. “...Sorry, BBBFF…” I sighed, pushing down my frustration and gently putting a hoof over my sister’s withers. “It’s alright, Twily. I think maybe we should take a little break.” “W-what? But I can’t, not while…” “You won’t be able to help her in that condition. Come on. Let’s get you some food.” ~-~-~-~ Twilight continued to be very quiet while we ate, only in the next room over. She had her serious thinking face on, that much was obvious, and normally I wouldn’t have interrupted her, but if ever there was a time… “Twily?” She winced, slowly turning towards me, but still not meeting my eyes. “Yeah, Shiny?” “I know it’s not what you want to hear right now, but…” I paused, trying to find the way of saying this least likely to freak out my sister, and trying to keep my teeth from grinding. “...Well, that’s nine different times we’ve tried so far. You were pretty confident in this spell of yours, but… well, that was the third one who pounced you the moment the portal opened. And there were two more who were pretty clearly with their Twilight rather than with m… their Shining Armour. “So assuming that we’re not the minority here and most of the multiverse is actually Twily and Cady rather than Shiny and Cady…” “Doesn’t work that way.” She muttered, eyes down. “I know it’s a good thing that we’re rescuing all these other versions of her as well, but I am really kind of worried about my Cadance. I know this whole multiverse thing is pretty new to all of us, but…” He sighed. “Twi, I know you’re not, and I’m trying really hard not to get upset about this, but I really do kind of need to hear you say it. Please tell me you’re not doing this on purpose.” She winced again, opening her mouth… but didn’t actually say anything. I blinked, feeling my heart drop back through my stomach. “T-Twi…” “I’m not doing it on purpose!” She blurted out, then sank back down. “Not… on-purpose-on-purpose, anyway.” “...Okay, Twily, you’re going to have to explain that one to me.” “W-well, the spell is sort of a two-part thing. The first part’s tracking, the second part’s actually opening the gate. That’s the easy bit, and that’s why getting them home after we get them here - they’re easy to link up with their home dimension. It’s like they’ve got the key already. “But the tracking is… I have to really, really focus on Cadance. And I do want to find her! I’m getting the hang of it more and more.” “But?” “Ummm… okay, so, I’m not a hundred percent sure here, but, I think… well, the third one we tried, that was the first one that... pounced me. Um. I really wasn’t expecting it. And she kissed me.” “Yes. I know. I was there. I wasn’t expecting it either.” Twilight blushed. “Yeah. Well. Um. Cadance is kind of… a really good kisser.” “Yes. I know that too.” “She’s... a really, really good kisser. I mean… I don’t exactly have a lot of data points to compare to… or any, really…” I blinked. “Twi, was that your first…” “So, yeah, my head was still ringing and then she was on top of me and kissing and… um… wow. Yeah.” She licked her lips slightly, glancing at me, but then her eyes went down again. I might have been glaring a little. “And.. umm… well, yeah, I’ve been… I’ve been trying to think of Cadance! Our Cadance. Your Cadance. Really. But, um, every time I think of her… um…” I sighed heavily, lowering my head to the table. Twilight shrank further back. “...She’s a really good kisser.” She mumbled, as if trying to use that as a shield. It didn’t exactly improve my mood. “So what are we supposed to do then?” I cried out, storming to my feet. “Can I do the seeking part for you?” She shook her head miserably. “No, that’d bring in a whole heap of new issues. It’d take me weeks to rewrite the spell. And there’s no way you could cast it. I don’t even think Celestia could… this is a special talent thing…” “So what, then? We keep going until we run out of Twilight-obsessed Cadances to rescue?” I might have been yelling by that point. “I… um…” “Yes?” “There’s… one thing that might work.” “What? Anything!” “Umm… well, if I was… thinking that maybe when our Cadance got back, maybe I could… have something to, um… look forward to… maybe kiss her when she…” “WHAT?” I was suddenly towering over Twilight, snarling, as she cut off with a squeak. “You… I… you think you can… after… ARGH!” I didn’t even know how to start dealing with that. Twilight cowered again, hiding her face. I sighed, storming away back into the portal room, leaving Twily curled up in a ball with her food. What does she think she’s doing? Asking me to… to let her kiss Cadance? Oh, and that’s probably not all either. She probably would have asked for more, if she even knew how to get the words out. She’s holding my wife hostage. This is blackmail. If I don’t let her… with my wife, then I might never see her again? How dare she? I glared back at the last room. I thought I knew Twilight better than that. I thought she was better than that! I can’t believe my little sister would suggest something like that! It doesn’t make any sense! She’d never… … She was crying. I could hear her sobbing from here. Softly, trying to keep me from noticing, but there are some things that come from being a big brother with a talent in protection. It cut through my rage harder than Twily had been tearing apart space-time. She… She really would never do something like that, would she. I stared back at the other room. That… that wasn’t Twily trying to get it on with my wife. That was Twily, exhausted, confused and guilty, desperately trying to find a way to rescue her foalsitter. That was Twily having tried fighting herself and her feelings to bring me back the mare I loved, and only making the issue worse. That was little studious Twily, taking apart a problem and trying to find the best way to solve it. Maybe the only way to solve it. ...How the hell was I supposed to deal with this? ~-~-~-~ It was a little while before I managed to compose myself enough to head back into the room. Once I could see her, as well as just hear her, that drove away the last of my bitterness. With long-practised magical touch, I wiped away the tears from her eyes, and then hugged her close against me. It wasn’t quite the same as it used to be - she was nearly bigger than me now! - but it still brought back memories. She jumped in surprise, then looked at me in confusion, but it wasn’t long before she collapsed against me and we lay there together for a little while, brother and sister, comforting each other in a time of stress. Whatever else happened, we’d always have that. Finally, I broke the silence. “...I… I’ll ask Cady about it. Okay?” “W-what?” “It’s her choice in the end, I can’t make her do anything. I’m… I’m not going to pretend I’m happy about it, Twily. But… if you can get her back for me…” “You… are you sure?” She wavered. “I mean… you don’t have to… I can… ” “If you can get her back, I’ll… ask her. I guess… it’s the least we can do. Don’t think this is going to be a regular thing, though!” She shook her head frantically. “I’m not trying to take her away from you!” “I know, Twily. I know.” It still hurt, but I knew she wasn’t doing it on purpose. “But I’ll ask her. I promise.” “Okay.” She grinned, wiping fresh tears from her eyes. “I’ll get her back. I promise.” She stood up, a little shaky but determined, trotting towards the portal room. “I’ve got a good feeling about this time. Come on, let’s get Cadance back!” I sighed. The things I do for the wonderful mares in my life...