Friends, Forgiveness, and Magic
Wedding Part Two: Unstoppable
Nightmare Moon quickly woke up. Whatever spell had been put on her, she was able to shake it off fast. She quickly examined her surroundings to see that she had somehow ended up in the caves beneath the Crystal Castle. She had been down there a few times during her studies with King Sombra. He didn’t use the caves much except for storage or for privacy whenever they practiced a few darker spells. King Sombra believed that it was important for her to learn a little dark magic in order to better defend herself, but the people of the Crystal Empire had always been wary around dark magic, and rightfully so. Most unicorns couldn’t use dark magic without negative side effects.
“Hello? Is anyone there?” Nightmare called out.
“Be quiet.” Nightmare turned around to see two changelings standing guard.
Nightmare frowned. “Who are you? Are you working with that impostor?”
“Be quiet,” The changelings said in unison. Nightmare frowned at their dazed expressions and waved a hoof in front of them. Their glazed eyes took no notice of her hoof’s movement.
“You’ve been hypnotized,” Nightmare muttered. “Like I was, by Fluttershy. She was the one made me fall asleep. She’s in league with the impostor.” Nightmare scowled as her horn glowed with furious power. “So I’ll have to take them both down.”
As she tried to pass the changeling they hissed at her, their faces suddenly twisted in anger. “You’re not going anywhere,” they chorused.
Nightmare smirked. “Really? How do you two plan to stop me?”
The changelings hissed again and fired two beams of green magic at her. Nightmare conjured up a dark blue shield, which easily absorbed the power of their spells. She grabbed the two changelings in her magical hold and telekinetically slammed the two of them together before slamming them into a wall.
“Sorry fellas,” she said to the unconscious changelings. “But I don’t have time to enjoy a proper duel.” Nightmare looked up at the cave’s ceiling and scowled. “Whoever you are impostor, I will make you suffer for what you did to my friends, my mentor, and my Loony!”
“Moony? Moony are you there?” she heard her mom’s voice say. Nightmare frowned in the direction the voice had come from and blasted the cave wall. The wall crumbled to reveal another section of the caves…along with a rather exhausted looking Luna.
“YOU!” Nightmare roared as her magic turned black, her eyes starting to leak dark magic.
“Moony? What…” Luna’s eyes widened as she saw the enraged Nightmare Moon. “No, wait! Nightmare it’s me, I’m the real Loony!”
Nightmare hesitated at the desperation in Luna’s voice. The dark magic faded around her eyes even as her horn still glowed dangerously. “One chance. You have one chance to prove that you are the real Captain Luna, that you are MY Loony. If I sense even the slightest deception you impostor I’ll-”
“Impostor? Nightmare, I thought you got the message I sent you in your dream,” Luna said. Nightmare blinked in surprise and motioned for her to continue. “Cadance is pretending to be me. That Luna is an impostor. Find me in the caves beneath the castle,” she said as she told Nightmare the unaltered version of her message.
“Cadance? That’s impossible. I saw Countess Cadance and the fake Luna in the same room plenty of times yesterday,” Nightmare said.
Luna blinked in shock. “What? But I saw her! Cadance trapped me down here, said she was sorry, and used her magic to turn into me, right before my eyes!”
Nightmare frowned. “There’s something suspicious going on here, I’ll give you that. But if you’re really my mom, why haven’t you teleported out of these caves?”
Luna pushed her mane back a bit and pointed at the top of her head, where two magic suppressors were wrapped around her horn. “Cadance did something to me with her assistant Fluttershy that knocked me out. Then they placed these blasted suppressors to stop me from using my magic.” She smirked proudly. “They made have gone so far as to use two suppressors but even that couldn’t block ALL of my alicorn magic. I’ve been down here for two whole days but last night I was able to gather enough magic to dream walk and warn you about what had happened.”
Nightmare bit her lip. “You do seem more like the Loony I know, but after everything that has happened I think I need a little more…”
She trailed off as Luna smiled warmly and sang:
“Sun shines and Moon gleams
Owls awake!
Clap your hooves
And give your wings a little shake!”
Nightmare’s jaw dropped. “Mom? Is it really you?”
Luna smiled before she gasped dramatically. “Oh, Nightmare! You would choose me? I accept with the highest of honour!”
“Mom! You said you’d stop teasing me about that stupid dream!” Nightmare blurted out. Realizing what she had said, she smiled and hugged her mom. “You remembered that? After all these years?”
Luna smiled and hugged her daughter back. “Like you always say, you were just a filly and did not know any better. But I can recall your proposal to the dream me, and her acceptance. I can still see the joy sparkling in your eyes as you married the dream me, even if you had no idea what you were doing. I remember all that, and everything else you have done. From your cutest moments to your greatest triumphs, I have watched you with pride, Moony. You’ll always be my happiest, sweetest Nightmare.”
Nightmare stepped back and began to undo the locks on the magic suppressors with her magic. “It’s so good to see the real you, mom. I’ll have these suppressors off you in no time. Then we can get out of here, find the impostor, and have them tortured.”
“Nightmare, don’t you think torture is a bit much?” Luna winced as one of the suppressors scraped against her horn before Nightmare removed it. “I’m glad it didn’t happen, but I also wonder why you didn’t end up with a suppressor too when you were brought down here.”
Nightmare shrugged as she worked on the last one. “The impostor must be too busy to go through the trouble of getting another one on such short notice. Even King Sombra can’t have a magic suppressor on hoof right away. As we have seen today they’re very dangerous if they fall into the wrong hooves.” She frowned as she removed the last suppressor. “Speaking of King Sombra, why didn’t you tell me you planned to marry him?”
Luna blinked in confusion. “Marry? King Sombra? What are you talking about Nightmare?”
Nightmare blinked in shock. “What? So the wedding happening upstairs isn’t even real?”
“A wedding? Nightmare, I know even less than you do about this situation. I mean, Sombra? Really? He’s a good friend and we did date once or twice before you were born. He was even with me when you were born. But I don’t have any romantic feelings for him, and I’m positive that he doesn’t have any for me.” Luna frowned thoughtfully. “From what I can remember, I think he had an infatuation for your aunt…” she muttered.
“Well, all the more reason to get out of here. We have to stop that wedding and get to the bottom of this insanity,” Nightmare said.
Luna sighed. “I’m too tired to teleport back up without accidentally teleporting into a wall.”
Nightmare stepped closer to her. “I’ll carry you if I have to.”
Luna smiled. “Thank you for your concern, but I’m sure my strength will return soon. The exit has to be somewhere close, or else someone trapped down here would starve to death.”
“I can figure out which way the exit is if I can find a familiar crystal formation. Let’s go!” Nightmare said.
“Wait,” Luna said as she levitated a bookmark into a nearby book. “Okay, let’s go!” she said as she and Nightmare began to run out of the cave.
“What was that?” Nightmare asked.
“Well, Fluttershy and Cadance were kind enough to provide me with food and literature while I was trapped down here. I wanted to make sure I didn’t lose my spot,” Luna said.
“…You’re very strange, mom.”
Luna giggled. “I love you too, oh ‘Queen of the Eternal Night.’”
“Let’s just find the exit so I can blast someone,” Nightmare muttered.
Fluttershy gave the secret knock at the door before she came in. “I was just talking to Chrysalis. Prismia has finally arrived.”
Cadance smiled at the mirror as she straightened out the dress she wore. “Finally. And Doctor Hooves is in attendance?”
“He’s with Mayor Derpy and her family now,” Fluttershy said.
“Good. Maybe when we tell her the truth, she’ll realize he can’t be trusted,” Cadance said.
Fluttershy smiled as she walked up beside Cadance. “Are you excited? Today is the big day.”
Cadance smiled. “Today is a big day for both of us. I haven’t forgotten my promise.”
Fluttershy blushed. “Oh. Oh my goodness. What an honour. Y-you don’t have to do that Cadance…”
“You deserve this day too Fluttershy. You’ve taken care of me during my darkest hours. I wouldn’t be where I am without you,” Cadance said as she stared at Fluttershy.
Fluttershy turned away. “You’re doing it again.” Cadance blushed and looked away. “How much longer do you think we have?”
“Long enough for the plan to work,” Cadance said. “I was worried about Nightmare Moon for a second but…” she paused as they heard a knock at the door. “Fluttershy, could you please check that?”
Fluttershy walked over and opened the door to see a changeling with glazed eyes. “Oh, it’s you. It’s okay Cadance. Tell us what happened, my little bunny,” she said to the changeling.
The hypnotized changeling nodded slowly. “We left Nightmare Moon deep in the caves. We left two changelings to make sure she doesn’t escape.”
Fluttershy smiled. “You did very good. Momma is very happy.”
“Do you think they’ll be enough? Nightmare Moon is an alicorn, and she’s more powerful than me. It was almost a miracle for us to trap Luna down there but we couldn’t even get Nightmare a suppressor this time,” Cadance said.
“I’m sure Nightmare Moon won’t be a problem. Between my Stare and your magic, she’s still asleep,” Fluttershy said gently.
“Right. My magic against Nightmare Moon,” Cadance muttered uncertainly.
Fluttershy sighed. “Don’t worry Cadance. Even if she escapes all that, she’ll still need to find her way out of the caves.”
Cadance smiled at Fluttershy’s attempt to cheer her up. “Right. Only King Sombra knows his way around those caves.” She frowned thoughtfully. “Although she is his student…no, that’s not it. Why would he need to show her those caves?”
The changeling bowed before them. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“You’ve done very well, my little bunny,” Fluttershy said. “Go join your friends.”
“Keep an eye on Prismia,” Cadance ordered. The changeling nodded and left.
Fluttershy noticed the way Cadance was still frowning at the door. “Are you okay?”
“Aside from the usual? No. It’s just…you know how I feel about changelings,” Cadance said.
Fluttershy nodded. “I know, I feel the same way. They scare me. I know a lot of things do that, but they really scare me. Black chitinous pony-like creatures with sharp horns and fangs, that can shape shift into anything and eat love. I know it’s not fair of me to be scared of them but…”
“I know,” Cadance said gently. “When you think about it, it’s not fair for me to be so angry at them either. It was only two changelings who were involved in my condition’s creation. One of them didn’t even know about it. And now…it’s just…it’s ironic, isn’t it? Changelings were part of the problem before, but now they’ll be part of the solution.”
Fluttershy nodded before she looked out the window.
“…I never thought changelings essential.
They’re scary and filled with unspeakable greed.”
Cadance smiled and joined it,
“But maybe they have a glimmer of potential.
If allied to fulfill a greater need.”
“I know that their powers of transformation
Is surpassed only by the hunger in their hearts,” Cadance sang.
“But as monstrous as they are, they’ll stay in formation
Deep down, they don’t need a Stare to play their parts,” Fluttershy sang.
Cadance smiled and nuzzled Fluttershy.
“It’s clear from your worried expression
You scared that the whole plan will go splat.
But we’re talking queens and ascension!
Even you must be excited with that,” Cadance sang.
“So prepare for the chance of a lifetime
Be prepared for wonderful news!
A shining new era
Is drawing ever nearer”
Fluttershy smiled hopefully. “And where will I feature?”
Cadance grinned. “You’ll be queen of ALL furry creatures.”
“I know our task is horrid
But we’ll be rewarded
When at last I am given my dues
And the injustice will finally be squared!
So be prepared!”
Fluttershy grinned. “So you’re sure you can do it? I’ll…I’ll become an alicorn like you? I could have magic, and…and be a princess?”
Cadance smiled. “The Crystal Heart turned me into an alicorn. After today, we’ll have unlimited access to it and to some of the greatest minds in the empire. We’ll figure out how to turn you into an alicorn and you’ll rule by my side as my co-queen.”
Fluttershy blushed. “Oh t-thank you. I don’t deserve such an honour…”
“Yes, you do. And Everfree deserves to have a ruler as loving and kind-hearted as you,” Cadance said. “Not some former villains like King Sombra and Princess Twilight.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I think Princess Twilight is a very nice ruler,” Fluttershy said.
“They’re both nice rulers. But I don’t trust dark magic and I don’t trust that the Pink One sealed away Eternal Twilight forever,” Cadance said. She noticed that Fluttershy was still unsure and smiled. “Fluttershy, think about what we’ll be able to create. If you rule with me, we could help homeless animals everywhere! The animals of the world will NEVER go hungry again! Say it with me: long live the queens!”
“Long live the queens!” Fluttershy said with a smile as she burst back into song:
“It’s great that our kingdom will soon be connected
And that we will be forever adored.”
“Of course, quid pro quo, you’ll be expected
“To take certain royal duties on board,” Cadance sang.
“Our future is cluttered with prizes
We will shine above all the rest
But the point that I must emphasize is
We have to SHOW them we’re the best!”
“So prepare for the coup of the century,” she sang.
“Be prepared for the end of our greatest scheme,” Fluttershy sang. They began to sing in unison,
“Meticulous planning
Tenacity spanning
Years of denial
Is simply why we’ll
Be queens undisputed
Respected, saluted
And seen for the wonders we are!”
Cadance flapped her wings as her horn glowed. “Yes, my wings and ambitions are bared
Be prepared!”
Fluttershy flapped her own wings. “Yes, our wings and ambitions are bared
Be prepared!”
They heard Rarity knock at the door. “Oh, Luna darling! It’s time for you to become a queen!”
“Stall her!” Cadance hissed as her horn glowed. As Fluttershy went to answer the door, Cadance levitated a green crystal over. She stomped on the crystal to absorb its power, her light blue magic turning green. She took the changeling magic she borrowed from the crystal and quickly put her disguise back on.
“Oh come now Fluttershy, I’m sure Luna looks beautiful,” Rarity said as she pushed past Fluttershy.
Rarity’s jaw dropped as she admired ‘Luna’ in her beautiful wedding dress. “What do you think Miss Rarity?”
“You. Look. Fabulous!” Rarity giggled. “Oh, I’m so jealous.”
‘Luna’ smiled. “I’m the one who’s jealous. I could never design a dress like this. You’re as talented as you are beautiful Miss Rarity.”
Rarity blushed and giggled some more, while Fluttershy nudged Cadance. “Oh, you are too kind Countess…oh, I mean, Your Majesty.” She opened the door for them. “Are you prepared darling?”
‘Luna’ and Fluttershy exchanged glances and giggled. “Oh yes. We are prepared,” the disguised Cadance said.
Princess Twilight smiled as she looked around the wedding hall. Hundreds of guests had arrived to witness the event. She saw Time Turner talking with Mayor Derpy and her family. She saw Big Macintosh giving Apple Bloom a hug. She noticed one changeling with a rather interesting mane style, particularly noticeable because most changelings did not have manes unless they were royalty or blue bloods. Speaking of whom, she saw Corporal Blueblood talking with her brother Shining Armor. The princess really hoped that Shining and Countess Cadance would be able to have their own wedding soon. Even Spike was waiting outside the wedding hall and listening through the walls, preferring to maintain his formidable size instead of shrinking down to fit in the room.
And lastly she saw the Element bearers and their friends in their finest suits and dresses, Garble and Sunset Shimmer standing next to the king. The only ones missing were Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis. King Sombra believed it would be best if Nightmare didn’t come to the wedding because of the tantrum she threw the previous day. As for Chrysalis, she was assisting the last few changeling guests who had decided to be late.
Princess Twilight shook her head to forget her irritation at the idea of anyone being tardy to such a big event, and decided to focus on the present.
King Sombra smiled as the guards opened the door. Fluttershy and Cadance flew in. As Fluttershy took a baton in her mouth to conduct the birds she had brought to sing the wedding march, Cadance bowed before them. “She’s just outside. We’re ready to begin.”
“Excellent. Fluttershy, start us off please,” Princess Twilight said. The yellow pegasus smiled as she waved the baton. The birds began chirping the wedding march as the guards opened the doors again. Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and Sweetie Belle came bouncing in flinging flowers everywhere. Apple Bloom smiled and nodded while Scootaloo and Gilbert paused their argument to watch them. Luna soon walked down the aisle, grinning widely. She glanced around the wedding hall and paused to wink at both Time Turner and that peculiar changeling, before joining the princess and the king at the front.
“Ladies and gentle-creatures,” Princess Twilight said. “We are gathered here today under the light of Crystal Heart.” She pointed at the Crystal Heart placed on the altar behind her. “The Crystal Heart is a symbol of our great Crystal Empire. Countess Cadance recovered this artifact of great power in the Badlands changeling kingdom when she was just a filly. The power of the Heart and the love inside of her, transformed her into the alicorn of love.
“This Crystal Heart is fueled by the hope and love of our empire, and thus it’s magic is reflected across all of Everfree. The Everfree kingdom was formed with the ideas of love, peace, freedom, and forgiveness; a kingdom where all kinds of intelligent creatures could be For Everfree. And with his dark magic put to good use, King Sombra has used this Crystal Heart to protect the Crystal Empire from many threats. And so, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Captain Luna and King Sombra under the light of our greatest symbol of love,” Princess Twilight said with a joyful smile.
“STOP!” They all turned around to see Nightmare burst through the doors. “Stop the wedding!”
Princess Twilight frowned. “Really Nightmare? The least you could have done is wait until I said, ‘if there's anyone who believes these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace’. And then you would say, ‘I object’ and then I…”
“Sparky, let it go.”
The false Luna whimpered at the glare Nightmare was giving her. “Nightmare why…why do you keep doing this to me…” she cried.
“DROP THE ACT!” the real Luna shouted as she barged into the room. “HEAR ME MY FRIENDS! I AM THE TRUE LUNA.”
“I think they can hear you mom,” Nightmare said as she saw everyone cover their ears.
“THAT IS THE POINT! WHO ELSE BUT I, THE TRUE LUNA WOULD USE THE ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE?”
“You have made your point Luna. Now could someone please explain why there are two of you before I decide to intervene?”
“I’m sorry Spike. I’m sorry everyone,” the false Luna said. Her horn glowed green before it shifted to blue as bluish flames consumed her disguise, revealing her to be Countess Mi Amore Cadenza.
All of the guests gasped. “Cadance?!”
Prince Shining Armor shook his head. “No. It can’t be…”
Cadance frowned. “Oh darn, I burned away the wedding dress.” She smiled at Rarity. “I’m really sorry Rarity, it was an accident. Still, it was a very lovely dress.”
“Why thank you darling, I…wait a minute!” Rarity cried. “Cadance you impersonated Luna? But…how can there be two of you? Who is that?!” she asked as she pointed at the Cadance standing next to Fluttershy.
Fluttershy sighed and spoke out loud. “I guess the cat is out of the bag now. Before you all ask, yes I can talk, I just prefer not to. As for her…you can take your disguise off, my little bunny.”
The other Cadance nodded as her horn glowed green. With a flash of green magic, Chrysalis took off her disguise.
Everyone gasped again. “Chrysalis? You were helping them too? What’s the big idea?!” Gilda growled and flew right into Chrysalis’ face. “Hey, I asked you a question!” She frowned and waved a claw in the changeling queen’s face, but her glazed eyes took no notice.
“She won’t respond. We hypnotized her quite a while ago,” Cadance said. “Actually, we’ve hypnotized a lot of people recently.” She waved a hoof and several ponies and changelings all glared at Gilda with glazed eyes. King Sombra blinked sleepily as his own eyes became glazed over.
Cadance smiled. “For as long as I have known Fluttershy she has possessed a unique ability that we call the Stare. Before it was kinda like a glare that she used to scare misbehaving animals into obedience. When she became my assistant, we used a few crystals to enhance the power of her Stare. Now she can use it on almost anybody to do almost anything.” Her horn glowed blue as she made a small cartoonish heart appear. “As for me, I’ve always been good with love magic. If I can make an old married couple stop arguing…I can also make somebody stop arguing with me.”
Discord snapped his fingers, causing a light bulb to appear. “Now I remember. Back at the Grand Galloping Gala, Fluttershy got into a staring contest with Chrysalis out in the gardens, mumbling something about ‘my little bunny’. Is that some kind of code word?”
Fluttershy smiled. “Yes, I picked it because I’ve always liked cute little bunnies.” She stared at him as her eyes began to glow.
“Oh no!” Discord dramatically gasped. “No, no, no more glowing eyeballs!” He wrapped his claw and paw around his neck as he pretended to choke. “Stop! I’ll do anything you say because…pff! Ha, ha, ha, you’re hilarious!” Discord laughed as he stopped faking. “Is that the best you can do?”
Fluttershy gasped and took a step back. “B-but…my Stare has always worked…”
Discord smirked at her. “My dear, I am a creature of chaos. I oppose the evils of cold order with every fiber of my being. You have used your Stare to turn these good people into your slaves, and slavery is the absolute worst manifestation of a most evil order. I was chosen to wield the Element of Freedom for more than just my charming good looks, my dear. And speaking of freedom, I should really do something about the mess you’ve made.”
Discord raised his mismatched arms and snapped his fingers and talons. Everyone under Fluttershy’s control instantly broke free of the Stare’s power. Changelings and ponies in the hall shook their heads as they came to their senses. King Sombra shook his head and stared at Cadance. “What is going on here? Cadance, what have you done?!” he growled.
“She tricked us,” Princess Twilight said, her eyes filled with anger and hurt as she glared at Cadance. “She tried to replace Luna and trick you into marrying her instead.”
“Marry?” King Sombra’s eyes widened. “I have no plans to marry anyone. Those little monsters were behind this whole disaster!” he said as he glared at Cadance and Fluttershy, dark magic leaking out of his eyes.
Chrysalis blinked rapidly and gasped. “Nightmare! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I couldn’t control myself, and she forced me to keep it all a secret,” she cried. “Please, I never meant to…”
“It’s okay Chrysalis,” Gilda said as she gently placed her wing on the changeling queen’s back. “Not your fault.”
“Gilda’s right. It’s their fault,” Nightmare said as her horn began to glow. “So every time you two called Chrysalis over to help with some errand, you were just hypnotizing her for your sick scheme.”
Cadance frowned. “In order for our plan to work I needed to disguise myself as Captain Luna, but everyone would have noticed if the Countess of Love wasn’t present at the biggest wedding of the century. So I used some changeling magic I absorbed from green crystals to disguise myself as Luna while Chrysalis disguised herself as me. Between her duties supervising all the changeling guests and her duties as one of my bridesmaids, nobody would be able to keep track of where Queen Chrysalis was.”
“So you swapped disguises back and forth to throw everyone off your trail,” Luna said. “Pretty clever, for an extremely paranoid scheme.”
“But not clever enough. I knew you weren’t acting like my mom, which is why you tried to trap me in the caves beneath the castle,” Nightmare said. “And now you’ve just revealed the rest of your plans, you complete fool.”
Cadance sighed as she noticed everyone glaring at her. “It looks like it. I wasn’t expecting Discord to be able to break Fluttershy’s Stare.”
“My dear, your magic is strong but it’s not up to Pinkie Pie’s standards,” Discord said confidently. “Unless you could bend the rules of reality like I could, did you really think you could get away with this?”
“I guess not,” Fluttershy said as she eyed a purple jar behind a nearby table.
King Sombra and Princess Twilight both glared at Cadance. “How could you do this Cadance? I thought we were friends. I thought you wanted what was best for our kingdom,” Princess Twilight said.
“I wish we could be friends too, Your Majesty,” Cadance said. “But Fluttershy and I believe that we are what’s best for this kingdom, not you. Not the master of dark magic or the former Eternal Twilight.”
Princess Twilight and Prince Shining gasped. King Sombra’s eyes narrowed in angry determination. “Regardless of your reasons, it appears you planned this wedding as some ridiculous attempt at a coup. But now that you have revealed yourself, I can protect my subjects from you!” The king’s horn glowed with dark magic. Cadance’s horn glowed with a blue aura as they both fired beams of magic. The beams collided with each other and began to push back and forth. Eventually the king’s beam of dark magic began to push further.
Fluttershy saw that Cadance was losing and grabbed the Crystal Heart off the altar. “Cadance, catch!” she said as she tossed the Heart to her. Out of reflex, Cadance caught the Crystal Heart in her magic. The power within the Heart began to flow into Cadance, increasing her magic. Her beam of magic began to push back further against King Sombra’s.
Princess Twilight’s horn glowed. “Don’t make me do this Cadance!” she cried. Seeing that Cadance wasn’t giving up, she fired her own blast of purple magic at her. Cadance soon created a magical barrier. Nightmare, Luna, Sunset Shimmer, Trixie, and Chrysalis all charged their horns and fired blasts of magic at Cadance too. As the magic from seven opponents slammed into her, Cadance grit her teeth as she pulled more magic out of the Crystal Heart and put it into expanding her shield to try and push them all back with the strength of her barrier.
Discord munched on some popcorn as he watched the battle. “Rather impressive light show,” he said. He waved a bag of popcorn in front of Rainbow Dash and Prince Shining. “Would you two like any?”
Prince Shining looked back and forth between his friends, his sister, and his fiancée. “Cadance…”
Rainbow looked back and forth between her friends and her old flight camp friend. “Fluttershy…”
Discord noticed their twin looks of hurt and betrayal and shook his head. “Goodness, why does everything have to be so dramatic at weddings?” He shrugged and continued munching popcorn. He smirked as the seven blasts of magic soon overpowered Cadance and shattered her barrier, sending her crashing into the wall. “Oh look, show’s over. See, you two were worried over nothing.”
Cadance grunted in pain as Fluttershy helped her stand back up. “Oh Cadance, are you okay?” Fluttershy said, her voice dripping with concern. She looked up at glared at the Elements and their allies. “How dare you? How dare you! You think, just because you’re the king and the Elements you…you can just bully ponies who…”
Fluttershy trailed off as King Sombra glared at her. “You can’t order me around anymore. Your Stare is broken.”
Fluttershy stared at him as her eyes began to glow again. Discord smirked and stepped in between them. “Allow me to finish her off, Your Crystal-ness.” He grinned evilly at Fluttershy and raised his claw, cloaking it in golden fire.
Fluttershy took a step back at the sight of flames and gulped. Her eyes watered as she cowered before him. “Oh p-please don’t h-hurt me Mister Discord.”
Discord blinked as the flames around his claw disappeared. “Hey now, I’m the good guy. You’re the villain here, you don’t get to keep pretending that you’re weak and helpless.”
Fluttershy sniffled as teardrops fell out of her eyes. “B-but I am weak and helpless. Oh please don’t hurt me, I’ll be a good girl!” she cried.
“Now that’s not fair!” Discord said. “Princess Twily, what are you waiting for? Blast her!”
Princess Twilight looked at the cowering Fluttershy and shook her head. “I don’t want to blast her! Why can’t you?”
“Are you kidding? The way she is now, it would feel like kicking a basket of puppies!” Discord pointed at some of the guests. “See? They’re already judging me!”
Gilda glared at the guests who looked uneasy at the idea of anyone attacking Fluttershy. “Oh get it over it! She’s not some delicate little flower, she’s faking! I’ll take her down!” She clenched her claw into a fist.
“Please don’t hurt me!” Fluttershy wailed as Gilda stepped closer.
Gilda blinked and lowered her fist. “Aw darn it. Dash, you do it.”
“What? No way!” Rainbow cried.
Smog sighed. He walked towards Fluttershy, made a fist, and punched her. Even though Smog was just a baby dragon, and he didn’t even punch her that hard, Fluttershy still cried out. “OW! Oh, please don’t hurt me mister dragon, I’ll be good!”
Smog grimaced. “Darn, it does feel like I just punched a puppy. This shouldn’t be so hard. Chrysalis, she hypnotized you, you blast her!”
Even as Chrysalis shook her head, Prince Shining spoke up. “Do we really need to do this? You’ve already beaten Cadance, isn’t that enough?”
Nightmare frowned as she moved closer to Cadance. “After what she did to my mom, NO it isn’t. You’ve lost Cadance. Maybe now you can start explaining yourself. Why did you do all this?”
Trixie spoke up, “And why a wedding? The Great and Powerful Trixie wishes to know how the countess planned to conquer the empire with a wedding.”
“And why would you send so many invitations out?” Sunset asked. “Why would you risk your plan being foiled by inviting so many guests, including us?”
Cadance opened her mouth to answer but stopped as she began to cough rather violently. Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she wiped away her tears and hurried to Cadance’s side. “Cadance! Are you alright, what’s happening?”
Cadance kept coughing. It looked like she was choking on something. “F-Fluttershy…w-we’re out of time… U-use the b-backup plan…” she said as her eyes turned a pinkish-red.
Fluttershy nodded. “Of course.” She hurried over to the purple slime jar behind the table and smashed it against the floor. The purple slime gurgled as it began to grow.
Luna took one look at the slime as it grew a face and took a step back in fear. “By my sacred night, is that the Smooze?!”
The king gasped in fear. “Impossible! We imprisoned that abomination in a volcano years ago!”
Princess Twilight’s eyes widened. “A volcano…that’s what they were doing! That strange volcanic activity we were investigating, it was the Smooze being woken up! And that jar of purple jelly Fluttershy was carrying around was never jelly at all!”
“Garble, Corporal! Rally the guards and evacuate the guests! We’ll deal with the Smooze, now get everyone to safety!” Luna ordered.
Garble and Corporal Blueblood both saluted. “As you command Captain Luna! Alright, everyone out now!” The royal guards immediately began to lead the guests out of the castle and away from the Smooze, several fancy suits and dresses being discarded to let the people flee faster.
“Hey! There’s no need to throw my hard work on the floor!” Rarity protested as the bridesmaids discarded their dresses.
“Never mind that! What is the Smooze? And why is it growing?” Trixie asked, backing away from the Smooze as it began to enlarge.
“The Smooze is an ancient monster, a continually expanding river of slime that can corrupt anyone it touches and consume everything in its path” Luna explained. “We must destroy it before it has a chance to grow to its gargantuan size!”
Discord smirked confidently. “First a case of hypnosis and now some silly slime puddle? It feels good to be able to solve problems so easily again.” He snapped his fingers and watched as the Smooze shrunk. His eyes widened as the Smooze began to quickly expand again. He kept snapping his fingers as the Smooze shrunk and grew, its power battling his own.
“Discord, hurry up and beat it!” Rarity cried. “I don’t want any of that slime to ruin my dress!”
“I’m trying to teleport it back to its stupid volcano but it keeps growing!” Discord said. “It’s like chipping away at a mountain, rock by tiny rock!”
“Then do something else!” Sunset cried as the Smooze grew bigger again.
“Come on my little gooey-oozy, you can do it!” Fluttershy cheered. “Make mommy proud!”
“FLuTtteEeRRRrrsSSShhHHYyyYyy…” the Smooze gurgled as it continued to grow and grow.
“Now that’s just creepy,” Discord said. “It’s black hole time for you buddy.” But as he prepared to snap his fingers again, the Smooze formed arms and hands to throw a slimy blob of itself at Discord. The Smooze blob flew through the air and splattered all over Discord’s chest. “Oh now, that’s just disgusting!”
“Discord, hurry up!” King Sombra ordered as Discord tried to pull the Smooze blob off his chest.
“Sorry, let me try again!” But when Discord snapped his fingers again, there was a noise like a dying goose and a pillow appeared. “…Oh dear.” He kept snapping his fingers before he stopped relying on them and instead tried to destroy the Smooze simply with his chaotic thoughts. But all his efforts just lead to random junk falling all over the floor.
Sunset’s eyes widened. “The Smooze is messing with Discord’s powers! What do we do now?”
“Cry?” Rarity asked as she watched the Smooze swallow up the dresses she had worked so hard on.
“The Elements of Redemption!” Nightmare shouted as she took another step away from the expanding Smooze. “They’re our only chance!”
“Nightmare, Luna and I already used the Elements against the Smooze over a hundred years ago. They might not work a second time!” King Sombra shouted.
“They worked on Eternal Twilight and Pinkie Pie, they’ll work again!” Gilda argued.
“Right. Discord’s not the only one who can get them!” Nightmare said as her horn glowed. She summoned her Element of Power and Discord’s Element of Freedom, while Sunset summoned her Element of Knowledge and Trixie summoned her Element of Nobility and Gilda’s Element of Zeal.
But when Chrysalis tried to summon her Element of Love, nothing happened. “My Element! Before the wedding started, Fluttershy made me leave it in the royal vault!”
“The Elements can’t be used unless you have all six! We’ll hold the Smooze off for as long as we can! Go, NOW!” Luna ordered as she, Princess Twilight, King Sombra, and Prince Shining all fired blasts of magic at the Smooze.
An evil smile formed on Fluttershy’s face as she watched the Elements and their friends run out of the hall. “You can run, but you won’t reach the vault in time.” She giggled as the Smooze continued to grow, expanding to engulf the royal family while leaving herself and Cadance unharmed. “Come on my little goo-blob, you can do it. Stop them!”
As the Elements ran towards the royal vault, Trixie spoke up. “Explain this to Trixie! Why can’t Chrysalis summon her Element from the vault?”
“Ever since Pinkie stole the Elements during her attempt to conquer Everfree, King Sombra, Princess Twilight, and Loony placed protective spells all over the vault. That way, not even Pinkie Pie could snap her fingers and steal the vault’s contents. That’s why we have to open the vault ourselves and get the Element of Love from the inside,” Nightmare explained.
“But how did Cadance and Fluttershy get into the vault so that they could throw your Element in?” Smog asked Chrysalis.
“Because I’m still the Element of Love’s bearer,” Chrysalis said as they ran. “Don’t you all have keys to the vault like I do?”
“Nightmare does but she won’t let me use it. She thinks I’d eat all the gems inside, which I totally wouldn’t!” Smog said.
“Is this really the time and place to-” Nightmare’s eyes widened as a river of Smooze oozed out of the Crystal Castle. “Never mind! Go! GO!”
As they ran, more than a dozen changelings flew overhead. “Queen Chrysalis, we’ll hold that slime river for as long as we can!” Iris shouted.
“Be careful!” Chrysalis said as the changelings charged their horns and dive-bombed the now gigantic Smooze.
The nine friends had almost reached the vault when a splat stopped them. A white bunny fell out of the sky and landed in front of the group. The bunny looked up at them and hissed as purple Smooze goo dripped off him. Rainbow stared at the bunny. “Isn’t that Fluttershy’s pet pest Angel?” Angel hissed at he attacked Rainbow. “Hey! Get off me!” she shouted as she swatted the rabbit away with her hoof.
They heard more splats as other Smooze-covered creatures fell from the sky and landed in front of them. Cats and dogs literally poured from the sky, along with owls, chickens, squirrels, rabbits and turtles. Discord concentrated really hard and snapped his fingers to create a giant hammer. “Now we’re talking.” As a slime-covered falcon attacked him, he swatted the bird away and slammed it into a wall with the hammer. But the falcon just got back up again and charged him a second time. “What in the world? That hit should have sent that bird to dreamland!”
Rarity gasped as a white cat hissed at her. “Opal? Opalescence, is that you darling? Oh you’re covered in that horrible Smooze, you poor dear!” Opal hissed again and attacked her. “AH! Opal, I’m sorry! Whatever I did to make you run away, I’m sorry! Please, Opal you have to fight off that horrid slime!” she cried as she tried to levitate Opal away from her.
Gilda swatted away more Smooze-covered animals before ducking out of the way of a flying object. “Was that the turtle from the bachelor party?”
“Tortoise,” Sunset corrected as she blasted three crazed squirrels, two angry owls, and a Smooze-covered dog.
“Who cares?!” Trixie shouted as she blasted several animals out of the way. “Where are these animals even coming from?”
“Over there!” Chrysalis shouted. They turned in the direction she was pointing to see the now gargantuan Smooze racing towards them. Every so often, it would form a hand and throw a Smooze-covered animal at them. Fluttershy was hovering over the Smooze.
“Oh, you were right. Just a few drops of your slime and my animal friends won’t get hurt!” Fluttershy smiled as she lovingly placed another squirrel into the Smooze.
“YeS! SoNg?” the Smooze gurgled, its voice shifting all over the place.
Fluttershy giggled. “Oh, okay. But only because you’re being such a good boy.” She cleared her throat and began to sing:
“Something big is coming down. Have you heard the news?”
“Listen up!” the Smooze sang.
“Get inside! Better run and hide! Nothing can stop the Smooze!”
“You can’t stop me!” the Smooze gurgled.
Fluttershy giggled. “See the way it slithers forth
Spewing gobs of ooze henceforth.”
The Smooze giggled with her. “I love ooze!”
“Here it comes. Right now. Nothing can stop the Smooze!” Fluttershy sang.
“You can’t escape it, you can’t escape it,
You haven’t got a chance.
This ancient goo is better than chaos stew.
No matter what you do, it’s gonna get you.
Anyone who tries to fight is guaranteed to lose.”
“Guaranteed,” the Smooze growled as it kept engulfing the empire.
“You can’t win! You should pack it in! Nothing can stop the Smooze!” Fluttershy sang.
“Here comes the Smooze, cruising along
Singing its funky, gunky song!
There’s just no way to stop
This oozy, gooey glop!
We won’t stop,
Nothing else can top
My unstoppable Smooze.
‘Cause nothing can stop the Smooze!”
By the time Fluttershy had finished her song with the Smooze, the Elements and their friends had reached the vault.
“It’s getting closer!” Rainbow shouted.
“We got it!” Chrysalis said as she and Nightmare ran out of the vault. She placed her Element of Love around her neck. “There!”
“Perfect! Alright everyone, let’s obliterate this puddle of slime!” Nightmare cheered. She grinned confidently as the Elements began to glow…before she noticed just how close the Smooze was.
“Well this is gonna stink…” Discord said as the Smooze washed over them all.
Fluttershy opened the window and flew back inside the wedding hall. “Goodness, it really grew fast. Oh, did you see how well I did Cadance? Cadance?”
Cadance coughed. “I’m okay. Where are the Element bearers?”
Fluttershy pointed at the Smooze. It had grown out from the spot it had been released from its jar and flooded out of the castle and into the Crystal Empire. “Okay now. You can let them out,” Fluttershy said. The Smooze wiggled a little before it spat out the Element bearers, Smog, Rainbow, Rarity, King Sombra, Princess Twilight, Luna, and Prince Shining.
Trixie gasped. “Oh sweet air! Trixie missed you, don’t you ever leave her again!”
“Fluttershy! How could you do this?!” Rarity cried as she saw her Smooze-covered coat.
“Oh no,” Sunset said as she noticed that Smooze had gotten over all of them. “Luna, is this stuff going to mess with our minds?”
Luna shook her head. “I doesn’t look like it. As King Sombra said, we used the Elements to imprison the Smooze in a volcano over a hundred years ago. However the Elements did more than that. They turned the Smooze into a naïve and innocent creature with none of its former hatred or malevolence. To be honest, we asked the Smooze nicely to return to its volcanic home and never return.”
Fluttershy nodded. “And I asked the Smooze nicely to help me and Cadance in case we needed a backup plan. He might have altered your magic and my animal friends, but he won’t hurt you unless I ask him to.”
“So that explains why it’s listening to your orders and why the Elements didn’t work when we tried to use them while still stuck inside its slime,” Nightmare said. “The Smooze is just too stupid to realize it’s being evil.”
Fluttershy frowned. “That’s not very nice.”
“Yeah, well neither are you!” Rainbow shouted as she flew right into Fluttershy’s face. “Fluttershy, how could you do this?! How could you betray the empire? I can’t believe I wanted to be friends with you! How did that sweet, shy pegasus I met at flight camp turn so evil?”
Fluttershy flinched and fluttered away from Rainbow. “P-please stop yelling at me. I…I’m not evil…am I?”
“No, you’re not,” Cadance said as she looked at them all. “I understand that you all might be feeling confused, angry, even betrayed.”
“That’s an understatement,” Nightmare growled. Her friends nodded in agreement.
Mayor Derpy flew through the window and landed in the wedding hall. “What did you do to him?!” she cried.
“Mayor Derpy? Why did you come back here? Where’s Sparkler and Dinky?” Sunset asked.
“My little muffins are safe. They’re with Mary and the royal guards outside of the Crystal Empire. I came back to see if I could help you and to rescue my date. Now where’s Timey?” Mayor Derpy said.
Cadance smiled. “He’s safe, for now.”
Prince Shining frowned. “Why Cadance? Why did you do this?”
Cadance sighed. “It’s a long story. And it starts with those two.” Fluttershy whispered a few words to the Smooze and watched as it spat out two more wedding guests. Time Turner and a peculiar changeling fell out of the goo.
“Timey! Are you okay?” Mayor Derpy cried as she flew over to him.
Time Turner nodded and looked up. “Cadance…Fluttershy…what have you done?”
Cadance frowned. “If you’ll stop interrupting me, I’ll tell you.” She turned to the changeling on the ground. “Hello Prismia. It’s been a while.”
The changeling coughed and stood up. “Cadance?” A flash of green consumed the changeling as it took on the appearance of Cadance’s ex-friend Prismia.
Chrysalis stared at her. “You were with the other changeling guests…black coat with a rainbow mane…how did I miss that?”
“Hey, isn’t Prismia the mare who kept showing up in our visions when we were explaining how we lost our cutie marks to the Cutie Mark Destroyers and their friends?” Rainbow said.
“Goodness, how long ago was that?” Rarity asked.
“Hold on. Wasn’t Prismia a unicorn in those visions?” Smog asked.
“That’s what I thought too at first. What we both thought,” Cadance said. “But it turns out the Prismia is only half unicorn. She’s a changeling hybrid.”
Prismia stared at her ex-friend and sort of ex-girlfriend. “Cadance, is that what this is all about? You’re still mad at me?”
Cadance smiled as her horn glowed. She levitated a potion over from the same table Fluttershy had kept the Smooze jar. “I’m glad we bought Zecora’s famous ‘Flashback in a Bottle.’ This should make explaining things easier.”
“Woohoo! I’m not the only one who calls it that,” Discord cheered.
Cadance rolled her eyes as she took a sip and swirled the potion around in her mouth before her eyes turned white and she spat out the answer to all their questions.
The vision formed around them to show Clouds-Edge. A young Cadance was waving goodbye to a younger Fluttershy, Gilda, Rainbow Dash, and Prismia. The present Cadance began to explain. “It started a week after I had met Fluttershy and Prismia. I thought they were really fun friends to hang with. That day, my parents were out of town and I was home alone.”
Cadance smiled. “It’s funny. You know how they say in school that it’s a good thing to lose your cutie mark? How it doesn’t limit you to one talent and how you are free to make your own choices? I never fully believed that. I liked my crystal heart cutie mark. I liked it a lot. How could something as innocent as a cutie mark ever be a bad thing?”
Time Turner’s eyes widened. “Oh no...that day... Cadance I’m sorry, please don’t do this! You promised you’d never tell anyone!”
“And you promised you’d keep making my medicine,” Cadance said. “Oops.”
“I ran out of ingredients! Please Cadance, I’m begging you! Don’t make me relive the worst mistake of my life!” the doctor begged.
Cadance said nothing. They watched Young Cadance walk home, after dark as nighttime fell. A unicorn mare with a pink mane and a light brown coat walked up to her. The unicorn’s horn glowed green as she cast a sleep spell on Young Cadance. Making sure nobody else was watching, she levitated the sleeping Young Cadance and walked away.
The vision shifted to show a younger Doctor Hooves talking with the mare who kidnapped Cadance in a small house. “Couldn’t you have been a little more gentle?” Young Doctor Hooves asked.
“I was as gentle as I could possibly be,” the mare said. “The filly is fine.”
“Still, it’s bad enough that we basically kidnapped a little filly to perform these experiments,” Young Doctor Hooves said. His eyes widened. “Oh dear, that sounds really bad when I say it out loud.”
The mare frowned as her eyes flashed green. “Doctor! Science has no time to waste on cowards who hesitate in the face of what is ethical and what isn’t! What we do today could benefit many ponies.”
Young Doctor Hooves frowned. “I don’t know…”
The mare smiled. “Come now Doctor, trust me.”
“I find it difficult to trust a mare who won’t even tell me her name.”
The mare snorted. “Names are risky in our line of work. They make things too personal between colleagues, which can get in the way of successful science. That’s why I only refer to you as the Doctor.”
“Whatever. I still don’t think we should be doing experiments on a little filly.”
“That’s not just a filly. Haven’t you seen her cutie mark? It’s a heart made out of Cosmic Spectrum Stone. A very rare and powerful material, so rare that we have only discovered tiny samples of it, mostly in the Badlands. Now why would a simple pegasus filly have a cutie mark like that?”
“I don’t know. Won’t she lose it anyways?”
“I should hope that her cutie mark remains for as long as possible. This filly could have strange abilities, powers that no ordinary pegasus possesses. And it’s in the shape of a heart, a sign of love. If anyone is a perfect test subject for this experiment, it’s her.”
Young Doctor Hooves sighed. “…You really think this could help ponies?”
“Of course.”
“And the filly won’t get hurt?”
“That depends on the experiment. You’ll be the one testing the filly, so you’ll decide what happens to her.”
“…And how much are your employers planning to pay for this again?”
“A fortune, my dear doctor. Do this, and we will make you a very rich stallion. You can use the money to further your experiments; to help improve the world in the name of science. You could even take a well-deserved vacation. The choice is yours, although I hope that you will want to work for us again.”
Young Doctor Hooves sighed. He walked over to a door and opened it. Inside the next room, Young Cadance was still sleeping on top of an operating table. “Alright. Let’s get started.”
The vision shifted again. The doctor was alone with the younger Cadance. She was still sleeping, while he was looking through his notes. “A tuft of cloud…a bright rainbow’s glow…a pegasus feather, fast not slow…” He turned to look at a purplish-pink potion on the table. “Plus some rare flowers from the Equestria forest…alright then. Here we go. Test number one. Subject: pink pegasus filly with heart-shaped cutie mark. Testing the infamous love poison with an altered recipe to see…well honestly to see what will happen.”
Young Doctor Hooves stared at Young Cadance. “I mean, I hope this will have positive results but I can’t know for sure, can I? I’m really throwing caution to the wind here, aren’t I?” He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. He glanced at a needle on the table.
“Well…” he said as he picked up the needle. “As long as we’re doing this for scientific curiosity…I wonder what would happen if she didn’t drink it…”
As the vision continued, everyone turned to stare at the present Doctor Hooves. “…I know I’ve said I’m sorry on multiple occasions, but perhaps I should say it again. Eh, Cadance?” he chuckled nervously.
Princess Twilight glared at him. “…Did you really do what I think you did?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. A long time ago, a prince created a love potion to give to a princess he really liked. The potion didn’t turn out so well. The infamous love poison: whoever drinks it will fall instantly in love with the first person they see. Furthermore, they become so lost in that person’s eyes; so obsessed with that person that they can’t think about anything else. The only cure is to stop the victim from looking into the other person’s eyes for a full hour,” Cadance explained.
“We’ve heard the story,” King Sombra said.
She turned to face Doctor Hooves with a furious glare. “But you didn’t just force me to drink it, oh no. You injected experimental love poison directly into my blood stream!”
Mayor Derpy stared at the doctor. “…Timey? Is this true?”
Doctor Hooves lowered his head and ears in shame. “I’m afraid so. It was the worst mistake in my entire life. Once I saw the full effects of what I had done, I took on a new name: Time Turner. Because I want nothing more than to turn back time to make sure I never did what I did. Of course, people don’t forget a doctor’s name so easily.” He looked back up with tears in his eyes. “Cadance, I am so, so sorry.”
“I have poison in my blood,” Cadance hissed coldly. “You ruined my life.”
Fluttershy frowned at King Sombra. “When Cadance told me her secret, we told the royal guards some of what had happened. The doctor confessed to the crime, but because our empire values forgiveness so much, he wasn’t arrested. He just said sorry and walked away without any punishment. Cadance never got her justice, even if the doctor tried to fix his horrible mistake.”
“Is that what it was?” Prismia asked. “If this happened a week after you met me then…”
Cadance nodded. “The doctor returned me home after he injected me. I woke up the next morning feeling lost and confused. I didn’t feel better until you knocked at my door and I stared into your eyes.”
The vision shifted again. The Elements recognized the train and Young Sunset Shimmer from the vision they had seen before.
Young Prismia gasped. “Of course I like you! We’re friends. I just…I didn’t know you wanted to be…more.”
Young Cadance stared her in the eyes. “I can’t help how I feel about you.”
Present Cadance kept talking as the vision continued. “The experimental love poison worked slower than the usual kind. It wasn’t long before I found the courage to express my love for Prismia. Being the good friend that she was, she agreed to be my girlfriend. Along with that, Prismia was half-changeling, although neither of us knew that at the time. Her instincts woke up inside her and she began to unconsciously feed on my love. But unfortunately, Prismia was eating poisoned love and her body soon became aware of it even if she didn’t.”
The vision shifted again. Young Sunset was walking to the train station.
“Wait! Prismia, please just tell me what I did wrong! I’m sorry!” Young Cadance cried.
Young Prismia grimaced. “Look Cadance, it’s not you it’s me.”
Present Prismia chuckled nervously. “Well now that I know it won’t hurt your feelings, I guess I can be honest. It was you. You were way too clingy, you were really starting to scare me.”
Present Cadance smiled. “I understand, no hard feelings. Would you like to tell them the next part?”
Prismia nodded. “Okay. Sometime during my relationship with Cadance, I met my half-brother. He contacted me, asked to meet with me. He explained to me that I was a changeling hybrid and he told me about life in the Badlands hive. I was curious. I wanted to learn more about my family and about who I was. I wanted to know if I could use changeling magic as well as unicorn magic. I wondered what love tasted like, and what it felt like to shape shift. He also told me about how the Badlands contained small samples of Cosmic Spectrum Stone, an artifact that I had always been fascinated with. When I broke up with Cadance, I followed him back to the hive.”
Cadance nodded. “You mentioned Cosmic Spectrum Stone a few times to me when we were dating. You said that before you came to Clouds-Edge, you met a unicorn who called herself the Great and Powerful Trixie.”
Trixie’s ear twitched as someone said her name. “I remember now. Prismia asked me about Cosmic Spectrum Stone when I told her fortune. A year later, Cadance came and asked me for help with finding Prismia.”
“When she broke up with me, the poison in my mind forced me to chase after her. I was obsessed with you,” Cadance said. “The poison forced every conversation we’d ever had to the front of my mind while I searched for clues to track you down. I went to Trixie and she pointed me to the Badlands.”
The vision shifted one more time. Young Prismia, now looking more like a changeling was talking to someone. Chrysalis blinked as she recognized her younger self.
“Thank you for helping me find this doll. Poor Copycat has been looking everywhere in the hive for it all day,” Young Chrysalis said.
Young Prismia bowed. “It was my pleasure Princess Chrysalis.”
Princess Chrysalis giggled. “Oh, you’re too kind. I can’t believe anyone as kind as you could be half-pony.”
Young Prismia smiled. “Ponies aren’t so bad, Your Majesty. A lot of them are really nice.”
Princess Chrysalis fidgeted a little. “Somelings say that ponies are nothing but big bullies, and that they’re only good for food.”
“Well if you ask me, those somelings are the ones who being are bullies.”
Queen Chrysalis stared at Present Prismia. “Now I remember you. You didn’t just visit my home, you talked to me! We played together with some of the younger lings! I can’t believe I almost forgot you!”
Prismia shrugged. “I wanted to learn more about changelings. I wanted to fit in with the crowd. I don’t blame you for forgetting me, it just means that I can avoid detection just as well as anyling.” She smiled. “It’s kind of a compliment to my abilities when you think about it. I was able to escape the memory of a queen.”
Princess Chrysalis opened her mouth to say something, but someone else interrupted her.
“Prismia!” Young Cadance cried as she ran into the room. “I finally found you!”
Princess Chrysalis blinked. “Prismia, who is this pony?”
Young Prismia stared at Young Cadance as she grabbed Prismia into a loving hug. “Oh um, this is an old friend of mine.”
Princess Chrysalis smelled the air around Cadance. “Mm. She smells delicious.”
Young Prismia smelled Cadance’s love too. “You’re right. She’s dripping with love. How did I not notice before?” She eyed Princess Chrysalis nervously as the changeling princess licked her fangs. “Um, Your Majesty? Could I speak with Cadance privately for a minute?”
“You’re not going to eat all that love yourself, are you?” Princess Chrysalis asked with sad puppy-dog eyes.
Young Prismia giggled. “Come on, Your Majesty. Ponies are more than just food, remember? I just want to talk to my friend.”
Princess Chrysalis smiled. “Okay. You talk to her while I’ll see if I can find anyling who’s feeling hungry.”
As Princess Chrysalis buzzed her wings and flew off, Young Prismia took Young Cadance by the hoof and flew her to another part of the hive. They arrived in a cave-like room inside the hive when Prismia turned around to glare at her.
“Cadance, what are you doing here? Are you stalking me?!” Prismia asked.
Young Cadance giggled. “You’re holding my hoof! My special somebody is holding my hoof again!”
“Have you lost your mind?! Cadance, you shouldn’t be here. There are a lot of nice changelings here but there are also plenty of rotten ones. They might hurt you!”
Young Cadance giggled as she stared into the half-changeling’s eyes. “You’re my cutie-patootie lovie-dovie honey-bunny!”
Young Prismia looked sick. Many of the people watching the vision felt the same way. “Oh dear. I had almost forgotten about your...nicknames.”
Young Cadance nuzzled her. “You’re my snuggle-wuggles.”
“Okay, we’re back here again.” Prismia said as she levitated Cadance off her, her magic a smoky black and green aura. “Cadance honey, I need my space. Remember?”
Young Cadance’s eyes widened in fear. “NO! Don’t leave me Prismia! I…I don’t have to use nicknames if you don’t like them. I-I’ll give you space, don’t leave me!”
Young Prismia growled as she telekinetically pushed Cadance away. “No Cadance! I told you I need to be alone for a while.”
“You’ve been alone! You belong with me,” Young Cadance cried. “Together, forever and ever!”
Young Prismia’s horn glowed dangerously. “I said NO!” She fired a blast of magic at Cadance, who ducked out of the way. The blast of magic bounced off one of the crystals stuck in the walls and hit the ceiling. The hex knocked a boulder from the ceiling loose.
“Prismia! I’ll save you!” Young Cadance cried as she flapped her wings and pushed Prismia out of the way, before the boulder crashed onto her. A large chunk of Cosmic Spectrum Stone in the shape of a heart fell out of the boulder as it crushed Cadance.
King Sombra’s eyes widened. “The Crystal Heart.”
Present Cadance nodded. “I may have been corrupted by the love poison, but…”
“But nothing,” Fluttershy said as she interrupted her. “That wasn’t poison. That was the love between friends. Cadance, you sacrificed yourself to save Prismia.”
Luna nodded. “And with that act of selflessness, you proved yourself worthy of ascension to the Crystal Heart. It turned you into an alicorn.”
The vision shifted again to show Young Prismia staring at the horn that had grown out of her former pegasus friend. “That’s…that’s impossible…” Her wings buzzed. “I…I need to tell someling right now!” As Prismia flew away, Young Nightmare Moon entered the room. From there, the vision proceeded the same way that the Elements had seen before, with King Sombra coming in at the end to take the Crystal Heart and Young Cadance away.
The vision ended after that. Cadance sighed, “And that’s my story.”
“Um...okay. Trixie still has a few questions,” Trixie said.
“I’m getting to it. After I woke up, I discovered my new horn as well as my…condition. I confronted Doctor Hooves and he created a brand new kind of medicine just to help me. Fluttershy was the kindest filly I knew, and I felt that I had to trust someone with my secret. We’ve been taking care of each other ever since. I was thinking about using the Heart to turn her into an alicorn as a reward for her kindness. Fluttershy would make such a sweet princess.”
“There it is again. Your condition,” Princess Twilight said. “You’re finally going to tell me what sort of illness you have.”
Cadance chuckled darkly. “I think it’s obvious, Your Highness. The Crystal Heart didn’t remove the experimental love poison from my blood because the Crystal Heart only knows how to amplify things.”
Prismia’s eyes widened. “You’re still in love with me?”
“No,” Cadance muttered.
“...Are you in love with me?” King Sombra asked.
Cadance shut her eyes. “No.”
“…Do you love me?” Prince Shining asked, perhaps a tiny bit hopefully.
Cadance’s eyes snapped open as she stared at them with tears in her eyes. “Don’t you get it?! I’m in love with EVERYONE!”
They all took a step away from her. “…When you say everyone, do you mean...?” Nightmare asked.
“YES!” Cadance cried as she stared at Nightmare with wild eyes. “I lied yesterday, I WAS flirting with you! We ran out of medicine and now the poison is creeping back into my mind! Now, I can’t stop staring at you and thinking about your long legs, your astonishing wings, your beautiful mane and tail and eyes…” She stared at all of them. “It happens to everyone I see! I become attracted to every single part of their body, every trait of their personality. My poisonous thoughts are constantly out-of-control! They’re unstoppable!” Cadance cried. “I’ve already kissed Fluttershy nine times!”
Fluttershy blushed. “Um, there’s no need to tell them that…”
“Did you know I used to be a foal-sitter? I used to love kids. I still do, but I had to quit that job because I was afraid I might do something awful!” Cadance cried.
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “Awful? What could you possibly be…oh. Ooh.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “Cadance, don’t think like that. You’d never hurt a child, or do anything awful.”
“How is today not awful?!” Prince Shining demanded to know. “You kidnapped and impersonated Captain Luna, you hypnotized our king, and you unleashed a monster onto the empire for your coup! And now I find out you were lying about wanting to marry me.” He glared at her. “You’re a traitor and a liar.”
Cadance’s eyes watered again. “No Shiny. I never lied about that. I really do want to marry you. But…I don’t know what’s real. I don’t know if the love I have for you is true or if it’s just my sick, poisoned mind. When I ran out of my medicine, I got desperate.”
Fluttershy nodded. “The plan was: Cadance would disguise herself as Luna and I would use my Stare on King Sombra. They’ve been friends for years, and many hopeless romantics have wanted them to be in love with each other. It would be the greatest wedding event of the century, one that every changeling would attend. And when Princess Twilight said, ‘You may kiss the bride’, all the changelings would want to feed on the love from the first kiss of two newlyweds.”
Chrysalis frowned. “If one changeling couldn’t eat all the poison out of Cadance, you thought hundreds of them could?”
Fluttershy smiled. “But it’s okay. Our first plan didn’t work but now the Smooze can get the changelings to help us.” She frowned. “Whether they want to or not.” She turned to the idle Smooze and smiled. “If you could please spit out the others now?”
Chrysalis shook her head sadly. “Even if it could work, you’d be making hundreds of innocent changelings horribly sick just to save one pony. It’s not going to work.”
“It has to work,” Fluttershy said. “I’ve spent years trying to cure my friend. You can’t stop this from happening.”
Everyone turned around as Cadance broke into a coughing fit. “...Maybe using the Crystal Heart a second time wasn’t the best idea...” she said as she choked.
“Cadance!” Fluttershy, Princess Twilight, and Prince Shining cried as Cadance collapsed on the floor. Fluttershy flew to her side. “Cadance, are you alright?!”
“…Fluttershy…I-I…”
“What is it? Come on Cadance, you can tell me,” Fluttershy encouraged her.
Cadance looked up and stared into Fluttershy’s eyes. “I…I love you.”
“…What?”
Cadance smiled as her eyes glowed purplish-pink. “Will you be my very special somebody?”
“I’m too late...no…” Fluttershy whispered as her eyes watered.
Cadance’s eyes widened in fear as she began to cry even faster than Fluttershy. “No? What do you mean no? Fluttershy, whatever I did I’m sorry! Please don’t say no, I love you!”
“Cadance? Cadance, snap out of it!” Prince Shining said as Fluttershy backed away, shaking her head.
Cadance turned to face Prince Shining, her eyes glowing pink again. “…My Shining Armor! I changed my mind, snuggly-bear. Let’s get married right now!”
Prince Shining took a step back in fear as the madly grinning Cadance nuzzled him. “Sparky, do something!”
Princess Twilight bit her lip before her horn glowed and titled Cadance’s head to face her. “Twily! Will you be my special somebody?” Cadance asked as she stared at the princess, completely forgetting about the prince.
“No! Cadance you need to snap out of it,” Princess Twilight cried.
“No? What do you mean no? Please my princess, I’m sorry! I’ll be good, don’t leave me!” Cadance cried as tears spilled out of her eyes again.
“Don’t look at me. Don’t look at anyone!” Princess Twilight ordered as she tried to push Cadance’s head away. But she just locked eyes with the king next.
“King Sombra! Can we set up a real wedding now, my dearest king?”
King Sombra shook his head. “Cadance, you have to fight it!”
Again, Cadance burst into tears. “What? What’s wrong snuggly-wuggly? Please don’t yell at me. I am your loyal slave,” she said as she tried to kiss his hooves.
King Sombra flinched as he took several steps back. “This is wrong, this is so very wrong.”
“Let me try,” Chrysalis said as she got in front of Cadance and stared in her eyes.
Cadance smiled again. “My queen! Oh, I’m so sorry I tricked you my honey-bunny, snuggle-bug. Will you be my special somebody Queen Chrysalis?”
Chrysalis clutched her stomach. “Oh dear. I think I’m gonna be sick.”
“Sick?” Candace cried. “My queen, what…” Her eyes glowed again as Chrysalis pushed her head away from her. “…Gilda? Will you be my…”
“Heck no!” Gilda yelled as she shoved Cadance away.
“No? But…Discord? I love you! Will you be my special somebody?”
“…Tempting…but I’ll have to say no,” Discord said as he gently pushed her away.
“What? Why not? Am I not pretty enough? Do you want me to look like Fluttershy, because I’ll look however you want me to dearest…” Cadance trailed off as her eyes glowed again.
“No, I don’t love you. Cadance, close your eyes!” Nightmare ordered.
“You don’t love…why? Please, let me fix this! D-do you like carnivals? We can go to one!” Cadance wept as everyone backed away from her. “W-why won’t...p-please! Doesn’t anyone love me?”
“…I do,” Fluttershy said as she stepped forward.
“Fluttershy?” Cadance stared at her with desperate hope. “My flutter-wutters?”
“What are you doing?” Prince Shining asked.
Fluttershy shut her eyes tight and shuddered. She opened them again and asked, “Cadance…will you marry me?”
“YES! Yes, I do, I do!” Cadance sang as she hugged and kissed Fluttershy. “I love you Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy sighed as she sadly accepted her fate. “I love you too Cadance. Let’s go home.”
“What? What’s going on?” Mayor Derpy asked as Fluttershy began to lead Cadance out of the hall.
Doctor Hooves sighed. “It’s all my fault. Without any medicine to stop the poison, her brain has been turned to mush.”
Fluttershy nodded. “She’ll spend the rest of her days searching for someone to love her…unless I accept her now.”
“Wait!” Rainbow said as she flew to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy don’t do this! You’re planning to sacrifice your life for her sake!”
Fluttershy smiled sadly. “Thank you for your concern...even after all the horrible things we’ve done today. But I’ve already spent most of my life helping Cadance and she’s helped me so much in return. It’s time to accept that this was my destiny all along.”
“Destiny!” Cadance giggled. “We’ll be together forever!”
“That’s right my little…honey bunny. Together…forever…” Fluttershy whispered as she wiped away a tear. “King Sombra, Princess Twilight? Look in my bags, they’re under that table over there,” she said as she pointed. “Inside my bag is a page from an ancient book called Smooze-ology. You’ll find the spell we used to shrink the Smooze and put it in a jar. Find an empty jar and cast the spell, and every slimy drop of the Smooze will be sucked into it. Only an alicorn or a draconequus would be powerful enough to cast it.”
“You can let go of my friends now,” she said to the Smooze. The gargantuan monster gurgled and the Smooze-goo on the Element bearers and the Royal Family leapt off.
Discord snapped his fingers and Fluttershy’s bags zipped back over to him. “Much better. Let’s see this spell now…oh this will be a breeze!”
“Just be gentle with him. I know the Smooze is an abomination, but he’s really sweet when you get to know him. I’m sorry we bothered you all…” Fluttershy sighed and kept walking out the hall with Cadance.
“What will you do now?” Doctor Hooves asked.
Fluttershy shrugged sadly. “Maybe I’ll give her a bath. Cook her a nice dinner. Cadance won’t be able to bathe or feed herself anymore...”
“Wait,” Chrysalis said. “Fluttershy, you did all this to help her?”
“Of course. I mean, I was mad at the king and maybe I thought I could help people more if I was a princess but…helping my friend was my main reason. Helping people is the only thing I’m good at,” Fluttershy said.
“Nightmare?” Chrysalis asked as she turned around.
“…Yeah, okay. I guess she didn’t really mean to hurt my mom anyway. Guys, let’s use the Elements on Cadance,” Nightmare said.
Princess Twilight nodded thoughtfully and smiled. “That could work.”
Sunset smiled. “Yeah. The Elements might not have worked inside the Smooze...but they might be able to cure her.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened with renewed hope. She beamed with joy as she pushed Cadance towards the Elements. “Cadance, if you love me you will hold still and don’t move.”
“Anything for you butter-flutter! Not too long though, I want to keep hugging you,” Cadance giggled.
Nightmare and her friends smiled as the Elements of Redemption glowed. A rainbow formed around all of them, circled the room, and flowed into Cadance. When the blinding light faded away, they watched Cadance groan and slowly stand back up.
“Ugh...huh?” Cadance groaned.
“Are you alright?” Prince Shining asked as he and Fluttershy helped her back up.
“It…” Cadance’s eyes widened as a smile grew on her. “It’s gone. It’s gone. The poison is gone! I’m free!” She grabbed Prince Shining and kissed him. “I’m free! And…and you’re the only one I want to kiss! It wasn’t a lie, I love you for real!”
She let go of the prince and bowed before the king, the princess, the Elements, and their friends. “You saved me! Thank you, thank you all! I am eternally in your debt.”
Fluttershy smiled gleefully and bowed too. “We are eternally in your debt.”
Pinkie appeared with a flash of light. “Hello, everybody! Did I miss anything?”
Gilda glared at her. “Where the heck were you?!”
Pinkie giggled. “I was giving Gummy and Spikey a bath! They must have stepped in some really sticky grape jelly, it took me a while to get them clean.” She snapped her fingers and teleported her pet alligator and Spike in his smaller form into the room.
Spike growled. “Five more seconds and I would have destroyed that Smooze, you pink imbecile.” He stormed away as he removed the amulet keeping him small. “I’m going to my room. Nobody but Sparky disturb me unless you wish to be eaten.”
Pinkie giggled. “He’ll be fine. He’s just being a little grumpy-scales.”
Cadance stood up from her bow and smiled at Princess Twilight. “I guess now, I follow the same path that you do princess. I promise ALL of you, I’ll make a real effort to be your friend this time. We’ll help you clean up the Smooze and anything else we did.” She turned to Prince Shining and smiled hopefully. “I know you must think I’m horrible, but I still want to marry you. Do you…will you marry me?”
Prince Shining sighed. He looked at Pinkie Pie and at his sister Princess Twilight Sparkle. He turned back to face Cadance and smiled. “Not today. But…I’ll think about it.”
Chrysalis smiled. “Was that a yes?”
“It wasn’t a no!” Pinkie sang. She smiled and turned to look at Fluttershy. The shy pegasus noticed Pinkie’s creepy grin and took a step back.
Cadance grinned. “Fluttershy and I will help start cleaning up. But there’s something I need to do first.” Her horn glowed as she blasted one of the few remaining windows open. She flapped her wings and soared out of the castle with incredible speed. “I’M FREE! I’m finally free!” She laughed and laughed as she flew all over the Crystal Empire. “FREE!”
Three days later, Garble was sitting up late at night in the castle library. He ate a few gemstones as he read a book and reflected on what had happened the past few days. The Smooze had been cleared out of the empire and thrown back into its volcanic home. Cadance had explained her situation and apologized to everyone. She and Fluttershy had moved to Peaceville to set up a new animal shelter. Garble smiled and crunched on another gemstone as he looked at the moon.
There was a small flash of fire as Philomena flew in through the window and landed on the table next time. “Good evening Garble.”
Garble frowned. “Philomena. Haven’t seen you in a while. What do ya want old bird?”
Philomena giggled. “Nothing from you at all. I just stopped by to wish you goodnight.”
“Don’t try and be funny. What do you want?”
“That is honestly it, my friendly rival. Have a good night,” Philomena said as she turned back to the window.
“…for it will be your last.” With that, Philomena flapped her wings and flew away.